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Healthy Living

May 21
0

Replenish, Rebuild, Renew

By Healthy Living

Breathe… Sweat… Repeat… how to replenish your system

If you’re doing the 30-Day Dare, you know what we’re talking about! During practice, you lose both water and electrolytes when you sweat. Not only that, but add in the loss of sodium, potassium, and magnesium, which can lead to dehydration at a deep cellular level.

Most of us are probably aware that when we are thirsty, we are already in a dehydrated state. Dehydration can lead to nervous tension, fatigue, headaches and loads of other health problems. In Chinese medicine, this can indicate an imbalance, suggesting an excess of yang energy (heat, dryness) and deficiency of yin energy (moisture, coolness). So all that being said, how do we restore balance?

Think replenish, rebuild, and renew. A few suggestions to try:

Replenish…with a few great finds at your local health food store

  1. Natural Calm, a great source of magnesium which helps relax muscles
  2. Try some Aloe water which is cooling to the body
  3. Bioplasma Cell Salts which provide oxygen to the body at a cellular level
  4. Also try adding lemon, cherry juice or chlorophyll to your water, making your H20 more readily absorbed into the body

Fun Fact: The chemical makeup of coconut water is similar to our blood – making it a perfect recovery drink!

Rebuild…with foods that deeply hydrate

  1. Eat lots of berries! Examples: raspberries, blackberries, and gogi berries
  2. Eat top hydrating foods such as celery, cucumbers, pineapple, and citrus fruits
  3. Make a homemade bone broth or potassium broth

Renew…

  1. Get your Z’s – rest helps the brain detox and support the adrenals
  2. Check that deodorant label – is it free from harsh toxic chemicals?
  3. Wipe away that sweat!!! You don’t want to reabsorb toxins you are eliminating!

Fun Fact: Heavy sweating releases mercury, cadmium and lead from the body!

Oh and DRINK UP!!! H20, that is…

Let us know how you feel after trying a few of these replenishing suggestions. Especially while doing the 30-Day Dare!

– Amanda T.
Former Holland Assistant
Holistic medicine practitioner in Zeeland, Michigan

 
May 20
0

Yogis in the Kitchen: Green Smoothie Recipe

By Healthy Living, Yogis in the Kitchen

Green Smoothie Recipe
Good news – you don’t need a fancy blender to make great smoothies!

Christina shows us some tricks on how to use a regular, ol’ blender to get our smoothie super smooth.Green Smoothie Recipe

If you don’t have a favorite green smoothie recipe here’s one of mine to try:

  • 1/2 a lemon (just the juice)
  • About 2 1/2 cups coconut water (I like plain the best)
  • A big handful of kale or spinach
  • 2 stalks of celery
  • 1/2 a cucumber (peeled for a more juice-like smoothie)
  • 1/2 a pear (if your in the mood for sweeter use the whole pear and a little more coconut water)
  • A knuckle of fresh ginger (peeled)

Green Smoothie Recipe

Tips on how to make it smoooooooooooth

Don’t start at the highest speed, mine has six speeds. I start at 3 then work up to 6.

Put half the liquid in the bottom to start your smoothie out.

Add in your greens next. Blend them up till they are in little bits.

Then add the thicker veggies and/or fruit. You might need to push them down halfway as you go.

Keep blending, working toward your high speed.

Add the rest of your liquid and blend on high one last time for a few minutes till 100% smooth.

Making a smoothie is easier than you thought – eh? No need for fancy equipment! All that’s left is to enjoy your smoothie chilled or right from the blender.

-Christina G.
Funky Buddha Instructor

Apr 12
0

Give Your Mat a Bath

By Healthy Living, Yoga

To err on the safe side, we always recommend checking the instructions on your mat before using cleaning products on it. 

When was the last time you gave your yoga mat a good rub down? Has it been a while? Since spring cleaning is probably on your mind, take that mentality to your yoga gear and make your mat so fresh and so clean, clean.

clean your yoga mat

Here’s a tried and true natural recipe that many of our yogis use. Before starting, be sure to check your mat’s cleaning instructions to make sure deep cleaning doesn’t void any lifetime warranties (it happens with some brands).

How to (Deep) Clean a Yoga Mat

  1. Fill up your bathtub with enough warm water to submerge your mat.
  2. Add about a teaspoon of baking soda to the water.
  3. Squeeze half (or whole) lemon into the water.
  4. Mix the water then submerge your mat.
  5. Leave in the tub for 20-30 minutes.
  6. Take out of the water and hang to dry for 24 hours (not in direct sunlight).
  7. Your mat finally smells good again.

