Amanda Cordaro

Amanda Cordaro (@saveserenity)

How long have you been practicing yoga?

I was introduced to yoga when I was 10 by my mother, 17 years ago!

How did you get started?

I used simple asanas and spirituality to ease anxiety and cope with health issues.

What do you enjoy about yoga?

I enjoy that yoga is a personal practice, not a competition. It is a culture and lifestyle, not just pretty poses!

What does the term “yoga” mean to you?

To me, yoga is an open mind and heart to accepting, giving and receiving love, for yourself and those around you.

What advice would like to tell beginners?

My advice is to be easy on yourself, there is no competition with the person next to you. Yoga is a personal journey to find your happiest, healthiest version of yourself.

What else would you like to tell our readers? Maybe you have some funny/ interesting/inspirational stories about yoga.

I have Lupus, a thyroid disease, celiacs disease and polycystic ovarian syndrome (among other autoimmune diseases). You wouldn’t know by looking at me that I’ve spent chunks of my life sleeping 20 hours a day because of the pain I felt. I started yoga as a meditative process, a spiritual journey and asanas came last. I started with 30 seconds, then 1 minute and eventually up to full flows at a time. Yoga is a therapy and medicine for me.

Day 1 guys! So here's a variation. I love getting on my toes (I also love barre! ) and I left my hands at my heels. For any variation make sure your knees are in line with your hips and not falling outward. Keep your shoulders pulled down your back and open, relax your neck and zip yourself up, really pull your hips straight up using your glutes and pelvis muscles. To release slowly roll starting from the top of your neck one vertebrae at a time all the way down until you're relaxed. ? ・・・ CALLING ALL YOGIS: We're kicking off another @yoga_lifestyles Yoga Challenge in a just few days!!!! ??????? Bend, stretch and flex with us starting on June 5th for #YogaSummerShapeUp, a super fun 15-day challenge dedicated to practicing yoga for weight loss and detoxification ????? As always, our winners will receive some amazing prizes from our sponsors ??? The rules are simple and easy: 1️⃣ Repost this picture to your page and tag 3 friends. 2⃣ Follow all of our hosts and sponsors. Hosts: @tayrexyoga @rebeccahleigh @yoga_lifestyles Sponsors: @jewelry.yoga @zurayoga @ninjagrapplingspats 3⃣ Participate daily with new photos/videos and make sure to tag us, our sponsors and #YogaSummerShapeUp 4⃣ Have fun and do your best! There are appropriate levels of each pose and modifications for every position. Winners will be chosen based on full participation. #yogachallenge #yogalifestyles #yogaeverydamnday #fitness #yoga #weightloss #yogis #detox #summer #workout #yogi #stretch #flex #yoga #yogini #yogatribe #challenge #beachbody #contest #yogalife #namaste #yogaworkout #yogalove

A photo posted by Amanda Nicole (@saveserenity) on Jun 5, 2016 at 8:32pm PDT