Category: Self Care

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More Tips to Start a Home Practice

Today I’ll share ideas on designing your home practice. There are so many props you can use in yoga. I’ll focus on a few items I think everyone should invest in:

  • Yoga Mat – You don’t need a fancy one. I’ve heard that you can get one at TJ Max or Marshall’s for under $10.00. Target and WalMart also sell inexpensive ones This gives you you space to stretch and move on. Just stepping onto your mat signals you’re switching gears and taking time for yourself.
  • Yoga Blocks – Having two yoga blocks can greatly assist you for better alignment in a pose. I have really become convinced in how helpful these little items can be in helping you safely move int a pose so you get more out of it.
  • Yoga Strap – A strap can be an amazing way to help you stretch safely and gently and even go a bit deeper than you might otherwise.
  • Other fun props for your future include: bolsters, blankets, essential oils (I use Young Living), eye pillow, and a wheel. These are things to add down the road but not necessary to start with. You may also enjoy putting some instrumental, praise or yoga music on quietly in the background. I like low lighting or even candles if your goal is stress relief.
  1. Always Start with a Few Minutes of Quiet – Taking a few minutes of quiet to just breathe and notice how you are feeling that particular day may dictate which poses you will do.
  2. Pick a Direction Before you Begin – If you’re feeling exhausted, opt for a very gentle restorative type of practice. If you’re raring to go, do something more energetic like Sun Salutations or a Warrior Series. If you need grounding, do more standing poses and balancing postures.
  3. Start with Poses you Know and Love – Ideally, you would start with four or five poses that feel great, so that you’ll want to do the practice.
  4. Pay Attention when You Take a Class – Then you’ll start to notice poses you want to incorporate to your home practice. Maybe you love the feeling of moving from Down Dog, to Low Lunge, to Down Dog to Pigeon. That may be all you do one day, taking 5 deep breaths in each pose.
  5. Try to Move in All Directions – You want to move your body in ways you do in your real life so it’s good to include a forward bending motion, some side twists, and some balance work on both sides of your body.

Whether you do breath work, some gentle stretches, or a more vigorous practice, I believe you will benefit greatly from taking some time for yourself on a regular practice. I know my own practice has greatly helped me learn to listen to what’s happening in my body and my mind.

I’ve included a 10-minute home yoga practice you might like to try. Jason Crandall, noted yoga teacher, shared this sequence in an article with Yoga International. You can google the poses to see what they look like if you’re unsure from the description below.

Supta padangusthasana I (reclining big toe pose 1) – Lie on your back. Hook a belt around your right foot and raise your foot up toward the ceiling, drawing the shoulder blades onto your back. Hold for 5 breaths and switch legs.

Supta padangusthasana II (reclining big toe pose II) – Repeat reclining big toe pose on the right leg. This time, as you exhale, open the leg out to the side. Hold or 5 breaths, and then switch to the left leg.

Adho mukka sukhasana (seated forward fold pose) – from a seated position, fold at the hips and walk your fingertips forward until your arms are fully extended. After 5 breaths, sit up, change the cross of the legs, and repeat.

Adho mukha svasana (downward facing dog pose) – Press up into downward dog. Keep your knees bent – and your heels lifted. As you exhale, lift your sitting bones, press your thighs back, and stretch your heels toward the floor.

Anjaneyasana (low lunge pose) – From downward dog, step your right foot forward between your hands, drop you left knee to the ground, and bring both hands to your right knee. After 5 breaths, switch legs.

Adho mukha svasana (downward-facing dog pose) – Press up into downward dog once again. Bend your knees slightly, and lift your sitting bones toward the ceiling. Exhale, press your thighs back, and stretch your heels toward the floor.

Eka pada rajakapotasana (pigeon prep pose) – Bring your right leg forward into pigeon pose, keeping your left leg extended behind you. Hinging at the hips, rest your forehead on your arms. Hold for a minute, and then switch legs.

Balasana (child’s pose) – Kneel on the floor. With big toes touching, open your knees wide and fold forward at the hips. Rest your forehead on the foor and stretch your arms out in front of you.

Please let me know what you think of this as a way to help you get started.


Once again, if you’re not sure of yourself, feel free to contact me. I offer 1:1 yoga and small group instruction in my home.


