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PostHeaderIcon Voodoo, Beliefs, Health and Society






















PostHeaderIcon Much a do About the Hips

The Kinetic chain

The human body and mind is an amazing machine that can move in many directions and achieve amazing tasks. It can climb, run, walk, crawl, swing bats, perform complex martial arts and dance moves, lift heavy loads and perform acrobatic feats. In order to move in this way, our body is like a machine, linked with complex joints, cartilage, tendons, ligaments and fascia. It is moved by bones and muscles and a complex network of nerves. The many tissues have to support, counter, contract and extend in order to perform these tasks successfully and without injury or strain. We call this beautiful harmony of movement that includes all the tissues responsible for it, the kinetic chain. Like a chain in a machine that requires spokes, wheels, breaks, pulleys, belts, wires and energy; our body requires a cooperative link of many types of fibers.

Most people hold their pain and tension either in their shoulders or hips. I addressed the shoulders in my neck and shoulder release blog which you can click here:

Today, I would like to address the hips because dysfunction in this area can create pain and tension in the lower back and knees. The many muscles, ligaments, tendons, fascia and joint tissues in the hips also connect to bones in the spine and legs. When these muscles are out of balance, they can create tension in the knees, back and even the shoulders, neck and feet. Not to mention hip pain. In this blog, I will address some of the more common hip dysfunctions. Many people suffer from these issues without even knowing it.


Hip Flexors

4239R-8517At some point in history, someone invented the chair and this has been the cause of many muscle imbalances. It stopped people from squatting and using the floor. Our sedentary lifestyle based on mostly chair sitting has put us in a posture that compresses our spine and keeps our hip flexors in a constantly flexed position. Because the hip flexors attach the lower back to the upper thigh bone, a tight network of hip flexors (the illiopsoas group) can compress the lower back and limit movement responsible for walking properly. If it hurts to lie on your back with your legs straight, you mostly likely have tight hip flexors. Stretches where you have one foot behind you such as lunging or warrior I can help lengthen tight hip flexors.


The sciatica nerve is the HUGEST nerve in the body. It travels from the spine and through the back of the leg. When the deep muscles in the hips, particularly the piriformis muscle (a deep muscle under the gluteus group) is tight, this nerve can become compressed. The pain can run through the lower back and down the back of the leg. Massage or myofascial release with a massage ball or roller can plus, outer hip stretches such as pigeon pose or any variation of lotus can help release sciatica pain that stems from tight hips.


IT band

The StabilizerMuscles3Illiotibial tract or “IT band” is attached to a muscle that sounds like a favorite barista’s drink, Tensor Fasciae Latae. This attaches to tendon and fascae that runs down the side of the leg, from the hip to the knee which is responsible for stabilizing the hip. It gets tight from overuse and causes a pulling in the knee. This pulling can cause the knee to track incorrectly which can wear the cartilage in the knee the wrong way, causing arthritis. Relieving, massaging, resting and releasing the IT band helps release knee pain and imbalances. This imbalance is common in athletes who over exert themselves.


Internal rectus obliquiest

This thin muscle runs from the hip to the knee on the inner side. This muscle stabilizes the knee. If it is weak, it can cause the knees to track incorrectly creating degeneration and arthritis. Lack of strength in this area also stems from our sedentary lifestyle and too much chair sitting. It can be strengthened by performing deep squats or squeezing a ball between the thighs while extending the knee

The mind body connection

Adept yoga practitioners would say that our problems are not physical but spiritual and mental. The energy and impulses that run through our body can be blocked by karma. A real world example of this is to look at what happens when a dog is afraid. It tucks its tail between its legs. We do the same thing. When we sense fear or stress, we tense our hips.

Sigmund Freud coined the term “anal retention” when he described people who’s parent’s were too controlling. My yoga teacher has told me that the tighter a person’s butt, the more they try to control their life.

The hip area represents the first and second chakras. The first chakra represents where we hold our fear, stress and issues regarding survival. The second chakra deals with creativity, sex, shame and guilt. These are the darker areas of our life, the parts of us we hide away. When we finally release blockages in our hips, we are sometimes filled with great emotional waves. As I went deeper into my yoga practice, I started to experience this but it took me a while to finally let go of what I was holding in my hips. Often, we hold our own mental stress in our body and learning to relax the mind can also alleviate and heal pain in the body. This is why yoga and meditation has become so popular.

