LUNCH SPECIAL: CARMIE BUHALIS’S 30-MINUTE YOGA FLOW
When it comes to working out on your lunch hour, is 30 minutes really worth it? “One hundred percent,” says The Corner Studio’s Carmie Buhalis, whose virtual lunchtime yoga flows have attracted a growing clientele who favor a midday reset. And it’s not all about breaking a sweat—it’s about the break itself.
“The thing about 30 minutes is it is manageable,” says Carmie. Whether your mornings are spent tackling to-do lists, balancing family chaos, or enduring the mounting discomfort of your home office chair, solace can be found in a peaceful pause before lunch. Specifically, a focus on breath and gentle body movement can improve performance for the rest of your day.
Carmie has witnessed firsthand how a little goes a long way. Last year, she began teaching yoga in the workplace—a 30-minute practice two days a week during lunch for a company whose employees had little to no prior yoga experience. Once people committed to showing up, the benefits abounded: an energy boost, a sense of calm, increased productivity, flexibility, and balance. Clients would tell her they stopped smoking, their blood pressure was down, and they were mentally at peace. All appreciated the break in the day while still having time to eat lunch.
Carmie never imagined these same clients would be the dedicated participants of her virtual yoga sessions, which she started offering free of charge in response to Stay at Home orders. You can catch her lunchtime “Flow-From-Home” during the week LIVE on her Facebook page and now The Corner Studio’s Instagram.
“Prior to quarantine, I was terrified to ever do a live video!” Carmie says. This admission might surprise you because her guided practice, which she records live inside her home and later uploads to her website, Yoga Express Detroit, is so natural, honest, and comfortably candid. She often has her husband or daughter, Sophia (7), practicing by her side.
Carmie’s guided flows invite us to “let go of the busyness” and enter a space that’s likely very different from the rest of our day. “The purpose of yoga is to quiet the mind and return to our natural state of being,” Carmie says. “We are running on anxiety and high levels of stress. The beauty of this time is we get to come back.” Expect a mindful flow of sun salutes, standing postures, forward folds, and seated floor work. She also offers routines you can do right at your desk, which include modified sun salutations for when you don’t have a mat. Most sessions end with a few minutes of meditation, followed by focused breathing.
Speaking of breathing, most of us aren’t! We literally have watches and apps to remind us to breathe! In the daily grind, many succumb to shallow, high-chested breath that doesn’t send adequate oxygen to the brain. “Sometimes we’re so stressed, we are actually holding our breath,” offers Carmie. Regaining that deeper breathing is an essential goal of the practice she shares with her clients.
If you’re feeling tense or stressed right now (who isn’t?!), Carmie recommends the 4-4-8 breathing technique any time during the day to calm nerves, increase focus, and reduce stress.
4-4-8 Breathing:
1. Start with 3 normal inhales and exhales.
2. Inhale through the nose for 4 counts.
3. Hold breath for 4 counts.
4. Open mouth exhale with sound for 8 counts. (Carmie says, “Work up to that 8-count exhale. It should be slow and audible.”)
5. Repeat 3-5 rounds.
6. End with 3 natural breaths.
You can catch Carmie’s virtual classes at 12:00pm Mon–Wed on Facebook LIVE from Yoga Express Detroit’s page and Thursdays at 12:00pm on Instagram LIVE from @thecornerstudiogp.
See You at The Corner Soon!