Tag Archive for: Yoga

This Man, Told He Would Never Walk Again, Proved Everybody Wrong! (Incredible Yoga Transformation)

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Arthur Boorman was a disabled veteran of the Gulf War for 15 years, and was told by his doctors that he would never be able to walk on his own, ever again.

He stumbled upon an article about Yoga and decided to give it a try.

He couldn’t do traditional, higher impact exercise, so he started with gentle yoga poses. Even though doctors told him walking would never happen, Arthur was persistent.

He fell many times, but kept going. Arthur was getting stronger rapidly, and he was losing weight at an incredible rate!

He gained tremendous balance and flexibility, which gave him hope that maybe someday, he’d be able to walk again.

His story is proof that we cannot place limits on what we are capable of doing, because we often do not know our own potential. This video speaks for itself.

In less than a year, Arthur completely transformed his life. If only he had known what he was capable of, 15 years earlier.

Do not waste any time thinking you are stuck – you can take control over your life, and change it faster than you ever thought possible!

Hopefully, this story will inspire you to follow your dreams – whatever they may be.

Anything is Possible!

6 Things You Should Know Before Your First Yoga Class

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If you’re a newbie to yoga, chances are you have lots of questions about what you’re getting yourself into your first yoga class. What am I supposed to bring? What can I expect? What should I wear for Bundaberg yoga classes? The truth is, if you come unprepared, your first few sessions can be a little intimidating.

Nonetheless, here are 8 crucial tips you should keep in mind before you enter our top-rated Bundaberg yoga studio for your first yoga class. They’ll help you feel more comfy, confident, and ready for your first few yoga classes. 

#1. It Pays to Arrive Early

The last thing you want for your first yoga class is to arrive late. The rule of thumb is to get to our yoga studio at least 10 minutes before the mats get humming. For one, there might be some paperwork to get out of your way before starting your class. Even better, you’ll be able to get a one-on-one with the instructors, and perhaps have some of your questions answered personally. More importantly, arriving early gives you an opportunity to snag a prime location in the studio.

#2. It’s Never a Good Idea to Take Yoga Classes with a Full Stomach

Sure, yoga can be intensive, but doing it on a full stomach is a big no-no. It’ll hinder your practice, making it harder to twist, turn, and whatnot. If you must, munch on a banana no less than 20 min before the yoga class starts. Generally, you should wait at least 2 hours to do yoga after a meal.

#3. Do a Bit of Research before your First Yoga Class

You cannot budge into a yoga studio without knowing a little about the instructors and how things are done. Give a call to your instructor. Have a read through our yoga blog. Chat with a friend who has advanced in yoga classes. Whatever you do, learn something before your first class. There’s so much to learn about yoga!

#4. What to Bring?

Bring a water bottle. Remember yoga is a physically-demanding activity, which implies it’s crucial to stay hydrated. Don’t forget to shop for a high-quality yoga mat and props. The goods news is that our Bundaberg yoga studio has fabulous mats and props available at no additional charge.

#5. Bare Feet, Bare Feet

You probably know this, but it’s worth mentioning that no socks or shoes are permitted at our Bundaberg yoga studio. Practising with bare feet will give you a better grip on your mat and allow you to feel into the poses better.

#6. Yoga’s All about Breathing

If you thought yoga is all about poses and bending, think again. Breathing is a huge component — and with good reason. It helps calm your mind and decongest your thoughts. By synchronising your breath with your movement, you will find more balance throughout your body and your life. 

 

Watch how yoga has helped these Bundaberg locals improve their lives

Meet our members: Angela

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Angela:

“I am an IT Business Analyst for a local financial institution in Bundaberg. I am 46 years old. And I love Yoga challenge.

I love Yoga challenge

I started practicing Yoga about 18 months ago. I love Yoga challenge – there are still so many poses I am yet to master!! I also love the feeling of serenity when I am on the mat, and not having to worry about anything else for that 60 minutes – that sense of calmness you feel after the Savasana relaxation – you can’t help but smile when you have completed your practice.

I try to attend at least 4 classes each week, but love how my mind and body feels when I achieve 6. ;-)

I was hesitant to try Yoga, as I was never one to ‘relax or switch off’, and I wasn’t sure whether I would get enough of a workout with Yoga, as I had always done aerobics. However, I had started experiencing some muscle injuries so decided I needed to increase my flexibility and tone/strengthen my muscles without weights – and Yoga has definitely helped me achieve this.

Every Yoga practice is an opportunity for me to develop my stances and this is what inspires me to keep practicing – that and our lovely instructors.

Yoga to me is fulfillment – finding that balance between exercising your body and calming your mind – and this has positive flow on benefits in my everyday life.

Love Life. Live Yoga studio is fresh, beautiful, and inviting, and Carmen and the girls are continually adding these special little ‘touches’ that enhance your Yoga experience.

For anyone new to Yoga, I encourage you to keep at it – it is a practice for ‘life’.

 

Meet Our members: Rebecca Spencer

How yoga helped her recover a long-lasting shoulder injury in less than a year.

What is Vinyasa Yoga? A Short Introduction For Beginners

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Vinyasa yoga is a Sanskrit term. It’s one of many types of yoga and can be translated as “to arrange something in a special way”. In Vinyasa, different yoga poses are combined into a continuous flow – also called asana. It’s a dynamic form of yoga, almost like a kind of dance. According to Wikipedia, the term “Vinyāsa” can also be used to reference a style of yoga practiced as one breath, tied to one movement.

Eventually, the goal is to synchronise your movement with your breath, creating a balance between your body and your mind. Because of its dynamic nature, Vinyasa Yoga is also often called Vinyasa Flow, or simply Flow Yoga.

Vinyasa Yoga is one of the most popular types of yoga and comes in many forms. Depending on your yoga teacher, classes might be taught at a faster or slower pace, depending on the particular style and preference of the instructor. That’s why it is important for you to find a yoga instructor that you can connect and feel comfortable with.

The Benefits of Vinyasa Yoga

There are countless health benefits that come with practicing Vinyasa Flow. With a regular practice, you will not only feel your muscles strength increase and your body becoming more flexible, but it will help you cleanse your body by sweating out toxins. On a mental level, you will experience an increased ability to focus, a clearer mind and a significant decrease in stress levels. Vinyasa Yoga has proven to reduce anxiety levels and even heal depression in many people who practice regularly.

Vinyasa yoga is excellent for beginners, but offers many pathways for advanced yogis as well. It might take a number of classes to get used to synchronising your breath and your movement; but don’t let that discourage you from continuing. Eventually, you will manage to take your mind off the breathing, as your body starts to take care of it for you, and focus more on getting deeper into the yoga poses to amplify the benefits.

 

Vinyasa Yoga Sequence

An example of a Vinyasa Yoga Sequence (Asana).

 

Get Started with Vinyasa Yoga

You don’t have to be overly flexible to get started with yoga either, as you might think. The entire reason we do yoga is to become more flexible and to strengthen our bodies. In time, you will be able to practice more complex sequences that focus on different parts of your body. If your ever feel like you can’t keep up with certain poses, a good yoga instructor will guide you and provide you with variations that are suitable for your particular level, age and body size.

If you don’t have your own yoga mat when you first start out, don’t worry. Most yoga studios, like here at Love Life. Love Yoga. we always have spare mats that you are welcome to borrow at any time.

Curious? Come practice with us!

Our Bundaberg yoga studio is located at Level 1, 161 Bourbong Street, right in the heart of Bundaberg CBD.

 

Are you experiencing pain in your neck, shoulders or back?

Try these 11 Yoga Poses for Neck, Shoulder and Back Pain Relief

 

Watch how yoga has helped these Bundaberg locals improve their lives

 

The Dream Of Life – Alan Watts (Speech)

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If you awaken from this illusion and you understand that black implies white, self implies other, life implies death (or shall I say death implies life?), you can feel yourself – not as a stranger in the world, not as something here on probation, not as something that has arrived here by fluke – but you can begin to feel your own existence as absolutely fundamental.

