Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

If you know us here at the Conscious Cleanse, you know we love our green smoothies! We believe that there’s no snack more versatile and nutritious than a freshly blended smoothie. Ranging from the protein-packed peanut butter and banana smoothie to the light and fruity blueberry & lemon smoothie to the palette-awakening cilantro & lime smoothie, these blended beauties are a simple, delicious, and customizable way to chug nutritious foods. Above all, however, is the smoothie’s unmatched ability to help reduce food waste in your kitchen. While you may not delight in munching on strawberry tops or lemon peels on their own, tossed in a blender, they keep your smoothie healthy and your compost empty.

People in many professions in today's world typically spend the majority of the day at their desks in front of the computer. We can quickly slip into the pit of the monitor screen and look at it for days on end if we don't keep track of time. This is harmful not only to our well-being but also to imagination and creativity. In regards to staying healthy to stay inspired, writer Orson Scott Card once said about inspiration for writing, "Take care of your body. Writing is a sedentary activity, so it's easy to become fat and inert. And since the brain is dependent on the rest of the body, it is impossible to get work done when you are weak or sick."

While yoga originated from India with suggested regions, including the Indus Valley Civilization around the 3300-1900 BCE, it has expanded and grown all over the world. Today, you will find yoga practitioners worldwide, and as a group of mental, physical, and spiritual disciplines, yoga has incredible diversity to offer to all those interested in having a healthy lifestyle. For some, yoga goes even deeper, and avid practitioners would tell you that yoga is not just exercise but also a way of life. According to a recent study, over 55 million people around the world started practicing yoga for the first time in 2020. Furthermore, around 44% of all yoga practitioners spend time doing yoga at least 2-3 times per week and spend an average of $90 per month on yoga. Moreover, 37% of yoga enthusiasts have children that also enjoy practicing yoga with their caretakers.

Who is ready for an excellent fitness bootcamp program with all the guess work and decision making handled for you? Wedding season is upon us and if you’re getting married, you want to feel and look your best for your special day. Whether you’re a bride-to-be or simply someone who is ready for a challenge for your body, mind, and spirit, this week we’re here to deliver. We all want to feel our best, but sometimes it can be overwhelming deciding what workout to do when and what is the most impactful way to get stronger, more flexible, and emotionally balanced. It’s easy to start off with the best of intentions and then other commitments and responsibilities knock you off your path. This fitness bootcamp is specially crafted to give you excellent results in an efficient manner, while also making it easy to stay on track. Here’s how:

My secret to inventing new recipes – being lazy and not having certain food groups at home. I realize that for most people baking bread does not qualify under being lazy, but if you ask from me, then spending 20 minutes on bread baking requires less energy compared to running out to the store to get bread. So this recipe was invented on one of those Saturday mornings when I was all out of baked goods, fancied bread, and simultaneously I needed to use up some coconut milk in my fridge. Two main ingredients here are coconut milk and plain flour. The recipe is also extremely easy to remember because flour and coconut milk are required in equal amounts. Add in a dash of baking powder for extra fluff and some seasonings and you are almost done!

Besides being the “butt” of many jokes, the gluteus maximus is the largest and most superficial of the three gluteal muscles. It makes up a large portion of the shape and appearance of the hips. Its size is unique to humans; no other mammal has such expansive rear area, as pointed out in the classic Trail Guide to the Body. Perhaps this is why we are apt to laugh about it? All jokes aside, it’s important for us to give attention to this major muscle in order to maintain healthy posture and an happy lower back. When the gluteus maximus is unhealthy, adhered or possessing swarms of trigger points, it can start a game of tug-of-war with the lower back muscles, especially quadratus lumborum(QL).

Listen to the Full Audio Reading. This moon and lunar eclipse will be a spark of lightning from the depths of the unknown. It is both the Tower and the World card in Tarot. Sudden shifts to bring completion and awakened fulfillment. Intuition will be lit, and the energy is ripe to find divine within current realities. This moon will illuminate how we can create our own liberation from within the moment and what is in existence. This eclipse will reflect the eclipse from December 14, 2020. It will bring into light the depths of the worries, concerns, and aspects of desire from that period. This is a very revealing lunar eclipse occurring in Scorpio. The very nature will show secrets revealed and will call upon greater opening within the collective consciousness as it pertains to materialization of the self from the self. The moon will eclipse in Saturn's Nakshatra of Anuradha, with Saturn in retrograde in it’s own sign; this marks a heavy unveiling of illusion. There is a strong mercurial energy occurring on the back end and the aim is to create harmony, peace, and stabilize from the depths of being.

