Author Archive

Last month, before the big game….we covered How to maintain your practice during the Super Bowl – this month the question is for us, New Orleans yogis, how to maintain our practice during Mardi Gras?!?  Most of us would like to spend time on our mats and on St. Charles Avenue to watch the parades…so how do we manage to do both? Easy, just requires a little balance, exactly what we’ve been working on, right?

Whether you’re riding in, marching in or watching parades this year, you can always sneak in a little practice. Try tadasana (no one will even notice, especially if your friends are drunk). You can even try a little tree stand or

warrior 1

warrior 1. If anyone looks at you kind of strange, just wink, smile and practice a little non-attachment by handing over your best catch of the day. That solves that.

If you happen to find that you’ve overindulged, or, far more likely, that you just so happen to be dehydrated, then a restorative practice might be just the thing for you. A restorative practice could include Legs up the Wall, gentle hip openers,

child

child’s pose and savasana. Follow up with a hot bath with sea salt and eucalyptus essential oil and you’ll be good as gold, black and gold, that is.

Enjoy the next few days having the best of both worlds the Yogi World and Mardi Gras World!!

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Heather Ryan is a strength trainer and certified yoga instructor in New Orleans. She trains clients at Ultimate Fitness and teaches at NOLA House of Yoga. You can also find Heather cooking on The Herbivore Next Door show.

2010 is off to a blissful beginning.  Mardi Gras AND the Super Bowl! What’s a yogi to do? I can see yogis, jumping off their mats, rushing out the door to follow Xavier prep down Laurel Street or leaping out of bed as the Buzzards walk by with drinks in hand at 6:30 am, Mardi Gras day.

I see Saints fans trying their best to meditate before the big game, with thoughts of touchdowns interrupting their efforts.  I’ve considered our options, yogic revelers. How can we practice and party?  Easy, just requires a little balance, exactly what we’ve been working on, right?

Lets’s start with the Big Game and in the next post we’ll get into Mardi Gras.

Have any of you noticed your heart rate skyrocketing during the past few games? We have a lot of emotional energy invested in our city and our fantastic team. If you find your chest tightening and your heart pounding wildly during the big game, it might not be a bad idea to try a couple of breathing exercises during commercial breaks.

You can begin diaphragmatic breathing by simply bringing a palm to rest on your belly.  Allow your upper chest and shoulders to relax and trace your inhale as it enters your nose and travels all the way down to the diaphragm.  When your belly expands at the bottom of your inhale, you’ll feel your palm move out with the rise of your belly.  As you exhale, your abdomen will begin to settle toward your spine.  This diaphragmatic movement activates the vagus nerve, which, in turn, stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, thereby slowing your heart, oxygenating your organs, easing muscle tension and generally calming you down.  A couple of minutes of diaphragmatic breathing can work wonders on the nervous system.

Another calming technique is left nostril breathing.  Gently close your right nostril with your right thumb; bring your two peace fingers to rest between your eyes.  Inhale and exhale through the left nostril. Allow the exhalation to last a couple of seconds longer than the inhalation. You could even include a silent mantra on both the inhalation and exhalation, for example:

Inhale: Saints
Exhale: Victory

At the same time, you can visualize an open field with your favorite player racing towards an easy touchdown…for a nice added touch.

Thank you to the Saints for giving us so much to celebrate.

Peace, love, namaste and WHO DAT!!!

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Heather Ryan is a strength trainer and certified yoga instructor in New Orleans. She trains clients at Ultimate Fitness and teaches at NOLA House of Yoga. You can also find Heather cooking on The Herbivore Next Door show.