For more information about the chakras, click this link:


Hip Balancing Workshop

I will be holding a hip balancing workshop in Chatsworth CA, if you are interested, click here:


PostHeaderIcon Three Characteristics for Happiness and Success










PostHeaderIcon Dieting Too Much? You Could Be Hurting More Than Your Metabolism

If you’ve ever dieted properly through the education of a dietitian, a support group such as weight watchers or through an online app that calculates your calories for you such as, you may already understand that there is a certain amount of calories you need to eat everyday in order to maintain your weight. There is also a certain amount of calories you need in order to fuel basic functions other than exercising such as digestion, hormonal activities, brain and neurological activity, blood circulation etc. For the average person, about 70% of the calories we burn goes to just keeping us alive and healthy. The rest we burn by doing everyday activities or exercise. We refer to this base caloric number as the resting metabolic rate (RMR)

You can calculate your RMR by going to this link below and entering your height and weight:

This calculates the amount of calories you need in order to maintain weight. If you cut out 300 to 500 of these calories per day or burn this amount through exercise, you can burn one to two lbs. a week. However, if you eat less than about 1200 calories a day for the average person, you may be taking away calories needed to keep you healthy. Of course, everyone is different and your doctor or dietitian should be able to determine what is best for you.

It’s important to note that the math used to calculate the average RMR for your height and weight is for most healthy people. It is not all together accurate. There are many people who’s RMRs are lower than this which means they have to eat even less and burn more calories in order to lose and maintain weight. These people will say they have “low metabolisms” and will say things like, “why is it some people can eat a sandwich and stay slim but if I so much as eat a slice of bread, I will gain weight?” This phenomenon usually happens to people who have dieted too often or incorrectly. They have restricted their caloric intake so much that their body slows down its use of energy. In order for them to maintain body weight, they have to eat even less than the average person.

A famous study done in 1994 by Donelly and colleagues illustrates this. Sedentary women were given only 520 kcal/day for a 12 week period. They were divided into a control group and different exercise groups. While they all lost weight, all of their RMR went down. The ones who exercised the most had the greatest decrease of RMR (down to 240 kcal/day, which represented a 13.5% decrease) This means that this group of women will now have to eat 240 less calories a day or burn 240 calories more with exercise just to maintain their weight than they did before this extreme diet.

This is the yo-yo dieter’s problem and why some people lose a lot of weight only to gain back more in the long run. This is also why most educated professionals will recommend reducing only 300-500 calories a day and no more than that. This is why we say that one to two pounds a week of weight loss is reasonable and why ethically minded professionals will not ask you to lose more weight or reduce more calories than this. But there is more.

After being starved for so long, the body will hold on to fat as a means of storage so when the starved subject does lose weight, much of it will be in the form of bone and muscle. This can lead to osteoporosis which is common in anorexic women. This also leads to more sports injuries and poor sports and exercise performance. So even though a person might lift weights, lack of enough protein and other nutrients fails to build the kind of muscle that raises our metabolism.

Furthermore, stress caused by over exercise and starvation can lead to amenorrhea or menstrual disorders which is a big problem in teenage athletic females. Without the proper hormonal balance needed from getting adequate nutritional intake, muscle and bone health weakens even more because the hormones are very important in regulating the functions that keep our bones and muscles strong.

Again, there are exceptions. If a person is severely obese, they may be able to lose more weight faster. But there comes a time when a person may keep losing fat, long after they have reached the state of having a healthy BMI. I have been in this situation. When I lost weight as a teen, I continued to do so and suffered from lowered metabolism and amenorrhea. This was partly due to incorrect education and body image. I made up for this later on in life, by getting educated and raising my metabolism by eating more healthy foods at the right times.

You can read more about my personal experiences with this in my blog:

How to Raise Your Metabolism (and keep the weight off for life)

As I study for my sports nutrition certification, I’m a saddened by the statistics of young female athletes who sabotage themselves with self starvation and it makes me wonder what we value as a society when our youth values deprivation over health. Realizing that I was once one of those unreported, malnourished kids makes me realize that these statistics are under reported and that there are more self starved people than that. I just want to say that if you are not menstruating properly, if you are not eating enough and wondering why you aren’t losing weight, if you are getting dizzy and nauseous during your workouts due to lack of nutrition, please get professional help. Beauty is more than just being skinny. Beauty comes from confidence, health and values that go beyond what we think we should look like. For this upcoming New Year, my wish is for people to aim for being stronger, more capable individuals who aren’t malnourished due to lack of education and poor body image.

PostHeaderIcon Enhance Your Cardio. (It’s not just aerobics anymore)

Sports science has taught us that we become faster, stronger, lose weight and basically get more results when we mix up our workouts. Unfortunately, we are creatures of habit and unless someone steps in to stir things up, we tend to fall into our regular routines.

