Yoga Digest - January/February 2015

JA N UA RY / F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 5

I N S P I R E • E D U C AT E • C O N N E C T

Balanced Blonde

Jordan Younger’s 5 Tips for a Balanced Life

Yoga How

Can

Strengthen

Your

Relationship Kurt Johnsen

Simplified Genetics The Future of Weight Management

Yoga For Beginners with Taylor Harkness

t a e b i r c s b SYou e b i r c s b u S / m o c . t s e g i D ga

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g n i p p i h S e Fre s e u s s i g n i m o c p u e v i e s Rec d n a t s s w e n t i h y e h t e befor

JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2015.

Publisher Yoga Digest, LLC

Nathan Hunsinger/The Dallas Morning News

Founders/Chief Editors Jenn Bodnar Cody Groth Copy editor Joy Rose Contributors Linda Baldwin Cary Caster R.D. Copeland Chris Freytag Megan Gilmore Meenakshi Gupta Taylor Harkness Jason Hulshof Andre Marcum Gillian Pierce Dave Romanelli Kevin Sutton Gopala Amir Yaffa Magazine Designer Zoran Maksimovic Cover Photo Tynan Daniels

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“Balance” is defined as ... ... ‘an even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady.’

Albert Einstein said ‘Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.’ With so much information, advice, motivation and inspiration at our fingertips, it can be overwhelming to figure out which positive change to incorporate first. What if this year we keep it simple?

What if this year we simply say ‘Keep doing what you’re doing.’ Some things you need to do a little more, some things a little less.

Beginnings typically start with the best intentions and sometimes many expectations. While purpose and direction are important, they can occasionally set us up for unnecessary disappointments. In order to help you maintain long-term momentum, we decided to dedicate this issue to discovering balance. While it’s a great idea to travel more, lose weight and start that new philanthropy or career, it can also be good thing to be consistent, aware and show up fully for your life.

In yoga we practice one breathe at a time. Let this year be about enjoying as many moments as you can possibly take in! Let this year be about learning, progress, opening new doors and most importantly, remaining upright and steady!

Jenn Bodnar & Cody Groth Founders/Chief Editors Yoga Digest

yoga teacher training be true to yourself

become a yoga teacher Deepen your practice.

Reconnect to your natural rhythm.

Inspire others along the way.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

January / February 2015

A QUICK GUIDE TO Yoga for Beginners ����������������������������������������10 BALANCE FOR KIDS… Always Better Together! ������������������������� 14

Meet the Balanced Blonde

THE JOURNEY WITHIN: The Role of Meditation in the Practice of Yoga Posture ����������17 KEEP CALM AND Maintain Homeostasis �������������������������������20 GLOBAL GLUE Connecting The World One Couple at a Time �������������������������������46

Simplified Genetics: The Future of Weight Management and more

BALANCING ON THE Waves of Life ������������������������������������������������������������� 48 BALANCING EXPOSURES: Are you making a living or making a life? �������������������������������������������������� 50 CULTIVATING BALANCE with Ayurveda �����������������������������������������������������������62 ORGANIC GARDENING 101 ���������������������������������������������64 COMPLETE GUIDE to Juicing ��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 70

Yoga Couples: Balance of Giving & Receiving

JUICING FOR the Chakra’s ����������������������������������������������������������������� 76 HEALTHY New Year Recipes �������������������������������������������� 78 HAPPY IS THE NEW HEALTHY ���������������������������������������������������82 In Every Issue

How The 80/20 Rule Can Improve Your Life 8

YD WARRIORS! ������������������������������������������������������8 WHAT WOULD YOU SAY? ����������������9 STAFF PICKS ������������������������������������������������������������ 61

YD Warriors!

What do you do to maintain balance in your life?

LESLEY CARNEY

Life is a bit of a balancing acting for sure. While I find that sometimes just walking outside, taking a really good hot vinyasa class, or even a cup of hot tea on a stressful day can help to relieve that stress, it’s actually my daily meditation practice that truly keeps me balanced. I aim to meditate for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening, but often my evening meditation is cut short by sleep.

One of my goals for next year is to attend a Vipassana ten day meditation. True balance is found within oneself.

LORRAINE SCHRAY

STEPHEN JONES

Cultivating balance is striking a marriage of the physical, mental and social aspects of our lives. My consistent yoga practice allows me to challenge the physical limits of my breath and my body through pranayama and the asana. The benefits of meditation are boundless and a steadfast routine of turning the gaze inward helps to smooth out the otherwise rough edges of my day-to-day life. The final piece is the social aspect of life. This interaction with other beings brings me comfort and the opportunity to have an easeful existence through laughter, meaningful conversation and the chance to smile often.

Creating daily habits helps me stay balanced. I keep a “To Do” list, a schedule, a plan. I try my best to live a healthy lifestyle in all areas, from the food I choose to “fuel” myself, the books I choose to read for personal development and the happy people I surround myself with to keep me going! I move and challenge my body every day whether it’s INSANITY, Bodypump or Hot Vinyasa Yoga workout.

Staying active is an absolute must. I stay humble, knowing that I have a lot to learn and big dreams to bring to life. This busy world can be a challenge. Balance happens when I take a step back, slow down, prioritize, and of course meditate. :)

DONNY STARKINS

Yoga, meditation, prayer and family are non-negotiable in order to keep balance in my life. The first three (yoga, meditation and prayer) keep me stable and balanced on the inside. I often share the phrase ‘inner stability creates outer fluidity’ with my yoga students. When I’m stable and calm on the inside, it’s so much ea sier to go with the flow and not allow the outside stuff get me out of balance. Family is the other foundational piece. I’m blessed to have my entire immediate family all living within 15 minutes of each other here in Arizona. Spending quality time with them brings so much love, light and balance into my life!

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NICK BEZ

Is there such a thing to maintain? It has been my experience that the notion of balance is similar to that of a unicorn – we all have an idea of what it looks like but have any of us ever seen one? For a more tangible example look to nature, the most spectacular sights and occurrences within it are not the result of balance rather, they are the result of either dramatic imbalance or the pendulum swinging from one extreme to another. That being said I think our greatest opportunity and challenge isn’t to maintain balance but rather to move as gracefully over, around and through it as we can all while working to pursue extremes that speak to our soul.

How do you stay

‘Balanced’

in life?

“For me, balance is about setting goals and achieving them. As a busy mom and author, I have many demands on my time. Knowing where I want to go gives me the opportunity to focus and achieve and get there. From there, I build to the next book, goal, and level. Having vision and goals gives me more time to enjoy my life and the things that are important to me, while always ensuring I’m moving forward with an appreciation for where I’ve been.”

