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Remembering Why I Started…. Joy’s Journey with Bikram Yoga and Beyond!

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I don’t know about you but I must thrive on goals. I don’t know if that is normal but most of my life it seems like I am setting goals- planning the execution (usually creatively) and then hopefully remembering to celebrate when I actually attain them.

Sometimes in the past I have built up to attainment and then when I reach it there is a let down….or I forgot to actually ‘champion myself in attaining whatever goal I set out to attain’.

Has that ever happened to you? Always striving to arrive and not really enjoying the process ?

In mid-August I decided to slow down and enjoy each and every day in a new and different way. Since yesterday is the past and tomorrow is the future, enjoy TODAY for it really is the “PRESENT”….and today is all we have.

Recently I began Bikram Yoga. When I joined it was with an intro of 30 days for $30….. meaning you can take a class each and every day for 30 days. BAM! I don’t know when I created the goal to do Bikram 30 days in a row, but it has become my goal.

Funny thing is a month ago I never would have expected to do yoga EVER….and now here I am. What happened?

Our bodies create opportunities to have things show up if only we listen. My right elbow was my guide here as it became painful to play tennis and lift weights so I went ‘inward’ and asked my body & soul what it needed and I heard LOUD AND CLEAR, Bikram Yoga. ???? Really???? (By the way, without a sore elbow I can almost guarantee I never would have choose yoga.)

I could have fought it, however at age 60 I am old and wise enough to act when I hear that ‘special whisper’. I admit that sometimes in my life I have ignored that inner voice….and it took a lot longer to get where I wanted to go with the detour. Not good or bad, just a longer journey.

Several people who know me well have asked what changed where now I not only wear yoga clothes as I always have, but actually I am now DOING Yoga? Why did I begin and why am I driven?

Each and every day I wake up and remind myself why I started. Like most 12-Step programs…. one day at a time.

So 20 days ago I look at myself in the mirror. I didn’t cry but I also wasn’t totally excited with the woman looking back at me in the mirror.

I have always been healthy, strong and lean but the lady in the mirror looking back at me looked different. Confidence was missing in her eyes! So I talked to her and heard some reasons why I ought to consider the shift and why Bikram Yoga would be good for ‘her’, aka ME. Although I have gracefully embraced my age, I have not embraced my body since menopause.

The most driving reason I am doing Bikram Yoga is I want to be healthy/flexible and have a healthy longevity. I have a family I love, that include grandchildren and I want to be vibrant and healthy so I can see them grow up and can be a part of their world- and their children’s world. I’m in a loving marriage and want to be healthy together til our last breath.

Yes, perhaps across the board I am healthier than most women my age, but it still doesn’t mean anything unless you are happy with how you LOOK and FEEL!

I see my parents and in-laws age and although they are vibrant in their own way in their mid to late 80s…. I personally want to be able to travel and explore and have the strength and health to do so well into my 90’s, if I choose.

Much of my life I have concentrated on my physical body and my physical health- perhaps spurred on by body building at age 30. (Once again, another goal…can I do it and win after giving birth to 2 children 4 and 5 years prior? I needed to prove to myself that I could! Much like with 30-Days of Bikram Yoga)

Ahhh, the ultimate shape and size….body fat, etc. OK, so I proved that I could reach a lean (unhealthy I may add) 8.5% body fat and win my category in a Body Building competition but that didn’t make me any happier. In fact there was such a let down after that experience that I still can’t shake to this day.

Fast forward 30 years and the health I am seeking today is more well-rounded. Not just the physical beauty aspect of what one sees in the mirror, but the soul-spirit connection. Although some people think going to a zen yoga class that is gentle with spiritual music may feed my soul better, right now the challenge (mentally and physically) of Bikram Yoga is where I am at and fuels the challenge!)

Ultimately I want to love, appreciate and enjoy who I am in the world. Don’t we all? Since making ‘MY SELF CARE’ a priority it has shifted into other areas of my life. Hallelujah!

