What's Your Yoga Style?

Hi- This is a fun quiz from Yoga Journal- Not surprisingly I am in the Power/Vinyasa Group! Although every now and then I prefer a more relaxed approach!
http://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/quizzes_and_tools/stylequiz/

"Downward Dog" Your Way to a Better Mood!

If life's got you feeling frazzled or blue, adjust your mood for the better by striking a few yoga poses.According to a small study, this popular joint-loosening, muscle-toning exercise cranks up brain levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a neurotransmitter that helps take the edge off anxiety and helps bust up blue moods.

It's a Real Stretch
Why is yoga such a grand spirit-lifter? It may have something to do with your nerves. In particular, a thing called your vagus nerve. This long nerve helps turn on your parasympathetic nervous system -- the part of your central nervous system that's responsible for boosting GABA and making you feel happy and relaxed. And, as it turns out, yoga does a mighty fine job of activating the vagus nerve, enabling that whole chain of feel-good events in your body to happen.

Consider Going Organic!

Food for Thought! Microbiologist Sandra Steingraber on The price we pay for organic food vs conventional.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av6VNDUAWgE

LOVE the quote: The price we pay for conventional food at the cash register is only a small part of the cost to society (and your family) of that food!

Life at Warp Speed is Not Really Living!

Feeling rushed, overloaded and behind? Wondering where did the day/week/month go? Leading a chaotic and unbalanced lifestyle often creates an absent and distracted mind, causing days to blur and weeks to "fly by." What special moments are you missing by rushing from one activity to the next? Yoga really helps you learn to focus on the here and now and live in the moment. Even if it is only for one hour a day, it's so refreshing to press pause button and step back for a bit.

Stress Less

Stress Less
Stress has become an epidemic in today's world, especially for Americans, who feel increased pressure to be successful in both career and family with too little time to do both. While stress is uncomfortable in and of itself, it can also contribute to illness and disease by overtaxing your body and sabotaging your immune system.

Three or four improvised poses, whenever you can find the time, go a long way towards providing you with the benefits of yoga, even when you can't commit to a full practice. Also, high levels of stress can translate into many undesirable effects, including panic attacks. Anusara yoga founder John Friend makes some general recommendations on how to avoid and reduce panic attacks. Finally, a healthy diet can fight the effects of stress by bolstering the immune system and lowering blood pressure. Individual foods that are high in vitamins and minerals can combat stress as well, even reducing levels of stress hormones.

What's Your Real Age?

This test takes about ten minutes, but is really eye opening and once you have your results, you will get suggestions and strategies for decreasing your "Real Age"

http://www.realage.com/landing/entry39?kw=ist

Watermelon is Good for you!

From Dr. Oz's Real Age Site: Drop your blood pressure down a few notches by enjoying this pink, juicy picnic treat more often: watermelon. Turns out watermelon is loaded with an amino acid called L-citrulline. And in a small study of prehypertensive people, this compound helped improve circulation and lowered people's systolic blood pressure by as much as 9 points. Pretty sweet!