What Not To Wear To A Yoga Class

The other day while waiting for our class to start, another practitioner and I were sitting at the sofa outside one of the studios where a class had started. The door of the studio was opened and we were just looking into class when both of us saw something that had us feeling disgusted and uttering OMG!

It was from one of the practitioners who was in the easy sitting pose and her back was facing us as she was sitting directly in front of the door. What we saw was half of her exposed butt as her pants had slide down halfway.

The above incident has prompted me to write this post as I would like to let other practitioners know how they can unconsciously exposed themselves when they wear the wrong type of clothing to a yoga class.

So what are the clothes you should not wear to a yoga class?

1.Don’t wear low hipster pants as they will tend to slide down when you are in some of the poses and thus, exposing your butt.
2.Don’t wear baggy T-shirts. In inversion poses, the shirt will fall over your face, revealing your mid-section or more.
3.Don’t wear loose bra tops if you are heavy on top. Your breasts might just spill out in some of the poses.
4.Don’t wear loose workout shorts (this is especially for the men), for obvious reasons.
5.Don’t wear skin-tight leggings, they tend to ride up or down to awkward locations especially when you are in some of the lying poses. Certain body parts also get highlighted by the stretchy and clinging material.

And, please wear underwear under your outfit, especially if you have on tight-fitting clothes.

Those yoga practitioners who are inadvertently exposing their privates are not only embarrassing themselves, but they are also showing disregard to the yoga instructor and their fellow practitioners.

There are many yoga apparels available for sale in the market. You do not have to buy branded yoga clothing as they can be quite expensive. Just get something that will make you feel comfortable while keeping you decent at the same time. You can read the article Yoga Clothes – What Not To Wear for some tips on choosing the right type of yoga apparel for yourself.

Chakrasana in Ashtanga Led

I have been going to Ashtanga Led classes at Beyoga with Azmi and we have been doing most of the poses in the Primary series and some of the poses from the Intermediate series. One of the poses that I am still having difficulty doing is Chakrasana. This pose is a backward roll which is a transition pose from lying on your back to going to Chaturanga Dandasana.

I always get stuck halfway and Azmi has to help me to roll over. I been trying to roll over on my own and because I doing it very slowly, Azmi said that I am using a lot strength from mula bandha to help me to roll over. Instead, I should be using momentum to help me lift off for the rollover. I tend to tense up and sometimes end up rolling to one side instead of straight over. I also noticed that my legs are bend when I am over instead of straight which is not good as I may end up hurting my knees.

How to do the Pose

1. Lie on your back.

2. Hands under shoulders just like in wheel pose.

3. Roll your feet over your head and touch the ground with your flexed toes.

(note: if you can’t touch your feet, you’re not ready for this transition posture)

4. On the 3rd trial roll, rock a little faster, push hard into your hands, and go all the way over.

I have been surfing the net and found this nice video on how to do the Chakrasana.

No response means yes or no?

When I wrote my last post about Stop Blogging, I was wondering if I would be receiving any feedback on whether I should stop posting articles from other websites that I thought would be of interest to readers of my blog. Well, as of this post, I did not receive any response, so I am thinking whether I should continue to do so.

Stop Blogging

For the past few weeks, I have been quite busy and does not have much time to write articles for my blog. I have just been posting articles which I found to be interesting to share here (credit is always given to the author and website). I have been wondering, is this what my readers want? Would my readers feel short-changed cos’ I am only taking articles from other website and putting them in my blog? Should I stop blogging?.......

Wake Up Ayurvedically

The morning is the start to our day, and when we get a good start, it's likely that we're going to have a great day! Yet waking up can be a challenge for some. Here are tips for how to wake up the Ayurvedic way:

-Wake up before sunrise. This is Vata time, and because Vata deals with movement, it helps to get your body going. Once the sun comes up, it's Kapha time, time to exercise! If you're already up, this is much easier to do. Start with some breathing exercises, and easy yoga, or begin your morning meditation.

-Drink a glass of warm water with some fresh lemon or lime. The warm water stimulates the GI tract, and the citrus helps to loosen up the ama, or toxins, in the digestive tract.

-Splash your face with cool water. This helps to disperse leftover Pitta and prepare the skin for the day ahead. Morning hydration is very important. Rinse your mouth with cool water to get rid of the trapped heat that has dried out the mouth during the night.

