Botox and Burpees
Botox and Burpees
S05E102 Yoga Meets CrossFit: Poses Plus Power with Kristin Fazio
Does yoga have a place in a CrossFit athlete's training regimen? In this eye-opening conversation with yoga instructor Kristen Fazio @kristenfazyoga, we explore the surprising synergy between these seemingly opposite disciplines.
Kristen, who brings an athletic approach to her yoga instruction, explains why mobility matters tremendously for CrossFit performance. Most athletes struggle with depth in squats, overhead positions, and various other foundational movements—not because they lack strength, but because they lack the necessary mobility in their joints. Through her years of teaching yoga to athletes, she's witnessed remarkable improvements in performance, recovery, and injury prevention.
The conversation reveals how yoga offers far more than just flexibility. We discuss how practicing balance poses develops crucial stabilizer muscles that protect joints during heavy lifts. We explore how controlled breathing techniques translate directly to maintaining composure during challenging workouts. And perhaps most surprisingly, we uncover how yoga's mindfulness aspects create mental resilience that carries from the mat to the competition floor.
"CrossFit training itself is not conducive to mobility," Fazio points out, highlighting why supplemental mobility work is essential for long-term athletic development.
For those intimidated by yoga's spiritual reputation or concerned about "not being flexible enough," Fazio offers practical advice on getting started, finding the right style of yoga for your needs, and integrating it effectively into a strength-focused schedule. Whether you're looking to improve performance, recover better between workouts, or ensure longevity in your fitness journey, this conversation will transform how you think about complementary training.
Ready to roll out your mat? Listen now and discover why some of the most competitive CrossFit athletes are turning to yoga as their secret performance enhancer.
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Welcome to another episode of Botox and Purpues. I have with me today my very special guest, kristen Fazio. I've known her for years. She is an expert on yoga and has been a longtime yoga instructor for me and for many, many others, and our topic today is really about is yoga appropriate for CrossFit athletes? I mean, we're going to talk about all athletes that I think a lot of boxes have tried to incorporate yoga, or a lot of athletes have tried to, and so we want to just take a little bit of a dive, pick Kristen's brain, her experience, her thoughts about how this might or might not help an athlete. So welcome, kristen. Thank you so much for doing this.
Kristen Fazio:Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
Sam Rhee:I'm so glad. So talk to me a little bit about yourself, Kristen. How did you get into yoga? What's your experience been like? What is it that yoga has done for you?
Kristen Fazio:What has it not done for me? It's the better question to ask. We'll be here for a shorter time if I answer it in that way. But I started yoga practicing a regular practice I would say about 16 years ago, right after my third daughter was born. My third child was born, I just wanted something physical and I was not a gym girl, I wasn't into treadmills and that kind of thing.
Kristen Fazio:And a friend of mine asked me to come to a yoga class with her. I went and it was really. It was like love at first sight. I just I fell in love with the practice. I started practicing regularly. It just kind of answered a lot of the things that I needed in my life physically. And then, you know, the emotional part came into it, which that happens later. And then, yeah, about 10 years into my practice, my husband suggested like why don't you pursue becoming a teacher yourself? And I was really intimidated by that idea. I just thought like I could never know enough to be the teacher. I still am very humbled about the idea of being a teacher because there's I'll never know everything right and I and that's part of the process. But it's been great and I love everything about it.
Sam Rhee:What do you specialize in? I know I've taken your classes, I've also taken lessons with you, and so what is it that you would characterize your approach in terms of teaching and coaching, because I think every yoga instructor is a little bit different. So what would you describe your approach to be?
Kristen Fazio:Yeah, every teacher is really really unique and different and everybody brings their own style to the practice. I would kind of define my style as more of an athletic approach to yoga. I'm very into anatomy and the way the body moves. I'm into alignment so making sure that you're safely in the poses. So making sure that you're safely in the poses. And then I'm really into building strength so that when you're in the poses you're in them safely and securely. You're not just moving into your flexibility but you're really stabilizing your muscles. So I would say I teach with more of an energetic approach. My class is definitely targeted to people that are more into the athletic endeavor of yoga, but I also incorporate, you know, all of the really nice things about yoga. Like there's always breath work involved in my classes. I'll sometimes incorporate a dharma talk, which is just, like you know, more of a philosophical point of view to weave that through the practice. So you kind of get a little of everything, but it's definitely more, I would say, athletic focused and where do you?
Sam Rhee:where do you coach?
Kristen Fazio:so I teach currently out of a couple studios in Bergen County, New Jersey. I teach at a really great little boutique studio called Village Yoga in.
Kristen Fazio:Glen Rock. I teach at a smaller chain yoga place called Power Flow Yoga in Clifton and then I teach at a more popular they're throwing all over the place a place called Real Hot Yoga in Ridgewood. And then I teach at a more popular they're growing all over the place a place called Real Hot Yoga in Ridgewood. And they all you know are completely different studios, completely different clientele, and I think that's what I love about it.
Sam Rhee:You're really busy. You do a lot, yeah, and then you also teach privately as well.
Kristen Fazio:I teach private stuff and I do. I teach mat pilates now and I also teach a mobility and stretch class as well.
Sam Rhee:Yes, which has been excellent. I've taken that one, so your Instagram handle is KristenFAZYoga.
Sam Rhee:That's right, yes, yeah, and so that's where people can reach you. Yeah, let's talk a little bit about yoga itself, because I have done yoga for years. I don't even know what yoga was until I started researching it for this episode, and so let me say what the definition is and then you can sort of expound on it. I've read it as the ancient Indian practice that combines physical postures, which are asanas. I was like, oh, that's what asanas are physical postures, asanas, yeah, asanas. See, I don't even know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's breathing techniques, which is pranayama, and then meditation or relaxation, which is what you mentioned. Dhyanas, dhyanas, dhyanas. How do you pronounce that?