We’ve all faced the dilemma: you have a limited amount of time to move your body and relieve stress. Do you practice yoga or do strength training? Problem solved: Yoga sculpt. If you’ve never tried a yoga fusion class, here’s your chance to garner all the benefits of a strength workout blended with the mindfulness of yoga. These hybrid workouts can combine yoga with weights, barre, Pilates, HIIT, cardio––the variety is part of the fun! In these special classes, the emphasis is on getting stronger and sculpted, but also staying mindful and maintaining mobility. It’s one of the most efficient and effective ways to ensure that you prevent injury and enhance your strength, balance, and flexibility. Here are a few reasons we love these yoga fitness fusion classes:

Spring is cool and in my case, it is literally cool, because the temperatures here are still mostly chilly. Still, we already seeing some green outside, and of course, the first things that start to grow are all kinds of weeds. We usually want to get rid of weeds, but did you know that many plants we consider weeds are actually edible and good for you? That is if you live somewhere far away from the big roads and pollution, of course. I happen to live in the city center, but Tallinn, our Estonian, capital is small enough to go to the nearest forest by bicycle, and still be able to pick fresh greens from the forest! In my smoothie today, I used goutweed and stinging nettles. Both are extremely unpleasant friends in your flower garden, as they easily take over everything, but both are healthy and good for you if you pick them while they are still young.

Kadri is a marketing expert, food blogger, and yoga teacher from Estonia. She has been contributing recipes to YogaDownload for over a year and most of her recipes are simple and don’t take more than 20 minutes of active cooking time. The time spent outside of the kitchen is often spent right next to the kitchen as she has turned her living room to an online yoga studio for the time being and teaches most of her classes online.

We’ve all heard meditation is good for your brain, and with the rollout of meditation apps and courses over the past few years, it’s becoming more and more well known that meditation can benefit us vastly. With this increase in popularity, also comes scientific research into the positive effects of meditation. Now, we can actually see the various neurological benefits that meditation has on the brain, including actual changes in gray matter - or increased activity in certain areas of the brain. Looking at these benefits alongside the psychological effects of meditation on our well-being, it’s easy to see exactly how meditation can change your mind and brain. Meditation Can Help Preserve Aging Brains

Quick check in: does your mind feel laser-focused and steady? Ready to handle any challenges in a reasonable, calm manner? If your answer, like ours, was to throw your head back and roar with laughter because you’ve got countless distractions bouncing around your brain, we’re here to help. This week, we’ve got four meditation classes to help you feel clearer and more grounded. If you are new to meditation or it has been a while since you meditated, read on for some insight into why it can have such a profound impact on your life. Meditation is the practice of learning to quiet the monkey mind or as Patanjali delineated in Yoga Sutra 1.2: citta vritti nirodhah: Yoga is learning to direct the attention of your mind where you wish it to go. Meditation encourages you to quiet the distractions in order to create space for clarity. It is the art of letting go and bringing the mind to the present moment. Meditation is a practice that takes time and effort, but it is worth every minute.

Chocolate and cherries are a match made in heaven. I made this cake a few months back when it was still freezing outside, so my choice of cherries here were frozen sour cherries. Using frozen cherries instead of fresh ones might even be a good idea if you do have the fresh ones available as it saves you time on taking out the pits! But using fresh cherries for decoration makes a lot of sense if you happen to have cherries – sweet or sour, available. The cake has three layers but even so, it is not a difficult cake to prepare. The most difficult part of this cake is waiting for it to set. In a perfect world, it would be good to leave it in the fridge to set for 2 hours. If your guests are already waiting, feel free to just pop the cake in the freezer to speed up the waiting time. Another thing that needs to set is the glaze, but as we use agar-agar as a setting agent, and agar-agar starts to set around 110F, this does not take long at all.

If you’re trying to get healthier and improve your body image by losing weight, you might know that the struggle of weight loss needs you to stay motivated and confident across a long period of time. But if you’re trying to lose weight, it can be hard to keep confident and feel happy about yourself if you’re not happy with your body image. It’s really important to give yourself confidence boosts along the way of your weight loss journey. We all know that you’ll feel better about yourself when you meet your weight goals, but if you feel more confident while you’re losing weight, you might find yourself more motivated to stick to it, and finally reach those goals. Here’s some ways to boost your self confidence when you’re losing weight.

Listen to the audio reading This New Moon will create a new shift in desires and ask for clarity. She is shifting the way life moves through you. The moon goes into apogee at an archetypal point on the 11th. She will carry forward 4 archetypal positions from Venus, Sun, and Mars in addition to her own. This is a strong moon and her message will carry much into our external world. The last Full Moon marked ‘go time’ a lot of forward moving energies, with the forward surge of energy this lunation is about refinement and will show what we want is always what serves. It’s important to see that the chase isn’t fruitful, it’s the dance that is fulfilling. The planetary energies will shake up inner creation, inner realization of creative powers, and yes shake away the chase. Be mindful of your play in the worldly. The moon will highlight disillusionment, wasted energy, and for many of you lead you to fulfillment by the way of dissatisfaction. Dissatisfaction being the causation to pivot to what matters most.

If you have a consistent yoga practice, you’re aware of the myriad of internal and external benefits you receive, like balance, strength, flexibility, and equanimity. But did you know yoga can also help you feel more confident and lose weight? We’re not talking treating yoga like an exercise regimen to burn calories. Instead, yoga can help you cultivate a powerful mind-body connection that supports weight loss or any other physical goals you might have. When you move through a physical yoga practice, whether it is a vigorous Vinyasa flow or a mellow restorative practice, you focus on how you are feeling. Is your breath deep and steady or shallow and erratic? Are you angry, depressed, or at peace? Do you feel stagnant and heavy or light and vibrant? By taking the time to become more aware of your feelings, you can begin to process them fully instead of burying them. Emotional eating is common and many of us have made unhealthy choices like consuming fast food or too much sugar, which only masks the underlying issues for a short time.

