Nothing doing!

A  recent study at the University of Virginia showed that most people would rather administer an electric shock to themselves than spend a mere 15 minutes with nothing to do.

What's so horrifying about doing nothing?

Psychologist Tim Wilson of the University of Virginia and his team of researchers asked college students to sit for 15 minutes in a plain room just thinking. He asked them to record how well they concentrated and how much they enjoyed the experience. Most  admitted that they couldn't concentrate; more than half hated it.

No wonder. Most people do with nothing better to do will spin some amazingly awful thoughts, mostly about themselves.

But these students even hated thinking positive; they just didn't like being alone with their own thoughts.

Were these ADD teens with Twitter-fingers? Not at all. The researchers also conducted texperiment with a middle-aged church group. The results? The same.

No one seemed to enjoy their thoughtful moments.

Now comes the shocking news: just how far will people go to avoid doing nothing?

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Lock it down, lock it in

Lock the arms, lock the leg, 

lock the elbows to the waist;

squeeze the palms,

push the thighs,

press the shin bones to your face

LOCK... YOUR... LEG!

Locked is thought of as closed off, shut down, unavailable.

As usual, the reality of the experience is exactly the opposite. In hot yoga, the harder you lock, the lighter you feel.

More open. Energized. Soaring.

Why the hot yoga lockdown? Because locking your body unleashes your power.

How to unlock your full potential?

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If you want to succeed....fail.

September was the 13th Annual Forbes Global CEO Conference, gathering some of the most powerful business leaders in the world.

Now, it can be tempting to judge this group of billionaires by the numbers: how much they are worth, how many houses they own, the number of companies they run.... and with a pinch of disdain.  It's common to feel snarky about billionaires. 

But something that's often overlooked: their exceptional human qualities. And it's those qualities that fuel the numbers.

Quite contrary to what we commonly think about rich people - as greedy or self-serving - what you can often hear upon listening to them is something quite different: a deep commitment and a strength that requires courage, heart and persistence. A "CAN DO" attitude that embraces failures as simply part of the process. A get-up-again mantra about life.

It's just what we practice in hot yoga....

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Schooled in Hot Yoga

I was Valedictorian of PS 42 Elementary School in Queens, NY (not telling what year).

I skipped 8th Grade in the 2 Year SP - Specialized Program of accelerated learning.

I graduated in the Top 10 percentile of my high school class of over 1250 graduating students. Yes, 1250 seniors; the Far Rockaway High School student body was so huge that freshmen and sophomores went in the morning, juniors and seniors in the afternoons.

And somehow I missed out on the most important education of my life.

What I really learned in school was how to live up the expectations of others. I was never asked to consider what was important to me; what I wanted for myself. Were you?

Were you schooled to be a people pleaser? 

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Vinyasa and Moksha and Bikram, Oh My! Or: How to stop worrying and enjoy hot yoga.

Is Riverflow Yoga the same path as Vinyasa Flow, Moksha or Bikram Yoga?

Nope, nope, and not quite.

What to do about the many forms of hot yoga? Dig in. Do you limit yourself to just one spice? If you enjoy garlic, are you forever banned from allspice?  Maybe not in the same recipe, but there's a delicious place for both, whenever you want. 

Do you have to swear loyalty to one hot yoga style or teacher?

Each hot yoga class, I say, "This was the best." Next class, I say it again. That's because I use hot yoga as my object of appreciation in that moment; my reason to feel good right now and my momentum for feeling better. I don't sweat it, and that's my wish for you: to savor your hot yoga and let it warm you from inside.

So - what can you expect to love about Riverflow hot yoga? CLICK HERE