Testimonials

To share your Twist experience, and appear on our website, email your thoughts to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it    What others are saying about Twist Vinyasa Yoga:

"I love Janell's Friday evening class! It is the best restorative that I have ever taken."  - Christine, Seattle.

"I have soooo enjoyed all of the Twist instructors since discovering and joining the Twist community.  Truly the mix of talent and style is mind boggling (how did you all end up in the same spot on the planet--amazing!) and I never leave without having learned something (many things!) new and beneficial to my budding practice. Thank you all from my heart, & thank you so much for creating this special sanctuary, I sure you're all changing lives from the inside out, more than you know."   - Mary, Woodway.

"Thank you for Twist and the goodness it brings to so many lives.  It makes me smile to see and feel the friendships, kindness, love and positive energy emanating from the Twist studio. Namaste."  -  Shannon, Edmonds.

"I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate the gift you've given to Edmonds with Twist Yoga.  You have hired wonderful Yogini's, each with great skill as teachers and with great hearts and spirits.  Thank you.  Your presence has made a wonderful difference to many in Edmonds.  Namaste."   - Laura, Edmonds.

"After practicing yoga elsewhere for several years, I started taking classes at Twist, and was blown away by the quality of the teaching here. In the past three months, my practice has developed immeasurably, and, more importantly, I feel terrific. I would enthusiastically recommend Twist to anyone interested in yoga!"    -Kristi, Edmonds.

"The more I attend classes with Morgan, the more I appreciate her skills, sincerity, and sprinkling of humor.  Her experience in yoga & dance, coupled with natural ability to relate to people are valuable and well-received by all. - She's golden!"  - John, Edmonds.

"I am lovin' this studio. I love all the teachers, but right now, Alaina's Sunday class is the perfect therapy for my body and soul. I love her pure, clear style,  and the sensitivity of her sequencing-- as well as the great opportunity she allows  for feeling fully aware of each posture."  - Lucy, Edmonds.

 

The Health Benefits of Yoga

Yoga has been practiced for more than 5,000 years, and currently, close to 11 million Americans are enjoying its health benefits. Yoga can hardly be called a trend.

Linking your movement to your breath, vinyasa yoga enables you to increase your strength, improve your flexibility and balance.

Yoga benefits: Strength

Vinyasa yoga is definitely more vigorous than other, gentler styles of yoga. Practicing vinyasa will improve strength and muscle tone.

Many of the poses, such as Downward Dog, Upward Dog, and Plank pose, build upper-body strength. This becomes crucial as people age. The standing poses, especially if you hold them for several long breaths, build strength in your hamstrings, quadriceps, and abdominal muscles. Poses that strengthen the lower back include Upward Dog and Chair pose. When practiced correctly, nearly all poses build core strength in the deep abdominal muscles.

Yoga benefits: Flexibility

When some people think of yoga, they imagine having to stretch like a gymnast. That makes them worry that they're too old, unfit, or "tight" to do yoga. The truth is you're never too old to improve flexibility.

Yoga poses work by safely stretching your muscles. This releases the lactic acid that builds up with muscle use and causes stiffness, tension, pain, and fatigue. In addition, yoga increases the range of motion in joints. It may also increase lubrication in the joints. The outcome is a sense of ease and fluidity throughout your body.

Yoga stretches not only your muscles but all of the soft tissues of your body. That includes ligaments, tendons, and the fascia sheath that surrounds your muscles. And no matter your level of yoga, you most likely will see benefits in a very short period of time. In one study, participants had up to 35% improvement in flexibility after only eight weeks of yoga. The greatest gains were in shoulder and trunk flexibility.

Yoga benefits: Posture

With increased flexibility and strength comes better posture. Most standing and sitting poses develop core strength. That's because you're counting on your deep abdominals to support and maintain each pose. With a stronger core, you're more likely to sit and stand "tall." Another benefit of yoga is the increased body awareness. This heightened awareness tells you more quickly when you're slouching or slumping so you can adjust your posture.

Yoga benefits: Breathing

Because of the deep, mindful breathing that yoga involves, lung capacity often improves. This in turn can improve sports performance and endurance. But yoga typically isn't focused on aerobic fitness the way running or cycling are. Taking an intense power yoga class that gets you breathing hard in a heated room, however, can provide an aerobic benefit.

Most forms of yoga emphasize deepening and lengthening your breath. This stimulates the relaxation response -- the opposite of the fight-or-flight adrenaline boost of the stress response.

Yoga benefits: Less stress, more calm

Even beginners tend to feel less stressed and more relaxed after their first class. Some yoga styles use specific meditation techniques to quiet the constant "mind chatter" that often underlies stress. Other yoga styles depend on deep breathing techniques to focus your mind on the breath. When this happens, your mind becomes calm.

Among yoga's anti-stress benefits are a host of biochemical responses. For example, there is a decrease in catecholamines, the hormones produced by the adrenal glands in response to stress. Lowering levels of hormone neurotransmitters -- dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine -- creates a feeling of calm. Some research points to a boost in the hormone oxytocin. This is the so-called "trust" and "bonding" hormone that's associated with feeling relaxed and connected to others. That may be why so many romances start in the yoga studio.

Yoga benefits: Concentration and mood

Harder to pin down and research scientifically, concentration and the ability to focus mentally are common benefits you'll hear yoga students talk about. The same is true with mood. Nearly every yoga student will tell you they feel happier and more contented after class. Recently, researchers have begun exploring the effects of yoga on depression, a benefit that may result from yoga's boosting oxygen levels to the brain. Yoga is even being studied as an adjunct therapy to relieve symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Yoga benefits: Heart benefits

Perhaps one of the most studied areas of the health benefits of yoga is its effect on heart disease. Yoga has long been known to lower blood pressure and slow the heart rate. A slower heart rate can benefit people with hypertension, heart disease, and stroke. Yoga was a key component to the heart disease program designed by Dean Ornish, MD. This was the first program to partly reverse heart disease through lifestyle and diet rather than surgery. On a biochemical level, studies point to a possible anti-oxidant effect of yoga. And yoga has been associated with decreased cholesterol and triglyceride levels as well as a boost in immune system function.

Yoga benefits: Effects on other medical conditions

As yoga has become more popular in the West, medical researchers have begun studying the benefits of therapeutic yoga. This is also called integrative yoga therapy or IYT. It's used as an adjunct treatment for specific medical conditions, from clinical depression to heart disease. Yoga benefits other chronic medical conditions, relieving symptoms of asthma, back pain, and arthritis. Most worldwide clinical studies are happening outside of the United States. But even the NIH has funded clinical trials on yoga and its health benefits for insomnia and multiple sclerosis.