The summer season has these characteristics: heat, long days of bright sun, and sharp intensity.

​These are all attributes of pitta dosha (fire and a little water), which is why summer is considered in Ayurveda to be a pitta season. And, even though some climates are also humid this time of year, the cumulative effect of intense heat is to dry things out, so summer is also considered dry.

According to Ayurveda, our bodies heat up over the course of the summer season. The effects of this heat can show up as skin irritations, rashes, hay fever, and disrupted digestion. If you suffer from any of these, it is likely that your body has accumulated excess heat. If you can cool and release the hot, sharp qualities of summer from your body, you will enjoy the summer season more.

Thankfully, if you look to what is fresh in your area, you can cool the heat by eating what nature provides best this season.

• Favor foods that are sweet, bitter and astringent as these will cool the body. ENJOY COCONUT, CUCUMBERS, GREENS, FRESH VEGETABLES, GREEN SMOOTHIES, COLORFUL SALADS, BASMATI RICE, QUINOA, MINT, CILANTRO.
• Reduce foods that are pungent, sour and salty as these will create more heat in the body. REDUCE COFFEE, SALTY CHIPS, SALSA, HOT SAUCE, PICKLES, ALCOHOL, RED MEAT, CHEESE.

​For a list and links to healthy seasonal recipes, click here. 

Here's a visual of foods to favor and foods to avoid in the summer:

Interested in more healthy living tip sheets, go here.

Stay hydrated. This is my number one travel tip.  It’s so easy to get dehydrated while traveling.  In my experience, dehydration leads to feeling ungrounded, spaced out, grumpy. Dehydration also upsets digestion.  I always travel with my water bottle. If it’s cold, I travel with a thermos full of hot water. Ayurveda recommends room temperature and/or warm water rather than cold beverages for sound digestion. To feel at home, I like to travel with a few of my favorite herbal tea bags. . 

Travel with nourishing and grounding food.  There is nothing worse than being hungry while traveling, and there is nothing worse than being somewhere like an airport terminal or gas station convenience store with no good food choices. I love to try new foods wherever I am, but on travel days, I always bring along my own nourishing food.  Fresh fruit, cut up veggies and nuts are a must.  Instant oatmeal is great for early morning breakfasts on the go (simply add hot water to a thermos cup).  Other options are avocados and fresh bread, par-cooked veggies or salads.  To make sure I get my daily dose of greens, I like to bring along super greens powder to add to juice or water.

Support your digestion. Traveling can easily upset digestion. These are some ways I support my digestion while traveling:

• Ginger tea. Drink throughout the day and after a heavy meal.
• Triphala. Take the Ayurvedic remedy triphala in capsule or powdered form with warm water before bed for smooth digestion.
• Add chia seeds to your favorite drink.  Chia seeds are great for energy and they support bowel regularity.
• Magnesium supports healthy bowel function. Try magnesium citrate. I like this type.

Support your sleep. Do you find it hard to sleep in new places? I am a sensitive sleeper. These are the strategies I use to sleep soundly when I'm traveling:

• Use an eye mask. I love this black silk eye mask. It helps me sleep soundly when I'm home and away.
• Magnesium. I love the magnesium calms my body and helps me sleep when I'm away from home. There are many forms of magnesium available. Two forms I like are magnesium citrate and magnesium glycinate. I use this type.

Stick to a routine.  No matter where I am, I follow the same morning and evening routine.  My routine helps me feel at home wherever I am. These are habits for the morning and evening routine that will keep you grounded and centered anywhere on the planet:

• Wake up at roughly the same time of the day.
  
• Drink 2 cups of warm water first thing in the morning.
  
• Center yourself with a morning  meditation. Even five minutes counts.
  
• Do ten minutes of exercise before breakfast.  
• Before bed massage your feet with oil. A foot massage relieves stress and fatigue from travel and helps settle the nervous system for sleep.
• Try to get to bed by 10 PM

Do yoga.  A few poses every day while traveling will help your body feel comfortable and strong.  Whether your travel includes lots of plane or car time, or lots of hiking, a few sun salutations in the morning or some supine poses in the evening will refresh, enliven and keep your body from getting stiff or sore.  (Yoga on the go? Check out my free yoga resources. You can play them right from your smartphone.)