For Young Living Essential Oils Information Click Here

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Empowering Self Talk

How do you speak to yourself on a daily basis? Are you as kind and compassionate to yourself as you are to a good friend? Or do you find yourself saying negative things to yourself?

I have worked 1:1 with clients for over 20 years and I have experienced that women tend to be much harder on themselves than men are. Men tend to have a much healthier view of their good qualities and more compassion towards their flaws. They want help to be healthier, but also recognize what they’re doing right.

Today I want to focus on the importance of self talk if you want to be healthy in body, mind and spirit. It’s important to be careful what you read and allow into your mind. Guard against toxic thoughts and toxic people that drag you down. Focus on a good attitude and a mindset that will enable you to be your best, while accepting that we will always be a work in progress. Progress Not Perfection is a phrase I try to live by.

Fill your thoughts with all that is true, honorable, good and empowering. Let go of negativity that serves no positive purpose. Do what you can with the things you have control over (like your body, mind and spirit) and let go of the things and circumstances you can’t change. We all have to learn to just let go of some of the things around us. You are more in control of your life than you think.
Refuse to worry so much. Most of the things we waste time worrying about never even happen. Embrace faith and hope for a brighter future. Hang around people that inspire you and help you come up higher. Spend less time with people that drag you down. I realize we all have some ‘downer’ people in our lives that we can’t release, like certain family members. But we can choose how much of their negatively we embrace.

I encourage you to come up with some positive affirmations for yourself. Things you are working on bringing into your life, and telling yourself some truths that you may struggle to believe about yourself, but are really true. Here are some I hear from clients and myself that may be helpful for you to embrace. You may want to write some of these onto a recipe card and place it someplace you will see it daily. Some examples you may want to include are:

  • I am strong
  • I am lean
  • I am enough
  • I am healthy
  • I am worthy
  • I am loved
  • I am special
  • I am intelligent
  • I am worth it
  • I make good choices

Get the idea. Saying these affirmations out loud to yourself can help you see yourself in a better way. Before you know it, you may realize it is true. I hope this helps you to be your best self.

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Keep the Commitments you Make to Yourself

Today I want to talk about honoring commitments you make for yourself.

Commitment can be defined as, “the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause or activity.” Another definition says, “an engagement or obligation that restricts freedom of action.” For example, a job commitment is the feeling of responsibility that a person feels toward the mission and goals of an organization. When an individual has a job commitment, he or she is more likely to perform tasks and responsibilities that will help an organization achieve a goal.” Most people show up at work every day and do what they said they would do. They want a paycheck so they do the work.

When you make a personal commitment to yourself, do you honor it as highly as if it were for someone else? I think it’s easier sometimes to do what you tell someone else you will do for them, even if it means you will no longer be able to fulfill your commitment to yourself. For example, it’s real easy to say I’m committed to eating better. Then 5:00 comes along, and you forgot to plan, so you just grab something unhealthy quick, and later feel regret. But if you told someone you’d bring a healthy meal to their home, would you have found the time to prep the night before because it was important to follow through for them?

I get that most people feel overwhelmed in life, and self care is truly challenging. But the reality is that you only get one body and one life, and how you take care of it is up to you. Many people take better care of their cars than they do their own body. In spite of our valid excuses and busy lives, we probably give in on promises we make to ourselves much easier than we would to another person.
I encourage you to value yourself enough to follow through on the things that matter to you. If you say you will do something for yourself, get it on your planner. Take the steps necessary to be successful with the things that are important in your life. It’s so easy to put off the steps we need to take to be our healthiest. What do you need to let go of so you can make room for what needs to come into your life? Here are some things you may want to consider making a priority:

  • Get more sleep (7-9 hours per night)
  • Drink 8 glasses of water per day
  • Take a bath at night or read for awhile to relieve stress
  • Wear a pedometer and get 10,000 steps per day (work your way up to this)
  • Eat a salad once a day with lots of veggies in it
  • Minimize packaged foods and fast food restaurants
  • Cook at home so you can eat real food that will give you energy
  • Drink less alcohol, soda, or coffee (what is your vice?)
  • Lift some weights so you retain your physical strength
  • Do yoga or stretching to minimize pain in your body

Are you tired of letting yourself down? Then don’t do it any longer! Pick one thing on this list, or come up with your own priority. Maybe ask a friend to keep you accountable or find a buddy to do it with you.

What should you say no to today, so you can say yes to something better?

Your physical, mental and spiritual health is worth the effort.

