Summer is often the season we decide to re-invent ourselves: to lose weight; tone up; get ready for the beach/vacay/bikini etc.! We cleanse, detox, omit carbs, and sign up for the latest, greatest boot-camp that will reshape our bodies in just 2 weeks! Summer is also the season when we promise to re-invigorate. We relax our mind and detox and retox in just one week: with a luxury hotel; spa treatments; great food and cocktails!

While it all sounds fun and exciting – does it really work or just paper over the cracks? Does it offer more than a quick fix?

Have you started this Summer with these same expectations? Are you looking for a stronger, leaner body, better skin, a calmer mind and a healthier lifestyle?

Yoga isn’t a quick fix and is certainly not a fad, and though you’ll find some studios offering ‘yoga workouts’, true, authentic yoga is thousands of years old, has deep roots and comes with a discipline that will bring you everything on your list and more!

Developing the discipline of a Daily Practice is far from easy, but having the will and the drive to start something simple like a sun salutation every day will help you develop the internal wiring you need for success. “Do your practice, all is coming” – a simple, but powerful saying from Sri K Pattabhi Jois (teacher to Trevor, Troy and me) says it all.

The body you want – toned, sculpted, lean – that’s daily practice! Better skin, hair, nails and a faster metabolism come from the intense heat, cleansing and detoxifying sweat through your pores with daily practice! Through regular daily practice you begin to connect to yourself on ever deeper levels – reaching a meditative state and connecting with your true authentic self and spirit!

With daily practice you’ll approach summer, and every season, with excitement and joy rather than with a long list of goals. You’ll feel great about yourself, you’ll walk with confidence. There’s a balance of lightness, strength, energy and calm!

OK, I know you’re saying “Intellectually I agree. Yoga has all these benefits, BUT I don’t have time and I don’t have the discipline.” We’re here to help!

Start by “intending to attend“. Mark on your calendar all the yoga classes you intend to attend. Make it to one. Then two. Then three. If life gets in the way, don’t beat yourself up. You don’t always have to do an entire practice.

The key is a daily discipline – just do 5 sun salutes at home – it’s that simple! Think of it as 50 consecutive breaths. When do you even take 50 conscious consecutive breaths? 5 sun salute A’s (surya namaskar A) is 50 breaths.

Start each day with 5 A’s to bring energy and mental clarity. End your day with 50 breaths to unwind and clear your head!

“Do your Practice, All is Coming”
This is a simple way to begin to make great changes in your life forever – not just this Summer!

Move & Breathe Every Day – Starting NOW!

Juice This!

I love this cooling refreshing juice with a kick, to kick off your summer! It’s really more like puréed watermelon, you can make it in a blender. Watermelon is sweet & hydrating on a hot day, but did you know it’s a high-lycopene food? Lycopene is a carotenoid phytonutrient that is especially important for cardiovascular health! The lycopene and potassium in watermelon promote bone health, help retain calcium which leads to stronger bones and joints.

My favorite here is the cayenne, I put it in and on everything!
The “kick” of cayenne brings many benefits internally and externally. Cayenne gives the body a natural thermogenic boost allowing it to burn stored fat. It aids in digestion, assimilation and elimination! Cayenne helps to aid blood flow from the head to the feet, equalizing blood pressure. It can improve your complexion by increasing blood flow to the skin and is rich in Vit C, E and anti-oxidants.

Here’s my Cayenne-Watermelon Elixir Recipe – Blend, Drink and Glow!

Half seedless organic watermelon
I lime (squeeze in during blending)
1/4 teaspoon organic cayenne
Ice
1 cup water (more or less to get consistency you want)

Spring is here, the birds are singing, Nature is blooming. It’s time to unplug, get outdoors, connect with Nature and feel fully alive!

Since ancient times ceremonies and celebrations have been held to honor this glorious season. Rituals would include Salutations to the Sun; Honoring the Earth; Fertility rites such as burying colored eggs to encourage crops to grow and for all to prosper (Easter egg hunt anyone?); Wrapping trees with ribbons; dancing and singing etc. These ancient cultures were deeply connected to the Nature that surrounded them and took time to celebrate, honor and show their respect.

Spring is the perfect time for you to get Rooted and re-connect with Nature and its tremendous health benefits. Much research has emerged about Nature’s restorative power and its profound effect on our physical, psychological and spiritual wellbeing. In our daily lives, wired to technology, we become disconnected from our body, our spirit and our true self.

Why not disconnect for a weekend, a day or even an hour? Get outdoors, unclog your mind, enhance your creativity and ignite your senses. Take a break from the virtual and experience the REAL! We do this every Spring with our Annual Hiking and Yoga Retreat. Unfortunately, this year’s retreat is sold out, but here are a few suggestions to encourage you to unplug and get back to Nature this Spring:

Take a hike!

