You'll find these comfy, light and breezy cotton pants in our eco boutique. Great for travel. These unisex, one size fits all, pants can be rolled up into shorts, worn for Yoga, Meditation, Tai Chi practice, as PJs, or about town. To wear, simply slip the pants on with the ties at the back, fold in one side of material around the waste, then the other, bring the ties to the front, tie at your desired "waist line," then fold down any material from above the tie to lock the pants at your desired height. Keep everything nice and tight as you fold to create smooth lines at the waist as our friend Gina demonstrates in the video below, also featuring some of the organic cotton tops we carry in our shop.
an excerpt from John Robbins' book |
| The book Eat Right for Your Type by Peter J. D’Adamo proposes that there are four different ideal diets, one for each blood type: A, B, AB, and O. Follow the diet that is ‘right for your type’, he says, and you can lose weight, cure ear infections, fight off cancer, heal yourself from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and much, much more. By ‘eating right for your type,’ D’Adamo asserts, you will be eating like your prehistoric ancestors did.70 This may sound very appealing. In a time when we have strayed so far from a natural way of eating, a guide to eating like your prehistoric ancestors could be quite helpful. And, indeed, many have been drawn in by D’Adamo’s promises. |  |
But according to the Tufts University Health and Nutrition Letter, D’Adamo has his blood typing all wrong. “It’s a fallacy even to speak of ‘original’ type Os or ‘original’ type As because blood types did not originate with humans,” explains Dr Stephan Bailey, a nutritional anthropologist at Tufts University. “They came on the biologic scene long before humans did. Furthermore, there is no anthropologic evidence whatsoever that all prehistoric people with a particular blood type ate the same diet.”71
D’Adamo has come up with 16 different food groups, further divided into ‘Highly beneficial,’ ‘Neutral,’ and ‘Avoid’ foods, depending entirely on what blood type you are. Type As, for example, are told they do well on vegetarian diets, but they should avoid cabbage, potatoes, eggplant, olives, peppers, and tomatoes, among many other foods. They are, however, advised to eat snails.72
Type Os, on the other hand, are told to base their diets heavily around red meat. They are told to avoid oranges, apples, wheat, peanut butter, avocados, cabbage, and potatoes, but encouraged to eat veal, ground beef, and beef heart.
D’Adamo tells Type Bs to eat a lot of dairy products, including frozen yoghurt. He tells them to avoid sunflower seeds, garbanzo beans, pinto beans, whole wheat bread, corn, pumpkin, tofu, tempeh, and tomatoes, but encourages them to eat rabbit, lamb, and mutton.
Type ABs are told to avoid corn, peppers, olives, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, and lima beans, but encouraged to eat jam, jellies, rabbit, and turkey.
D’Adamo has come up with 16 different food groups, further divided into ‘Highly beneficial,’ ‘Neutral,’ and ‘Avoid’ foods, depending entirely on what blood type you are. Type As, for example, are told they do well on vegetarian diets, but they should avoid cabbage, potatoes, eggplant, olives, peppers, and tomatoes, among many other foods. They are, however, advised to eat snails.72
Type Os, on the other hand, are told to base their diets heavily around red meat. They are told to avoid oranges, apples, wheat, peanut butter, avocados, cabbage, and potatoes, but encouraged to eat veal, ground beef, and beef heart.
D’Adamo tells Type Bs to eat a lot of dairy products, including frozen yoghurt. He tells them to avoid sunflower seeds, garbanzo beans, pinto beans, whole wheat bread, corn, pumpkin, tofu, tempeh, and tomatoes, but encourages them to eat rabbit, lamb, and mutton.
Type ABs are told to avoid corn, peppers, olives, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, and lima beans, but encouraged to eat jam, jellies, rabbit, and turkey.
Many people who have tried D’Adamo’s diet have lost weight. There is a reason, but it isn’t the one he gives. In actuality, the diets recommended for all four blood types are each extremely low in calories. Some day’s plans have only 1,000 calories, half the caloric needs of an adult woman.