Kristen Fazio:Wait, which one.
Sam Rhee:I don't know Dharmas, the dharmas.
Kristen Fazio:Yeah, and that's just more of like what the teacher will kind of weave, like the story they'll tell. You know, maybe they'll read a poem in the beginning of the class or something like that.
Sam Rhee:So all three of those things physical, breathing and meditation is that mind, body, spirit, sort of melding, right?
Kristen Fazio:And that's, you just hit on it. So that's what yoga means. Literally translates to the word to yoke. To yoke, which is To yoke the mind and the body together, oh, to pull it all together.
Sam Rhee:Yeah, mm-hmm, ah, okay, so, okay. So if you had never done yoga, do you need to know these things in order to actually do it? No, so how do you actually teach these practices in the action or movement of doing this Of a class?
Kristen Fazio:Yeah, so every class and what defines yoga as yoga other than just like a workout moving through poses is the breath work. So every yoga class starts with some type of seated or laying down breath work, where you link the mind and the breath together, the body and the breath together, and then you move on to like incorporating the breath to the movement. So in vinyasa style, we'll get into that. That's what I teach. Every single movement has a corresponding breath that goes with it, so it's either an inhale or an exhale, and that is how you weave the breath into the physical practice.
Sam Rhee:Which is hard, because when I first started and when I still do it, I'm still like, yes, like breathing.
Kristen Fazio:That is the part that definitely takes the longest to cultivate. But it's when you get that, that then the practice. That's when the light bulb goes off and you're like, oh, I understand now.
Sam Rhee:You know it's funny because this is from India and I just visited India for the first time in my entire life and I didn't realize, like, for example, the namaste, that is a greeting that everybody does to each other. It's not. I mean, some of this is rooted in Hindu tradition, but it's not religious.
Kristen Fazio:It's not.
Sam Rhee:It's like saying hello or aloha or mahalo, like these are. And so yoga itself is not. It's spiritual, but it's not round like cause. Some people worry like am I going to become some crazy, like culty person? And it's not. It's just. You know, there's nothing that's incompatible with spirituality and learning how to breathe and like focus on your mind and body. That's any different for anybody. 100% yeah.
Kristen Fazio:I mean, I have been asked that before. You know, is it considered, you know, a religious practice? And I guess you could look at it from that perspective. But I look at it as it's a spiritual practice and really, and when you think of whatever divine spirit you're practicing toward, it could be yourself. I mean it's yourself really. It's becoming quiet and getting to know yourself.
Sam Rhee:Right, so every time I say namaste, now it doesn't it. I didn't understand it until I went to India and I and I saw everyone doing it, and then I understood that this was uh, no, actually the light in me honors the light in you.
Kristen Fazio:There you go.
Sam Rhee:Uh, nice, that's right, and you say that also actually, um, when you open clothes. Uh, yes, and so that is, uh, and it's actually a really nice way of saying hello to somebody. It's beautiful, I love it. Yeah, um, okay. So let's talk about the different styles. So you mentioned vinyasa, which is like what is this? Flow, flow yoga.
Kristen Fazio:Yeah, so the word vinyasa literally translates, loosely translates to um, to place mindfully.
Sam Rhee:Okay.
Kristen Fazio:So, um, as I just mentioned before, in a vinyasa style class, every movement has a corresponding inhale or an exhale. You typically like rise up on the inhale, you ground down on an exhale, you effort on the exhale, you lengthen on an inhale, or you deepen your stretch on the exhale, you lengthen out on the inhale, and then what happens is you start slow, you start on the ground, you start to link those movements and breaths together, and then the poses get bigger, a little more robust, a little more challenging, and the challenge of yoga, then, is to maintain that slow breath in and out through the nose for the duration of the practice.
Sam Rhee:Right. So if you're signing up for a vinyasa class or a flow class, that's what you can expect for that.
Kristen Fazio:Yeah, it starts slow, it starts to get and then it gets a little more rigorous and, yeah, it's a good workout.
Sam Rhee:So what's the difference between, say, vinyasa and a power yoga workout?
Kristen Fazio:They're pretty similar. They're pretty similar. It's really more the interpretation of the teacher. I would say my vinyasa flow classes are basically power classes.
Sam Rhee:So they're very dynamic to strengthen the legs.
Kristen Fazio:You might incorporate extra chaturangas, which are basically yoga push-ups. So yeah, there's definitely an element of a physical, more physical element to that kind of style of yoga.
Sam Rhee:I saw other types of yoga, but I don't see very many places that offer these so much like a kundalini yoga, which is some sort of energy at the base of your spine type of it's really interesting.
Kristen Fazio:You wear all white. It's a totally different form of yoga. I mean it's really fascinating but it's not quite as popular. I mean, all of the places that are popping up now are more the energy like the vinyasa approach, the more power based. But there is, there's Kundalini, there's Iyengar, there's Ashtanga I mean the list goes on. Know, we talked about earlier it's. There's probably over a dozen styles of yoga and you know people are adding more. I just actually, before I came here, I took a yoga for athletes. You know, like I don't even know if there's a name for it, but you know there's. Everybody kind of puts their little curve on there got it.
Sam Rhee:And then the one that I'm most familiar with is adding heat like hot yoga. So talk to me about hot yoga and how that is different and how that can help in terms of your yoga practice.
