With the sudden loss of her career and a downfall in her health, Mignon felt that her life was spinning out of control. At that point of time, her daughter, who is a massage therapist and yoga instructor, introduced her to yoga. Then, Mignon did not have must faith in yoga and would always put it off by simply saying that she will give it a try some other day. It was only during a beach trip with a friend that she actually gave it a go.

From there, she fell in love with the practice. This eventually led her to take up a 200-hour yoga teacher training, so that she could pass down the practice to others. Mignon feels that she has finally found her calling despite the fact that she is being tethered to an oxygen tank. Now at 66 years old, she is still teaching classes three times a week. She might not be able to perform a headstand, but she definitely has the wisdom to know that reinventing oneself is something that can always be done no matter at what age. For the full story, you can check it out here.

If you would like to enlist the assistance of an instructor, OMG Yoga is here to make a difference! We focus primarily on private yoga classes, offering students personalised classes that caters to their specific requirements. We do our best to tailor our classes to each individual’s needs.

The post Yoga Turned Her Life Around After Losing Job first appeared on Yoga Classes At Home | OMG Yoga Singapore.

Despite him not having any regrets during his time in Brisbane and Townsville as an inventory captain with the army, Ben was still left with a number of mental scars. “Fantastic time, really enjoyed it, lots of experiences, lots of friends, lots of travel, lots of self growth and lots of development, but there was something missing. I was looking for something. I’d finished playing AFL footy, I’d got out of the army, I was sort of suffering post-traumatic stress and I was drinking a lot and nothing was working,” he stated.

After a neighbour in Brisbane suggested yoga to him and convinced him to try it, things started to change for Ben. “She said ‘you’ve got to try it’ and for three years I said ‘no I’m not doing yoga.  Yoga is for poofs’. I just had a frown on the face all the time, and when I did my first yoga class I went ‘oh my god’. It was very challenging, extremely challenging but extremely rewarding, not during the class but after,” explained Ben.

After he was introduced to yoga, Ben went travelling around the world for four years. He has since returned back to Tasmania to establish his own yoga business. Initially when he presented the idea of yoga to the males in the community, they were reluctant just like when he was when first suggested to. As of now, his yoga school has the highest number of male participants in the whole of Australia. “It’s very intense and on numerous levels. Some people physically, some people mentally, other people emotionally, some people all three. The biggest thing at training is just to let go, let go of your ideas of how things should be,” he advised.

Even before he started his teacher training, Ben was already using techniques to assist him in coping with post traumatic stress disorder. “I had a tight body, a stiff body. Carrying packs in the infantry for 13 years, everything was just tight and sore and a lot of friction and emotion that was stored inside the body,” he recalled. However, through yoga, he was able to heal without the help of any traditional medication. For the full story, you can view it here.

If you are looking for a yoga instructor in Singapore to assist in your practice, do take a look at OMG Yoga. We offer our students personalied private yoga classes to give them the best possible learning.

The post Soldier to Yoga Instructor first appeared on Yoga Classes At Home | OMG Yoga Singapore.

http://www.theshorthorn.com/news/yoga-exercises-mind-body/article_ede59754-11e4-11e4-a4f1-0017a43b2370.html

According to Lindsay Lookingbill, a fitness assistant director, she has been practicing yoga for five years and it still continuing her practice as it provides her with an overall feeling of well being and a challenge of physical strength. “You learn body awareness from yoga. You become more aware of how you move throughout the day. It helps calm your mind, and it teaches you to be in the moment,” she stated.

Lindsay also touched on how yoga is more of a mind-body class. “Zumba and kickboxing are more high-energy. Pilates is more dynamic, and you’re not competing with others like in intramurals. In yoga, you focus on being present. Controlling breathing is the main thing yoga teaches people, and it helps people overcome negative feelings when they are sad and come back to reality when they are overly happy,” she added.

For Amy Velasquez, who teaches her yoga classes at the Maverick Activities Center, she chose to practice yoga for three years through online videos before becoming a certified yoga instructor. “Everybody can benefit from yoga. A bulked-up powerlifting athlete might see his lifts increase from yoga stretches, and someone who wants to lose weight would benefit because yoga increases metabolism and helps the digestive system. There is no limit to who can do yoga. Everyone should be doing it, if you ask me,” she explained.

