Energy Boosts

A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book. ~Irish Proverb

As our days get hotter & longer we tend to run out of energy pretty quickly. Scientists swear by this energy enhancing trick & I have to say from years of experience I'm with them! A 40 minute nap can increase your energy 100% & improve your daily performance by 34%! When we close our eyes this is giving our brains a chance to re-organize & gather new information. We sort out the unnecessary & deal with the details that are needed. Alright, so 40 minutes may seem hard to obtain, but studies even show that 10 minutes spent meditating, or sitting quietly with our eyes closed is enough to help replenish our brains function! If this is even hard to get around to, grab a Yerba Mate. This tea is great for stimulating your nervous system & it doesn't have the harsh affects that high energy drinks have. It's lower in caffeine & wont leave you with jitters! Enjoy this beautiful weather we are having & get your nap on!!

Sukhasana- Easy Pose

If you are not able to nap, try out this pose. Great for that quick meditation. Breathe & relax

Savasana- Corpse Pose

Let our hips melt into the earth, wiggle a bit & adjust. Leaving our hands & feet weightless. Surrender

Well rested already? Deepen your practice this week with my pose of the day! This pose is good for generating great joint stability & balance!

Garudasana- Eagle Pose

Starting on our right side- Gentle bend in our knees, take our right leg & wrap it over the top of our left. If our foot can hook around our left leg, great! If not just rest it gently next to it. Taking our left arm hook it under the right elbow & bring our palms together. This is opening our right hip & right scapula. Even out with the left leg over the right & right arm hooking under the left. (For a bigger challenge, try this reclined & do Eagle sit ups!)

Namaste

STRESS CAN CAUSE WHAT?!

Have you been working out, treating your body good & still not seeing any results? Whether you want a healthy lifestyle or really just want to shed some pounds, here is one reason why you may not be seeing a change. I came across this article in Reader's Digest...

Stress Fattens You Up!!
The most direct route is the food-in-mouth syndrome: Stressful circumstances (your bank account, your boss) spark cravings for carbohydrate-rich snack foods, which in turn calm stress hormones. (When researchers in one study took away high-carb food from stressed mice, their stress hormones surged.)

Stress hormones also ramp up fat storage. For our prehistoric ancestors, stress meant drought or approaching tigers, and a rapid-storage process made sense; we needed the extra energy to survive food shortages or do battle. Today we take our stress sitting down—and the unused calories accumulate in our midsection.

To whittle yourself back down to size, in addition to your usual workout routine, make time for stress relief—whether it's a yoga class or quality time with family.

Now for my 2 cents & my 3 yoga poses to help slim down!

Crescent Lunge-

To make this easier you can always release your back knee. If you are looking for that challenge take a nice big inhale & on the exhale lead with heart soaring over the knee & flow your arms down to your side. Flowing Crescent Lunge. Great for increasing metabolism!

Warrior II-

Open your hips & hold this pose for 8 breaths if you can. Sink down & engage your core & legs!

Tree Pose-

Challenge yourself in this balance & close your eyes. Really test your core!

These poses are great for firming your abdomen(core), your sides, hips & thighs. Practice these 3-5 times a week. Increase your holds or even begin to flow them & increase your repetition! Enjoy & good luck losing that "stress"!

The trouble with having a body is that people know it's where you hang out and you don't get any privacy. ~Robert Brault

Charlie Sheen Has Tiger Blood..You can too!!

To keep the body in good health is a duty... otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear. ~Buddha

Have we been sleeping well? With all the fluctuating weather we've had this month of May sleeping patterns tend to change as well. Be sure you are honoring your body & getting a good nights rest! Of course it would be wonderful if we could live off 4 hours of sleep. Think of all the things we could accomplish, but unfortunately we cant. We can LIVE, we just wont be PRODUCTIVE!

Wake up your mind & body this week with new food & a new yoga pose!

Cherimoya is a new food that fires up your brain activity & memory! It is a melon-sized fruit that looks like an emerald green heart & has a mix of flavoring like bananas, pineapple & strawberry! Sounds amazing right? Well, not only does it taste fabulous it is loaded with B6, which wards off Alzheimer's & sharpens the memory! Once its ripe, begin to eat & ripen your brain!

Shoulder Stand-Salamba Sarvangasana is one of my favorite poses. Not only great for enriching the blood flow, but where do you think all the blood is traveling? To the brain!! Inversions are a great way to wake up & get your body working! If you have a neck injury, be sure to prop yourself up. Inversions are not meant to be forced into. Take your time. Practice pays off!

Happy Week To You All!

POSE OF THE DAY

Stress is nothing more than a socially acceptable form of mental illness. ~Richard Carlson

Good to know that we are all crazy, right?!

Enjoy the stress, but enjoy what you are doing to rid of it more! We all know what I do to relieve stress, so I'm sharing with you my pose for the day!

Revolved Half-Moon-Parivrtta Ardha Chandrasana

Standing in a forward fold, keeping our hips centered, lift our right leg. Right fingers stay to the mat as we lift our left arm high. Good twist, great balance! Be sure to even out & enjoy! You can also continue the set & practice a full Half Moon. In this one, keep our hips open instead of closed. Modify with a block if we cant reach our mats!

Half Moon-Ardha Chandrasana

Remember our wake up routines, remember to breathe & most importantly remember to take some time for you. Below are a few good ways to relieve stress if this yoga pose isnt going to cut it!

1. Exercise.
2. Write.
3. Socialize.
4. Take care of yourself.
5. Get some fresh air.
6. Be kind to yourself.
7. Meditate.
8. Be thankful.
9. Make a change.

Mothers Day Salutations

Living is being born slowly. It would be a little too easy if we could borrow ready-made souls. ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

This weekend we all celebrate Mothers Day! Keeping it short & sweet for the weekend, enjoy your friends & family is all I ask! Make this weekend a time for sharing & having fun. Something you can do to enjoy both those experiences are my favorite, Earth Salutations. We all have a mother, yes, but we also share another one; Mother Earth. So, as you praise your mama, give thanks to the other one too!

Listening to our bodies, take our time! When we feel good about the flow, use our breath to help us pick up the pace. Enjoy this Salute & its great workout!!

Flow Right & Left leg into 3 legged dog-->Pigeon

~Happy Weekend To All~