Nevertheless, for D’Adamo, virtually everything in life comes down to whether you are an A, B, AB, or O blood type. According to him, “(ABO) blood type can determine so many things: how much and how often we should eat; what our optimal daily schedule should be; what our best sleep/rest patterns are; how stress affects us and how to combat it; how to maximize our health; how to overcome disease; how we deal with aging; and even our degree of emotional well-being.”73
D’Adamo believes that people who are type O and type B must eat meat daily to be healthy. When confronted with the fact that vegetarian diets have been consistently shown to produce lower rates of cancer, heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, gallstones, kidney disease, obesity, and colon disease, and to enable people to live longer and more healthfully, he explains that type As do well on vegetarian diets. It is, however, mathematically impossible that the health advantages for vegetarians could be accounted for only by type As benefiting from the absence of meat. According to the Red Cross blood bank, the population of the United States is approximately 39 percent type A, 46 percent type O, 11 percent type B, and 4 percent type AB.74 There is no possible way that the consistent superiority of vegetarian diets that has been demonstrated repeatedly by world medical research could be due to vegetarian diets having health advantages only for type As, who are, after all, a minority of the population.
Similarly, D’Adamo’s explanation for the success of Dr Dean Ornish’s program of reversing heart disease, which includes putting people on a near-vegan diet with no meat, is that it has only worked for type As. It does not, he says, help type Os, type Bs, or type ABs.75
I asked Lee Lipsenthal, MD, the vice president and medical director of Dr Dean Ornish’s Preventive Medicine Research Institute, whether this might be possible. He replied,“There is no evidence in the scientific literature associating blood typology with nutrient needs. Although heart disease almost invariably gets worse, even when patients follow the American Heart Association recommendations, most of our patients have shown actual reversal of their disease, and the vast majority have shown measurable improvement in many areas – improved physical function on exercise tests, improved blood flow to the heart muscle, improved mood and sense of vitality, improved cholesterol levels, improved blood pressure, improved sleep patterns, and improved social function. We’ve had many hundreds of patients show dramatic improvements, and all this has been measured by objective tests. I don’t see any possibility that people with blood types 0 and B (who together represent nearly 60 percent of the population of the U.S.) are not being helped by the Ornish program.”76
D’Adamo believes that the risk of heart disease for type Os is reduced by eating meat.77 There is, however, no evidence in the world medical literature for this belief. The blood-type diet’s explanation for why type Os presumably need meat is that type Os do “well on animal products and protein diets – foods that require more stomach acids for proper digestion.” In fact, D’Adamo says that “type Os can efficiently digest meats because they tend to have high stomach acid content.”78
It is well known, however, that not all men and women with type O blood produce more hydrochloric (stomach) acid; some secrete normal levels and some have less than normal. Further, it is pepsin, not hydrochloric (stomach) acid, that is responsible for meat protein digestion. In people who have large amounts of hydrochloric acid, the stomach environment becomes unusually acidic. An especially acidic stomach actually make pepsin less effective at digesting protein.79
D’Adamo’s beliefs regarding the diets of early humans, likewise, seem to have no basis in fact. He writes, ‘The appearance of our Cro-Magnon ancestors in around 40,000 BC propelled the human species to the top of the food chain, making them the most dangerous predators on earth… (with) little to fear from any of their animal rivals… (and no) natural predators other than themselves. Protein – meat – was their fuel… By 20,000 BC Cro-Magnons had... decimated the vast herds of large game.”80
The foundation of D’Adamo’s blood-type theory is his belief that Cro-Magnons, who lived 40,000-20,000 years ago, were all type Os and ate mainly meat. Types A, B, and AB came along later, he says, and only they are genetically equipped for a diet that includes grains. There is no evidence anywhere in the scientific literature, however, that suggests Cro-Magnons were mainly or all type Os. Instead, there is considerable evidence that all four blood types existed in the time of the Cro-Magnons.
