Healthy Life Studio

Q: What does yoga mean?

A: Yoga can be traced back to around 5,000 years ago and is a Sanskrit word meaning to join or yoke; union.  Its full meaning encompasses the union of body, mind, and spirit.  For our culture, yoga plays a leading role in reducing the stress and anxiety of modern life.  A quiet mind and body can awaken the depths of being and frees us to live our optimal, healthy life.

 Q: What is Yoga?

A: In the United States, yoga is known as the practice of physical poses (asana), linked with breath (pranayama) to aid in building strength, increasing flexibility, and reducing stress. 

However, the practice of yoga is much more than a system of physical exercise for health. Yoga is a scientific system of physical and mental practices that originated in India thousands of years ago. Its purpose is to help each one of us achieve our highest potential, to experience enduring health and happiness, and improve the quality of our lives.

Yoga is different than “exercise” because it stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, it balances the activity of opposing muscle groups, yoga is noncompetitive and process-oriented, and the awareness is internal, focusing on the breath.  Yoga truly unites all parts of our being, body, mind, and spirit, leading to a healthy life.

Q: Is Yoga a religion?

A: While Yoga is one of the orthodox philosophies of India, it is NOT a religion.  Yoga can have spiritual elements, but it does not interfere with any religion.  In fact, many people find that it enhances their religious beliefs.

Q: What are some of the benefits of Yoga?

A: There are too many health benefits to list here!  Please stop by the Healthy Life Studio and talk to studio owner, Lizz Cowley for more detailed scientific and health benefit of a regular yoga practice. 

Some of Yoga’s benefits include strengthening the entrie body, improving flexibility, developing balance, improving circulation and immune response, and reducing stress.  Yoga is an excellent compliment to any activities that you already do, helping to prevent injuries and establish greater stability and range of motion. 

Yoga also calms the mind, improves concentration. It steadies the emotions and open the heart to feeling more fully alive.

Benefits can vary depending on how often you practice:

1-2 Classes/week

Reduces stress, modest improvement in flexibility and strength, modest improvement in breathing and postural awareness, and better sleep

3-4 Classes/week

All of the above PLUS, significant increase in strength, flexibility and balance, increased energy, improved circulation and skin, stronger immune system, improved concentration and memory, improved overall sense of well being.

 5 or more Classes/week

All of the above PLUS, greater endurance and energy, structural reintegration of your body, profound mental clarity and emotional stability, profound inner awareness and sense of overall well being and health.

Q: Can I lose weight with yoga?

A: Yes…and here’s why: While Yoga is not always considered a high-intensity workout it does burn calories, around 200-600/hour.  Yoga builds muscle, raising your metabolism.  Yoga also enhances everything we do in life, improving body awareness and self respect, which affects our choices about food and how we nourish our bodies and spirits.  If you want to lose weight, practicing more than 3 times per week will aid in achieving the best results.  Please visit the Healthy Life Studio and talk with us to learn more about the research linking successful weight loss with stress reduction and mind/body work.  You would be surprised at how much new scientific information is coming out regarding the effects of stress-reduction on weight loss.  It’s actually the most important aspect of weight-loss!

 Q: What if I’m not flexible?

A: Perfect! At the Healthy Life Studio, we encourage you to worry less about touching your toes and more about cultivating a flexible mind.  You DO NOT need to be physically flexible to do yoga.  Practicing yoga helps you to develop flexibility in your physical body and your mental body.  All you need is to do come as you are, select the appropriate level class for you on that day, and then focus on breathing, letting go, and respecting your limitations. A regular yoga practice will increase anyone’s flexibility, even the flexibility in how we treat ourselves and others.

Q: How should I feel during and after class?

A: During a yoga class, go slowly and remember that practicing is an exploration.  Each pose is an experiment that can change on a daily basis.  Listen to your body.  Learn to determine when you are pushing too much or not challenging yourself enough.  Remember to breathe.  When you are breathing in harmony with your movements you are paying attention in a deep way. Paying attention not only prevents injury, but also speaks to the heart of what yoga is about.  Take the time to slow down and learn the proper physical alignment and compassionate discipline within your practice.  Remember, yoga is not about touching your toes; it’s what you learn about yourself on the way to touching your toes.

After relaxation note how you feel.  A lot of people have a feeling of deep relaxation, lightness, and equanimity between the body and the nervous system.  Some people may feel a little soreness the next day.  Please honor your limits and your body.

Q: What exactly is Mind-Body Coaching?  Why would I want to experience it?

A: The main philosophy behind this type of coaching is:  Why spend your life feeling okay, doing things that you tolerate, and surviving when you could be feeling happiness, doing things you love (spectacularly!), and thriving?

Mind-Body Coaching is all about teaching you tools and concepts to effectively reduce stress, increase your energy, connect with your own intuition, and shed self-critical and self-defeating thoughts and behaviors.  The Mind-Body Coaching interactives offered weekly at The Healthy Life Studio cover a variety of topics: stress relief, finding fulfillment, weight loss, and learning how to hear and understand the wisdom of your own body.

It’s easy to become focused on to-do lists, worries, and self-judgments.  Reconnecting with your body raises your emotional IQ and gives you access to your intuition and inner wisdom.  This in turn leads you to complete health and takes your life off autopilot.  Mind-Body Coaching gives you concrete tools to weather difficulties and challenges without getting completely knocked off-balance.

Little did I know the role my own mind plays in my emotions, daily life, and stress.  Then I went through Martha Beck coach training and discovered how to live my life with authority, confidence, joy, and freedom.  I love having these incredible tools to use in my own life, and I love sharing them even more.  Whether it’s my one-on-one clients or my workshop participants, I get to watch people blossom as they apply the tools, work with their own minds and bodies, and discover their own passions.  Mind-Body Coaching is something you have to experience to fully understand, so come check it out!

Here’s a quick freebie: If you feel a slight tickling in your stomach (a bit like butterflies in your stomach when you’re excited and nervous at the same time) as you read the workshop topics and descriptions, and if you find yourself feeling really curious, then your intuition is guiding you to explore and experience the Mind-Body Coaching adventure.

Q: Can Coaching really help me lose weight?

A: In a word, YES!  Weight loss coaches are springing up everywhere, for good reason! Many Martha Beck Coaches have helped so many clients lose weight, so I have learned from the best.  Martha herself has written much about weight loss in her book The 4 Day Win and her recent article in the June issue of O Magazine.  Coaching is what helped me personally stop the old dieting routine, start eating what I love, and maintain a healthy weight.  Coaching is the most effective weight-loss tool I have ever experienced, and I’ve gained and lost a lot of pounds on a lot of different plans/programs/diets.  Come check out Weight Loss Wednesdays to learn the secrets!

Q: What should I wear or bring to class?

A: Please bring a mat (eco-friendly mats are for sale at the Healthy Life Studio…members get a discount!) and water.  A journal might also be useful before or after the Yoga classes and during the Coaching Interactives.

For Yoga and Pilates classes men and women can wear loose fitting or yoga pants and a comfortable sports top.  These classes are done without shoes or socks.  Your normal, daily attire is fine for the Coaching Interactives.