Yes, without question part of the transformation is still the PHYSICAL BODY and one ‘must do’ is melting my men-o-pot (belly fat) so that I am a healthier and lean post menopausal woman. Belly fat is toxic, unattractive and honestly, very difficult to have when trying to do yoga poses. (no kidding!!!) Not to mention, clothes just don’t fit the same when your belly is large.

CAREER & LIFE

Working with TAVALA is very gratifying on many levels. I enjoy mentoring other people who want to improve their lives either with their health (which includes WEIGHT LOSS with Tavala TRIM, or being PAIN-FREE and have vibrant energy with the Tavala Quantum Relief Strips!) Learn more here: www.DaveandJoy.com

TAVALA for Wealth Building and Fueling Dreams!

I know that having additional income in all households offers additional options, no matter the current level of wealth. It’s about a shift in consciousness with abundant thinking….not just MONEY! When we have abundant thoughts we think beyond ourselves…which led Dave and I to discover an amazing organization that is doing great things throughout the world, for women. (And when women are empowered, face it, families and communities are empowered!)

We recently partnered with an organization called WEA, Women’s Earth Alliance http://womensearthalliance.org/ and are donating 5% of our customer sales to their organization each month. This includes any of the products off our website, www.DaveandJoy.com or even through our sampling site, www.TryOurSamples.com. It may not sound like a lot of money, but in time, we hope it will add up to being able to make a difference in the lives of many.

So there you go… today is Day 19 doing Bikram. I am actually looking forward to my ‘practice today’. Will it be perfect? YES and NO. Yes for ME, as I’ll do my best, and that is all they ask at Bikram. If you can do it – DO IT, and if not, at least do what you can… but do it ‘the right way’.

I doubt the majority of my poses today will actually look like those in a Bikram book- but this is OK. Today is another day, another opportunity for self-care and self-love. By filling MY CUP daily I am in a great position to help others in my life and beyond.

So what is YOUR goal? Your STORY? Mine is ever-changing and I like the changes. It’s all about today and eventually tomorrow, but I leave my story from yesterday at the door. Life Coaching taught me that!

If you are inspired to share your journey or how you may be able to relate, let me know. I’d love to hear. If you have ever set a goal similar that seemed insurmountable like 30-Days of Bikram Yoga is for me, please share.

If you are looking for a way to become the better version of you in the HERE & NOW, perhaps I can offer guidance. I am a Transformational Life Coach although I don’t ‘practice’ that, rather I incorporate it in my life and in my Tavala business.

Joy Edgerton/ Transformational Life Coach/Busines Coach

802-846-7530

joyedgerton@gmail.com

www.DaveandJoy.com

 

 

Bikram Yoga- more than 1/2 way there! Funny Description of Paige’s 1st day.

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I couldn’t sleep well last night and I began to wonder if it is my BIKRAM YOGA “practice” that is shifting things internally and messing up with my night time sleep schedule….and day time energy slumps. They say it gets easier and I can expect to BECOME MORE ENERGIZED – but WHO is they anyway? 🙂

Yesterday was Day 16 of doing Bikram daily. I began to question if what I was doing….a 30-Day Challenge was actually good for me and wanted to hear others experience of what it did for them! So I googled and found many great stories, videos etc. but THIS one put a smile on my face and I continued to read on and actually ‘champion’ her successes.

….and this is where I stumbled upon this part 1 of a gal, Paige Williams, who shared her Bikram story in Oprah Magazine. http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/paige-williams-60-day-bikram-yoga-makeover/all

This girl, Paige, was 80 pounds overweight, divorced, out of work, and deeply in debt. OK, so none of those are me, except I am a 60-year old woman who had never done a BIKRAM challenge and someone, much like Paige, who wants to make peace with my body while balancing my body-mind-spirit connection. Oh and add one more thing, I’d love to drop at least 10 pounds in these ‘infamous’ 30-days. (I’d like to say where the FAT could melt off, but I guess I will have to just wait and see.) One thing I know, a woman with a ‘men-o-pot’ around the belly can not bend into poses easily.

