The first two limbs of Patanjali’s Eight-Limbed Path are the yamas (restraints) and the niyamas (inward observances). Here, we are going to look at a couple of the yamas.
There are five yamas: ahimsa (nonharming); satya (truthfulness); asteya (nonstealing); brachmacharya (chastity); and aparigraha (non-attachment/greedlessness). My favorites to teach are ahimsa and aparigraha.
Ahimsa means “nonharming.” This not only applies to others—like restraining from physically striking another person, or verbally abusing someone—it also applies to how we treat ourselves. How often do we let a self-defeating thought enter our mind, or ruin our day? That’s not practicing ahimsa. Pursuing ahimsa also means treating yourself with loving-kindness, and taking the steps needed to practice self-care. This also applies to how you approach fitness in general. For example, practicing ahimsa means easing up on the elliptical when your knee feels wonky, or opting for a night off when you accidentally pull something in your shoulder and need time to recover. Ahimsa tells us to listen to our bodies and treat them well.
Aparigraha is another favorite of mine—partially because it is fun to say (“ah-par-ee-gra-ha”), and also because of the story my yoga teacher uses to teach this principle in class. The story was about a monkey and a jar filled with peanuts. The jar’s opening was such that the monkey could slip his hand inside, but once he made a fist to pick up the peanuts he could not remove his hand from the jar. In essence, he was stuck. Trapped. Hunters had set out the jar to capture the monkey. While the monkey had time to escape when he saw the hunters coming for him, he just couldn’t bring himself to let go of the peanuts and free himself. Aparigraha teaches us to not be that monkey. Don’t hold on to things that no longer serve you—things that ultimately trap you. Again, like ahimsa, aparigraha translates to life off the mat too. Aparigraha can also apply to how you approach your fitness regime—are you clinging to an unrealistic body image or weight goal that is ultimately not serving you? The princple of aparigraha tells us to let go of the things and thoughts that trap us so that we can be our best selves.
The yamas, of course, have implications for your yoga practice as well. For example, on the mat, ahimsa means listening to your body and not pushing past your comfort zone to the point of hurting yourself. Aparigraha might mean letting go of a thought that is keeping you from fully releasing into the practice and accessing all of the yummy benefits yoga has to offer.
Reading about yoga is a great way to learn more about the practice, but taking a class is a great way to explore the practice “in-action” under the tutelage of a trained yoga instructor; check out MINT’s yoga offerings, here.
Ashley Binetti received her 200-hour vinyasa yoga teacher training at Saraswatis’s Yoga Joint in Norwalk, CT in 2011. Her favorite pose is Triangle. When she’s not doing yoga, Ashley works as a nonprofit attorney. She is also a MINT Ambassador.
In 2017, make a resolutions to take the #StickwithMINT challenge
and spread the MINTy love!
#StickwithMINT Stickers
Get snapping and spread the MINT love this year!
Changes are coming to group fitness at MINT!
Check the list below to see the newest changes, additions and tweaks
to the group fitness schedules at both clubs.
CYCLE
- A new MINTFuze class has been added, Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 7am, at MINT Downtown, effective this week.
- A new MINTFuze class has been added at MINT Dupont, Saturdays at 11am, taught by Colleen Daly at Dupont (effective January 14th).
- The Friday morning 6:30am cycle class will now be taught by Liz Panda.
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The Sunday, 5pm cycle class at MINT Dupont has been cancelled.
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Adam’s 12pm RhythmRide class at MINT Dupont has been moved to 3pm.
ZUMBA
- Fridays Zumba class (at Downtown, at 5pm with Elena) has been cancelled
- A new Zumba class has been added with Elena, Mondays from 1-1:50pm (at MINT Downtown)
- A new Zumba class has been added, with Tara, Wednesdays from 1-1:50pm (at MINT Downtown)
- A new Zumba class has been added, with Nikki, Sundays from 1:30-2:20pm (at MINT Dupont)
BARRE
- A new MINT Barre class has been added, with Jeannie, Thursdays from 5:30-6:20 pm (at MINT Downtown)
- A new MINT Barre class has been added, with Kathryn, Thursdays from 6-6:50 (at MINT Dupont)
- A new MINT Barre Fundamentals class has been added, with Kathryn, Thursdays from 7-7:25 PM (at MINT Dupont) (Note: This class has a 6 student max)
- A new MINT Barre class has been added with Kathryn, Thursdays from 7:30-8:20pm (at MINT Dupont)
- Barre-late’s on Tuesdays with Karla (at MINT Dupont) has been moved to 11:30 – 12:20pm
- Barre on Tuesdays with Laura (at MINT Dupont) has been moved to 6-6:50pm
- A new MINT Barre class has been added (at MINT Dupont) on Saturdays, 2-2:50 with Laura.
- A new MINT Barre class has been added (at MINT Dupont) on Sundays, 10:30-11:20am with Sarah.
- A new MINT Barre class has been added (at MINT Dupont) on Sundays, 1:30-2:20pm with Sarah
YOGA
- Tuesdays, 7 pm: [Small Group] Yoga Basics (MINT Dupont) in mind&body studio (begins Jan 17 – Feb 28), Laura Trejo. No more than 6 participants.
