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In intervals our certified instructors set a heart-pumping pace towards beautiful vistas, then provide beneficial yoga instruction suitable for all levels. Our drop-in classes are approximately 90 minutes in duration, designed to stretch, strengthen, and re-focus on breath. Come connect with important layers of your life � health, friends, nature and community while getting your sweat on!
We have had so many great questions asked about our company and the experience and wanted to share some with you below. Enjoy!
What is special about hiking yoga?
Hiking Yoga is extraordinary because we bring our customers local studio practice into a whole new environment. We embody a spirit of exploration, making our workout routine (aprox 3 mile/hr) an easy and fun addition to anyone�s schedule. Our vibrant instructors lead a high-energy interval workout by setting a heart-pumping pace towards beautiful vistas, and then provide beneficial yoga instruction suitable for all levels.
We are so lucky to have instructors from all over the United States and around the globe. All have different backgrounds and have studied a wide variety of alternative health topics. To name a few, we have nutritionists, herbalists, doctors, and yogis with multiple styles who have combined their knowledge and can uniquely present it to our customers. We have a structure for our teachers to follow, but encourage each teacher to bring their own flare into their yoga hike. This way, our customers will always get a unique and rewarding experience.
The most intriguing part about Hiking Yoga is that we are a social yoga experience�the hiking allows time to chat with friends and the teacher. We commonly have locals grab a bite to eat afterwarda morning yoga hike or bring a visiting friend to show off their favorite city. Hiking Yoga attracts those who want more unity with themselves and others. Most yoga goers are only able to connect with their buddies briefly right before or after class, and then off they go to the next affair on their schedule.
What is the difference between hiking yoga and regular yoga?
What sets us apart from the rest is that we are outdoors, so leave your yoga mat behind! We work on strength, flexibility and posture in the fresh air, which makes for a well-rounded exercise. Practicing downward-facing-dog and side-triangle in nature, under the Redwoods (i.e. Woodside and Portland), in front of beautiful city views (i.e. San Francisco or Berkeley) takes ones practice to another level. Many poses have animal or nature names� tree pose, mountain pose � which can be fun to imitate while they are actually part of your surroundings!
The expansive knowledge we have on our team allows for each customer experience to be different. Regular yoga classes are typically categorized by a certain style, which allows the yogi to know exactly what kind of workout they are going to get. A beautiful aspect about Hiking Yoga is the variety of practices and advanced studies our teachers offer, ranging from acroyoga to martial arts to herbalism. We highly encourage all of our teachers to bring their own personality and creativity into their yoga hikes. Just check out our teacher bios on our website, we are continually impressed and inspired by how much they do and learn! It is pretty cool to think we have a holistic team sharing valuable information on a national scale.
What are the health benefits?
Customers come to us seeking a wide variety of benefits to enhance their lifestyle. Some want to increase their vitality and seek weight loss with our high-energy interval workout. Others want to begin a fitness routine that is multi-faceted. Others, still, train for an upcoming event such as a marathon or charity event in honor of a loved one.
We also have yoga hikers who want to de-stress after a long week at work in the office. Various relaxation techniques, meditations and breathing exercises are more fulfilling and grounding in natural flowing air, compared to an enclosed class where the amount of oxygen is limited. We commonly bring in the ujjayi breath which helps to establish that relaxing and connected sensation inside your body, and establish a rhythm with the gentle sounds of nature.
Studies show that yoga is an effective way to reduce and manage a whole array of health conditions, including heart disease, insomnia and depression. Yoga outdoors provides new experiences � even if you�ve been doing yoga indoors for years, you�ll discover new challenges and new pleasures and, as a result, new benefits. Our workout is extraordinary since it stimulates the senses, and mind while heightening physical awareness. The vitamin D in sunshine raises serotonin levels, increasing happiness and further promoting internal harmony and peace.
Yoga started thousands of years ago out in nature, not in a studio, building or temple. We make it possible for yogis to practice side-triangle and downward-facing-dog in its intended natural setting, which we think truly creates the ultimate mind-body-spirit connection. Some practice yoga to move towards a deeper connection with themselves and the universe. When exposed to the natural environment, you recognize your role as part of a bigger picture. It is also for the same reason and benefits that yoga retreats are mostly held in outdoor environments that enable one to get close to nature and practice on an organic surface.
The beauty of nature, like being next to a campfire, immediately inspires you to emerge from your safe zone and tap into more creative energies, which can put personal troubles into perspective. Heading out with a group also promotes joyful social interaction and human connection, making it easy to return.
How does yoga compliment hiking?
Yoga is a great compliment to hiking because it provides diverse movements throughout the body. There is outward and inward rotation of all major joints, which help to cleanse and detoxify the body with deep twists. Forward motion activities, such as running and hiking, are when ones arms and legs move backwards and forwards in the same way. This exercise provides a great workout, but like everything, if you only do this you end up neglecting other muscle movements, potentially creating bad habits for your body that could eventually lead to overuse or injury.
By integrating the yoga, we are also a lot less sore. Instead of powering up the mountains and being unaware of how we are hiking, our regular stops at yoga stations force us to focus on the ankles, hip flexers and body motion while exercising.
The combination also opens up the lungs more due to the focus on breath while doing the hiking and doing the yoga. We often do partner yoga so that people can connect, which keep the lungs working during conversation and even the occasional shared laugh! A shared experience is just sweeter, since it is simply wonderful to be outdoors and interacting with like-minded people.
What can I expect after I sign up for a yoga hike?
After you sign up for a yoga hike, you can expect a automatic confirmation sent by the Mindbody scheduler. Please be sure to check your Spam box and enable your browser or email system to accept emails from this source. We do not look to add to your email.
The night before your yoga hike, the instructor will send out a confirmation email including their cell number and more details about the meeting location. Most of the meeting location details, including a map and a picture of the meeting point, can be found in our website by clicking on the location in the map on our homepage and selecting the "More Info" button for that location.
The email from the instructor is simply to confirm and provide you with a means to communicate emergencies to the instructor. For example, if you are running late or have some sort of emergency that prevents you from arriving to the meeting location on time, so you can alert the instructor and the group is not held back unnecessarily. Or, if you are a couple of minutes late, to give you the possiblity of catching up with the group by checking in with the instructor where the first yoga station will be. Mind you, if you are running late, we do not guarantee that you can catch up to the group as cell coverage in some locations is not reliable and we cannot hold up the group for late comers.
The instructor's confirmation email sometimes serves as a heads up to address cancellation of the yoga hike based on weather conditions. he or she may inform you that based on the weather conditions, we will be doing the yoga hike UNLESS you hear otherwise up to 1hr before the yoga hike the next morning. We are after all, looking to have a great time outdoors and no one wants to be soaking wet due to rain or worst still, struck by lightning due to electric storm conditions!
During the yoga hike, you can expect to have a blissed out time! That is the idea anyway and what keeps us motivated to bring the best of each and every one of us every day on every yoga hike for you to enjoy!
Namaste!
Eric & Carina
Questions or some fun additional facts for us? Please contact us
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Hiking Yoga INFO 