Kristen Fazio:Yeah, so a lot of these vinyasa style or power style classes are incorporating heat. It's hot yoga Room is typically heated to about 85 to 100 degrees, depending on the studio. And depending on the studio, some of them incorporate humidity, some of them don't. The theory behind it is that the heat and humidity is supposed to open and lengthen your muscles. You get into the workout a little bit quicker that way. You're able to get into the stretches a little more safely. It's great for detoxifying that, you know. Opening the pores, getting through that lymphatic drainage. All of that stuff is supposed to be really beneficial. It comes with its risks. You want me to touch on that a little bit.
Kristen Fazio:You know, when you are hypermobile, when the body is really supple from the heat especially call it 30 minutes into the practice, 40 minutes into the practice, after you've been moving for a while sometimes you are not relying on your strength and you're relying on that, getting into those deep, deep stretches, and sometimes that can be an issue because you're then stretching into the joint area a little too much. Right, you're collapsing into your flexibility and when the body gets tired, that's what happens, right, you're not using your strength. So I personally, when I'm teaching, I don't love the room to be like insanely hot. I just don't see the point in it. I like my students to get a little sweat, I like them to feel really comfortable and lengthened, but around 95 degrees is where I'm turning off the heat.
Sam Rhee:That's so funny because that does sound actually like CrossFit, when you're, say, deep into a workout and you're doing a lot of pull-ups or something and you stop using your muscles to control your movement and instead you're relying on your connective tissue and your tendons and ligaments to sort of take that force.
Kristen Fazio:And it's dangerous.
Sam Rhee:That's where people get into problems 100% and so it's when you're not sort of focused on being mindful with what you're doing in terms of muscular control.
Kristen Fazio:Yeah.
Sam Rhee:I love hot yoga because it does make me feel you know, yeah, cleansed. Or you know afterwards I do sweat a ton, so it's like I do too.
Sam Rhee:Yeah, so it's crazy, like how much I sweat and how much I have to rehydrate afterwards. Yeah, so it's crazy, like how how much I sweat and how much I have to rehydrate afterwards yeah, but I would say that it does really help you get into positions better. It takes a little while to get used to it. I mean, I remember the first couple of times I almost was like oh, I need to run out of the room, it's so hot. But I just kind of sat there and you kind of get used to it after a while.
Kristen Fazio:You do, you do and you build up a tolerance. You know you have a little more, you know tolerance to it. You definitely your threshold goes a little bit higher.
Sam Rhee:So let's talk a little bit about what benefits yoga may have for athletes. The first one is really mobility and flexibility. So a lot of CrossFit workouts do require, you know, squat positions that you know require mobility. Overhead squats presses, you know. So have you seen in your athletes that you've coached or taught yoga to that that mobility and flexibility benefit from yoga?
Kristen Fazio:Yeah, it's funny that you say this. The other day I was talking to one of my students who's been coming to my class regularly His name is Peter for about the past year and a half and he's a big CrossFit guy and, in anticipation of this conversation with you, I just kind of pulled him aside and asked him where he sees the benefits and he said his ability to get deep in the squats, because you want to get below 90 degrees, you want your hips low, so then you can thrust up. He said his hips, his knees, his ankles, which is something you don't really think about quite as much, but you need his wrists and his shoulders.
Kristen Fazio:He's like it has made all of the difference. So he notices that improvement from doing yoga for about a year and a half.
Sam Rhee:He said he noticed it within the first few months. Yeah, I think that's true, because so much. I mean, we'll do maybe five to 10 minutes of stretching in a class before we actually work out, and I did it today as a coach, and I know it's cold, it's like 7 am, but when you put someone into a pigeon pose and they can't even move like at all in that like you can see how inflexible um you know, I mean crossfit training itself is not conducive to mobility.
Kristen Fazio:You, you have to bring your own level of mobility into it, right, it's not going to help you become more mobile or more flexible and you benefit from being more stable in your joints, right, because you're thrusting and then you're holding these, that's so you have to be careful, you know, of being hypermobile in the joints but finding the mobility in the other areas, right to depth, but at least you're not going to push yourself out of position.
Sam Rhee:And my argument to that is first of all, what's the point of doing a quarter squat if that's safe? Like that's unhelpful for any athlete. Like you need to develop flexibility and mobility so that you can do fuller range of motions more safely.
Kristen Fazio:And the body is designed to be able to do those poses. It's just that over time, we lose that mobility and that flexibility, and so really, what yoga is doing is hopefully bringing you back to your set point, right Like bringing you back to the space where your body was designed to be. It's not creating hypermobility it shouldn't. If it's done correctly, it's really just bringing you to that space where you're supposed to be.
Sam Rhee:The body is designed to move that way. When we were five years old and we could sit, there and squat Exactly, exactly, exactly. Recovery and injury prevention. So how can yoga help us in terms of movement, blood flow, when we're not doing CrossFit workouts but we're doing yoga workouts instead in terms of aiding us in terms of that post-workout recovery?
Kristen Fazio:Yeah. So you know all of that stretching that you're doing is bringing fresh oxygenated blood into those muscles, into those joint areas, and that's huge. I mean, we're learning so much about inflammation and then you know, getting rid of inflammation and flushing out that area. So bringing the blood into those areas to help promote healing is great. You know it's the sweating, you know help get rid of all that metabolic waste that you've got in your body.
Sam Rhee:I think the breathing can help a lot because that really activates the parasympathetics. So we're like all adrenaline during our crossfit workouts.
Kristen Fazio:You are fight or flight, right?
Sam Rhee:Yes, but then when you have to force yourself to breathe slowly, to like control that heart rate by breathing slower, like that makes a big difference in terms of sort of balancing that mental state I would say 100%.
