Are you staring at a makeover every time you look inside your refrigerator? Is your food choices beginning to stress you out? Tired of being tired? If you are thinking about changing the way you eat, maybe you should be thinking the same regarding your fitness routine. Getting proper nutrition today is easier than ever. Read the package label. Stay away from foods high in fat and sugar. Start eating more whole grains, fruits and vegetables.

Once you make good food choices, begin making healthier fitness choices. Yoga is believed to lower blood pressure, improve your strength and flexibility, and in some cases help reduce asthma symptoms. Practicing Yoga helps reduce stress, improves circulation, and stimulates the immune system. Like eating a healthy diet, Yoga is a healthy lifestyle change that’s simply good for you.

You need to relax. Easy for you to say, right? The news today is not good. The economy is down and people are losing their jobs. You may be one of them. What can you do other than work? Maybe it’s time for some relaxation. Try to sit with your eyes closed. Get comfortable. You’ll be here for awhile. Begin by paying attention to your breathing. Yes, you’ll most likely begin to wander. You’ll think of your dire situation and start to tense up, but don’t go there. Get back to concentrating on your breathing. Do this relaxation exercise every day and you’ll become more aware of your body.

Meditation is an equal opportunity exercise. If practiced faithfully, your stress levels will decrease. You still may not have a job, but a clearer mind is a creative and productive mind.

Adopting Eastern meditation techniques, one is of the belief that the universe and themselves are one. Western culture has embraced this alternative self-discovery discipline because it empowers the practitioner positive thinking, relaxing the mind, and combats tension and stress. Meditation helps lower blood pressure, and may help to manage pain and physical disorders.

Yoga which is a form of eastern meditation is so popular today that children in elementary schools are actively signing up for after school activities, while seniors are seeing the benefits it brings to an aging population. Children are wound up after a long day of structured school. It becomes a release to just relax and let their little creative minds take a very needed break. It also helps builds confidence among these young children. They now are able to share a common interest with their friends outside of the classroom.

Meditation also boosts the energy levels among seniors. Some see a reduction in their need for drug medications while others see it as their hope of kicking their smoking or alcohol habits. Some find it helps improve their immune systems keeping them healthier able to live a more active lifestyle. Some have lost weight and have significantly reduced their cardiovascular problems.

Eastern meditation just might be what the doctor orders.

Spending a few moments with your eyes shut, visualizing what you would like your body to look like, may help you begin to change your habits enough to make your thoughts a reality. Much the same way that professional athletes use visualization to achieve better performance, you can think yourself into fitness. Try doing this form of meditation right before you go to sleep at night and again first thing in the morning. Think about your ideal body and let yourself indulge in seeing yourself as fit, strong and in some cases thinner. Using the power of your mind to shape your habits will help to shape your body.

If you live in the Northeast, it’s nice to finally see all those stacks of fresh fruit and vegetables on display at the local market. With warm weather finally here, my appetite has suddenly gone wild for everything berry. Strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries oh my! Avocados, string beans and Brussels sprouts galore! Makes you want to be a Vegan. Well maybe not so extreme, but if you’re thinking about a plant based diet, now might be a good time to start. A vegan diet definitely takes getting used to, but once you’re in it, it’ll become more instinctive.

Vegan diets are low in fat. The good news they are free of cholesterol thus reducing the risk of some cancers and heart disease. To keep your vegan diet on the right course, make sure you include plenty of whole grains, legumes, nuts, and fruits and vegetables while limiting or reducing your intake of high fat, high cholesterol foods.

Now that you’re eating clean, you might notice that you have lost some weight. Maybe a lot of weight. So now is the time to firm up what you have left. Tone up your body with Yoga or Pilates. Both are gentle on your body and will make your muscles stronger without bulking up.

What is hot yoga? If you participant in hot yoga you are going to be in a room that literally cranks up the thermostat. In most cases the temperature in the room can reach as much as 100 degrees. Too hot for you? Well a lot of yogis love it. Sweating releases the body’s toxins for one. A yoga session where the room is warm will allow your body to become more flexible. With more flexibility you can challenge your body to get into poses you may never thought possible. This type of yoga is called Bikram Yoga named after its inventor Bikram Choudhury. Bikram Yoga consists of 26 yoga poses in heat. Practicing Bikram Yoga helps reduce stress, promotes better blood circulation, and help weight lost. Give it a try. Grab a towel and bottle of water and get ready for some renewed energy.

Obesity is linked to increased risk in diseases like diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases. Although lesser known, yet just as serious, is gum disease. Researchers are beginning to see a correlation between obesity and gum disease. In a recent study of 37,000 men with waist sizes of forty inches or more had a higher risk of gum disease as well as heart disease showing a 29% increased risk of periodontal disease compared to those of normal weight.

There are Junior Yoga Bolsters and Standard Yoga Bolsters and Round Yoga Bolsters. How do you tell which of these yoga accessory is best for your yoga practice? First we need to define what the qualities and characteristics each one brings to your particular practice. Junior Bolsters are narrower in width than the standard model. Used mostly for Restorative Yoga the Junior Bolster promotes chest expansion and free respiration when placed lengthwise. The Standard Bolster is oval in shape and features a flat surface which allows for stability. Curved sides add comfort and is also ideal for Restorative Yoga. Round Bolsters are just that - round. Easy on muscles and helpful for stretching, restorative postures and deep breathing as well as Prenatal Yoga. Regardless of which yoga accessory you choose among the three you can be sure that Yoga Bolsters will help your yoga poses.

I’ve never been scared of the dark. Ever since I was a kid, I seemed to associate darkness with safety and coziness. It’s not strange for me to keep the lights low in the evening or to take a nighttime swim (sans pool lights) in the summer duration or give a little jump for joy when I’m hiking in low light conditions considering the tree cover blocks out the light. And have I mentioned that I like to keep my bedroom as dark as possible (I like to think of my bedroom as my cozy little cave)? I love all of the windows in the house and all of the light that they let in, but my bedroom windows are covered in room darkening shades for a completely black effect. I was definitely not the child who needed a night light or who thought that the darkness heralded monsters creeping out from under the bed and in the closet.

As I got older and became more interested in eastern healing modalities and practices, I learned that in many cultures darkness is seen as something nourishing as opposed to scary. Needless to say, that resonates with me. There’s actually a meditation found in Tibetan Buddhism in which you sit in a completely darkened room — windows covered completely, tape by any LCD displays (alarm clocks, stereos, alarm key pads, etc, and towels stuffed in the gap amidst the bottom of the door and the floor. You simply sit in the pitch blackness with your eyes open and…be. Take in the dark and feel the tension drain from your mind and body.

Sounds anything but relaxing to you? Believe it or not when someone in Bali begins to show signs of mental imbalance, he/she is ushered to a dark room and left to sit for a few days. I’ve actually tried the meditation above a number of instance and have always found the dark to be nourishing, calming, and rejuvenating.

If sitting in the dark seems a bit too extreme for you, I highly recommend the practice of palming. I first learned of that practice when I stumbled across a gem of a book in a yoga studio book store. You simply close your eyes gently and cover them with the palms of the hands without putting pressure on the eyeballs. Any light should be shut out completely by keeping the fingers of the hands close together. You can keep your eyes opened or closed. Although that practice is recommended for improving eyesight, I additionally find it to be extremely relaxing. It’s great for headache sufferers as well. I like to practice 5-10 minutes of palming each day, preferably before bed (or any duration I need a break from the computer and want to rest my eyes).

My lights will be off on Saturday at 8:30 for certain, but soon after again, that’s not all that strange for me! Who says you need to be afraid of the dark???

Namaste!