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Re-charge Your Body

-Keith Paine

Love and Attachment

Ahh…Valentine’s Day. A celebration of love. A chance to spend cash on stuff that nobody needs, and often a cause of heartache. Love is tricky – both for those who are in a relationship and those who want to be in one.

If attachment breeds suffering, as the Buddha taught, then what should we do about love, the greatest attachment of all? Are we born to suffer if we don’t find a lover? We all long for the security of being with a person who’ll love us back. Our egos are satisfied when we feel loved. In our society, we’ve become attuned to acquiring things and judging our success by those things: money, a high-status job, a house. We can become attached to the idea of love in the same way, measuring our status as a person by our love lives. We’re flying high when our relationships go well, suffering when they fail.

Is it possible to experience love without attachment? Well…that depends on how we experience love. If we think of love as something that we have to get, than it can just as easily be lost, and we’ll suffer as a result. If instead we think of love as a way of being, the rules change. Love becomes active, not passive. Love becomes a daily experience, not something we have to find in someone else.

If this concept sounds kind of unrealistic, I believe it is much easier in practice. Whether it’s giving time to your kids or giving a donation to Haiti, we act with love all the time! Americans happen to be an incredibly generous people, especially when inspired by loss or need. Turn that same generosity towards yourself and those closest to you – in other words, act with love instead of searching for love- and you’ll be shocked at how much of it you get in return.

Myth Buster: Is sweating the only way to burn calories?

A: No—and you might be surprised at how many calories you can burn by working consistently at a lower level of intensity, where you’re not sweating profusely.

The fact is, you’re burning calories all the time, even when you’re asleep. Those calories come from a combination of fat and carbs. The fat-to-carb ratio changes according to what your body needs, but the difference between a “fat-burning zone” and an “instant-energy carb zone” is less than you might think.

Here’s the deal: if you want to release weight, it’s not about where those calories come from, but how many you burn overall. So, the more active you are during your day, whether it’s a super-sweaty spin class, a challenging yoga session, or a climb up your office stairs, you’re still burning calories.  Check out these numbers:

*Average calories burned for an average hour Pilates or Tai Chi class: 200-250 cal

*Average calories for an average hour of jogging (not sprinting) 400-500 

If we do some simple math, we realize that there’s no difference, in calories at least, between 5 days of a medium intensity exercise, such as Pilates, Yoga, Tai Chi, or weight training, and 3 days of jogging. Now, jogging for an hour is more than most of us want or need to do, so create an ideal mix for yourself between lower and higher intensity exercise.

The key to really burning calories and releasing weight?  Consistent exercise and good food choices.

 

 

The $5 cardio machine that really works!

Quick Headstand Tips.

Keith Headstand Pose from Nimble Fitness on Vimeo.

ARE YOU READY FOR YOGA?

There are 16.5 million adults in the U.S. that regularly practice Yoga, according to the Yoga Journal, and an additional 25 million that say they want to try Yoga. Yoga classes, based in Yoga asanas (physical forms), are a national phenomenon that can be found in almost any gym. There are well-established benefits from learning the asanas that have pushed its popularity: increased muscle tone and flexibility, stress reduction, and a sense of community born out of the class experience. Yoga also has a somewhat gentle reputation—a perception that Yoga is “less intense” then other workouts, and that there’s little or no downside to adding Yoga to your routine.

That gentle reputation is taking a hit, however, as more and more Americans are getting injured in Yoga classes. Those injuries cover the full range of severity–from sore backs and strained hamstrings to torn knee cartilage and sprained necks. Roger Cole PhD., a scientist and Iyengar Yoga teacher in California, names the lower back, knees and the neck as the most prone to injury in Yoga. Injuries most often come from just being too aggressive—a forward bend that goes too far aggravates the back, for example, while falls from challenging headstands and forearm balances can cause neck injuries.

The Nimble team is here to remind you that though there are significant risks associated with practicing Yoga, there are some simple recommendations that can keep your practice safe and effective, regardless of the style of instruction:

*INTENTION—take a few moments to make sure your head’s in the right place before you step on the mat. Usually, we’re to blame for our injuries. We watch the rest of the class and let our egos take over—we want to be the best in that new pose, even if we’ve never tried it before! No amount of ego is going to help you if you push your body too far.

*3 KEYS—in Anusara instruction, there are 3 basic “checks” we use for each pose: foundation, alignment and breath. If your foundation is strong, whether it’s your feet, hands, shoulders, forearms, or hips, you’ve greatly reduced your chances of falling. Alignment basically refers to the spine, pelvis and joints. Be especially mindful of these areas—your body will let you know if you’re going too far out of your natural alignment. The last is obvious: if you can’t breath in a pose, we humbly suggest you back off and start over!

*PRIVATE INSTRUCTION—most people in the U.S. experience Yoga asanas for the first time in a crowded classroom, where there’s minimal instruction and minimal space. If you’re starting out, find an experienced instructor who can take you through the basics before you head into a class. You’ll feel more confident and enjoy it a lot more.

*GO AT YOUR OWN PACE—a Yoga practice should be built around your body’s strengths and limitations—you should never try to adapt your body to a form your body’s not ready for. What’s the point? Your body will react by trying to protect itself any way it can, and the results are usually not good. Slow and steady wins the race here—and you’ll surprise yourself at how far you progress when you’re consistent and attentive to what you’re ready for on the mat. Plus you’ll really start to enjoy yourself!

Please share your Yoga experiences with us!—submit a question or comment on our community board at www.nimblefitness.com. Also, stay tuned for more Yoga info in the coming months as we break down the keys to an effective practice. For those of you who are new to us, Nimble Fitness is a health and wellness company based in New York City that offers instruction in Anusara Yoga, either privately or semi-private groups.

3 Keys to Any Yoga Pose

Untitled from Nimble Fitness on Vimeo.