Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

For many of us, taking time and doing things that help to clear out the stress and tension is essential to feeling vibrant. Most of us carry a lot in our minds every day, more than we might realize or give ourselves credit for. Every single human is balancing some combination of work, relationships, finances, emotions, in their minds. It can be a lot of keep track of or feel relaxed about. It can be easy to forget that things can be simple, life can feel good and there is so much wonder and beauty in this temporary human experience. It's vital to have experiences and practices that help you embrace life more fully. If we don't give ourselves time to go inwards to recharge, reset, and clear things out, we can accumulate tension, burn out or not feel so excited about life.

2021 is around the corner, and not a moment too soon. It’s been a tumultuous year for many of us, so New Year's resolutions probably haven’t even crossed your mind. Big changes and new challenges may be a little too much to take on after the year that we’ve had, but there are plenty of small changes you can make that will help bring you a little more joy in the year to come. Here’s our list of small changes to make for a happier 2021. Start reading Many of us would have spent more time than ever this year watching shows or movies at home.

Self-care is an all-encompassing term that we tend to hear a lot, but what actually is self care, and why is it important? Self-care means taking care of your body, mind and soul - every day, not just when you’re feeling run down. This can include eating healthy, doing positive activities, and taking some time out for yourself, in order to stay happy and healthy. Sounds easy enough right? However, it’s not always as straightforward as it seems.

Mindfulness is a great way to keep calm and happy in today's world. The mental state of mindfulness can help to reduce anxiety, and keep your mind healthy through an awareness of your own thoughts. While it might be the ‘buzzword’ of the year, mindfulness has been practiced for over 2000 years, and it’s now seen as a medically recommended technique to reduce depression. Want to get in on it? Here’s a few small ways you can bring mindfulness into your daily life. Try it for one minute

Having a balanced life can be a key for success. Keeping things in balance can lead to a stress free life, peace of mind and having a good life. We all have a manner of responsibility, and keeping these in balance with things that we enjoy doing can be hard. However, if things get off balance, stress can occur, as well as emotional or even physical health issues. Here’s our top secrets to maintaining a balanced life. Take care of yourself If you’re not healthy and living an unhealthy lifestyle, you’ll find it hard to get everything done. The first step to living a balanced life is to get enough sleep, eat nutritious food and exercise. You can’t function as an adult while not getting enough of these things. As well as taking care of your physical health, take some time to look after yourself mentally too - try to find time for activities you love, and help yourself unwind after a stressful day by doing something relaxing. This will put you in a great state of mind to lead a balanced lifestyle.

Happiness can sometimes evade us. Reading bad news, a rainy day, or just feeling generally grumpy can lead to us feeling unhappy and negative. However, there are some small steps you can take to help you on your way to happiness everyday. If you’re feeling down in the dumps lately, here’s some quick wins to help you on your way to happiness. Get Enough Sleep Seven to nine hours, to be exact. A healthy sleep schedule is the first step to being happy. Have you ever had a bad night’s sleep and the following day almost everything frustrates or annoys you? This is because a lack of sleep can make you less alert, less logical and can also contribute to health issues such as obesity and can exacerbate mental health issues. All these things can lead to a breakdown of your good relationships, make you struggle at work, and make it harder to feel happy and productive. Struggling to sleep? Try to have a warm shower or bath before getting in bed, and put your phone away from your reach. Wake Up a Little Earlier

Several years ago I read something that said something along the lines of 'mastery' simply being the result of doing things you've committed to or decided you would master, even in the moments when you really don't feel like it. I resonate with this, and have often returned to the lightbulb moment this perspective gave me, on days when I do not feel like showing up on my yoga mat. When I manage to overcome the obstacles of getting onto my mat (which are usually made up excuses), almost always, I'm happy I practiced. Very seldom, if ever, do I regret taking the time to do yoga. Can you also relate to this? The benefits of yoga are too numerous to list, and so rich for those that feel the effects of a regular practice on their well-being. Life can feel challenging sometimes, and having something to return to that brings a greater sense of peace, is priceless. I've learned that for whatever reason, the yogic combination of focusing on the breath while putting the body into these powerful shapes, has the ability to transform our thinking, and has left me feeling more relaxed, happy, and content, time and time again.

Glass half empty or half full. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Life is what you make it. A silver lining, a blessing in disguise. Seeing the positive in life has been a constant struggle for me. I was that melancholic child, that broody teenager, and that unpredictable young adult. With an artistic temperament, even as an adult I’ve appreciated the existential tenderness of darkness and despair. And it’s true that there’s much darkness in our experience on earth. A lot of shitty things happen to a lot of people. We can’t change this fact. But we can change the meaning about what happens to us and others. This is called Reframing. Reframing is about changing the meaning of an event or experience, essentially putting a new frame around it. Reframing causes a perspective shift, and the practice can lead to greater empowerment over a situation that once felt disempowering.

With our modern busy lives, it’s easy to let even the simplest self-care go out the window. It can be tough to find the time to look after ourselves when we’re juggling lots of different priorities. This can leave our own needs at the bottom of the list, and we all know it's hard to get around to those items last on the to-do list. And we’re talking about the regular, day to day self-care, not the lavish ‘treat-yourself’ social outings, appointments and pamper days that come to mind when you think self-care. If you don’t take the time to look after yourself, you can start to feel very stressed and unfulfilled as well as overwhelmed. But to improve ourselves we must take care of our minds and bodies. Here’s our tips to create a self-care routine, and ways you can stick to it! 1. Do self-care that works for you

With today’s technology and modern life, there are more distractions than ever getting in the way of having a productive work day. From the moment you sit down at your desk, there can be 101 things that steer your attention away from your to-do list. If you’re finding that you tasks just aren’t getting done, here’s some tips to make your day more productive. 1. Start the morning right for you A healthy breakfast, an early workout, time spent getting yourself looking professional… Sometimes there’s just not enough time before sitting down at your desk at 9am to get absolutely everything done - especially if you want your eight hours of sleep too! Starting your day on a high note can set the tone for the rest of the day, so think about what your priority is.