So here is how it was described in Paige’s article. Paige needs a physical and spiritual overhaul. Can 60 days in a Bikram hot-yoga studio really undo years of damage? and this is where it got funny-and accurate.

OK -SO I NEED A PHYSICAL & SPIRITUAL OVERHAUL too, I agree. CAN 30-DAYS OF BIKRAM HELP ME?

Paige writes: “The teacher wants me to make a Japanese ham sandwich. To my knowledge, I’ve never seen a Japanese ham sandwich, but as I understand it, I’m to stand bent with my face to my shins and chest to my thighs in perfect vertical union—I am the sandwich.

I would say I look more like a jelly roll. My flabby abdomen won’t let my forehead anywhere near my knees, and my legs tremble as I try contorting myself into a position my body neither recognizes nor endorses. The goal is to concentrate on stretching and breathing, but I’m fixating on my unpedicured toenails. And the neon paleness of my legs. And the fact that I probably should have shaved.

The students around me are tanned and toned and very nearly nude. Every body glistens. We’re in a Bikram yoga studio, after all, where the heat is set to 105 degrees and the humidity to 40 percent, to facilitate flexibility. The men wear nothing but shorts; the women rock hot pants and halters. Because I’d rather lick the sweat-soaked carpet than bare my wretched flesh, I have on the hot-yoga equivalent of a snowsuit: calf-length sweatpants, a jog bra, and a T-shirt. I’m huffing harder than a serial killer. And we’re only on posture number one.

Posture number one of class one of day one. Assuming I survive, I’ll make the ham sandwich and about two dozen other postures every single day for the next two months, for the notorious 60-day Bikram challenge. I’m subjecting myself to “Bikram’s torture chamber,” as founder Bikram Choudhury himself calls this insanely intense regimen, because the program promises renewal from the inside out—because suffering inside this hot room may be my surest path to survival out in the world.

I need to change so many things about my life, it’s hard to know where to start. I need physical and spiritual transformation, from the mental to the muscular to the molecular. I need to stop treating my body like a landfill. I need stability, which I haven’t seen in so long, I’ve forgotten how it feels. I need a reset button.

“Do this yoga for 60 days and it will change your body, your mind, and your life,” says Choudhury, a former Indian yoga champion who lives in Los Angeles and who is, depending on your viewpoint, either a beloved lifesaving guru or just a really flexible guy who got lucky, and rich, with an idea and a persona. Bikram students believe, and I hope they’re right, that Choudhury’s heat-centric, copyrighted sequence of ancient hatha yoga postures is a transformative agent like no other; testimonials the world over suggest this yoga eases the symptoms of a range of maladies—depression, diabetes, carpal tunnel syndrome, fibromyalgia, migraines, arthritis, back pain, and heart disease, for instance—while relaxing the mind and slimming the body.

“Can’t you just do all that by, like, running every day for 60 days?” a friend asks. Good question, but the answer doesn’t interest me. None of my past fitness activities—racquet sports, cycling, jogging, gym circuit training, kickboxing—seem catalytic enough for the depth of change I’m after.

I’m not a renovation; I’m a tear down. And I’m hoping Bikram is my bulldozer!”

So here I am….JOY, not Paige and I began questioning if what I was doing was sane, smart or worth it. I can say each and every day is different- for example Day 17 was TODAY and I felt GREAT. I could balance stronger, I was less tired (despite not sleeping well last night) and honestly if I had to, I’d actually be able to do a 2nd class later today, which they call a ‘double’! (Now that I think of it, I believe it was the TAVALA TRIM drink I had prior to class today that made a difference) I’ll have to try it tomorrow! www.DaveandJoy.com

Am I going to stick it out? You bet. How could I come this far and not complete the 30-days? I’d truly let myself down if I quit now. 30-days straight or admit I don’t have what it takes.

