Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

Do you know that peaceful feeling you get from being around someone who is calm and isn’t bothered by a thing? Who doesn’t sweat the small stuff? I love me some drama-free people. People who don’t take themselves too seriously, stay calm, don’t freak out, who speak less, reflect more, and use some good ol’ common sense. If you know what I’m taking about, You have experienced the drama free-zone.

Overbooking my schedule since returning to California has left me tired and overwhelmed. I can never turn down an opportunity, so now I never stop-- I leave the house at 8am and come back at 10pm. What have I done to myself?! It’s in these moments that I appeal to my yoga values. Yoga, in its non dogmatic form, is the only philosophy whose moral codes I was able to identify with and slowly make my own.

I’ve recently enjoyed reading #GIRLBOSS, a book by NastyGal founder Sophia Amoruso. Her story sounds all too familiar: she spent her youth as a total rebel, hating school, quitting jobs, broke, directionless, and angry at the world. Then she started selling vintage clothes on eBay. Eight years later, she is the founder, CEO, and creative director of Nasty Gal, a $100 million plus online fashion retailer.

My journey in yoga lately has been leading me to throughly analyze the way postures work. In other words, alignment. Lately I’ve been asking myself: what is the balance between strength and flexibility? Does a body party or muscle group need to be strong in order to be flexible?

About a year ago I started practicing yoga on my own. Before, I was never one to practice alone. After all, why should I stay home and practice by myself when I can go to YogaWorks? You might be one of those people who also doesn’t want to miss out on the social vibe of public classes, and I don’t blame you. Or maybe you don’t feel like you know enough of yoga sequencing and alignment to be on your own. In that case, you can either take mental note of what you see in class and replicate it, or read up a sequence online. Even though safety is still priority, if you are looking for a simple, solid home practice you can figure a few poses out work for you specifically and get all the benefits of a self-imposed structure.