Yoga DVD Recommendations

The question I've been asked a lot lately is: what yoga DVDs do I recommend? I of course have quite a collection of DVDs, some remarkably better than others, but what I always recommend is:

Anything by Gaiam

Anything with the words "Yoga Journal"

Anything by Rodney Yee

Anything by Eoin Finn, particularly The Pursuit of Happy Hips, which I own

I also own Shiva Rea: Fluid Power - Vinyasa Flow Yoga which has a wonderful selection of very unique programs - however. My only note on that DVD is that the camera tends to move around too much, as well as zoom in and out on random body parts, and fade out at random times only to fade back in on another practitioner at which point you're totally lost. Definitely worth watching first, which I recommend with all DVDs anyway. The upside to the aforementioned camera tricks is that it makes the DVD very beautiful to watch, if your goal is to sit on the couch and watch people doing yoga. I don't know if Shiva Rea's other DVDs are filmed in this style, but I still think she's a great instructor, she's very popular in the yogasphere, and her unique variations on asanas really speak to the merits of innovating traditional yoga. *IMHO.

Eoin Finn is a very soft-spoken, gentle-sounding man and I think his sequences are amazing. I really enjoy The Pursuit of Happy Hips, and really I haven't been able to truly appreciate all of it because there are hours and hours of practices on the DVD and I only have so much time (don't we all). He also has a special section on alignment and such. I like him a lot! Love his blog too, and I can foresee myself splurging on his new set of DVDs, The Blissology Project.

As for Rodney Yee - wow. First of all, one of my first "yoga memories" was watching him on Oprah shortly after he wrote his book about yoga being "the poetry of the body". I'm not even sure I was a teenager at the time. Anyway, I hadn't actually "practiced" with him since then, I just knew that he was a big yoga celeb but a few months ago I borrowed one of his DVDs from the library and absolutely enjoyed it. I love his alignment pointers, I love his alignment overall, and I love his sequencing. However, I never actually owned any of his DVDs... Until yesterday. I bought Rodney Yee's Ultimate Power Yoga, which I so far thoroughly enjoy. What I like about this guy is how he seems so gentle, and he really goes through every asana so precisely in a step-by-step fashion. So much so that you're totally convinced that the whole ride is going to fall under the category of "gentle" yoga, and then - wow, how did that happen - we're seamlessly jumping through and/or doing advanced poses which we are actually more than ready for due to his intelligent sequencing. The DVD is split into 20-minute segments, everything from the warm-up to the sun sals to standing to balancing, etc. They are made to be done individually, but can be put together for 95-minutes of real POWER yoga. If I could add anything to the DVD at all, it would be a "program" feature, where it would let me select which segments I want to do, in what order, and then play them automatically for me. Or maybe I've just gotten too used to The Ten Minute Solution.

Other recommendations include Power Yoga for Everybody by Barbara Benagh. This DVD can usually be found for super cheap and has over 20 routines ranging from beginner to advanced. The "slow flow" sequencing she is famous for is wonderful for making your movements very precise. But one of my favorite features of this DVD is its simplicity: no fancy (distracting?) backdrop, no zooming in and out, no fading, no tricks - just a man on his mat, full view. No getting lost.

I own way more DVDs than this, and I'll probably review them all at some point but for now, these are my top contenders. So there you have it! If you own or have tried any of these DVDs or have any more to recommend, please comment :)

Cold Yogi Seeks Warmth

I tried something very new today: Warm Yoga. For those of you who know me, you know that I detest heat because I am in fact, very heat sensitive (actually, I just have very sensitive skin in general). Ergo, Hot Yoga never held any sort of appeal to me from the beginning. Anyway, my good friend Amanda taught the class and I actually enjoyed it! The temperature of the room was 38 degrees, and with that I was already sweating quite crazily with sweat getting in my eyes while I attempt to concentrate on my drishti in a balance pose. But the sequence was just perfect - not too vigorous, which I would not have appreciated due to the heat. I already knew I would enjoy the sequence, as I had an awesome teacher ;) The main thing I was concerned with was how I would react to being in such a steamy room. But it was nice, especially with the cold lavender-scented towels at the end :D

It definitely made me appreciate how warmth contributes to deepening your poses (duh) because I had gotten so used to teaching in large halls at room temperature or air-conditioned rooms. Adjusting the temperature is certainly not an option at the places I teach but it is certainly something that I would use to my advantage if ever I get the chance.

