NovaYogaDude http://novayogadude.posterous.com Most recent posts at NovaYogaDude posterous.com Wed, 26 Oct 2011 16:27:00 -0700 Can you become enlighten doing hot yoga? http://novayogadude.posterous.com/can-you-become-enlighten-doing-hot-yoga http://novayogadude.posterous.com/can-you-become-enlighten-doing-hot-yoga


My entire life I have always been the dude, everyone would come to for advice or for a deep discussion on issues. Not sure why or maybe because I have always been a good listener.

I would say most westerners who take Hot Yoga or any other Yoga may have this vision of a yogi from India seating in the middle of the room telling us what to do and enlightening us. I actually experience this with a friend I brought to a Hot Yoga class for the first time. He actually mentioned to me a few days later his concern of the authenticity of the class since it was being taught by a lovely young lady. For me personally I really didn’t care who was teaching the class as long as the instructor didn’t fry us for duration of the class, or held the Triangle posture longer than usual. However, his concern actually stayed with me for a while, I wanted to ride this wave, to see where it would lead me.

The only thing that came to mind was that we are our own guru’s and our practice of yoga is just a reflection of what we are seeking to achieve. If you are taking yoga to heal an injury it can be achieved, if you are healing from emotional trauma yoga can help, if you are looking for a gym alternative yoga can serve as an outlet, or if you looking to just say you do yoga you can mark this one off your list.

So can you become enlighten doing hot yoga? I don’t really have an answer it is really up to you on what you are looking for; hot yoga may lead you to other practices that can help. But at the end of the day you are your own guru do not seek out for answers, seek from within.

A guru is consciousness and not a person, this should not be understood. Yogi Bhanjan

Peace

Dion

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Wed, 26 Oct 2011 16:25:00 -0700 Cleaning those smelly Yoga Mats!! http://novayogadude.posterous.com/cleaning-those-smelly-yoga-mats http://novayogadude.posterous.com/cleaning-those-smelly-yoga-mats


A few weeks ago I had the wonderful experience of having a foul smelling yoga mat. I was running late for Hot Yoga and forgot my mat (no biggie), rented a mat for 2 dollars. As you know in Bikram Yoga we go through our standing series and then switch over to our floor postures. Well, I started to notice a really bad odor, and I thought man I am a super clean dude it can’t be me. I then thought these beautiful ladies in front of me have really smelly feet.

Well, as we started our Locus posture with my face planted I then realized it was my mat smelling funky. I was so upset because I should have said something immediately when I was giving my mat because it was very wet. I got back into the present moment and just let it go. As soon as class ended I scrub my face immediately because the smell was tattoo into my skin.
Anyway, lesson learned is to make sure if you rent a mat that you have towels covering the entire mat or if it smells give it back. After this experience I decided to do some research and found a product that helps with the mat cleaning called Gaiam Super Yoga Mat Wash. I like this product because it was easy to use just spray the mat a few times and wipe with a moist cloth, air dry and your done. The ingredients of the scent of the Yoga Mat Wash are all nature, which in include Eucalyptus oil Organic Olive Oil, and Coconut oil.
If you are on a tight budget, I have heard you can actually dump your mat in the washing machine a small amount of detergent. I would advise you to make sure you don’t use a lot of chemicals to clean your mat because the scent will actually release itself from the mat, especially with the intense heat of Hot Yoga. This is something I can vouch for because it has happened to me.
With regards to drying your mat immediately I have heard that you can place your mat into the dryer with low heat for a short time, but I honestly don’t know if this is good idea or not. Try at your own risk! I tend to just have a few mats at home and rotate among them.

Cheers

Dion

 

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Wed, 26 Oct 2011 16:22:00 -0700 Yoga Blues! http://novayogadude.posterous.com/yoga-blues http://novayogadude.posterous.com/yoga-blues

The old saying of life gets in the way still holds true regardless of the endeavor you are going through.It can be at times mentally difficult when you are not consistent with your yoga practice.
I am currently going through this phase due to some health issues I am dealing with at this moment.  For others it may work, school, family, even your social life.  So what do you in these situations? Well, instead of worrying or even becoming frustrated if you can’t make it your session the best remedy is to accept the situation for starters.  Remember Yogis live in the present moment!  Yoga will always be available, hell it’s been around for over 4000 years I don’t see it leaving us. 
Sometimes just pulling out your yoga mat next to your bed and working on a few postures can make the difference.  What I find also beneficial is every now and then just reading on the history of yoga or even if you started reading on the practice that you are interested can really deepen your appreciation of this beautiful art.   If you feel emotionally unsatisfied with this approach Yoga has a way of telling you to make changes to your life style.  So if you feel you are short on time, maybe start changing your schedule to accommodate your practice will help.  