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3 Keys to Your Wellness Success

If you are reading this, your health and well-being are probably already a priority for you, or at least something you are seriously contemplating. Today I will focus on 3 key areas I consider important for your success: healing foods, healing movement, and a healing mindset.

Healing Foods
I think we all would admit that we could eat better. It’s definitely a challenge we need to work on. I just need to be home to cook more often. We tend to eat out socially too much, especially in FL during the winter. I have to really think about what my healthy options are at a restaurant. When eating out, I try to look at the menu ahead of time and decide on something before I get there, and try to skip the bread and desserts.
Meals at home are easy for me because I know how much better I feel when I eat right. Tonight we will grill chicken breasts and serve that with a small serving of brown rice and lots of steamed asparagus. I make quick and easy healthy dishes like this quite often. We don’t eat a lot of grains, but if we did I would cook up a bunch of rice and portion it out for meals and freeze for use in another meal. I’m also going to cook up a family pack of chicken tonight so I have leftovers for the rest of the week.

Healing Movement
Every day you should try for some kind of movement, even if it’s just focusing on getting your 10,000 steps by being intentional throughout the day. Today, I did weight training and no cardio, but have just been moving a lot during the day and I’m almost up to 7000 steps so far. I should be close to my goal by bedtime, but today’s focus was strength, which I try to do 2-3 times per week. Tomorrow I golf and will walk the hilly course for 18 holes. Walking 18 holes can easily get me over 10,000 plus the rest of the day. I try to stretch 10-15 minutes or do yoga several days of the week. I listen to my body and notice where I feel tight and move to stretch those areas, which really helps me stay pain free. Cardio is not my favorite, but I do it 2-5 days per week, sometimes for only 20 minutes on my elliptical. You can see it’s really about being intentional to plan out how you will move each day. If you’re not doing anything right now, start with 10-15 minutes 2-3 times per week until that is a habit, and then move up from that. Let me know if you have questions about that. I’m happy to help.

Healing Mindset
This can easily be an area people neglect but it really matters. I start my day with 5-10 minutes of mindful meditation. I like the Abide and Mindfulness app. If I’m doing a longer meditation, I might combine it with some yin yoga poses that you hold 3-5 minutes. I also try to talk to myself with the same kindness and compassion I’d use with others. I have found that women tend to be their own worst enemies. Try to change that in your life by saying some positive affirmations that you want in your life, like, “I am healthy,” or “I am peaceful”. What you focus on tends to happen.
I really believe that we are spiritual beings and that God wants us to take care of our bodies, minds and spirits. I try to read inspirational things and do some journaling each morning so I start with input that helps me be better and start my day with a positive note.

I encourage you to plan for your wellness the same way you plan for your professional development and your future. I’m here for you and love to hear your comments.

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Breathe In, Breathe Out – Using Essential Oils to Recharge

One of my favorite ways to recharge my energy when I’m tired mid-day is to diffuse some essential oils and take some deep breaths. Even sitting still and taking 5 deep breaths can change the energy levels in my body. After a brief breathing break, I feel ready to move on to my next project.

Diffusing a mixture of peppermint oil, lavender and rosemary not only calms me, but also helps me to focus better. Rosemary oil diffused is also good for getting unwanted odors out of the air. Any of the citrus oil are also great to freshen the smell of your environment.

When I’m under the weather and feel congested I like to inhale or diffuse eucalyptus oil. You could also place 5-10 drops of eucalyptus oil on a warm, damp washcloth and place it in the shower just out of direct contact with the water before showering.

Do you need an oil to get you going in the morning? You might want to fill your diffuser the night before with some distilled water and this blend.

RISE AND SHINE BLEND
3 drops lemon essential oil
3 drops citrus fresh essential oil
4 drops peppermint oil

I personally use Young Living’s essential oils because I want a quality oil that has therapeutic qualities. If you’d like to learn more about oils, Click Here

I’d love to hear your ideas on what you do to recharge yourself.

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Be Still

For the past 10-15 years I’ve been on a quest to find more quiet spaces in my life. For so many years I was on overdrive and felt overwhelmed a lot. I’m sure most of you can relate to that feeling. Life was happy for the most part, but something was missing. I had my faith but I didn’t make enough time to just be quiet and still.

