Adam Levine gets thrown from a fire escape and flipped over by cars, has his head slammed repeatedly against a door, and generally gets a solid ass-kicking—all at the hands of a beautiful, manic temptress. But what really catches the eye in the video for Maroon 5’s Misery is Levine’s muscular yet catlike physique.

The 32-year-old singer, who is also a judge on NBC’s The Voice, owes that body to a mix-and-match yoga regimen he practices at home, at the recording studio, and on the road. “At any Maroon 5 concert, you’ll see a room backstage marked yoga,” he says.

Living the plugged-in celebrity life in Los Angeles, Levine was aware of the yoga scene but initially kept his distance, turned off by what he calls “the cheesy clichés.” But he began to worry that his gym routine was a dead end, hurting more than it helped: “Weights made my neck thick, and I would be like, ‘I’m turning into a monster!’” As he grew increasingly frustrated by lower-back pain and tight hips and hamstrings, he decided to give yoga a try. That was five years ago, and Levine hasn’t lifted a weight or entered a gym since. “Yoga takes what you have and molds and sculpts it, which is a much more natural way to look and feel,” he says.

Credit Levine with a refreshing candor about the aesthetic payoff: “I don’t like how people bullshit about how yoga is not about vanity.” Not that he doesn’t appreciate the spiritual benefits—Levine sees his routines as a therapeutic antidote to the distortions of his career. “Playing a show before thousands of people is a highly unnatural state,” he says, “and when I get on the mat to do an hour of yoga before the show, I come out physically relaxed.”

The man behind Levine’s transformation is veteran New York City yoga instructor Chad Dennis. At a friend’s suggestion, Levine met him for a session, and within months Dennis was traveling with Maroon 5. On tour, he puts Levine through daily routines that draw from a variety of yoga schools. Sometimes the poses are slow and repetitive: “For me, that’s a form of meditation,” Levine says. Other times they are muscle-quiveringly difficult: “He’ll take me on a friggin’ obstacle course of yoga.” All of it, he says, adds up to “an investment in happiness for the rest of my life.”

Adam Levine’s three essential poses:

	1. Headstand I: Levine is a fan of this Sirsasana pose because it generates a good sweat and takes an intense amount of concentration to avoid falling over.
	2. Half-moon with hands in prayer: Levine has worked on this pose to open up his chronically tight hips.
	3. One-Legged Koundinyasana II: All the weight is supported by the arms, so it’s a great way to strengthen your chest and shoulders.

For more tips from Levine, watch this video:

Full article HERE

P.S. Jatuh means ‘falling’ in my beautiful language, in case some of my readers didn’t get me

How was T-H-A-T
as the finale of final ever season of
your favourite TV show!

*Standing ovation to Mark Wahlberg!*

Photo by Claudette Barius for HBO

Farewell to my favourite glimpse of glam Hollywood life,
to the most brilliant character ever created for TV (Ari Gold),
and to happily ever after.

Here’s to hoping that Entourage the movie will be better than the Sex and the City movies.
Or.. the second one at least.

1. Chris Daughtry
2. David Cook
3. Elliot Yamin

(notice my obvious pattern of guitar-playing and scruffy-looking rockstar in the making? LOL)

For this year’s AI, if I could have (or more, WOULD have) voted,
no disrespect to Scotty and whoever wins tomorrow
but Lauren’s got me at “I could stay awake..”

And for an album titled The Kings of Limbs,
(digital download & paperback pre-order is available HERE,
region dependant & cookies-enabled required though)
it’s a dead (body ;D) giveaway.

With my lotus feet & forehead kissing the earth, welcome back Radiohead!

• (*) The Kids Are Alright (9/10)
• (*) The Town (8.4/10, I have got to say – for a movie starred + directed + produced by Ben Affleck, it was really good)
• (*) The Social Network (9.2/10, I think the movie’s success is mainly contributed by Aaron Sorkin & Trent Reznor)

• (f) Middle Men (9/10 – I enjoyed this movie as much as I enjoyed Scorsese’s Casino)
• (f) Life As We Know It (I’m giving it 7.1/10 for an I-thought-it’s-supposed-to-be-a-cheesy movie but I cried five times throughout the whole movie)
• (f) Never Let Me Go (6.8/10, which is a very disturbing movie yet disappointing at the same time ‘cos I love love love Carey Mulligan)
• (f) (X) Little Fockers
• (f) The Romantics (7.5/10, I love how it doesn’t have a happy ending)
• (f) Going The Distance (6/10)

• The Tourist (4/10)
• Damping Malam (2/10, I was tricked into watching it by my younger brother and baby sister )
• Conviction (7.6/10)
• The Switch (4.5/10)
• You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger (I would have given it 8/10 if it did not end like that, (no) thanks Woody Allen!)