Kristen Ethridge Dallas, Texas “My definition of staying balanced is about being in the here and now and trying to gently persuade my mind, body and spirit to work together as one. To help achieve this, pranayama (or breath control) can be used in various ways. I find that abdominal breathing is good for the students to do before doing seated asanas as this can help to improve inner concentration. Whilst doing the standing asanas concentrating on something in front of you, this will help to improve balance equally on both sides. Once balance is found through using breath control and inner concentration, a greater sense of confidence will be also found.”

Maria Hawkes Pickering North Shore, England “I have found the phrase “moderation in all things” to be easier said than done. In life, as in yoga, balance is key. Many times we push ourselves day-to-day as well as practice-to-practice. Stopping the cycle is both necessary and difficult.

For me, learning to say “no” to the “busyness” of life and “yes” when it comes to my practice and my meditation proves to be a good balance. If I don’t take care of me, who will?”

Lorrie Belew Searcy, Arkansas “Balance is found in simplicity, a warm cup of green tea with a teaspoon of local honey. A depth of a hug from a dear three-year old child. Lip balm that makes your lips kissably soft. A phone call from someone who loves you. A vase filled with fresh flowers that match the season. Yoga pants that make your butt look just oh, fabulous. Connecting to those small details is what makes life big - many times as possible throughout the day - that is balance.”

Amna Collins Suwanee, Georgia

Visit yogadigest.com/inspired-voices to respond to next issue’s question

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t it truly a th is a g o y f l aspect o fu ti u a e b t s arieties o v s s le it The m m li e r e. There a n o y r e ethods v e m r f o fo y is a r r a e with a wid a g o y f o ch one. s a le e t u o of sty h g u o r s woven th e u iq le are n ty h s c h te c a d n e a in h it structors w in l a u id iv d n unique in w o ir e Even th g in r ue and b iq n u ly te le p ctice. m a r co p e th to y g spin and ener ARKNESS

BY TAYLOR H

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I

f you’re considering beginning a yoga practice, then congratulations! Allow this process of transformation to unfold, and enjoy being a beginner with new eyes and an open heart.

Stay enthused and try to practice with as many teachers and in as many styles as you can until you find your niche. A regular yoga practice can inspire, uplift, and bring a sense of grounded calmness to our lives. Here are a few things to consider when beginning your yoga practice.

There are a number of postures that are beneficial for beginners to work toward strengthening and stretching the parts of the body. These postures can help the body become toned for a regular, healthy practice. But before we dive into a few of these poses, it’s important to remember that this practice is like a layer cake (yummy)! We need to build a solid foundation before adding each additional layer.

THE FIRST LAYER IS ATTITUDE.

You’ll see lots of flashy, glossy images in magazines or in social media of really crazy and intimidating postures. These are lovely forms of expression, even art (if you will). The work and dedication behind these images should be honored, but there’s no rule in yoga that says that you have to be hyper-flexible or able to balance on one pinky to be “good” at yoga. In fact, there are no rules in yoga, and there’s no such thing as being “good” at it. After all, yoga is for everyone!

It’s a practice that no one can “master”. So enjoy the pretty pictures, but keep in mind that this practice is never about how it looks, and always about how it feels. We practice yoga to feel good.

THE SECOND LAYER IS BREATH.

The practice of yoga encourages deep, full, smooth, and rhythmic breathing. Many people only use about 30% of their lung capacity on a daily basis. Deep, rhythmic breath leads to smooth and graceful movements. By tapping into the breath, we can create a sensation of flow within the body and the mind. A major component of yoga is balance, both on the yoga mat and out in the real world. Balance can take shape in our lives in many different ways. Since most of us have desk jobs or even lifestyles that keep us in a seated, slouched position, this balance can take the form of better posture. Since we have modern day stresses (busy schedules, jobs, bills, etc.), then balance can take the form of a calm mind in the presence of chaos. One

of the tools we use in yoga to maintain a level head and a calm state of mind is the breath.

This is a big part of the practice.

THE FINAL LAYER IS HONORING YOUR BODY.

Once you choose to have the right attitude and you have focus on the breath, the last layer that feeds into the postures is all about listening to your body and respecting what it needs. We all have unique body types and proportions, different previous injuries, and individual experiences.

Since yoga is about feeling good from the inside out, it is vital to the practice that we honor and respect our bodies. If you ever catch yourself in a posture where the breath becomes quickened and stifled, or if there is pain in the body, then it’s time to back out, re-adjust, or modify the pose. Find a way that allows you to find comfort and ease in poses, even poses that require effort.

When you’re ready to begin a regular practice, the guidance of a teacher is extremely valuable, especially in regards to alignment and safe transitioning. Here are a few poses in sequential order that are beneficial for nearly everyone, especially beginners. These will help to get your practice started. Props such as blocks, blankets, and straps are always recommended to help ease your way into the practice.

Taylor Harkness is a yoga teacher bent on

moving people both on and off the mat with skillful action, an open heart, and gratitude. His motto is “Shine on”, a reminder to be your best self through honesty, vibrance, and compassion- while encouraging others to do the same. Taylor is inspired by his medical background which fostered his passion for anatomy and the complex workings of the body. These passions influence the way he teaches his students to liberate themselves within asana. Taylor is a regular columnist for Yoga Journal and Do You Yoga. In his spare time, you can also find him on the water as a Bliss Paddle Yoga ambassador or getting his hands dirty in a jungle somewhere. Catch one of his upbeat classes and you may just find your frown turned upside down. You can also practice online with Taylor on YogaGlo.com. Shine on!

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YOGA A Quick Guide to Yoga for Beginners LET’S GET STARTED!

When you’re ready to begin a regular practice, the guidance of a teacher is extremely valuable, especially in regards to alignment and safe transitioning. Here are a few poses in sequential order that are beneficial for

nearly everyone, especially beginners. These will help to get your practice started. Props such as blocks, blankets, and straps are always recommended to help ease your way into the practice.

Prasarita (Wide legged forward fold)

Supta Buddha Konasana (Reclining bound angle)

Seated forward fold

Downward facing dog

Mountain pose

Chair

Low lunge

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Figure 4 on back

Reclined twists

Savasana (Corpse pose)

Everything is Within Reach

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Kids...

Balance for

Together!

Always Better

BY GOPALA AMIR YAFFA

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T

o be able to balance is not just impressive; it’s an essential skill that young children need in order to properly develop. You might think that they learn this on their own, but there is a direct relation between children’s activity and their level of development. Kids who are physically active will develop faster than sedentary kids.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Young children under the age of 3 cannot balance on one foot on their own. But they definitely can with a friend, teacher or a parent! It is amazing how much more we can do when we do it TOGETHER! Hold hands!