For me, sitting still for even 5-10 minutes at the start of the day has become part of my routine. I use meditation, breath work, guided meditations, and sometimes moving meditations where I do some stretching while listening to music that is soothing. You can easily make your faith and scriptures a part of this time. What I do may be different than what you need to do to be at peace.

Yoga taught me to breathe deeper and more fully. That was huge for stress relief and to calm my central nervous system. It helped my body heal during a very difficult time in my life. Now I practice yoga most days of the week and love it. I also teach yoga in small classes and in 1:1 sessions with clients in my home. I can’t imagine not doing it as part of my whole body wellness plan.

We all have our favorite places to go that really fill us with a sense of rest and refreshment. For me that’s by water. Whether I’m walking the beach, sitting by a pool or on a boat, a peace and joy comes over me. I love the feel of sand in my toes, the smell of water and of the sound of waves rolling in. When I’m in MN, there’s no place like Lake Superior where the waves roll in like you’re on the ocean. When I’m in FL, I love to walk the beach. Even the sound of a waterfall calms me. What is it that brings you to your happy place.

I find that having quotes or passages to repeat in your mind while closing your eyes and breathing can be very relaxing. When I feel stressed I can feel better quickly if I work through 5 deep breaths and say to myself – Inhale – Be Still, Exhale – and Know, Inhale – That I, Exhale – am God. Try it sometime, or another phrase that works for you and see if you don’t notice yourself feeling better. Maybe just breathe and say – I am at peace and repeat several times.

I invite you to pause and consider your day. Where might you allow yourself a time to be still?

Please share how you take care of yourself in this way.

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Make 2019 Your Best Year Ever!

I just watched a great Ted talk about the power of transformation that comes when you choose to live intentionally. Intentional living just means that you take the time to envision what you really want your life to look like, and then little by little go after it. The video above is 8 minutes long, but definitely worth that small time investment to get you thinking about what you want 2019 to look like.

I have had so many changes in my life over the last 10-12 years beginning with a divorce, becoming a single mom, going back to school while working full time and earning my master’s degree, writing a book, becoming an empty nester, remarrying and moving back to the city, to living two places throughout the year. I never could have envisioned all this 15 years ago.

There are so many things in our lives that we would rather not deal with, but when we push through the hard times and really consider what matters to us, we can create lives that would be more meaningful for us.

I try to look at each new calendar year as something exciting and new. What is it that I’d like to add to my life going forward? What would I like to get rid of? Living 2 places is a challenge for a job, but what I’m doing is meaningful for me. While I’m in FL I open up my house to lots of neighbors and I take them through 1:1 yoga sessions or group classes overlooking my pool area.We just moved into a new home in MN and I plan to offer yoga and personal training in my new gym there. I don’t know the neighbors there yet as we barely moved in and then headed to FL. But as 1:1 and small classes developed in FL, I believe they will happen in my new MN surroundings. It’s exciting to think about what that might look like, or who may be interested. I just know that I love sharing yoga and functional training with people that want to stay healthy and move well for the rest of their lives. When I see people moving better due to the things I’m teaching them, I’m fulfilled at the small part I can play in their life.

What is it that you would like to bring into your future that would make life more purposeful and enjoyable? I’d love to hear your thoughts after you read this and watch the video.

Make 2019 your best year ever!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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My Self-Care Gift to You!

Self-massage is a great way to lower stress and release tension and tight muscles – and you can do it yourself with your own two hands.

You may tell yourself you need a massage, or wonder what it is like if you’ve not experienced it. Massage is a fabulous way to treat your body but often, time and money can get in the way of this gift to yourself.

When something hurts on my body, often my first instinct is to rub it. When I have a headache I massage my temples with peppermint oil. When my neck tenses up, I’ll take my hands and do some gentle massage on the tense area, along with a few deep breaths. I have experienced the healing properties of a good massage and do go in occasionally. That’s a huge treat, but there are so many times that even 5 minutes of self-massage could do wonders for a part of your body that feels tense.

Massage helps to increase circulation and lymphatic flow throughout the body while boosting those feel good hormones called endorphins. It’s an easy way to relieve stress and anxiety and lower your symptoms of pain. Pain is a warning that something isn’t right in your body. I go to the doctor for pain that lasts to rule out anything serious. But often we might have a sore neck or body part due to sleeping funny or from sitting too long hunched over a computer.

This is my quick and easy gift to your this Holiday season. Give yourself 7 minutes of ‘feel good’ with the video above. I hope you take the time to enjoy it.