Today, I want to give you tips on how to add spice to your cardio workout. Also, these tips will help you get faster, increase your endurance, lose weight quicker, increase your metabolism, and help you improve your race times if you like to compete in 5ks, marathons, triathlons, mud runs or other similar events.

I will describe five cardio workouts. Then I will explain a typical week of training so you understand how to mix up your cardio routine to facilitate results and prevent injuries.

Aerobic or endurance workout: This workout strengthens the heart, creates stamina, and burns fat. It consists of moving at a steady pace that is intense enough to increase heart rate, but not so intense that you are breathing hard through the mouth or have to stop. This workout can continue for a long period of time. It’s great for conditioning, increasing stamina and endurance, pacing, tempo and controlling your breath.

Examples of an endurance workout include a nonstop aerobics class, a long, nonstop bike ride, long distance walk, run, swim, or session on any cardio machine. While this workout is great for the reasons mentioned above, it is not as successful in building speed or power.

If you are a beginner at this type of workout, I suggest you start learning how to pace yourself. See if you can go for fifteen minutes without stopping. Then try going for twenty minutes. Build up your endurance until you can go for a half hour or more. The key is not to push too hard that you burn out after a few seconds or minutes. Learn to slow down so you will last the full workout. You’re body will start creating more blood vessels in your body and mitochondria  in the cells so, over time, you will be able to do more without running out of gas.

Fartleg: This workout also builds endurance but it helps you add some speed and it challenges your heart a bit more. It’s great if you are trying to increase your marathon or 5K time or if you just want to train your body to go harder for a long distance. In this workout, you will go at an aerobic pace (a pace you can keep for a long distance at a tempo that is challenging but doesn’t wear you out) for a timed interval, ie. 1 to 5 minutes. Then, pick up your pace and bring your heart rate up for another timed interval ie., 1 to 2 minutes. Then go back to the endurance pace.

This workout is great for increasing your pace. It is NOT the same as anaerobic or interval training because you DO NOT STOP. You simply change the rhythm and pacing of your workout. It still works your stamina.

Examples of a fartleg might be that you go on an elliptical machine for 5 minutes at a pace you are comfortable in. Then you pick up your RPMs and go faster for 1 minute. Then you go back to the original pace for 5 minutes. This can be done while running, walking, dancing, cycling, swimming or any other cardio workout. You can mix up the times. For example, on another day, you can go at the slower rhythm for only 3 minutes and do the faster rhythm for 2 minutes. You can do the slower rhythm for 1 minute and the faster rhythm for 30 seconds. Once you get used to one way of timing it, mix it up.

Beginners will find that the hardest part of this workout is to keep the timing. After a surge of harder work, you will want to stop. Learning to slow down without stopping is part of increasing endurance and teaching the body to be more efficient so you can go harder for longer periods of time and even improve your long distance race times.

VO2 max: This workout consists of going as hard as you can for a long period of time. You still have to pace yourself, but you are breathing hard and at some point, you will burn out. Think of this workout as going at a competitive race speed. It burns a ton of calories but you don’t want to do this every day because you want to avoid burn out or overuse injuries.

At first, you may only be able to do a couple of minutes at this maximum pace but as your body adapts, you can add more and more time. A champion marathon runner is going at his or her VO2 max when they are racing. At the end of the race, they are done for. Some collapse to the ground. It is very intense.

Examples of a VO2 max workout would be running a race, swimming a race or just going your all for a certain amount of time, non-stop.

Some beginners will have a hard time finding a pace that they can keep that is challenging but that will not make them burn out after a few seconds. Others may just have a hard time getting their heart rates up to a max capacity. I do not recommend this workout for beginners. I recommend they spend the first few weeks starting a cardiovascular program with just endurance and fartlegs before they attempt this. I do not recommend this to people who have heart problems. But if you have been doing the same aerobic workout for a while and you are ready to go to the next level, try this as a test, to see where you are or as an intense workout once or twice a week. I do not recommend you do it every day. Think of this workout as a test run to see how much you have improved.

Intervals: Interval training has become very popular lately because of its proof of effectiveness due to many studies purporting that only a few minutes of interval training a week leads to massive results in all realms of fitness. This workout consists of short bursts of highly intense intervals, followed by a timed rest period.  This workout burns the most calories so it doesn’t have to be done for a long period of time. A ten to twenty minute interval workout burns as much or more than an endurance workout that is an hour long.

Examples of an interval workout would be doing a 100 yard sprint at max capacity, then taking a thirty second break and repeating that eight times. Another example would be to do burpees for thirty seconds and take a twenty second break. Another example would be to run 200 or 400 or 800 meters at max capacity and take a two minute break and repeat that six times. Another example would be to go at a faster or harder level on your cardio machine for one minute, then rest for thirty seconds and repeat. You can mix up the intervals and rest periods as your body adapts to this method.