-Brush your teeth. Massage your gums. And use a tongue scraper to get rid of built up ama on the tongue. Ayurveda also recommends rinsing your mouth with warm olive or sesame oil - spit it out, don't swallow it. The oil strengthens the teeth, gums and jaw and also helps to protect the voice.

-Massage the circumference of the ears, starting at the top of the ear, with the thumb and index finger. Rub a few drops of olive or sesame oil just inside the nostril to help moisturize and clean the sinuses.

-Exercise the eyes. Roll the eyes up and down, side to side, and also diagonally. Rotate them clockwise and counterclockwise. Squeeze shut, then release. Repeat several times. Splashing open eyes with cool water helps to balance the doshas. If your eyes are puffy, cover them with slices of cucumber.

-Aromatherapy. For Vatas, ginger, cardamom, or orange are most balancing. For Pittas, choose sandalwood or lavender. Kaphas are most balanced by the scent of eucalyptus, rosemary or sage. Massage a little bit of aromatic oil onto the third eye point in a circular motion. Breath slowly and deeply. Lightly massage the temples with the four fingers.

-Eat breakfast. The morning meal is important for getting your metabolism started, so never skip. But don't overindulge, either!

The above is taken from What's Your Dosha newsletter.

Take the quiz and find out what's your dosha? to bring better balance to your life.

Stop & Chew Your Food

I am one of those fast eaters and normally finishes my food before my fellow diners. Sometimes I have indigestion due to this and my body has a lot gas. After reading the article below from Sparkpeople, I now know why I am having those digestive and stomach bloating problems. I hope that you will also find the article enlightening.


The Benefits of Slowing Down & Chewing More
by Liza Barnes, Health Educator

In this era of fast-paced everything, even the act of eating a meal has become something we can do on the run. Breakfast comes in bars, lunch can be eaten while speeding down the highway, and dinner is merely an accompaniment to the evening news, squeezed in between other pressing activities. Invariably, when eating plays second string to everything else, every meal becomes “fast food,” as in eaten-very-fast food. If you find yourself wolfing down your meals in a hurry, you’re actually shortchanging yourself in more ways than you might think.

It turns out there’s a reason food tastes so good. You’re supposed to enjoy it—slow down and savor it, not just get it to your stomach as quickly as possible. Chewing your food thoroughly is actually the first step in the complex process of digestion, and if you glaze over it, just chewing the minimum amount of times necessary to get the food down your esophagus, you’re actually compromising this process. And it’s a mistake many people make.

If you try to imagine swallowing a whole piece of pizza, it’s easy to see why chewing is necessary. But besides breaking up your food into manageable chunks, there’s another good reason to put in the effort and chew. The saliva that coats your food as you chew actually contains digestive enzymes that begin to digest your food before you even swallow it. The enzymes alpha-amylase and lingual lipase begin digesting carbohydrates and fats, reducing the amount of work for which the stomach will be responsible. And it isn’t just a nice gesture. If food fragments are swallowed un-chewed, not only do nutrients remain locked in the fragments, but these fragments create an environment in the colon that is conducive to digestive distress—bacterial overgrowth, gas, and bloating.

For food particles to even leave your stomach though, the “gates” of the stomach, the pyloric sphincter, must open. Conveniently, chewing also aids in this process, signaling this event. And speaking of signals, just seeing your food causes your brain to send signals to the pancreas and stomach to secrete digestive acids and enzymes that are essential to digestion. And the longer your food has contact with your taste and smell receptors—the longer you chew each bite—the stronger these signals become. Strong signals mean more digestive molecules, less indigestion, less acid reflux, and superior nutrient absorption.

Chewing your food thoroughly and eating your meals more slowly has another benefit. It might shrink your waistline—and not just because you’ll have less bloating and indigestion. Eating more slowly gives your body a chance to tell your mind that it’s full, so that you stop eating before you go overboard. In a preliminary study presented at the North American Association for the Study of Obesity’s Annual Scientific Meeting in 2004, study subjects ate less when they were instructed to eat more slowly.