Use essential oils.  Essential oils are great for travelers.

• Use lavender to  reduce stress. 
  
• Peppermint and ginger help with motion sickness and improve digestion. 
  
• Eucalyptus is great respiratory support. 
  
• Citronella is great for repelling insects. 

​Happy Travels!

​Here in Olympia we are coming out of a week of Snowpocalypse. If you're in my region, you know what I'm talking about! Our region is ill-equipped to deal with a big snow storm, so schools and many businesses were shut down last week. Lots of folks lost power and were snowed in. For our family, it was a stay-cation of sorts. No school, no work, no internet. So, we had lots of family time. We played games, went sledding, walked in the snow, read books, and slept in. After a week of diminished work and school activities, we all felt quite rejuvenated. Despite the obvious discomforts caused by this storm, the week at home was, in many ways, a very pleasurable experience.

Kama - Enjoyment or Pleasure
The word pleasure or kama, in Sanskrit is a concept I am teaching in my yoga classes this week. According to the Vedic teachings, pleasure or enjoyment is one of the 4 Aims of Life. Kama refers to the pleasure of the senses. It is both an aesthetic enjoyment and also an enjoyment of emotional connection and affection. In Vedic teachings, taking time for enjoyment is considered a responsibility of householders. For me last week, this was taking in the simple pleasure of enjoying the rare (in the Pacific Northwest) winter wonderland with my family. This pleasure involved all my senses. I enjoyed the brightness of the snow, and the clear skies with stars at night, crackling of snow and ice under my feet, and the touch of my warmest, puffiest coat and thickest mittens. Because it was more difficult to prepare food, the simplest meals were more satisfying.

Of course we experienced the discomforts that come with a big storm, like no power which in our neighborhood also means no water! Luckily we were prepared and were able to ride it out. But, the point I want to make is what could have been a negative experience turned into a very positive experience because we chose to make it that way. It was in many ways, all about mindset. Having an attitude of seeking enjoyment and positivity is a skill and a practice that involves the mind and the body.

Counter-acting our Built-in Negativity Bias
I am reminded by the teachings of Dr. Rick Hanson. Dr. Rick Hanson is a psychologist who studies and writes about the inner skills of personal well-being. Scientists believe that humans have a built in "negativity bias." We are hard-wired to look out for negative experiences and to prevent them if possible. This is an evolutionary trait that has in Rick's words made us more apt to dodge sticks than to chase down carrots. Rick says we are "velcro for negativity" and like "teflon for positivity." By this, he means that we are going to be on the look out for anything negative and any negative experience will "stick to our ribs" more than a "positive experience." In the case of the snowstorms, we are wired to be more preoccupied with the hazards and discomforts of a storm than the silver lining of pleasurable time with family and natural beauty. 

Tilting toward the Positive
A big part of my job as a yoga and wellness teacher is to help people's minds and bodies become more resilient by guiding folks realign to what is already good, and build on that. One of my favorite practices that I am teaching this week is Taking in the Good. This is a practice I learned from Dr. Rick Hanson. It is the simple practice of noticing, appreciating and even basking in what is positive, enjoyable and pleasurable in one's life. This basking or soaking in the good involved all of the senses. An example is being outside in the snow or anywhere where you realize you are experiencing something pleasant, and taking the time enjoy the all of the accompanying sights, sounds, feelings, smells and even flavors. By doing so, we begin to slant our mind-body toward more positivity. We can even begin to change our brain! This is neuroplasticity. If we always tilt toward the negative, we become more prone to a negative mindset. Each time, we incline our mind-body toward the positive and pause and appreciate the positive, we build neuro-pathways that incline our lives toward resilience and positivity.

