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Posts Tagged: Atlanta yoga classes

Healthy Living — 1 Comment
9
Jul 12

For yoga enthusiasts, healthy living means staying safe in the sun

Atlanta is hotter than ever – literally. This month, the city's newspaper, the Journal-Constitution, reported that Georgia's capital logged a record high temperature of 106 degrees F, making it the hottest day ever in Atlanta. With so much solar punishment hammering the city, it's important that people in outdoor Atlanta yoga classes take precautions against the harmful effects of UV rays.

That's the message from the American Academy of Ophthalmology, which has sponsored July as National UV Safety Month.

Why protect your skin from sunlight? It's common sense and good healthy living, of course, but here are a few more reasons to wrap up in long sleeves and slather on sunscreen before doing yoga outdoors:

1. Even 30 minutes of exposure to direct sunlight can cause a painful sunburn. Much longer, and you risk getting a second-degree burn – that is, deep tissue damage, severe pain and big, fluid-filled blisters.

2. UV rays can also damage the lenses and retinas of your eyes, eventually leading to cataracts or vision loss.

3. Going out in the sun during the day, even while doing soothing yoga, means risking heat exhaustion or even heat stroke, a life-threatening condition.

4. Finally, there's the big one: cancer. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that even moderate sun exposure raises the likelihood of melanoma, so be sure to use sunscreen, long-sleeved cotton clothing and, for shade, a tree or an umbrella.

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Healthy Living — No Comments
12
Jun 12

Yoga facilitates healthy living…on an airport runway?

As a pre-Father's Day treat, tens of thousands of Georgian men will be going to their weekly Atlanta yoga classes, where they'll stretch, breathe, meditate and unwind. And just a day's drive north, their Kentuckian brothers will be doing the same – on an airport tarmac.

Odd as it may sound, the third annual Second Sunday yoga event – which will be held, as always, at the Blue Grass Airport in Lexington – is expected to attract quite a crowd.

As you might expect, the mass yoga event will draw so many people because all air travel will be diverted elsewhere, allowing enthusiasts to practice their yoga in peace.

However, there's another reason that this yoga-on-the-runway attracts record attendance each year – namely, the fact that, last year, Men's Health magazine named Lexington the laziest city in the U.S. Its residents are now out to prove the news source wrong.

As Lexington-Fayette Urban councilman Jay McChord told LexGo, "the last two years we've had over 10,000 people each year. In what's deemed the most sedentary city in America, we're taking over an airport runway…and leading the nation in something active."

Now that's healthy living!

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Atlanta Yoga — No Comments
4
Apr 12

Atlanta yoga classes can pump up your arms (and soothe them, too)

It's no secret that yoga can help you relax, reflect and recuperate after a long day at work. That's why millions of Americans use the system as part of their healthy living regimen. Moreover, some yoga poses may also strengthen certain parts of the body, including the legs, torso, core muscles, neck, back and even arms.

That's right. By taking Atlanta yoga classes, you may find yourself with stronger, fitter, more toned arms – all without lifting a single dumbbell!

It all has to do with yoga poses, many of which gently engage the muscles in your shoulders, upper arms, forearms, wrists and fingers. For the most part, these stretches are designed primarily to improve the flexibility of your upper extremities. However, they also tend to naturally increase muscle tone.

Leigh Crews, a yoga teacher in Rome, Georgia, told the Yoga Journal that women don't have to worry about getting excessively bulky or ropy, either. Of the physique that comes from yoga exercises, she said "it's not bulky. Rather, it's sculpted."

With toned and fit arms, it can be easier to perform everyday tasks without straining a ligament or spraining a muscle.

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Personal Change — 1 Comment
24
Feb 12

With yoga, making personal changes can start today!

At Dahn Yoga, we've noticed that our Atlanta yoga classes are more popular than ever, with new practitioners signing up almost every day. It's not all that surprising, really, given the amount of good press lately about the regimen's positive effects for people who are simplifying their daily lives and making personal changes.

Take, for instance, a new article written for the Worcester Telegram by health expert Jane Brody. In it, the newspaper correspondent talked about the latest book by William J. Broad, called The Science of Yoga.

Even though the new volume has caused some controversy for its depictions of ultra-rare yoga-related injuries, Brody explained that it made her decide to finally try the holistic healing routine.

"If the science recounted in this book is correct (knowing Broad, I have every reason to think it is), my creaky joints and muscles may reap some important rewards from an individualized yoga prescription," Brody wrote for the news source. "I'm especially concerned about my back, which is riddled with narrowed vertebral spaces and prone to spasms and sciatica."

Many alternative health experts agree that the mind-body regimen may be just the thing for people like Brody who are looking to make physical and mental changes all at once.

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Atlanta Yoga — 1 Comment
16
Feb 12

In Atlanta yoga classes, kids are priority #1

What can parents do to get kids interested in their health and wellness while encouraging them to be calm, well-behaved boys and girls? Why, enroll them in Atlanta yoga classes, of course!

That's the message of a story recently aired by CBS Atlanta, which featured a community center in the metro area that is helping to bring exercise and self-esteem to local children between the ages of 3 and 9.

Yoga teacher Kim Steen told the news channel that, contrary to what you might think, little tykes are easier to instruct than grownups.

"I think adults are a little more stubborn. You know, kids are more free," she explained with a laugh. Steen added that kids' personal improvements are often more rapid and easier to spot, compared to those of men and women.

"[Children develop] better coordination, balance, lots of motor skills, and you can see the improvement each week, so they build on it and hold the poses longer, and you can just see it, you can see the development," she noted breathlessly, before returning to a yoga class that was just for the young ones.

We're not surprised at her enthusiasm. Here at Dahn Yoga Georgia, the classes we offer for kids, adults and the whole family are often the most popular!

