New Year; Full Moon

Wolf Moon, Old Moon, Moon After Yule. I find the names of the different full moons to be pretty interesting. I don't pretend to know a lot about the moon, it's just always been a point of interest for me. Now, I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel the energy present at the time of the full moon. I'm incredibly aware of the full moon and all the goodness it brings me on a monthly basis. For January, I read that the full moon was in line with Sirius, the dog star. So that created this awesome GUIDING quality to the full moon; perfect to start the new year! Sages tell us the full moon is a great time to shed things that don't serve us; to start over, in a way. I definitely felt that this month, as I've been solidifying my intentions for the year over the weekend. With the full moon last night, I feel that this week is a great time for me to "start" on the changes I want to make this year.

I purchased The Ultimate Yogi dvd collection with the intention of starting on January 8th, and getting back in the swing of a daily, home asana practice. However, I know myself so well that it'll be nothing short of a bona-fide miracle if I make it to the mat every. single. day. So, for me personally, I'm going to shoot for every other day, ultimately working up to a daily practice. That will still be a challenge for me, and I expect to finish my first attempt at the program in May or June. Another modification I'm going to make is in regards to the diet. Again, I have a hard enough time with eating well/clean as is, so I'm going to set the goal of being 80% better. Eating better is a priority for me this year, but I don't see myself doing the 3 day diet challenges that the UY program presents.

 Maybe sometime in the future I'll be ready to do the challenge in 108 consecutive days, no cheats, and follow the 3 day diet plans, but I truly feel that my modifications will be challenge enough for where I am right now. The last thing I want to do is overwhelm myself and quit (I've been known to do this).

A couple other things you can expect to see on this blog are:

*Personal writings to help me be more expressive

* Trying new recipes to help me eat better (like almond flour tortillas and other "clean" goodies)

*Book musings and after-thoughts

*Things that inspire me (articles, music, images, etc.)

2015 is MY year. I'm going to do what I think is best for me, how I think it'll work best for me. And I'm sticking to that! Feel free to follow this blog and check back regularly. I'll be posting a lot about The Ultimate Yogi program for the first part of the year, but I hope to see this blog mature as the months go on! Stay tuned for yoga, health, and inspiration!

Re-centering After a Crazy Vacation

I recently got back from an absolutely jam-packed, fun-filled, crazy 4-day trip to Denver. I worked the night before I left, and worked a mere 9 hours after I got back home on Sunday night. Not to mention, my semester is still in full-swing. I know I'm not the only one out there with a hectic schedule that won't stop for me to catch my breath. Everyone has their different methods of dealing; their tried-and-true habits that bring them back to the norm. Here's what works for me.

First: I make sure I have plenty of healthful ingredients on hand so that I can make home-made, nourishing meals. Many times on vacation we survive off fast food or fine dining. Obviously fast-food wreaks chaos on our systems. Finer restaurants may have more healthful or varied options, but the fact remains that as a consumer you're not entirely sure how that food was sourced, stored, and prepared. A lot can be said about knowing where your food comes from. Plus, who doesn't love their favorite comfort-meal after a hectic trip?

Second: I do something nice for myself first thing after work, every day. Lately, this consists of making myself a cup of warm chai tea. Waiting for everything to warm up naturally forces me to slow down, and calm down. Added bonus: chai tea is delicious! I also like to give my feet or hands a nice softening treatment. First, I soak in warm water with Epsom salt for 5-10 minutes (this also helps to exfoliate), then I just dry my hands/feet and work in the oil. For deeper penetration, do this just before bed and wear socks. I use coconut oil or sweet almond oil, but you could also use olive oil. This really does a lot for me. After all, I'm on my feet all day and I use my hands constantly, for everything!

Third: Meditation and pranayama work wonders on a stressed body. This can be as simple as taking 5 long, deep breaths before making a phone call or leaving the house for work or errands. Yoga and exercise are marvelous as well. These two are more physical, and I find that sometimes I just need my brain to focus on something else, like what my body is doing. It doesn't even have to be anything fancy. I usually just move through basic asanas for a few minutes. Which asanas I do depends on what my body is telling me that day. After two or three days of this "lazy yoga" I feel prepared to jump back into my hour-long practices.

Fourth: This one is hard for me, but clean up any messes (of half-messes) that were left behind in the shuffle of starting your vacation. I usually leave a pile of receipts from my wallet on the table to be sorted through later, but clutter just enhances the feelings of stress and "one more thing to do". I find that my mind wanders less when my house isn't cluttered and messy. If I know I have to do something tedious when I get back from vacation (like dusting or vacuuming) I try to tackle that task before I even leave. Obviously this doesn't always work out in our favor, but even a little bit helps!

Fifth: I plan out my first week or two back from vacation. This way I'm less likely to forget to pay that bill, or submit that assignment. This also allows me to break up my tasks into manageable chunks. If I'm working a shorter shift, I try to tackle the very time-consuming tasks on those days (like laundry), and my week doesn't feel as hectic and jam packed as my vacation.

Hopefully one of these ideas serves you. Hopefully you can find something in this blog to relate to. What do you do to get back to center after being thrown off kilter? Please share your thoughts in the comments, I'd love to hear from you!