Soaking in the good practice
This is a practice you can do anytime and anywhere. When you become aware that whatever you are experiencing has a pleasant quality, bring your awareness to that experience. If it's early morning and you just poured yourself a cup of hot tea. Take a moment and enjoy the warmth of the mug on your skin. Breathe in the aroma of the tea. Pause, soften and breathe. Let your body relax. Exhale again. Even before you take your first sip, anticipate the pleasure of the warmth and taste of the tea in your mouth. Then, when you take your first sip, linger with the flavors and sensation. Don't rush on to the next task of the morning. Soak in the good for just a few more moments. It's that simple. Fill up your cup with what's good and build on that for the rest of the day.

Namaste,
Annie

Thanksgiving is coming right up! 

Here is a list of 14 tips for a making your Thanksgiving weekend healthier.

1. Plan to eat your Thanksgiving meal at midday or in the afternoon. This is when your digestive capacity is at its peak. Studies show that eating the bulk of your calories earlier in the day supports maintaining a healthy weight.

2. Plan several delicious plant based sides to accompany your Thanksgiving turkey. For healthy Thanksgiving food ideas, look here, here and here.

3. If you're not hosting, volunteer to bring a healthy dish to your holiday gathering. This way, you'll know that you have at least one healthy dish to put on your plate. Here's a list of healthy plant based Thanksgiving recipes.

4. Eat breakfast on Thanksgiving morning. This has been shown to prevent over-eating later in the day.

5. Sit next to healthy eaters. Find your healthy eating allies and enjoy strength and wellness in numbers.

6. Put veggies on your plate first. Take a larger portion of the healthier foods and a smaller portion of the less healthy foods. 

7. Choose your indulgences wisely and enjoy them. There is a time for feasting. Consciously enjoy your dessert!

8. Slow down. Enjoy your food. Savor the flavors. Chew and swallow. Pause. Breathe. Repeat.

9. Focus on gratitude. Studies show that folks who make gratitude a daily practice open the door to more relationships, improve their physical health, psychological health, sleep better, are more empathetic, have better self esteem and mental resilience. 

10. Drink digestive teas after your meal. Ginger tea, Cumin, coriander, fennel tea and licorice mint are all great choices. Here are some recipes.

11. When you're done eating, brush your teeth or put a mint in your mouth to discourage yourself from eating more than you need.

12. Move your body after your big meal. Invite your friends and loved ones to take a walk after your Thanksgiving feast. This will give your metabolism a boost and lighten the load.

13. Eat lighter and greener on Black Friday. It's a good practice to pulse between festive meals and simple meals. After a day of rich celebratory eating, dial it back. Think healthy and simple like green smoothies and vegetable soups.

14. Eat before you to the mall. This way, you won't be tempted to indulge in food court while you are doing your holiday shopping.

Happy Healthy Thanksgiving!

Do you fancy yourself a cook? A foodie? A health enthusiast? A locovore? According to habit change expert, James Clear, every action you take casts a vote for the person you believe you are. Do you go for burgers or go for beets? Do you opt for pop tarts or for parnsips? Do you meal plan or do you default to frozen entrees? When you change your habits, you change your identity. The actions you take daily, weekly, and seasonally in your kitchen cast big votes for the type of body you have now and the kind of body you are going to have in 3 months and in 3 years.

I call myself a cook, a foodie, a health enthusiast and a locovore. It probably started in my teens when I would turn my mom's kitchen upside down experimenting with recipes and food ideas. This identity was solidified in my college years when I worked at the vegetarian collective restaurant name the Che Cafe on the campus of UC San Diego. I made the weekly Indian lunch special, I worked the early AM sandwich shift, and I served food for the Wednesday night All You Can Eat special. Anyone who knows me knows I love to cook and prepare healthy, local food.

If you want to be a healthy person, start to ask yourself, what would a healthy person do in the kitchen? ​

Kitchen Sadhana
In this post, I share with you a lot of habits and ideas about how to make the most out of your time in the kitchen each day, each week and each season. I call this kitchen sadhana. Sadhana is a word from the yoga tradition that translates as a practice aimed at evolution. The habits I do in my kitchen cast votes for my future health and well-being. What I put into my body eventually becomes my tissues, my thoughts and my actions.

