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Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Happy International Yoga Day! #internationalyogaday



In honour of International Yoga Day, I'm going to share a few of my favourite yoga items today.

I've been practicing yoga on and off for over 17 years! 
(You can see some of the other yoga workouts I do in my Get Fit & Lose Weight posts.)

Yoga is great for so many things and can benefit anyone of any age.

Yoga can help with:

  • Mobility
  • Flexibility
  • Strength
  • Back issues
  • Sore muscles
  • Insomnia
  • Stress reduction
  • Lowering blood pressure
  • Improving balance and more...



I've done many forms of yoga, from Hatha to hot yoga as well as Kundalini. Hatha is the more common form of yoga with traditional poses and sequencing. Hot yoga, as the name implies, is done in a heated room. Kundalini yoga is very different from traditional style yoga like Hatha yoga. It may seem odd at first to someone who is new to it, but it does a lot of work of the glandular and hormonal systems. I like to mix it up and practice all kinds of yoga styles!

There are many other forms of yoga and I have linked an article to some of the various styles of yoga here.

My Favourite Yoga Gear


My favourite place to buy workout and yoga clothing is at Old Navy. I wait for promos and check the clearance rack for great deals. Their workout clothing is great fitting and great quality! I think it's very underrated.

Here are a few of my favourite picks that I found on Old Navy's website today. The tank is on sale for only $5 today!


Old Navy Go-Dry Performance Muscle Tank

Old Navy Go-Dry Mid-Rise Mesh Yoga Crop for Women





Some of my Favourite Yoga DVD's. 



Traditional Style Yoga
Sara Ivanhoe's Yoga Body Makeover


Yoga Body Makeover by Sara Ivanhoe is your more traditional style of yoga. It has 6 different routines, each 20 minutes long. I really love this one. For some reason, it has helped me lose weight when cardio-kickboxing was making me gain weight, and it wasn't muscle I was gaining. I guess this is just what my body wanted. I did a new routine each day from this DVD and within a week I started to lose weight! It's a great DVD for anyone, beginner, advanced and everyone in between. Since the workouts are short, it's easy to fit it into your day. And, since it has 6 routines, it's hard to get bored.


Kundalini Style Yoga
Fat Free Yoga (Kundalini Yoga)

Fat Free Yoga Lose Weight & Feel Great  is a Kundalini style yoga DVD. This is one of  the most popular ones by Ana Brett & Ravi Singh. My other favourite by them is "Yoga Beauty Body." It's less popular but I love it!

Most of my Kundalini DVD's are by Ana Brett and Ravi Singh and I own quite a few of them and like to rotate them along with other styles of yoga.


Tools to enhance your practice


Besides a yoga matt, there are a few props that can enhance your yoga workout (Note: these wont help with Kundalini style yoga, but the more common/traditional styles like Hatha).

I'm sure there are other tools, but these are the two that I use when I'm practicing traditional style yoga. They help me deepen into stretches and keep good form. While they aren't necessary, I do find they are very helpful. Keeping good form is essential to prevent injuries, so I do think they are important.

Yoga Strap

A yoga strap can help you enhance your practice by deepening into poses and helping with form if you're less flexible. If you don't have a yoga strap on hand, try a belt.

Yoga Block


The other tool I use to enhance my practice is a yoga block.  Similar to the yoga strap, a yoga block can help you deepen into your poses and also help those who are less flexible.


Badger Yoga & Meditation Balm

I also like to use a meditation balm. These scented balms help you with relaxation and can help deepen your experience whether during yoga or meditation. 

These are some of my yoga favourites. I'd love to hear what yours are!

Amy
xoxo

*Not sponsored. 

2 comments:

  1. Great post Amy! I as well, love yoga and meditation. I didn't know that Old Navy carried yoga wear. I will for sure check them out. I like the Badger balm as well. I didn't know that they made anything like this. Will have to check it out on my next well.ca order! Tal xo

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    Replies
    1. Hi Tal, I think ALL my workout clothes are from Old Navy. I just love them! They have the regular yoga pants and compression pants, i love them both. The quality is A+++. xo

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