I am not trying to sell you on this idea in the sense of converting you to it, I want you to play with it; I want you to think of its possibilities, I am not trying to prove it. I am just putting it forward as a possibility of life to think about. So then, let’s suppose that you were able every night to dream any dream you wanted to

So then, let’s suppose that you were able every night to dream any dream you wanted to dream and that you could, for example, have the power within one night to dream 75 years of time or any length of time you wanted to have.

 And you would, naturally, as you began on this adventure of dreams, you would fulfill all your wishes. You would have every kind of pleasure during your sleep. And after several nights of 75 years of total pleasure each, you would say “Well, that was pretty great. But now let’s have a surprise. Let’s have a dream which isn’t under control, where something is gonna happen to me that I don’t know what it’s gonna be”. And you would dig that and would come out of that and you would say “Wow that was a close shave, wasn’t it?”.

Then you would get more and more adventurous and you would make further- and further out gambles to what you would dream. And finally, you would dream where you are now. You would dream the dream of living the life that you are actually living today.

 That would be within the infinite multiplicity of choices you would have. Of playing that you weren’t God. Because the whole nature of the godhead, according to this idea, is to play that he is not. So in this idea then, everybody is fundamentally the ultimate reality, not God in a politically kingly sense, but god in the sense of being the self, the deep-down basic whatever there is. And you are all that, only you are pretending you are not.

 
Credits:
Music: Goldmund – Threnody
Speech extract from “Out of your mind” by Alan Watts, courtesy of alanwatts.org

 

How yoga ruined my life forever and why I keep doing it

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Yes, it’s true. Yoga has completely ruined the life I was living. It absolutely smashed my previous beliefs, destroyed old paradigms and kissed my ‘happy’ life goodbye.

For the better.

How? Just over 10 years ago, I lived a pretty happy life. So I thought. I had a secure 9-5 job as a fashion designer, a stable income and my precious car. Every week, my friends and I would wait for the weekend to come so we could go out and spend our hard-earned cash in the bars and nightclubs of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Let’s just say, I was living comfortably. We worked hard and played hard. It was fun – for a while…

But then came the day where it all changed. I was tired and uninspired. Surely, there must be more to life than 9-5 and shallow friendships. I was longing for more meaning in my life. I was longing to live with passion. I was longing for adventure.

During that time I made a simple decision. I dropped everything, packed my bags and left for Australia. Yes, just like that! Never had I left my own country before. I was scared. But that couldn’t stop me anymore. I had made my decision.

Now, I could go on about my travelling adventures and how I got stuck at the airport when I arrived, but this post is about yoga.

So, after a few months in Sydney, still working in fashion design, I decided to join one of the local yoga classes in Paddington. It was great to meet new people and I made some progress, but then one day it suddenly hit me. Something changed. I changed. Week after week I started feeling more alive. I was happier, had more energy, but most importantly, I was living with passion! How did I know? I could feel it!

Carmen Lee-Schneider - Love Life. Live Yoga. Bundaberg

Carmen Lee-Schneider – Love Life. Live Yoga. Bundaberg

I fell in love. not only with yoga but with myself again. It was as if I had finally woken up. My old ‘life’ was destroyed. I was experiencing a new version of myself and still do so today. Yoga has changed my entire belief system. Through yoga, I have been able to expand my mindset, push myself to new heights and achieve things I previously thought impossible.

Ask me now, and I will tell you that nothing is impossible. Life is one big miracle that allows each of us to manifest our dreams in ways you can’t even imagine, if you learn to let go of the old and allow for change in your life to happen.

Our biggest enemy in life is inaction. To welcome the change you are longing for, you need to start acting, start believing. Now I know that the thing holding me back was my mundane daily routine.

It’s when we start listening to our hearts again – as we all did as children – and align our actions with our deepest values and desires, that life doesn’t only get better, but it becomes magical.

How can yoga do all that, you ask? When we practice yoga, we focus on within. We learn to align our movement with our breath, our body with our mind. With regular practice, you will learn to put yourself in a more harmonious state. A state of mind that allows us to be more positive, more resourceful and compassionate. A state that allows us to see more clearly and make better decisions in line with our values. Life-changing decisions.

