Fly Entertainment artiste and fitness entrepreneur Liv Lo shares how to prep your body and mind for new challenges this year
Fly Entertainment artiste and fitness entrepreneur Liv Lo shares how to prep your body and mind for new challenges this year
Standing at 1.74m, even if she didn’t already tower over most of the photography crew, Liv’s air of relaxed confidence was enough to dwarf everyone in the studio.
The 31-year-old used to be a model, starting her career in Taiwan when she was 18. She took up yoga three years later in 2006, when she moved to Tokyo to pursue a part-time degree in mass communications at Temple University’s Japan Campus.
She tried to continue modelling but found the competition fierce. Seeking to gain an edge in the industry, she turned to yoga to improve her flexibility, posture and balance after having seen how it had benefited Cindy Crawford and Christy Turlington, her role models.
With yoga, Liv was able to effortlessly incorporate beautiful poses into photo shoots. But it didn’t just transform her posture, it transformed her life, too. “Yoga was always there for me,” explained Liv. “If I felt like I needed balance or stress relief, or even if I felt like I was getting fat, I could do it. But more than that, it taught me life lessons.”
In 2012, she became a certified yoga instructor after relocating to Singapore to be with then- boyfriend Henry Golding, whom she married in August last year.
Liv has since started an online portal for the yoga community called Stretch City, joined Yoga Movement as an instructor and launched an eponymous Youtube channel dedicated to yoga and fitness. As the new year takes off, we asked Liv to recommend yoga poses you can do throughout 2017 to help your health, body and mind.
FOR FLEXIBILITY: FORWARD FOLD
How it helps: “Practising yoga regularly builds flexibility and strength. But one pose to do for an intense stretch – specifically for the hamstrings and the back – is the Forward Fold. It creates length in your thigh and calf muscles, and opens up the hips.”
1 Stand with your legs hip-width apart. Raise both arms as you inhale. As you exhale, bring your body down over your legs.
2 Tilt the pelvis upwards while your torso gravitates towards the ground. Push your big toes into the mat, while pulling your navel in and propelling the body downwards.
3 Grab on to your big toes and open your elbows outwards. Keeping a long neck, pull the crown of your head to the floor. Relax your face on your shins.
FOR BANISHING LOWER BACK PAIN: DOWNWARD-FACING DOG
How it helps: “Lower back pain is common, especially among those who sit in the office a lot. Downward-Facing Dog lengthens the spine and hamstrings, which take pressure off the back.”
1 From a Forward Fold, place your hands on the mat with the fingers spread wide.
2 Step one foot at a time to the back of the mat to form an inverted V.
3 Place the feet hip-width apart. Melt or lower your ears past the triceps, with the top of the head closer to the mat. If your heels don’t touch the mat, bend your knees and tilt your pelvis upwards. Focus on straightening the spine, opening the chest and shoulders. Over time, the hamstrings will lengthen and your heels will be able to touch the ground.
4 Keep those arms straight and your shoulders pushed away from the ears, with your index finger pushing into the mat. The shoulders and neck should remain relaxed.
5 Hold this position for a few breaths and up to five minutes. This requires a lot of strength and training but will strengthen the entire body with practice.
6 For more of a challenge, lift one leg off the ground and up into the air, keeping your hips and shoulders square.
FOR UPPER BODY STRENGTH: PLANK
How it helps: “Women tend to be guilty of not using their upper bodies. A plank is a good way to work the entire chest and arm area. Because you’re only holding your own body weight, you won’t get big bulging muscles from this pose – just a nice set of toned arms. It’s great for your core, too.”
1 From Downward-Facing Dog, roll your body forward as you inhale. Bring the heels together or position them hip-width apart.
2 Align the shoulders with your wrists, while looking slightly ahead so the spine is straight.
3 Keep your core and thighs engaged, and hold your hips high. Push your chest away from the ground with strong, sturdy arms. Hold for as long as you can.
4 As you get stronger, you can raise one foot off the mat while holding the pose.
FOR A STRONGER BACK: BOW POSE
How it helps: “We spend a lot of time hunched forward throughout the day. By arching your body into a back bend, you’re letting it bend in the opposite direction from its usual position. This provides release and flexes your entire spine.”
1 Lying face down on the mat, activate the thighs while pressing your chest into the ground.
2 Lift your thighs as high as you can. Bend your knees to bring your feet closer to your head and catch your ankles from the outside.
3 In three breaths, kick your legs up higher to get up into full bow and point your toes to the sky. Keep your sternum relaxed.
4 Return your thighs and chest to the mat with your feet still up. Rock them from side to side to relax the lower back.
FOR BETTER BALANCE: DANCER’S POSE
How it helps: “The Dancer’s Pose is really about being present in the moment. If you lose your concentration, you fall. The pose also improves flexibility as it opens up your shoulders and hips.”
1 Standing with your feet together, reach the left hand back and bend the left knee to grab the foot from the outer side.
2 Squeeze your knees together so they are aligned.
3 Kick back as you lean forward and let your free hand float forward naturally. Extend your foot above your head.
4 Stay in this pose for eight to 10 breaths, using your concentration to keep balanced.
5 Release slowly and repeat on the other side.
FOR MENTAL WELLNESS: MEDITATION
How it helps: “Yoga is a moving meditation that can help to boost your mood by promoting beneficial brain chemistry as you tune out. But there are many other kinds of meditation – from books to mobile phone apps – you can do anytime and anywhere to be still and centre the mind.”
Photography Veronica Tay Styling Dolphin Yeo, assisted by Angela Chu Hair Eileen Koh, using Kevin.Murphy Makeup Melissa Yeo, Fac3inc, using Cosme Decorte Outfit Reebok