I define kitchen sadhana as:

• Consciousness in action in my kitchen. 
• The practice of food preparation and nourishment.  
• Daily, weekly and seasonal habits that up-level my kitchen environment and vibration. 
• Clear intentions around my food preparation.  
• Investment in my future body and consciousness.

A weekly kitchen sadhana will help you:

• Save time during the week.
• Eat better.
• Save money.
• Be seasonal.
• Be more relaxed.
• Have a healthier, more vibrant body.

Seasonal Kitchen Tasks
These are tasks to do about every three months.

• Purge your fridge and cupboards of anything that is old and devoid of life force (prana).
• Arrange your refrigerator and cupboards like you would rooms in your house! Arrange them neatly and nicely for your satisfaction, pleasure and ease. Design your refrigerator and cabinets to emphasize what you want to put into your body.
• Organize your bins and jars.
• Organize your compost container and system.
• Organize your spices.
• Stock your kitchen for the current season.
• Assess your kitchen tools. Upgrade if necessary.
• Blend spice mixes for the season.
• Freeze or can food to eat later in the year.
• Prepare herbal tea blends, superfood blends, etc.
• Plant a garden or get a CSA subscription.
• Install a compost bin.

Weekly Kitchen Tasks
These are weekly tasks to prepare for good nourishment for the week ahead. These can be customized depending on the season and what you like to eat.

• Explore new recipes for the coming week.
• Fill out your weekly meal planner. PDF
• Take a shopping trip.
• Restock your kitchen staples.
• Harvest your garden.
• Gather your edible weeds for the week.
• Arrange fresh produce where you will be enticed to use it.
• Clean greens and veggies for easy meal prep.
• Make mason jar salads for lunches away from home.
• Prepare vegetarian soup stock or bone broth.
• Sprout seeds.
• Make granola.
• Make salad dressings and sauces
• Make almond milk or coconut milk from scratch.
• Start a batch of sauerkraut.
• Make hummus or other bean dips.

Kitchen Tasks for the Evening

• Check your meal plan. Adjust if necessary.
• Soak any legumes or grains for the next day (chia sees, rice, beans, etc).
• Chop and prep ingredients for tomorrow's meal.
• Get out lunch containers that you'll need for tomorrow's work lunch.
• Get your family involved in planning and prepping tomorrow's food

​More suggestions for Kitchen Sadhana Success:

• Invest in you consciousness. Invest in your body.
• Follow the prana (life force). Trust your desire! 
• Enjoy your time in the kitchen! 
• Make Kitchen Sadhana something you can relax into!  

Want to learn more about healthy habits and how to get implement them? Check out the Vibrant Living Habits course.  This course runs three times a year.

It's hot. Summer cooking can be a challenge because it's hard to feel like being in the kitchen. In the summer, I want to eat well, but spend a minimum amount of time in the kitchen. Buddha Bowls and salads are my go-to dishes for summer. They are seasonal and they will keep you cool (we don't want to ignite your pitta-heat) and satisfied. 

I love to cook, and I'm an improviser. I love to search the web for new ideas and recipes and I love to see photos of tasty new dishes. Basically, I use the recipes as guides, not dogma. In this post, I'll share recipes I've enjoyed from the web and my own ideas around what else you can do to adapt them.
 ​

Buddha Bowls 
The idea of the "buddha bowl" is a bowl that combines veggies and whole grains (and omit the grains if you don't do grains) and add other sauces and condiments. The sky is the limit with these. Think quinoa, couscous, brown rice, wild rice, millet, etc. as a base. Add greens, sliced raw veggies, sauteed or steamed veggies, Add proteins like tofu, tempeh, garbanzo beans, black beans, hummus, chicken, salmon or egg. Top with flavorful sauces like peanut sauce, tahini sauce, green goddess dressing. etc. Add other goodies like saurkraut, sliced avocados, sesame seeds, nuts, cranberries.
Here are a few basic buddha bowl recipes to get you started:

• Build your Own Buddha Bowl from Cookie + Kate
• Sweet Potato Chickpea Buddha Bowl from Minimalist Baker
• 15 Buddha Bowls that Will Satisfy Every Craving by Buzzfeed

Want to talk about what kinds of food are best for you? Take advantage of Annie's offer for free personalized wellness strategy session.