Chemical-Free Yoga Mat Cleaner

Well, I haven't been blogging much, but I have been on my mat! So much so that the other day I noticed I had some pretty grimy patches where I stand in mountain pose and where my hands usually rest in downward facing dog. Gross. I looked toward the back of my mat and there were another two spots where my feet rest in down-dog, or warrior 1 and/or 2. Double gross.
You probably couldn't tell by looking at it, but I love my yoga mat. I splurged out some money and bought it during a very trying time in my life. This mat has been through a lot with me and has helped me get through a lot. It's not fair for it to look dirty and neglected. I decided that I need to show my mat some love in a way that doesn't involve my asana practice. Plus, I need to be more conscious and aware of the little things in life. Thus was awakened the motivation to clean my yoga mat!

I figured I could probably just clean it with a vinegar-water solution and call it good, but I wanted to double check online before I accidentally ruined my mat. Sure enough, the most common, convenient, and least expensive way to clean a yoga mat is with vinegar and water. I used a 3-part vinegar to 1-part distilled water solution (in a spray bottle), dabbed 5 drops of tea-tree-lavender essential oil and 10 drops of eucalyptus oil and shook it all up. All I did was spray down my mat, let it sit for a minute or two, and then wipe it with a damp cloth, did the same thing to the other side, then I hung it over the stair railing to dry. Voila! Fresh mat, fresh scent!
I used my tea-tree-lavender oil because of tea tree's anti-fungal, -microbial, and -viral properties and lavender's benefits to the nervous system. I used the eucalyptus oil because it's my favorite scent right now, and it also has anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, decongestant, deodorant, antiseptic, antibacterial and stimulating benefits. Obviously I won't get all of those benefits just by spritzing my mat, but the stimulating, antibacterial, deodorant, etc factors will help. Not to mention I'm usually congested so my nose will appreciate the pick-me-up!

What methods have you tried to clean your mat? What essential oils would you use or recommend?

Review: THE COMPLETE ILLUSTRATED BOOK OF YOGA

The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga by Swami Vishnu-devananda is a comprehensive guide to traditional Hatha yoga.

Source

I was impressed with how much information this book contains! In the first pages of the book, Vishnu-devananda enumerates the 8 limbs of yoga, and the succeeding chapters each focus on one of the different limbs. This book includes bodily cleansing, asana demonstrations, diet, meditation, pranayama, and MUCH more.

The first half of the book is mostly about physical preparation and technique, while the latter chapters focus more on philosophy, specifically that of Vedanta philosophy. Vishnu-devananda does an excellent job of illustrating his points. Personally, I was not familiar with a lot of the practices and philosophy but the author does a thorough job of explaining himself, in more than one way. Each new concept is enforced by others found in previous pages, and he provides ample metaphors and anecdotes for getting his point across.

Overall, this is a FANTASTIC book. I will definitely be revisiting it in my future. There is so much information, including photographic demonstrations of over 100 asanas and it even has training tables in the back that are organized by age and overall physical health.

Yoga for Seasonal Allergies

I just found out a couple of months ago that I have allergies. I've never had them before in my life, so this is quite the adjustment. They have been killing me the past 2 days. At work today people kept thinking I was crying because I was so sniffly, stuffed, and my eyes would leak for no apparent reason. It's horrible! My nose and eyes are itching and I have the most uncomfortable burning sensation.

It's been difficult for me to practice yoga because I've been so congested. My head is just so full of crap that a forward bend sounds like utter hell. BUT I also know that yoga has an answer to everything! I am still learning and I realized that I have no clue what asanas or pranayama to practice to help me get through this. The right techniques will surely help me tame the seasonal allergies, so I turned to Google for help. I scoured the internet and the exercises that popped up the most for treating seasonal allergies are these:

*Inversions- Shoulderstand and Plow pose: good for draining the nasal passages, but don't hold for too long. (Fish pose, the counter to shoulderstand, can also help as it opens and stretches the lungs.) Headstand may prove to put extra pressure on the nasal passages, so this might not be the best pose.

*Relaxation: stress increases the allergic response in your body. Makes sense. Practice corpse pose and focus on long, steady exhales.

*I also read that Mountain pose, Cobra, and Warrior poses can be beneficial.

As far as pranayama goes, there was some debate. Yoga is a very personal practice so experimentation to find what relieves your allergies is key. But as always, do not push yourself! Never force your body to do anything. The two breathing exercises that I kept finding were:

*Breath of fire: can be difficult when you're very congested, but it definitely clears the nasal passages! I did it for about 30 seconds and could already feel an improvement. That's a keeper.

*Alternate nostril breathing: not recommended when congested, especially if one nostril is more clogged than the other. However, alternate nostril breathing is one of the more simple breathing exercises and it's very cleansing. So if you can, do it. (Unfortunately I'm too congested for this one tonight)

I have also been drinking lots of herbal tea and eating plenty of vegetables and fruits. Hopefully I can calm these allergies down in the next day or so!

What are your favorite natural methods to fight allergies?