stretch – ShakeUpFit

August 28, 2016 — No Comments

Back poses….on the farm?! – #StretchSundays

Cat and Cow poses - Marjaryasana and Bitilasana

An extremely underestimated series of stretches that is great for anyone with slight back pains. I’ve been in the office before where people have got lower back pains and have had to work still and I’ve made them get on the floor in the middle of the office and do this little sequence.

It’s understated and the combination of the two poses with added breathing helps to calm you at the same time as stretching your body out. Some teachers use this combination as a good warm up for a class, preparing the back for future stretches.

Ciao for now x

Published by mbennardo in #StretchSundays, Fitness, yoga

Tags: back, back pain, breath, breathe, cat, cow, stretch, vinyasa, yoga, yogi

July 10, 2016 — No Comments

Lunge it – but keep it low! – #StretchSundays

Low lunge

Low lunge - Anjaneyasana

Another stretch in the category of a hip opener. When you first start there is a good chance you will be pretty high off the floor and feel like your legs will never stretch enough to get as low as you’d like, but bear with it, it does happen.

This is a great pose in itself and a balance can be added to it to turn it into the High Lunge. Both poses are great for your hips again and just remember to try and keep this hips facing forward and not turning out to the side

Ciao for now x

Published by mbennardo in #StretchSundays, Fitness, yoga

Tags: back, balance, be focused, hip, hip opener, legs, lunge, relax, stretch, yoga, yogi

July 5, 2016 — No Comments

Yoga is only for women – #TalkToMeTuesdays

Anyone who knows me knows I am particularly random. I like doing random activities and I like meeting and talking to random people. I don’t have a problem trying anything out, which is why some of my fitness passions come from activities traditionally linked to female activities, Zumba, Pilates and Yoga just to name a few.

It’s because of this attitude that I have got into yoga. It’s crazy how many times I ask men to come along with me to yoga and how many times they have excuses. Yoga isn’t for me is the most commonly used phrase, but I’ve also had lots of ‘yoga is for women’.

Now, it’s true that I like random things but yoga is not random. If you don’t really understand yoga and understand how good it can be for anyone, regardless of age, sex, conditions or a million other things then you really should educate yourself.

Rather than find yoga emasculating, I actually find yoga maculating. In order to perfect a yoga technique you have to have strength, balance, focus and determination. None of that is attributed to only one type of person. In order to hold a pose I need to focus on me. Yogi’s or just general yoga practitioner can be from every walk of life and the feeling I have after a good yoga session is euphoric at times.

I like all yoga, but I LOVE tough yoga. Tough yoga is yoga that makes me sweat (without the heat needing to be on!). It’s yoga that takes me much longer to hold a pose because I am trying to move my body into exactly the right pose while still being relaxed and still focusing on my breath. Tough yoga needs a strength, not just physically but mentally and that’s why I LOVE it.

So yea, I find it hard to have patience with men who say yoga is only for women. Maybe you should stop making excuses and get to a class? Let’s see if you can hack it 😛

Ciao for now x

Published by mbennardo in #TalkToMeTuesdays, Fitness, General, yoga

Tags: balance, boys, boys can, centred, controversy, dare to change, debate, discuss, emasculate, fitness, focus, gym, health, karma, maculate, manly, men, move, peace, skincare, stretch, talk, women, workout, yoga, yogi

July 3, 2016 — No Comments

Liiiiiiiiiizard – #StretchSundays

Lizard pose - Utthan Pristhasana

Lizard - knee down Lizard - knee raised

Another pose that I absolutely love. The feeling on your hips and inner thigh is just profoundly satisfying.

Be careful with posture here, a lot of people sacrifice proper alignment by trying to get their forearms down to the floor. I have been guilty of that myself and have had to teach myself about how not to be as competitive when it comes to my yoga. Focusing on you, your posture, your breathing and trying to look inwards while still keeping your eyes open is not something that comes naturally to a lot of us but that is one of the things to try and work towards when doing yoga.

Our eyes are sensory objects and we are used to taking in that information and assessing. If you can, practicing yoga with your eyes closed is an amazing experience but there’s no denying the benefits it can give you with your alignment and your practice.

The best way to start this pose is with both hands flat on the floor and both arms slightly inside your forward leg using your elbow to pop your knee out and get a bigger stretch on your hips. If you can you can then work forward to bending the arms slightly and once your flexibility gets better, actually working down to be positioned on your forearms with your gaze forward.

Then if you really want you can lift your back leg but only if your posture won't be compromised. I'm still working on mine but I love the feeling on my hips and thighs!