In fact, Amy stopped seeing her chiropractor after she took up yoga as the physical benefits helped to improve on her flexibility, strength and posture. At the same time, yoga was also able to alleviate her lower back pain and assist with her carpal tunnel syndrome. “In yoga, we have the sun salutations, combinations of postures that connect every piece of your body. Every pose is combined, and you do it for a purpose, and you use them to warm up for your peak pose, the climax of the class,” she said. For more of the story, you can read it here.

At OMG Yoga, we provide students with private yoga classes that are personalised, in an effort to cater towards individuals’ needs and requirements.

The post Yoga Exercises Both Mind and Body first appeared on Yoga Classes At Home | OMG Yoga Singapore.

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-14465/5-tricks-for-people-whove-tried-everything-but-still-cant-meditate.html

Meditation can actually take up different forms. However, it mainly revolves around being really present and aware of what exactly is occurring inside as well as outside of yourself and accepting that. Meditation is also about learning to enable yourself to flow with life while being centered, so that you are not at the mercy of your thoughts, emotions, people or events.

So, the first tip is for you to do an everyday task. Ideally, pick something that is already part of your daily routine. This can even be brushing your teeth, having your morning coffee or even ironing your clothes. The next time when you carry out the task, focus on doing it and bring your awareness to it using all your senses. For example, if you’re having your coffee,  smell the aroma, feel the warmth of the cup, taste that warmth and follow it as you swallow. By using all your senses, it puts you in the present moment.

The second trick is to take a bath or shower. You will be able to bring your awareness to the task at hand as well as mindfully focus all your senses on what you’re doing and feeling as there are no other distractions around. Furthermore, there’s something about water that makes us slow down, relax and cleanses and purifies. Once you are in this state, unwind, enjoy and become aware of the joy of being.

Another trick is to do something creative. When we engage in a creative activity, we are in fact performing meditation. This enables us to pay attention to what’s in front of us and prevents us from looking back in the past or worrying about the future. It puts us in the midst of an absorbing process, full of the joy of creating and all its potential.

Lastly, go for a walk, preferably to your places of interest. Nature places like the ocean, forest or mountains gives off an energy that calls out to us. It doesn’t really matter where you walk. What’s more important is to really be there in the present moment. You can achieve this by feeling the weather around you , being aware of how your feet connects to the earth and how your body moves.

At OMG Yoga, we do our best to personalise our private yoga classes to each individual’s needs. We believe in assisting every student to achieve their ultimate goal through the practice of yoga.

The post Tricks to Help in Meditation first appeared on Yoga Classes At Home | OMG Yoga Singapore.

http://www.ktvz.com/health/3-good-yoga-poses-for-runners/26877554

The above stated conditions are rather common for runners. “Most runners’ issues are due to an inability to transfer their center of gravity out of their dominant side,” stated Mike Cantrell, president of the Cantrell Center for Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine in Warner Robins, Georgia, and a faculty member at the Postural Restoration Institute in Lincoln, Nebraska. If one does not acknowledge the problem, it can cause a cascade of mechanical breakdown, especially in elite runners. Here are a few yoga poses that can be incorporated into one’s overall training program or even used as a dynamic warm up to address the problem.

The first pose is lunges. In fact, this is quite commonly used in a warm up routine. From a standing position, inhale and raise your arms as you step forward with your right leg into a lunge. On exhale, hold the position. On the next inhale, step back to standing and lower your arms. Then, repeat the same motion on the left side. Upon completion, proceed to step-back lunges. Using the same breathing pattern, begin stepping back during inhalation and do the second set stepping back on the exhalation. Likewise, repeat the same motion on the other side.

The second pose is known as the flowing bridge. For this, you have to start on your back with your knees bent and feet on the floor, about hip-distance apart. Do ensure that your feet are pointed forward and aligned horizontally. Get your hips, knees and feet in proper alignment. On exhale, lift your hips and on inhale, release it to the ground. Repeat this motion between eight to twelve times.

The last pose is the windshield wipers. You can begin in a bridge position. However, your arms should be placed out to the sides and your feet should be wider than hip distance with your knees dropping inwards. When you exhale, allow both your knees and legs to drop to the right and as close to the ground as possible without any pain occurring. When you inhale, bring back your knees together again. Repeat the same thing for the left side. Do a total of 10 cycles or 5 on each side.

For individuals who may require the assistance of a certified instructor, do check out OMG Yoga. We focus on private yoga classes in Singapore for all individuals regardless of gender, age and/or health condition.

