Cy-Yo Or Cycle Yoga: The New Fusion Yoga In Town

Everyone looks for a fitness workout which brings together the mind, body, and spirit. If you believe that there is one goal but different paths, you should try Cy-Yo or Cycle Yoga. This is the kind of fitness program that could especially be beneficial for people who prefer to combine both Eastern and Western practices and philosophies – yoga and cardio. It helps to improve muscle toning and body mechanics, as well as stretching and concentration on proper breathing and energy flow.  However, remember to dress for the occasion with good quality active wear when performing this kind of fitness routine.

Cy-Yo classes entail a one hour holistic cardio workout which combines the elements of yoga and cycling. It was first introduced by a fitness instructor – Curt Dalton. The ultimate aim of this fusion yoga is to focus all aspects of our being to achieve optimal physical and spiritual results. It is a known fact that cycling is an effective way to lose weight and burn calories really fast.  And it’s combination of yoga breathing and visualization techniques help with directing life force energy through the body optimally.

A class begins with 10 minutes of  yoga for energizing the muscles, warming joints and opening up the energy centers. This is followed by 40 minutes of an indoor cycling class which involves visualization techniques and breathing patterns so participants are clued in to find their stress zones. The aim of this part of exercise is to release negative energy, detoxify your body and increase higher energy fields. A class usually ends with another 10 minute yoga session and meditation to calm the body, relax and refocus the mind.  Overall, you treat your muscles right -  with a warm up before spinning and stretching afterwards.

Music is one of the significant elements of Cy-Yo classes. It is designed to speed up the heart rate and help to pedal against your negative energy replacing it with positive energy. As compared to the soothing music found in traditional yoga classes, here you will find more upbeat and energetic tempos. Typically the most popular choice are different Celtic music tunes.

Cy-Yo is a great way to increase flexibility, physical fitness and mental wellness. It is a combination of  the cleansing and static strength of yoga and the cardiovascular workout of spinning. Yoga fans  experience a harder work out to burn fat  while cyclists learn new ways of warming up and cooling down  using their mind along with attuning themselves to the energy flow within them. Cy-Yo is recommended for intermediate yoga practitioners as it is considered to be one of more advanced yoga styles which takes a certain amount of balance. It is should also be avoided by those who are trying to treat an injury through yoga.

*Image credits: photo by adifansnet on flickr

Benefits Of Yoga For Your Sex Life

It’s popular knowledge that Yoga is a great way of improving your physical self. Regular practice of yoga has proven to do the following – improve flexibility, strengthen muscle tone, improve balance, increasing stamina and physical energy. Take that all into the bedroom and it can drastically change and help your sex life. But, that’s not the only way Yoga can help int the bedroom.

To add to its already myriad host of physical, emotional and spiritual benefits, yoga is stated to be just the thing to boost or simulate your love making. How?

For one, the physical changes brought on by yoga helps instill confidence in a person. Feeling good and being in shape creates a reverence for your body that translates in the way you walk, talk and express yourself. With the leanness and muscle tone yoga brings, it’s hard not to feel sexy. Then there’s the flexibility, and you don’t need me to tell you how that can help.

Other than just the physical aspect of the act however, Yoga can help awake the sensual side in you. Yoga poses designed to stimulate the 7 Chakras, especially the Sacral chakra which governs the sexual organs in our body. Yoga asanas like Bhujangasana or the cobra pose that emphasize that region, helps open up your second chakra and energizes it. By focusing on this life force center in our body, situated below the navel near, the lower abdomen stimulates the release of your sexual hormones and helps you achieve a new sexual equilibrium. The Root Chakra in the region of the pubic bone as well as the Heart Chakra have an impact on our love lives and it’s more than just a physical act, it’s emotional as well. Hence stimulating these chakras can have an effect on our sexual life.

If that’s not enough, yoga has poses and postures to help achieve very satisfying results for both parties involved in the act. You’ve probably heard of the hundreds of sexual positions and ancient secrets in the Kama Sutra. Many of them involve asanas and poses of the other ancient practice of Yoga. Said, to help treating premature ejaculation in men and helping women reach newer levels of heightened arousal, there are positions for everything possible. You just have to be open to trying it for that extra va-va voom in the bedroom.

On an emotional level, the breathing exercises and meditative aspects of yoga can deepen the connection with your partner, improve on your communication and help you achieve balance within yourself and your loved one. The harmony of mind, body and soul will help you be better in tune with your partner’s needs as well as your own.

Just as yoga unites all aspects of your life, it can connect all aspects of your love making: the physical, emotional and spiritual, making it just great and satisfying in all ways.

*image credits: photos by Tiger Mask and kamakyri on flickr