Here are some great places to hike and connect with Nature in your own backyard and beyond:

Torrey Pines State Reserve
Mission Trails Regional Park
Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve
San Miguel Mountain Trails
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
Mount San Jacinto State Park

Create your own personal retreat/stay-cation:

Friday night
Sweat out stress, toxins and get ready for your stay-cation with Soul Vinyasa 5:30 – 6:45pm

Sat & Sun
Start with a morning class (Sat: IY-55 @ 7:30am; Improv @ 9:00am; Foundation @ 9:30am; Ashtanga Vinyasa @11:00; Sun: Foundation @ 8:30am; Sunday Mash @ 9:30am; Ashtanga Vinyasa @10:00); followed by a hike (e.g. Sat: Torrey Pines; Sun: Mission Gorge); and complete the weekend with with massage (Dave Garza Therapeutics – 619 980-5111)

Do Something!

Our true nature is to be connected to the planet with the cycles of the seasons; our feet are designed to walk on the earth, on grass or sand – not concrete; our lungs ache to breathe fresh air in the woods or by the sea – not fumes and air conditioning. Our modern world separates and eventually isolates us from Nature and our true selves. You owe it to yourself to re-connect with YOU this Spring!

Juice This!

I love this fresh, clean, green drink for a bit of “Spring cleaning”. I make a jar on Friday night and freeze it to take on my Saturday hike (don’t forget water too!). Or you can do a “mini juice cleanse” as part of your personal weekend retreat : 2-4 juices per day and one light healthy meal per day starting on Friday night.

This juice combines the cleansing benefits of lemons with the superfood cilantro! Cilantro is packed with nutrients for the body, hair, skin, eyes and bones: essential oils, antioxidants, potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron and Vitamin A & K. Vit. K promotes osteotrophic activity in the bones which helps build bone mass!

Here’s my Spring Clean & Green Recipe – Juice, Drink and Glow!

2 x Green Apples
1 x Large Lemon
Small bunch of Kale
1 large stick of Celery
Lots of Cilantro

for Vitamix add 1/2-1 cup of water and 4 ice cubes.

The weather is cooler, the holidays are upon us, and now there’s the added holiday stress to deal with – more parties, less practice! There’s the potential for more sugar, dairy, gluten & alcohol to affect and depress your immune system, state of mind, and increase your waistline! It’s time to get Hot for the Holidays – to literally heat up your body with a daily sweat! 

For centuries sweating has been used to cleanse and detoxify for both healing & spiritual purification – in traditional sweat lodges, saunas and steam rooms. When you sweat, your body starts a cleansing process at the surface of your skin through your pores. In yoga, we practice lotion and fragrance free to allow impurities and toxins to exit the body through those open pores.

At Infinite, the studios are kept between 80-82 degrees, allowing your body to start out warm, but not overheated. As you practice and begin to sweat you start to detoxify through the surface of your skin. You become hotter as you create internal heat by focusing on ujayi breath and applying bandhas. Circulation is increased with breath & bandhas, bending forward, backward, twisting and inverting your body. Improved circulation accelerates your metabolism (burning up holiday calories!), while assimilation and digestion of food is more efficient. As you continue to sweat you generate more white blood cells which can help strengthen your immune system (preventing winter colds). Finishing postures and savasana calms your body allowing it to return to a normal resting temperature. Completing your practice, you’ll feel cleansed and refreshed on the surface of your skin, while internally you continue to reap the benefits of a healthy sweat!

So get Hot for the Holidays!

With a daily sweat you’ll eliminate toxins, enjoy a healthy immune system, rev up your metabolism and have beautiful glowing skin! Here are a few ways to heat up

• Heat up with Bonnie Jones this Tues Dec 2 with her dynamic Soul Vinyasa 5:30-6:45pm. Hot New Teacher!
• Heat up with Trevor on the Winter Solstice with 108 Sun Salutes Dec 21 4:00-6:00pm. Charity event!
• Heat up with daily yoga with IY’s Unlimited Monthly Membership. Only $120 a month!
• Heat up daily at home with Infinite Yoga’s Home Practice Cards. Only $18 (great gift idea)!

Juice This!

A warm drink increases body temperature which (as mentioned above) can increase your metabolic rate and aid in weight loss.

In my Hot & Spicy Tonic we have ginger (once again) and cayenne, both which also aid in cleansing and detoxifying. Cayenne also has anti-irritant properties with the ability to ease stomach aches and sore throats (from too many late night holiday parties!).

I have to admit this one might be an acquired taste, but I’ve been using variations of this tonic for years to keep colds away and protect my voice.