Personally, I've always liked "cold" yoga because I tend to heat up quite quickly, but I really liked doing my practice in a different environment today. Perhaps as the weather warms up (if that ever happens this year), I won't be so quick to open all of the windows and doors at home; I'll just continue with my practice as the area heats up naturally and see what happens!

Would I try the "Hot" (40-ish degrees) variety? No. But Warm Yoga, with the promise of a "softer" class is definitely something I could get into.

The Best Time to Exercise

When I was eighteen, I read somewhere (I'm thinking either The Body Sculpting Bible for Women or Body for Life) that the best time to exercise is first thing in the morning, before eating because you would burn mega calories and continue to burn more throughout the whole day than if you exercised at any other time. I also read somewhere that you burn more calories doing your cardio after weight training, although I don't remember the rationale. So, being eighteen and having all the time in the world, I always worked out first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.

And then of course, my life started to change making working out in the morning near impossible. I started to get into the nasty mentality of "If I missed my chance to burn mega cals in the AM, then I may as well just wait until tomorrow morning". I did this for... Oh, I don't know. However long it took me to put on a ton of "college" weight.

So guess how many calories I was burning by working out first thing in the morning? ZERO!

Because what it boils down to is: it doesn't matter when you exercise, as long as you do. Because really the benefit is in the actual act of exercising, and the difference in calorie expenditure due to factors such as time is marginal.

It surprised me to learn that quite a few fitness models etc. do their workouts in the evening. I guess it really all depends on what works for you!

Also, while it's nice to have some kind of consistency, a perfect schedule (a 3-day split, for example) may be impossible due to your schedule. For example, my nursing rotation requires me to work every other weekend, and one night shift weekend a month. Planning my workouts based on the days of the week would mean that I would not get adequate recovery time, setting myself up for either burnout or injury. I have finally accepted this - so what I do is that I look at my schedule on a weekly basis and set goals. If I decide to do 2 strength training workouts, plus 3 cardio sessions, then I do my best to do them when I can, according to my schedule that week. And I no longer take into account the time of day - I just seize pockets of time when I find them.

Being more flexible and forgiving with myself has allowed me to actually get more done.

By the way - the same can be said for yoga! Haven't you heard that you should practice yoga first thing in the morning, preferably at 4 am (just kidding... Kind of) so you can actually salute the sun as you go through your Sun Salutations? Seriously, just do it when you can do it. I try to do yoga every day, and it's never the same. Sometimes I only have time for 20 minutes, and sometimes I can do a longer practice. I always let my body tell me what it needs. My practice on an energetic Saturday morning is very different from my practice on a Wednesday evening after work.

And before you wonder how I have all the time to do this, I usually stick my yoga in with my other workouts, or instead of weight training, do a vigorous Ashtanga-style practice. I am definitely not working out all day, and there are plenty of days when I don't work out. But I do my best, and I'm slowly becoming okay with that.

So - when is your favorite time to work out/practice?

Breastfeeding + Drugs Resource

I just found an AMAZING resource - LactMed, which is an online database where you can lookup drugs and their effects on breastfeeding. This is so important, because there are so many OTC drugs that caution breastfeeding women not to use them, despite the fact that they may be safe to take in certain doses.

Please use with caution, and always remember to critically think! I would still advise contacting your doctor or at least HealthLink before taking certain drugs while breastfeeding. Remember that this is a reference and is not meant to replace medical advice (and neither is this blog, for that matter).

