Down dog for a down market
yoga, stress management
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The Wall Street Warriors are moving into the Warrior II pose.
The Wall Street Journal carried an interesting story today titled "Yoga Bears: It's No Stretch to Say Traders are Taking Deep Breaths.'' It's about how some of the New York investment companies are offering yoga classes to their employees to help them deal with the stress caused by the current downturn in the stock market.
At one small firm, about a third of the employees are currently taking part in the classes.
It's always nice to see companies that are doing something about the physical and emotional health of their employees, especially in these stressful times.
Here's a link to the WSJ story and accompanying slide show:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121684836042178485.html?mod=hpp_us_pageone
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on 7/25/2008
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6.1
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Wounded Warrior II
yoga, sports injuries
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It's hard to believe that an activity as relaxing and stress-reducing as yoga can actually cause injuries, but it can happen, as a story that MSNBC moved yesterday reports.
Any activity, no matter how beneficial, always brings a risk of overdoing. In yoga, injuries usually result from beginners attempting difficult poses before they have mastered the basics, or from former practitioners coming back years later and trying to jump right in where they left off.
Any good yoga teacher will suggest modified poses for beginners. I would urge newbies to master them before moving on to the more strenuous poses. And listen to your body...If a stretch doesn't feel right, don't force it.
Here's a link to the MSNBC story. I certainly hope it doesn't discourage anyone from trying yoga. Any activity carries risks if you don't do it right. Just start slowly and work your way into it.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25400799/
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on 7/16/2008
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5.4
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The heat is on
yoga, heat yoga
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When I previously blogged about yoga back in March, Fitster slizzard suggested that I try heat yoga. I had heard good things about it and wanted to try it sometime.
As it turned out, World Gym Paramus is now offering a heat yoga class on Saturday mornings, and today I finally had a chance to try it.
The class runs for an hour and a half with the room heated to 85 degrees. One of the regular participants in my Friday morning class was also in this class, and before the class I asked him how they compared. He said he liked them both, for different reasons. He said that while he found our Friday morning instructor, Karen, to be "more athletic," he considered this instructor "more sensual," and that he found the heat yoga class cleared his head more.
Well, I found this class to be plenty athletic, with lots of planks and other core exercises. And with the extra half hour, it was a pretty intense workout.
A couple of cautions: If you try it, be sure to bring water, because you're going to sweat like a pig. Also, make a pit stop immediately before the class begins, because your bladder will be screaming in no time!
My verdict? I enjoyed the class. It was a nice change of pace from my regular routine, but I don't think I'll be doing it on a regular basis.
In my previous blog, I described yoga as "the perfect warmup." I said I found that the regular hatha class energized me for the rest of the day.
The heat yoga, on the other hand, completely sapped my energy. I didn't feel like doing any more exercise afterwards. It was like exercising in the sauna.
I'm glad I tried the heat yoga, but with a limited amount of time available to work out, I think my time is better spent on weight training and cardio.
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on 6/14/2008
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9.3
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Yoga - the perfect warmup
yoga, stretching, warmups, sunbird, full wheel
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Hey, look, Jen24! I CAN do a full wheel!
Ok, maybe I can't go up as high as she can, but it's still pretty good for a guy old enough to be her father!
I've been taking a weekly yoga class at World Gym for about the last nine months, and I love it. Not only do the stretches feel great, but it's had other benefits as well.
I originally started taking the class on the advice of my podiatrist. I have very bad bunions (I'm gonna have to have surgery eventually), especially on my right foot, and this puts a lot of stress on my hip when I run. The podiatrist sent me for physical therapy to treat my hip flexion, and when I maxed out on the number of sessions my insurance plan would pay for, he advised me to try yoga.
Fortunately my gym offered a Friday morning yoga class at a time when I could go before work. The instructor, Karen, sets a great mood for the class, delivering positive messages along with teaching the exercises. In addition to stretching, yoga exercises involve a lot of work on balance and core strength training. Karen's routine usually includes planks, which are an essential part of any core exercise program. I always feel better equipped to face a day of deadline pressure after Karen's class.
Then a few months ago I had a new revelation. Usually I have to go straight to work after the class, but once when I had the day off I scheduled a session with my personal trainer, Bob Feil, right after the class. Bob was very pleased with my performance that day, and said I was the strongest I'd ever been. I asked if the yoga class could have had anything to do with it. In my WITS course, I was taught that you should warm up with some light cardio instead of stretching, and this seemed to fly in the face of that. Bob observed that although he had never done yoga himself, from what he had heard about it, it involves a lot more than stretching, and would make a good warmup.
So ever since then... read entire entry
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on 3/26/2008
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18.9
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Biggest Loser Jersey
weight loss, weightlifting, diet, yoga, spinning
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Permit me to introduce myself. I'm Jim Berrie, and by day I'm a mild-mannered copy editor for The Star-Ledger, New Jersey's biggest daily newspaper. Outside of work, I'm working on getting my certification as a personal trainer. Three years ago, at the age of 53, I weighed 225 and was on meds for high blood pressure, high cholesterol and depression. I got on a serious fitness regimen that emphasized freeweights, and in a little over a year I lost 60 pounds and got off all three meds. Since I've been able to keep the weight off, I want to help other people lose weight.
In addition to becoming a personal trainer, I will be serving as a coach for a Biggest Loser afflilate club being launched by The Star-Ledger for its staff. We expect to have the program up and running in early April. On this blog I hope to share some of my own experiences in weight loss and fitness, as well as success stories from The Star-Ledger's Biggest Loser program.
Although I usually labor anonymously behind the scenes, I have a rare byline in tomorrow's Star-Ledger. Unless Britney Spears does something outrageous today that bumps my story out of the paper, my story about Jenn Widder, one of the contestants in the current "Biggest Loser: Couples" season will be running on the cover of the Today section. Jenn lives in the same town I do, River Edge, N.J., and she has kindly offered to come and speak to our Biggest Loser club. Jenn was eliminated from the show in Week 5 after having lost 31 pounds, and since then she has lost another 31, as she continues to work out six days a week full time. She should be an inspiration to anyone battling a weight problem. For those of you who don't live in The Star-Ledger's circulation area, the story should be posted on nj.com, and I hope to provide a link on this blog tomorrow.
I'm looking forward to sharing my experiences with all of you. Stay tuned!
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on 2/27/2008
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10.7
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