Were Cro-Magnons the heavy meat eaters D’Adamo portrays? Not according to paleontologist Richard Leakey, who is widely acknowledged as one of the world’s foremost experts on the evolution of the human diet. Leakey points out, “You can’t tear flesh by hand, you can’t tear hide by hand. Our anterior teeth are not suited for tearing flesh or hide. We don’t (and Cro-Magnons didn’t) have large canine teeth, and we wouldn’t have been able to deal with food sources that required those large canines.”81
In fact, says Leakey, even if Cro-Magnons had large canine teeth, they still almost certainly would only rarely have eaten meat. Their diet would have been similar to that of the chimpanzee, our closest genetic relative.
Molecular biologists and geneticists, Leakey says, have compared proteins, DNA, and the whole spectrum of biological features and have established very convincingly that humans are closer to chimpanzees than horses are to donkeys. This is remarkable, because horses and donkeys can mate and reproduce, although their offspring, mules, are sterile. A significant difference between humans and chimpanzees, though, is that chimpanzees have large canine teeth that can tear apart their prey, and have more strength and speed than humans. Still, even with these traits, which would be advantages for a meat-eater, chimpanzees, like other primates, eat a mainly vegetarian diet. Dr Jane Goodall, whose work with chimpanzees represents the longest continuous field study of any living creature in science history, says chimpanzees often go months without eating any meat whatsoever. Indeed, she says, “The total amount of meat consumed by a chimpanzee during a given year will represent only a very small percentage of the overall diet.”82
D’Adamo’s entire theory is based on his assumptions about the blood types and diets of our prehistoric ancestors. Even though his assumptions are wholly mistaken, however, his diet has been embraced by many in the naturopathic community, and some schools of naturopathic medicine have even begun to include this theory in their curriculum. As a result, some naturopaths are now recommending that vegetarians and vegans who are blood type O or B eat meat daily
Nevertheless, for D’Adamo, virtually everything in life comes down to whether you are an A, B, AB, or O blood type. According to him, “(ABO) blood type can determine so many things: how much and how often we should eat; what our optimal daily schedule should be; what our best sleep/rest patterns are; how stress affects us and how to combat it; how to maximize our health; how to overcome disease; how we deal with aging; and even our degree of emotional well-being.”73
D’Adamo believes that people who are type O and type B must eat meat daily to be healthy. When confronted with the fact that vegetarian diets have been consistently shown to produce lower rates of cancer, heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, gallstones, kidney disease, obesity, and colon disease, and to enable people to live longer and more healthfully, he explains that type As do well on vegetarian diets. It is, however, mathematically impossible that the health advantages for vegetarians could be accounted for only by type As benefiting from the absence of meat. According to the Red Cross blood bank, the population of the United States is approximately 39 percent type A, 46 percent type O, 11 percent type B, and 4 percent type AB.74 There is no possible way that the consistent superiority of vegetarian diets that has been demonstrated repeatedly by world medical research could be due to vegetarian diets having health advantages only for type As, who are, after all, a minority of the population.