A good morning, can make it more likely you’ll have a happy and productive day. Fortunately, you can set yourself up for success each morning and some form of a somewhat consistent ritual or thing you do, that you enjoy and can look forward to. This can make all the difference in putting yourself on a positive course for the day ahead. These 8 morning routine ideas are a mix of movement, mindfulness, reflection, and others. Experiment with a few until you find one from this list (or perhaps another not listed), that you’d be excited to practice each day. If you begin to notice even slight improvements in your energy levels, productivity, and overall happiness, from any one of these ideas, stick with it, so it becomes second nature and a healthy habit. Here are 8 morning routines to to be happier and successful. Treat yourself to start each day! 1. Yoga Movement after a night’s sleep can wake everything up. Yoga designed for a morning practice,

As 2019 begins, we are gifted with a blank slate, a fresh calendar, and a new opportunity to start fresh and create the lives we desire. Although the holidays are exciting, there’s a tendency to fall out of our routines and practices. There is also the tendency to not sleep enough, to eat foods we don’t usually consume, and generally wear ourselves down. The New Year is a powerful time to implement healthy new habits to help you thrive in your daily life. To assist you in feeling your best, we’ve got four new practices to use as an evening wind down ritual––a life hack many of us need. Without consistent sleep and relaxation, we can’t operate at our highest level during the day. In order for our Prana to flow freely, we need balance. Each class will help you implement a ritual for relaxation and a restful night’s sleep.

It isn’t hard to see that a healthy diet and exercise can help a person look and feel better, but did you know that being healthy is also a great way to save money? If you have been thinking about hitting the gym, practicing yoga, walking more often or making a lifestyle change so you can feel better, no time is better to do so than right now. Think about all the ways that a healthy life can improve your financial status by saving money. Here are 8 ways that being healthy saves money. 1. Family Outings Being healthy saves money when it comes to family outings. There is nothing wrong at all with taking your family out to see a movie or to sit and watch a ball game. When you’re working on leading a healthier life however, you may want to ditch the expensive movie tickets and opt for a walk in the park, a hike to a waterfall or taking a swim in a nearby lake. The average cost of a movie ticket for one person is nearly $10 and that adds up when you take your whole family. Once you figure in the cost of popcorn and drinks along with the tickets, a family movie night can cost upwards of $100. Heading to the great outdoors is FREE to do and guaranteed to be fun. 2. Medical Expenses

A side effect of modern life seems to be that we’re always on the go. From balancing your career and personal life, to spending time with your family, it can be hard to find time in your schedule to dedicate to yourself and self-care. Finding time for self-care can often take a backseat to our other responsibilities and obligations, but it’s important to take the time to feel refreshed and rejuvenated. Here’s our top 7 tips for finding time for self-care, even if you’re living an ‘on the go’ lifestyle! 1. Master a go-to meal

“To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle.” -Walt Whitman In the last article, we discussed how to jumpstart your morning routine with a journal and utilize yoga philosophy off the mat. In order to balance the jumpstart, we also need the wind down night time routine to balance. Instead of preparing for an active day, we can now prepare for a restful and calm night, perhaps even right before sleep. Like yoga, journaling is a powerful tool for self-discovery and impetus for positive change in your life. A night time journaling ritual can be a powerful All you need is a writing utensil and a journal. A basic notebook is fine, but there are also journals specialized for yoga practitioners. Here are 5 ideas for an evening or night time journaling ritual. 1. Give yourself space to find flow.

It’s no secret that routines often reap high rewards, especially those in the morning. If you have done any kind of research on this matter, you know there is a long list of reasons to rise early in the morning. If the facts are all laid out in front of you, what are you still waiting for? Here’s how it all started for me. I had heard great things about organizing and prioritizing mornings. So, I decided to take the plunge and put these ideas into practice. I set out to create my own set of morning rituals and find out the truth for myself. After only a few months of implementing these changes, I figured just about anyone can benefit from waking up with the sun. In fact, busy people might just need morning rituals more than anyone else to keep their days productive. Modern life can be fast paced, ever changing, busy, and stressful. For many, we are constantly interacting with a variety of clients and multitasking to get a to-do list complete. Taking time each morning to slow down may just help those of us who are busy, have productive days and succeed. Having a specific morning routine helps you to be more organized and less stressed out, ultimately making you a better professional and much more productive.

Does seeing #yogaeverydamnday make you wonder how do people do it? Because you for one, are struggling to find the time to do yoga ANY damn day? We know why we should practice, sometimes we just need help with the when, and how. The old adage ‘you don’t have time, you make time,’ is not very helpful. We know you’re busy, we’re all (insanely) busy. And if by some miracle we do find the much needed ‘me time,’ it’s hard not to sink into the familiar urge to relax into Netflix. But the truth is, the busier you are, the more you need a daily practice (which is way healthier than binging Black Mirror). Practice takes practice, so we’ve put together our 5 favorite tips to get busy yogis on the mat every day, for both, a quick and instant pick-me-up, and the long term benefits of yoga.