- Sundays, 11:30 am: [Small Group] Yoga Basics (MINT Dupont) in mind&body studio (begins Jan 15 – Feb 26), Kristin Adair. No more than 6 participants.
- Wednesdays, 11 am: [Small Group] Yoga Basics (begins Jan 11 – Feb 22), Allison Rogne. No more than 6 participants.
- New Sunrise Flow Yoga (All Levels) class at MINT Dupont, Saturdays, 8:30 – 9:25 am with Moriah Childers, MindBody Studio. (Encourage parents who will be bringing kids to MINTkids yoga classes to start morning with their own class. Childcare opens at 8:30 and kids can warm up there while caregivers get their omm on first)
- MINTkids Yoga for Tots and Tykes (age 2-4) has been moved to a new time and will now be from 9:30 – 10:30 am on Saturdays at MINT Dupont withMoriah Childers in the MindBody Studio
- 10:30 – 11:30 am – MINTkids Yoga for Movers and Tots (crawling to 24 months) has been moved to a new time and will now be from 10:30-11:30am on Saturdays at MINT Dupont with Moriah Childers in the Barre Studio.
- Mamas at MINT Prenatal Yoga with Kate Miller has been moved to a new time! It will be from 10-11:20am on Saturdays at MINT Dupont in the MindBody Studio.
- The Flow & Align Yoga (All Levels) class on Sundays has been moved to a new time, 12 – 1:15pm at MINT Dupont with Kristin Adair in the MindBody Studio.
- Added a new Sunrise Flow class from 7-8am on Tuesdays at MINT Dupont with Kristin Adair in the MindBody Studio.
- The Flow & Align Mixed Levels class at MINT Downtown on Saturdays will now be from 11:30 am – 12:45 pm with Laura Trejo.
Join us (and cycling instructor, Ori!) for a “Best of Michael Jackson” themed ride at 11am on January 7th at MINT Dupont!
Get ready to ride to all your favorite MJ tunes! We’ll start our Saturday off with all the best songs from the King of Pop! You can ride to the beat or take it like a road ride, just don’t stop till you get enough!
Melanie Rubin is a Physical Therapist in DC and a group fitness instructor at MINT.
January is coming, MINT lovers. The Statistic Brain Research Institute reported that 45% us make a new year’s resolution, and our #1 goal is weight loss. Despite our best intentions, only eight percent of us will report that we’ve achieved our goals. How can we make 2017 different? By using a little brainpower and a system called WOOP.
WOOP stands for Wish Outcome Obstacle Plan. It’s a method for setting and achieving goals developed by psychologist Gabriele Oettingen at NYU.
A recent study found that WOOP helped participants double the amount of regular physical exercise. Can you picture what you would look like if you could double your time at MINT?
WOOP works something like this: Think about your New Years resolution. If you’re like most of us, your goal is to lose some weight, and get yourself healthy and fit. That’s your “W” or your Wish.
Next, think about the Outcome. If your wish comes true, you’ll have so much energy and confidence in 2017. When you feel great, you’re able to be more and do more.
Sounds great, right? But Dr. Oettingen found that if we just think about what we want and how great we’ll feel once we reach our goal, our blood pressure drops and we feel more relaxed. Our bodies respond as if just wishing for better health had actually made us achieve that goal, and on some level, we lose that motivation. That’s why we need more than just a great resolution and a positive attitude.
After positive visualization, it’s time contrast that positive vision by taking a hard look in the mirror. What are the Obstacles that might get in the way of achieving your goal? Don’t worry about that January weather. MINT is still open. Instead, focus on obstacles that come from within: What are the things that keep you from working out the way you hope to in January? Too much rich food, booze, and lack of sleep are common excuses. Or perhaps you struggle to make the gym a priority, or to find value in a low-impact workout when you have a cold.
What we need is a Plan. Knowing our wish, having a motivating vision of the outcome, means we need a plan to overcome that obstacle. The plan can be something simple, like registering for that spin class tomorrow morning before heading out to happy hour tonight. Or you might need to give yourself a little positive pep talk about the value of getting your blood moving, if only for 20 minutes.
Want to try it out? Download the free WOOP app or check out Dr. Oettingen’s research on her website or check out her book, Rethinking Positive Thinking: Inside The New Science Of Motivation.
WOOP it up with us at MINT this January, and let’s make 2017 the year you achieve all your health and fitness goals.
Nikki Mueller is a MINT cycling instructor.
Make your plans now to join Melanie for a sweat sesh that gives one final nod to the best music of 2016.
While you begin creating your list of new years resolutions, finish this year out strong by riding along to some of your favorite artists & hits from this past year in music. Music played at this spin party will be based on songs who were most streamed on Spotify, and are guaranteed to get you moving and feeling good.
If this post-NYE party sounds up your alley, then sign up HERE for a ride with Melanie on Wednesday, January 4th at 7:45 pm at MINT Dupont! See you on the bike!
We want to welcome Pacers Running into to the MINT community!
Another year is coming to an end… and we’ve had a blast! Here’s what our year looked like at MINT… by the numbers!
4
new class studios/areas added
7,293
MINT classes conducted
888
8,304
15,436
11,445
6,756
1,485
512
628
657