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Healthy Living — No Comments
6
Feb 12

Yoga is a key to stress-free, healthy living

What's the best way to reduce stress and improve your chances of happy, healthy living? If you ask Naomi Tsu, a regular attendee of Atlanta yoga classes, the answer is without a doubt "mind-body meditation."

An attorney and de facto connoisseur of anxiety, Tsu told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she has to take yoga, or else her tension gets absolutely unbearable.

"[The regimen] makes my stress level livable," she told the newspaper. "After I meditate, things don't bother me as much… If I have a tough conversation with opposing counsel, I don't carry [it] around with me all day."

Tsu and her fellow lawyers are not the only folks whose professions tend to crank up stress and lead to high blood pressure, elevated heat rate and muscular tension. In fact, in several surveys collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 26 and 40 percent of American adults admitted to being "very or extremely" stressed at work.

Since quitting your job is hardly an option in these tough economic times, it may be best to simply use yoga, meditation and tai chi to decompress as soon as the 5 o'clock whistle blows.

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Healthy Living — No Comments
30
Jan 12

Healthy living blog talks about using yoga to get some shut-eye

If you're a fan of healthy living blogs, chances are you've been following the Huffington Post's 21-day yoga challenge, in which one writer tries to adhere to the holistic system for the better part of a month. This week, the news source touched on a great use for yoga: using it to try to get to sleep.

As you might expect, this is not the first time this idea has been tossed around. For quite some time, researchers have been investigating the effects of yoga on sleep. In fact, enthusiasts have been using the regimen for centuries as a way to relax, reflect and get ready for bed.

It makes sense. Yoga instructors widely agree that using a stretching-and-meditation routine just before hitting the hay is a great way to improve your chances of getting a good night's sleep.

Not only does engaging in yoga encourage the release of endorphins, but it also loosens sore or tired muscles and empties the mind of work-related stress and nagging thoughts.

If you want to try the mind-body regimen as a way to get the sandman to stop by, then consider taking an Atlanta yoga class or two.

You may be one of the 50 million Americans who suffer from sleep problems, but that doesn't mean you have to take it lying down!

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Healthy Living — No Comments
17
Jan 12

Healthy living blog says plank pose is great for strength, balance

If you attend Atlanta yoga classes even semi-regularly, chances are you've encountered the plank pose. This basic yoga position is common to many holistic regimens, including Dahn Yoga, and it may be used to strengthen the back and core muscles while improving balance and stamina.

According to the South Tampa-Hyde Park Patch's healthy living blog, this yoga pose is often half-jokingly called a "resting" position. The joke is that, at first, the plank posture can be a little challenging. However, with practice, "the plank can feel restful in the flow of a [yoga] class," the news source explained.

To perform a plank pose, one can start from a lying position or from one's hands and knees, according to the Yoga Journal.

- First, place the hands about shoulder-width apart. Keep your shoulders firm and your elbows locked.

- Next, slowly walk your feet backward until they are one full body length from your hands. Your shoulders should be directly over your hands.

- If you've formed your body correctly, you will essentially be positioned as if you are preparing to do a push-up. Hold this pose for about a minute, breathing slowly and deeply. If you get tired, lower your knees to the ground. Don't push yourself!

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Atlanta Yoga — No Comments
28
Nov 11

Atlanta yoga classes take on enthusiasts with Alzheimer’s

If you're a fan of healthy living blogs, you may have come across a story or two about yoga and its potential benefits for patients with Alzheimer's disease. These stories are inspiring and heartwarming, but are they accurate? According to numerous healthcare professionals, yes, they are.

Of course, little is known about what can prevent the onset of Alzheimer's, a condition that afflicts around 5.4 million Americans, according to the Alzheimer's Association. Just ask Atlanta resident Myles Smith, whose wife, Ortrude White, was diagnosed with the disease at age 65.

He told the Journal-Constitution that even though she took Atlanta yoga classes and ate well, White, an architect and Harvard graduate, began getting disoriented and forgetful.

Today, she must wear a bracelet explaining her condition, the news source stated.

Fortunately for people like White, research has shown that yoga-based therapies can ease some of the mental and physical symptoms of Alzheimer's.

A study published in the Journal of Yoga and Physical Therapy found that the holistic routine helped people with the condition improve their balance. Yoga instructors also told the Boston Globe that stretching and posing can preserve mobility and relieve stress and anxiety related to dementia.

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Personal Change — No Comments
18
Nov 11

Yoga product line espouses selfish personal change model

Many enthusiasts take Atlanta yoga classes in order to relax, reflect and recuperate from a long day at work. Others enjoy the self healing regimen for its ability to improve strength and balance while providing simultaneous mental and emotional clarity. But who takes yoga as an espousal of personal selfishness?

Evidently, some do. According to a news report published by TIME Magazine, the yoga product manufacturer Lululemon Athletica has recently begun selling tote bags with the phrase "Who is John Galt?" printed in large letters on the side.

For those unfamiliar with the phrase, it is a recurring rhetorical question in Atlas Shrugged, a controversial 1957 novel written by Ayn Rand about the virtue of selfishness. (Lest you think we're misusing that last word, we direct you to her 1964 essay collection, The Virtue of Selfishness.)

You may be saying, "Wait, I thought yoga's personal change model was about selflessness!" If so, you're not alone. Thousands of unhappy responses have flooded the company's blog.

Toronto yoga instructor Sarah Kurchak told the Globe and Mail that the sentiment embodied by the quote runs contrary to what the holistic routine is all about – namely, interpersonal connections and the renunciation of materialism.

"It's a clash with yoga values," she told the newspaper. "That was the last straw."

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