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MFT-Breathing Exersises

Today I woke up and ran 3 miles then went straight into MMA Yoga. MMA Yoga is one of our hardest classes at Arrichion. It is yoga with 3 lb weights but the unique thing about this class is we punch, kick, knee, duck, ground and pound and many other various mixed martial exercises to stimulate what UFC Fighters do to get in shape. It is intense. Created by my brothers who have wrestled their whole life and know what it takes to be in the best shape.

Let’s just say today to get through 3 miles in crazy humidity and this MMA class I needed to focus on my breathing. Here is 2 videos about how to breathe.
Key points for Yoga Breathing:

Focus on making your inhales same length as your exhales.
As you inhale you expand your stomach creating more space
As you exhale letting your stomach fall in giving yourself a chance to get all the air out
Always go back to your breathe when you are nervous, heart is racing or you feel out of breath
The goal is the lengthen your inhales and lengthen your exhales. Getting all the air out. Never leaving stale air in the body.

Key points for Breath of Fire

Relax your stomach completely creating a Buddha belly
Take one big inhale before you begin
As you exhale the air out of your mouth forceful suck in your stomach
Don’t worry about the inhalations those will come naturally
Do focus on expanding your stomach fully before you suck in your stomach between sets
Keep your spine straight
Build into only using your abdominal muscles so your spine or shoulders do not move
This pose is warming you up, bringing fire to your abs, and teaching you to have complete control of your breath

Namaste 🙂

http://www.arrichion.com 

August 19, 2015 0

Technique Thursday

New Poses we have incorporated into our new Diamond class!

Tiger pose

How to:

Key points:

•Make sure to reach for opposite foot.

•Focus on kicking the foot into the hand, up and out.

•Look a couple inches out on your mat. Not straining your neck.
Garland pose & Deep Stretch for your inner thighs

•Focus on bringing your heels to the mat in all 3 exercises. (As you notice mine are so tight so I am working towards that)

•focus on pressing your elbow into your knees in garland pose

•Focus on chest up, shoulders down and working towards leaning back in garland pose

•focus on heels on the mat in the extended leg stretch.

•In extended leg you want to feel the stretch in your heel, calf and inner thighs. Plus the stretch in the extended leg
That is all for today. Check back for a few more new poses that we do in our diamond 2.0 class! It is an awesome and challenging class. Remember this class is all about holding stretches for a while.

August 14, 2015 0

Technique Thursday- Acroyoga

Lisako giving us a few tips on how to be a strong base and how to fly.

Poses you can do to strengthen your muscles and get over the fear of flying.
1. Plank hold with blocks

2. Laying on the blocks learning where your sweet spot is and building core strength

Acro yoga teaches you to let go of control and trust your partner. You learn to communicate effectively with your partner (base and flyer) as well as your spotter.

Even kids can do it! Especially great for kids to work on building confidence, trusting their partner and working together.

July 31, 2015 0

Local business owner & hot yoga instructor takes over @weloveclt

This week for my MFT we had work overload and let Instagram follower @weloveclt watch us takeover the Queen City. Check out our adventure

MMA YOGA- yoga with 3lb weights

Stopped by my favorite hair stylist Kenna at New Seele Salon in south end. She trimmed my hair and put it in a fun bun.

We are dropping off some marketing materials @athleta in #SouthparkMall. @arrichion is the upcoming studio of the month so we will be offering free classes every Sunday during the month of August. Join us in-store this Sunday at 11am for a free 1-hour @arrichionAcro session led by the dynamic duo @titus_tard and @kogadoesyoga! Athleta is a perfect place to find fitness apparel in Charlotte. We love shopping and working with #TeamAthleta managed by Tiffany, Kristen and Shannon.

As small business owners, we have to wear many hats. We are teachers, coaches, handyman (or handywoman), administrative assistants, supply managers, PR executives, the list goes on. @kogadoesyoga, in addition to managing 2 studios in Raleigh and Durham, is also our creative designer (check out her work at @yogaabranding). Here we are behind the scene from our photo shoot for newly launched @arrichion website (arrichion.com).

We are back at the studio again. (#WeLiveHere) This evening we are teaching our signature hybrid class #TigersEye (half circuit training and half hot yoga). It is one of the toughest workout in the country.
Tonight we celebrate Paul, ## years old member who reached his 500th class milestone!

Once in a while we bust out our #noStretchyPants. This evening we are having business dinner/meeting at @Fahrenheit, one of the hottest restaurants in town. We love the view of the Queen City! We are meeting with the owner/chef Rocco for an idea of a Rooftop #StretchAndSip yoga class in the future. You can take 2 girls out of yoga but you can’t get yoga out of these two. #yogaeverywhere

No, we are not playing Dungeons and Dragons. Work follows us wherever we go (even on vacation!) Our work at the studio maybe done for the day but there are plenty of backend business work to keep us up late at night. But we do it because truly love what we do at Arrichion. When you are passionate about what you do, you will wake up everyday looking forward to what lies ahead. Thanks for tuning in with us today!

July 30, 2015 0

EVEN IN THE MOST unbalanced situations BALANCE IS NEVER TOO FAR. -unknown author

Headstands-

There are many different variations and ways to build into it. Here are a few of my favorite techniques.

When you first start out working on a headstand make sure you have a strong dolphin. After you feel comfortable in dolphin move to the wall and then finally away from the wall with or without a spotter.

Supported Headstand with the wall

Key Points to focus on:

Keep strong arms. Don’t let your elbows flair out
Walk your feet all the way up towards your arms until it is uncomfortable then lift your legs.
Try not to use any momentum just core strength
Head is on the mat but not a lot of weight pressed down.
Keep the weight in your core strength and shoulder strength
Lengthen through your spine, not crunching your neck
Abdominal muscles engaged, sucking in your lower abs not curving your spine.

Benefits:

Brings circulation to your brain.
Builds core strength and shoulder strength
Lengthens spine
Brings energy to the brain
Builds confidence

Supported headstand w/a spotter and a bean bag!

Key points to focus on (Lisako, owner/instructor at Raleigh & Durham thought of the bean bag idea and it is brillant) :

Same key points listed above
Having a spotter you trust
Trusting the bean bag 😉
Having the spotter be there but not holding you up.

Headstand without the wall

(Lisako Koga pictured above)

Key Points on how to move away from the wall w/no spotter:

Trust yourself, you have built strength and confidence…now Believe
Start with one leg bent and one leg straight.
Some people try with both legs bent, tightening up their abs then extending the legs.
Keep strong foundation.
Try easing into it slowly and with control
If you fall tuck your chin, relax and roll back.

Here is a video of a warm up you can do then into supported headstand:

Here is a variation of Crow to Headstand. Some yogis feel this way is easier.

Feel free to ask questions or post your videos online so I can watch and give you help. Now GO GIVE IT A TRY, Get upside down! Pictures below of Headstands all around!

(headstands with friends)

MFT

My mother f*n Tuesday started with a 3 mile run followed by a kick a$$ MMA Yoga class. This class is 45 mins. All hot yoga w/ 3lb weights. It is by far the hardest class in the Queen City!

Here is a time lapse of my class 🙂