Similarly, D’Adamo’s explanation for the success of Dr Dean Ornish’s program of reversing heart disease, which includes putting people on a near-vegan diet with no meat, is that it has only worked for type As. It does not, he says, help type Os, type Bs, or type ABs.75
I asked Lee Lipsenthal, MD, the vice president and medical director of Dr Dean Ornish’s Preventive Medicine Research Institute, whether this might be possible. He replied,“There is no evidence in the scientific literature associating blood typology with nutrient needs. Although heart disease almost invariably gets worse, even when patients follow the American Heart Association recommendations, most of our patients have shown actual reversal of their disease, and the vast majority have shown measurable improvement in many areas – improved physical function on exercise tests, improved blood flow to the heart muscle, improved mood and sense of vitality, improved cholesterol levels, improved blood pressure, improved sleep patterns, and improved social function. We’ve had many hundreds of patients show dramatic improvements, and all this has been measured by objective tests. I don’t see any possibility that people with blood types 0 and B (who together represent nearly 60 percent of the population of the U.S.) are not being helped by the Ornish program.”76
D’Adamo believes that the risk of heart disease for type Os is reduced by eating meat.77 There is, however, no evidence in the world medical literature for this belief. The blood-type diet’s explanation for why type Os presumably need meat is that type Os do “well on animal products and protein diets – foods that require more stomach acids for proper digestion.” In fact, D’Adamo says that “type Os can efficiently digest meats because they tend to have high stomach acid content.”78
It is well known, however, that not all men and women with type O blood produce more hydrochloric (stomach) acid; some secrete normal levels and some have less than normal. Further, it is pepsin, not hydrochloric (stomach) acid, that is responsible for meat protein digestion. In people who have large amounts of hydrochloric acid, the stomach environment becomes unusually acidic. An especially acidic stomach actually make pepsin less effective at digesting protein.79
D’Adamo’s beliefs regarding the diets of early humans, likewise, seem to have no basis in fact. He writes, ‘The appearance of our Cro-Magnon ancestors in around 40,000 BC propelled the human species to the top of the food chain, making them the most dangerous predators on earth… (with) little to fear from any of their animal rivals… (and no) natural predators other than themselves. Protein – meat – was their fuel… By 20,000 BC Cro-Magnons had... decimated the vast herds of large game.”80
The foundation of D’Adamo’s blood-type theory is his belief that Cro-Magnons, who lived 40,000-20,000 years ago, were all type Os and ate mainly meat. Types A, B, and AB came along later, he says, and only they are genetically equipped for a diet that includes grains. There is no evidence anywhere in the scientific literature, however, that suggests Cro-Magnons were mainly or all type Os. Instead, there is considerable evidence that all four blood types existed in the time of the Cro-Magnons.
Were Cro-Magnons the heavy meat eaters D’Adamo portrays? Not according to paleontologist Richard Leakey, who is widely acknowledged as one of the world’s foremost experts on the evolution of the human diet. Leakey points out, “You can’t tear flesh by hand, you can’t tear hide by hand. Our anterior teeth are not suited for tearing flesh or hide. We don’t (and Cro-Magnons didn’t) have large canine teeth, and we wouldn’t have been able to deal with food sources that required those large canines.”81
In fact, says Leakey, even if Cro-Magnons had large canine teeth, they still almost certainly would only rarely have eaten meat. Their diet would have been similar to that of the chimpanzee, our closest genetic relative.
Molecular biologists and geneticists, Leakey says, have compared proteins, DNA, and the whole spectrum of biological features and have established very convincingly that humans are closer to chimpanzees than horses are to donkeys. This is remarkable, because horses and donkeys can mate and reproduce, although their offspring, mules, are sterile. A significant difference between humans and chimpanzees, though, is that chimpanzees have large canine teeth that can tear apart their prey, and have more strength and speed than humans. Still, even with these traits, which would be advantages for a meat-eater, chimpanzees, like other primates, eat a mainly vegetarian diet. Dr Jane Goodall, whose work with chimpanzees represents the longest continuous field study of any living creature in science history, says chimpanzees often go months without eating any meat whatsoever. Indeed, she says, “The total amount of meat consumed by a chimpanzee during a given year will represent only a very small percentage of the overall diet.”82
D’Adamo’s entire theory is based on his assumptions about the blood types and diets of our prehistoric ancestors. Even though his assumptions are wholly mistaken, however, his diet has been embraced by many in the naturopathic community, and some schools of naturopathic medicine have even begun to include this theory in their curriculum. As a result, some naturopaths are now recommending that vegetarians and vegans who are blood type O or B eat meat daily
However, other naturopaths decisively disagree. The founder of naturopathy, Dr Benedict Lust, called for “the elimination of… habits such as… meat eating.” Similarly, Henry Lindlahr, MD, whose work has been widely read in naturopathic colleges, defined naturopathy as favoring a ‘strict vegetarian diet.’ After a detailed and thorough discussion of the blood-type diet’s underpinnings, contemporary naturopaths Dr Deirdre B Williams and Dr John J McMahon conclude, “The blood type theory of diet doesn’t have a leg to stand on.”83
Footnote annotations can be found in the book The Food Revolution,
How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and Our World.