The post Yoga Poses For Runners first appeared on Yoga Classes At Home | OMG Yoga Singapore.

http://onlineathens.com/national-news/2014-07-03/group-answers-street-violence-yoga

It may seem a little strange that all these slow movements, deep breathing and talk about being centered are occurring in a neighborhood ruled by drug-dealing gangs. In fact, this is one of the most recent attempt to reduce the violence in a city where the number of homicides and guns seized leads the nation. The ultimate goal is that yoga’s meditative focus will assist cooler heads prevail the next time violence or vengeance breaks out. “The students live in an environment where everything’s rushed, everything’s pressured. So if you breathe through certain things, you are able to see clearer. You really are. Then they can act rather than react,” stated Tameka, executive director of a non-profit group called I Grow Chicago.

The idea has even spread to the police. One officer even joined in the class as part of an anti-violence program for at-risk youths. “With yoga training, when they get in a tense situation, they can breathe and relax and make the right decision instead of jumping out at someone and hitting them,” explained officer Daliah Goree. Tameka has been teaching yoga at area schools for the past three years before she decided to bring it to this street earlier in the year. As she was aware that gangs might pose a threat to the class, she got the “bodyguard” to approach gang members who live nearby to assure them that the group are of absolutely no threat and to also sought their acknowledgement and approval.

As Tameka’s students take their position on their mats, neighbours would usually observe the class from their front porch. Tameka will lead the class through a series of postures, instructing them to reach up as high as they possibly can as well as bend slowly till they can touch the ground. They are supposed to breathe in as they reach up and exhale on their way down. They will then go through the same movements while sitting, kneeling and lying down. For more of the story, you can check it out here.

At OMG Yoga, we offer private yoga classes in Singapore. Our certified instructors will be able to tailor the class towards each individual’s needs to provide them with the best possible learning experience.

The post Using Yoga to Combat Street Violence first appeared on Yoga Classes At Home | OMG Yoga Singapore.

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/entertainment-general/index.ssf/2014/06/yoga_for_55-and-over_comes_wit.html

According to Cyndi Reichard, who is serving as a substitute instructor, it is perfectly alright to start doing yoga at the later stages in one’s life. She herself only begin the practice when she was 57 years old. “I was in very bad shape. I had lost my balance and flexibility from an injury. I felt like I was getting old very quickly after a life of fitness,” stated Cyndi.

Cyndi as well as many of her students agreed that yoga is rather helpful in the healing process after injuries. They added that some of the conditions yoga has assisted with include fibromyalgia, back injuries and a general loss of balance and flexibility. According to Cyndi, yoga has helped in her recovery after she had suffered from an injury. “It would have taken me so many months to get to the place I’m at now without yoga. “Within three weeks, I was doing pretty much what I had before. I don’t have my balance back completely, but I’m amazed at how quickly the flexibility was starting to come back,” she explained.

For most, starting yoga at an elder age might seem to be quite intimidating. However, the good thing about Cyndi’s classes is that she does her best to personalise her classes based upon an individual’s difficulty level or injury. In yoga, there are also many poses that enables variations. In other words, this will allow the individuals practicing to modify and take positions that they feel more comfortable with.

“Listen to your body. Don’t hurt it. Some of us are comfortable in ourselves and our own body … but a lot of us are more self conscious than that. I think for those people, it’s a lot easier to go with your own age group,” said Cyndi. For more of the story, you can check it out from here.

At OMG Yoga, our private classes are designed in a way so that any individual, with or without prior experience, can participate in. Our instructors will always do their best to tailor the classes so that it caters towards the student. Do refer to our private yoga class page for more information.

The post Yoga for the Elderly Comes with Benefits first appeared on Yoga Classes At Home | OMG Yoga Singapore.

http://www.scotlandnow.dailyrecord.co.uk/lifestyle/heritage/meet-hollywoods-favourite-scottish-yoga-3649619

Mark mentioned that his background working in his family’s chippie back home helped to equip him well for his current career in LA-LA land. “It was a rough area of town and there was a constant influx of wild people who wandered into the shop. It was probably there that I learned good people skills,” stated the 37 year old, who was born to a close-knit Italian Catholic family in Inverness. After he turned nineteen, Mark made the move to Los Angeles, where he managed to get a job in the mortgage business. During this time, he had a private yoga instructor who encouraged him to teach as well.

Eventually Mark realised that the business world of Los Angeles just wasn’t suitable for him, so in 2001, he moved to Denver. That was where he started teaching yoga and shooting yoga videos. This was followed by television appearances and publications. From there, he went on to Hawaii for 3 years, Thailand for 9 months and Miami for 2 years. After finding out his dad was seriously ill, he returned back to Inverness, where he stayed and looked after his dad till he passed away in late 2012.

