Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

What if the true key to your health was not counting calories, stressing over carbs, or exercising for hours each day? What if the true key to your health was a simple as knowing your body type and how it affects your digestion?

This thing called a yoga practice is not about the postures or even the sequencing. It could be about the playlist, but even that is questionable.

Check out this beautiful yoga sequence in the stunning backdrop of Australia brought to us by Masha Yoga.

Do you have Sochi fever, YogaDownloaders? Seeing the world gather in one place, in a global celebration of fitness and human potential, has been truly inspiring. We've been watching all of it: the figure skating, the snowboarding, the luging, even the curling. And what we've seen in almost every event is YOGA. Maybe we’re watching the games through yoga-colored lenses, but every event reminds us of the asanas. Yoga is not about competition, but what we practice on the mat – strength, balance, focus, flexibility, awareness, stillness – will help make us more potent and powerful skaters, skiers, lugers, curlers. So without further ado, please enjoy this round up of Sochiasana, with YogaDownload classes to help you reveal these poses in your own practice.

The lotus flower grows (and grows and grows, possibly for more than 1,000 years) through the mud and deep murky waters. Its roots hold steadfast into the dank dark dirt far beneath the surface of the water on which the lotus flower appears to float. One simple lotus flower can evolve for hundreds of years, stretching upwards at its own pace until its perfect center and delicate petals rest above the surface of the water, its divine little face peering towards the sunshine, perfectly vibrant, with not even the slightest marking of the mud from which it grew. If not for the murkiest of water, the thickest of soil, this sacred flower could not thrive, would not be as beautiful and unique as it is.

How about a breakfast that tastes like dessert but is actually PACKED with nutrition. I love it when it feels naughty and it’s not.

Sometimes I sit back and look at my life and I think, wow, I created this. This is a far cry from where I used to be which was, how did I get here? The difference between the two thoughts is simple. One comes from a highly awakened state and the other is from a very deep sleep.

Lately I have come to appreciate the power of positive affirmations. Simply speaking a sentence aloud a few times can change our state of mind. Once we change our state of mind we can start to feel the positive emotion behind our words. When we harness the emotion our energy shifts and so does our reality.

One of the most common poses in yoga class is bhujangasana, cobra pose. This heart opener promotes flexibility through the spine. When in full asana, the yoga practitioner embodies the magnificence of wide-hooded cobra. No matter if your cobra is a baby or fully-hooded, the serpentine movement required of bhujangasana will open you into the energy of the cobra. This serpent energy is perfect to embrace as we are still in the beginning of the new year. During this time, we begin to shed layers, release past restraints, and set intentions for growth and abundance.

This is a SUPER side dish for the Super Bowl! For most people, super bowl parties means lots of foods that don’t actually support you in your health goals. It’s the beginning of the year and you’re still committed to your healthy living resolutions…so don’t let one BIG party derail you.

Yoga has many facets to reveal. One facet might be more prominent than another based on a number of factors including: your ability to adapt and your teacher’s ability to reveal. One facet not well known is the energetic aspect of yoga. This is not to be confused with the “physical intensity” of the practice. The energetic aspect I refer to is the unseen part of what happens to you in your subtle body and in the room, as a result of the yoga.

Who do you want to be? What do you want to do? Who do you want to inspire?

It’s so important these days to keep a mental check of your thoughts. Here are three things you can do to let go of the negativity holding you back and let in the love that is all around you.

Holy savasana! It’s time for yogis to wake up from resting pose — the English translation for the Sanskrit word pronounced shiv-asana — and smell the incense. In the latest salvo proving big business is here to stay in the yoga world, a company received a patent last week for its technique of filming yoga classes for online distribution.

I’ve had thousands of New Year’s wishes and “anthems” come into my awareness these last few days leading up to today. So many, it’s almost overwhelming. This whole instant access to information can be daunting and too much for one person to navigate honestly.

Twas the week before Christmas and all through the home, Not a yogi was stirring, not even an OM.

I love to eat. I was raised in an Italian family in the Midwest who ate three hearty meals a day with a side of pasta at dinner each night. My family owned a chain of banquet halls and at five years old I was scooping lasagna and garlic bread onto the plates of family, friends and strangers.

I am inspired to write about connection again at this time of the year for those of you who adore the holidays as much as I do. And for those of you who don’t – you may get something out of this as well so read on.

People ask me all the time, “How do you do it? How do you manifest every single thing you say you are going to do?” And I laugh because although I’ve gotten really skilled at manifesting the ‘good’ things, I’ve also been witness to patterns that create less than desirable outcomes time and time again.

On the topic of Savasana, I've heard some variation of this for years: "Savasana means dead man's pose." That's because when you're in Savasana, you're supposed to be as still as a dead man." Then there's something about how stillness is elusive in modern Western society and how we deserve a few minutes of peace and quiet in a chaotic world.

I am inspired to write about connection again at this time of the year for those of you who adore the holidays as much as I do. And for those of you who don’t – you may get something out of this as well so read on.

There is an epidemic in the industrial world that is accepted, embraced, and nearly revered by most of us. Do you suffer from this vastly-spreading, oddly coveted disease? It remains nameless, but you know of it, for sure. If you don’t have it, then you most certainly know a person — or ten — who has caught it and talks about it with a hint of self-importance.

Have you ever had an encounter with someone who tries to make you feel small? Someone who belittles you? Or do you ever find that you are in fact the person who does this to yourself? I had an encounter with this a while back. Someone made me feel small, and tried to get in my head. I felt small. I felt caved in. And THEN it transferred over into my yoga practice. I tried to do a headstand and BOOM, hit a wall (literally). Couldn't stick the pose. And then I thought - what if instead, I focus on being BIG? And I lifted up with a little more ease.

I have been sitting here… for literally… THREE DAYS trying to blog. About what? I’m not sure! I must have started 10 blogs and not ONE was resonating with me! It all felt so ‘canned’. Last night I fell asleep on my computer! Apparently I thought that if I laid my face on the keyboard some magical inspiration would arise. The only thing that did happen was I woke up laughing and said out loud… “Damn, I am one helluva spiritual warrior!” So I decided to stop fighting and struggling to come up with something new this month. That will come later… I pulled this from my book, Oms from the Mat. Here’s an amazing reminder of what we ALL are inside and out.

Treat yourself to a pumpkin facial this Fall! Every year I save the fresh pumpkin after carving our Jack O' Lantern and make myself this special treat. It's so fresh and fabulous! Whether it's fresh or canned pumpkin that you use, you will feel renewed as your skin soaks up all the many nutrients of this seasonal squash.