Support each other! Balance face to face, side by side or back to back! It’s easy! And it is not cheating. Practicing yoga together improves balance immensely and teaches important skills like communication and safe, gentle and supportive touch.

BOOST SELF ESTEEM

One of the leading principles we use in our classes is “success builds success.” If children feel successful in one achievement, it gives them the self-confidence they need to be more successful in their next endeavor.

Balancing with a friend or with mom and dad builds self-confidence and gives children the assurance they need to try even more yoga feats. It also helps children develop trust in their friends or parents, and it is an engaging way to deepen our connections without needing to talk much.

MAKE IT FUN

Most importantly, balancing together makes yoga FUN! Kids learn best through fun. And when yoga is engaging, interactive and fun, they want to do much more of it.

Even older children might find it challenging to balance on their own in a pose like the Tree Pose, Dancer or Airplane for more than a few seconds. But if we start from where they are and build their confidence gradually, there is no limit to the incredible yoga tricks we can perform.

ACROBATIC YOGA

You might think that tricks and performance have no part in yoga. Many times, for older children, yoga is not interesting enough

Balancing with a friend or with mom and dad builds self-confidence and gives children the assurance they need to try even more yoga feats. on its own, and making the class fun is just not enough… it has to be COOL! So when standing in Tree Pose gets way to easy, we start balancing on top of each other spicing up the yoga class with fun and creative games! Here are just a few things you can try with your kids of all sizes!

Acrobatic yoga is uber-cool and it is yoga!

It increases strength, balance, flexibility and coordination. Yes, it is a bit risky… But it is not as dangerous as you might think. In the circus they say “no risk, no trick” and besides, do you know what the greatest risk in life is?

To take no risk. If we don’t take any risks, we stay stuck where we are.

When doing acrobatic yoga, we always assign an additional person to be the mini teacher. The mini teacher’s job is to make sure that everyone is safe. They are there with their hands ready to assist and to slow down the fall

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YOGA Balance for Kids… Always Better Together!

HOT POTATO

Keeping everyone safe is always our priority, and there is a wonderful technique we use to strike the right balance between safety and over helping… we call it “Hot Potato.”

As parents, teachers, and mini teachers, we don’t want to hinder the growth of our yoga friends while they balance. If we hold on to them tightly while they are in a headstand or a handstand for example, they will never be able to find their own way.

In Hot Potato we never actually hold our friends when they balance, because again it will inhibit them from finding their own balance.

They are a “hot potato,” so they are too hot to hold on to. Instead we just touch here and there, touching with our fingertips for a moment and letting go, without ever holding our friends. Try it, and you’ll be amazed how fast your children or classmates will improve with their yoga balance!

THE PROTECTIVE CIRCLE

Falling down has its benefits too… it teaches us to get up and try again. I always try to pass on my very wise grandfather in-law’s motto “you fall, you get up.” if anyone loses their balance. There is a lot to be learned about caring for others and being present while being the mini teacher.

Kids fall all the time, even when they don’t do yoga. So it is a very small risk to try some more challenging balances and partner and group balances during a class while learning in a supportive environment.

Falling down has its benefits too… it teaches us to get up and try again. If we over protect our children, hover over them and scaffold their development so much that they never fall; they simply don’t learn how to get up. Then every little tumble becomes a big emotional tragedy that they find hard to rise from. I always try to pass on my very wise grandfather in-law’s motto “you fall, you get up.”

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Here is another awesome method you can try at home or in your classroom. It is called the Protective Circle. We do it in a group of three and it can be done with most balancing poses.

For example, lets try headstand.

As one friend prepares to come up into the headstand the two others stand on either side and form a “wall” by reaching toward each other and holding each other’s wrists. The two standing partners now form the ‘Protective Circle.’ The headstander stays safe from falling within the protective circle walls. Their legs may bounce off the circle of arms for a little while, but eventually balance is found. It works!

CONNECT

The communication skills we learn by balancing in yoga together can go a long way.

Learning to face challenge in a relaxed and supportive environment can help us keep our cool in the real world. We also learn the wonderful art and the benefits of being connected to each other as we try to find balance off the yoga mat and into our everyday beautiful lives.

Hold on to each other, it’s going to be SO much FUN!

Gopala Amir Yaffa has been teaching children

yoga for over 20 years. He and his wife Angel are the founders of Rainbow Kids Yoga, an international company who train Kids and Family Yoga teachers all around the world.

You can find out more about him and about a Rainbow Kids Yoga training near you visit www.RainbowKidsYoga.net

The Journey Within: The Role of

Meditation

Yoga in the Practice of

Posture

BY JASON HULSHOF

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YOGA The Journey Within: The Role of Meditation in the Practice of Yoga Posture

W

hy do we meditate? This is a question answered in many ways from both the perspective of personal experience, and in current days, the scientific method. From the peaceful Tibetan monk to the Type A, hedge fund manager, so many people find meditation to be a tremendous blessing.

I have been an aspiring, serious meditator since 2001. I have been able to “sit” my way out of illness, excruciating back pain, depression, anger, lust and pretty much every kind of trouble I get myself into. In all those years, there has not been one instance where I got up from meditating and said, “Man, that was a waste of time”. It is always helpful in some way or the other, and I am willing to bet those of you who meditate even somewhat regularly would agree.

Science has confirmed a relationship between a regular practice and the benefits from meditating. On a physical level, a regular meditation practice has been shown to improve immune function, reduce pain and inflammation, turn off the “fight or flight” response, and even beneficially change our genes to reduce the effects of aging and disease. Mentally, it has been shown to potentially improve decision making, creativity, attention span, and focus. In the realm or our hearts and spirits, it has been shown to counter-act depression, increase compassion and empathy, help develop equanimity and enhance our happiness and joy.

Out of all the potential benefits that mediation has to offer, it is worthwhile to explore what specific gift it has for the Hatha yogi, or yoga posture practitioner. Besides the obvious overall support it has for every part of us as human beings, is there something in particular that meditation gives those of us who love to practice asana? The answer is, “Yes”, and

this has to do with how we look at postures as tools to liberate our spirits.

I have been teaching yoga since 1998 and rarely encounter a student who doesn’t find some deeper purpose to doing the asanas than just the physical. Sure people come to class because their back has a huge knot, or a friend of their’s has started to look really good in her Lulus, but if they stick with it, something shifts. This shift starts to happen when people realize that while they are doing a physical practice the body is actually a gateway to their mind and heart. By moving, breathing and putting poses together, they start to feel the most amazing changes in their mood and outlook.

HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?

It is very helpful to remember the classic definition of yoga from Patanjali, “yoga chitta vritti nirodah”, or as it is often translated, “yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind.”