If you would like to give yoga a go and try one of our classes, you can claim a $25 Gift Card for our Bundaberg Yoga Classes here.

Thank you for taking the time to read about my journey. I hope to see you on the mat soon!

Namaste,
Carmen

 

Watch this video and see how yoga has helped these Bundaberg locals.

8 Things to Consider When Practicing Yoga

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1) Avoid coming to class with a full stomach

It is best to wait 2 hours after eating to practice yoga. You may have a light snack like a banana prior to doing yoga. When you have a full stomach, not only are most yoga poses uncomfortable, but blood supply is funneled to your stomach to process the nutrients from your food, leaving your muscles shortchanged on the energy they need for a successful practice.

twist

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2) Don’t forget to breathe

Focus on breathing. Simply breathe in and out through the nose, maintaining a slight contraction in the back of the throat. The first thing you need to think of especially in the challenging poses.

crow-593x600

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3) Avoid pushing yourself too hard

Being honest to yourself and avoid to push yourself too hard. Yoga should never feel painful. If it starts to, back off. Yoga is all about awareness, about listening to your body’s subtle signals, and responding accordingly.

wheel pose

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4) Empty your mind

It is hard to clear our mind and not to think of the things are happening around us. A lot of questions are keep floating in our head all the time. One of the top reasons why people practice yoga, is to learn to make an effort to quieten their mind. Sacrificing both your form and the mind-body connection that comes with a focused practice. By concentrating on your body and your breath, you can help tune out the distractions in your head.

meditation

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5) Don’t rush into advanced poses

Being able to complete the foundational ones helps to ensure you have the strength, balance, and flexibility needed to tackle more advanced moves. When you rush into advanced poses, it’s very difficult to hold the correct posture, meaning you won’t use the right muscles, and you can risk injury. Remember, the basics poses are great strengtheners in and of themselves. Try to take advantage of them.

headstand

 

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6) Don’t compare yourself to others

People are practicing at different levels in every class. “Every body is different, and yoga is about treating your individual body,” Focusing on your body and allowing yourself to grow your own practice. It is your journey, you choose to where to do and enjoy every moment.

yogaclass

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7) Find the right yoga class with the right instructor

There are a wide range of yoga levels and styles out there that may or may not suit your needs and preferences. I believe everyone is searching for different types of yoga to practice, some people are looking for intensive yoga practices but others prefer relaxing and gentle. Take your time to find the right class and check with the instructor if you are not sure.

yoga teacher

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8) Enjoy the cool-down

By focusing on stretching postures and deep relaxation, the cool down can help prevent muscle soreness, enhance flexibility, and slowly lower your heart rate and blood pressure to prevent dizziness. Normally we will do some easy spinal twists and few seated poses. There are always just a few minutes left in class for Savasana. It is usually the last pose done and the most important part of a yoga practice. So allowing yourself in this precious moment to let go your thought and enjoying this final relaxation.

savasana

 

Namaste,

Carmen Lee-Schneider

 

BLOG: Is Yoga for Everyone?

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I am often asked if beginners can join my yoga classes.

My yoga classes are for everyone. During a class, classic yoga poses are practiced with an emphasis on alignment and options for modifications. It is appropriate for people brand new to yoga as well as folks who have been practicing for some time. You who have been practicing with me know that I always provide variations for beginners and advanced ones.

Even if you’re brand new to yoga, come join my “Rise&Shine” & “Yin&Yang” classes to learn the basics of the practice, and at the same time explore some new moves which you might thought you were never able to do. There might be some confusion at the beginning but that only makes it more fun practicing as you are learning and exploring something new.

Yoga is not about competition or comparison. When practicing yoga one goes within, becoming aware of what is happening inside the body. Whatever the body can do in a yoga session is exactly what it should be doing. One accepts without judging. Most importantly, listen to your body and take this time to deepen the connection to your inner self.

See on the mat soon!

Namaste,
Carmen

Video: Yoga with Rhee Tae Kwon Do Bundaberg.

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A huge thank you to Rhee Tae Kwon Do Bundaberg for having me over for a wonderful yoga session with a group of lovely people.

Namaste,

Carmen