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Your body benefits greatly just by the simple act of deep breathing. A slow, controlled breath will not only soothe the central nervous system to make you more relaxed, but also helps your body in these ways:
A morning bath can make you feel revitalized. Use a stimulating essential oil such as rosemary or grapefruit.
Don’t stay in the tub too long, as an ultra-long bath strains your circulation and hot water dissolves your skin’s natural lipids. There is a definite correlation between bath temperatures, duration of soak and the mood your bath leaves you in.
REFRESHING
77 degrees F to 86 degrees F – Duration 10 minutes
RELAXING
98 degrees F to 102 degrees F – Duration 15-20 minutes
THERAPEUTIC
102 degrees F to 104 degrees F – Duration 10-30 minutes. To treat a cold or induce sweating.
Did you know that simple old-school hand-stands like these are super-beneficial for you?
Hand-stands are fantastic to strengthen your arms, shoulders, and wrists. Once you get comfortable with hand-stands, you can go further into the move by bending your elbows and attempting to lower your forehead to the floor.
It also helps stretch the abdomen and improves one’s concentration, coordination and balance.
Through focused effort, it helps calm down the brain thereby helping relieve stress and tension and mild depression through the meditative effort involved.
When you feel like you have midday “fuzzy-brain”, where you’ve been over-stimulated and cannot focus, try doing a hand-stand to alleviate stress and get blood flowing to your brain again. Don’t worry, you don’t have to be a gymnast to attempt a hand-stand. Use a wall to put your feet against in the beginning. As time goes on, you can inch away from the wall. And as you do, you’ll be building your abdominal muscles (try it now…you’ll feel it instantly.)
When I’m feeling unfocused and overloaded with stress, I simply do a hand-stand for a minute or two to regroup and get my mind flowing again. The stretch in the shoulders, back and arms feels so good. And talk about instant results…you feel it immediately.
If you feel overwhelmed and stressed on a regular basis, there’s no need to go running for the Prozac. Your body has a built in mechanism that de-stresses you without pharmaceuticals. Did you know that deep breathing (at least five seconds in, and five seconds out) can slow your central nervous system and help wash calm over your body and mind? Simply breathing in and out slowly, with intent, for several minutes does wonders to calm the central nervous system. Skip the drugs and utilize what your body already has…maybe you just haven’t tapped into yet?
Professional yogis don’t use yoga mats just to keep their feet on a soft surface during yoga postures, they use yoga mats because they are incredibly beneficial to help you stretch further. Yoga mats, sometimes called sticky mats, are thick rubber-like surfaces, about 4 feet wide, designed to be under foot while you are doing yoga or Pilates workouts.
When you place your hands and feet on a yoga mat, they almost stick (and sink) into the soft mat, keeping your hands and feet securely firm, with no worry of slipping out of your posture. They are also fabulous for doing stretches, enabling you to stretch deep into your stretches with your feet and/or hands essentially glued to the mat. It truly makes a difference in your workouts.
Also great to stimulate the spine. How to: Lay on your back, hold your bent legs to your chest, wrapping your arms around your bent legs, and rock in a boat pose from head to feet. The thickness of the yoga mat keeps it comfortable for your spine. It will feel like a back massage!
Kiss the carpet goodbye, and try using a yoga mat during your next yoga/Pilates/stretching session. It increases your flexibility by 25% to even 50%. (Those aren’t scientific percentages…it’s just what I can feel in my own workouts.)
The phrase, “tough cookie” comes to mind when thinking of Lee Woodruff. After meeting Lee, there’s no denying her fighter spirit. Lee Woodruff was in Cincinnati with Smart Talk Connected Conversations to talk about her experiences over the last few years, and needless to say, this girl has had her fair share of hard knocks.
Lee’s life turned upside down when she received a call in 2006 that her news reporter husband, Bob Woodruff, (the one with the dreamy blue eyes) had been injured while covering the war while in Iraq. And we’re not just talking “injured”, Bob was thisclose to losing his life.
While her Bob lay in critical condition for days upon days, months, in fact, Lee watched in horror as her beautiful husband’s head swelled to the size of a rugby ball. She had no idea if he’d wake up again. Even then, she had no idea if he’d remember her or their children after he did wake up. Fighting back a tsunami of tears and emotion, Lee asked Bob’s doctor “will he still love me when he wakes up?” His doctor assured her “yes, he will!”
Through a long and grueling healing process, Bob Woodruff slowly reemerged to nearly 100% of his former glory. Physically, he looks unscathed. Bob is back on the news and looks as gorgeous as he once did. Lee says his only residual issues remain with word-finding abilities (for instance, he referred to a breast augmentation as a breast explosion.)
To endure what Bob did and to come back so strong was surely a gift from God, one that Lee clearly acknowledges. Lee’s faith is what helped carry her through. And really, when things are catastrophically bad, faith is all you have to cling on to. And cling she did.
To fully delve into Lee’s horrific turned joyous experiences, you can read her book, Perfectly Imperfect. Lee is not only an amazing speaker, but she’s also knows her way around the literary world. She also has an amazingly fun side to her as well. I promised her I’d include Flannel Nightgown video (see below.) The flannel nightgown stems from an incident one night when Bob threw her flannel nightgown over the balcony into the street! In no uncertain terms, Mr. Woodruff let it be known that he’s not on board with the comfy flannel look.
To read more about Lee, her work and her life’s experiences, visit her website at www.LeeWoodfuff.com
If you only have five minutes for exercise today, try this five minute yoga stretch with Tara Stiles. She’s beyond flexible….and ultra-inspiring! A great stretch will not only elongate your muscles to give you a long, lean look, but it also relaxes your mind and recharges your batteries.
Start your day with a glass of warm lemon water; on an empty stomach, it aids your body in releasing toxins.
Mood music to fit your every mood. Click which one you are in the mood for, and r-e-l-a-x.
