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Sometimes you need a new perspective.
Get down.
All the way down. To the floor, we mean. Being grounded is a big part of yoga practice, and the closer we can get to the earth, the better.Improved flexibility is one of the first and most obvious benefits of yoga.
During your first class, you probably won’t be able to touch your toes, never mind do a backbend. But if you stick with it, you’ll notice a gradual loosening, and eventually, seemingly impossible poses will become possible. You’ll also probably notice that some of your aches and pains start to disappear. That’s not a coincidence.
Tight hips can strain the knee joint due to improper alignment of the thigh and shinbones. Tight hamstrings can lead to a flattening of the lumbar spine, which can cause back pain. And inflexibility in muscles and connective tissue, such as fascia and ligaments, can cause poor posture.
Get back up again.
We lose muscle mass when we get older, so it’s important to stay strong. Balance is crucial, more and more, as the older we get.
Strong muscles do more than look good. They also protect us from conditions like arthritis and back pain, and help prevent falls in elderly people. And when you build strength through yoga, you balance it with flexibility. If you just went to the gym and lifted weights, you might build strength at the expense of flexibility.
Posture is also critical. Your head is like a bowling ball—big, round, and heavy. When it’s balanced directly over an erect spine, it takes much less work for your neck and back muscles to support it. Move it several inches forward, however, and you start to strain those muscles. Hold up that forward-leaning bowling ball for eight or 12 hours a day and it’s no wonder you’re tired.
Now, go WAY up.
Aerial yoga is a new twist on yoga. Often called anti-gravity yoga, it uses a hammock to deepen the poses and increase your fleibility. Advanced aerial yoga practitioners also use silks and ropes.
In these classes, we perform the same poses as on the mat, except we’re in a silk hammock, that is suspended from the ceiling as a prop to support you through the poses.
As an added bonus, you’ll build some serious upper body and core strength—without messing with your joints You may also experience increased upperbody and core strength since holding onto the silk hammock for support engages your shoulders, arms, and abs. For those suffering with chronic back pain or tension in the shoulders and neck, aerial yoga can help improve joint mobility by opening up tight areas.
Hang out.
Aerial yoga is for all shapes, sizes and ages. It is beginner friendly, and your experience level, age, and flexibility does not matter.
“Because you are using the aerial silk as a prop, students often find they’re able to go further into their stretching and access places they can’t on a mat. They’re able to find their edge, and go just a bit further to increase flexibility,” Boer says.
“Aerial yoga is very beginner friendly and it doesn’t discriminate. It doesn’t matter if a new student has been a lifelong yogi or this is their first experience with any form of yoga. Everything that is done in a class can be modified for all levels,” Lopez explains. On the other hand, if you do yoga on the reg, your aerial class will be pretty similar in that you’ll be doing similar poses and asanas.
Be here... not there.
Yoga can also be an effective way to manage your depression and anxiety. As exercise, yoga is a natural way to increase serotonin production. According to the Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience Trusted Source serotonin production plays a role in the treatment of depression. Serotonin is believed to play a major role in happiness. One study, done by Trusted
Source also suggests people with depression have lower serotonin levels.
Yoga is also especially helpful because of its gentle, calming, and fluid nature. Each pose is flexible, so people of all levels can practice. Your instructor will emphasize breathing, concentration, and smooth movement. They’ll also encourage you to focus on positive images to calm the body and mind.
Be there ... not here.
We can come to you. We offer on location yoga retreats and getaways, anywhere in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
Having a corporate event? A bachelorette weekend?
A team building day?
Yoga is an excellent addition to a corporate retreat, even if yoga isn’t a regular part of your team’s routine at the office.
Yoga builds confidence. Participating in a yoga class gives a team a challenge they experience together.
Everyone is participating in the same poses, but each individual’s experience is unique.
One must rely on individual strength and mental clarity to successfully participate in yoga. At the end of the class, all participants have experienced a common challenge.
As the office yoga teacher, I was invited to teach on this retreat. Although experiencing a yoga class is a different experience from a trust exercise or a ropes course, it gives people a chance to get in touch with their individual strengths. In turn, this creates strength within the team.
It’s exciting at the end of an office yoga class when I hear participants discussing techniques and challenges in various yoga poses.
Every Body. About Me.
Yoga is not just for thin, flexible bodies. Yoga by Candie specializes in providing yoga for all bodies, all ages, shapes, and bodies.
Body acceptance. Body confidence. Body positivity. There are abundant ways to refer to the often elusive concept of feeling at home in your own skin. It’s elusive because “we live in a culture where there is enormous pressure for people to look a certain way in order to feel OK,” explains Linda Bacon, PhD, author of Body Respect and Health at Every Size. “At this point, the myth of the thinner body being a healthier, happier one has become culturally well established.”
If you are battling to accept your size, Bacon recommends separating functionality from appearance. For example, if you can, take a walk and notice how amazing your legs are as a means of getting around, rather than thinking about how fat your thighs are.
I’ve been teaching Hatha, Vinyasa, Kundalini, Yoga Nidra and Restorative yoga for years and added Aerial Yoga a few years ago. I have 1,200 hours of training.
Not only do we offer Aerial yoga, but on location event, corporate and private training for you, your coworkers, or groups of any size. After 10 years in the Long Beach area, we are now serving the Ventura and Santa Barbara area.
Candie Crespo (310) 363-0082
yogabycandie@gmail.com
@yogabycandie
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Ground and Aerial Yoga
“Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self.”
—Bhagavad Gita