There is something about the practice of asana that helps our mind rest and go inward and let go of the ripples of agitation that disturb its true nature. It’s like clouds going away, when they dissipate the radiant light of the sun can shine again. So it is when the static of our mind clears, its radiance is again apparent. Those of us who love our practice, know that this is what brings us back again and again. You get up from savanasa a new person, or to put it another way, you get up from savasana more yourself. Sweet, isn’t it?

If you develop a regular meditation practice, this transformation will be readily available to you. Why is that? There are many reasons, but the crux of the matter is how readily your mind can get absorbed in what you do. If we go back to Patanjali’s 8 limbs of yoga, there are four that lie beyond asana and pranayama.

These are the limbs concerned with where our consciousness lies and how it functions. Here is a quick review, Pratyhara-sense withdrawal,

This shift starts to happen when people realize that while they are doing a physical practice the body is actually a gateway to their mind and heart.

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Remember the true nature of our mind or our being is not the tension or greed we so often find inside, but instead joy, love, compassion, peace and light.

Dharana-concentration, Dhyana-meditation and Samadhi-absorption. These limbs outline our consciousness’s journey toward our inner spirit, and do not have to be separate from our practice of hatha yoga. While doing our Sun A’s and B’s or our triangles, eagles and crocodiles, we can go deeper into the layers of our body, concentrate and gain insight into its nature, and even feel our sense of individual ego and soften and release into the realities within. This feels good, really good.

Remember the true nature of our mind or our being is not the tension or greed we so often find inside, but instead joy, love, compassion, peace and light. Yoga happens with the uncovering of that purity, and meditation makes this happen more easily. If in addition to your posture practice, you take 20 minutes each day to sit and observe the natural rhythm

of your breathing, then when you do your next down dog your mind will have more ability to turn away from the external (pratyhara), more ability to center the mind on the experience of your body (dharana), more capacity see it as a flow of constantly changing psychosomatic energy (dhyana) and more of an awakening sense of liberation, as the mind gets “lost” in that experience (samadhi).

A good metaphor for the journey within is that it’s like a trip to the warm ocean when you live in a cold climate. You go there and the sun, surf and waves can just wash all the icy crust away. When you meditate as you practice postures, it’s like you take a flight down to that warm ocean rather than just ride a greyhound. You’re going to get there on the bus, but isn’t it so much faster and nicer to take the plane?

If you want your yoga practice to be as potent as possible, make a New Year’s resolution to begin a meditation practice. This next year, you might even make your flight to the ocean within like a Concord by scheduling a 10day silent vipassana retreat (check out www. dhammma.org). No matter however much meditation you add, it will help make every asana practice more rich, meaningful and liberating. Happy Sitting!

Jason Hulshof sees yoga as our opportunity

to connect the body and mind in the most profound, beautiful and transformative way. In people of all walks of life, from prison inmates to millionaires, from the seriously ill to professional athletes, from five-yearolds to ninety-five-year olds, he has seen this ancient practice calm, heal and awaken those individuals who are willing to give it their heart. His teaching stems from the belief that yoga can be taught in a simple, down-to-earth way without losing its authenticity or power, and he strives to fill every class with both compassion and intensity. He currently works with Life Time Fitness to share vinyasa yoga in the tradition of his teacher Jonny Kest.

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Homeostasis and Maintain

“Balance� within the context of yoga usually means keeping ourselves from falling over when we attempt challenging poses, but balance truly happens at every level of our being.

BY CARY CASTER

H

omeostasis, our ability to maintain equilibrium within our bodily systems, occurs at a cellular level. To keep true balance in our bodies, we unknowingly regulate internal information at every moment. All of our bodily functions continuously work to adapt our internal environment to our external environment.

Our bodies send us signals all the time that we process consciously as well as subconsciously. This process requires a receptor, a control

center and an effector. Our receptors receive information from both our internal and external environments and then send signals to our different control centers that, in turn, trigger various processes. For example, when it is cold outside, our skin (receptor) signals to the hypothalamus in the brain (control center) that our body temperature has decreased. The hypothalamus then sends nerve impulses to cause muscle contractions (processes) that release heat in an attempt to warm our body. There are 5 main physical systems of balance in our bodies:

Toxins

3

HOMEOSTASIS in humans

Nutrients

intestines

Hormones Water 4

pH Oxygen 1

Carbon dioxide

2

Temperature

Nervous system

1 - Medulla; 2 - Hypothalamus; 3 - Insulin, Glucagon; 4 - ADH

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liver

kidney lungs blood

Invaders

skin

Distribution around body

lymph

• THE PH BALANCE of our blood is affected by the foods we eat. Carbon dioxide, which is mildly acidic, is constantly produced by cells as they transfer carbohydrates, fatty acids and proteins into energy. As carbon dioxide accumulates in the blood, the pH level of the blood decreases into a more acidic state. By eating foods that encourage a more alkaline state, such as fruits and vegetables, our bodies maintain a higher, more oxygen-rich pH level.

• BODY TEMPERATURE is regulated unconsciously by sweating and shivering. However, living in a modern society, with heating and air conditioning as well as a multitude of specialty fabrics, this is easiest to control externally.

• GLUCOSE CONCENTRATION or sugar levels, is regulated by the pancreas’ secretion of insulin. When we consume a large amount of refined carbohydrates, our blood sugar spikes, and the pancreas overcompensates with insulin release to regulate these levels. This

Our receptors receive information from both our internal and external environments and then send signals to our different control centers that, in turn, trigger various processes. excess glucose that doesn’t enter cells is taken to the liver, where it is converted to glycogen.

This stored form of sugar is then released to stabilize low blood sugar levels between meals and during the night. However, stress and hormone dysfunction can deplete our ability to store glycogen and result in blood sugar imbalances. A healthy, low sugar diet will help to keep this glucose cycle in check.

• CALCIUM SENSING REGULATORS get activated by the parathyroid gland and release a hormone to regulate calcium levels by transporting calcium from the bones to the blood.

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LIFESTYLE Keep Calm and Maintain Homeostasis When we do not consume enough calcium, too much calcium is mobilized from the bones and can weaken them. On average, we should consume at least 1,000 to 1,500 milligrams of calcium a day for optimal calcium balance.

• FLUID VOLUME or osmolarity, is maintained by the kidneys. Our kidneys sense low blood pressure, which, in turn, triggers a complex response to raise blood pressure and conserve volume. This constant regulation of fluid volume and our blood’s chemical composition and removal of wastes and toxins happens with the kidneys’ ability to convert unwanted blood plasma into urine and excrete it from the body. Drinking water, replenishing electrolytes and a low-sodium diet will keep fluid volume at the appropriate level.

To maintain these constant states of equilibrium, we need to keep a healthy diet, drink plenty of water, exercise daily and get plenty of rest, so the body and organs function optimally. When we do any one of these things in excess, it becomes harder to maintain homeostasis.

