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Yoga with a twist: with Crunch: Fat Burning Yoga you can tone your entire body, increase energy and maintain healthy weight levels - Master Class

American Fitness, March-April, 2002

"When people think of yoga, they think of its wonderful benefits--mind/body connection, increased flexibility and relaxation. Weight loss usually doesn't come to mind. Surprisingly, it is possible to burn fat, boost your metabolism and reap all the other benefits yoga has to offer. As Sara Ivanhoe, star of the Crunch: Fat Burning Yoga video, explains, "Backward-bending postures elevate the heart rate. Twisting postures stimulate the adrenal glands and flush out toxins. Flowing sequences, done quickly, will get one's heart into its target zone." Try these postures for a new twist on this ancient discipline.

Triangle Pose

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Stand with your feet approximately four feet apart. Turn your right foot outwards 90 degrees and turn your left foot inwards 45 degrees. Raise your arms out to the sides, hinge at your hips, place your right hand on the shin or ankle of your right leg and point your left fingertips towards the ceiling. Rotate your chest up towards the ceiling and, if you can, look up at your left hand. Both legs and arms should be straight. Hold the position five to ten breaths. Come up from the pose and repeat on the other side.

Side Stretch Pose

Stand with your feet four to five feet apart. Turn your right foot out and your left foot in. Bend your right knee to a 90 degree angle, place your right fingertips on the floor on the inside of the right foot and raise your left hand to the ceiling. Hold the position five to ten breaths and repeat on the other side.

Twisting Lunge Pose

Get in a lunge position with your right foot forward, making sure your foot is aligned underneath the knee. Your left knee should be on the floor (if needed, use a cushion for support). Come into an upright position and bring your palms together at your chest. Rotate your body to the left and place your left upperarm on the right knee. Then, rotate your body to the right. Hips go forward and down, chest goes to the right and up. Hold the position for five to ten breaths and repeat on the other side.

Bow Pose

Lie on your stomach. Bend both knees, reach around with both hands and grab the outsides of your feet. To stabilize the lower back, take your stomach in and tailbone to the floor. Extend feet up towards the ceiling. Your arms, head and chest should move up as they follow the motion of your Feet. Hold for five to ten breaths. Then, repeat two to three times.

Happy Cow Pose

Sit on the floor with your legs crossed, having your right leg on top. Move your knees until they are in a vertical line in front of you. Both sit bones should be on the floor with the feet out to the sides. Lean forward and hold the position for five to ten breaths. Repeat on the other side.

About 90 percent of yoga injuries occur while coming in and out of yoga poses. To avoid injury, be especially careful coming in and out of poses. Breathing is the guide to a pose. If you cannot breathe comfortably in a particular pose, try an easier one. The "no pain, no gain" philosophy does not apply to yoga. Remember, it can take a long time to build up to certain poses.

To order the Crunch: Fat Burning Yoga video ($9.99) or Crunch: The Perfect Yoga Workout DVD ($14.98), which includes Fat Burning Yoga and Joy of Yoga workouts, visit www.collagevideo or call (800) 546-1949.

Yoga with a twist: with Crunch: Fat Burning Yoga you can tone your entire body, increase energy and maintain healthy weight levels - Master Class

American Fitness, March-April, 2002

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