Here are some practical tips for chewing more thoroughly and eating more slowly:

- Give yourself enough time to eat—at least 20-30 minutes just to eat the meal, plus additional time to prepare it.
- Don’t eat amidst distractions, like the TV, computer, or while driving.
-Be fully present while you eat. Notice the smell, temperature, texture, color, and subtle flavor differences of each food you consume.
-Take smaller portions, taking a break before refilling.
-Put your fork down after each bite.
-Eat mindfully, chewing each bite as many times as necessary to pulverize any texture.
-If you’re eating in a group, be aware of the speed at which others are eating. Challenge yourself to be the last to finish.

Besides all of the physical benefits, perhaps the most pleasant benefit of all is that, if you allow yourself to slow down and chew, you’ll enjoy your food much more.

My Pose For The Month - Shoulder Stand

My pose for the month of June is Shoulder Stand (Sarvangasana) which is my favourite yoga pose.

This pose is considered one of the best yoga asanas. The Shoulder Stand stimulates and rejuvenates your entire body. In this exercise, you build up both power and a new structure in your back and you relax tension in well-known stress areas like the neck and the lower back. The muscles of your lower back get stronger, the chest and shoulders can move more freely and the back gets straighter. The Shoulder Stand also stimulates the thyroid gland and is good for blood circulation in the chest, shoulders, upper back and the neck. The Shoulder Stand also provides great benefit to the abdominal organs helping to relieve gas and constipation and stimulate digestion. Regular practice of this posture invigorates the mind and helps to calm the nervous system.

When performed in the morning the Shoulder Stand relieves fatigue caused by sleeping too much or too little and when practiced in the evening it helps to promote deep, restful sleep.



The pose begins by lying on the back. The legs should be straight and close together, while the arms are parallel to the torso. Next raise the legs towards the ceiling, and point the toes upward. Allow the weight of the body to rest on the neck muscles and the deltoid muscles of the shoulders. Support the back and legs into the vertical position by allowing the hands to give the lower back the balance it needs. Breathe deeply while going into the pose.

The pose should be held with the legs and spine straight. Breathe slowly and deeply while concentrating on the thyroid gland which is located in the neck. The shoulder stand has profound effects on this gland and increases its tone. Hold this pose for a couple of minutes for the best effects.

To come out of the pose curve the back and knees simultaneously and lower them to the ground. Remove the hands and place them flat on the floor. When the back is flat on the floor straighten the knees and lower the legs gently.

Immediately after Sarvangasana (Shoulder Stand), you should practise Matsyasana (Fish pose) to double the benefits.

Using blankets in Shoulder Stand

Prepare by putting down a yoga mat. Make a neat stack of three or more firm blankets. Fold each into a neat rectangle and very carefully align them with the folded edges on top of one another. Place the folded edges toward the middle of the mat with the blankets at one end of the mat. The stack should be a bit wider than your shoulders and deep enough so that they will support your upper arms when they are placed behind you in the pose.

In the pose your shoulders should be at the forward edge of the stack with your head on the floor and the neck arching down between them. The stack should be high enough so that there is no compression of the cervical vertebrae in the neck and no tightness in the neck muscles. Use as many folded blankets as necessary to relieve neck strain and tightness. Most people initially need three or four folded blankets. Over time, as your neck muscles lengthen, you will find that you can lower the height of your stack of blankets.

Some points to note:

1. One of the dangers of Shoulderstand is throat tension. You may find that you can feel your pulse very strong in your neck and that you have trouble breathing. If this is the case relax your throat and lighten your stretch.

2. Whilst this is a very beneficial pose, if you're not in the proper alignment you can strain and compress your vertebrae, particularly in the neck area. For this reason, it's important not to turn your head whilst in shoulder stand.

3. Position your arms behind you and bend them so your hands support your back as low down towards the shoulders as possible. The support from your bent arms will help you get more lift in your spine.

4.The hands can best support your back if the upper arms are parallel on the blankets or mat. However, most people find that their elbows tend to splay out when they do this. If your elbows do move out make a looped strap as wide as your shoulders and position it around your upper arms just above the elbows. You will be able to support your torso much more strongly this way.

Caution: Those who are suffering from cervical high blood pressure spondylitis or heart problem should avoid this pose. Likewise, pregnant and menstruating women should also avoid doing this pose.

Watch this video from Iyogalife on how to do the Shoulder Stand.