Body toning on yoga mat

“I have muscles,” she says while trying to flex, but I am so distracted by how yoga has toned Veronica Ida’s body that I miss her slightly muscled physique.

The yogi has a lean body and is flexible that she bends her body like the Last Airbender. We meet at the VMX Fitness Gym, a state-of-the-art gym in Nairobi’s Village Market.

Ms Ida is teaching yoga and among her clients is the celebrated actress Sarah Hassan.

The fitness class is intense. Clients are panting as they do body balancing moves, the kind you only see in Jackie Chan or Jet Lee movies.

Watching Ms Ida do a handstand pose with her toes pointing back, touching the top of her head like a scorpion blows me away. I usually imagine that yoga is just a stretching exercise.

“This is power yoga, an athletic kind of exercise which is different from other forms of yoga. It is intense and done a little bit faster. By execution, it is one breath, then one movement. Let’s say when you inhale, you are in one pose, when you exhale you switch to the next pose,” says the 33-year-old.

“Compared to other styles, power yoga moves are complex,” she adds.

According to Ms Ida, power yoga is endurance-focused and aimed at strengthening the heart and lungs, building muscle as well as increasing flexibility.

“Most of the clients come to my class saying they are tired of weightlifting and so they need to stretch because of muscle cramps. All I tell them is, “I wish you luck’. Like what you just witnessed, that was far from just stretches. Of course, there are stretches but that’s towards the end of class to ensure the body is relaxed,” she says.

Ninety percent of yoga exercises are balancing poses.

“You could be standing on one foot, sometimes we stand on our hands when we are doing head or handstands. Yoga is more of balancing the body in various positions and requires you to be focused at all times in these poses to build strength,” she adds.

One of Ms Ida’s favourite moves is the pigeon pose, which mimics the pigeon body frame.

While doing this, you sit with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor, and arms behind you for support as you bring your right ankle over your left knee, keeping the foot flexed.

This pose stretches the hips and lower back.

“For yoga, incorporating breathing and movement leads to flexibility. This is best demonstrated by the pigeon pose. It is an uncomfortable position that requires you to take deep breaths. While doing this you are communicating with your body that it’s okay if you can withstand that pose for at least 60 seconds,” she says.

Listening to the 5’7 yogi, I get the sense that this exercise could be another form of Calisthenics [exercises that do not rely on anything but body weight] save for the difference in names.

“It’s an all-round workout, more of a bodyweight workout just like Calisthenics. There is a very thin line between the two,” Ms Ida adds.

In her classes, there is always a break-move dubbed Vinyasa yoga.

“These are basically three moves, a push-up, a downward dog, and upward dog workouts. All these are strength workouts. This explains why yoga is an all-around exercise far from the misconception,” she says.

The down dog pose is an inversion workout that stretches and widens the hamstrings, the calves, and the Achilles' tendons. In this pose your head is lower than your chest hence it improves blood flow in the body.

As for the upward dog, it opens up the chest and strengthens the whole body by aligning the spine and invigorating the kidneys and nervous system.

For any beginner, Ms Ida recommends child’s pose, downward dog and Shavasna pose, less-intense exercises.

“Anybody should be able to execute these three exercises with ease. Shavasna is a resting and restorative pose where you just lie on your back and relax,” she says.

Besides yoga, Ms Ida also teaches Pilates, exercises that mainly target the abdominal area. They also improve posture and flexibility, just like yoga.

“Pilate strengthens the core [abdominal and lower area]. A strong core is the ultimate body strength of anybody because it supports the functionality of the other body parts,” she explains.

Some of her favourite Pilates exercises are the V-Sits, shoulder bride preparation, leg lifts, toe taps, side bend preparation, side kick, and roll down.

“I have always been an athlete. From a young age, I loved running. I opted for yoga because of how flexible I realised I was. I’m a certified yogi having done it for five years,” says Ms Ida, who also does private home calls.

Some of her clients are sent to her by doctors.

Most fitness enthusiasts assume that yoga is merely a spiritual or meditation practice.

“These are misconceptions. Yoga is a complete workout because you use your whole body. It helps you burn fat and tone the body. Some people come to my class to gain muscle, lose weight, or strength-train,” she says.

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