I began Bikram when I listened to my inner self/my voice tell me this is what my body needs. I wasn’t thrilled to ‘hear’ the message but I believed it to be true.

If you won’t listen, then why ask- right?

I began my personal 30-Day Challenge on August 21st and September 1st Queen City Bikram Yoga, where I go, started their 30-Day Challenge. If I do just mine, COOL, if I do the studios’ it will take me to 41 Days Straight. What do you think? Think I can do it? Think I ‘should’ do it?

I look forward to the day when walking into a Bikram yoga studio is as comfortable to me as walking into a gym or fitness center. The familiarity of a cold 20 lb. dumbbell could really excite me! but in the meantime, I’ll see what YOGA can do for this less-than-limber 60 year old body.

If you happen to live in Burlington VT and would like to join me, message me. My husband joins me 3x a week and the more the merrier!

Joy Edgerton/ 802-846-7530

joyedgerton@gmail.com/ www.DaveandJoy.com

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Why we Donate a Portion of our Customer Tavala sales to WEA?

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Early August of this year I was telling my daughter- in- law, Brie, that we wanted to create a foundation or better yet, work with an organization that was already doing great things in the world, in particular for women and families, and their communities.

She told me of an organization called WEA and immediately after speaking with one of the co-founders, we made the decision to support this organization – Women’s Earth Alliance.

In their own words….

“When women thrive, communities and the Earth thrive. This is one of our core beliefs here at WEA because we’ve seen it to be true. Want to know more? Take a look at this short video sharing more about our origin story and vision for the future!” Check out this brief video. If you are moved, you too can make a donation, either a one time donation OR simply purchase any of our TAVALA products as a customer and we’ll make a 5% donation. (www.DaveandJoy.com)

 

We are thrilled to have decided mid-August to donate 5% of all our TAVALA customer sales (including sample sales) to WEA (Women’s Earth Alliance) and later this week we’ll tally up all our customer sales from mid-August and make our first of many on–going monthly donations.

So if you are considering purchasing any of TAVALA PRODUCTS (Trim, Control, Bru, Quantum Relief Strips, Alert and Snooze) know that when you order through our website (www.DaveandJoy.com) that a portion of your sales will help this organization and women and communities in need. We AND WEA appreciate your support.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doing great things, one person at a time…because we can. Tavala has made if possible to contribute in ways that touch our hearts and this is just the beginning.

We are all connected and in this together! If you’d like to contribute to WEA in any way we’ll help you make the connections to make that happen. If you’d like to donate your TAVALA customer sales to WEA or another organization that touches your heart, let’s talk. 802-846-7530

Once again, your customer purchases through our Tavala website will help Women’s Earth Alliance. www.DaveandJoy.com

Dave and Joy/Global Leaders at Tavala

802-846-7530

info@DaveandJoy.com

www.DaveandJoy.com

How Many Calories Get Burned During Bikram Yoga?

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Today I was curious about how many calories I burn daily doing 90 minutes of Bikram Yoga… so did a little research. I read several articles and got various numbers so I won’t quote any in particular, but I did like this particular article I read and thought I’d pass it along. This article is written by Benna Crawford.

Hot yoga classes are hot exercise choices for increasing numbers of fitness buffs. The combination of challenging sequences and serious sweating makes them an attractive option for a weight-loss program.

Bikram yoga is synonymous with the style of yoga practiced in a heated, humidity-controlled studio designed to induce sweating while focusing on a standard asana routine. But weight loss equals calories expended, so it’s worth knowing just how Bikram stacks up against other calorie-burning exercise programs.

Counting Calories

Weight loss follows a simple algorithm: fewer calories consumed than calories expended. The Mayo Clinic points out that each pound is worth about 3,500 calories, so if you carry a calorie deficit of 500 calories a day, you can lose a pound a week.

Burning those calories is where it gets complicated. Aerobic activity that challenges the cardiovascular system is the number one calorie burner.

