3 Ways to Stay Hydrated

We love the summer! Time for travel and lots of fun outdoor activities! But with all the exposure to the sun and heat, we also tend to lose lots of fluids leading to dehydration.

Here are 3 simple ways you can stay hydrated throughout the summer to beat the summer heat:

Water: It’s hot outside and you think a cold refreshing glass of water will cool you down. Actually drinking room temperature water is more beneficial to your body. The water is absorbed better and less likely to cause stomach cramps.

Fruits/Vegetables: We are all aware that water is the major source to keep us hydrated, as our bodies our made up mostly of water. Fruits and vegetables are also made up of mostly water, making them an excellent choice for hydration. Watermelon, strawberries and cucumbers are a few choices you can carry around to snack on while having your summer fun!

Coconut Water: This yummy drink is comprised of 95% water. It’s a great replacement for sports drinks as it has fewer calories, less sodium and high in potassium.

The summer is about having fun! Not passing out! So stay hydrated!

Steps to Cool Down during Pitta Season

July begins the start of the Pitta season according to Ayurvedic Science, the science of life and sister science to Yoga. The Pitta season represents the fire element. Fire is hot, bright and sharp.

We want to pacify the Pitta season by adjusting our lifestyles to the intensity this season brings.  Adding foods and activities that are cooling to our summer routine can help us work with the heat instead of against it. Thus allowing us to enjoy all the fun and benefits this season brings.

Steps to cool down the intensity of the Pitta season:

1.  Drink lots of water (preferably room temperature)
2. Eat cooling foods such as sweet fruit, bitter vegetables and grains
3. Water activities like swimming, surfing, sailing or simply sitting by the water

Living in accordance with nature can help bring full support and healing power of nature that underlies the growth and development of all living things. (Continue Reading)

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Essential Oils to Balance the Third Chakra

Essential oils are used in the branch of healing called aromatherapy. Using certain oils can help in healing and balancing disorders we have in our bodies. Essential oils that can aid in balancing the third chakra...(Continue reading...).

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Your Third Chakra and Digestive Healing

The third chakra or Manipura Chakra is located int the solar plex, navel and digestive area. Associated with the color yellow, this chakra is involved in self-esteem, warrior energy, and the power of transformation; it also governs digestion and metabolism. Physically, the benefits of having Manipura in harmony include excellent digestion, strong muscles and joints, boundless energy, calm nerves, mental clarity and overall A+ wellness (Manipura, at the gut, is really the seat of our vitality).

An under-active Manipura leads to timidity and passiveness, losing your voice in a group. It’s hard to make decisions, and when you do, you likely lack the confidence to stand up for what you want. On a physical level, you might suffer from a weakened immune system and have issues with indigestion and infections. (Continue reading...)

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Digestive Problems in Women

Women are mothers, wives, leaders in business and best friends. You try to heal, nurture and fix everyone's problems hardly leaving anytime for yourself. How you internalizes your many roles of life can have negative affect on your digestive system.

Although your brain is the head honcho of your body, your digestive tract is the central processing unit. From beginning to end, a healthy digestive tract is critical to feeling good, functioning well and avoiding some pretty serious diseases. The digestive tract is designed to take in nutrients to feed every cell of your body; it also serves as a key support system for your immune system.

When your GI tract is constantly off kilter, you run the risk of actually creating systemic (throughout your body) inflammation, which can lead to an overactive immune response, increased oxidative stress, insulin resistance and increased fat tissue deposits. Be aware of the following types of issues: (Continue reading...)

Health = Success

The process to begin living your truth starts with improving your health. It is not important that you are skinny or have lots of muscles. What is important is that you have the capacity to breathe easily, to move around without quickly tiring and not feel sick all the time.