Kristen Fazio:That's funny. The guy, Peter, that I was talking to mentioned that too as being a really big part of it which you don't really think of. You think of the physical aspect, but there is this idea that you're constantly right in that sympathetic nervous state which over time.
Kristen Fazio:It's not healthy to never come out of that. It's funny. I recently started doing Pilates and it's hard Reformer. Pilates is really, really challenging and I got really into it for the first few weeks and I wasn't going to my doing my regular yoga practice quite as much. And it's funny after like the second week of maybe only practicing once, of practicing yoga once a week, I kind of was like something's going on with me and I feel a little off and that's what it was. I realized I wasn't getting into that parasympathetic nervous state like nervous release. I was just constantly in that triggered state and that's something that yoga brings in. It helps your body relax. It's so important for healing. There's so many studies that say how beneficial it is for promoting muscle recovery and everything else. So it is something that I would think if you don't have it regularly in your life, you don't really realize that it's missing. But then when you start to incorporate in your life and you take it away, then you start to realize oh wait, this is something that I really, really need.
Sam Rhee:I really believe that, especially because I've seen some high-level CrossFit athletes who actually were so adrenaline depleted. They actually measured it on their physiologic test and they actually were like oh, you got to actually change things up a little bit, yeah, yeah, and they actually were like oh, you got to actually change things up a little bit, yeah, yeah.
Sam Rhee:And that's something that, like you said, you don't even notice it until you actually take that time to address it. Balance and core strength this is again balance is one of the, I think, things we never test in CrossFit Like we do for, you know, pistols, like one-legged squats and some other things, like we do for pistols, like one-legged squats and some other things. But I remember in yoga classes doing tree position or any of these other poses, these one-legged poses, and you see how amazing these people who I mean when I first came in and I was snobby, I was like, oh, they don't look so fit. And I'm like, oh my God, their balance and their coordination is out of control. They don't look so fit.
Sam Rhee:And I'm like oh my God, their balance and their coordination is out of control. Speak a little bit about how much balance is required for many of these yoga positions.
Kristen Fazio:Well, I first want to just say that I think balance is really underrated and, as far as longevity goes, being able to balance is everything right. You hear about somebody slipping, falling, breaking a hip and then never the same again. So if you, you know if you're coming for one thing, for yoga most people wouldn't say balance, but I think it's one of the most important factors learning how to hold your body weight up on one, one leg or whatever. What was the question?
Sam Rhee:So yeah, so what you know poses or other movements in yoga can help us in terms of maintaining that balance. I mean, and how do you practice that? Like I, when I do tree, like I can barely like stand with my one foot on top of my other right, right much less stick that foot out to a side.
Kristen Fazio:Yes, so part of it is is training towards that right. Like all balancing poses require core strength. They all require abductor muscle strength. I mean, those are the like, the smaller stabilizing muscles like that in CrossFit you're probably not focusing on quite as much. You're working with larger muscle groups.
Kristen Fazio:In yoga you do kind of refine and work into those smaller muscles supporting muscle groups. So that's like your foundation and you might do 20 poses leading up to a balance pose. That will help to get you then to be able to balance the way you need to be. A lot of it is being able to calm the mind and focus on the breath. I once had a teacher say, when we were struggling to balance in a really challenging pose, he just said quiet the mind and for some reason that clicked with me and I was just like wow, because what happens when we're in balancing poses is we forget to breathe. And if you can remind yourself just to slow down and breathe, it really it's all mental. It's really all mental.
Sam Rhee:I think it resonates with me in terms of longevity and, you know, prediction in terms of how long you can live is very, very strongly correlated with your ability to balance. And they have tested and there's a very simple test where you just stand on one leg, one foot, and you see how long you can balance for and that's a very strong predictive value for, you know, future injury and risk, like how long you can do it for. And so the fact that all those stabilizer muscles, the fact that you have the kinesthetic sense of being able to control your body regardless of what it's doing, that is the part I really also love about yoga in terms of complementary to CrossFit. Those stabilizer muscles may not be necessarily as important when you're, like you said, focusing on large muscles, but when you are lifting a heavy weight, all those stabilizer muscles, when you're kind of getting a little wiggly or jiggly, unstable, that's what's going to save you from risk of serious injury 100%, yeah, and just that.
Kristen Fazio:back to what you're saying about those little stabilizers you know the proprioception in your feet are really important. You know some of your listeners might not know this, but you practice yoga barefoot, with no socks on or anything like that, and just a thin mat underneath you, and just that. You know we really don't take in this Western culture of ours. We don't take off our shoes often. We're walking in shoes on paved surfaces constantly. So this idea of your foot getting you know used to stabilizing in an unstable situation is really, really important.
Sam Rhee:So true, breath work. So this is what we talked about a little bit about breath awareness, lung capacity. This is one of the hardest things and I didn't even realize this, probably until I don't know, maybe like six months or almost a year that, oh wait, it's not about holding these poses, it's about breathing through these poses, hello. So how do you help people do that, as they're doing this?
Kristen Fazio:So that is the part of the yoga that I think takes the longest to cultivate. Anybody can put themselves in, you know, a warrior two pose and make it look pretty good, right it's. Can you hold a warrior two pose and make it look pretty good, right it's. Can you hold a warrior two and then breathe in it? And, really, you know, then move from that to another pose that's challenging and continue to breathe.