After the death of his dad, Mark returned back to the United States, but this time he ventured to Hollywood. Despite him being aware of the fierce competition there, he refused to be intimidated and persevered in his yoga movement. As of today, his classes are mostly packed with students and he also conducts private classes for celebrities. Despite his success, Mark has still managed to retain his down-to-earth quality. “I have taught many famous people. I am always forced to sign disclosures preventing me from speaking about it and I respect that. But sometimes, I don’t even know who the famous person is. The only reason I know they are somebody is because I have to sign the privacy disclosure,” said the Scot, who has no plans to return to Scotland any time soon, but is open-minded about the future. For the full story, you can read it here.

At OMG Yoga, we believe that our instructors are capable in assisting you in learning the art of yoga. Furthermore, our private yoga classes can be designed and tailored to your own needs.

The post Hollywood’s Favourite Scottish Yoga Guru first appeared on Yoga Classes At Home | OMG Yoga Singapore.

According to the lead study author, Evan T. Cohen, who is a physical therapist and associate professor from Rutgers School of Health Related Professions in the State University of New Jersey, Stratford, the results add weight to the significance of physical activity in MS patients. “Neurologists should be recommending exercise to their MS patients, and if a patient chooses yoga, that’s a viable option, depending on that person’s needs,” stated Evan.

The study involved 15 women with an average age of 53.5 years. All of whom have been living with MS for approximately 14 years. They took part in specially designed yoga classes held at a nearby center. Unfortunately, the study size was limited to the total number of individuals able to fit in the yoga studio. This yoga program was created by a panel of experts, including yoga instructors, researchers, patients who teach or practice yoga, healthcare providers as well as scientists. The classes are led by two trained instructors along with an assistant and made used of “hybridised” version of various yoga styles. Some of the elements included were breathing, meditation, yoga philosophy, relaxation and yoga postures.

Evan went on to mention that this program was specifically designed for MS patients with moderate disability. “It’s probably too easy for people in an early stage of the disease, but probably not appropriate for people in later stages. However, moderate disability can encompass varying levels of mobility. The study included patients with almost full function, as well as 2 patients whose primary mode of mobility was a wheelchair, even though they met the study’s inclusion criteria of being able to walk a certain distance,” he said.

As of right now though, Evan mentioned that it was still not possible to determine if yoga is definitely better than other modes of physical activity. He also pointed out that the study was considered to be “exploratory” and involved researchers “casting a very wide net”. The good thing is that there are larger studies planned out to hopefully provide more conclusive information. For more of the story, you can read it here.

If you are interested to give yoga a try, do give OMG Yoga a go! We offer a variety of yoga classes in Singapore, catering to the requirements of different individuals.

The post Yoga Might Benefit MS Patients first appeared on Yoga Classes At Home | OMG Yoga Singapore.

Firstly, yoga is effective in active recovery. Hence, on your off days, you can still continue to recover even through this low impact practice. One would easily feel better after walking out of a yoga class.

Secondly, yoga brings about kinesthetic awareness. The practice of yoga gets you to listen to your body. Basically, it taps into your trunk, your feet, your legs and other areas in order to enter and maintain postures without any visual aid. As yoga brings about such an internal focus, it can encourage you to practice more intuition during your gym workouts.

Thirdly, aside from stability, yoga also provides the balance in one’s training. Gym workouts tend to be more aggressive and weighted. On the other hand, yoga is more intrinsic and uses the body as leverage. This helps to create a balance between both the activities, some sort like a yin and yang. This in turn, encourages balance within one’s life.

One of the more obvious and common benefit of yoga is that it improves mobility and flexibility. By making improvements in these two areas, you will be able to increase your movement efficiency. This will in effect, benefit your workouts exponentially.

As yoga revolves around breathing, you will learn to have more control over your breathing. This will allow you to be more aware of your breathing during gym sessions. Apart from that, you will learn to breath through your diaphragm, which can help when you experience cramps/pains in the gym.

With yoga, one will have the freedom to be in a non-competitive environment. This can bring one back to accept your progressions and avoid comparing yourself to the person on the mat next to you. This is something amiss when we head to the gym as we will usually notice what others are doing and try to match them.

At OMG Yoga, we have a pool of certified instructors ready to assist you in your needs. We believe that through private yoga classes, one will be able to understand and cope better with the practice.

The post Reasons Why Yoga is Beneficial Towards Gym-Goers first appeared on Yoga Classes At Home | OMG Yoga Singapore.