Even when all of our systems keep us in balance physically, we have our mental and emotional state to consider. Having a rough day at the office, or overload with our family responsibilities can cause stress, a lack of sleep and upset our predisposition for balance.

Essential oils that have adaptogenic (stabilizing) properties help bring many bodily functions back into homeostasis. At the core of an adaptogen’s scope of actions is its ability to help the body cope more effectively with stress.

Frankincense’s high sesquiterpenes content stimulates and oxygenates the limbic system of the brain, which helps to elevate our mood and allows us relax. Because of its calming effects, Frankincense has the ability to bring balance to bodily systems.

Peppermint is a wonderful essential oil that has shown adaptogenic properties. It can be both warming and cooling, depending on the condition of the person, as well as its application. Peppermint also stimulates focus and concentration, which helps the mind stay clear and stress-free.

Lavender is another oil that actually possesses both sedative and stimulant actions. Its sedative actions have been known to alleviate palpitations, nervous tension, and lower blood pressure.

At the same time, Lavender has a stimulating effect for someone with depression, a weak heart or shortness of breath.

Sandalwood is calming and emotionally harmonizing and is used to reduce stress and tension. By balancing the emotions, many of the other systems flow more smoothly and allow the body to maintain equilibrium.

Geranium has been used traditionally to support the circulatory and nervous systems, and has the ability to revitalize body tissues. It nourishes the lymphatic system and recharges the adrenal glands, which are the responders to stress and emotional changes.

Lemon is also an adaptogen and acts as a liver tonic. It can improve blood-sugar metabolism and keep the glucose levels in check. It also offers liver protection and has demonstrated anti-toxin activity.

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All of these essential oils can be utilized in various ways to help the body maintain homeostasis.

While they each have their own unique properties, they all contribute to the overall terrain of the body, thus fortifying those areas that may be depleted.

All of these essential oils can be utilized in various ways to help the body maintain homeostasis. While they each have their own unique properties, they all contribute to the overall terrain of the body, thus fortifying those areas that may be depleted.

It’s important to note that all pure therapeutic essential oils need to be diluted before applying to the skin and should never be used internally without the supervision of a clinically certified Aromatherapist.

Our desire for balance is not just a physical need. Striving daily for balance of the emotional and mental state will allow the freedom to lead happy, healthy and fulfilling lives.

Cary Caster, B.S., LMT, CCA is a Botanist,

Licensed Massage Therapist and Certified Clinical Aromatherapist who is on a mission to help people be their best self every day. She believes that people can take their health into their own hands.

Cary is not only the founder and expert behind 21 Drops, an essential oil therapy company, but she is also a devoted healer who sits on the board of the Alliance of International Aromatherapists and has been featured as an essential oil expert in the Huffington Post, Vanity Fair and Martha Stewart Living, among others. Cary offers continuing education classes in Aromatherapy at the University of Miami’s iCAMP program, and throughout the country. To learn more about Cary and how to work with her, please visit www.21drops.com

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Meet the

Balanced

Blonde

BY JENN BODNAR

Photo by Katie Shuler photography

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J

ordan Younger (aka The Balanced Blonde) is no amateur when it comes to creative writing. In fact, Younger remembers being a very creative soul back in grade school who could always be found writing and drawing.

She would write 100 page stories because that is what she loved to do. She was never able to write anything short, she would just get lost in it. Younger also remembers being very active and interested in health at a very young age. As a teen, she was attracted to yoga for a multitude of reasons, including everything from dealing with back pain to coping with friends who were suffering with various challenges.

Younger feels blessed to have discovered who she really was at an early age. She says yoga really strengthened her mind and body connection. We discussed how there are so many capable, creative people in this world who have all the necessary tools for greatness, yet remain challenged when it comes to channeling that energy.

When asked what makes her so driven and dedicated to having such a strong work ethic, Younger says she knew what she wanted and knew whatever she ended up doing was not going to be ordinary. Almost to a fault, she decided early on that if she was not happy doing something she just wouldn’t do it. She has learned how to turn this into a positive trait by focusing completely on all the great things

from the

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ing from the ltry, pou t, mea consumption of meat – red also include abstenthe flesh of any other animal; it may r. ghte slau al tion from by-products of anim

Vegetarianism is the practice of abstain seafood and

wing a diet

Pescetarianism is the practice of follo the flesh of not includes fish or other seafood, but

that typically shares many other animals. A pescetarian diet vegetarian diet and vo of its components with a lacto-o grains, beans, eggs, , nuts may include vegetables, fruit, honey, carmine, or as h dairy, and insect byproducts (suc s meat. lude exc shellac), but a vegetarian diet nd plant foods: Plant-based is a diet that focuses arou seeds, and and nuts fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, , eggs, milk er, butt , zero animal products. No meat, fish uct. rod cheese, gelatin or other animal by-p

Younger feels blessed to have discovered who she really was at an early age. She says yoga really strengthened her mind and body connection.

She knew what she wanted and knew whatever she ended up doing was not going to be ordinary.

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LIFESTYLE Meet the Balanced Blonde

What started as a hobby began to occupy more of her time and energy.

Younger started feeling really excited about the blog’s success and couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

Photo by Katie Shuler photography

she is interested in, such as blogging, writing books, practicing yoga, designing apparel, creating apps and inspiring health junkies by the tens of thousands.

ULTRA BLOGGING SUCCESS

Being a vegetarian since she was 14, Younger became a plant based vegan during her final year of college in Los Angeles. She really enjoyed the lifestyle of preparing new recipes and sharing pictures with family and friends.

After following various Instagram accounts, she opened her own Instagram account called ‘The Blonde Vegan’ while attending grad school for creative writing in New York. It quickly grew to 4,000 followers within 2 months then up to 10,000 followers after 3 months. She started blogging just for fun.

What started as a hobby began to occupy more of her time and energy. Younger started feeling really excited about the blog’s success and couldn’t imagine doing anything

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else. Her Instagram account now has over 90,000 followers.

I asked Younger how her success happened so rapidly, seemingly overnight. She says people ask her this all the time and explains it quite simply. “It was kind of a new thing.

There weren’t a whole lot of people blogging, so there was a really big hunger for knowledge about health, plant based diet and how to live a healthy lifestyle in a way that is fun and would enhance your life instead of isolate you from others who weren’t eating this way.” Younger’s angle was simple, ‘you can do this! You can be really healthy without being this overboard, hippie vegan that people have a stigma about.’

Younger added, “I put a lot of love and effort into it. I spent a ton of time styling the food photos, hash-tagging and connecting with my readers. Many bloggers don’t do this, but I try to respond to everyone’s comments, questions and emails. It developed a really nice interaction and enhanced the connection so they would tell

Meet Balanced Blonde LIFESTYLE

JORDAN’S 5 TIPS FOR BALANCE...

