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The Wild and Woolly Wim Hof Method

Wim Hof is a wonder. He has a wonderful program of healing and regeneration that can heal you, make you stronger, and change who you are as a person. The “Wim Hof Method” is a $200.00 USD series of 10 weekly video instructions that will lead you into a better well-being. Wim concentrates on breathing to cleanse the toxins from your body, cold water therapy (using regular showers and ice baths) to shock your system back into responding to your environment, and some yoga positions that will help challenge, and focus, your daily breath.

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Elissa Reilly Slater Wins Big Brother 15!

Elissa Reilly Slater was evicted from the Big Brother 15 house last night, effectively ending her chance to win half a million dollars, but she kept her morality and dignity intact and that, to me, is more precious than Big Brother blood money, and as far as I’m concerned the real, true, and only winner of BB15 is Elissa even though the show runs for another two weeks.

From the start of the show, Elissa was marked.  Her horrible sister Rachel was a previous winner, and professional whiner, and there are few Rachel Reilly fans in the Big Brother world.  Elissa was tagged by the other houseguests as being favored by the producers — and she was, just because of her shared bloodline with a previous winner — and it didn’t help that Elissa, a doppelgänger of her sister, denied being Rachel’s sister when asked.  A lie from the clean start can never really take you to the dirty end in victory.

That said, Elissa, a premier athlete of a Yoga instructor, bided her time and played the game as well as she could all alone.  She tried to make alliances.  She wanted to team up.  Nobody would have her.  Nobody listened to her insight or wisdom.  She was written off as a sibling airhead by everyone in the house — even her supposed “friend” Helen — who dictated to Elissa without ever hearing her.

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The Joy and Necessity of Diaphragmatic Breathing

One of my worst habits is holding my breath.  If I’m in a stress situation, I stop breathing.  If I am in high-concentration mode, I stop breathing.  When I tend to exercise — even during my Yoga asanas — I tend to forget where I am and hold my breath instead of breathing properly.

The reason it is a bad idea to hold your breath — except when you’re under the water and such — is because holding your breath spikes your blood pressure something awful.  Your face changes color.  Your heart rate rises.  Your whole innards are about to explode through your noggin.

Learning how to effectively breathe is key — not only during Yoga and aerobic exercise — but during your regular, ordinary, life as well.

The problem with our breathing is that so few of us do it properly.  We breathe by expanding our ribcage instead of dropping our diaphragms and extending our stomachs.

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Crocs: I Hate You, Now DIE!

When a person is in pain, they will go to any lengths to help ease the suffering.  Ever since my unfortunate Times Square Tripping accident, my left foot has not quite been right.

I’ve had a touch of Plantar fasciitis since the accident and that gives me a bit of heel pain when I walk — and I walk a lot!   A couple of weeks ago, I also wrenched the middle toe on the same foot during a hurried Yoga session — where I learned the hard way to always be present and breathe.

I’m obsessively on the lookout for good and proper shoes, and I’ve heard a lot about Crocs being a great and comfortable shoe.  I never stepped a foot into the mouth of the crocodile because Crocs were hard to find, and because I hate ordering shoes online.

It often takes forever to get shoes delivered — even if you overpay for overnight shipping.  Crocs.com, I discovered the hard way this week, are no better than the Payless when it comes to getting the right shoes on your foot in the nick of time.

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Lessons Viewed from Afar: Yoga at Bryant Park

One of the greatest things about living and working in New York City is seeing real life happenings that look like staged events.  Janna and I are currently teaching together in Manhattan, and all Summer we have had the pleasure to watch — from our classroom perch on West 40th Street — weekly group Yoga sessions in Bryant Park.  Last night after the final class, I flung open the window and took this image.  You can see the Bryant Park carousel in the foreground and at least 300 yoga students congregating and sprawling on yoga mats on the green.  The students change poses in unison.  It’s like watching a beautiful, magical, dance from afar between the trees.

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The Bad Karma of Take Back Yoga

Is it Bad Karma to take back something you freely gave to the world?  The “Take Back Yoga” movement wants their Yoga back.

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P90X Review, Part Two

Gordon Davidescu wrote this article.

“The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” How often I have repeated this expression, an adaptation of a couple of verses from a poem by Robert Burns : “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft a-gley.” This seems quite relevant to my P90X training and it stuck out to me over and over again when I thought I had things just right, and then managed to fail in a glorious manner.

Continue reading → P90X Review, Part Two