Put a check mark next to “clean yoga gear” on your Spring To-Do List. Start your next class on a fresh mat!

Your nose (and feet and hands) will thank you for it.

 

Mar 07
0

Who is Joe Cebulski? And what makes him so Funky Fab?

By Healthy Living

Funky Buddhas Joe Cebulski

The Funky Impressive Resume of Joe Cebulski 

  • Two-time Olympic qualifier and world-class athlete
  • Division 1 track coach at Arkansas State for 7 years
  • Has years of experience coaching Olympians, collegiate and high school athletes, and average joes like you and me

The Funky Buddha is funking thrilled to be collaborating with Joe Cebulski for our Run Lab on Sunday, March 20 at 8th Day Gym. Here’s a look inside the brain of a two-time Olympic Decathlon qualifier/owner of 8th Day Gym and why he’s the perfect “run nerd” to teach us the good stuff – the mechanics of movement:

How do a decathlete/crossfitter and yogi fit together? 

I don’t define myself or my business as CrossFit. I am in the business of movement science and my passion is movement. I believe in an unification theory of movement. Swinging a golf club, throwing a discus, executing a squat or practicing a sun salutation – movement is movement, efficiency is efficiency.

All sports have a “flow state.” The flow state can only exist when the body has fully assimilated the necessary technique to achieve efficiency of movement. This is when an athlete can, at times, surrender to the intelligence of their body.

Where our daily work lies is in cultivating efficient movement that is rooted in technique. Technique is positions and muscle firing patterns. Mastery of technique is the necessary precursor to physical efficiency, and efficiency gives us the possibility of achieving a flow state environment. Flow state is what every athlete craves, no matter their sport.

joe cebulski

What do you like about teaching running? 

One of the things I love most is to teach running. I love simplifying and demystifying an enormously complicated movement that everyone is told that they can “just do.” When I look at poor run mechanics, it is hard for me to not just see injury – PREVENTABLE injury.

Human culture is built around locomotion, moving spatially from one space to another. Running is on the spectrum of locomotion- it’s moving fast, but the basic mechanics can be seen in all athletic movements and endeavors. Because of this, investing yourself in the practice and assimilation of safe and efficient run mechanics is one of the single best things that you can do for your physicality and coordination, no matter your preferred sport or fitness regime.

How long does it take to assimilate these types of techniques into your actual running? 

In my experience, human bodies “want” to be efficient. Once a body feels an energetically efficient movement, it wants to replicate it, it wants to stick. Of course with each individual there are varying degrees of natural athleticism, coordination, motivation, and focus, but as a general rule, bodies respond well and quickly to this type of training.

Discus Final Joe Cebulski

Will this training (in run-mechanics) help my yoga? 

It is my believe that ANY training that you do that is focused on building awareness and understanding around how your body is put together and how it moves will help you in any and all of your physical pursuits.

Collaborating with the Funky Buddha to develop this workshop has been fascinating. It has expanded my mind and brought out my inner-movement-science-nerd in a fierce way. The workshop will be half run mechanics and drills, subject matter that I have been studying and teaching for years. The second half will be a yoga practice that has been specifically designed to compliment and ingrain the exact physical skill sets and concepts that we will be working on in the first half of the workshop. When you can distill movement down to its most basic and efficient mechanic, and then you can find and practice that mechanic in multiple places/sports/environments the benefit is enormous and reciprocal. Yoga will improve your running, and running will improve your yoga.

Ready to get going and flowing with Joe and The Funky Buddha? Sign up for Run Lab right now by clicking the link below.

RUN LAB | Sunday, March 20
8th Day Gym | 12:30-3PM

Nov 02
0

Stories of Strength: Natalie’s 30-Day Dare

By Healthy Living, Hot Yoga

We all have stories.

Each year, the 30-Day Dare brings out amazing stories of strength, courage, and perseverance from Funky Buddha Yoga students, new and veteran. Natalie, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for sharing yours.

“I never took myself for a yogi.

Since committing myself to leading a life focused on fitness and wellness, I have gone through several phases (or obsessions…) with different workouts. There were times when all I wanted to do was run for days, when I loved conquering (what felt like) a near-death experience during every INSANITY workout, or when lifting the heaviest weights possible was all I could think about.

But never yoga.

When it came to working out, all I really cared about was the calories I was burning. I clearly recognized all of the physical benefits of exercise, but never considered the mental and emotional benefits it could also bring—that it should bring. Until I gave The Funky Buddha a try.

Before coming to The Funky Buddha, I had some experience with hot yoga, but not much. For months, I figured one class a week was enough to grow my practice. And then I abandoned my practice for about six months, ironically, when I needed it the most.

This year has been a difficult one for me—coping with several deaths of close family members and friends, and my dealing with my dad’s cancer returning after 5 years of remission. I first heard about the 30-Day Dare when I was starting to feel like I couldn’t handle the emotional turmoil any longer. As much as the thought of committing to my practice for 30 straight days intimidated me (yoga is not easy), I knew this was just what I needed to gain a different perspective and feel better mentally, emotionally, and physically. Funky Buddha dared me, and I decided not to back down.

natalie1 - 30-day dare

Natalie at the Eastown Funky Buddha Yoga studio.

I would be lying if I said the 30-Day Dare was a breeze. Of course I expected the Dare to be physically challenging; holding chair pose and half-pigeon for minutes on end, 30 days in a row definitely prompted some extra-loud ooji breaths now and then. However, I did not expect to experience as much of an emotional release in one month than I did.

It really all came together for me on the first Tuesday evening of the Dare during Katie’s 7:30pm class. She told us how yoga is perceived solely as a tool for relaxation, but what most people don’t realize until they get deeper into their practice is how yoga brings up things we couldn’t see before, or ignored to see. In short: Yoga exposes underlying truths, and can make us downright pissed off. I immediately burst into (silent) tears and could not stop for the rest of class. I was angry and sad, and it finally revealed itself. My entire practice changed forever that night.

Now that the 30-Day Dare is over, I can say that I am now 100% addicted to yoga, physically stronger, but most importantly, much more mentally and emotionally stronger than I have been in a long time. I cannot wait to continue on this journey as a Funky yogi.

To all the fabulous instructors and participants who inspired me every day, thank you. I am honored to have been able to share my practice with you! Namaste.” – Natalie

Last Day of Funky Buddha's Yoga 30-Day Dare

Halloween fun during the last day of the Dare.

Apr 15
0

Take a Deep Breath

By Healthy Living

We take them between poses when things get hard.
Let’s take them with us outside the studio.

Take a Deep Breath - Funky Buddha Hot Yoga

Deep breaths. We’re talking Ujjayi or deep breathing through the nose (not to be confused with sighing, although that also feels really good). This is intentional, I-need-to-focus-on-this breathing that can not only get us through a challenging pose, but through any tough situation.

Let’s face it, life is stressful sometimes. It could be a reaction to getting cut off on the highway or any of those moments when you’re at your wits end. We’re all prone to feeling the heat – and not the hot yoga, Funky Buddha kind.

When we reach that breaking point, our brain is hardwired to go into “Fight or Flight” mode. Our bodies react the same as if a bear were chasing us or after getting a nasty email. We’ve all heard of it and know how our bodies immediately react. Stress is stress.

So before those swear words leave our lips or we find ourselves running as far away as possible, let’s think of Ujjayi and how freaking good it feels to just take a deep breath. It’s the perfect time to consciously choose to take a breath in order to shift our reaction.

So next time you want to crack some skulls:

1. Hold up. You freaking got this.
2. Take in a deep breath. Literally.
3. Start breathing those deep, soulful breaths. Use your gut with each inhale and exhale. Feel your shoulders and whole body move up and down with each breath.
4. Do that for like 3 breaths or maybe 3 minutes, if you have the time.
5. Feel better?

Sure, there might be an initial reaction, but in the moment, gain some clarity by stopping and taking those Ujjayi breaths. Trust yourself—the strength you use on the mat will help tenfold off it.

Use it. Feel it. Breathe it.

Mar 30
0

#SpringBreakItDown Instagram Challenge

By Healthy Living

It’s Spring Break for some. For others, it’s just Spring and time to start anew!

Take this time to break down 12 yoga poses with us during a #SpringBreakItDown Instagram Challenge starting Wednesday, April 1 through Sunday, April 12!

SpringBreakIGFINAL

To enter:

1 Follow us @FunkyBuddhaYoga on Instagram. Poses will be posted daily starting April 1.

2 Replicate each day’s pose.Tag your daily pose photos using #SpringBreakItDown and @FunkyBuddhaYoga.

3 Yogis who participated in all 12 days of the challenge will be entered for a chance to win a $150 shopping spree at Funky Buddha Yoga (1st place) or a new mat of your choice (2nd place)!

4 Winners will be randomly selected and notified via Instagram on Monday, April 13.

Now let’s #SpringBreakItDown!

Please note, this challenge is only through Instagram and no other social media channels will count toward participation.