Our lives have many areas of distracts and we need to make sure our health is maintained so that we can focus on having a good quality of life. To live in a truthful manner there are areas of your life that must have a level of balance. These area include, but aren’t limited to:

• Normalization of weight
• Increased energy level
• Decreased pain
• Improved sleep
• Improved immunity
• Improvement in balance
• Increased strength and resiliency

A healthy lifestyle begins with incorporating a fitness routine. In my expert opinion, one should begin a routine that is slow paced then work their way up. Starting slowly assist in sustaining our commitment to the routine.

Also, slowly begin replacing foods with healthier food options. Again, I suggest slow because this is not a diet. You are changing habits for long term, lifetime success.

Your health must have a level of balance so that you are able to think clearly, act out your thoughts and be able to form relationships of love, friendship and support to the accomplishments of your thoughts. Your health can be summarized as complete physical, mental and social well being. Once you have met the basic needs of sustaining a healthy lifestyle it is much easier to focus on living your truth and achieving your goals and dreams.

Liv Your Truth!

Yoga & the Social Media Circle of Life

Social Media is a very interesting medium to me. Growing up we just had regular telephones, mail and face to face social gathering to keep you in touch, in tuned and involved. Today, you never ever have to see or hear a person if you don’t want to. Or if you do, you don’t ever have to come in physical contact with the people, yet know everything about them.

So for me, I didn’t know if I liked social media.  I want to see, touch, feel and smell people (hope they smell good). I need physical interaction, as I spend enough time alone writing, planning, art or whatever I feel I need to be completely in sync with.

I felt like social media was more of barrier rather than a connector for me. Sure there is online dating, but that’s not my speed. While you can Skype, I like to see my people face to face. And there’s Facebook where most people are voyeurs into other people’s life, I’d rather talk to you on the phone to find out what’s happening with you. 

My perception of social media has changed from one small event that took place and made my yoga program a success.

Social Event: Being new to the Phoenix Metropolitan area, I decided I would go on a food tour. I could hang out with some new people for a few hours. If I made a connection with one or none past the social event, it was a way to have some physical interaction.

Connection: I overheard a conversation had by a young lady, Jordan Johnson, regarding her social media expertise. For some reason I knew in that exact moment that conversation was meant for me, so I asked for her card. Jordan is also the daughter of the owner of the first restaurant on the food tour, Squash Blossom.

I called Jordan regarding web design and social media assistance for my business and upcoming yoga program I was introducing at a yoga studio. However, by the time we met, the yoga studio unfortunately had to close. No studio to host my yoga program, but I believe that one should always keep moving forward with the plan because you never know what’s around the corner. So I met with Jordan anyway.

Well the meeting was just the thing around the corner. Not only did the beginnings of a web design & social media assistance take place, but a space to host my yoga program was created. That’s right my program would be delayed a month, but had a new home, Squash Blossom.

Now I had to find an audience. I was going to use the yoga studio’s members as the people I marketed the program to. No one else, well the social media circle of life had other plans.

After much effort of face to face passing out flyers, setting flyers in businesses, I turned to social media since I hadn’t gotten any face to face responses. I signed up for Meetup.com, which I got registrants from. But it was a connection made on Twitter that created the most unusual and interesting relationship for me and my yoga program.

Social Media: Anel Arriola decided she would take a break from Facebook’s social media scene. She didn’t feel like she was utilizing and connecting with people the way she wanted. So Anel turned to Twitter to see if she would have better luck there.

A resident of downtown Phoenix, she became a follower of Squash Blossom.  Unaware of my social media actions, I somehow followed Anel on Twitter. She looked more into my program and thought it would be a great fit for achieving the goals and dreams she has in her life.

Having been away from Facebook for over a month, she got back on and connected with her friend that she hadn’t seen in two years. While they had not seen each other, Facebook had been their way of keeping in touch. But since Anel had been gone for so long, the friends decided to meet in person.

During their face to face meeting, Anel told her friend of the program she had planned to register for. The friend thought it would be fitting for her life and decided that it would be great for her boyfriend to attend as well. So they all signed up and the program began.