A wellness strategy session is an opportunity to explore where you are with your health and where you want to be. Together we discuss your current situation and create a strategy for your optimal well-being. 

I offer FREE 30 minute wellness sessions for those wishing to explore their wellness evolution. Interested? Contact me.  ​

Mark the shift from winter to spring
As yogis, we take our cues from nature.  Despite the current human trend to disconnect from nature as we spend increasing amount of time in cars, computers and buildings, we are part of nature and our physiology is deeply affected by the natural rhythms. As yogis, we practice being tuned in to our breath and body.  Alignment is what we do in yoga, and the transition into a new season is an invitation to align our physiology with the season. In the spring, there is a natural urge to make a clean, fresh start.

The equinox marks the shift from winter into spring. The weather is gets warmer. The daffodils start to bloom. There are blossoms on the cherry trees. The trees are leafing out. My kale plants have started growing again. Birds are chirpy. Depending on where you live, the warmer weather may come earlier or later, but March marks the transition into spring.  

The winter weather in your area may have been mostly cold and dry or cold and wet.  In either case, you were probably eating more filling and heavier foods, more fats and proteins, to keep your body nourished.  Now, that it’s spring, there is a natural craving for lighter foods. You may be already feeling this.

How to eat to as you move into spring
I recently made a video with my friend and colleague, Alexandra Epple, about how to eat as we transition from winter to spring.
​

Spring, the season to detox
The body’s need for the heavier, rich foods of winter shifts to a desire for light, dry, simple foods that digest easily. Maybe you’ve noticed your cravings change. The arrival of the warmer weather often is accompanied by the desire to eat less of the heavier substantial foods of winter, and the desire to eat lighter foods such as fruits, fresh veggies and salads.  This is the body’s way of telling you it’s time for a SPRING CLEANING.

This is a great time to do a CLEANSE or DETOX.  You may have access to a reliable and appropriate CLEANSE OR DETOX, such as a mono-diet or a juice cleanse, but anyone can DETOXIFY THE BODY by simply adding more of the flavors of pungent, bitter, astringent tastes found in seasonal, bitter greens, berries, ginger, turmeric and simply prepared veggies and vegetable soups.  

How to live and eat for spring
To balance the COOL DAMPNESS of spring, we want to INTRODUCE foods, flavors and experiences that are:

• WARMING
• LIGHT
• DRY
• MOBILE
• SHARP
• PENETRATING

We want to REDUCE foods, flavors and experiences that are:

• COLD
• HEAVY
• OILY
• STATIC
• DULL
• SLOW

If  we do this, we will be less likely to experience COMMON SPRING IMBALANCES such as

• Sinus or chest congestion
• Spring allergies
• Lethargy

Let’s talk food!

TASTES TO FAVOR AND ENJOY IN THE SPRING:

• BITTER
• ASTRINGENT
• PUNGENT

FOODS TO FAVOR:

• GREENS!  To clean out the body!
• PUNGENT SPICES: ginger, black pepper, lemon, turmeric
• DRY GRAINS: corn, millet, buckwheat, quinoa, rye
• ASTRINGENT FRUITS: apples, pears, berries, prunes
• LEGUMES AND LEAN PROTEINS: beans, lentils, egg whites, chicken, fish
• BITTER VEGETABLES: kale, arugula, dandelion greens, asparagus, cabbage, broccoli
• RAW HONEY in moderation

FOODS TO REDUCE:

• Anything cold
• Dairy products
• Sweet heavy fruits (dates, figs, bananas)
• Breads and refined carbs
• Heavy, oily, fried foods
• Roasted nuts
• Salt – because it adds to fluid retention
• Animal protein – eat in moderation during spring

Suggested Spring Meals:

BREAKFASTS:

