Yoga Brings Out The Best In Me

When I’m feeling cranky, that’s when I know I need to unroll my mat and dig deep to get rid of the heaviness of the week, the day, or just one particular incident with someone or something that takes me out of balance. I’m always amazed that the power of yoga can and does melt away my resistance every single time—but I have to be open and allow it to happen. I’m too busy is what my mind tells me! But when I don’t listen to my mind and follow my heart and what my body needs—that’s when real things happen for me!

It’s very cool to me that when I just breath and melt into the physicality of my body with my eyes wide open in acceptance, shifts start to happen. I can choose to close my eyes and get deep in thought and mind banter or I can choose to root down in physicality and listen to my breath and feel my body, feet, hands, and to direct my gaze outside into the “real world.” I choose the real world every time because my internal self can be quite nasty at times.

I choose yoga every time! Or did yoga choose me? Either way—it’s great combination! Thank you yoga!

So What’s All The Hype About Juicing?

Are You Ready To Give Juicing A Whirl?

If you’re not big into fruits and/or vegetables, it’s a great way to add them into your diet. Need more protein in your diet? You can add that in your juice too. Some good sources of protein are almond milk, Greek yogurt, flaxseed, and peanut butter.

Where Do You Start?

The first thing to remember is juice fruits and vegetables you enjoy! The juice should taste great going down! It’s important to listen to your body and pay close attention to your stomach for any signs of upset.

Why Should You Use Organic Produce When Juicing?

Organically grown foods have more nutrients—vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and micronutrients—than commercially grown foods because the soil is managed and nourished with sustainable practices by responsible standards. Eating organically grown foods is the only way to avoid chemical pesticides and poisons present in commercially grown food. Organically grown foods taste better too!

What Produce Is The Safest?

The Environmental Working Group researched and came up with the “dirty dozen” which are fruits and vegetables to avoid eating which includes apples, strawberries, grapes, celery, peaches, spinach, sweet bell peppers, imported nectarines, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, imported snap peas and potatoes. The EWG's Clean Fifteen™ for 2014—the produce least likely to hold pesticide residues—are avocados, sweet corn, pineapples, cabbage, frozen sweet peas, onions, asparagus, mangoes, papayas, kiwis, eggplant, grapefruit, cantaloupe, cauliflower and sweet potatoes. Relatively few pesticides were detected on these foods, and tests found low total concentrations of pesticides.

What Are The Benefits Of Juicing?

The benefits of juicing go on and on! Juicing helps you absorb all the nutrients from the fruits and/or vegetables. Many of us have impaired digestion which limits our body's ability to absorb all the nutrients. Juicing allows pre-digestion, or the immediate absorption of all of the nutrients from produce giving you the most nutrition possible efficiently.

Juicing aids in the digestive process and gives it a little break. It takes less energy to digest produce as a liquid than as solid food, which takes many hours after consumption to deliver optimal nourishment to the body.

Juicing helps you consume the right amount of vegetables in an efficient manner. Did you know that the average person needs to eat 2 lbs. of raw vegetables for every 100 lbs. of body weight? It’s an easy way to get the vegetables you need in your diet, particularly if you prefer carbs over veggies.

Juicing helps to raise the pH balance in our bodies, and in turn, help to protect us from conditions related to acidic imbalances, including heart and kidney disease, osteoporosis, and diabetes. Juicing facilitates weight loss, increases energy levels, and strengthens immunity.

According to Dr. Josh Axe, liver detoxification is one of the main reasons people juice. The liver works on overload on a regular basis. We are constantly bombarding our bodies with toxins in what we eat, breathe, and put onto our bodies. Juicing offers the body a chance to aid in detoxing the liver.

Dr. Josh Axe states another reason to juice is to alkalize your body. Today, we have highly acidic bodies. Diseases grow abundantly in acidic environments and scientists have long stated their belief that creating an alkaline environment could be one of the best ways to fight off disease. Some ingredients to create an alkalizing drink are beets, carrots, cucumbers, and spinach.

Another great benefit of juicing is the ability it gives you to increase your intake of chlorophyll. Dr. Axe states that chlorophyll is the green pigment in plants and can help to strengthen the blood and rebuild red blood cells. The molecular structure of chlorophyll is almost identical to a component of red blood cells called hemin. To get more chlorophyll into your body, drink the greenest juices you can such as kale, spinach, wheatgrass, cucumber, greens of beets.

Why not give juicing a try? Boost your health and infuse yourself with energy! Summer is here and fresh produce is boundless. Juice what you like, sneak in some produce you don’t like, dabble with some lemon or lime—get creative. Try a juice and see how it feels inside your body! Juicing is a whole new experience your body with love.