How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and Our World.
Bricks, Straps, Balls, Kula, DJing & Fashion Week
When traveling, balls can save your life. The ones pictured here cost under $30 at the drugstore around the corner from where I stayed in NYC. They made their way across country with me, & have remained an excellent addition to my stash of therapeutic tools, providing endless possibilities for creative fascia release.
When I arrived in NYC I discovered, with sadness, I forgot to pack a supply of Yoga props.
Since it was a late hour, and no Yoga studios were open, I decided to go to the neighborhood CVS to see if they carried any Yoga gear. In an effort to keep up with healthy lifestyle trends, many chain-stores are stocked with some Yoga props. I was not lucky on that front. However, as I cruised the isles, I noticed a large pen filled with balls of various shapes and sizes, and a sign that read: 50% off sale! This was a Yoga Therapeutics SCORE!!!! I purchased small balls, big balls, nubby balls, and weighted balls all for under 30 bucks.
One of the nights I was in town, some friends and I spread the balls around an empty room. We rolled on the floor and up the wall to go deep into our tension spots and to access various asanas with support. I highly recommend this as a regular morning and/or evening practice.
The next morning I went to Kula Yoga in Tribeca, which is a wonderful place to land and practice when you are in NYC. They feature a variety of classes from strong to therapeutic, and pride themselves in their community of dedicated Yogis.
I was there to share a workshop called Yoga Therapeutics for Your Sacrum & Hips. A wonderful group of Yogis came out to practice Yoga for their Yoga, and explore going deeper into postures with props, to heal and strengthen this very sensitive part of our bodies that have a working relationship with the health of our 1st two chakras.
The word sacrum is derived from the Latin word for sacred. This area is the place from which we grow strong, when the energy is clear and grounded. It also holds the magic of procreation, and is our connection to ourselves as human animals, and our literal tail.
Most of us have 5 lumbar vertebrae in our "tail.". A small percentage of humans have 6 – this is said to be linked to an older genetic lineage on the planet. Around the age of 16-18 these bones begin to fuse together, and are not done with this process until you are around 26 years old. Depending on your alignment, and the activities you were engaged in during that decade, the bones will fuse, and set a pattern for how you use that area, for the rest of your life.
Since it was a late hour, and no Yoga studios were open, I decided to go to the neighborhood CVS to see if they carried any Yoga gear. In an effort to keep up with healthy lifestyle trends, many chain-stores are stocked with some Yoga props. I was not lucky on that front. However, as I cruised the isles, I noticed a large pen filled with balls of various shapes and sizes, and a sign that read: 50% off sale! This was a Yoga Therapeutics SCORE!!!! I purchased small balls, big balls, nubby balls, and weighted balls all for under 30 bucks.
One of the nights I was in town, some friends and I spread the balls around an empty room. We rolled on the floor and up the wall to go deep into our tension spots and to access various asanas with support. I highly recommend this as a regular morning and/or evening practice.
The next morning I went to Kula Yoga in Tribeca, which is a wonderful place to land and practice when you are in NYC. They feature a variety of classes from strong to therapeutic, and pride themselves in their community of dedicated Yogis.
I was there to share a workshop called Yoga Therapeutics for Your Sacrum & Hips. A wonderful group of Yogis came out to practice Yoga for their Yoga, and explore going deeper into postures with props, to heal and strengthen this very sensitive part of our bodies that have a working relationship with the health of our 1st two chakras.
