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My First Yoga Instructor: Kareen Zebroff

The ABC of Yoga (photo: ABC BookWorld)

When I was a kid in Canada during the 1960s and 1970s, some new health and fitness ideas were entering the mainstream, as they always do. At that time the “hot new” thing was yoga, which of course has been a spiritual and physical discipline in India for thousands of years, but it was being introduced to the general public in the U.S. and Canada, thanks to the miracle of television.

Recently I told my mom that seeing her in front of the TV learning yoga is one of my earliest fitness-related memories. My mom also experimented with vegetarian cooking, which she prepared for the whole family, and both Mom and Dad for many years have been fish-eating vegetarians (pescatarian). These days she prefers Pilates classes, and I have discussed my experience with a Pilates DVD in a previous post.

My mom told me those shows I remembered were hosted by Kareen Zebroff, a German-born author, actress, and early yoga pioneer on Canadian television. (She also happens to be about the same age as my mom!) The show was first called Yoga, then Kareen’s Yoga, and its first run was from 1971 to 1977. She had a half-hour daily yoga and nutrition show until 1986.

I’ve been searching for episodes or clips online. Here is a video clip (2012) of Kareen talking about an eagle’s nest located in Vancouver, British Columbia, where she lives. In two minutes, we see a flashback to her show, a summary of her current fitness priorities (yoga of course, but also strength training and walking), and the eagles as an example of her love for nature.

Kareen also appeared as an actress on some TV shows, including MacGuyver (Fire and Ice) and a Canadian classic, The Beachcombers (Mystery Tour).

OK, so maybe I lied a little when I said Kareen was “My first yoga instructor,” but my mom’s example was a fond memory which prepared me when I was re-introduced to the idea by P90X Yoga and Tony Horton.

Do you have any childhood home fitness memories to share?

Kareen Zebroff biography and books published (ABC BookWorld, British Columbia, Canada)

Kareen Zebroff books (Amazon)

FWF: FitStudio by Sears (Free Workout Fridays)

Recently I discovered a website called FitStudio by Sears. This is “an innovative heath and fitness community” (according to the site’s About page). Seriously, though, there’s a lot of interesting stuff here: A community you can join, as well as information about diet/nutrition, exercise, and motivation. There’s also a blog, and help for finding a personal trainer in your area. They have demonstrations of individual exercises, workouts, and even workout schedules (called “programs”), created by a trainer.

Alligator Push Up demo

I found this site when I was searching for a demonstration of the Alligator Push Up. Who knew that Sears had such great information online, for free! I bought my treadmill at Sears many years ago, wore it out, and replaced it under an extended warranty, so you can imagine why I was already a fan. Obviously the catch here is that many of the exercises require equipment which is available at Sears, but not exclusive to them of course. (For instance, if you need resistance bands, check out my ad in the right-hand column for Bodylastics, or check out my affiliate link to Amazon.com for other fitness products.) I think it’s a great marketing tool for Sears, and I certainly appreciate all the goodies on this website.

Workout exercise list

The workouts are exercise lists, with a tiny picture of each exercise, and a link to the video demo for that exercise. I don’t mind written workout plans, but you need to know the exercises well enough to do them one after the other without stopping too much. It’s nice that they provide video clips for all the exercises.

For even more helpful information, there are fitness experts who blog for the site, and I mentioned the trainers who lead online scheduled programs (similar to a Beachbody “challenge group” I guess). These are friendly faces who can become familiar to the users of the site, in the same way that people become fans of other celebrity trainers.

This looks like a great site for workout ideas and all kinds of information. I wonder if any other retail chains have thought about doing this?

Evolution of Fitness (humor)

This is a parody and a history lesson about several fitness infomercial products, from the 50s to now (not in chronological order). It’s been on YouTube over a year, with almost 500,000 views, but it was new to me.

Mike Chang’s site sixpackshortcuts.com might be a good topic for Free Workout Friday, too.

As-seen-on-TV fitness products I have owned:

Easy Glider (link to YouTube of the commercial from 1988!)

The Gazelle (featured in the video)

An exercise step (also featured in the video). Check out this full-length upload of a Reebok exercise video from 1991! The DailyHIIT has brought this one back, with style and power!

What TV fitness gadgets have you purchased over the years?

FWF: HASFit (Free Workout Fridays)

Choose to Work Out (hasfit.com)

When I first saw the tagline for the HASFit website, I knew I would like it right away. “The Best Free Workouts.” I mean, come on! You know I love free workouts! As a matter of fact, this month I am using free workout sites rather than a DVD workout program. Variety in your workouts is a wonderful thing. To read about the advantages and disadvantages of free websites, check out my blog post, Why should I pay for a workout (When I can get it for free)?

HASFit stands for “Heart and Soul” Fitness. The HASFit homepage promises 0ver 500 video workouts, for use at home or at the gym, including 60-90 day programs (look on the left-hand site for Complete Fitness Programs). There are weight loss or weight gain programs here too, as well as workout motivation. It’s so exciting, I don’t know where to start!

The videos I have seen so far are led by Coach Joshua Kozak, or another guy whose name happens to be Freddie. (I like his name, although I prefer Fred for myself.) In either case, it’s quite a one-man show. I think it’s a nice touch that they start each video with a motivational quote. Is that better than a safety warning?

I’ve used a few of these workouts this week. This is a great free resource! There are also plenty of opportunities to thank Coach Kozak by purchasing motivational t-shirts or posters, through his various training and endorsement opportunities, or through PayPal (the Donate button at the top of the website pages).

Fitness Humor on Pinterest

Just go to pinterest.com, and type in the search fitness humor. Yes, it’s really that simple. You will find an interesting cross-section of the graphics and pictures you see everywhere, such as the “Overly Manly Man” meme:

Overly Manly Man on Pinterest

There are a variety of viewpoints about fitness represented, too. For instance, this one is encouraging you to work out:

Hurray for running!

On the other hand…

Skipping yoga again

These can be inspirational, or encouraging if you need a laugh and a gentle push to start your workout. They can also be used to justify bad behavior with a snarky laugh. I suggest that you look to Pinterest for fitness inspiration in this case, rather than an excuse to skip yoga. Not that I’ve done that a few times. OK, more than a few. Certainly not six years in a row. Oh, look, it’s a mouse doing exercise!

Exercise inspiration from a mouse!

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My First Yoga Instructor: Kareen Zebroff

FWF: FitStudio by Sears (Free Workout Fridays)

Evolution of Fitness (humor)

FWF: HASFit (Free Workout Fridays)

Fitness Humor on Pinterest

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