Align Pilates® Minneapolis

The morning workout. Sounds like a drag, doesn’t it? The skies are turning significantly more dark and chilly, making it exceedingly hard to drag myself out of bed in the wee hours. And I simply cannot be trusted to put on an acceptable gym outfit at 5:30 in the morning. I hardly know who I am at that hour. So I love it when we stumble upon things like these: Pilates Moves to Energize Your Morning.

This fab Pilates circuit can be done in between rubbing the sleep from your eyes and heading for your first cup of coffee, right from the comfort of your bedroom, or wherever you prefer to exercise in your P.J’s. There’s nothing like a long and lean stretch to jumpstart your day. Send a little fresh air to your muscles and you’ll feel refreshed and energized before you even hit the shower. Just remember to take those jam-jams off first.

Bonus: If reading the pose how-to’s doesn’t quite cut it, here are some visual aids:

Ball Roll

Single-Leg Stretch

Single-Leg Circles

“9 AM – 3 PM”

Half Roll Back

Congratulations to all who completed the Virgin Yoga Series with Stacy Seebart! We hoped it rocked your world, in a very peaceful and centering sort of way, of course. And speaking of soft rock, Stacy has graciously decided to share her very special Virgin Yoga Playlist for your listening pleasure. As you venture out into the world to experience new yoga pleasures, you can take these songs with you as a pleasant reminder of your not too distant virginity. Rock on, my yogi friends, rock on.

Stacy Seebart’s Virgin Yoga Playlist:

Ha Ma Durga- Donna DeLory
Brand New Day- Joshua Radin
Wash Away – Joe Purdy
Om Nama Shivaya- Donna DeLory
Jaya Vitthale- Dave Stringer
Breathe- Alexi Murdoch
May You Walk in Sunshine- Sacred Spirit
Om Namah Shivya- Wade Morrisette
Om- Soulfood
Kiss of Bliss- Jamie Lawrence & Steve Gorn
Shamanic Journey (Om Shanti)- Anugama

NEW Virgin Yoga Series starts soon!
Tuesdays October 5th – November 9th, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm.
Sign up now!

This week’s forecast calls for 85 degrees and sun. Yes folks, it’s gettin’ hot in here. But instead of taking off all your clothes, how about jumping in some cool, refreshing water? And while you are there, do some yoga. That’s right. Yoga is effective both on land and at sea, so chill out and give some water yoga moves a whirl. You’ll not only find that aqua yoga relaxes your weary muscles, but the water will support your weight, allowing you to mover deeper into your poses and hold them for longer periods of time. Kind of like those handstand contests you used to do with your gal pals back in the day.

Where to dip? If you are fortunate enough to own your own personal swimmin’ hole during Minnesota’s hot and sticky months, more power to you. And if you are one of the pool-less, lucky for you, we live in the land-o-lakes. So hop on in one. Or adopt the tradition that city-dwelling Minnesotans have been practicing for many, many moons—befriend someone with pool access. Either way, you dip, I dip we dip.

This May, Bicycling magazine named Minneapolis America’s best bike city. How did our fine city nab such a title? Well, for starters, we have 127 miles of street and off-street bikeways throughout the city. That probably had something to do with it. Plus, our large, supportive biking community, extensive cycling infrastructure, beautiful greenways and NEW bike-share program could not have gone unnoticed. Yeah, we rock. Or roll, as the case may be.

All that Minneapolis biking means hard working Minneapolis bikers. And hard working bikers means hard working muscles. And hard working muscles means occasional aches and pains. So what do occasional aches and pains mean? Yoga for Cyclists. Calves, quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, hips, shoulders, and the neck are often tight muscle groups for the regular recreational biker. If that’s you, this short series of yoga poses is specially designed to stretch your tight spots. It’s best to perform these poses before your muscles have had a chance to cool down or, in other words, before you peel off that spandex. So what does all that stretching mean?  Babelicious biking.

While no one can deny the exceptional powers and strength of instructor-led fitness classes, sometimes you need a little home practice to really get the full effect. DVDs, books and internet how-to’s are great when you want to brush up on your fitness skills from the comfort of your own living room. But after a while, they tend to lose their zing. When you start reciting the video host’s repetitive script and the pages start falling out of your favorite book, you know it’s time for a change. So why not enhance your practice from the very thing you are practicing on—your mat?

Dig this Self-Guided Eco-Friendly Yoga Mat. Here you have 28 popular, physician-certified yoga poses right at the tips of your fingers and toes. No need to pause and peer up at the TV screen or flip a page. With the self-instructional mat, you can “tune in, chill out and shape up all at the same time.” So why stop at Yoga? Self-Guided Eco-Friendly Mats are also available for your Pilates and Ab workouts. No wonder we haven’t seen hide nor hair of Mr. Billy Blanks in a long while.