Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Summary
On episode 48 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan sits down with Julie Zuzek, founder and director of The Corporate Yogi, a business coach, yoga teacher, and host of the Conscious Business Podcast who runs destination yoga retreats around the world.
Julie breaks down what yoga actually does for the body and mind, and why so many people try one class, don’t like it, and give up before finding the style that fits them.
The conversation walks through the spectrum of yoga styles from intense heated practices to slow restorative classes, and how to pick an entry point if you’ve never tried it.
Links
- https://thecorporateyogi.com
Key Takeaways
- Yoga builds flexibility by lengthening muscles rather than building bulk. Julie says this makes it a strong complement to strength training, which focuses on adding muscle mass.
- Yoga builds real strength using only body weight. Without external weights, Julie says it tends to be a safe way for people to build strength regardless of fitness level.
- Yoga retrains how you breathe, which lowers stress. Julie teaches ujjayi breath, a deeper breathing pattern that accesses the base of the lungs and keeps the body in a calm, parasympathetic state, even outside of class.
- The physical practice of yoga was originally built to support meditation. Julie explains that the postures were developed to let the body sit comfortably cross legged for extended periods, with the physical practice serving the mindfulness practice.
- Yoga styles sit on a spectrum from intense to restorative. Hot yoga and Ashtanga sit at the intense end and can burn 500 to 700 calories in a 90 minute class, while yin and restorative styles hold single postures for up to 10 minutes to work the fascia and calm the nervous system.
- Hatha and vinyasa flow classes sit in the middle and make a good starting point. Julie recommends beginners start there, then adjust toward something easier or harder depending on how it feels.
- Finding the right teacher and studio matters as much as finding the right style. Julie says the same class taught by two different teachers can feel completely different, so it’s worth trying more than one before deciding yoga isn’t for you.
- Anyone with a medical condition should check with a doctor before starting. Beyond that, Julie believes there’s a style of yoga out there for everyone, it just takes some trial and error to find it.
“I believe wholeheartedly that there is a style out there for everyone.”
Julie Zuzek