Live Clean

My first product review will be of Live Clean products. I first discovered Live Clean browsing the baby aisle - I'm always looking for certified organic products to use for my son, but I know just as well as you do how expensive they can be. However, Live Clean is actually very reasonably priced! Yes, it is still more expensive than say, your Western Family or Johnson's brand, but it's cheaper than Aveeno and considering the fact that it does not contain any parabens, phthalates, etc. it's quite a steal.

Live Clean also has a very affordable line of body washes, shampoos and conditioners which I have used with great success. The problem with a lot of organic/natural products - and I've tried the whole gamut - is the lack of performance. Examples include certain brands of natural body wash that require larger quantities just to get a decent sud, and conditioners that do not moisturize hair (not my hair, anyway).

I still use other organic brands such as Nature's Gate and Jason, both of which I also recommend, but the fact is in terms of price and performance, Live Clean wins hands down. Plus, it's a Canadian company which is nothing less than a bonus :)

Have you tried Live Clean? If so, what do you think? Any other organic brands to recommend?

The Reveal

Welcome to my new health and fitness blog! I sure hope this lasts longer than the rest. Anyway, let me just break the ice by saying that I have lost 10 lbs since this January, putting me at 130 lbs on my 5'5.5'' frame. Not too bad, right? I know I'm at a very healthy weight, but based on my body composition I know that I could definitely stand to lower my body fat percentage more and up my muscle mass.

I attribute this (healthy) weight loss to a few things:

For the first time in forever, my New Year's resolution wasn't to "lose ten pounds so that I can look better", it was to "get healthier because I am sick and tired of being sick and tired; any weight loss that follows will simply be a component of my movement towards a healthier, or at least less sickly lifestyle". Last year's winter was absolutely horrendous health-wise. I had enough stomach flus to finally get me to kick my fast food habit - not because the fast food caused it, but because I ate so much fast food that I had a lot of experience feeling it come back up (yech, sorry).

I took my exercise routine down a few notches. We all know that exercise is the magic pill for everything, but did you know that exercise suppresses the immune system? Now you know. What I would always end up doing is going super, super hard with a new workout routine, fall ill a few days later, remain ill for a few days, and be nothing less than deconditioned by the time I was good to get back at it. So I took it down - a lot. A few sessions of low-impact cardio to start. Then a strength training session here and there. And then finally building myself up to something manageable, yet intense enough to keep me interested. No exercise-induced illnesses yet, and it's already June! (Seriously, this illness-with-hard-exercise is a pattern that I've noticed in myself since I was 19. May not be the case with you).

I started volunteering at the Y. I started teaching yoga at the Y as a volunteer in 2009, but shortly after became a paid staff member. In November of 2010, I got my Group Fitness Leader Certification in Choreography, and found myself volunteering as a substitute Step instructor. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH YOU HAVE TO PRACTICE A ROUTINE BEFORE YOU TEACH IT?!! Not to mention, the certification process involved hours and hours of working out to your classmates' routines, which of course I had to train myself for (lest I pass out in class), plus hours and hours of "apprenticeship". And now, I have a regular stint teaching Cardio Dance (and since getting my cert, have been teaching Zumba) once a month as a volunteer. So yes, that certainly helped to peel it off.

Zumba, Zumba, Zumba. I heart Zumba. I have been doing Zumba at home (I got their Total Body Transformation Kit for Christmas), taking classes, and have gotten my Zumba cert. Which means more practicing, and then of course, teaching the class which I think burns more calories than taking a class because you've got this nervous rush of energy pushing you through.

I know it's June, but actually I got down to 130 lbs at around March, which I am very happy about. I do not believe in quick fixes - they do not work, and when they do you end up with nasty, saggy skin. Think about that: 10 lbs over 3 months, is not even 1 pound a week. But I've sustained it with very little effort!

Basically it all comes down to what we've been told a thousand times - healthy diet and exercise. Although truthfully, my diet is not close to being clean quite yet. Although I am cooking more, and like I said, I've nixed the fast food habit.