This devotion soaked CD is remarkable blend of many different musical styles, musicians and instruments. Raised as a “Krishna kid,”…

The YogaBasics.com’s yoga teacher training scholarship has been awarded to Rosalie Hamilton (http://www.yogabasics.com/yoga-training-scholarships.html#recipients). Our next scholarship will be awarded in…

I got an interesting email from a long-time exerciser who was having some trouble with her strength training program. After more than 20 years of lifting weights, the arthritis in her hands caused so much pain and weakness that she could no longer grip dumbbells. Frustrated, she wanted to know how she could continue to lift weights. I came up with a few ideas in my article about arthritis of the hands including things like using cables or resistance bands (which, for some moves, will allow you to move the weight with your fingers extended), medicine balls, wrist weights or weights with handles on either side.

I’m sure she’s not the only person facing this issue and I’d love to hear from my readers who’ve experienced this. How do you continue to lift if you can’t grip the weights? Leave a comment and tell us your thoughts.

I also wanted to point out that, in my research for the article, I came across a number of studies about arthritis and strength training in general - namely, that strength training can actually reduce the pain and fatigue of osteoarthritis as well as rheumatoid arthritis. If this is a problem for you and you’ve avoided strength training because of it, talk to your doctor and check out our Arthritis Guide’s amazing database of information about exercise and arthritis.

Strength Training With Arthritis in the Hands originally appeared on About.com Exercise on Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 at 07:00:11.

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Often when you spend your days surfing the web for interesting articles about yoga in the news, you encounter the…

I recently had a client who, while holding a forearm plank, said, “Is there any exercise more boring or more painful than this one? I mean, you’re not even…

I recently had a client who, while holding a forearm plank, said, “Is there any exercise more boring or more painful than this one? I mean, you’re not even doing anything - you’re just sitting here, dying while the seconds tick by like hours.” I thought of coming up with a more boring and painful exercise for her to try (hey, ask and you shall receive) but, because I didn’t want to get fired, I decided a better option was to come up a less traumatic exercise.

The plank press is the result and, while she still complains about it, she grudgingly admits to kind of liking this move. It’s one of those exercises that’s harder than it looks and using an exercise ball makes it even harder. Not only do you have to brace your core, as you do in a plank, you also involve the stabilizers in the upper and lower body to keep you from rolling off the ball. If you’re new to this move, you might try it on the floor if the ball feels too wobbly.

Do it right: Place your forearms on the ball and roll forward until your back is flat, core braced and stiff. Keeping that position, straighten the knees, bringing your body into a plank position. Avoid sagging into the shoulders or in the mid-back. Hold for 1-2 seconds and lower the knees, lightly touching the floor before pressing back up. Repeat for 1-3 sets of 8-16 reps.

Exercise of the Week - Plank Press originally appeared on About.com Exercise on Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 at 07:00:16.

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Sooner or later, most of us run into an exercise we just can’t do. It may be because it doesn’t feel right or that you can’t get into the right position or, as with one of my previous clients, it scares you. In this case, Marie was terrified of doing dumbbell pullovers. She said, ” I know I’m strong and that I can do it, but I suddenly feel shaky when I’m holding that big weight over my head. Maybe I dropped something on my head when I was a child.” “Well, that would explain a few things,” I said, grateful that she has a healthy sense of humor and didn’t fire me for saying that.

The point is, there are a number of situations that may require you to modify what you’re doing. You may need to make moves easier, more stable or ditch them altogether if they don’t work for you. It’s confusing, however, to know exactly how to change something that isn’t working for you. A few ideas to consider:

• Add stability - If you’re feeling wobbly, look for ways to create a more stable environment. For example, a squat offers a more stable foundation than an exercise that involves a staggered stance, such as a lunge. Sitting may offer more stability than standing and machines might allow you to focus more on form than free weights. Start with what you need to keep good form and gradually progress from there.
• Reduce the weight - If you’re just getting started with weights, you obviously want to get the most out of your workouts. The trouble is, beginners sometimes focus so much on lifting heavy that they forget to work on their form first. If you’re struggling with an exercise, try the move without any weight at all to get the motion down. It’s much more important to do the move correctly than it is to lift a challenging weight.
• Change Your Position - Sometimes a small change can make a huge difference in an exercise. For example, one client swore she could not do lunges because they hurt her knees. I knew she was lying, of course, but I decided to go along with it. By having her elevate her front foot, she was able to avoid any knee pain. Boy, was she excited about that.
• Substitute Exercises - Sometimes, you try everything and an exercise still doesn’t work for you. Fortunately, there’s no federal law requiring you to do certain exercises and you can almost always find a substitution. The trick is to find moves that work the same muscle group you’re working on. For example, if it’s a shoulder exercise that isn’t cooperating, scrolling through a list of shoulder moves will give you more ideas. Exercises for Individual Muscle Groups.

Don’t forget that you can also modify exercises to make them harder, if you need more of a challenge.

More About Modifications

• Pushup Modifications
• Lunge Modifications
• Squat Modifications

What about you? Are there exercises you have trouble with and, if so, how do you get around them? Do you regularly have to modify moves because of an injury or some other condition? What about exercises that just don’t feel good on your body? Leave a comment and tell us about your experiences.

How to Modify Your Exercises originally appeared on About.com Exercise on Monday, September 28th, 2009 at 10:28:18.

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A couple of months ago I began searching the internet for vitiligo success stories when I came across one that showed me that I was on the right track with my experiment.
Ilana is from Sweden and has been dealing with vitiligo, alopecia, and psoriasis. Her site describes how she stuck with a regiment of taking B12, Folic Acid, and tanning her skin, to re-pigment her skin. What I appreciated most about finding this information was the fact that she showed before and after photo’s which clearly show a 90% success …

As I was slogging through my run yesterday morning (and, unfortunately, ’slogging’ is the most I could manage), I was reminded of some important exercise facts:

1. There are days when someone secretly straps 10-lb weights to your legs in the middle of your workout without being seen, and
2. When that happens, it’s a great idea to slog home and do something that feels good to your body.

It’s unfortunate that our bodies don’t always cooperate with our plans but, when that happens (and it will happen, sometimes for no apparent reason), how do you respond? Do you keep going, hoping things will kick in? Or do you quit early and hope for a better day tomorrow? Or, perhaps you change directions and decide on a lighter workout? Be sure to leave a comment to tell us how you deal with those times when your body and your mind aren’t on the same page.

How you respond to those heavy-body days may depend on your mood, your goals or your level of perfectionism. I find that doing something my body can handle almost always makes me feel better and I feel like I’ve accomplished something (which also helps if you’re a perfectionist). I’ve put together a few ideas for those heavy-body days, workouts and exercises that are both stretchy and relaxing in nature. Sometimes stretching and relaxing is just what you need:

• Gentle Yoga
• Morning & Evening Yoga
• Relaxing Stretch with a Ball
• Resistance Band Stretch
• Neck Stretches
• Happy Baby Yoga Pose
• Pilates Stretches for Flexibility

Relax and Stretch originally appeared on About.com Exercise on Friday, September 25th, 2009 at 10:10:31.

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In observation of the UN’s international day of peace, Yoga teacher Molly Schlangen of Raymond, NH wanted to lead a…