Cheers

Dion
NovaYogaDude

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Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:19:00 -0700 Can you lose weight doing Hot Yoga? http://novayogadude.posterous.com/can-you-lose-weight-doing-hot-yoga http://novayogadude.posterous.com/can-you-lose-weight-doing-hot-yoga

I get asked often by my friends can you really lose weight doing hot yoga? my answer is always yes and no!  After that response I usually get a bewilder look, but I then explain that hot yoga is a great instrument into helping someone lose weight. But you really have to be conscience of the food you are putting into your body.  For me to lose as of today around 34lbs I had to eliminate all red meat and most of the process foods I was taken in.  I then switch over to raw foods or what you sometimes hear plant based foods.   I tell you from the bottom of my heart that this switch triggered my body to shed the weight off.  I am by no means a health expert, and please take my advice with a grain of salt.  But I have done the South Beach Diet, Atkins, and taken just about every diet pill out on the market.  The result of the Atkins diet actually created a gallstone from all the meat I was eating, it was so painful that I was rush to the ER and had surgery immediately.  
I won’t paint this rose pretty but switching to raw foods is a challenge, because we have so much food temptation around, and for me being Puerto Rican, Italian, and African American as you know my cultures love to eat.  So be prepared for cultural pressure, family pressure, and your friends will think you’re an elitist for wanting to eat fruits and veggies right after a night of bar hopping.

Some of the immediate benefits from the switch is I don’t need as much sleep, my endurance is through the roof, and being a muscular dude I usually had to fight with my mind and body to get through a Bikram class.  Today, my body is fueled with good food and it allows me to focus on fine tuning the postures.  This is a big plus because and I know some of you can relate in that we have a tendency to do our posture's half @ss so that we have enough energy to get through the entire 90 minutes.
Well , I will continue this conversation in future blogs, and I promise to share what I eat, and I also what I do when I have to head out to a restaurant with friends and family!  My only suggestion is if you consider raw foods is to start slow and enjoy the journey.  Even if you can go 50% raw foods and build up you will start to notice the change. 
Final note I like to say that the combination of Hot Yoga and raw foods are a marriage to your body, mind, and spirit.  Try it you won’t regret it.  

Cheers
Dion
NovaYogaDude

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Thu, 13 Oct 2011 17:59:00 -0700 Two Years of Birkam and my thoughts! http://novayogadude.posterous.com/two-years-of-birkam-and-my-thoughts http://novayogadude.posterous.com/two-years-of-birkam-and-my-thoughts

I'm going on two years of doing Bikram Yoga and I have to say it's been very beneficial in so many ways.
In my opinion, Bikram Yoga is design in such way that it forces you to make better choices in life including with the foods you put into your body. It may be the heat of baking in a room for 90 minutes, but I just don't find it appealing to eat a cheeseburger after class. After an intense session of torture my body is craving and I mean screaming to have raw freshly made juices. We have to acknowledge that our bodies are meant to be nourished with live fresh foods, and we should respect our bodies and give it what it needs.

So how do I prepare for a Bikram Yoga class? Well, the following things I actually do religiously before class and I have notice the difference in that I can go through the entire 90 minute session without resting. A very difficult task for a man that is over 200lbs!
First are for most you must drink lots of water before class. I usually have at least a gallon if not more. According to The Institute of Medicine determined that an adequate intake for men is roughly 3 liters (about 13 cups) of total beverages a day. For women it is about 2.2 liters (about 9 cups) of total beverages a day (Clinic, 2011). Honestly, this may sound a little gross but the best gauge for me is to simply check my urine throughout day and when it reaches a point that it is clear that is my indicator that I am well hydrated. With regards to meals I also like to make sure my meal selection is pure plant base meals to keep my PH balances are optimal (I will do a blog later on Ph Balancing). I have also notice that if I have any breads or pasta within a few hours before class it will have an impact on my yoga. I am just slow and the food is stuck in my stomach; not good during Locust Pose. I like to start my morning with fruits maybe some granola. I continue with more fruits and raw juices before lunch. Lunch is usually my biggest meal and that is loads of greens with olive oil. Mid day up until class is more fruit and coconut water. This format has made such a difference for that I have not only lost 32lbs, but my Yoga sessions are at a different level. My mind can tap deeper into being in the present moment because my body is fueled correctly with energy foods.

