My first yoga experience in a YTU class taught me that there is a whole lot more to health and fitness than just strength training. Pandora’s Box had been opened. Since that humbling yet educational experience, I’ve voraciously learned every philosophy and modality that crossed my mental landscape. I don’t belong to a single school of thought because they all can provide a little gem of knowledge that connects the dot a little bit more. There is a time and place for each and every modality and type of movement or exercise. The trick is to remain open-minded, connect with your own body, and objectively assess your own strengths and weaknesses.
The author combines strength, flexibility and balance to pull off this pose!
Building health starts with building flexibility, but it is surely not the end all be all. What good is a slingshot if you can only load it to its maximum length, but it just droops down like a stretched out piece of chewing gum when you let it go? You have to add strength, power, high-quality fuel through healthy food and hydration, meditation, and a positive and optimistic frame of mind if you want to build the total package. It all counts if you’re chasing longevity.
From Better Body to Better Business
I don’t prescribe to any single school of thought solely. I journey from camp to camp and learn from the greatest minds this industry has to offer, keeping an open mind at all times. In the process I’ve synthesized and created an approach to personal training, nutritional consulting and lifestyle coaching I can truly call my own. I have a wide variety of clients with different goals, cultural tastes, physiologies, and case histories. Each warrants a slightly modified approach in order to elicit optimal results. Different strokes for different folks. If it were not for my first ego-breaking YTU experience, I’d still be a one-trick pony trainer.
i sincerely feel the same way about absorbing different modalities, learning from the greatest minds out there, and integrating it all into your lexicon. The more tools in the toolbox, the better. Discernment is the key, knowing when to use something & knowing it’s benefits, the pros and cons etc. How boring to be stuck in one modality! The health industry, especially the natural health industry, has evolved from centuries of trial and error, of the unity of human intelligence figuring stuff out – knowledge is too rich to be limited.
thank you for sharing this. i too am a fan learning different systems and fusing variety into the yoga classes i teach. i am partaking in yoga tune up teacher training for the next seven days and am already blown away with just one day under my belt. today i have learned a smarter way to cue and cannot wait to blend this type of dialogue in my classes.
i look forward to your next post.
Thanks Andrea and Will!
I just commented on a previous post of yours. Bah! you say here in more detail what I mentioned there. Good Good, Sir! I’m glad you find yourself working it all out. I agree with you like in all the classes a person can walk into if even not preferred cup of tea you can “find a gem” any where you choose to look, from most things in life, especially in all the varieties/modalities to explore around being in/with the body. Keep up the good walk!
Hello Luke,
I am currently take Jill’s 70hr intensive and I agree completely with your feedback. People need to know the difference between good and bad stretching. Stretching that just opened up a range with no strength and how to stretch to increase strength in your new range. Very different!
I liked that you mentioned flexibility and strength as equally integral parts of one’s own total package for health. You more than likely started off with a great deal of strength and less flexibility and for that reason flexibility is higher on your agenda. Thanks for your blog.
I absolutely agree with this. I love not belonging to a single school of yoga thought because we are all so different and it’s so important to maintain flexibility in our lives (not just our bodies). Everything in moderation – even moderation.
Thanks for sharing Luke. I feel exactly the same way you do. Jill broke me down to humble little pieces about a year ago and it helped me regain my passion for knowledge and respect for the profession and industry I loved so much- now I push myself from all angles to grow as a master in my craft not just a guy at the gym.
I too have found some serious liberation through YTU. Training with Jill has given me permission to be authentic in who I am in my body and who I am as a Corrective Exercise Specialist. My desire for knowledge has been completely reignited and I’m almost more excited now when I don’t know something because it is another opportunity to expand. Because YTU teaches us about the foundations of movement, it very much helps me better identify what pieces and parts I want to adopt from other disciplines as well. Cheers!
Ditto what all have said. i appreciate now, more than ever, being a “mutt” (rather than buying in lock, stock to a specific prescribed program). This YTU training will most definitely help me be more in tune with what I need and when!
Flexibility and strength are so important for the entire body. The muscles around every joint must have a balance of both strength and flexibility or that joint will be pulled out of alignment. I am so excited to be a part of this community that holds knowledge as the key to unlock all doors.
My lucky synchronicity to stumble upon YTU this year has also changed me and opened up my perception of possibility. I was not exactly a one-trick pony, but was stressing out a bit regarding NOT fitting into a box as I try to rebuild my small business in Restoration/Fitness in a new city – after spending some years back in a cubicle. YTU taught me that having a varied toolbox and embracing my creativity is totally OK and it is best to NOT fit into a box. I am using YTU as a language and a vehicle to use all my skills and build a unique offering into my brand!
Wow Luke, great blog! I too am a personal trainer and discovered Yoga Tune Up this year, immediately started to work with the Tune up balls, and saw some immediate results with my clients!
Strength and flexability are extremely important to keep us on the healthy track, YTU will help me, and the people that I work with,
I’m glad that you were able to think out of the boxa!