The biggest challenge for beginners will be repeating the intervals. You might find that after going all out for the first or second interval, you’ll have nothing left for the third or fourth. I suggest you start with only a few intervals or make the rest periods longer. Then add more intervals and shorten the rest periods as you get better.  If you eat and recover properly, your body will adapt by building more muscle and power. Over time, you will be able to recover from the initial bursts quicker.

Hills: Hills add resistance to a cardiovascular workout. It is harder to go up a hill due to gravity pushing on our body. This workout challenges our heart and makes our workout more intense. You can run a course on hills non-stop or you can do intervals up a hill. You can simulate hills on a treadmill, bike, elliptical and other cardio machine. You can simulate hills in a studio class by using steps or inclines. Going up a hill can burn a lot more calories and work your heart and muscles harder without you having to increase speed.

The greatest challenge to doing hills is the fact that it engages more muscles and requires more strength. Do not do hills several days in a row. You want to let your muscles recover between days of hills. There is also a greater risk of knee pain. Listen to your body. If your joints are not sore, you are probably fine but if your knees, hips or ankles start to warn you by sending you pain signals, ease off on your training. Hills are comparable to weight training. Do not do a steep hill if you can barely run a flat. Simulate hills slowly, adding a greater incline after you get used to the level below that.

A simulated workout: If you plan to run four days a week, your workouts might look like this:

Monday: endurance workout, 4 miles at aerobic pace

Tuesday: Intervals, three 400 yard runs with 1 minute rest between each interval followed by five 100 meter sprints with 30 second rest between each of them

Wednesday: rest day

Thursday: fartleg, jog at aerobic pace for 5 minutes. Pick up tempo for 1 minute. Keep doing that for 30 minutes

Friday: VO2Max, time trial. Run a 5k course as fast as you can.

You might want to mix up two different types of workouts in one day. Here’s an example of a program where you do cardio three times a week:

Monday: 20 minute endurance workout, non-stop. Followed by eight 100 meter sprints with 20 second rest between them (a mix of intervals and endurance)

Wednesday: fartleg, jog at aerobic pace for 3 minutes. Pick up tempo for 2 minutes. Keep doing that for 30 minutes

Friday: VO2Max, time trial. Run a 5k course as fast as you can. Then run at endurance pace for 10 minutes

You can mix up all four workouts in one workout. I often do this when I teach cycle. Here’s an example of this on a treadmill:

15 minutes at an aerobic tempo, followed by a five minute hill hard as you can (VO2Max) followed by high intensity intervals of adding speed and hills for 30 seconds, then rest for 20 seconds. Repeat intervals five times. End with 10 minutes at aerobic tempo.

All of these workouts will help you break your plateaus, create more speed, power, stamina, and will burn more calories. It will also break you out of your rut and make endurance less boring. All of these workouts can be simulated on a cardio machine or in an aerobics class, can be done running or walking and can be done swimming (with the exception of hills.)

If you would like to know how many calories these workouts burn, check out this post:



PostHeaderIcon The Greatest Sin is to do Nothing Because You Can Only do a Little

There is a part of my website that I’ve been neglecting for a while and that is my “Local Heroes” section. The reason why I started that page is because of a fortune cookie I got a long time ago that really affected me. It read, “The greatest sin is to do nothing because you can only do a little.”

This phrase stayed with me and often repeats itself to me in my mind. I think of all the times I didn’t do something just because I couldn’t do it all and I think about people who totally give up on life and love because they can’t “have it all” or because the world is already such a harsh place, and they don’t think that they could ever make a difference.

But after reading that fortune cookie and having some very unusual dreams, I realized that if we all just did one thing to help someone else, that it would make a huge difference. If we just did one thing, once a day to make ourselves better, it would make a huge difference. Too often, we look to one person to be the great hero and savior of us all. We often forget that if we all did a little something, it would equal the all that only one person could do. I hope that makes sense.

Every time I ask someone I know if they want to be a local hero, they always tell me that they don’t understand what they did to be a hero. They look at my local heroes page and think that the people on that page are amazing and that they don’t deserve to be a part of it. But after I do a write up on them, and make them aware of all the great things they’ve done, they realize that they are important after all. Some of these people are professionals, some volunteers. Some are people who succeeded in losing weight or overcoming obstacles which can inspire others who are going through the same struggles. Whether they are doing a lot or a little, they are still doing something and that’s all that matters. I started the local heroes page because I wanted to showcase some amazing people who have really inspired me and thank them. I also wanted to tell their stories to see if it would inspire others. While I may not be ending world hunger by doing this, it’s something.