I seem to have a thing with green food in the springtime. It just calls for me and so most of my food has been green for the past few weeks already. I already have many little plants growing on my windowsill and wishing to be planted outside soon, but it is still slightly too early for them. Luckily, my windows face south, so they have plenty of light to enjoy. So, the greens for today’s recipe are still store-bought, but very soon I hope to use my own herbs and salads! The pasta today is green too. Or, to be precise, the sauce is green and you can choose whatever your pasta preference is for the actual pasta part. My choice is usually whole wheat, but there are so many different gluten-free varieties out there as well – lentil pasta, quinoa pasta, oat pasta, and even a buckwheat one.

Adopting a mindset of gratitude and infusing this energy into your daily life is a simple and amazing way to improve your mental and physical health. Gratitude is essentially giving thanks for all that you have in your life, whether it is small or big. But besides simply expressing thanks, there are many other fun and unique ways to practice gratitude on a daily basis as well. Here are 5 simple ways to feel more grateful, right now. Make a Gratitude List

Clearing and opening the throat chakra solves issues related to the inability to find and speak any truth. The results of the healed throat chakra are authentic and vivid self-expression. You naturally stand in your highest self, and your speech expresses the real need of your whole being. When this cycle is broken, you will talk through your head and not from the core of your existence. Your speech may be weak, crooked, or you may verbally dominate others when your Visshuda chakra is out of balance. The defensive debate is a common symptom of an unclear throat cycle. Being able to connect with your heart is essential to know your truth, and a clear Vishuddha chakra will help you express yourself in a smooth, beautiful, flowing speech. Here is how to open it with daily writing practices. Here is how to open your throat chakra using a pen and paper:

Depending on your schedule and your natural rhythm, practicing yoga first thing in the morning might already be part of your routine. If you’re on the other end of the spectrum and the idea of pairing your yoga practice with the rising of the sun makes you roll over and hit the snooze button, please hear us out and consider trying something new. We promise everyone will love this five-part series of quick Vinyasa classes from expert yoga teacher Jackie Casal Mahrou. Here’s why a morning ritual is a powerful way to start your day! Set a Positive Intention for Your Day

One of the most important skills we’ve developed is how to modify a recipe to make it “cleaner” or cleanse-friendly, so today we wanted to share some of our processes with you to make it easier for you to makeover your favorite recipes! I (Jo) and my husband found this recipe for Turmeric Black Pepper Chicken with Asparagus online and wanted to make it for our family, but before we could, we had to make some modifications to fit our dietary needs.

If you’ve done even one yoga class, you’ve probably already done at least one twisting pose in your practice, probably more. Twisting has a large number of benefits to the body, however, it’s important to do them safely for the best yoga experience. Here’s some of the benefits of yoga twists, and how to master them. Back Health When we do twists in yoga we rotate the spine and stretch the back muscles, which in turn helps to restore and keep the spine’s range of motion. Not having a strong range of motion can run the risk of our joints becoming hard and inflexible, and the supportive muscles surrounding the spine can shrink. Stretching the muscles regularly with twists can prevent this. Boosting Energy

Are you ready to refresh and rejuvenate physically, emotionally, and mentally? A well-rounded yoga practice emphasizing twists will leave you feeling your best on every level. Here are 4 ways twists help clear out your system and create the space to welcome in fresh energy and light. Keeps Spine Healthy: Twists help restore and maintain your spine’s range of motion, improve flexibility and mobility, and encourage proper posture. Most of us aren’t consistently moving our spines through the three ranges of motion necessary to keep the spine in ultimate condition.

There’s a reason that conventional wisdom says breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But let’s be real – mornings can be hectic, and that’s putting it nicely. Just like with our cleansers, we like to set our kids up right with a quick and easy meal that loads us up with dark leafy greens. Our favorite is this Kid-Friendly Very Berry Green Smoothie! Kids love it and parents can feel good knowing that whatever else happens with their kid’s diet today, at least they got in this serving of fruits and vegetables! Kid-Friendly Very Berry Green Smoothie

This Full Moon marks the movement of new energy into new life and new creations. It’s go time. The energy enshrouding this lunation is putting action and impulse forward. This moon has heavy Martian influence and those fiery impulses are fanned by North Node, Rahu. This is going to bring lifeforce, directive, and power into your higher desires and inner pursuits. The moon goes into full pedigree in Libra. It rises late on the 26th and into the 27th. The subtle energies acting behind the scenes are giving this Full Moon a unique personality. The aspects of Rahu and Mars will push the karmic wheel, in many ways. As my readings focus on the spiritual and personal use of the cosmic energies I want to note that there is a karmic retribution occurring during this month. Many of you will befall rewards, projects will move forward, new creative pursuits will be illuminated for your gifts and/or fulfill other aspects of desires and destiny. There will be a natural equalizing energy. Let it balance out, natural order is guiding this-no effort needed.