#yogaand

If you follow me on Instagram (shameless plug @yogi_ashley) you’ll see I’ve started posting a #yogaand hashtag of the day.

Okay?

As a power vinyasa yoga teacher, I see people from all different fitness backgrounds. Cross fitters, runners, walkers, athletes, dancers, gym rats, cardio junkies. I also see people with no fitness background looking to start a healthier life, and/or prevent or heal injuries.

My strong belief as a yoga teacher is to show that you do NOT have to ‘be’ a certain way to practice yoga. You don’t have to wear mala beads or love incense or never do any other workout. To me, yoga brings out the best in people. So whether I see you once a day, once a week, or once a year, I’m so happy that you’ve decided to walk through the door.

Because I think every person in the world (yes, I dream big) needs some form of yoga, I’ve decided to play around with yoga and traditional cardio & strength workouts with which people are more familiar.
First up, #yogaand LEGS. We combine crescent lunge (above, left) with chair pose (right). Stay LOW, tap the ball of your right foot back and come back to chair pose. Repeat 10 times & switch legs. To intensify, dip your back knee to touch the ground, then lift up while in crescent lunge.

Also try #yogaand ABS (see pic below). Start in boat pose, roll over your back to plow pose, squeeze your core to bring you back to boat. Repeat 10 times.

Why merge yoga and traditional cardio & strength? Because you stretch and elongate your body WHILE working out, so you’re less likely for any kind of injury. When you mix flexibility with lifting, cardio, HIIT (high intensity interval) training, etc, your body has more room to move.

So start doing YOUR #yogaand. And hashtag it so I can see 🙂

Namaste,

Ashley