1. Listen to your body! When people are trying to strike a balance from any extreme, they often feel like they are at a loss as to what to do next. The first step is deceivingly simple... listen to your body.

If you are craving dark chocolate, then you might need iron or an energy boost. If something you were planning on eating sounds like its going to bog you down, don’t eat it. Same goes for exercise. Our body holds so much wisdom.

2. Find an exercise you love, and be consistent with it. When you’re doing a physical activity that you truly enjoy, it doesn’t feel like a workout. It feels like play. When you find something you love, run with it.

Staying active helps us stay healthier, happier, more limber and more in control of our bodies. No need to overdo it, but if you find what works for you then chances are you will find it very easy to stick to it and incorporate it into your routine.

3. Speaking of consistency, consistency is key!

Being consistent helps you develop that super important level of trust with yourself that is so necessary when it comes to living a life of true balance. Consistency also helps you develop a routine, which can be so awesome for people who gravitate toward extremes because it helps

draw you back down to your goals and carrying out what’s important to you.

4. Surround yourself with people you love unconditionally, who raise you up instead of tear you down. It’s so important to have a close community of beautiful souls around us to help celebrate our accomplishments, cheer us up when we’re down and to talk some sense into us when we are talking extreme (unbalanced!) nonsense. And likewise, it feels good to support our friends and reciprocate their amazingness. Having people around us that we truly love and admire makes balance much easier and life a whole lot more fun.

5. BREATHE! Perhaps the most simple and the most difficult suggestion of them all. Maintaining our breath is hugely significant, and has the wonderful quality of making even the most difficult situation a whole lot easier to get through.

Some people find that yoga and meditation help them get more in tune with their breath work, and others find that vigorous exercise like running amps up their connection with their breath.

Find what works for you, and make it happen!

Breathe, breathe, breathe. Oh, and sleep. A lot.

Rest is a beautiful thing.

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LIFESTYLE Meet the Balanced Blonde their friends.” She also connected with other bloggers who had large followings and were willing to share her account. Younger says that she feels people decided to support her because of the authentic approach she took and the passion for this lifestyle.

BALANCE

Photo by Katie Shuler photography

After some time, the plant based vegan diet began to have some effects on Younger, including low energy, a poor complexion, brittle hair, and loss of menstruation. More importantly, she began to have strong psychological effects on her relationship with eating. She was becoming panicked, fearful and obsessive over food.

She learned she was suffering from Orthorexia Nervosa; a disorder characterized by an extreme or excessive preoccupation with avoiding foods perceived to be unhealthy. This discovery lead Younger to introduce some animal protein into her diet. No big deal, right? Not exactly.

When she had built an empire of followers being coined “The Blonde Vegan,” Younger was faced with a challenging transition which she chronicles in her upcoming book, appropriately

Younger says that she feels people decided to support her because of the authentic approach she took and the passion for this lifestyle. titled “Breaking Vegan,” due to release next October. Younger says even though she was attacked by some of her devout vegan followers, the out pour of positive support far outweighs the negative. She has connected with thousands of individuals who were experiencing the same symptoms, but didn’t know Orthorexia Nervosa existed. Helping these people find balance in their lives has made it all worth it.

Younger is now known as “The Balanced Blonde” and has jumped right into creating more greatness with her super successful app that launched in November. Within the first few weeks, The Balanced Blonde app ranked #1 in the food and drink category and made the top 50 overall list. It features tons of wonderful recipes, gorgeous pictures and healthy living guides that are updated every two months.

TBV (Truth, Balance, Virtue) Apparel remains a big focus, as well. Younger and her good friend, Tynan Daniels, work together creating fun tanks and tees with phrases such as ‘High on Good Vibes’ and ‘Yoga Junkie.’ They are 100% organic and made in Malibu, CA. Younger continues to motivate and inspire her followers with an on-going ‘#fallinlovewithyourself’ movement that encourages people to post photos of them doing something, anything at all, that makes them happy. It’s all about acceptance, connecting, prioritizing and, of course, BALANCE!

Jordan is the editor and creator of The Balanced

Blonde, where she shares health, fitness, wellness and inspiration to stay balanced daily. She divides her time between working on the blog, working on her memoir Breaking Vegan (out in October 2015), growing her clothing line TBV Apparel and working on her newly launched app. Her blog and story of transitioning from vegan to balanced has been featured on Good Morning America, The Doctors, NY Mag, Women’s Health and more. www.thebalancedblonde.com Instagram@thebalancedblonde

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BY CODY GROTH

Simplified Genetics is on a mission to give people their highest quality of life. With their scientific backing and company success thus far, nothing appears to be stopping them.

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LIFESTYLE Simplified Genetics - The Future of Weight Loss and more

K

urt Johnsen has spent his whole life studying health and happiness. He is founder of American Power Yoga, host of Yoga for Life and now the CEO of the most accurate genetic testing and analysis provider in the country, Simplified Genetics. With a family full of Biotech experts and Kurt being a student of life, he has discovered the answers to the three simplest questions everyone needs to know the answer to when it comes to weight loss and optimal health: • What do I DO? • What do I EAT? • What do I TAKE? Simplified Genetics is a biotech company that focuses on Single Nucleotide Polymorphism testing (SNP) to give individuals their genetic road map to health. Their main branch is called SimplyFIT, a full SNP testing analysis that focuses on the blueprint to your body’s epigenetic and homeostasis environment.

Your DNA creates the blueprint for all the functions in your body. Passed down from our parents, each person has 46 chromosomes (23 pairs): one pair from your mother, and one

Kurt’s father-in law spent millions of dollars and dozens of years to get full sequence analysis of this accuracy by following an extremely detailed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).

It takes a minimum of 3 days to do a full sequence analysis and is a very complex process.

“Simplified Genetics is the only company at the consumer level in the USA doing this complex of testing,” says Johnsen.

Johnsen believes most diets, diet related products as well as workout programs work for a percentage of the population and that testimonials are in fact, true. However, because of our differences in genetics, not all diets or programs work for everybody. With a full sequence SNP analysis, you can get tested one time and know your whole road map to health based on the genetic makeup of your body.

SNP analysis identifies a single nucleotide on one strand of DNA. Full-sequence analysis identifies the sequence and gathers substantial data to cross-reference the SNP to produce near perfect lab results.

Johnsen believes there are so many more great things to do in life then worry about weight. He says, “When you create an epigenetic environment in your body it will return to its natural homeostasis self. No more weight loss goals or numbers, your body will naturally return to its optimal environment. You simply have to know what to DO, EAT and TAKE. People are frustrated. They want this kind of information.”

WHAT TO DO

from your father. Your unique combination of chromosomes creates your DNA. According to the government accountability office in 2010, the standard SNP analysis was 57% accurate. A recent Times magazine article stated that the average SNP accuracy is now less than 50%. What’s the big deal?

Simplified Genetics is doing it at 99% accuracy.

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Have you ever noticed that some people can workout twice a week and keep slim, while others will spend hours in the gym every day and not be able to lose any more weight? Everyone’s body reacts differently to exercise, and that includes you! Your body works with anergeric receptors. These receptors have no idea nor does it care the name of the workout you are doing, it just knows the response it is getting. SimplyFIT tell you the exact percentage of steady aerobic, and high intensity training your body needs.

When asked about his DO analysis, Johnsen says, “I need 70% steady aerobic like yoga, and

FULL SEQUENCE VS SNP ANALYSIS OTHERS

Full sequence genetic analysis no shortcuts.

99% “When you create an epigenetic environment in your body it will return to its natural homeostasis self. No more weight loss goals or numbers, your body will naturally return to its optimal environment.�

SNP analysis partial sequence only.

60%

Accuracy

Accuracy

Comprehensive gene-to-gene analysis

Less than comprehensive gene reporting

1, 2, 3 Provides actionable information about genes

Confusing results with no clear directive

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ACCURACY

Simplified Genetics is the only full sequence analysis providers in the country for consumer use.

ACTIONABILITY

Simplified Genetics goes beyond the genetic information. Included in results are steps you can understand and use.

ATTAINABILITY

Simplified Genetics does not look for disease pathways or drug interactions, they are not here to give you bad news. They translate your genetic instructions to give you your map and the most powerful tools to improve your life; from weight management to picking the safest activities for your child.

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Your DNA is the blueprint for all the instructions in your body. Knowing your genetic results will enable you to live optimally and interact with your genes for their best way to function.

Simplified Genetics - The Future of Weight Loss and more LIFESTYLE 30% high intensity. My wife was an overweight yoga teacher and doing 90% yoga before she got tested. Her analysis found out she needs 90% high intensity. She did more high intensity exercise doing nine less hours per week and has shredded all the weight.”

Elaborating on how it works, Johnsen continues, “If you put a flash light to my ear expecting some sort of response, you’re not going to get one. Most people would go get a bigger flashlight to try and get this response. The problem is, it’s the wrong stimulus for the wrong receptor. If I take the flashlight to your eye, it doesn’t take six weeks, it doesn’t work sometimes, it works immediately every single time. It’s the right stimulus for the right receptor.”

Based on your test results, Simplified Genetics will give you the full steps to understand and use:

may suspect by now, not everyone responds in the same way.

Johnsen says, “One of the most popular and proven weight loss supplements is Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA). It helps roughly 40% of the population lose weight because it targets the right receptors for weight loss. However, 6% of the population like myself don’t have that genetic makeup and it’s a waste of money to take.”

Simplified Genetics does NOT sell supplements. Without a pony in the race, they’ll recommend which supplements you need to take to optimize your genetic variant and maintain healthy energy levels.

“If we can’t make a living doing the best analysis testing in the world, then shame on us,” Johnsen emphasized.

• Which types of exercises you need to do (e.g. high intensity vs. low intensity) • Duration and frequency of recommended exercises • Routine for a week of exercises

WHAT TO EAT

Have you ever tried a diet that your friend swore by, but that just didn’t end up working for you? The truth is, everyone is different and reacts differently to nutritional components. So while a no carb diet may work for your boss, it may produce the exact opposite effect for you. Find out what foods are optimal for you: • What you need to eat to achieve your goals • Daily percentages of fats, carbohydrates and proteins as well as glucose sensitivity • Sample menus for your optimal health

WHAT TO TAKE

SimplyFIT will tell you, not sell you, what to take and what not to take based on your epigenetic environment (DNA). While branch chain amino acids help most people build muscle and recover faster, they actually have the exact opposite effect for a percentage of the population. Supplements are great ways to optimize your health but as you

HOW DOES GENETIC TESTING WORK?

Your DNA is the blueprint for all the instructions in your body. Knowing your genetic results will enable you to live optimally and interact with your genes for their best way to function. The best part is you only need to be tested once and you’re done. Your genes do not change.

Johnsen says, “If I were to tell you I live in Dallas, it would take you a lifetime to find my house without any directions. If I gave you the directions, you’ll find it immediately. We give you a map that does not change. Genetics does not change.”

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LIFESTYLE Simplified Genetics - The Future of Weight Loss and more THE FUTURE OF WEIGHT LOSS

“Weight loss clinics that started with Simplified Genetics are seeing six pounds of weight loss per week without any lean muscle mass or calorie reduction,” says Johnsen.

Simplified Genetics have combined research, years of dedication and expertise in science, diet, nutrition, exercise and supplements to develop the results for an individual genotype.

Clear and simple: DO, EAT, TAKE. The plan guides you step-by-step to achieve your ideal weight and level of fitness.

YOGA IS BEHIND IT ALL

Simplified Genetics is a lifestyle company. One of Johnsen’s goals is to solve the problem of unconditional happiness, ‘I’ll be happy when, I’ll be happy if,’ and help people focus on loving who they are and being present. With over twenty years in the yoga industry and 10,000+ teaching hours, his philosophy in life is to ‘share the tools found in yoga to as many people as possible.’ He says, “The practice of yoga is the practice of life. I know people who do yoga all day but don’t practice it at all. Then I know people who have never done down dog in their life that live through yoga. Living off the mat is the whole point.”

Johnsen also hopes SimplyFIT will be able to get people out from the self-obsession of losing an ‘X’ amount of weight and create the right genetic environment for natural weight loss so they can focus on enjoying the greater things in life.

SIMPLYSAFE

INJURY REDUCTION

Johnsen is working with many professional sports organizations including the Texas Rangers, Dallas Stars and Phoenix Suns to get athletes tested so they know what type of training best fits their genotype. “The big debate with trainers is if you train athletes to the sport or train based on the athletes individual genotype. Professional athletes already know how to play their sport, it comes down to training based on your genotype resulting in a less chance of getting injured,” says Johnsen. He added, “teams and coaches will love us because we will keep their players healthy, which is really what it’s all about.”

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Simplified Genetics is set to launch SimplySAFE, a contact sports test for kids of all ages to test how prone they are to head injuries. Johnsen says, “Approximately 25% of the population have what’s called an ApoE-4 receptor. Those who have this gene are 8.4x more susceptible to a concussion.” Johnsen adds, “when we get a concussion, it creates a protein in the blood that can turn into a plaque in the brain. If this plaque is released, you are 30-60x more likely to get Alzheimer’s or other cognitive disorders.”