• Green smoothies made with fresh fruits and greens, consumed at room temperature or slightly warm.  Add ginger and turmeric for more cleansing qualities
• Porridges made with lighter grains such as buckwheat or millet
• Fruits like cherries and berries, apples and pears

LUNCHES AND DINNERS:

• Enjoy cooked legumes, cooked grains, freshly cooked veggies, salads (midday)
• KITCHERI and other veggie stews
• LENTILS AND RICE DISHES
• CHICKPEAS, BLACK BEANS
• ASPARAGUS STEAMED OR IN SOUP
• ASIAN STIR FRIED VEGGIES AND TOFU
• VIETNAMESE PHO SOUP WITH BOK CHOY AND VEGGIES
• CAULIFLOWER OR BROCCOLI STEAMED OR IN SOUPS
• ARTICHOKES
• LIGHTER, LEANER PROTEINS and not so often (chicken, fish, eggs)

More adventures in spring season eating

• TRY SPROUTING!  Sprouts are full of vitality and cleansing properties.
• EAT YOUR WEEDS!  Some of the best nutrition to be found is in your yard. Dandelion, Thistle, Nettles – detoxifiers.  And they are FREE! Read more and get recipes here.
• TRY THHIS SPICE MIXTURE: coriander, fenugreek, cumin, turmeric, ginger, black pepper, cayenne, cloves
• HYDRATE WELL. DRINK WARM WATER BETWEEN MEALS. Avoid cold beverages.
• ENJOY DIGESTIVE TEAS MADE WITH ginger, anise, cloves, and peppercorn

Need some recipe suggestions? Here's a collection of plant based recipes.

Do you have a spring recipe or tip to share? Contact me.

Happy Spring Eating!

Move your body. Lighten up. Reduce stagnation. Lose winter weight.

Spring is the easiest season to UP YOUR EXERCISE GAME. After the winter, your body is STRONG and ready for ENDURANCE. Physical activity improves circulation, increases heat and results in a feeling of LIGHTNESS.  It’s a good time of the year to push yourself physically with a more intense workout. It’s easier to work out hard in spring than in winter.

Prioritize EXERCISING DAILY preferably first thing in the morning, outside as much as possible. Be mindful of your individual constitution with regards to exercise. Different bodies need different types of exercise.  YOGA, WALKING, TAI CHI, QI GONG, JOGGING, DANCING, HIKING, and BIKING are all great forms of exercise. What kind of movement do you like?

Exercise outside in the AM if possible.  Why?
Morning according to Ayurveda is governed by the Kapha (earth and water) dosha. It is a HEAVY, SLOW TIME.  In the morning, the body is stiff. Blood oxygen levels are low. The body vibration is a little stagnant and dull.  At the same time, your body also has a ton of potential energy from a good night’s sleep. If you get moving, you put that potential energy in motion for the rest of your day.  

Move your body in the morning to build a strong vibrational field for your day and start the day feeling: LIGHT, GROUNDED, ENERGIZED, and OPEN.

5 reasons to exercise in the morning:

1. Invigorate your breath and body.
2. Perform better at work or anything that you do.
3. Boost your metabolism.
4. Sleep better at night.
5. Start the day from a positive place.

Spring time yoga tips:

• Spring is the season for  an expansive, more stimulating yoga practice. This helps the body detox.
• You may enjoy a faster paced, and more heating yoga practice in the spring.
• In selecting yoga postures, emphasize chest openers and belly openers to expand the life force energy and clear out the lungs. Here is a list of poses to do this:
  • Sun Salutations
  • Warrior 1, 2
  • Chest openers and backbends
  • Cobra
  • Side plank
  • Twists

Morning movement, make it so easy you can't say no. Try this morning yoga practice:

Want to improve your wellness this spring?
I offer complimentary 30 minute wellness strategy sessions for individuals interested in exploring their wellness. In a thirty minute session, you can expect to get clear on your health goals and take away at least one action step to get you started moving in the direction of greater wellness. Sign up for a session here.

Namaste,
Annie

Don’t you hate it when you realize that you’ve been living life in the fast lane, being too busy, feeling stressed, not eating well and not resting enough, and you wear down on your immune system and you end up sick. Let’s not let that happen! Here are some ideas to help you build your immunity this season.

