Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

I’m not sure how alchemy landed in my lap this week as the theme, but it landed and it landed hard!

No Thanksgiving dinner is complete without pumpkin pie, so this year I decided to do a healthy twist on this classic favorite.

Devotion is defined as “love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a person, activity, or cause."

Are you ready for a festive and flavorful version of my favorite soup that is 100% healthy and dairy-free?

My alarm went off this morning, and it was cold and dark out. This is nothing new in Boulder in the mornings, even if it gets up to 70 midday, but the sun is coming up later and later, and all I wanted to do was hide under my blankets. It was everything I could do to get out of bed. The thought of winter coming was just too depressing. Laying there, thoughts peeped into my head about how to stay motivated with my exercise routine and just in general stay positive and in a good mood. There are actually a lot of things to look forward to over the next few months, as it gets colder, and colder… and colder.

We all know that if we don’t close down apps and recharge our i-Pads and other devices, they run slow, sluggish or the battery dies. When I explain to kiddos that their minds and bodies are no different, they ‘get it’ right away. Besides, Reboot & Recharge is a lot of fun and very relaxing… for BIG kids too!

Candy is everywhere we turn these days. Bowls of black and orange M&Ms conveniently placed for us to grab and pop in our mouth without even thinking twice. Jars of candy corn and bite-sized chocolates call our names despite our best will power efforts.

Do you know where your keys are at this moment? Could you, with reasonable accuracy, tell someone how to find important documents like your passport? Do you know what the bottom of your closet looks like? How long does it take you to find the clothes you want to wear in the morning? If trying to answer these questions gives you a headache, you may need a space makeover.

When I was 16 years old I always wished that I was somewhere else. It felt like I was misplaced. Mismatched. Misunderstood. I've been on a journey inward ever since, searching for the magic spell that would bring me back home again, to myself. Truly aligned with my Authentic Self.

We all thrive to be balanced and calm because we live in a world that is filled with appointments, stress, work, well, essentially life crammed into a 16-20 hour day – depending on the amount you sleep. The less you sleep, the more you are stressed.

One thing I really enjoy in life is EATING. I also like cooking, but my big problem is that I often wait to think about what to eat until I am famished and then I don’t have the focus or energy to cook. That’s why I keep my fridge loaded with fresh veggies and plant based proteins (nuts and seeds).

Yoga for most of us is about rejuvenation and bringing about equilibrium to the self. Yet life works in cycles of ebb and flow. And with this fluctuation there are inevitably periods of stress, improper diet, overwork, lack of sleep, and accumulation of free radicals in the body. The key is this - whenever you experience such periods in the life cycle it is a hint from the body for nutritional support.

Challenges. They knock us on our ass. They slap us on the face. And they leave us with a choice: to stay on the ground or to stand up and move forward.

Do you notice anything different about us? We did some soul searching, some web searching, and made some big improvements to YogaDownload.com! An extreme makeover of sorts. Here are the top ten reasons why the new YogaDownload.com ROCKS, if we do say so ourselves:

It's officially fall and that means cooler temperatures, crisp evenings and brightly colored changing leaves.

The hero in any story never starts out that way. He or she begins as an ordinary human stuck in the doldrums of their circumstance. In The Matrix, Neo is a simple office clerk whose cubicle is barely adorned. In Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie Bucket is a poor English schoolboy who works a paper route for a few meager coins to feed his family. In Braveheart, William Wallace is a Scottish countryman with a little farm and a lot of love for a beautiful girl.

The origins, challenges and benefits of a home yoga practice.

What do you really want from your life my friend? If you are like most women I know, you might say that you want a healthier and slimmer body. More energy. Radiant skin. Inner and outer confidence.

The first hour of your day sets the tone for how the rest of the day is going to go. Disagree?

Is it sugar? Salty snacks? Coffee? Wine?

Are you a victim of Conditional Self Love? Things like self care, self love and self acceptance have come up during my personal yoga journey. And it's been reminding me of the importance of loving myself just as I am. Why is self love important? Why is self acceptance so crucial?

We all have them. They linger. They are sneaky and quiet but they can create our lives to be grippy. Sticky. Stuck. Heavy. But we continue to feed them. WHY???

When I first came to yoga, I thought it was about body movement. Sweating, moving, breathing, standing on your hands, you know, the usual.

If you know me, you hear me say all the time, “I love my life. I GET to do this every single day. How flippin’ amazing is that? I get to connect with phenomenal people, invite DJs and musicians to my class, move my body, educate myself, work one-on-one with people, write for magazines and online publications, and travel to fun places if I’m lucky.

Hey there, you know me, that girl online who is all smiles and sunshine. What if it wasn’t always that way and isn’t always that way still?