Yoga: While in a yoga class, in which we were supposed to be practicing yoga, somehow it took a turn and we decided to talk about other aspects of yoga, not just practicing asanas (poses). Our conversation revealed the synchronicity of the universe and how it assist you in fulfilling your goals, dreams and desires if you allow it. We went on to discuss how we are each a universe of our own and we each affect one another’s universe by drawing people, places or things to support our goals and dreams.

I shared with them my story of how I came to Squash Blossom. And my belief that I had drawn this place into my universe to support me in allowing my yoga program to be introduced to other people to benefit from. Anel saw the connection of how I also drew her into my universe and told the above mentioned story.

Needless to say, I was amazed at this social media circle of life. This made me a believer that social media was a great tool to connect people face to face, a capability I didn’t see before. I thought it was just one more way to disconnect. 

Social Media, like yoga is a tool meant to unit and bring together. To have a oneness, holistic approach to living. There was a lesson taught for me that social media is meant to bring us together in every aspect of our life.

Liv your truth!

You & Me

My aunt observed a t-shirt I was wearing from pictures I had on during my yoga photo shoot. The t-shirt is white and says “You&Me.” She told me she liked it and wanted one. I said, “sure, no problem.”

Every time a picture of me was posted on Facebook wearing the You&Me t-shirt, she would remind me that she was still waiting for her t-shirt to arrive. I admit, I procrastinated and didn’t go look to see if the store I purchased the shirt from still had any in stock. A month or so passed.

Still pictures of me in the You&Me t-shirt doing various yoga poses are continually being circulated through my social media feeds. My aunt inquires even more about the t-shirt. I say, “Okay, I will go look for the t-shirt. If I don’t find it, I will send you mine.”

Of course, the t-shirt was no longer to be found. I am a woman of my word and sincerely work to honor all commitments. But I liked my t-shirt! I really wasn’t ready to part with it just yet! I just got it!

It was a great statement when teaching my yoga classes, You&Me.

I packed up the t-shirt and mailed it off. Bye, bye t-shirt! It was fun while it lasted!

You&Me have a responsibility to one another.  I recognize that we are the same - Namaste. That’s what the shirt represented to me.

My aunt made me hold true to the very personal meaning of this t-shirt to me.  As she has, does and will do anything for me and the rest of our family. She married a man that understood that and brought the same quality to our family.

You & Me, my aunt and I are a lot alike. We are both Aries. We have both experienced Ulcerative Colitis. And we both love to have fun with our family & friends, valuing them very.  I guess it was fitting for her to have the t-shirt, the representation of You&Me.

Would you give someone the shirt off your back, out your closet or from your drawer to take care of them? Or even simply to make them happy because it isn’t always a need. Can you give away something that you want to keep?

Liv your truth!

Am I What I Eat?

We are told time and time again that you are what you eat!  So if I eat a potato chip, I’m a potato chip?  If I eat a carrot, then I’m a carrot?

There are so many theories about what a healthy diet is, it can be confusing.  

Per our various sources of “expert” information, a healthy diet is:

•      Animal based with fruits and vegetables
•         Vegetarian (you can eat everything under the sun except animal meat, and fish is “sometimes” and “sometimes” not in that category)
•         Vegan (absolutely no animals, sometimes animals or animal byproducts, like butter)
•         Raw Vegetarian (Strictly and only live fruits & vegetables, that means no cooked fruits & vegetables and no pasta – for people who are vegetarians)

So confusing it’s no wonder why people have a hard time managing their weight.

In my 39 years of existence, I have been an animal eater, vegetarian, vegan and raw vegetarian at various points of my life.  My food consumption has varied based off of a health challenge (Ulcerative Colitis/Crohn’s Disease), weight loss or healthier eating habits I was managing.   Needless to say, they may have all served a purpose at some given time, but were not beneficially sustaining for me.

When I was a vegetarian and vegan, my GI doctor’s said I needed to eat meat because I was anemic.  When I was a raw vegetarian, the Chinese herbalist said I needed to eat chicken and cooked vegetables to improve anemia and get heat back into my body.  But when I eat meat all the time, I don’t digest it well and I personally don’t feel well.

There are foods that are recommended for people to eat based off of Doshas (Auryvedic Science), Chinese Herbal Medicine, Blood Type, etc.  Again, many schools of expertise to determine what’s a good food consumption plan for you.

What’s a girl like me to do?

Well through my experience, I have gained a very clear understanding regarding food and it’s connections with weight management, using it as a tool for healing, and sustaining healthy living.  My expert information this:

• Learn your body and understand what makes it tick.  Write in a food journal to see what makes you feel good/bad.  This will help you find out what foods are helpful to you.
• Listen to your bodies cravings.  And not the chocolate cravings, your body doesn’t NEED this all the time.  But become very in tuned with your body because the more aware you are, the better you can identify a real food craving which is your body is sending you signals to tell you it needs, because sometimes it is chocolate.
• Monitor your food intake.  Portion control is important.  And balancing your food choices, be a potato every now and again, but make sure you’re a carrot too.

Liv Your Truth! 

Creative Management

Your creative juices have begun to flow.  Watch out because a flood of thoughts and ideas are rushing through your brain.  You may have started a project and needed ideas to help you along the way to see that project through. 

Then another great idea comes along that may not look like it has any relatedness to the project you are trying to complete.  But your creative juices have been so slow to flow for so long that you feel the need to take on another project.  Ideas are flowing for that project.  You are and overflowing source of creative lava. 

Project number 2 is now getting all of your creative attention.  You begin to neglect project 1.  You recognize the neglect and decide you can manage both.  Just then, creative thought produces ideas for your best project yet! 

Project number 3 is born.  Because it is your best thought ever, you become solely consumed.  You are experiencing creativity begetting creativity begetting creativity. 

This can be a wonderful time as your creative juices are on fire.  You are inspired!  You are highly productive.

Completing all your creative endeavors may become challenging in the mist of it all.   They each have a place in your heart and in this world where you feel will be beneficial.  They are all important.

Take a step back and breathe!

Managing your creativity is a process that will allow you to utilize your creative abundance experience in a manner that will work for you.  You need to begin with the following steps:

·         Organize your current projects.  Identify the need base for the project.  Categorize and place your efforts to the one that will bring the most benefit of service.

·         Write down other ideas that come to mind.  Jot down notes as other ideas for those projects come to mind.  This will assist you in capturing the idea and its creative path without overloading yourself with more projects you can handle at the present time.

·         Overlap each project.  Identify where you can use the simultaneously in conjunction with one another.  For example: I teach yoga and I have new interest in expressing myself through painting, my first pictures are of yoga poses.

There’s no reason why creativity should go to waste.  We just need ways to manage our creativity to produce the results we want.  Liv Your Truth!

Flexible Mind, Flexible Body

Yoga is synonymously affiliated with being flexible.  Practicing yogis and naturally flexible people are able to contour their body into various poses that seem to be impossible for the average person.  But in reality, we all can get our bodies into most of the asanas (poses).  With practice!

Asanas being merely one aspect of yoga, allows one to see what can be done in the physical can also be done in the mental.  However, it’s in the mental where we can first see what we can do.  And what we cannot do!

You’re as flexible as your mind allows you to be.  When a person who has never practiced or new to yoga states that they are not flexible, they have just revealed something about themselves.  And it’s not the mere statement of their body’s limits, but the perceived limits they have for their mental body, extending into other areas of their lives.

Thoughts of our flexibility in our body only reflect the way we are flexible in our life. The state of flexibility in our mind allows us the ability to maneuver and adjust to the many events that life brings.  We see how adaptable we are to the changes that occur and our recovery time to stabilize. 

A feeling of inflexibility is a good reason to incorporate a yoga practice into your daily routine.  It will assist in the discovery of your flexible body, but more important your flexible mind limits.  We need to be pliable and fluid to remain centered and balance to any of our life altering events.  A yoga practice will assist in giving your confidence in your flexibility in your body and in all the other areas of your life.

Liv Your Truth!