According to Ayurveda, ojas  is the life sustaining vitality that promotes immunity in the body. I think of it as your energy reserves and deep immunity.  Ojas  is responsible for sustaining your physical health, mental clarity and emotional well-being.  When you have a lot of ojas, your cup is full.  You are a picture of health. Your eyes are bright. You look well-rested and content.  You build ojas by good wholesome living.  When you are living in the fast lane, you spend your ojas quick.  Burning the candle at both ends is a sure way to deplete your energy reserves.

Fall is an important time to build ojas. Here is a list of simple ways you can do this:

• Keep good company.  Positive people nourish and uplift the soul.
• Eat nourishing foods.  Warm, plant based, nutrification. (For autumn nourishment ideas, click here.)
• Live and eat in season. Season living promotes immunity. (For your fall health tip sheet, click here.)
• Rest. So simple, yet so often overlooked!  Go to bed early and prioritize rest.
• Positive touch and hugs. Practice self-massage and give and receive hugs.
• Reduce/avoid  sweets, alcohol and caffeine
• Practice a restorative yoga sequence. (See below!)
• Meditate.
• Get fresh air.  Go out into nature.

Restorative Yoga is a great way to build immunity and replenish yourself.

Here is a simple 11 minute restorative yoga and pranayama practice you can to build your immunity:

Namaste,
Annie

P.S. Feel free to comment below and let me know what you think of this guided meditation practice. 

Do you want to be part of a supportive yoga community? Join my Vibrant Soulful Yoga Tribe, an innovative yoga platform where you are a member of a worldwide tribe of yogis dedicated to living a more vibrant, soulful life. You have access to hundreds of practices and can access from anywhere in the world, and you’re part of an online forum where members share their experiences, questions and insights.

Monthly membership is now open. Find out more here!

Namaste,

Annie

Morning yoga, anyone?

I practice yoga every morning. Even if I only have 10 minutes, I get on my mat to move my breath and body. This ensures that my day gets off to a good start.

I remember when I finally committed to a morning yoga practice. I had already been a yogi for many years. I knew how much better my life was when I practiced yoga regularly.  (And, I knew how much worse it was when I didn’t!).  But I didn’t have a regular morning practice. In fact, I rarely practiced yoga or exercised in the morning before work. I mostly practiced yoga in the evening.

Looking back, I didn’t know what I was missing! It wasn’t until I become a mom (nearly 18 years ago!) that I developed a morning yoga practice. (If you’re a mom, you know how time gets compressed and personal time becomes extremely precious when kids come along.)  After I had kids, I realized that if I wanted a daily practice, I better do it in the morning while my husband was around and could be with the kids, because if it wasn’t going to happen then, there was an extremely high chance that it wouldn’t happen later because I would be too tired.

So, I committed. And I haven’t looked back. Doing a yoga practice each morning is key for getting my day off to a vibrant start.


(Read on and and I’ll share a link to a yoga practice you can do tomorrow morning!)


My top reasons for doing an AM yoga practice:,,

I just got back from a week in Mexico.  Part family vacay and part retreat. I spent several days of quality time with my kids, my parents, my sister and her family which was totally awesome.  After that, I dove into four days of retreat with my Ayurveda and health coaching teacher and the tribe of yoga health coaches that I’ve been hanging out with online for the past couple of years.  Nothing like a powerful group of women invested in collective evolution and co-creative leadership meeting in the flesh to catalyze deep transformation.  Things went deep - fast!  When folks like this show up ready to dive into their work and up-level their personal and collective vibration, big shifts can happen quickly. That’s what happened to us. It didn’t take long for us to start to show off our super powers.  Sure, we were all yogis and health coaches, but among us, we discovered we were also standup comedians, masters of improv, artists, authors, storytellers, networkers, belly dancers, intuitive healers, energy workers, musicians and even a cyclops!