The word sacrum is derived from the Latin word for sacred. This area is the place from which we grow strong, when the energy is clear and grounded. It also holds the magic of procreation, and is our connection to ourselves as human animals, and our literal tail.
Most of us have 5 lumbar vertebrae in our "tail.". A small percentage of humans have 6 – this is said to be linked to an older genetic lineage on the planet. Around the age of 16-18 these bones begin to fuse together, and are not done with this process until you are around 26 years old. Depending on your alignment, and the activities you were engaged in during that decade, the bones will fuse, and set a pattern for how you use that area, for the rest of your life.
While in NYC I DJ’d at a Yoga event Aarona Pichinson produces called Yoga Soundscape. As the invited sound artists I provided musical structure for Aarona to lead students on a sweaty and inspiring Yoga adventure. Aarona is a world traveling Yogi. You can experience her unique classes at festivals like Wanderlust and on retreats with Yogascapes. She is also one of the creators of The Moondeck.
My journey as a DJ started when I was teenager. And lead to my first career after college as a sound designer and music supervisor for theater, dance, film, and TV. In the evenings I worked spun at NYC parties, clubs, art galleries and fashion events. My inspiration came from my mother's love of music, and her had a fantastic vinyl collection. When I was growing up she played music at high volumes on cleaning days as we danced around the house singing harmonies together.
My club name, DJ Ganesha Del Mar, was given to me when I was a regular at the original Jivamukti on 2nd Ave. Ganesha, because it sounded like Vanessa. Del Mar because it made the male deity feminine, and because of my love of la mer, the ocean. The name can also be translated as elephant of the sea, a code name for dolphins, which I adore too!
I enjoy the creativity of collaborating with moving bodies, hunting for music to create heart centered layers of loops that people can ritualistically move to in performance or in a private moment on their magic carpets.
I call what I create mantra new era, ambient audio acupuncture, an earful of love from my global gypsy, rock, roll, folk, and funk roots. You can check out a selection of some of the sound designs I have created here.
My journey as a DJ started when I was teenager. And lead to my first career after college as a sound designer and music supervisor for theater, dance, film, and TV. In the evenings I worked spun at NYC parties, clubs, art galleries and fashion events. My inspiration came from my mother's love of music, and her had a fantastic vinyl collection. When I was growing up she played music at high volumes on cleaning days as we danced around the house singing harmonies together.
My club name, DJ Ganesha Del Mar, was given to me when I was a regular at the original Jivamukti on 2nd Ave. Ganesha, because it sounded like Vanessa. Del Mar because it made the male deity feminine, and because of my love of la mer, the ocean. The name can also be translated as elephant of the sea, a code name for dolphins, which I adore too!
I enjoy the creativity of collaborating with moving bodies, hunting for music to create heart centered layers of loops that people can ritualistically move to in performance or in a private moment on their magic carpets.
I call what I create mantra new era, ambient audio acupuncture, an earful of love from my global gypsy, rock, roll, folk, and funk roots. You can check out a selection of some of the sound designs I have created here.
 | I said goodbye to the city that had been my home for 15 years, by visiting my friends Lucia Horan & Douglas Drummond, at their amazing 5 Rhythms dance class. |
They now live in Maui and teach at a place called Lumeria, and you should totally participate in a class with them if ever you have the chance. Created by Gabriel Roth, a 5 Rhythms dance class provides an amazing judgement free space to become intricate with self-created healing movements, and to let off some steam! All experience levels are welcome as you are guided on a journey, by the music and gentle instructions of the teacher to sweat through old body mind patterns and release into flowing, staccato, chaos, and lyrical movements to find yourself... in stillness.
It happened to be Fashion Week, my last night in NYC. There were many events to check out as we strolled through the city after class. At one of the spots our crew landed makeup artist Laura Nadeau was set up in a corner of the showroom giving advice and quickie make overs. She encouraged women, to keep it simple, in a fun way. If you are in NYC, call her to add spice to your girls’ night out or finishing touches to you bridal party.