Low- to moderate-intensity aerobic activity, like most yoga routines, burns a high percentage of fat as fuel. Increase intensity with exercise like sprinting — or a demanding yoga routine — and you draw on greater amounts of carbs and protein for fuel. But high-intensity exercise burns more calories overall, so the tougher your workout, the more you lose. Building muscle mass through strength training also cuts calories because even resting muscle burns fuel for energy.

High-intensity yoga provides a vigorous cardio and resistance workout.

Bikram Protocols

Bikram’s hot yoga requires a series of 26 fixed poses, performed under the guidance of a trained instructor in a heated studio.

The poses are traditional Hatha yoga moves, but the performance is a kind of yoga boot camp. The room is heated to approximately 104 to 105 degrees F with a constant 40-percent humidity. During the 90-minute class, participants typically run through the routine twice. Bikram’s website claims that the heated studios quickly warm muscles and increase flexibility so you can work safely with a greater range of motion. You will sweat, so you will notice a water weight loss which does not translate directly to fat calories burned. But you work hard — a Bikram class is challenging enough to be an aerobic workout — and yoga poses use body weight for resistance, so you do some muscle building and high-intensity calorie burning.

Bikram Calorie Burn

Bikram yoga burns more calories than many other forms of exercise and yoga styles. According to Everyday Health’s Yoga Calorie Counter, a 160-pound person performing Bikram yoga for one hour uses 726 calories, compared to 508 calories for Ashtanga and Power yoga classes.

Most Bikram classes are 90 minutes, so the calories burned per session are 1,089 for Bikram versus 762 for other intense yogas. The Mayo Clinic calculates the caloric cost to a 160-pound individual for one hour of high-impact aerobics at 533 calories. For singles tennis, the cost is 584 calories, for swimming laps 423 calories and for stair treadmill 657 calories. As a bonus, yoga’s ability to reduce stress and increase fitness improves your chances of sticking to a diet.

Precautions

Bikram yoga is not for everyone. Hypertension, glaucoma, pregnancy, some forms of osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease are all reasons to check in with your doctor before signing up for a hot yoga class.

If you do add Bikram to your calorie-burning strategies, drink plenty of water to counter the effects of vigorous exercise in a hot room. As the exercise boosts your metabolism you sweat more to maintain a healthy core temperature. In a hot studio with other sweaty bodies, your evaporation system has to work harder to release the extra heat. If you experience weakness, fatigue, dizziness or headache in a hot yoga class, you could be in danger of heat exhaustion or heat stroke and you should seek immediate medical attention. end of article.

So there you go. What I gained from this article for ME is Bikram Yoga good for me at this stage in my life. Today was day 12 doing Bikram in a row.

They say give Bikram 30-days will change your body and 60-days will change your life! Two weeks ago I was nursing a tennis elbow. I couldn’t play tennis due to the pain and working out at the gym had its limitations as well.

I sat quietly and asked my body what it needed and heard a rather loud “Whisper” : “Bikram Yoga”. Really???? I don’t even like yoga. But I listened and here I am enjoying the many benefits of Bikram Yoga.

Although I have NO IDEA if I have lost a pound on the scale, I do know that already my clothes are fitting better AND my flexibility and balance have improved a lot!

If you are stuck in a fitness routine that may no longer be serving you like I was consider sitting quiet and asking your body what it needs to keep you healthy and fit. You may be surprised that it is a new exercise program that you never would have imagined on your own.

Two products that seem to be supporting my new fitness activity are electrolytes to replenish the minerals I lose in sweat, and Quantum Relief Strips for balance, chi, energy to my body.

I’d love to hear from you. Do YOU like Bikram Yoga? Have you ever done 30 days in a row? Did you get fit, more flexible and lose body fat doing Bikram Yoga?

Joy Edgerton

802-846-7530

joyedgerton@gmail.com

www.DaveandJoy.com