Do you know your Z.O.G.?
I know I’ve written about it lots already, but I’m invested in helping folks uncover and articulate their dharma, or life purpose.  To do this, you have to get crystal clear on your ZOG, that is, your zone of genius. I first read about zone of genius from Gay Hendricks in his book, The Big Leap. (He didn’t call it a ZOG, but my friend Elise coined the term last week on our retreat, and I love it.) Gay Hendricks writes about the different zones in which we spend our time. 

Stress all Around
We are living in stressful times. Stressors are everywhere, every day: hectic mornings, long to-do lists, power struggles with kids or partners; work commutes with traffic; discontent clients, colleagues, and bosses; long work hours; tight schedules; unpaid bills; challenging interpersonal dynamics; and so on.  Maybe our parents’ generation was able to leave stress at the workplace.  But, today with smart phones and social media, there are fewer boundaries and less down time. Take all of this and then add in a traumatic life event like a death of a loved one, a job loss, a divorce, or the current presidential election (if you’re a progressive like! me!) and life can seem pretty darn stressful.

You probably don’t need me to tell you that your stress is costing you BIG in terms of your physical health, mental and emotional health and in your core relationships, but just in case you’ve forgotten, I’m here to remind you that stress disrupts every major system in the body.

The Statistics
Chronic stress predisposes you to:

• Poor digestion
• Headaches
• Hormonal imbalances including infertility
• Lower immune response
• Adrenaline fatigue
• Major illnesses such as hypertension, heart attacks and strokes
• Degenerative and auto-immune diseases
• Anxiety and depression

The physiological effects of just one stressful event in a day last a long time in the body.  Anytime you experience a significant stressor, your body’s fight or flight response (the sympathetic nervous system) kicks in and bathes your body with cortisol and adrenaline so that you can battle the saber toothed tiger that is running toward you.  But, of course, there is no saber toothed tiger, you just forgot to send off that one email.  Long after your stressful experience has passed, stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol still linger in your body, wreaking havoc on your digestive system and causing inflammation.

Self Care Habits for Stress
As a health coach and yoga teacher, it’s a major mission of mine to help folks unravel their stress.  Whether it’s in a yoga class or in a health coaching program, I want to help people move away from stress and toward ease.

Who are you becoming in 2017? What’s stirring in you right now? What does it feel like?

This is an exercise in naming your word for 2017.   By this, I mean to name the quality that you want to be operative in your body and mind this year.   If you’re not sure, I encourage you to spend some time reflecting and journaling about it.  Make sure you don’t just ask your head.  Ask your heart and body as well. Make sure there is agreement and integration. 

To do this, close your eyes.  Pause soften and breath.  Release the lower half of your body into the support of the earth.  Exhale down into your sits bones, your pelvis, your legs and your feet.  Feel the earth beneath you.  Then inhale, and draw the breath up through the central channel of the body, what yogis call the shushumna nadi.  Take the breath all the way up to the crown of your head, toward the sky.  Now, spend a few breath cycles moving the energy up and down the length of your spine to clear this channel.  After a few rounds of breath, inhale and breath into the front of your body and feel into your individual desire to evolve and move forward in life.  Then, exhale and breathe into the back side of your body.  Lean back energetically, feeling into the mystery that is the universe.  The universe has your back.  Create an attitude and inner stance of receptivity and curiosity.  Notice how you feel.  Notice what is stirring in you.  How is that you desire to feel in this next year?  Drop that question down into your body and notice how the body responds.  Let the answer bubble up without forcing it and take notice of the words that arise. 

The word could be:

CLARITY, EMPOWERMENT, EASE, EXPANSION, COMPASSION, COMMUNICATION, CONNECTIVITY, HUMILITY, LEADERSHIP, WISDOM, EMPATHY, STABILITY, GROUNDEDNESS, SELF-CARE, KINDNESS…  or..?

What is the word for you? Once you feel it, really feel it.  Taste it. Smell it.  See it. Touch it.  Feel into it from a cellular level.  Name it and embrace it. Write it down.  Put it in a prominent place where you can see it every day. 

Then, create for yourself a plan so that you can make this word truly operative.