Kristen Fazio:So you start with that. Like I said, you start seated or laying down and you cultivate the breath there. You laid the base for that and then you know, the teacher will take you through smaller poses where you're on the ground, where you're closer to the ground, where you're not focusing on balance or anything else, and you're then starting to move into the breath work there, so something like cow-cat or you know, spinal flexion and extension, and you incorporate the breath there and then the poses get bigger and the breath continues through those poses and a good teacher will remind you in these poses to breathe, because sometimes you need the reminder, sometimes I forget, you know, like, if it's a really challenging pose, okay, I'm doing this right, I'm doing this right, but am I breathing? Because if you're not breathing, then it ain't yoga. Now that it, it's the purpose that's exactly right, yeah, um.
Sam Rhee:So what? Uh? What are the challenges or risks? So nothing is without risk. Right, you could run and you could hurt yourself. So if we were talking about, like, how awesome running is, like there could be 50 people out there, like I got injured running, yeah, like. So what are the sort of things that, if you do yoga regularly, you have to watch out for? What are the common types of risks that you might encounter in terms of if you do yoga a lot?
Kristen Fazio:Yeah, yeah, I'm a big believer in everything you know in moderation, so we'll touch on that later. But you can absolutely overstretch. You can absolutely be stretching in the wrong part of the muscle, right? I hear a lot of times, like when we're I'll use hamstrings as an example people getting what's called yoga butt, which is this strain right where the hamstring attaches, right beneath the glute. It's referred to as yoga butt because when people are doing tons of forward folds or stretching their hamstrings, instead of letting the muscle, the stretch, focus in the belly of the hamstring, they're stretching at the attachment point and over time, over and over and over.
Kristen Fazio:We know repetitive movement can be injurious. So it's really important two things A to listen to your body and I know that sounds like a little cliche, but it is so important to be able to set your ego aside is a huge thing in yoga. You know the thing about that's different about yoga and CrossFit is yoga is a very individual endeavor. Yeah, you're on your mat and you really are instructed to, and can be hard. But to just block out everybody else in the room and just make the practice about you, yeah, what happens is, you know, you see the person to the right of you like getting into a full split and you're like let me see if I can do that.
Kristen Fazio:Exactly so. That is a risk that people have to kind of avoid, the temptation I fall prey to it. Often I'm like, oh, I used to be able to do this, why can't I do this today? So, you know, listening to your body, setting your ego aside and finding an instructor that works with you. You know, some instructors might push you to do something that you're not comfortable with. You're the only one who knows what it feels like in your body. You're the only one that knows the difference between like oh, that's a good stretch, and that stretch feels really weird, or my knee can't go into that position and that's okay. You just have to be able to really, you know, listen to what your body is telling you.
Sam Rhee:I think it's helpful if you're first starting to have some private instruction. Honestly, like I remember when I first started it was during COVID and so I would just go on to YouTube just like everyone else did and I would do some yoga sessions and I thought I was doing everything okay. But just like when you start CrossFit and you think you're doing it okay, you're really not doing it Okay, like you're not sort of maintaining the right positions or or holds, and then you came over and you were teaching me and Susan and so much of your corrections for the basic, the most basic, the downward dog, like your forward folds, like once you kind of get those like locked in, it helps with everything else. But there's so much subtlety to all of these movements that it really takes someone with a practiced eye to be able to look at you and to correct you. Basically, because when you're in a class on a Saturday at like 10 am and there's like 50 people in there, that instructor is not going to be able to help you fix those.
Sam Rhee:And it's the same thing when I like I just had a 30 person CrossFit class, like a Saturday partner one, and it's like there are certain things you try to assist with, but like there's just not, you're not going to have the full attention of somebody, so how do you help? Like do you try in these Cause? I have seen quite a variety. I've seen some excellent well to my untrained eye people doing yoga, and then I see a lot of us who are just kind of half-assing it during it as well give the attention to all the students that they really, really need.
Kristen Fazio:It's almost impossible. The way I approach it as a teacher is I give very strong cues, so when you're in something like a warrior two, I will, through my words, be able to tell you where you should be engaging, where you should be softening, where you should be feeling the stretch, where you should be backing off a little bit, because I can't physically go to each individual student. That is definitely one of my strengths, is my cueing is my strength point. I wish I could hands-on help every single student, but it's just impossible. If every student had the time and the financial ability to do a private every beginner student, I would love that, but that's not feasible.
Kristen Fazio:You know, for the beginner student who's like intimidated, do you want to get into that? For the beginner student? Yeah, so for the beginner student, I would really advise doing a little research before you jump into yoga. Because of that misconception that, like yoga is just stretching, you'll be shocked when you step onto your yoga mat. So my advice is maybe go online and like, look at YouTube, see what a class looks like, see what a flow looks like, you know, if you're interested, just even. You don't even have to do it, but just to get a general idea. Is this something that, like my body, is interested in?
Kristen Fazio:The other thing would be to do a little research as far as the studio goes, call around, reach out to one of the studios and say do you have level one or beginner classes? Do you have an alignment class? An alignment class is a really good thing to look for if you're a beginner student, or do you have a class that you would recommend to somebody who's just starting? Is there a particular teacher that works really well with beginner students? The other thing is is there a time of day that I can come to the studio where the classes are not quite as crowded? Because the less crowded the class, the more time the teacher has to spend with you and you'll get a little more individual attention.
Kristen Fazio:Yeah, I think those are some important factors to factor in, and you might go to a class and be like this teacher is just not my jam. I didn't like this. I really encourage you to continue to try and explore different teachers and maybe different styles of yoga, because you know it's not one size fits all, it's different for everybody, and because it's such a great modality and I do think it really complements CrossFit. It would make me really sad to hear that somebody went to yoga, hated, had a bad experience and never did it again, you know so.