By Linda Sambursky

Studio Owner of Yoga Body Shop and YBS Juice Lounge, a Baptiste Certified and Yoga Alliance RYT 200 Yoga Instructor. Linda also holds a Master’s Degree in Special Education. Linda has been teaching and practicing yoga since 2000. Linda continues to create a community of empowered people at Yoga Body Shop and in her community. She strives and believes in helping people help themselves.

Yoga Body Shop Features: "State-Of-The-Art Facility" From The Ground Up!

People frequently ask me about the design of the yoga studio. With 6 years of experience having a hot yoga studio we learned a lot about hot yoga and yoga studio design by both research and trial and error. Before designing the new space we hired Chad Clark from Hot Yoga Studio Design as a consultant for designing the space and heating system. Through site visits and telephone conferences with Chad and our local team of HVAC experts, we came up with a design to efficiently heat/cool the general space with air purification. This provides a high level of comfort to people when they are in the juice bar and the other common areas.

As for the Yoga rooms, a lot of thought was put into the design with no expense spared. We feel that the environment inside the yoga space is critical as Hot Yoga is the heart and soul of our studio. Let me outline the yoga room design from the ground up:

The yoga floors are made of a special recycled rubber product which is becoming very popular amongst new Baptiste Studios. Hot yoga requires a floor which is easily cleaned and disinfected. Our old studio originally had carpet which was a problem for cleanliness although soft under foot. We upgraded to composite wood flooring which served us well after the flood for a few years. It was very easy to disinfect and looked great. When designing the new space we looked at several yoga floors that had properties that would make it easy to disinfect and be comfortable. Some of the floors that we tried were simply too soft and absorbent for our taste. We wanted a floor that was soft underfoot but still allows stability in standing poses. We found the perfect fit. Although our indoor sports court flooring came at a hefty price, we knew it was the perfect floor the moment we stepped foot on it. Another benefit is that it looks great and really helps to create the ambiance that we set out to create.

The walls are specially designed to keep the heat in and the sound out. A lot of credit is given to Chad for his design of the walls, insulation and sound proofing. This construction job was like no other for everyone involved. Although windows were not recommended, we wanted them and added them to the space. We used high grade insulated windows to cut down on heat loss. The natural beauty of having windows while practicing yoga definitely makes a difference. We made a conscious decision to eliminate the mirrors so that the practice is more natural. Since being in the new space we have heard only compliments about practicing without mirrors. We used Paint with low volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs are solvents that get released into the air as the paint dries. (Other products emit solvents, including adhesives, cleaning supplies, and even some home furnishings.) VOCs can cause acute symptoms, including headaches and dizziness. A big thank you goes out to Terry Ludwig for all of her help with the design. She was great to work with through a very difficult process.

The ceilings were designed with tray ceilings for two reasons. One is that it is simply a beautiful effect and the second reason is that it allows for up lighting. This indirect LED lighting allows the Yogis to practice without being distracted by bright overhead lights or wall sconces. The indirect light is contained within a cove of aluminum to shield yogis eyes and are another small contributing factor to a wonderful yoga experience.

Finally the heating system is the best, custom design that money could buy. Each room is designed with its own heating and air filtration system. That’s right-- two separate systems with a common boiler. Each room is outfitted with a gas forced hot air system which is very efficient and evenly distributed around the perimeter of the room. There is also a secondary electric booster system which turns on periodically to help rapidly heat the room to the appropriate temperature when called upon by the system. Each room also has a continuous stream of fresh oxygen rich tempered outside air being pumped into the room. This eliminated the need for CO2 detectors to start a flow of new air. The air is purified with a Guardian Air system. This system removes odor from the air by killing germs and thus creating a safer environment. The Guardian air system is proactive as it sends ionized oxidizers into the room to destroy pollutants at its source.

Each room has humidity control as part of the system. The rooms can be humidified or dehumidified by the system. The humidity control is connected to our Ecobee thermostats which are computer programmable with remote access and alerts.

Finally our Aerial yoga room has been engineered with steel beams with cross supports and welded I hooks for attachment of the Aerial hammocks.

Our teachers who teach hot yoga are all trained or in training in Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga. Baron Baptiste, the founder of Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga recommends practicing in a heated room. That is why we have chosen to have this type of training for our team. Our studio was custom designed and built from the ground up to give you the best possible hot yoga experience.

By Ronald Sambursky, DMD, YBS Studio Owner and Certified Yoga Instructor