Supernatural Botanicals

Don’t you just love new gadgets?  Especially workout gadgets!  From heart rate monitors to Ipods, I love them all.  As an eco-lover, this little tool brings gadgetry to a new level.  It’s eco-friendly!  They are Yoga Paws.  Simply slide the yoga paws over your hands and feet, and they provide cushioning and support for your yoga or Pilates workout.  Also super beneficial for deep stretching moves, so you don’t lose your grip with the floor.  Great gift for a fitness-fiend.  They cost about $35.00 and can be purchased here. 

   ….also made for men. 

In an economic time when most magazines are packing their bags and calling it a day, Organic Beauty magazine comes along.  Organic Beauty magazine is a new, eco-conscious magazine not exclusively focused on beauty products.  Organic Beauty is, in many ways, a complete lifestyle magazine, well-rounded with articles on style, health, fitness, parenting and business—but always with its lens on beauty.  I love the idea of an eco-chic magazine!  It’s truly the wave of the future, so get in touch, get in tune, and find out what eco-friendly is all about.  Organic Beauty is on newsstands now.

   Enter for your chance to win a Zobha yoga two piece outfit.  I love the cut on the neck.  It really emphasizes sexy, toned shoulders. 

You don’t have a be an experienced Yogi to to feel the effects of this move, called Downward Facing Dog.  It’s the go-to pose in between Yoga postures.  I probably do DFD at least 10 times a day througout the day.  The key is to get your hips up, up, up as far as you can.  Then stretch your hamstrings and calves right into the floor.  Elongate your back, your neck (don’t hyper extend here), your shoulders, arms, even your fingers.  Keep your heels on the floor…the natural tendency is to go up on the balls of your feet, and resist the urge and keep those heels pressed to the floor.  If you are interested in learning Yoga, start here.  Learn this move.  This is a move that you’ll constantly come back to throughout your Yoga session, so learn how to do it properly.  Make a home with it.  Even if you aren’t that interested in Yoga, learn it anyway.  It feels so great, keeps you limber, and stretches everything!

This step by step is courtesy of my friends over at www.YogaJournal.com. 

Step by Step

1.  Come onto the floor on your hands and knees. Set your knees directly below your hips and your hands slightly forward of your shoulders. Spread your palms, index fingers parallel or slightly turned out, and turn your toes under.

2.  Exhale and lift your knees away from the floor. At first keep the knees slightly bent and the heels lifted away from the floor. Lengthen your tailbone away from the back of your pelvis and press it lightly toward the pubis. Against this resistance, lift the sitting bones toward the ceiling, and from your inner ankles draw the inner legs up into the groins.

3.  Then with an exhalation, push your top thighs back and stretch your heels onto or down toward the floor. Straighten your knees but be sure not to lock them. Firm the outer thighs and roll the upper thighs inward slightly. Narrow the front of the pelvis.

4.  Firm the outer arms and press the bases of the index fingers actively into the floor. From these two points lift along your inner arms from the wrists to the tops of the shoulders. Firm your shoulder blades against your back, then widen them and draw them toward the tailbone. Keep the head between the upper arms; don’t let it hang.

5.  Adho Mukha Svanasana is one of the poses in the traditional Sun Salutation sequence. It’s also an excellent yoga asana all on its own. Stay in this pose anywhere from 1 to 3 minutes. Then bend your knees to the floor with an exhalation and rest in Child’s Pose.

   Store your gear in style with this ultra cool 100% cotton backpack—perfect for those on the go.   Gaiam is one of my favorite companies for all things wellness and fitness.  This bag is perfect for the gym or yoga class…or even for that baby in Green training.   Love it?  Win it courtesy of Yoga Journal and Gaiam!  Click here for your chance to win!

   Resistance bands…get to know them.  Admittedly, they were a tough sell for me at first as well.  I mean, how much of a workout can these elastic straps give you?  Turns out…they can give you an excellent workout.  The great thing about them is that you really concentrate on your moves, really focus on each muscle, and you can control the resistance for a great workout.    They are also excellent for deep stretching.  These resistance bands come in different widths, the thicker being the most resistance and the thin bands being great for stretching and beginners.  I keep several at my desk and several in our lab for on-the-spot stretching and strengthening. 

The up side:  Not only are they inexpensive, they are on sale today at Amazon.   Check them out  here

   December can be maddening.  Almost every day of the month is dedicated to making someone else happy…which is a great thing, but don’t forget about yourself.  Take some time to reflect, to appreciate your life, your family, and the good things around you.  Make this year your “first annual” whatever.  Make some memories, start some traditions, do something to make people remember you when you’re gone.  Stay positive and happy this month.  That’s what it’s all about, after all.  This holiday was created around a great and joyous event (remember?)  Fill your home with great scents, indulge in at home spa treatments, take a nap, just take a second for yourself.  Throw an hour of Yoga or Pilates in, and you’re set, girlfriend.  Now go on and take a sec!