Ciao for now x

Published by mbennardo in #StretchSundays, Fitness, yoga

Tags: ache, balance, closed, eyes, focus, hip opener, hips, internal, legs, lizard, open, pain, stretch, yoga, yogi

July 1, 2016 — No Comments

1st of the Month! – All change

all-change

Hello all my lovelies

Today is the first day of July and it signals big changes around the world, in the yea and most importantly on this blog.

Speaking to some of you, it seems a lot of you really enjoy these blog posts but we need a bit more consistency and a bit more planning so....here it comes.

From today I'm going to try and post once a day, every day. I'll be talking about lots of different things but the majority of them will be about your health, happiness and fitness. Not only that but I'll be categorising my posts and each day will be themed around a certain topic which are listed below.

Feel free to read them all, read only the days that you find relevant and more importantly try them out. I want to help you all think more about being healthier, being more aware and trying to make any changes, small or big to work towards your happiness and health.

Posts will start regularly from tomorrow so keep an eye out. If you want to help me spread the word, likes, follows, shares would all be much appreciated!!

Categories:

#StretchSundays - if you like a good stretch, love yoga, have never done yoga but want to try it out in the comfort of your own home or just learn more, this is the day for you! I'll be talking through some of my personal favourites, explaining them and even filming a few demonstrations for you to give a go

#MoveMondays - all my dance moves will be released on Mondays. I'll talk about the benefits of dancing, post some instructional videos and even talk you through a few of them

#TalkToMeTuesdays - I want you to engage, discuss, debate and yes, even disagree. I'll be putting up my opinions on various topics and asking yours

#WellbeingWednesdays OR #WetWednesdays - mid-week will be split and dedicated to two topics, general well-being and getting fitter and enjoying the water. This will be the day we might talk through meditation one week and the week after talk about how to improve your swim stroke

#ThrowbackThursdays - one of my favourites. I've already introduced this into my classes with a throwback tuned introduced on the first Thursday of the month but these posts could be anything. Music, dance, exercise or even old toys! Tying them back into your health

#FeedMeFridays - obviously no week would be complete without some food. These will be my favourite recipes, easy tips on how to stay healthy when out and about or even how to mix up your food prep in ways you might not expect

#SkinliciousSaturdays - completing our week will be our Saturday where we'll be taking a look at what goes on your body. The main focus of this will be the amazing Tropic products but also we'll start sharing some extra knowledge and getting you to ask questions about your current regime

I hope you like the topics and like what's to come in the near future, I love writing them and sharing my thoughts with you all. If you want to have something specific shown then just drop me a line and I'll do my best to include it!!

Looking forward to what the future brings and remember, life isn't about getting to a destination it's the journey we take to get there.

Ciao for now x

Published by mbennardo in #FeedMeFridays, #MoveMondays, #SkinliciousSaturdays, #StretchSundays, #TalkToMeTuesdays, #ThrowbackThursdays, #WellbeingWednesdays, #WetWednesdays, Beauty, Fitness, Food Tips, General, Recipe, Therapy

Tags: breath, clean, cosmetics, dance, days, expand, film, fitness, food, healthy, holiday, meditate, more, move, old, retro, salsa, shake, shakeup, shimmy, skin, stretch, sweat, swim, talk, throwback, video, vintage, water, wellbeing, wet, yoga

January 8, 2016 — No Comments

Day 8 – Sleep, sleep, sleep!!

We all know it, we all love it and we all wish we could do more of it as it's our escape from everything we're not happy with....like work! haha

But what exactly is sleep and why is it so important? Do you know how important it is for your physical health? or your emotional wellbeing?

Sleep is a really important time for your body. It regenerates, heals and generally does all the repairs it can after what's happened during your day.

There are however some foods that are great in helping you get a good nights sleep which I've listed below for you with a brief explanation of why they are good for you:

Fish - packed full of vitamin B6 which is needed to make melatonin which is a sleep-inducing hormone
Yoghurt - calcium can be quite difficult to get enough of and being calcium deficient has been closely linked to bad sleeping patterns
Whole Grains - rich in magnesium which is also great for helping sleeping patterns
Kale - sometimes the flavour of kale doesn't appeal to everyone but actually kale is a huge source
Bananas - full of potassium and another food that is rich in vitamin B6 which is needed to produce melotonin
Chickpeas - also packed with vitamin B6 so more excuse to make home made hummus!

If you want more information, you are constantly waking up tired or just not feeling rested enough, check out this brilliant article from the National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute and use it as an excuse to have a duvet day this weekend!

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/sdd/why

Ciao for now x

Published by mbennardo in General