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Making Scents with Quality Essential Oils

Essential oils are a fun way to boost your energy, reduce stress and change your mood on a moment’s notice. The photo is of my current collection.

While writing this I’m diffusing Young Living’s Peppermint Oil along with their Peace and Calming blend. Peppermint oil gives you energy and a quick pick up, while Peace and Calming is restorative and relaxing. I love the combination of the two together while working at my desk or even doing a short yoga workout to get my day going.

I’ve been experimenting more as I find little pockets of time in my week to play around with my oils. I love diffusing lavender when I go to bed at night. Essential oil products can make fun gifts for your friends and family members.

Yoga is a great way to increase your physical and emotional well-being. Essential oils are a great compliment to a yoga student. Whether you’re an expert yogi or are just beginning, a good yoga mat spray is a must. I almost always use Young Living oils and this is the recipe I use to keep my yoga mat fresh and clean.

Yoga Mat and Gym Bag Spray

  • 3/4 cup distilled water
  • 3 drops of Tea Tree oil or Purification blend
  • 3 drops of Lemon oil
  • 5 drops of Lavender oil
  • 3 drops of Peppermint oil
  • Dark glass spray bottle

Note: Not all yoga mats are treated the same. Using essential oils may ruin some yoga mats. Spray a test patch on a small part of your mat first to make sure it doesn’t affect it. However, I have several different brands of mats and have never had a problem.

Instructions

  1. Combine all ingredients in glass spray bottle
  2. Shake until combined
  3. To use, spray on mat and wipe dry with towel

Click Here for More Essential Oil Information. If you want more information on Young Living or try a recipe be sure to let me know. I love learning and sharing about oils.

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Yin Yoga vs. Yang Yoga

Are you interested in finding more balance in your yoga practice and your life?

Do you feel like you need to be refreshed in a different way when you do yoga? If so, Yin Yoga might interest you.

Almost one year ago in October I attended a weekend training on Yin Yoga. My first 200 hour training in yoga 10 years ago was vinyasa yoga (a yang style of yoga). Vinyasa is fitness based yoga, and it puts you through a workout that begins with a warm-up, moving into 2 different mountains of flowing and strength work, followed by balance and core, which concludes with a cool down and brief time of savasana. While I love the feeling I get from that kind of yoga, I have discovered the many benefits of what yin yoga has to offer and I’m loving it, and finding myself drawn to it.

“Yin-yang theory, from traditional Chinese medicine, is a simple but useful way to analyze and understand any experience. Yin qualities include traits like receptivity, allowance, tolerance, reflection, and passivity. Yang qualities include doing, directing, improving, achieving, controlling, and becoming. From a Chinese medicine perspective, yin and yang qualities are both essential, and neither is superior to the other. When we understand their relationship, we can promote balance and harmony between them” (excerpt from Yoga Journal, August, 2018).

If you’re a person that tends more toward the yang style of functioning, you may want to incorporate some yin into your life to create better balance. I personally have found yin to be an amazing stress reducer and muscle relaxer. It helps me recover from strenuous strength workouts. I feel like I release tension in my body and mind easier as well.

Yin yoga emphasizes passive, static postures, held for long periods of time, with muscles in a relaxed state. This allows the dense connective tissues in and around the joints and muscles to be stimulated, to stretch some and ultimately to become stronger. One should not give up the yang style of yoga, like vinyasa, and only do yin. They’re meant to complement each other.Some think yin yoga and restorative yoga are the same but they’re not at all. Restorative seeks to prop the body in ways to create deep relaxation without adding any stress to the body. Restorative is a great practice on a Sunday night before bedtime, and a busy upcoming week. Yin actually puts some stress on the tissues to promote strength, hydration, and mobility.

Two studies (Langevin, Schleip) “suggest that on a physical level, Yin Yoga helps promote the strength, vitality, hydration, and mobility of our connective tissue. When circulation is improved, energy circulates and creates a response of calmness and contentment.”

I’d encourage you to look into taking a Yin Yoga class and see how you feel in your body. Be sure to take it from a qualified instructor that knows how to keep you safe so that you move with intention, find your safe edge in the poses, purposefully relax your muscles, learn to stay still for longer periods in a pose, and how to safely exit a yin pose.

Let me know if you’ve tried Yin and what your thoughts are.

Namaste my friend.

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