by Jasmine | May 3, 2018 | vitality health, Yoga For Weight Loss, Yoga Health
Can Yoga Help You Lose Weight?
Did you know that most men gain 15 pounds within the first year they get married? Results are similar for women. Why is this we feel once we have “landed” someone that we no longer need to try and impress them. I know when I was single I would forbid myself from eating white bread, I just didn’t feel like I had the luxury of getting fat.
Yoga is an exhilarating fitness challenge that allows couples to clear their heads, melting away anxiety and stress. The steady flow of poses encourages couples to develop a deeper appreciation and understanding of the human body. Encouraging each other in class helps build strong bonds of communication and trust. You will connect with your partner on a deeper level when you take a yoga class together. Working up a sweat naturally induces the release of endorphins, making you feel happier and more content. Yoga establishes the ultimate connection to your own body. You will find it much easier to connect to your partner’s body once you are able to connect to your own.
Stretching with your loved one turns the tables on the rat race, allowing you both to be in the moment and renewing your connection
What is the purpose of yoga?
Most non-practitioners of yoga assume that yogis are flexible and strong. While that is indeed true, there’s more to the practice of yoga than a fabulous body. Yoga brings a sense of quiet and stillness with a focus on deep, rhythmic breathing and the challenge to honor your body where it is on a particular day. Let it go and allow your mind, body and spirit to come into alignment…that’s the mindset of a yogi.
However, partner yoga, where two yogis work in tandem, is playful and fun, exploratory—and harder than it looks. To experience the depth of partner yoga, the partners must be willing to support and be supported and work as a team to deepen into poses together. Encouraging and synchronizing each partner’s breath takes yogis further into postures and brings a sense of exhilaration upon realizing what has been accomplished jointly.Watching yogis release from shared asanas enriches the practice as the partners enthuse “wow, I never thought I could go so deeply into that pose!” or reveling in the intimacy of sharing something so personal with another.
- Yoga is not about self-improvement, it’s about self-acceptance.
- Yoga is a discipline, a practical philosophy to experience individual consciousness through the union of body, mind, and spirit.
- We are each responsible for our spiritual growth and healing and yoga provides us with a way to move towards optimum vitality.
- Yoga was originally created as a series of asanas (asana literally means “seat”) or positions that prepare the individual to do the work of meditation and to heal the body to its natural state.
We try to get close and stay close in a relationship — but our tactics often put a strain on the very bonds we’re trying to strengthen. Why not try breaking new ground? Get close with a partner yoga practice, and see how you can use it to strengthen your connection while having fun together.
What are things you and your sweetie do together to tone up and bond (keep it PG Rated guys) and have you done couples yoga for weight loss…..?
by Jasmine | Aug 5, 2017 | vitality health
How often do you check your phone an hour? Every ten minutes? Every minute?
How quickly do you respond when you hear a ping?
Now that smartphones are wide-spread there is an expectation of an immediate response – both from family, friends and clients and bosses.
Although most of us are not carrying the nuclear codes or waiting for a call from Oprah so how available do we really need to be?
At night, when you are alseep in bed, do you pick up your phone when a test comes in? What is the first thing you do in the morning? For more and more people, it is checking their phone?
Feeling like we have to respond immediately or just be available electronically can lead to feelings of anxiety which over time can leave you feeling depleted.
What would happen instead of responding that instant to a ping, you looked at your phone hours later?
How do you think you would feel if you didn’t respond to any texts or emails after 6 pm?
How would you feel if you just left your phone at home when you went out for a rest or in the evening?
Is it inconceivable?
Make a conscious choice to wait at least 10 minutes before responding to a ping. Instead of looking at your phone when you are in line at Starbucks, stop to notice what is going on around you. Smell the coffee aroma… see the mom with giggling kids waiting in line. How does your world change when you unplug consciously at various intervals during the day?
Are you ready for a cell phone detox?
by Jasmine | Nov 29, 2015 | vitality health, Weight loss, Yoga For Weight Loss
Do you feel frenetic about getting things done in your life?
Are you working crazy hours?
Do you feel rested when you get up in the morning?
Sleep is a time of intense cellular renewal. If you are not getting the rest you need, then your internal organs are depleted.
What can you do to improve the amount and quality of your rest?
Does that mean not letting the ping of your cell phone wake you up?
Does it mean going to bed an hour earlier?
Does it mean no coffee late in the day so you can get to sleep earlier?
Sleep is more important than we actually think, it can really change the way you look….and not just by getting rid of those baggy eyes! By getting enough sleep we can actually lose a higher percentage of body fat than if we didn’t sleep that much.
A recent study looked at people who slept 8-8.5 hours a night vs people who slept for about 5 hours a night. The participants had the exact same diet, calories, carbs, protein, and fats. The participants were studied for 3 months and the results were staggering! During the study ALL participants lost 6.6lbs!
Out of the 6.6lbs lost the group who slept 8 hours a night lost 50% fat and 50% lean mass (body fat weight from total body weight) the participants who slept 5 hours a night lost 20% fat and 80% lean mass!
Let me break this down for you, the group who didn’t sleep as long lost 80% lean mass which means they lost the majority of their weight muscle tissue!
When we lose muscle we in turn lower our metabolism, that’s NOT a good thing! The more muscle we have the higher our metabolism will be and the higher percentage of fat we are able to burn and utilize as energy!
Now with any study we need to take this with a grain of salt, you can still lose “good” weight by not sleeping 8 hours a night, and you can also gain weight by sleeping a lot.
