Day One!

First, a little bit about how I became involved in Yoga. I have been athletic for most of my life. Prior to owning Noho Yoga I was a Lieutenant in the New York City Fire Department. As group of guys go, we were a fairly fit bunch. I liked running, swimming and cycling, with a little weight lifting thrown in.

Then in 1998, I met a woman who introduced me to Yoga. At first, Yoga was a way to improve my running and swimming. But over the years, I did more Yoga and less of the other stuff.

In January, 2002, while vacationing in Maui, I discovered the Bikram method of 26 postures and two breathing exercises practiced in a very hot room. The series was physically demanding and produced results.

I simply loved the series. As time went on, I did more and more Yoga eventually letting go of the other exercise forms I had done for so many years. The physical, mental and emotional results I was getting from my Yoga practice were just amazing.

In 2005 I became a Bikram Yoga instructor and bought my studio in the scenic Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts.

Today is the first day of my sixty day challenge. Given we are at the begining, I'll talk a litte about the beginning of the series: pranayama breathing.

Pranayama is a breathing exercise where you inhale and exhale deeply. The purpose is to bring fresh oxygen into the deepest part of the lungs, expanding lung capacity. When teaching, it's fascinating to see how the student's skin color changes during pranayama breathing. They get pink.

Like all yoga postures, the first breathing exercise is dynamic. In addition to improving lung capacity you will work your shoulders and warm up your cervical (upper) spine. The snoring sound the students make, done properly, stimulates the vagus nerve. The nucleus of the vagus nerve is under the brain. The vagus nerve innervates many major organs and affects digestion.

My first class of my sixty day challenge took place in Norman O'Neil's studio in Nashua bikramyoganashua.com, New Hampshire . I practiced with Norman and two other teachers. Then we had lunch at a vegetarian restaurant where the veggie wrap was too small and overpriced. But the company was good.