The "Aha!" Moment During the Master Cleanse

I glazed over the fact that I was fasting for the past week in my last post, but I feel like I should dive deeper into the subject because of my "Aha!" moment.

I guess the real reason I started the "master cleanse" 9 days ago was because i wanted to feel what it was going to do to my body. I also thought i might have some sort of epiphany or something. Only drinking a mixture of water, maple syrup, lemon juice and cayenne pepper for 10 days aught to make you feel something, right?

I have to admit that this has been the absolute hardest thing I have ever done in my life. Going on all day only drinking this "lemonade" mixture whenever I feel hungry is such a hard thing to do when all you really wanna scarf is some Doritos. Or even some fried tofu with green beans and garlic sauce. Or a Boston Creme Donut. Here I go again.

Halfway through the fast, when it started becoming increasingly hard, a friend reminded me that when the body doesn't have to use its energy digesting food, it can use its energy to help other areas of your body that may be otherwise neglected. This thought helped a lot...and it was the beginning of me internalizing what was going on.

A few hours ago while I was feeling a little bummed that tomorrow would be my last day on the fast and I had yet to experience an "aha!" moment, it came to me. Much like digestion, my feelings toward my "American" eating habits were also being changed by the cleanse. The past 9 days, I have only drank when I was hungry. And though I was only taking in about 650 calories a day, I felt more alive than I have ever been. I for once was allowing myself to stop thinking about food all the time and was then able t focus on other things in my life that I had been neglecting.

I tried to begin listing "for instances," but none came to me :) But I do feel an indescribable difference. A difference large enough to convince myself that though this cleanse has been the hardest thing I have ever done, I need to do it every year. If only as a reminder of this indescribable feeling I have.

When I can eat regular food on Sunday (there is a "weaning off" process that last a few days after the 10 day of the cleanse), I will admit I am going to have some guacamole...some Mexican food! But hopefully I will carry on a bit of the habits I started with the cleanse.

Some weird things that happened during the cleanse:
-Lactic acid built up faster in my legs when I was at rehearsal
-I felt more focused when I drove my car
-Oddly, I felt more energetic, and more flexible than normal
-I lost almost 15 pounds...in 9 days
-I craved Doritos like you wouldn't believe...and I also craved meat, which is weird because I have been a vegetarian for 15 years

All in all, I know that I said earlier that I wouldn't recommend this cleanse to anyone, but after tonight, I think it is necessary to recharge your body and mind at least once a year.

Procrastination?

Wow, it has been over a month since my last post. Where did the time go? Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to completely dive into those three Yoga videos I wrote about in my last post. They will just have to wait until I am done with the zillions of projects I have going on both with my job and extra curricular dancing as well.


Speaking of projects, we added a cool new shirt to YogaDirect.com It says "I'll Be OHM for the Holidays." It comes in men's and ladies' sizes. They make great gifts!




Busy busy busy! There's also been some photo shoots going on! My good friend Amy who will be a Certified Yoga Instructor in January came by to do a photo shoot with some of our new items, like the Dome Yoga Balls, our new Printed Alignment Yoga Mats, the new sizes and weights for our Weighted Pilates Balls, and our new Zafus. Here's a sample of some one of the great shots we got of her using Resistance Bands.




I also had a photo shoot with a photographer trying to build his portfolio with dance and dancer photos. Here's a funny photo of myself posing with a Yoga Ball I got from YogaDirect.com




I have also been on the "Master Cleanse" this past week. I am currently on day 8 of the 10 day fast, and I am actually feeling great. (Although working in an office full of food has made it a little more rough than expected). I did a fruit and vegetable fast in the spring, and after experiencing this one, I feel that it is a good idea to continue this spring and fall fasts every year...kind of like spring cleaning for my body.

That's all for now. Hopefully I will be able to get in a few more posts before the end of the year...just in time for new year's resolutions! I know what is going to be #1 on my list: MORE YOGA!

Yoga DVD's and Home Practice

I have been sooooooo very busy lately. Between rehearsals for Soma Dance Company, working at YogaDirect.com, and rehearsing for the Jazz Nutcracker (it's just like the regular Nutcracker...but jazzy), I haven't had much time to go to any Yoga classes lately. I have, however, been keeping up with stretching at least a little bit every day. It is so important to keep your spine nice and flexible because it is probably the most important set of bones in your body. And I can't tell you just how good it feels to do a nice spinal twist, especially if you sit at a desk all day at work like I do. Keeping your spine healthy and supple is key to being healthier as you grow older.