Here’s my Hot & Spicy Tonic recipe – Juice, Drink and Glow!
1 very large carrot
1 – 2 green apples (depending on how sweet you want it)
Large hunk of peeled ginger
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne

Juice all of above then add one cup of hot water and stir.

Change is in the air. The leaves are beginning to turn, temperatures are beginning to fall. Summer is making way for the new season of Autumn.

In nature this is the time to withdraw, move inward and prepare for winter. It is the perfect time of year for inward reflection and preparing for the future. Discover deeper levels of yoga and yourself with my Autumn Yoga Weekend Oct. 18/19th. I’ve condensed the most popular aspects of my teacher trainings and brought them together in just 8 hours of study.

In two days you’ll:

• Study, experience and increase your proficiency in basic and intermediate yoga postures;
• Discover, enhance, practice and improve the quality and authenticity of your voice;
• Sample and explore the benefits of a 10-day yoga intensive/teacher training.

The weekend includes 3 workshops:

• Finishing Touches – Intuitive Adjustments Parts I & II
• Learn about the structural alignment and kinesiology of postures and explore greater depth through hands-on adjustments. Whether you intend to teach or not, these techniques will deepen your understanding of the body and help you to move forward in your own yoga practice.

• Sound System – Vocal Empowerment through Yoga
• Designed for anyone who speaks! Improve the quality of your voice through ancient yoga techniques and unique vocal exercises. You’ll learn the anatomy of breath and sound, while building core strength and awareness. Enhance vocal confidence as you discover, connect with and express your authentic voice.

This season take some time for inward reflection, Fall forward and join me for my weekend of workshops. Improve your practice and connect more deeply with yourself.

Autumn Yoga Workshop

• Finishing Touches – Intuitive Adjustments Parts I & II 12:00 – 3:00pm Oct 18/19. more details
• Sound System – Vocal Empowerment through Yoga 9:30 – 11:40 Oct 19. more details

Juice This!

Here’s one for your Oktoberfest party! Looks like dark beer (altbier, Doppelbock, stout, Guinness, you get the idea), tastes sweet & earthy with a healthy kick of ginger. Ginger is excellent for healing gastrointestinal stress, it also contains powerful anti-inflammatory properties called gingerols and has been shown to alleviate pain from arthritis. Combined with the iron from the spinach and beta carotene from the carrots for an Autumn inspired nutritious cocktail.

Here’s my Autumn Ginger Beer recipe – Juice, Drink and Glow!

2 green apples
2 large carrots
1/8 beet
Large handful of spinach
Big hunk of ginger
For Vitamix add half a cup of water and 3 ice cubes

Solar energy, radiant light from the sun is powerful. The sun gives off more energy in one second than people have used since the beginning of time.

With lighter mornings and brighter evenings, Summer is the perfect time to harness the energy of the sun with a daily dose of Yoga! Traditionally, Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is practiced 6-days a week – beginning with Sun-Salutations. There are 12 more weeks of summer, which gives you a total of 72 days to absorb the sun’s Summer energy and begin a daily practice.

Benefits of Daily Yoga Practice

Daily practice brings a multitude of health benefits.

• A cleansing process begins at the surface of your skin through the sweat of your pores (I’m talking about internal heat here – not heaters!).
• Ujjayi breath, forward bends, back-bending, twists and inversions give your internal organs a daily wash!
• As your body gets cleaner it naturally gets leaner and lighter.
• Muscles become more defined, flexibility is enhanced, and you begin to move through the world with more balance & grace.

Perhaps the most important life-changing benefit to a daily Ashtanga practice (all classes at IY are Ashtanga-based by the way), is the “daily dose” or rather daily discipline for your mind. For many busy people sitting still and meditating can be challenging & frustrating. Ashtanga in its purest form is a moving and breathing meditation – a meditation on impermanence. Daily cleansing of the mind improves focus and concentration.

Harness the solar energy of the sun inside and out with daily practice.

How to begin a daily yoga practice: 

• Begin your Daily Practice with a Bang on 4th of July!
• Did you know our unlimited monthly membership card is now only $120 per month? (less than $4/day)
• Practice Daily on Vacation with Self-Practice Mysore cards
• Practice lighter & brighter with classes from 6:00 am – 6:45 pm weekdays. (see entire schedule)

Juice This!

Here’s one that will go great with the barbequed veggie burgers on the 4th! Light, frothy and packed with protein – and it’s pink (again!) – close enough to red, white and blue. Strawberries are packed with antioxidants and polyphenols. Plus, strawberries promote healthy hair, skin, & increased energy.

Here’s my Strawberry Shortcake Smoothie recipe – Juice, Drink and Glow!

1-2 green apples
1 x large stalk of celery
handful of chopped parsley
1/4-1/2 red beet
1 x cup of strawberries
1 x scoop of whey protein
For Vitamix add 1/2 cup water & 3 ice cubes