• Black Swan (9.3/10)
• (X) Secretariat
• (X) A Kind Of Funny Story
• Welcome To The Rileys (6.5/10)
• Fair Game (8/10 simply mostly ‘cos it starts with 5 minutes of beautiful KLCC & KL scenery AND it opens with KRU’s Awas – sumpah!)
• The Yellow Handkerchief (5.5/10)
• Rabbit Hole (7/10 but Nicole Kidman is as usual, exceptionally brilliant)
• Casino Jack (7.5/10)
• The Fighter (8.5/10)

• 127 Hours (9.1/10)
• Unstoppable (8/10 – this movie gives you Speed deja vu)
• King’s Speech (8.5/10)
• Extra Man (7/10)
• All Good Things (8.5/10)

with the last THIRTEEN movies watched during Chinese New Year long weekend

NOTES:

1. Marked (*) are movies I’m not sure if I watched in 2011 or late 2010
2. Marked (f) are movies watched via Cathay Pacific in Toronto to Hong Kong’s 16-hours flight)
3. Marked (X) are movies that I fell asleep more than 30% of the full show (classic Ninie)
4. I do not watch cartoons AND horror flicks (and chick flicks if I can avoid it) by choice which explains the absence of the likes  – Tangled, Paranormal Activity 2 and errr, Khurafat. However – I might just give an exception to Toy Story 3 as it is listed as one of this year’s Academy Awards Best Picture AND Quentin Tarantino’s favourite movie of 2010!

.   .   .   .   .   .

Although Black Swan and The Social Network scored most points in my list, I personally want Inception to win Best Picture this year (if it were to have shown this year, I would have given it 9.5/10 rating). Oscar has never favoured Christopher Nolan but they better do this year ’cause Inception is just too genius a movie to not be recognized and appreciated.

That – or, give a chance to brilliant uncomfortable movies like The Kids Are Alright (or maybe I just love good dysfunctional family movies).

But 127 Hours (from the same director and music score writer of Slumdog Millionaire) is sooooo painful to watch I almost peed in my pants – it should win something big too! But I only watched it half an hour ago so I might be biassed

But really – who am I, a retired yoga teacher to rate or to decide which movie should win which and what.

But since it is my time and my money
(time & money spent on movies in 2011 so far = ± RM200 + 40 hours in 40 days),
hey, I am still allowed to judge !

The last three movie posters are tributes to my favourite movies over the past 10 years.

To good movies that inspire changes.

Well let’s say.. your friend IS Oprah Winfrey.

Duh, give her the gift of Y-O-G-A!

To tell Oprah (or your friend) that they need yoga might be a tad rude so, bravo Jen for giving O a personalized yoga mat with her dogs so she can ‘down dog’ and start sitting still on the mat.

.   .   .   .   .   .

I can’t think of a better birthday gift than

• simply appreciating the essence of life – our breaths
• knowing we have the option to extend our lifetime
• being able to naturally look younger and live longer
• the enlightenment than we don’t need more money and designer things to be happier
• simply being content and and making full use of the two hands, two feet  24 hours that we already have
• feeling humbled that no matter how good we look in the mirror / how powerful we think we are, s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g still hurts and we can’t even (errr, head)stand still for a minute?

Change a life.
Share the gift of yoga.

Alia & Radzi

Radzi’s KL Invite

Alia’s Kuantan Invite

Alia & Radzi Videos Credit to: John Hafiz & Pidosan

Nadia & Hamzah Alang

Pre-Wedding

Wedding Receptions

Nadia & Hamzah Videos Credit to: Manggis Productions

The vows I take will be forever
I’ll love you all my life.
There’s no part way, no holding back
Once we are man and wife.

The choice is made, and now I swim
In a far different sea,
The shores of which are bright green hills
Raised up for you and me.

Our love is like a mountainside
Awash in lovely flowers:
It is our home, our solid rock,
Where all bright things are ours.

And though of need we often must
Spend our days apart,
Our love will always be with us,
Held within the heart.

~ Nicholas Gordon via Juliana Ibrahim

Is it just me or wedding love really is all around?

No more Sex.

my favourite TV show character with the most brilliant script / lines ever written for – is no doubt, Ari Gold from Entourage (HBO). Whoever invented Ari Gold is a total genius. Almost as genius as the brainchild of Yogitoes.