Final tip is that I would recommend getting to class at least 30 minutes before the session. I think that it allows us to slow down and mentally prepare for yoga. We are just so busy rushing, texting, and worried about our personal stuff that we miss the beauty of Bikram Yoga.

I hope this was helpful and if you have any questions, please hit me up at dionjbrown@gmail.com or see me at SuperNova Yoga in Arlington, Virginia

Cheers

Dion
NovaYogaDude

Works Cited
Clinic, M. (2011, October 12). Water: How much should you drink every day? Retrieved Month 13, 2011, from Mayo Clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/water/NU00283

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Sat, 08 Oct 2011 18:57:03 -0700 What is the deal with Acai? http://novayogadude.posterous.com/what-is-the-deal-with-acai http://novayogadude.posterous.com/what-is-the-deal-with-acai

Hey folks…  I get asked all the time about healthy juices and everyone wants to know about Acai. Well here is the lowdown; Acai (ah-sigh-ee) is basically a purple berry that grows on palm trees in the Amazon rain forest in Brazil.  It’s been around for hundreds of years, and really didn’t gain popularity in the United States until 2004.  This berry packs a lot of goodies, including two important amino acids called lysine, and methionine.  Lysine has an important role in its production of enzymes, and antibodies, and methionine is great in the reduction of liver fat, and helps with detoxifying metals from the body.  A study at The University of Florida discovered that Acai berries caused human cancer cells to self destruct 86% of the time in a culture. While this research has only been shown in a cell culture model, it is likely that it will have the same effect on human beings (Walters, 2009).

I have been to Brazil a few times and Acai is sold everywhere, on the beautiful beaches and literally in every juice bar in Rio de Janerio.   I believe one of the reasons why Brazilians have beautiful glowing skin is because of their intake of Acai and coconut water! 

So you may be asking where can I get this stuff?  Well, the brands that I like are as follows:

http://www.acairoots.com/   (my first choice and I highly recommend, this stuff is the real deal)

http://www.sambazon.com/

http://zolaacai.com/ 

You can either order these products directly from their sites,  zola and sambazon I believe you can also order via amazon.com or get it at Wholefoods. 

In my opinion the only downside with the bottle drinks is that they pack a lot of sugar up to 22 grams in every 12fl oz bottle!  So drink moderately.  So if you are looking to get away from the Redbull and go more nature this is a good transition for the busy person.   

I personally like to drink Acai if I am rushing in the morning and I am not able to make a raw juice.  It really gives me the energy, and mental alertness for driving into Washington D.C (LOL). 

If you are looking to get educated about superfoods, David Wolfe has a fantastic book called Superfoods (see link below) that I would highly recommend you pick up. 

I plan in the next few days to put a video blog in both English and Spanish of some of the smoothie drinks I make with Acai.   If you have any comments or questions, please hit me up on twitter. 

Cheers

Dion

NovaYogaDude.com

Works Cited

Walters, S. (2009, January 23). Natural News . Retrieved October 08, 2011, from Studies Shows Acai Berry May Kill Cancer : http://www.naturalnews.com/025403_acai_cancer_berries.html

 

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Wed, 05 Oct 2011 16:57:00 -0700 October 9th, 2011 - First Blog http://novayogadude.posterous.com/october-9th-2011-first-blog http://novayogadude.posterous.com/october-9th-2011-first-blog

Well, thanks for stopping by my blog.  This is my first entry (WooHoooo), and I guess I should take a moment to discuss why I am blogging.  Back 2006 I feel into a depression and actually put on I think close to sixty pounds!!!  Yes, major fat @ss!  Long story short this past January 2011, I got really sick in Brazil and back in the ended up at Alexandria Virginia Hospital’s emergency room in Northern Virginia getting my gallbladder remove.  Not Cool! 

This was a wakeup call for me, and I decided to commit to a plant base dieting, and Bikram Yoga.  Thus far I have lost close to thirty pounds.  I have been very happy in my journey and I want to share it with everyone.  I will be enhancing the site with videos, photos, interviews, and so forth.  So  be patient :)

I also plan to post the foods I am eating, and raw juices that will blow your mind.  See you in a few days..

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