Dance Conditioning

Om-ing at Home

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My earliest memory of yoga is just the sound of my mom’s voice, soft and soothing yet strong, as she guided a class through a “hatha” practice.  I can imagine the wood floors and the sun streaming through the windows into the third floor studio.  This was the mid-eighties and I don’t remember if they used blankets or something but the space was definitely devoid of the now ubiquitous sticky mat.  I was just a little thing and although I may have joined in for a pose or two I pretty much took a nap savasana the whole time. 😉

It took me at least another ten years to find yoga for myself but by the time I was 16 or so I had fallen hard for the vinyasa style that complemented my love and practice of modern dance so well.  This was back in the days when vinyasa was synonymous with Baron Baptiste so I quickly mail ordered all his VHS’s.

These days vinyasa is still my go-to style but I’ve also embraced slower practices like yin and basic hatha in a way I didn’t all those years ago when I started.  In general I prefer to practice yoga on my own, rather than a class, either self-led or with a video. My practice is irregular, or should I say, it ebbs and flows between hitting the mat several times a month to several times a week.

A few weeks ago I proclaimed that I would get a little more regular with my yoga practice and committed to 32 sessions over an eight week period. It’s been a lovely time so far.  Most of my practices have been on the short end but I am always very pleasantly surprised at how much of a positive impact just 10-20 minutes of focused movement and breath can have on me.

I wanted to share with you some of my go-to online resources when I want to rely on a video to guide my practice rather than flowing on my own.

  1. yogaglo.com  I think this is the best site of its type there is.  I’ve been a member on and off for a few years and always found it incredibly user-friendly and to contain a wide variety of high quality yoga routines.  My favorite feature is the filter setting where you can specify the length (5-120 minutes), style, and level of yoga class you would like to search.  They also upload new videos very regularly (everyday maybe?).  It’s free for 15 days and $18/month after that.  It’s super easy to put a hold on your account too, which is nice because then you can start it back up without having to go through the whole registration thing again each time.
  2. Lauren Eckstrom’s videos  I stumbled upon this young woman’s website a few snow days ago and really enjoyed her creative sequencing and clear que-ing.  Her website is lovely and easy to navigate.  I personally like the “choose your own adventure” aspect of the short practices, they range from 5-10 minutes so I usually do at least 2 or 3 back to back in an order according to my mood and needs that day.
  3. YouTube  Pro: it’s free! Con: it can take a while to sort through all the yoga videos and find what you want.  I’ve done some of the Yoga with Adriene videos recently and they are nice.

If you have anything to add to this list please feel free to in the comments!

My old Baptiste VHS’s were long ago given to Goodwill but I still have an ever evolving DVD library at home.  I looked through my collection this morning and found two that I’m ready to pass along.

Anyone want one of these? The first is appropriate for beginners/all-levels and the second is definitely intermediate-advanced.  Leave a comment sharing a little something about your yoga practice and which one you’d like and I’ll choose two people to send them to next week!

Lastly…

I made a Gracefulfitness YouTube channel!!!!

Click here to check it out!

There’s only one video (Dance Conditioning!) up right now but my goal is to add about one a week.  Please subscribe, share, and comment with any feedback about the workout or what else you’d like to see there (and let me know if there are any technical glitches that need worked out please!).

Have a great weekend!

 

 

Reebok True Studio Slipper Review

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The following post is sponsored by FitFluential LLC on behalf of Reebok. As always all opinions are my own.

I’ve been teaching since I was 18.  At first it was just dance technique classes but after I graduated college I added “group exercise instructor” to my list of jobs and in addition to dance classes started teaching step aerobics, strength training, mat Pilates, yoga, and “Dancers Workout”. (Any old 24 Hour Fitness members out there remember this format?)

Not surprisingly I totally loved all of it. Also not surprisingly the class that I really excelled at teaching and enjoyed the most was the dance-based workout class.

Fast-forward nearly a decade and although I’ve realized I’m not cut out for step aerobics I am still very happily teaching a dance workout class a couple times a week.  These days my class is called Dance Conditioning and it is a format I designed based off of my 25 years as a Modern dancer with a strong influence from Pilates technique.

I’ve wanted to share this class with you for quite a while as it is hands down the best workout I’ve found for my body.  My hips, thighs, abs, and arms are leaner and more defined than they’ve ever been thanks to my twice a week Dance Conditioning class.

Seriously.

I’ve spent years of my life dancing hours and hours a day.  I’ve trained for and completed a marathon.  I was a whitewater raft guide for four years. I’ve done hundreds of squats a week (back when I was teaching a ton of strength training).  I’ve been a bike commuter. None of those things had anything on the results I’ve gotten from Dance Conditioning.

As a modern dancer I have no problem being barefoot to workout and shoe-less is what I recommend in my class; socks are to slippery and shoes don’t allow the full articulation of the foot (and they make balancing easier, which is actually bad in this case because when your balance is challenged so is your core).  I rarely do reviews on this blog but when I had the opportunity to check out Reebok’s True Studio Slipper #livewithfire campaign as a FitFluential Ambassador I jumped on it.

Initially I wasn’t crazy about the colors and the fade on these little slippers but once I put them on I changed my mind and kinda liked the brightness and variation.

FitFluential Reebok

I put them to the test while teaching Dance Conditioning a few days ago.

faith levine dance conditioning

They felt great!  The  slippers were a tiny bit sticky but I was still able to slide my feet together (to activate the inner thighs!) and they fit like a glove.  My feet didn’t sweat thanks to the innovative fabric (although the rest of me did by the end!) and I quickly forgot I was even wearing them, a great alternative to slippery socks or restrictive shoes.

They worked great for Dance Conditioning but I think where I’ll use my True Studio Slippers most is while doing yoga on the road.  The little bit of grip, paired with the lightweight feel, is perfect for om’ing away from home.

Twice a week I have the privilege of teaching Dance Conditioning at ACAC, my local gym, but at the beginning of March I had an extra special opportunity to teach it at the American College Dance Festival at George Mason University.  Over 50 college dance majors crowded into my assigned studio and plie’d their way into a wonderful sweat!  They ate it up!  Many of them came to me afterward and asked if I had any videos online so they could keep doing this workout.  As requested I am working on getting some Dance Conditioning videos up my the Gracefulfitness Facebook page, stay tuned!

Have you jumped on the barre workout trend? If so do you prefer to dance-workout with shoes, socks, slippers, or barefoot?

I’m thinking of starting a Gracefulfitness YouTube channel, any thoughts?