I leave you with two special treats for mermaids and water lovers, in the city that never sleeps, check out underwater spin classes at Aqua plus book a soak and massage next door at Ancient Aire. For the price this is the best way to go, and a nice way to finish your experience in this underground sanctuary built to resemble an ancient Roman bath.
It happened to be Fashion Week, my last night in NYC. There were many events to check out as we strolled through the city after class. At one of the spots our crew landed makeup artist Laura Nadeau was set up in a corner of the showroom giving advice and quickie make overs. She encouraged women, to keep it simple, in a fun way. If you are in NYC, call her to add spice to your girls’ night out or finishing touches to you bridal party.
I leave you with two special treats for mermaids and water lovers, in the city that never sleeps, check out underwater spin classes at Aqua plus book a soak and massage next door at Ancient Aire. For the price this is the best way to go, and a nice way to finish your experience in this underground sanctuary built to resemble an ancient Roman bath.
As long as I can remember I’ve loved being in water. I was two when my mother threw me into the deep end of our pool to teach me how to swim. At first I cried as I swam towards her. Once I made it to her arms, I looked around and saw how far I swam on my own, giggled, and kept on swimming. I have felt both at home and a sense of peace in water ever since.
As a child growing up in CA, I swam outdoors year round. I fondly remember roller skating (yes, this was before blades) the beach path from Santa Monica to Venice and back, sometimes finishing with an ocean swim before heading up the hill for dinner. I also remember many days pretending to be a fish, sitting at the bottom of our pool until I could see my parents worried faces peering down at me.
As a child growing up in CA, I swam outdoors year round. I fondly remember roller skating (yes, this was before blades) the beach path from Santa Monica to Venice and back, sometimes finishing with an ocean swim before heading up the hill for dinner. I also remember many days pretending to be a fish, sitting at the bottom of our pool until I could see my parents worried faces peering down at me.
In junior high I began to swim competitively and had the great fortune of having Olympian sisters, Lara & Dara Torres, as coaches. I was particularly good in solo and group relays. My strongest strokes at that time were Butterfly and Backstroke with a decent Freestyle and Breaststroke. One summer we did an underwater race and I far out swam my teammates, going 60+ meters underwater on one breath. As an adult I continued to swim with leagues and coaches would yell, "breathe Vanessa," as I liked to swim laps on the surface holding my breath as long as possible.
In 2012 while swimming at a pool where some of the members of the US Freediving Team train, I discovered that something I did naturally as a child, swimming under water with one breath hold, was now an official sport. I have a slow resting heart rate and as I began to train I discovered all of these qualifications made me an excellent freediver, In 2013 and 2015 I placed second in the US in different pool disciplines.
When I moved to the North East for college I joined the Triathlon club. Because of the extreme Winter weather, we had seasonal workouts entirely in the pool and on stationary bikes at the gym. I learned many new skills and drills to improve my swim speed and efficiency. We worked in a deep water pool on cycling and running in upright positions, essentially hours of variations on treading that mimicked the moves of cycling and running on land. The added weight of water on our legs built and lengthened the muscles we needed for the same actions on land. This type of training was new to me, and transformed as it strengthened my body. It also made me aware that cross training athletes in a pool was a great value for amplifying the strength of specific muscle groups needed for land sports.
When I began to teach Yoga, I would bring private clients, anyone from professional athletes to wall street business moguls, to the pool when they had shattered their feet in a car accident, were in postpartum recovery, had busted a knee on the ski slopes or had injured themselves during an extreme sporting adventure. Their doctors often asked what they were doing as they started to heal 3x faster than their peers with the same injuries who were not being trained in the water; I knew I was on to something.
Fitness in the water has yet to hit its peak in the US, like it has in South America and parts of Europe. Most people think of it as something for the older population, not realizing that those people they see in the water are super strong, especially at their age, because they are working muscle groups with resistance in both eccentric (elongation) and concentric (contraction) movements while getting their heart rate up.
