You’ve followed them on Facebook. You might even take their classes in person once in awhile if they travel to or live in your city. But how well do you know our YogaGlo teachers? We’ve created a new series, Ask a Yogi, so you can learn more about them by asking questions you’ve always wanted to ask.
From favorite poses and tips for beginners to deeper questions about how their practice has changed their worldview, our teachers will collectively answer a new question each week. If you have a questions that you’d like to “Ask a Yogi”, let us know in the comments or email us at hello@yogaglo.com and we’ll add your question to the list.
Today’s Ask a Yogi question is:
Besides yoga, what other forms of exercise do you enjoy participating in regularly?
How does that inform your yoga & vice versa?
- Elena Brower: As a New Yorker I walk a lot and love it. I jump on a mini-trampoline a few times a week, and I love practicing Kundalini meditations and Kriyas.
- Kathryn Budig: I enjoy running a few times a week, hiking, bike rides with my dogs and skydiving. I love to be outside and breathe. It’s all a reminder to be in the present moment and soak in the beauty that we often miss right in front of us.
- Tiffany Cruikshank: I grew up running & playing tennis competitively and doing ballet for about 10 years so I have those in my blood and the athleticism inspires a lot of my teaching and is why I specialize a lot in athletes. Nowadays yoga is my life so I don’t do anything regularly but I still like to play tennis from time to time and every once in a while can be caught running in central park now that I’m back in NYC.
- Steven Espinosa: I like playing basketball. I used to play a lot as a teenager. So for me it’s fun to just run and jump and shoot and bounce a ball around without a care in the world. Which also helps me to remember not to take life so seriously all the time. Which, in turn, helps me to remember not to take the yoga so seriously and forget that it is meant to be fun, too!
- Marc Holzman: Hiking, light weights at the gym, fast walking on the treadmill (on an incline) … and I ride my bike everywhere in Paris twelve months out of the year (brrrrr!) My yoga practice has become so much stronger as a result. Even with hot power yoga classes, I wasn’t hitting the cardio in a way that I really needed. It was my acupuncturist who advised me to get my ass off the mat every so often and go outside in the fresh air and run around. She was absolutely right. So the downside is that my hamstrings are tighter … this just means it takes me a little longer to meet Mr. Hanuman. But he’s worth the extra effort! And vice-versa: there is no doubt that my disciplined meditation practice is what keeps me on the treadmill a little longer without wanting to pull my hair out. Say YES to mixin’ it up.
- Amy Ippoliti: Other forms of exercise – YES! I love to ride my road bike up mountains and into the canyons around my house. I love swimming, functional fitness, hiking, boogie boarding, skate skiing, and stand up paddle boarding (SUP). Doing other exercise has totally helped my practice and made me stronger increased my flexibility. I will admit that road biking makes me stronger but does limit my flexibility in back bends. But it is worth it to be outdoors and on the bike as much as I am!
- Tara Judelle: As much as possible these days I am looking for other forms of movement to inform my body and my practice. Lately I have been obsessed with African Dance and Nia dance. Walking in nature and swimming in the ocean keep it real for me. I am adding Tai Chi and Chi Gong to the routine because I am interested in sourcing energy more authentically and finding the overlaps between systems and asana practice. The greatest way to keep the brain supple is to keep switching up movement, so the body plan doesn’t get stuck in a singular vocabulary.
- Christina Sell: Yoga asana is my primary form or exercise. I also love to swim, to ride a bike, to whitewater kayak, to hike and to take long walks. In general, yoga helps with sports more than sports help with yoga. I am stronger by nature than I am flexible so when I go swimming or boating a lot my shoulders get tighter, when I go biking a lot my thighs and psoas get restricted and when I go hiking and walking a lot, I notice my hips are less open. So when I am doing those activities I have to spend a lot of time “undoing” them in order to make progress in yoga. The more sports I do, the more I need to add in time for flexibility work (and for bodywork). I also remember that most of life happens off the yoga mat and I don’t want to live without having fun times in nature and enjoying myself in these ways and so I keep in mind that a little muscle tightness is not the end of the world.
- Stephanie Snyder: I loathe exercise! I do go for a run once a year just to make sure I still hate it. How does that inform your yoga & vice versa? This means that my yoga is restorative some days and rigorous other days so that I can get what I need on all levels.
- Jo Tastula: I go through phases, but at the moment my main form of exercise besides yoga is walking. Lots of hiking in the Santa Monica mountains and the challenging but effective soft sand shuffle down at Venice beach. I like to get in at least an hour or two a day. Mostly, I enjoy getting outdoors and plugging back into nature. It’s through observing the natural world that we are able to better understand our own wild nature.
- Harshada Wagner: I like to ride my motorcycle. It is not exercise. Not much. But it’s a perfect compliment to my meditation practice and after hours on the motorcycle, you really need a good asana practice.