Sam Rhee:I think that's a great idea. I didn't think about that but, like everyone like it was me too I wanted to get my workout in Saturday morning, so then I could, you know, watch the NFL playoffs in the afternoon. I was like, well, maybe if I just spent one afternoon class, like it would probably be, or, or you know, a weekday evening class, like and I would probably be able to do a lot better in terms of working with my instructor on that. Yeah, how about people who feel like, well, if I do it, I'm not really going to lose a lot of weight or burn a lot of calories in yoga, like that's not really my jam in terms of I need to really burn a lot of?
Kristen Fazio:calories, somebody who's looking to lose?
Sam Rhee:weight and burn calories, yeah, I mean.
Kristen Fazio:First of all, you'd be surprised. You know I always tell this story, but when I started practicing yoga, I was the other side. I was very thin, I had no muscle on me, I was like a beanpole and I think I started practicing yoga I weighed 103 pounds. Within less than a year, I think I gained over 10 pounds, and it was all in muscle.
Sam Rhee:Oh, wow.
Kristen Fazio:Yeah, it is a very. It can be a really powerful. Now your CrossFit people aren't looking for more muscle, that's for sure. But it is like a very aerobic and there's elements that you know you're building strength. You're building strength in those stabilizing muscles. There's a ton of core work involved. It is, you know. I don't know if you would consider it the best avenue for weight loss, because it's not like high intensity cardio, you're really trying to keep your heart rate stable but it certainly aids in all of the benefits. You know you're getting a lot of other benefits from it, all of the benefits you know you're getting a lot of other benefits from it.
Sam Rhee:So how about? So let's talk about this. We were just talking about before the intensity, mindfulness part of it. So the perspective so I know a lot of people who shy away from yoga or they just don't like the mind perspective on it, because CrossFit is all about like you don't have to think you're outside of your head, you're just like I need to get these 10 reps done, let just get them done. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. You know, like you don't have time to let what you said the monkey mind work, because you're just like you know, very, very goal-oriented.
Sam Rhee:Yes, yeah in yoga there is all the time in the world too much time in the world. I'm sitting there just thinking like about 500 million different things. Like can I hold this, hold this pose? This is hurting. Like how do I breathe? Like why is my sweat dripping? And like how much longer do I have? I feel like a kid sitting, like you know, impatient, like you know. Okay, let's move on to the next part. Like how do you reconcile the two? Or or draw somebody who's like not into that mindset for resistance?
Kristen Fazio:yeah, yeah, it's funny, I mean, oh god, there's so much I can say about it. I'm gonna give you this one story first of all. Okay, I remember when my kids were little, I had three little kids and you know, any mother or father who's ever had to try to get three kids out of the school, out to school in the morning, knows what it's like to like wake them up, make their breakfast, pack their lunches, get everybody dressed out of the house into the car. I get my kids, I do the whole jam. I get in my car, I put my hands on my steering wheel and my left hand is covered in blood and I'm like what is what happened? At some point when I was making breakfast or lunch or whatever, I cut my hand, had no idea. I cut my hand until I wiped my hand, I found the cut and all of a sudden then it started to hurt. I was so disconnected from my own physical body that I didn't even realize that I sliced my hand open and was bleeding and it just.
Kristen Fazio:I use that example because we go through our days where we are rushing. Our head is not connected to the rest of our physical body and it's like how are we? What else are we missing, right, if we don't slow down and let our bodies quiet for like a little bit and have that little connection, that conversation between our body and our mind? What else are we missing? You know, like sometimes we need to quiet the mind to let the body tell us what it needs, you know. So I am that go, go, go all the time type of personality.
Kristen Fazio:Yoga is the one time where I let everything kind of just chill and I let myself get quiet. I used to be the person that was like a little impatient and a little bit like, okay, I need this to be over with, but whatever. But you know, listen, I need this to be over with, but whatever. But you know, listen, I know it's not for everybody to sit there with their eyes closed in Shavasana or to stretch and tap in, but I would encourage you to push past that point because the benefits on the other side are really really remarkable and, in the long term, that ability to kind of sit quiet with yourself is a huge part of the mindful and meditative. You know we all know that how good meditation is for you. It kind of all is incorporated in that same, you know, that same bubble.
Sam Rhee:It's so funny because we've have had people talk at our gym about mindfulness, people like specialists a friend of mine, rafi Silver, comes to mind. But it's a little different when you're holding poses and doing the same thing. You know, when you're engaged in a yoga practice, some of it is because it's honestly for me it's painful, but some of it is also like it takes a long time and so you're right to push out the all right. After this, I got to go drop off this and I have to go pick up this and I got to get this thing done. Or like I wonder what's going to happen on Monday when this happens. Like it takes a lot of practice.
Kristen Fazio:It absolutely takes a lot of practice. It's mind control, it's being able to control your mind and it's funny. It's funny. This is where I feel like CrossFit and yoga are really similar is that idea that, like you can be in a really hard pose and you can. Like you can push past that point of resistance. It's all mental right, the ability to say, okay, I'm about to go bench press. I don't know what's like an allot to bench press, like 500 pounds or whatever. You know it's this a lot of. It is a mental battle.
Kristen Fazio:And can I hold this pose and breathe and realize that I'm not going to be here forever and this is going to be okay? And those lessons of being able to be in challenging situations and remember to breathe and remind yourself that you're okay. They translate off of the yoga mat too. I can't tell you how. That's where the life-changing stuff happens. It's like, you know, I used to be the person that would like freak out if my dishwasher broke and I'd be like, oh my God, you know whatever. And now it's like I'm just gonna breathe. It's not that big of a deal. I'm not gonna be in this space forever. We're gonna get over it. You know. Do over time. That ability to be in hard positions and sweating and remembering to breathe it does it, translates off the mat. That's the whole point. That's why we do it.