Smiles, Jasmine
by Jasmine | Nov 24, 2015 | snack, vitality health
Old wisdom tells us that snacking between meals is a good way to get plump. But new wisdom tells us that snacking is a good way to keep your metabolism in gear and to prevent you from overdoing it at meal time. Who’s right?
The truth is somewhere in the middle. Snacking can be a great way to rev up your metabolism and keep you energized and satisfied. But if you are not snacking on the right things, then your mid-day noshes could be destroying your diet.
Here are snack foods for a lean, mean body and tons of energy.
1) Hard boiled eggs:. Always keep hard boiled eggs at hand. Make half a dozen at the beginning of the week and then store them in the office fridge. You can top them with tumeric to make them more exciting.
2) Roasted chickpeas. Roasted chickpeas are a crunchy and satisfying treat, especially if you are craving something salty You can buy them pre-made or make a batch easily at home. Add spices like cumin and chili powder to up the flavor without adding calories.
3) Protein shake. Nothing kills an ice-cream craving like a cold, frothy protein shake and it is wonderful for muscle recovery after a hard workout.
4) Homemade granola bars. Make your own granola bars using sugar substitutes like agave nectar. Use your favorite fruits and nuts and get creative.
5) Snack clean with a dried fruit concoction. “Here’s my favorite snack right now: I take a sliced dried apple and I top it with almond butter. Then I toss some coconut shavings and cinnamon on top. Easy, breezy…and best of all, it’s great for your body!”
6) Raw, unsalted almonds. Ideal if you can soak them in water for a few hours before-hand since that makes them easier for your body to break down.
Have you noticed that all of these things have some kind of protein in it? Protein digests slowly so it’s an ideal thing to tide you over for a few hours.
So what about NOT to eat?
Anything that comes from a vending machine is likely to be filled with all kinds of chemicals and franken-foods to keep them shelf-stable for long periods of time.
Most “Energy Bars” are likely to be filled with all kinds of sweeteners that make your thighs chubby so unless you are certain the ingredients are pure and clean then I would actually avoid most of them. Food companies can make all kinds of claim such as “light” “natural” but there is no legal basis for these terms. They can even put pictures of wholesome ingredients on them.
Most of the things at Starbux, especially the coffee drinks are LOADED with all kinds of fattening and sugary stuff ( I like to think of the Starbux drinks as coffee-flavored ice-cream sundaes)…. it’s ok to do occasionally…. but as a daily habit if you really want to trim down it’s a No-No. Please note, I’m not talking about regular black coffee but talking about the coffee with a bunch of whipped cream, frothy milk, syrups and chocolate shavings on top. These drinks are pretty pricey anyway… $4 for one of these? If you have one of these every day ( which MANY of us do) that is about $1500 a YEAR? What could you do with an extra $1500 a year. I’m not saying don’t drink coffee if you need your fix, but just make it at home which will end up being much healthier anyway.
Most things that you get in the middle section of the grocery store are not ideal snacks….. most of the things come in packages, crackers, potato chips, packaged sweets etc. I usually stay away from all the middle aisles which have all the highly processed foods and drinks.
“Power drinks”. Again, just because it says in big letter that it is “Vitamin Water” and there are pictures of beautiful fruits and vegetables on them does not mean that is is actually healthy…. even remotely. Read the actual ingredients…. especially the sugar content and your eyeballs will pop out to see how much sugar was added to these things.
by Jasmine | Nov 14, 2015 | toxic beauty, vitality health
Do you personal care products have ingredients that are toxic? What about your cleaning products? Companies aren’t required to list all the ingredients in cleaning products since they are trade secrets.
Fragrance companies are the worst at this. Beauty products and fragrances have chemicals in there so they can withstand a long shelf life with extreme temperatures.
My grandmother worked at the perfume counter at Macy’s and we used to get free perfume bottles ( not samples) ALL the time. After 20 years of free perfume, I realize they were giving me headaches. I stopped wearing perfume every day and just felt better. I’ve become very sensitive to other people wearing perfume, even if it’s in their lotions. I now only wear perfume oils… made from a pure source…. smells incredible….. tends to last longer and no more daily headaches……
Many of the ingredients are put in there to preserve the product but wreak all kinds of havoc on your health. Many of these common ingredients can disrupt your endocrine system and wreak havoc on your body.
What products can you throw away and what new ones can you incorporate in that will support and not disrupt your goal of feeling full of zip and ZEE!
As much as possible, aim for fragrance-free. If you still want to wear perfume, then research natural perfume oils without harsh chemicals in them. A side benefit is that you might find you feel better, less headaches when you ditch the toxins.
For those looking to discover what’s in our beauty items or how toxic our beauty products are, check out Cosmetic Database. This website will tell you quickly whether what you’re using is safe or not. When you enter the product title (whether it be a soap, shampoo, makeup, perfume, etc) it will quickly rate on a scale of 1-10 how toxic that product is. Ten would be the worst case scenario and one, the best.
The scary part?
Most products we find in drugstores average around 7 on the toxic scale. Yep.
by Jasmine | Nov 12, 2015 | Spirituality, vitality health
Spiritual Practices and Fertility
What are your spiritual practices? Affirmations? Meditation? Going to church or Temple?
How can you use these practices to support you in your journey to motherhood?
What is one spiritual practice that you can do everyday?
I used to do affirmations in my car almost every day, saying with passion and conviction “ I am carrying a healthy baby in my body”.
In my car I could be as loud as I wanted since the windows were closed and the radio was loud so I didn’t have to worry about others hearing me.
What is an affirmation you can say that will support you and remind you of where you want to be?
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