Well, because I haven't been to a Yoga class in a while, I decided to pick up some new Yoga videos. Like I have stated before, we have a GREAT selection of Yoga DVD's at YogaDirect.com (you can find them by clicking here). One of the pieces of choreography we are working on in Soma Dance Company requires me to lift another dancer for pretty much the entire dance. And since my upper body is slightly weaker than my lower body (as most dancers are), I picked up these three DVD's:



I chose these three because I thought they'd help me build muscles, and also stretch them out. Yoga doesn't really build bulky muscles, but I already have overly muscular thighs from years of doing ballet (improperly) that I have been trying to stretch out. Also, because my quads are over-developed, my hamstrings are tight, and I am hoping these videos may help balance me out more. I also want to be able to developpe (or extend) my leg up a bit higher than I already can. Just so I can have bragging rights, of course. This is how high I can get my leg up now:

I'd also like to be able to do that without lifting my hip up, as shown in the photo (and without the funny-looking face too!). So I am going to be doing those DVD's at my home and I will report back about the DVD's and if they can help me increase my strength and flexibility by doing Yoga in my own home!

Hyperextended Joints and Yoga

Lately, I've been addicted to practicing Yoga in my livingroom using DVD's from YogaDirect.com (of course!). However, I have been noticing that some of the demonstrators in the videos have hyper extended elbows and knees and don't really pay attention to correctly aligning their joints while they practice. Not only does it look gross to see a backward bending knee or elbow, but it is very dangerous to put pressure on an overly extended joint.



Caught dancing with hyper extended elbows

I have hyper extended elbows and knees myself, and as a dancer, I've had to train myself to become more aware of correct placement so I don't get injured (or look disgusting on stage...I have had a few photos shot of myself during performances with my arms looking backwards...see above!). So I did a little research about hyper extension and how to deal with it in Yoga class.


My gross hyper extended elbows


Hyper extended joints, or joint hyper mobility, is hereditary and is mainly caused by loose ligaments around the joint. If you stand with hyper extended knees, your body weight is no longer evenly distributed in your feet, and the weight of your body becomes held up by your heels. Over time, this pressure in your heels will cause flat feet, or even pronation (when your feet roll in). Plus, once your legs get used to the hyper extended stance, your vastus medialis obliques (the muscles toward the inside of your thighs) become weak and the quads take over. Hyper extension of the knee also causes hip problems. Remember, once one part of your body is misaligned, other muscles will try to compensate, leaving you with more to correct later on than just your overly flexible knees. Over extended elbows are also problematic in postures that require you to put weight on them such as plank pose.



Your joints are connected by delicate tissues and over time, if you continuously over extend, the tissues get worn away. Once the tissue is gone, you may get arthritis, or another painful joint injury. Also, when you hyper extend your knees in a standing posture, you are actually slightly cutting off the flow of blood to your feet, which is the opposite of what Yoga is trying to do in your body.


If you know that you have hyper extended joints, you should wear something to Yoga class that will expose those parts, like shorts or tight-fitted pants, so you can keep a close eye on your knees and elbows while you are in class. Make a conscious effort to keep your knees and elbows slightly bent in postures. It will feel weird at first, but relying on muscles for alignment is much better than relying on some connective tissue to keep you on your feet!

Yoga Balls = Party Chairs

I threw a Calzone Party at my apartment the other night. I invited over some of my closest friends and we all enjoyed some drinks and made calzones. However, I did not have enough chairs for everyone who showed up, so I got the bright idea to use Yoga Balls! Since I had about 5 of them laying around my apartment, I brought them all out & they instantly became a hit!



Two of the friends I invited over were dancers, but the rest were unfamiliar with what the Yoga Balls were used for, and as the night went on, we all did a little ab work, fell off the balls occasionally, and generally had a great time on our new chairs! I recommend using Yoga Balls for chairs at any party!