Sam Rhee:That's so funny because that's exactly what we say in CrossFit is you're in a tough position, you have to finish this workout and you don't think you can, but you actually, you know, find something deep within yourself and you finish that workout. That helps translate into real life situations. Where you're in difficult situations, you have to keep pushing and and it's the same thing in yoga, but it's a different challenge same outcome in terms of pushing your boundaries, but the boundary in terms of, like, pushing to do three more reps versus holding this position and maintaining your breathing and staying present, and staying in your mind is mind is actually probably a skill set that would be super helpful.
Sam Rhee:that translates out into life where, okay, I have to breathe, I have to be mindful. Do not lose my crap right now about this. Like that speaks to me on a lot of levels.
Kristen Fazio:That's the part when I say it's changed my life, that it's changed my life, that it's changed my life the most.
Sam Rhee:And I think you know and you know why, because this is what reminds me of, like some of the best surgeons I ever saw in the OR Like if things went to crap, like there was some terrible, catastrophic thing that suddenly happened blood vessel burst, something, something. Something like you can't like muscle your way out of it. You know that's where the mindfulness challenge breathe, stay within yourself, move to the next step, don't lose your crap, sort of this speaks to me more about that in that situation, like there's certain situations no, you got to try harder, you got to push harder, you got to move more, you got to do whatever. But there are also situations and that's one where I could like really see having this kind of skill set in you be like okay, because those guys that those, those people were able to move so well, skillfully, without you know, like the head coming off and get through that situation.
Kristen Fazio:It's important, yeah, I mean life is not always going to hand you, you know, like the head coming off and get through that situation. It's important, yeah, I mean life is not always going to hand you. You know what you want Right. You know there's going to be a lot of times when stuff's going to happen that you can't control.
Kristen Fazio:That's exactly right and that's a big part of yoga is like how do we weather the storm? Right, you know we can't, you know, control the waves, but we can learn to surf them. That's exactly right.
Sam Rhee:So now, how does somebody fit yoga into like a CrossFit training schedule? So if you have an athlete and they're like you know what, how do I start yoga? How do I fit it in Like, what can I do here? It's expensive, crossfit is expensive, everything's expensive these days. What's the best way to kind of start this?
Kristen Fazio:You know, if you're the kind of person that likes a schedule right and you do well when you're on a routine and a schedule, I would say to factor in, you know, maybe two days of CrossFit, one day yoga, two days CrossFit, one day yoga, if you're able to have that ability to do that and if, financially, if that's an issue, start with a YouTube video. You know, like you said, you're not going to get quite the same instruction that you would if you were going to have a private lesson. You know, start with a YouTube video, see what it's all about, try some stretches and then maybe you kind of pop into a class now and again to see what it feels like to be in a group setting and instructed by an actual you know person. You know, it's not the kind of thing you need to do it every single day, no-transcript. If you could get an hour or you know two in a week of of you know, uh, more focused you know top to bottom full body stretch, that would be great, yeah.
Sam Rhee:I I find that I like your stretch class is great because you could actually fit a workout in beforehand and then do that I can take a hot yoga class, even if I had a really hard day. That like the day before that, taking that yoga class really like kills me. It's almost like a full wad in it yeah, like I can.
Kristen Fazio:I can barely hold any kind of lunge in a in a hot yoga class because I just feel so wiped so if that's the case, then I would look for something more like a restorative or a yin, which, where you're hold it's a much more passive. You're pretty much down on the ground the whole time in different postures. You're holding the stretches for longer periods of time. The only thing I would caution in those classes in a yin type class where you're holding postures for three to five minutes, like, say, you're in a pigeon pose. You'd be in a pigeon pose for three to five minutes. I would caution against doing that before any CrossFit training, because you need that.
Sam Rhee:You need that stability in your joint. Yes, in your joint.
Kristen Fazio:You don't want to be hypermobile before, but that's kind of a nice compliment to something Like a power. Yoga class is probably not what you're looking for after you had a really intense day.
Sam Rhee:But it's perfect if I had a day off and then I want to come in and do something Like that will kick my ass to do a nice vinyasa or hot power, like you know, because you go through all these movements and then you keep adding on to these movements and then you're adding on to these. It's a layered process and I love at the same time, but you know, because you do get to practice each movement more. So I feel like, okay, maybe I can do this one a little bit better, but then it also gets tiring because you keep adding like more complexity to it. Yes, and then you see all these really good athletes in there and they're like how are they holding this like perfectly every time?
Kristen Fazio:That takes time. That takes time. They didn't walk in like that. Trust me.
Sam Rhee:So trust me. So, um, what other uh thoughts do you have in terms of these myths? So if someone just says you know what, why do I listen? I'm listening to this and I'm just not flexible, like forget this, like well, I shouldn't even start, because I just don't feel like I I could do any of this yeah, that's the one I hear the most when I tell people that I teach yoga.
Kristen Fazio:Oh my god, I can't do yoga because I'm not flexible, and that always makes me laugh, because the whole point of yoga is to become flexible over time. You don't walk in the door flexible, right? Nobody, well, except there are some pretzels out there that are like origami and they can fold themselves in a million shapes. But the intent is to become more flexible through the practice. So you know, I would say that consistency. Come and try and see, and with each passing week you'll notice more flexibility within your body, for sure.
