Fruit Not Fat is about more than just what we eat, it is a lifestyle.  And whether your idea of exercise comes from the gym, your daily walk, pilates class, karate, yoga, or soccer, everyone here at Fruit Not Fat wants to encourage you to get up and get moving! That’s why we plan to feature interviews with some of our favorite athletes, teachers, and others who inspire us to get out and get active each month.

To kick it off, I caught up with my favorite Bikram Yoga instructor, Mary Jarvis.  For those of you who don’t know Mary, she is the owner and yoga instructor at Global Yoaa in San Francisco.   Mary has been practicing yoga for over 25 years and is inspiring students from all over the world to achieve a healthy body and healthy mind, and of course a rockin body.  As one of her long time students and friends, I am honored to know Mary.  She is an inspiration to all who practice Bikram and for others who have never even thought about Standing Bow pose.  For me personally, Mary’s instruction and the Bikram practice have taken me to new heights in my long distance running adventures, relaxation and life in general.

1. When did you start doing yoga? And why?

I started practicing yoga in 1984. My mom went to a class at the Ashram in the Calabasas Mountains in Southern California and looked fantastic when she came back home! She had someone come over to the house to teach classes for us. Then we stumbled upon the First Official Bikram School in the World in the Marina in San Francisco. We started to go and immediately my body shape started to change for the better.  It was the body I always wanted that running and weight lifting could not give me.

2. What inspires you while you practice yoga?

The Life Force that I feel running through my body, the tremendous energy that runs through my spine everytime I practice, and the relaxation that I feel in every cell of my body. It is never enough…I always want more of it. I feel infinite when I practice.

3. What inspires you while you teach yoga?

That’s an easy one….. I’m always thinking, how can I get my students out of pain?  Where it is:

• Emotional (sorrow, sadness, jealousy, meanness, ,impatience, insecurity, depression, etc)
• Energy (stress, fear, fear of the future)
• Biochemical or Biomechanical (Anything to do with pain from the body)

All of these problems are a prison for someone’s life.  I am always thinking, how can I get them out of THAT prison!? It is very difficult to have an expansive thought when you are in pain.  All important appointments get cancelled when you are in pain.

4. How do you inspire students to live healthier lives?

Well…for 23 of 26 years by being the best example of what I talk about. The right foods, the right mind, the frequency of practice and the benefits of it.  I personally “Fell from Grace” after my father passed away a few years ago.  I was sad and my 16 year Raw Food/ Vegan Diet gave way to Emotional Coca Cola drinking which started at his funeral.  It was kind of weird and painful all at the same time but it was  how I incorrectly handled my grief.

So now I am showing my students that when you fall from Grace, it is only temporary insanity.  You can recover with diet change and yoga.

To reinvent myself, I did a 60 day Juice Program combined with my Bikram Yoga and dropped 48 pounds and have “De-Aged and De-Puffed and De- Stressed” ! I feel like me again.

If my own example does not convince them, I bug them and stalk them.

4. When you think of yoga, what are the first 3 words that come to mind?

Life, Love, Immortality

5. What kind of diet/nutrition do you most highly suggest to compliment your student’s yoga practice?

• No bread, rice or pasta (I’m not dissing “carbs”…..just those three things)
• Wheatgrass daily
• Green Drinks
• Blue Green Algae, Sprouts
• Fruits and MORE vegetables
• No Sugar or Bubble Drinks
• Less is More….

I bow to Brian Clement ,Director of The Hippocrates Health Institute in West Palm Beach, Florida. He is so knowledgeable, a pioneer and is simply God’s Work.

6. How would you describe your own diet and lifestyle?

Simple and awesome.  I consume livings foods and juices, fruits and as many vegetable as I can.  I am very in love with my life.  I try to be grateful and more compassionate everyday.  It makes my life full and infinite.  No matter what, I always remember that life is amazing!!

7. What are your favorite healthy foods?

Blue Green Algae, Green Drinks and sprout salads.

8. What is your guiltiest food pleasure?

Potatoes….prepared any style.

9. What do you do when you’re not teaching/practicing yoga?

Surround myself with music, read, and walk my Great Danes in the Presidio.  I also juice, answer questions about yoga from students from around the world, and talk about yoga at my seminars when I travel around the world.

10. What is one thing your students probably don’t know about you?

I am VERY smart and 1,000 times stronger than them.  I think about them all the time and am always trying to figure out how to get them out of pain.  And, I miss them when they are not at yoga.

11. Anything else you’d like to leave us with?

On a whole, Americans are fat, obese and out of shape.  Our country used to be innovative and manufacturers.  We used to MOVE more.  Self righteous indignation is running rampant in this country.  Our children have Adult Diabetes and are going to die before their parents. Most of these problems can be changed and improved if we went back to simple whole foods.

If we stopped our Fast Food Diets and over consumption of sugar, salt and fat, we would feel better.  We also need to step away from the TV and move more.  After Practicing Bikram Yoga for over 26 years I am convinced that it  is life changing for anyone who is sick, fat, depressed or just a snotty insecure person! It is miraculous and is for everyone and anyone.  When you “feel” better, you move better, think better and love better.

We all deserve this and I am hopeful for the future.

My last piece of advice: do more back bends every day…. It’s Fun!… It is Life

www.globalyoga.biz

Tags: Americans are fat, athlete, athletics, Bikram, energy, exercise, Fat Swap, fitness, Global Yoga, health, hot yoga, inspiration, love, Mary Jarvis, nutrition, obesity, workout, yoga, yoga guru, yogi, zen
Categories: Live Fruit Not Fat

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