Seven Principles of Fat Burning YoQiLates
The first step to mastering your body is awareness. The YoQiLates method is a combination of Yoga Therapy, QiGong, and Pilates, which is excellent for losing weight. These seven principles that are the core of YoQiLates will help you attain better body awareness. Understanding how your body functions will provide you the necessary mindset to achieve success with our fat burning eCourse.
There are seven core principles of our Alkaline Fat Burning eCourse:
- Intention: It is important that the one practicing YoQiLates is aware that at the core, every system in our bodies at the cellular level is programmed for optimal health. It is when we are out of sync with our universal life force or “Qi” we are subject to disease. Set your intention to heal and be clear about what you want to accomplish with the practice of YoQiLates. Setting intentions prior to embarking on a journey or practice will dictate the outcome of your efforts. Let it be aligned with your core desire to heal and be at peace each time you practice. Remind yourself of what you want to get out of each practice.
- Balance: Our aim in the practice of YoQiLates is to ensure that we have perfect balance in our body. Yin and Yang are the natural dualities that exist in this universe, such as (man-woman, hot-cold, north-south, dark-light, low-high, water-fire, life- death, etc.). Yin and yang cannot exist without the other and either one is good or bad, it just is. This duality exists in everything from foods, weather, relationships, and it even exists inside ourselves. In the Chinese culture, yin and yang are known to transform each other: like an undertow in the ocean, every advance is complemented by a retreat, and every rise transforms into a fall. Thus, a seed will sprout from the earth and grow upwards towards the sky—an intrinsically yang movement. Then, when it reaches its full potential height, it will fall, yin movement. It is our aim to practice balance of yin and yang in all areas of our practice and as you progress, it will overflow into other areas of your life.
- Agility: Movement is absolutely necessary for Qi to flow. In the west, it is common to consider movement as “exercise”, the no pain no gain mentality where the balance in our systems are challenged to a point of damaging our health and our physiological structure. In YoQiLates, we will practice moving with agility. We are designed to move and move with ease. Due to the nature of our technological culture and sedentary life, moving is laborious. We’ve become too yin, too contracted, tight, stiff, and difficult to move. If practiced regularly, you will find that movement will be a breeze again. Practice of YoQiLates regularly can reverse arthritis, slow aging process, improve flexibility, agility, strength, and mental focus.
- Energy: The nature of Qi in the human body, we need to understand where to Qi originates. Something cannot come from nothing, so Qi (energy) must come from matter. It is important to note that the matter is a physical form of energy and the energy is an “unlocked potential” of matter. For example, when we eat food, through the biochemical reaction, we transform the food into the Qi. We are dealing with two forms of energy, the electromagnetic energy and the potential energy. Qi typically moves from the area of higher potential to the area of lower potential and this is occurring naturally and automatically to bring your system into balance. This Qi will be harnessed, strengthened, and most importantly circulated to ensure that there are no blockages in the meridians of our bodies.
- Focus: The series of postures will align your physical body and the mental focus to also overflow into other areas of your life. The method of YoQiLates requires you to have complete mental focus and intention during the practice to enable you to harness your healing abilities and allow your body to succumb to its natural tendencies again. This focus will allow your body to reconnect with its intrinsic thermostat and reset its internal setting to optimize the healing, health, and vitality.
- Breathing: There are two sources of “essence” to supply your body’s needs. They are air and food. As these two are absorbed into our bodies, they are converted into Qi. Breathing is an important part of the YoQiLates practice and also for general health, which is well documented in research. It is important to understand the respiration cycle of inhalation and exhalation. In order for the air to reach the lungs and be pushed out, the muscles around the lungs and the diaphragm must expand and contract. During this process, the fresh oxygen will mix with the blood in the lungs and the blood will release carbon dioxide via exhalation. The diaphragm is moving up and down during the cycle of respiration and it massages the internal organs and increase the Qi circulation throughout the organ systems and the body. It is important to note that the brain needs far more oxygen than the rest of our body, this is why when you lack oxygen, you can feel dizzy, heavy, and are unable to think clearly. In the west, the breathing becomes shallower and shallower as one gets older, especially with the preoccupation with technology, working on the computer and gadgets, decreasing our movement during the day. In YoQiLates, you will learn to regulate and control your breathing pattern by consciously breathing with intent. You will notice improved energy, vitality, memory, and health.
- Posture: As a physical therapist, I regard posture highly in any treatment protocol. If you are not properly postured, you will have blockages in Qi, compensation of muscles, arthritis, and imbalances. Think of your body as a car and the tires, suspension, and the alignment of the tires as your limbs. What would happen over time if your tires are not rotated regularly, alignment not checked, and the suspension broken? That’s right, its good smooth ride will be compromised before long. In YoQiLates, posture and alignment will be emphasized to have your organ systems work more efficiently, improving your breathing ability, optimizing Qi (energy) flow, and helping you to be lean and toned.
These seven principles are just the beginning of a journey to health and vitality. Join the Alkaline Fat Burning eCourse to put these principles into action!