The new year is still young, and we’re doing a good job of staying resolute: We’re watching what we eat and trying to be active so we can shed a few pounds. Trouble is, we find exercise works up quite an appetite. And it turns out we don’t even have sweat through a spin or Zumba class to put our appetite into overdrive: Recent research shows that just thinking about exercise can make us hungry.
While removing our shoes before yoga class one day, we noticed a poster for the Yoga Freedom Project, created by Off the Mat NYC and the Somaly Mam Foundation (SMF) to bring attention throughout the month of January to the issue of sex trafficking. The project culminates with a two-hour yoga class on Jan. 31 at Twelve21, 12 West 21 St. in the Flatiron District, with a lineup of nine of New York City’s top yoga teachers. For those not in New York, we also found ways you can help bring awareness to this important — and often overlooked — global issue. An estimated 27 million people currently are enslaved throughout the world, and one to two million children will be sold into slavery within the next year.
The yoga community has been abuzz since an article called “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body” was published Jan. 5 in The New York Times Magazine. The excerpt is from an upcoming book called The Science of Yoga: The Risks and Rewards (Simon & Schuster, 2012), by William J. Broad. The section that ran in the Times looked at the risk and severity of yoga injuries. What stuck with us were the gruesome anecdotes: yoga-induced popped ribs, hip replacements, nerve damage and strokes.
As part of the traditional New Year’s resolutions, most of us probably have at least two or three must-try new workouts on our to-do list. Whether you’re looking to bust out of a routine or craving a new challenge, we selected the top five fitness trends that will add spice and substance to your regimen in 2012.
We admit that on some days, when we’re curled up in a chair in our childhood home as the snow flies outside, the most exercise we’re likely to get is trips to the cookie plate. But even when on the road for the holidays, we try to incorporate some exercise, so we’ve shared some of the latest ways to stay in shape on the go. We also asked VIVmag fitness director Linda Shelton to share her secrets for staying fit — and motivated — while traveling.
Every now and then, when we have 15 or so browser windows open at the same time, we feel a bit overwhelmed, like we’re in the technology loop skit in Portlandia. But ’tis the season for giveaways, and Twitter, Facebook and our email inbox yielded some opportunities we want to share — all on one handy page.
When we ran the Reader Home Gym Makeover Contest in VIVmag‘s September/October issue, we received more than 1,450 entries from readers vying for the freedom to exercise at home with a new home-gym package, worth $560. Our goal was to provide a lucky VIVMag reader with some of the newest innovative fitness products that up the ante on improving the results and training experience. But our favorite part was surprising our winner with a personal phone call to tell her she had won!
As holiday prime time approaches and the weather turns colder, it gets harder and harder to find the time and motivation to work out. Thankfully, there’s the newly released Zumba Fitness 2 ($39.99), the sequel to the 2010 best-selling game for Nintendo Wii, to keep us moving — all to upbeat, energizing music that will keep the winter blahs at bay.
In theory, practicing yoga lets us tune out the world and tune into ourselves. In reality, however, studios are often full of distractions, from wondering where we can find the great cami top a fellow yogi is wearing to worrying about falling out of Ardha Chandrasana. Longtime yoga teacher Marco Rojas has found an innovative solution to that problem: He asks his students to wear blindfolds during some of his classes at New York City’s Pure Yoga.
The tagline of Yogawoman is “Never underestimate the power of inner peace.” The documentary written and directed by sisters Kate Clere McIntyre and Saraswati Clere and narrated by actor (and longtime Iyengar student) Annette Bening shows all kinds of women — imprisoned teens, domestic abuse survivors and exhausted multitaskers across nine countries — affirming how the practice of yoga has brought that equanimity to them.
© 2012, VIV Publishing, LLC., Zinio, LLC. - San Francisco - New York - London - Barcelona - Taipei - Sydney - All rights reserved.
Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy.