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Improve your poses with vibrating yoga pants

164_A_YogaThere’s no doubt, yoga pants are in style these days. While they have a practical use in the studio to add additional comfort to your practice, what if they could do more? The fashion tech company known as Wearable Experiments believes they can. Later this year, they plan to release vibrating yoga pants that will help guide you into postures correctly. Here’s what you need to know about these radical new yoga pants.

If you’ve dabbled in yoga or are a beginner, you know firsthand just how difficult it can be to get into the right position. When you’re just starting out doing yoga, getting hung up on and over-thinking your poses can be a distraction. Instead of focusing on your breathing, stretching and enjoying your new practice, you’re worried about whether or not your posture is correct. This is obviously frustrating. And Billie Whitehouse, the CEO of the company that is making the new yoga pants, understands the need to get your posture right. “As someone who doesn’t always know the correct form or alignment in poses, I find having that proper guidance is crucial.”

How vibrating yoga pants work

Named Nadi Smart fitness pants, the tights use haptic vibrations to ensure you nail your yoga poses. These vibrations vary in intensity and frequency depending on your body position and mimic the sense of touch, providing an experience similar to a teacher guiding you in your pose. The only difference is that your pants are doing it instead!

To be used in tandem with the pants is an app that will be compatible with both Google Android and Apple iOS devices. This app monitors your form and flow as you move from one pose to the next, and shows you the correct pose as well as where you need to make adjustments.

Because these pants vibrate and obviously use technology, you may think they’ll look awkward and clunky. However, this does not appear to be the case at all. Reportedly, the technology is subtle and unobtrusive. And judging from images on the company’s website, technology is nowhere in sight. The tights look like a normal, yet fashionable pair of yoga pants.

However, when it comes to yoga, we understand that many people will still prefer the guidance of an instructor. That’s why the teachers in our studio will not only guide you in your poses, but will also provide support and be there to answer all your questions. So until a pair of pants can do that, we recommend you swing by our fitness center for all the assistance you need in developing your yoga technique. Get in touch with us today.

 

Published with permission from FitnessAdvisory. Source.

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Yoga strength with inversions: Pt 2!

yoga_Nov27_AAs we covered earlier this month, inversions are powerful yoga poses that can strengthen your muscles, inspiring balance and stability and reinvigorating your circulation and lymphatic system. Yoga inversions provide a great physical challenge that boosts energy and inspires relaxation. While certain inversions may prove strenuous, many poses are accessible to all levels of fitness and experience.

An inversion, where you head is lower than your heart, does not necessarily entail standing on your head. There are poses of varying degrees of difficulty. Here are three inversions which you might want to try, always checking with a medical and yoga practitioner that it is safe to do so given any injuries or health issues you may have.

Downward Facing Dog

This is perhaps the most well-known inversion in yoga and whilst not overly difficult to get into position, it is a strong pose to maintain and a real solid strengthener.

  • Start on all fours, making sure that your hands are firmly pressed into your yoga mat. Your upper arms and shoulders need to be rolled out and your forearms straight and slightly rolled in.
  • Inhale with a deep breath and as you exhale bring your hips up, starting to straighten your legs, keeping your back straight and pushing against the mat with your hands.Your body should look like an upside-down V.
  • Press your shoulder blades down as you lengthen your spine, as you bring your knees back to a straight leg position, if possible, with your feet slightly apart and facing forward and the soles of your feet and heels flat on the mat.
  • Make sure your fingers are slightly splayed and that you are putting your weight onto the firm grounded palm rather than on your wrists. Likewise, make sure your feet are parallel and hip-width apart.
  • Your hands need to be under your shoulders and keep your elbows from pinging out as this could put undue pressure on your elbow joint.
  • It is easy to lurch-forward and lose balance with this pose, so consciously move your weight from your arms through your hips, to create greater stability.
  • This inversion really stretches your hamstrings but be wary of overstretching or creating an unbalanced pose by trying to fight against tightness in this part of the leg. Instead, bend your knees slightly and shift your body into the correct posture, keeping a central square shape between your hands and feet.

The Hare

A far more relaxing and less challenging inversion, which can really lengthen and relieve pressure in the spine.

  • Start in a kneeling position with your hands resting lightly on your thighs, before raising your arms with the palms facing, being careful to keep the shoulders from hunching.
  • Breathe in deeply and as you slowly exhale bend forward with a smooth movement, so that the arms move forward and your forehead rest on the ground.
  • Turn your arms so that the palms rest on the mat as you stretch them out without pulling the neck muscles or tensing the shoulders and back.
  • Relax further into the pose by staying in position and breathing deeply, before drawing the arms in and gently curling the spine to get into your starting position.

Next week, we look at even more inversions for beginners and you can join our dynamic yoga sessions by getting in touch.

Published with permission from FitnessAdvisory. Source.