Fierce Yoga

I love a good yogi, and right now, I'm super-inspired by Sadie Nardini.

She's also known as the 'fearless yogi'; her attitude to life is very different to the one I naturally take, and I find that inspiring. Check out her facebook feed for her inspiring updates, like these:

I've been doing Sadie's Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga on my days off from work... wow. For someone who loves exercise and enjoys a workout, I can honestly say this is a beautifully sculpting yoga programme, without losing the feel, integrity and serenity of a true practice. I can see muscles developing, whereas other workouts have had me at a plateau.

Sadie is a self-professed 'alignment geek': you won't injure yourself with her 'workouts', and you'll get even more than you bargained for from them. I can't stand a routine where the instructor doesn't guide you on alignment. I need the guidance, and frankly, I think everyone does, even if they haven't injured themselves in the past. After a strong practice with a focus on posture and strength building, you will float through the day, feeling tall and strong and flowing energy... and that's a beautiful thing. That's what I want, to feel, everyday.

Also, the woman isn't afraid to call bullshit on what she sees as unethical practices within the health and wellness sphere, as you can read here on Elephant Journal, re: wellness figures and the hidden commercial forces behind them (also including the ridiculous cost and mark up of programmes like teacher trainings).

Check out her amazing  'Detox and Core Strength' (isn't that something we can all benefit from?) two week plan on Udemy (it's transformative), and her wealth of YouTube workouts, including:

So if you're after a killer yoga routine with a fierce, kind-hearted role model, then go Sadie! 

Yoga Body

So, I'm feeling in a pretty yogic mood lately. I love the sense of peace, physically, mentally and spiritually, that comes from pushing yourself on a really good yoga practice/workout. In fact, I've been toying with the idea of becoming a yoga teacher - one of the few thought sustaining me through my dire customer service x-mas job (when I was at uni, I always wanted to be like the yoga teacher in the classes I went to - not the academic I was training to be; I wanted to breeze into the room, confident, healthy and strong, not shut up in my room writing essays!). I've been practicing my beloved Bodywisom: Flow Yoga - Strength and Flexibility, a fabulous intermediate level practice testing your ability and targeting key areas of your body.

Monica Gonzalo, the instructor, is definitely a role model of mine. She has a fabulous 'yoga figure': that is, a body strong and defined by a vigorous yoga practice and a healthy diet, rather than say, a Tracey Anderson method figure, that aims to be as teeny tiny as possible, or a bodyforlife six meals of pure protein a day figure. Contemporary yoga makes you strong, healthy and beautiful, while taking away Hollywood influenced pressures to conform to one body type, one form of perfection.

Again, Kathryn Budig (who does a nice yoga workout routine) demonstrates 'yoga body':

The girl is all muscle and body 'shape'. On the other hand, contemporary yoga guru Tara Stiles is straight up and down, long and lean... because that's naturally the way her figure is! It's simply emphasised through exercise.

Note: no fake breasts, hair, eyelashes, or anything else; no fretting over 'thigh gaps', these women are the best versions of themselves: healthy as can be. It's about thoughtful eating and thoughtful movement. Yoga, as a form of exercise, is about acceptance. Accepting your body shape, while pushing yourself on a journey to expand your strength, flexibility and connection between mind, body and environment. As Mandy Ingber says, your body is already perfect. Yoga as exercise recognises and builds upon that.

Sounds pretty good to me.