Sam Rhee:That's funny because I would throw it out to the CrossFit athletes, because we hear it all the time. When we talk about CrossFit, people say I'm not strong enough, that's too scary, that's too much lifting, that's you know, I'm not built that way. I'm not strong enough, like I don't want to do CrossFit. And so for the CrossFitter who says the same thing about yoga well, I'm flipping it back to you, because that anybody should do anything seven days a week or every you know, yeah. So what do you do for resistance training?
Kristen Fazio:So it's funny, I started lifting heavy weights within the past like two years and I've noticed that it's tremendous for helping my yoga practice.
Sam Rhee:Is that right?
Kristen Fazio:Yeah, because I'm much stronger in the poses and I can stabilize more.
Sam Rhee:It's not CrossFit, though. What do you do?
Kristen Fazio:It was not CrossFit, I'm just literally lifting dumbbells. Yeah, yeah, yeah, and I'm just doing things online like I'm doing, but I probably need to come to you.
Sam Rhee:You have friends. I know you have very close friends and I'm going to get them to get on you to try it out, and I think that they need to flip over, and also because I know them too, and they need to actually try it out somewhat too.
Kristen Fazio:Yeah, no, a hundred percent. I mean, there is I. This is why I think it's such a good balance. You know, I'm at an age where everybody is telling me lift heavy weights and eat more protein.
Sam Rhee:Yes, that's the highest thing right now. Oh, I hear yeah.
Kristen Fazio:And you know, those like little three pound dumbbells aren't aren't going to cut it. So I really do think that the CrossFit yoga combination is like a brilliant combination. You just have to be able to push back past all of the hangups right on both sides of it.
Sam Rhee:It's so true, there's so much on either side and it's so diametric in terms of mindset in some of these things, that if you can actually expand on both fronts, you're going to actually have really, like, helped yourself very dramatically.
Kristen Fazio:Yeah, and I do, they do that One compliments the other. I think completely.
Sam Rhee:So tell me all right. So, to sum everything up, everyone should do CrossFit, everyone should do yoga. Um, the breath work is really the key. Um, stay within yourself. Uh, what are the other takeaways you might want to give somebody if they're like okay, I'm starting tomorrow, what else do I need to?
Kristen Fazio:know. Start with an open mindset. Don't be quick to kind of judge the practice right away. Like I said, if you find a teacher that doesn't mesh with you or a style of yoga that doesn't quite feel right, continue to pursue it, because it is incredibly beneficial. It's been practiced for thousands and thousands of years and there's a reason it's been around for so long. Be open-minded to the idea of the meditation and the breath work that can take you very, very far. So what else would I say? Do a little research in advance and have fun with it. Don't take yourself so seriously. Set the ego aside. Nobody's looking at you. The only person that cares in the room besides you is the teacher. And it's a great community. It's a great place to be. Yeah.
Sam Rhee:It's so funny because I hear you and I hear I could say the same thing about CrossFit. For all of it, it's a great community. Give it a chance. If you don't find the right gym or the right box, you know, stay with it. Stay with it for a while. I always tell people strive for three months at least before you make a decision about it. Don't take yourself seriously, like you said, just have fun.
Kristen Fazio:And listen to your body. Listen to your body, Don't push yourself past the you know.
Sam Rhee:So all the advice I would be giving people about CrossFit is the same thing that you would be giving for people in terms of yoga and group classes, which, to me, just makes it. It validates the fact that you know this is something that we should all be trying Like, and I also believe like not everyone is built for CrossFit, but everyone should try it. And it's the same thing for yoga. Everyone may not be truly built for yoga, but you should really try it and if you do engage in it and stick with it like it is not just for the short term but for longevity purposes tremendous.
Kristen Fazio:That's one thing for sure that I did want to touch on is like we all want to be able to get up and down the stairs and get in and out of the car without, you know, needing assistance and walking without a walker. Walking without a walker, and you know, over time, you know, if we don't address the mobility and the range of motion and all those issues, we're going to lose that ability right. So it's really important to get low on the ground and work against that resistance. It's really important to try to get off the ground without using your hands, and these are all things that we do in a yoga class, and so longevity is, you know, the name of the game, I think, in yoga.
Sam Rhee:It's so funny. I was taking a cab ride back to the airport in India from my hotel and I had the talkiest driver and he was talking about his 95-year-old dad, who does yoga by himself every day. That's the normal practice. They all learn how to do it in India. They do it in gym class, yes, so you know the fact that his 95-year-old dad is just doing it for like. In the morning before breakfast he gave me the exhaustive routine and I was like, how do you learn? And he's just like what do you mean? This is what life is. Life is like you just know it.
Kristen Fazio:Yeah Well, they eat on the ground typically and they, when they're washing their dishes and stuff, they're, you know, squatting. That's like a huge I mean, we don't squat anymore, that's like an ancient thing on the Western culture. We're always sitting in furniture, we're never sitting on the ground.
Sam Rhee:So I mean, I don't have to eat curry every day.
Kristen Fazio:I do love curry.
Sam Rhee:But I would say the yoga takeaway that definitely resonated with me as well. Yeah, yeah, for sure. So thank you so much, kristen. That was amazing, and so people can reach you at KristenFAZYoga on Instagram and you coach at Village Yoga in Glen Rock or Real Hot in Ridgewood, and what was the place?
Sam Rhee:Powerflow in Clifton Powerflow in Clifton, so check out the schedule. If you have any questions about yoga and CrossFit, reach out to us. Botox and burpees we're happy to pass them along and also, if you have any other topics similar to that you might think would be helpful for us, let us know. Thank you very much.
Kristen Fazio:Thank you for having me.