10 Mobile Tips and Tricks for Yoga Moms

Yoga has been growing in popularity with the Metro Manila crowd, as evidenced by the growth in the number of yoga studios offering to help Manilans stretch, bend and centre their bodies and minds. Known to provide numerous health benefits, from improving sleep to reducing stress and musculoskeletal pain, Pinoys are getting into shape with this unique workout, whether it is hatha, ashtanga, bikram, or power yoga.

Here are 10 tips and tricks on how to use your mobile device to improve your yoga workout:

1. Look for yoga studios around the Metro with Google Maps for mobile: Can’t decide what’s the best and most convenient studio for you? Simply search for ‘Yoga in Manila’ by clicking on the Places icon in your Google Maps for mobile app, and you will find a list of various establishments, their names, addresses, websites and telephone numbers.

2. Check out yoga postures with Google Images: Not sure if your pose is correct or whether it needs improvement? Type in the name of the posture in your Google Search app, and you’ll find diagrams and pictures of both professional and beginners executing the pose.

3. Track the number of calories burned in your yoga workout: Want to see how many calories you just burned during your yoga session? Install the Calories Burned app on your Android device to calculate the numbers of calories burned during a workout in two easy steps.

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4. Do yoga in the comfort of your own home: Don’t have the time to go to a yoga studio or want to squeeze in some extra practice by yourself? The Android Market offers useful yoga apps that provide step-by-step videos of each posture. Daily Yoga for Back details 19 yoga asanas in 10-minute routines. A demo, along with a timer and background music guide yoga beginners from start to finish.

 

5. Challenge yourself with new poses: Want to try poses not covered in your current yoga class? The Android app, My Yoga Routine, offers beginner to advanced yoga asanas that will make you sweat. The app has animated yoga classes that include instructions and voice narration.

  

6. Find instructional yoga videos on YouTube for mobile: Stay updated and keep your routines fresh by checking out instructional videos on your YouTube mobile app. A quick search will get you tutorial videos on specific poses, introduction you to the different types of yoga and even demostrate full yoga routines.

7. Remember to rehydrate: Yoga routines -- especially those that involve heat like Bikram or Ashtanga -- can be pretty intense and cause dehydration. So remember with stay hydrated the whole day with Drinking Water - Carbodroid, an Android app which helps you reach your goal of drinking the eight recommended glasses of water per day.

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8. Maximize the benefits of your yoga practice by eating healthy: Yoga teaches its practitioners to have a healthy mind and body. Embrace the holistic living embodied by yoga and turn to the Android app, BBC Food, which offers over 160 healthy recipes with full screen photos.

9. Read up on yoga with Google Books: To find out more about the ancient art, or to glean more tips for your practice from informative books and magazines, head over to Google Books. Simply select Books under the ‘more’ tab in your Google Search app, and enter a search for ‘yoga’. Google Books hosts millions of publications, many of them available free to viewers.

10. Share your experiences on the Web: Want to share the goodness of yoga with other people? Or need a space to chronicle your journey with yoga to keep yourself motivated? Sign up to Google+, access it on your mobile and let the world know about your experience with and passion for yoga. Who knows? You might just reach out to someone else in need of a lifestyle change.

 

Main photo from flickr creative commons