When we take just ten minutes out of our day to do something healthy, that’s something awesome. We may not know how one kind word we say to someone might inspire them to totally change their outlook of life. All these things seem so small, but they matter. There are so many people in my life who have inspired me just by saying one thing or doing their job well. They didn’t have to be multi millionaires or the president of the world to do it. They were just being true to their hearts. So, today I’m reminding myself to just do something to remind the world that we are all important.

This month’s local hero is Sue Press, fellow Parkinson’s chair instructor and cancer survivor. You can read about her by clicking here:

PostHeaderIcon JOSEPH PILATES, a Hardcore Man with a Hard Core

What is pilates? Pilates is modern form of exercise that has been used by athletes, dancers and every day people in order to maintain strength and flexibility. It has also been used as physical rehabilitation for numerous injuries.

Pilates is named after its founder, Joseph Pilates who was born in Germany and lived from December 9, 1883 to October 9, 1967

It is said that Pilates was a sickly child who suffered from asthma, rickets and rheumatic fever. He devoted his life to physical fitness and grew up to be a champion gymnast and martial artist. He also studied yoga and many other modalities of fitness. He was a professional boxer who taught self defense and wrestling to law enforcement. He called his system of fitness “contrology” and published a book called “Return to Life Through Contrology” in 1945. This book showcased simple exercises to develop core strength and posture so the mainstream population could fight the debilitating effects of modern sedentary living. I teach many of these exercises in my mat pilates class.

During WWI, Pilates was interned by the British where he continued training his fellow soldiers. Rumor has it that he even made the soldiers work out when they were injured and couldn’t walk by turning their beds into exercise machines by using the coils of the beds for resistance, inventing a modern pilates reformer. Some people say that Pilates would not allow anyone to skimp out on exercising. Others say that Pilates was rehabilitating the soldiers on these beds and that he successfully healed many soldiers this way. It is said that his inmates survived the 1918 flu pandemic due to their great shape and he boasted that they would be stronger than they were before internment.

After the war, Pilates returned to Germany and collaborated with many other fitness and dance experts. He also trained law enforcement but was ordered by the government to train the German army. Disappointed by the political and social conditions, he immigrated to the United States where he met his wife, Clara.

He opened his studio in New York which gained quick attention from the performing arts community. His studio attracted many dancers who suffered from aches and pains and provided a foundation of spinal strengthening, mobility and stamina. Performers were often sent to his studio to rehabilitate their injuries and soon, contrology was part of a regular dance regimen that helped prevent injuries.

Today, Pilates’s students have branched out to teach his method all over the world. It has been adopted by athletic trainers and occupational physical therapists. His method is taught in studios and gyms all over the world and has helped people from all walks of life overcome the aches and pains of athletics, performing arts and sedentary modern living.

“Contrology develops the body uniformly, corrects wrong postures, restores physical vitality, invigorates the mind, and elevates the spirit. In childhood, with rare exceptions, we all enjoy the benefits of natural and normal physical development. However, as we mature, we find ourselves living in bodies not always complimentary to our ego. Our bodies are slumped, our shoulders are stooped, our eyes are hollow, our muscles are flabby and our vitality extremely lowered, if not vanished. This is but the natural result of not having uniformly developed all the muscles of our spine, trunk, arms, and legs in the course of pursuing our daily labors and office activities.”  –Joseph Pilates





Hatha yoga: Yoga of posture and physical health.

Jnana yoga: Yoga of knowledge and truth.

Karma yoga: Yoga of right and selfless action.









Yoga and The Eightfold path….

Meditation, A Running Into Reality….

Meditation, The Illuminated Perceiver vs. The Afflictive Mind….

Demystifying the Chakras (From a Hormonal Perspective)….

PostHeaderIcon Science, Yoga, and Free Will






More on breathing here:








For more information on relieving stress, check out these posts:


PostHeaderIcon Should I Sacrifice Sleep for Training?



Proof of How Lack of Sleep Can Make you Fat








Sleep is Nature’s Steroid


Sleep Increases Athletic Performance





How Can I Get More Sleep?



–Take a warm bath or shower




–Tobacco is a stimulant that can make it hard to sleep






–Make sure your bed and pillows are comfortable



How Much Sleep Should I Get?

These are the sleep guidelines according to the National Sleep Foundation:

NEW BORNS (0-2 months) 12-18 HOURS
INFANTS (3 to 11 months) 14-15 HOURS
TODDLERS (1-3 years) 12-14 HOURS
PRESCHOOLERS (3-5 years) 11-13 HOURS
TEENS (10-17 years) 8.5-9.25 HOURS