(Useful fact: Ari’s character is based on the real-life Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel, who broke away from mega-agency ICM to form the Endeavor Talent Agency, which represents such stars as Vin Diesel and Larry David, both of whom are represented on the show by the fictional Ari Gold. Likewise, both Emanuel and Gold represent series producer, Mark Wahlberg, upon whose experiences in Hollywood the series is loosely based. Ari Emanuel also once represented Jeremy Piven himself, and in an interview on the special features of the Season 3 Part 2 DVD, Entourage creator Doug Ellin says that the real life Ari Emanuel demanded the “Ari Gold” part be cast to Piven and wouldn’t accept anyone else to play him.)

I started noticing the actor, Jeremy Piven when he started playing main’s best friend in Serendipity (John Cusack’s) and The Family Man (Nicholas Cage’s) in 2000 & 2001. On my defense, I was only 18!

After glued to watching season after season of Entourage to be blown away by the most insulting yet inspirational lines from the mouth of Ari Gold (and Johnny Drama!), I found myself paying more attention to Jeremy Pixen after I watched Jeremy Piven’s Journey Of A Lifetime (2006) where Piven travelled to Northern and Southern India for a spiritual and yoga journey (as if they are any different – LOL. Auww, come on. Lighten up!)

Discovery Channel

Since then, I have been bending over backwards to find out more about Jeremy Piven and his quest for yoga.

Infamously, Jeremy credits his (fish) mercury poisoning incident to discovering Fish Pose.

From Men’s Fitness:

Since then, he has taken up yoga. “[My preconception was] you have to wear a leotard,” he jokes. “I mean, do you have to wear a bindi and hold incense?” But now, he credits lotus poses and downward facing dogs for giving him the calm to play Ari Gold on the TV show. “Ari’s got some quick-twitch anger,” Piven says.

“To do that repeatedly, you have to come from a place of stillness.”

More yoga photos of Jeremy Piven (images from HBO, Men’s Fitness, Fitsugar, People, Yoga Dork and Google)

Side planking

He claimed that it only took him nine months to master the splits  – here’s to hoping, guys!

With the Porsche of yoga mats

.   .   .   .   .   .

What’s with the sudden craze of Jeremy Piven, Ninie – you may ask?

Well, one – Entourage premiered Season 7 when I was in the US,

and two, someone Direct Message-d me on Twitter just the other day !

While I can’t don’t want to share what he DM-ed me (errr, since my boyfriend might read this?), all I can say is – I can’t wait!

Love and LA light.

Each of them told me they have a secret crush over Ninie Ahmad.

Azwan says I look very much like his former yet biggest celebrity crush, Ziana Zain so he loves me no matter what.

Well, it’s not the first time I was told so

And Klubbkidd (aka Joe Lee) said since he’ll never be married to Xiaxue’s husband a girl, I can be his wife for a day during the Project Alpha Bloggers’ Launch.

Plus, he did Partner Yoga in public with me too just to know what it feels like having a girl on top of him

For avid followers who are already having Project Alpha Season 2 withdrawal symptom, I just found out today that there is a bonus episode mainly featuring adidas OLE KO Challenge I bragged on how confident I was on winning.

To find out who really won, yoga-ta just watch this for I’m not telling (since they DIDN’T tell me Michael ‘The Director’ Lim was gonna play and played damn well too!)

Photos from Azwan Ali

If you still can’t get enough of Project Alpha (or are not patient enough to wait for it to load on YouTube), catch us on Hitz TV (ASTRO Ch 705) every Sunday 10 to 10.30pm with repeats on every Tuesday 7:30 till 8:00pm, every Thursday 8:30 till 9.00pm and every Saturday 3:00 till 3:30pm and in this order.

May 23: Project Alpha Season 1 bloggers

May 30: Niki Cheong + Xiaxue (Part I)

June 6: Niki Cheong + Xiaxue (Part II)

June 13: Cheesie

June 10: Shaolin Tiger

June 27: KY

July 4: M-E!

July 11: Azwan Ali

July 18: Klubbkidd

.   .   .   .   .   .

I can never thank Project Alpha sponsors enough,

Main Sponsor : Adidas Action 3
Official Broadband Sponsor : P1
Official Flight Sponsor : Malaysia Airlines
Official Cosmetics Sponsor : Rimmel
Official Hair & Make Up Sponsor : A Cut Above
Official Media Partner : Hitz FM & Era FM
Official Social Networking Site : Ruumz
Hotel Sponsors : 360Kuching & Millennium Hotel Group
Online News Portal : The Daily Chilli

for making it all happen to us (allegedly) Malaysia’s top bloggers.

.   .   .   .   .   .

I vouch for Joyce Wong, Hanis Zalikha and Proudduck for Project Alpha Season 3!