Practice Yoga Outdoors!

In the mountains, at the parks, at the beach, under the moonlight…

There are so many places outdoor for yoga lovers to practice yoga, especially for those yogis in the northern hemisphere who are enjoying their beautiful springtime. For those who are hesitating to take your practice outdoors, here’s a tongue-in-check list of reasons why you should hesitate no more!

Reasons why you should practice yoga outdoors

1. Impress the passerbys with your impossible yoga pose!

2. Spread the love of yoga to complete strangers in the park

3. Show off your yoga clothes (and great figure in the spandex too!)

4. Make your yoga practice more interesting

5. Become truly grounded in your asanas

6. More motivation for you to reach your fullest towards the sky

7. More fresh air for your long, deep breathes

8. More negative ions for your lungs

9. Connect with nature

10. Feel more alive

11. Engage your sense of smell - breathe in the sweet smell of grass

12. Truly perform a sun salutation!

13. Natural music for your ears

14. No cost involved

15. Feel the peace…

Ok, enough nonsense for now. If you haven’t tried practicing yoga outdoors, you should really try it.

Tips for practicing yoga outdoors

• Join an outdoor yoga club. That’s the easiest way to start your practice. These clubs may be run professionally, but more often than not, they are organized by yoga enthusiasts who just can’t seem to get enough of yoga. Check around your local neighbourhood. There may already be yoga clubs near your parks or beaches.

• Find a good spot! If you prefer not to join a club, there’s no stopping you from practicing yoga in the comforts of your own backyard or the park near your place. Just find a nice, comfy spot that is fairly level, and shaded from the sun.

• Early morning is the best. The birds start to sing, the grass is still damp from dew, and there is a sense of peace of just breathing in the scent. Early morning also makes the most practical sense if you are living in a hot climate and the weather is the coolest in the morning.

• Don’t get distracted. People may walk past your spot, or an ant may crawl on your mat. Just do your own stuff and get deeper into your own practice. If you are the sort that prefer not to be in the limelight, find a quiet spot where you know there is not much traffic.

How to buy an eco-friendly yoga mat: Some Buying Tips

Considering that yoga practitioners come into contact with our yoga mats so often, it is quite important for us to choose a yoga mat that is environmentally friendly. But do we go about choosing an eco-friendly yoga mat?

Some handy tips for choosing a good eco-friendly yoga mat:

1) Non-PVC. An environmentally friendly yoga mat does not contain PVC, or polyvinyl choloride. What’s so bad about PVC? Well, PVC is unique in its high chlorine and additives content, which have been linked to cancers, endocrine disruption, endometriosis, neurological damange, birth defects, impaired child development and reproductive and immune system damage. So be afraid, very afraid, of PVC.

2) Smell. Many of the environmentally friendly yoga mats have a strong smell. This may go off after you sun the mat for a few hours, or after your mat is seasoned. However, if you really find the smell offensive, make this a criteria when choosing your mat.

3) Allergy. Eco-friendly yoga mats are usually made of natural rubber, plant fiber ( jute, hemp, and cotton) or alternative plastics (such as polymer environmental resin or “PER”, and thermoplastic elastomers or “TPE). Unfortunately, some people are allergic to natural rubber. So if you are one of the unfortunate souls, natural rubber yoga mats are out for you.

4) Cost. While the cost of eco-friendly yoga mats has decreased recently due to the proliferation of these mats, the price can be slightly higher than a normal yoga mat. So shop around for a good yoga mat online before you make your decision.

How to teach yoga to kids

These days, parents are making their children all sorts of fancy things like ballet, piano and singing. I don’t know about you, but I feel that children should be children. They should be allowed to sing and dance and shout as they please, not follow some professional courses that stress them out.

Having this sort of mentality, I have always scoffed at the idea of yoga for kids. I mean, how do you make the kids hold still long enough for their asanas?

Well, it seems like the approach for teaching yoga to kids should be highly tailored to their needs.

For children below the age of 7, the focus should be more on getting them excited about yoga. That means a lot of movement and imagination in the class. The good thing is that yoga has such great postures with origins from animal poses, such as the Cobra, Downward-facing Dog, Fish and Crow. The best yoga classes for kids create stories around these postures, or encourage children to make animal noises as they explore these poses.

Another great tip is to talk to children at their level. Use simple words that they understand. For example, instead of saying “asanas”, use words like “poses” or “postures”, or simply “please do this” and demonstrate the pose to your kids instead. However, this does not mean talking down to the kids. Children have an innate intelligence, and sometimes ask some great questions in class. Welcome their questions, and answer them patiently, and let them co-create their classes.


Incidentally, yoga is also a great activity for a parent to do with their kids. Children love to see their parents getting down on their fours (literally getting down to the child’s level!) and doing all sorts of funny poses with them. Do the practice with love and do it often, and children will come to associate yoga with a great time with papa or mummy.

The Mental Diet ... clear your mind

Have you heard of the Mental Diet?

It’s this concept first mooted by Emmet Fox, an author who published a book in 1935 called the “The Seven Day Mental Diet”. His idea was incredibly simple. Go on a mental diet for 7 consecutive days where you do not dwell on a single negative thought.

Curious, I looked up the mental diet on the web. I hit upon this blog of a person who decided to go on a 12 month mental diet! The blog chronicled his experience in this period of time. He’s at Day 96 now.

Well, I don’t know about you, but I think the guy should start practising yoga. It complements his “diet” perfectly. Yoga is a practice that quiets the mind. In the one or two hours when I practice, I always feel an absolute sense of peace… (especially at the end of the practice when we are doing our “corpse pose”… =P).