Working out in the water creates a strong core as the water does not let you cheat into bad alignment for the most part. You can also get your heart rate up while keeping the impact low on your joints. You control the amount of intensity of each exercise by how hard you push into the water. For example, one of the movements I teach to students is based on something I saw watching the super bowl one year. They ran a segment showing the star quarterback training in a pool, doing a particular movement with the additional pressure of running into a jet stream, to build the endurance and strength needed to push back and make a touch down on land.
Other exercises I teach come from my fitness background in Yoga, Pilates, and ballet barre, also from researching the training regimes of other land athletes, then bringing their moves into the water. One of my favorite athletes to watch videos of is MMA fighter Ronda Rousey - such a beast! The moves she does to get the drive she needs in her arms are perfect for the pool.
I feel so blessed to work at a gorgeous pool near the ocean. My youngest clients are just 4 years old. It brings me tremendous joy to see people of all ages improving their swim strokes and getting stronger in their bodies. Whether you are looking to cross train in the water, heal an injury, or just become more confident as a swimmer, reach out with your questions and we’ll get you into a pool and on your way to meeting your fitness goals while enjoying the beautiful year-round weather of Southern California.
In 2012 while swimming at a pool where some of the members of the US Freediving Team train, I discovered that something I did naturally as a child, swimming under water with one breath hold, was now an official sport. I have a slow resting heart rate and as I began to train I discovered all of these qualifications made me an excellent freediver, In 2013 and 2015 I placed second in the US in different pool disciplines.
When I moved to the North East for college I joined the Triathlon club. Because of the extreme Winter weather, we had seasonal workouts entirely in the pool and on stationary bikes at the gym. I learned many new skills and drills to improve my swim speed and efficiency. We worked in a deep water pool on cycling and running in upright positions, essentially hours of variations on treading that mimicked the moves of cycling and running on land. The added weight of water on our legs built and lengthened the muscles we needed for the same actions on land. This type of training was new to me, and transformed as it strengthened my body. It also made me aware that cross training athletes in a pool was a great value for amplifying the strength of specific muscle groups needed for land sports.
When I began to teach Yoga, I would bring private clients, anyone from professional athletes to wall street business moguls, to the pool when they had shattered their feet in a car accident, were in postpartum recovery, had busted a knee on the ski slopes or had injured themselves during an extreme sporting adventure. Their doctors often asked what they were doing as they started to heal 3x faster than their peers with the same injuries who were not being trained in the water; I knew I was on to something.
Fitness in the water has yet to hit its peak in the US, like it has in South America and parts of Europe. Most people think of it as something for the older population, not realizing that those people they see in the water are super strong, especially at their age, because they are working muscle groups with resistance in both eccentric (elongation) and concentric (contraction) movements while getting their heart rate up.
Working out in the water creates a strong core as the water does not let you cheat into bad alignment for the most part. You can also get your heart rate up while keeping the impact low on your joints. You control the amount of intensity of each exercise by how hard you push into the water. For example, one of the movements I teach to students is based on something I saw watching the super bowl one year. They ran a segment showing the star quarterback training in a pool, doing a particular movement with the additional pressure of running into a jet stream, to build the endurance and strength needed to push back and make a touch down on land.
Other exercises I teach come from my fitness background in Yoga, Pilates, and ballet barre, also from researching the training regimes of other land athletes, then bringing their moves into the water. One of my favorite athletes to watch videos of is MMA fighter Ronda Rousey - such a beast! The moves she does to get the drive she needs in her arms are perfect for the pool.
I feel so blessed to work at a gorgeous pool near the ocean. My youngest clients are just 4 years old. It brings me tremendous joy to see people of all ages improving their swim strokes and getting stronger in their bodies. Whether you are looking to cross train in the water, heal an injury, or just become more confident as a swimmer, reach out with your questions and we’ll get you into a pool and on your way to meeting your fitness goals while enjoying the beautiful year-round weather of Southern California.
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