We’re big on getting outdoors: hiking, skiing, show shoeing, swimming—you name it, we probably like it.

We like what Public Myth is about, too. Committed to providing functional active lifestyle clothing with a rock star vibe, Public Myth pieces feature raw edging, patchwork, buttons and metallic threads—all featured on technically superior active wear fabrics including the bamboo/cotton blend and a soft moisture wicking technical Supplex stretch fabric. The company, headed up by former professional personal trainer and exercise advocate Kerry Pollock, is also committed to helping create a better tomorrow. Products are sustainable, using eco-friendly fabrics. Manufacturing is exclusive to North America. Recycling and keeping jobs close to home is also important.

To see Public Myth in action, check out My Yoga Online teacher Clara Roberts-Oss’s vinyasa flow Just Once Dance

Win your own pair of Bamboo Leggings!
Public Myth is giving one (1) lucky My Yoga Online member a pair of Bamboo Leggings.

How to Enter:

Just add your answer to the following question to the comments section below: What’s your favorite way to stay active off the mat?

With apologies to our international friends, this prize giveaway is only available within North America (USA and Canada). Contest runs until 11:59 PST.

Enter on Facebook, too! Join your My Yoga Online community on Facebook and enter to win there, too.

Share the love.
Tell your friends about this great giveaway. Just click ‘SHARE’ at the top of this post.

The fine print: Click here to read the official contest rules. By submitting a comment on this blog or commenting on or ‘liking’ the Facebook post, you agree to the official contest rules.

We love that the Belmondo skin care line is organic and olive oil-based. Created by Daniela Belmondo, a licensed aesthetician practicing professionally for over six years, the line is designed around the daily rituals of caring for yourself. It contains organic ingredients, sourced fair trade whenever possible. It feels good to know that when we buy Belmondo products, we’re helping the company donate a percentage of sales to a non-profit project founded by friends of Daniela’s in Cape Town, South Africa.

Oh, and the inside scoop? We also feel good because we had the chance to chat in-person with Daniela, and find out she’s just as lovely as her skin care line.

Win your own Belmondo Organic Skin Care pack!

Belmondo  is giving a skin care pack featuring The Garden Hand and Body Lotion, The Balm Nourishing Lip Balm, and The Dunes Gentle Face Exfoliant to one lucky My Yoga Online member.

How to Enter: Just add your answer to the following question to the comments section below: In what ways do you take care of your skin?

With apologies to our international friends, this prize giveaway is only available within North America. Contest runs until the end of Tuesday, January 31, 2012 11:59 PST.

Enter on Facebook, too! Join your My Yoga Online community on Facebook and enter to win there, too. 

Share the love. Tell your friends about this great giveaway. Just click ‘SHARE’ at the top of this post.

The fine print: Click here to read the official contest rules. By submitting a comment on this blog or commenting on or ‘liking’ the Facebook post, you agree to the official contest rules.

Though Broad admits that much of the benefits of yoga are true: “Yoga can lower your blood pressure, make chemicals that act as antidepressants, even improve your sex life,” he states that “A growing body of medical evidence supports...that, for many people, a number of commonly taught yoga poses are inherently risky.” Broad cites reports of yoga injuries appearing “decades ago” in some of the “world’s most respected journals.”

Though Broad does emphasize that most injuries are due to ego—either on the part of the student or the teacher—he goes on to provide examples of injuries as though they prove that yoga itself is dangerous, rather than the way certain people practice it.

And his examples? They were ones that most experienced yoga teachers would have some instant preventative solutions for.

EXAMPLE “In one case, a male college student, after more than a year of doing yoga, decided to intensify his practice. He would sit upright on his heels in a kneeling position known as vajrasana for hours a day, chanting for world peace. Soon he was experiencing difficulty walking, running and climbing stairs.”

SOLUTION Don’t sit for hours a day in Vajrasana if it’s causing pain.

EXAMPLE “In 1972 a prominent Oxford neurophysiologist, W. Ritchie Russell, published an article in The British Medical Journal... Russell found that brain injuries arose not only from direct trauma to the head but also from quick movements or excessive extensions of the neck, such as occur in whiplash — or certain yoga poses.”

SOLUTION Note the words “quick” and “excessive”. If it feels too “quick”—practitioners can slow it down. If it feels “excessive” we can back off.

EXAMPLE “The patient had been in excellent health, practicing yoga every morning for a year and a half. His routine included spinal twists in which he rotated his head far to the left and far to the right. Then he would do a shoulder stand with his neck “maximally flexed against the bare floor,” just as Iyengar had instructed, remaining in the inversion for about five minutes. A series of bruises ran down the man’s lower neck, which, the team wrote in The Archives of Neurology, “resulted from repeated contact with the hard floor surface on which he did yoga exercises.”

SOLUTION Notice the bruises. These are a sign to pay attention to. Even the medical team assessing Nagler’s patient agrees, citing in their report: “Healthy individuals could seriously damage their vertebral arteries, they warned, ‘by neck movements that exceed physiological tolerance.’” So don’t exceed physiological tolerance.

EXAMPLE “Around this time, stories of yoga-induced injuries began to appear in the media. The Times reported that health professionals found that the penetrating heat of Bikram yoga, for example, could raise the risk of overstretching, muscle damage and torn cartilage.”

SOLUTION Avoid extreme heat, and don’t overstretch.

Broad concludes with a quote from long-time yoga teacher Glenn Black. “‘Asana is not a panacea or a cure-all. In fact, if you do it with ego or obsession, you’ll end up causing problems.’”

Agreed. Looking for tips on how to safely do yoga at home or in a studio? Take some pointers from our latest blog post: 10 Tips for How to do Yoga at Home.

BY LINDSEY LEWIS A certified Hatha, Kundalini and Yin yoga teacher, Lindsey is also a behind-the-scenes team member at www.myyogaonline.com. Find her yoga at home videos here, and her website here. Lindsey's personal mantra? Live free

The crew who designed the Thera Roll tell us that there are only a few muscles that we can really stretch: the neck, low back, hamstrings, calves, rectus femoris muscle (10-15% of the quadriceps group mass), abdominals, iliopsoas, and pectoralis major muscles.

The fun and funky massage and stretch tool offers moderate to aggressive release of sore and fatigued muscles. Designed for competitive athletes, the tool works for yogis too. Just ask Kreg Weiss, My Yoga Online co-founder; he had a chance to try out the Thera Roll and is a full-on fan. The roll comes in three densities: soft (blue), firm (purple) and hard (grey).

Made in the USA, the Thera Roll is comprised of the highest quality, cross-link durable foam. Plus it’s easy to clean and sterilize.

Win your own Thera Roll!

Massage therapist Camelia Eisentrautt is giving a Thera Roll to one lucky My Yoga Online member.

How to Enter: Just add your answer to the following question to the comments section below: What other body-loving practices do you do on a regular basis?

With apologies to our international friends, this prize giveaway is only available within North America. Contest runs until the end of Tuesday, January 24, 2012 11:59 PST.

Enter on Facebook, too! Join your My Yoga Online community on Facebook and enter to win there, too.

Share the love. Tell your friends about this great giveaway. Just click ‘SHARE’ at the top of this post.

The fine print: Click here to read the official contest rules. By submitting a comment on this blog or commenting on or ‘liking’ the Facebook post, you agree to the official contest rules.

LINDSEY LEWIS A certified Hatha, Kundalini and Yin yoga teacher, Lindsey is also a behind-the-scenes team member at www.myyogaonline.com. Find her yoga at home videos here, and her website here. Lindsey's personal mantra? Live free