How does yoga do this?

According to this article, the key is in the breathing. Apparently, there are two nervous systems in the human body: sympathetic and parasympathetic. The sympathetic, commonly known as the "fight or flight" system, causes “the blood pressure to rise, the breath rate to quicken, and stress hormones to flood into the body”. Yoga, on the other hand, requires us to take long, deep breathes. This encourages the actions of our parasympathetic nervous system, which lowers our blood pressure.

In short, the quality of the breath affects the quality of our mind. The slower our breath, the quieter our mind will be.

In fact, yoga emphasizes the art of breathing so much that there is a special term for this practice, called the pranayama. This is a Sanskrit word meaning “lengthening of the breathe”.

The simple practice of slow breathing allows the yoga practitioner to make the mind still, and eliminate any negative thoughts that constantly dogs our daily life.

That said, I think the idea of a “Seven day mental diet” is great! Besides the one or two hours of yoga practice, perhaps we can also take up this commitment to clear our minds of negative thoughts for seven consecutive days. I am sure it will clear your mind of any mental clutter, and make you a better person.

When the Breath wanders, the mind is unsteady, but when the Breath is still, so is the mind still." - Hatha Yoga Pradipika

How to avoid getting sick while attending yoga classes

My work place is starting to impose anti-swine flu measures. Each employee is given a flu kit, and we are supposed to measure our temperature before we attend any meetings.

This sets me thinking. How can we avoid getting sick while attending yoga classes? Especially for hot yoga where there's so many hot bods in a room?

Here are my top 5 best ways to avoid getting sick while still attending our favourite yoga classes:

1. Firstly, read the World Health Organization website. It helps to know more about the disease, so you can distinguish the facts from rumours. Many of our fears could be unfounded.

2. Wash your hands with soap and water thoroughly and often. This is one of the best ways to prevent the spread of infection.

3. Stay away when are you sick. This is common sense even when there is no swine flu around. If you are not feeling well, don’t turn up for the class! If you just happen to sneeze or cough in the class, cover your nose and mouth with a tissue. Also, avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.

4. Drink lots of water. Water helps to flush out toxins and water products from the body. So form the good water habit.

5. Lastly, continue practicing yoga! The best prevention is a strong immunity system. And what better way to keep fit than yoga? Better still, practice laughter yoga so you can stay healthy and stress free.

Wishing you good health and happiness.

Namaste.

How to take care of your yoga mat

Our yoga mats become shiny with perspiration (like us!) after a good yoga workout. It is a good practice to clean your mats regularly after each yoga session.

After (and maybe also before) each Yoga Practice

To clean your yoga mat after each yoga session, use a spray bottle or a damp cloth, and just wipe your yoga mat with a clean terry cloth towel.

For those who wish to pamper their mats, you may consider using a yoga cleansing wipe or a yoga cleaning spray. Check out the Jo-sha wipes. These cleansing wipes come in a re-sealable pack of 20 wipes, making it handy to bring them around. I love the fragrance from these wipes. They are infused with essential oils in four different scents – Eucalyptus, Lavendar, Tangering and Peppermint – giving your mat a nice, fresh smell.

Actually, instead of using the jo-sha wipes after your yoga class, some people use these before the class. The wipes leave a faint lingering scent that invigorates the senses and adds to your yoga practice. Definitely a boon when you are doing your downward facing dogs!

For dirtier yoga mats

First thing: check if your yoga mat is machine washable.

If it is not (or you are not sure), it’s best to hand wash it.

To hand wash your yoga mat, use lukewarm water and mild detergent. Go very easy on the detergent – about a gallon of water with a tablespoon of detergent. If your mat is especially stinky, you can throw in a teaspoon of baking soda. Use a clean kitchen sponge to wipe your mat thoroughly. After that, rinse the soap off your mat with clean, lukewarm water.

For machine washable yoga mats, wash your yoga mat in cold water. It is advisable to remove your yoga mat from the washer before the spin cycle starts. Again, use a mild detergent, and wash your mat separately from your clothing.

To dry your yoga mat, squeeze out the water by wrapping it with a dry towel and stepping on it. It is best to air dry your mat. Be sure to leave it unrolled while it dries to avoid moisture becoming trapped between the folds.

How to Select a Good Yoga Mat

A yoga mat is a basic accessory that you will need when you practice yoga. Whether you are a beginner or an expert yoga, a right yoga mat can significantly enhance your experience when you are performing the various yoga postures.

So how do you go about selecting a good yoga mat?

Based on experience, a good yoga mat should have the following characteristics:

• Have sufficient grip to enable you to perform postures such as the downward dog without slipping.

• Be large enough to accommodate your height and width. Taller people may wish to consider a mat with extra length. Larger people should also get a bigger mat.

• Be durable. Yoga practitioners should consider investing in a good quality mat made with superior material. These can withstand wear and tear better, and may be more make sense cost-wise over the long term.

• Choose a mat that’s suitable for your type of yoga. Some types of yoga such as Bikram or Hot Yoga is pretty intensive. You may need to consider a yoga mat with superior traction that is also sweat-absorbent. Others like Ashtanga Yoga may require ultra thick yoga mats as they are perfect for jumping from one position to another.

• Do your bit for Earth! There’s a lot of environmentally-friendly yoga mats out there which are downright stylish to boot!

• Finally, consider your budget. You do not wish to burn a hole in your pocket just buying one yoga mat. (There’s still hundreds of other yoga good stuff to consider!)