Yoga Ball = Computer Chair

This week I decided to switch out my regular computer chair with my Yoga Ball. I decided to do this mostly because my body is incredibly sore from dance rehearsals this week and slouching in a regular chair proved to be more uncomfortable than relaxing. The Yoga Ball I am using is a silver 75cm ball from YogaDirect.com (of course!).




At first I thought I'd get tired of sitting on the thing, but that never happened. I feel like I have been sitting with perfect posture the whole time I am working, and it is even great to take a little break now and again to do some Pilates on the Ball while I am working, because well, why not! I also enjoyed being able to bounce whenever I feel like it, and that is always fun to break up the big tedious projects I have going on.

Since I work at YogaDirect.com, I don't have any co-workers really giving me weird looks because of the ball, but one of the newer employees asked me all sorts of questions about it. He wanted to know if it was weird to be sitting on something that could "oscillate" all over the place. Yes, he used the word oscillate! So I told him the ball is supposed to move around, and when it moves, your abs have to work extra hard so you can stay balanced on the ball. He then asked if he could try sitting on it, and as soon as he did, he fell right into me! Guess it takes a little practice to sit on a ball.

If you'd like to sit at a ball at your own desk, I suggest getting a size or two up from the ball you'd normally get to work out with. I think any ball within the 75cm-85cm range will work best. We have a pretty good selection of Yoga Balls at YogaDirect.com, of course, so go get one for yourself and start sitting with perfect posture at your desk every day!

Jumping Off Rocks

I have been planning on going to Enders Waterfall in Granby, Connecticut with friends for about three weeks now, but something has always come up. This weekend, however, I finally ended up going! My friends had been there before and had told me all sorts of exciting stories about sliding down the waterfalls and jumping off cliffs into the water and I was dying to try it myself.


We got off to a late start, but we hiked down to the falls by about 2:30pm, and it was definitely still hot out, even when we were shielded by the woods. However, because there hadn't been any substantial rainfall the past week, it wasn't safe enough for us to slide down because the water level was so low. We hiked to a different spot where there were 3 different level cliffs where we could jump off into the water.



This was the shortest cliff...the first one I jumped off of.


Jumping off cliffs into water always sounds like a fun thing to do...until you are actually standing at the edge of the cliff. The lowest rock ledge you could jump off was about 10 feet from the water, so of course I tried that one first. My friend Amy (also a newby) shook at the edge with me for about 10 minutes before we got up enough courage to actually jump off. It's so strange how even though you know you will be perfectly safe jumping because you will be landing in a nice, deep pool of water, it still takes a while for your brain to shut off and just let your body act. I mean, other people were doing flips off this ledge, so why can't I just step off? And of course before i jumped off that first one I had to calm my breathing, and before I knew it I had landed in the cool water!


After feeling like I could do ANYTHING because I had jumped that first ledge, I decided to try the second, higher level. This one was about 15-20 feet high, and there was a bush in the way of the jump. This one made me the most nervous because you had to make sure you jumped in a certain spot or you'd land on some rocks below. Yes I know, very safe! But after a little chickening out, I jumped, and landed on the water with my backside. It created a large red mark on me for a bit, but it was fun!



This is the view from the second highest cliff.


After that second jump, it was time to climb to the highest cliff. This one was definitely the scariest because it was so high (about 25-30 feet from the water below) and my friends were saying that when you are falling, you have some hang time in the air before you hit the water. In other words, while you are falling, you have time to realize that you are a crazy person! Needless to say it took me 10 minutes of chickening out before I stopped shaking enough to jump. Looking down the edge of the cliff 8,000 times before I attempted didn't really help much. It's such a crazy feeling to jump off of something that high. And it is a little mind blowing as well because while you know that it is perfectly safe, you brain knows that jumping off cliffs is not something it is used to. Your body almost goes into panic mode! I had to take a few steps backwards to give myself a running start because if I kept looking down to the water below, I never would have taken the jump. And let me tell you, you do get a bit of time falling through the air before you hit the water. It was completely exhilarating!



This is the view down standing on the tallest cliff.


So while this post is not about Yoga, I thought the experience in itself was much like going through a very strenuous Yoga class. Sometimes for your body to grow you just need to shut off your mind and go for it. Once you step off the edge of that cliff, you can do anything!