Knowing your kids receptor genes enables parents to make smarter decisions for their children’s activities such as playing contact sports by knowing whether their child is more susceptible to brain injury and the long term effects.

Kurt Johnsen is the CEO of Simplified Genet-

ics. In 2001, Kurt founded the nationally recognized yoga system, American Power Yoga. Through APY, he has taught tens of thousands of students, and has trained hundreds of APY instructors. Kurt hosted 60 episodes of the nationally televised show Yoga for Life, which has been translated into five languages and televised around the world. His goal is to create healthy, happy humans and share the tools found in yoga to as many people as possible.

With a full sequence SNP analysis, you can get tested one time and know your whole road map to health based on the genetic makeup of your body.

HOW IS MY DNA PROCESSED? You collect your DNA with the swab provided in your kit

Send it to their lab in Louisiana

Your DNA is extracted from the swab Custom primers and reagants are used to prepare your sample for analysis

Your sample is transferred into a squencer

19 q 13.2

Each specific gene position is targeted for a reaction

“Weight loss clinics that started with Simplified Genetics are seeing six pounds of weight loss per week without any lean muscle mass or calorie reduction.�

Simplified Genetic researchers validate your sequenced results.

Your polymorphism on each gene is sent to our internal, Secure database for your genetic results of your personalized report for optimal health

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Giving Receiving Yoga Couples:

Balance of

“Only when we deepen our appreciation of ourselves, and what we have to offer, can we begin to truly appreciate and truly support and love another. When you begin a relationship with someone it is the relationship with your self that continues to deepen as you learn to share your space with a partner.” —Ravi Singh

BY JENN BODNAR & CODY GROTH

If you ask anyone who’s been coupled for a significant length of time you will likely hear the term ‘compromise’ come up at some point or another. Finding balance in a relationship can be a continuous, exciting and fun journey. With any kind of partnership it’s important to give and to receive. We asked some yogi couples how yoga strengthens their bond.

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Patrick Carling

P

atrick Beach and Carling Harp are international yoga teachers living in Portland, Oregon. They both teach their own unique blends of Vinyasa yoga focused on giving students an experience that allows them to go deeper within themselves. They love to spend time with their two cats, Opie & Zelda, enjoy local concerts, and stand on their hands.

How long have you been together?

5 years or about 753 concerts ago, you can pick the number that works best for you in terms of measuring time.

How long have you been practicing yoga?

Neither of us can remember a specific start date - Patrick mainly started practicing on the kitchen floor while his mom made dinner and I was practicing with a few of my friends from school. We actually use to not tell each other that we would do yoga in the beginning but one afternoon in an old hotel room near the ocean we started practicing together. That sounds so poetic but I was honestly a bit intimidated by vinyasa yoga because I’d only had exposure to the hot yoga in my neighborhood. I was too embarrassed to show up to a class cold so I made Patrick teach me the basics while on vacation once and now here we are!

relationship in the beginning to act “professional” but everyone knew the whole time!

I remember really thinking we had everyone fooled but I guess that was never our strength, we’re both terrible liars.

What’s your favorite way to spend time together?

Experiencing life! We just love to be doing things - whether it’s traveling to explore new cities, restaurants, finding new interesting bands, creating content, cooking, or sitting in Powell’s reading comics together. In that sense maybe we see ourselves as cultural explorers a bit. Trying to really feel and understand life in a way that helps us connect to each other.

What do you enjoy doing that the other does not?

I think so many people wonder these kinds of things about us (or really anyone in a rela-

How did you meet?

Honestly our origin story is quite boring. We were both working at a marketing company out of college and started chatting each other up. I think the best part about the story is that we would try and be super sneaky about our

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LIFESTYLE Yoga Couples - Balance of Giving & Receiving tionship) but there really aren’t many things.

Even before we were practicing yoga together for hours a day we had a lot in common. Our relationship is built on our bond and common things we like to do. I think we both really try to get a feel for what the other is into. Sure there are TV shows and bands that one of us likes and the other doesn’t but one of the reasons it is so easy for us to spend time together is we can always be doing things without being repetitive.

Patrick likes to do handstands that require him to be in a deep focus almost meditative state which can put him in some places I think are a bit “risky” that I don’t have the stomach for and I love jamming out in the car to bad rap or corny pop music (read: taylor swift and miley cyrus) that he isn’t as into. These are just things that are natural to who we are as individuals, like all things anyone prefers - we are just lucky to have found another person who has a lot of the same tastes and preferences!

How does yoga strengthen your relationship?

Yoga probably makes us more understanding people in and out of our relationship. We’re lucky to share something we are both extremely passionate about, but it really comes down to awareness and understanding. We both try to understand each other all the time which helps us know how to make the other’s life better.

Making time to help the other person do things that they need to do is key. The little things matter, making time to take care of each other is vital. Yoga helps you learn to take time for yourself, which in time helps you take better care of the other people in your life.

What challenges does being in the yoga limelight place on your relationship?

Haha I don’t think either of us have ever thought about being in the limelight. I think the challenges of our relationship are the same as anyone who is in a distance relationship. We want to be together but the nature of our work right now requires a lot of travel which is both completely wonderful and constantly challenging. We travel together as much as possible but there are of course still some long stretches that we spend apart which can be rough. Our life is an adventure though, I wouldn’t ever want to change that. This year

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we have been to so many places, met so many truly amazing people, and have gotten closer as two people. I think one of the biggest challenges we have now is that our friends are all over the place now so we when we aren’t traveling to teach yoga we want to be traveling to hang out with the friends we made through yoga!

Do you attend each other’s classes as a student?

Yeah of course, we both love to take the other’s class because we are so different as teachers!

If so, do you offer each other feedback?

Yes and no. We talk about classes but probably not in the traditional way of feedback. Teaching and practicing yoga is a personal journey or process and neither of us want to take away from what the other is offering. Whether some-

Yoga probably makes us more understanding people in and out of our relationship. We’re lucky to share something we are both extremely passionate about, but it really comes down to awareness and understanding. We both try to understand each other all the time which helps us know how to make the other’s life better. one prefers your classes or doesn’t that depends on what they enjoy about yoga. With that in mind we mainly talk about the clarity of the message or purpose from class.

What other common interests besides yoga do you share?

Name something and the odds that we both have a similar taste in it is high. I know that sounds weird but it’s just the way we are!

Do you do partner yoga?

Yep, definitely we play with it! In the past we’ve actually focused mostly on more restorative or therapeutic partner poses and have started exploring the flying ones more and more over the last year or two.

How does partner yoga strengthen your bond?

I think it’s a fantastic way to build comfort and trust in another person. Some people can do

amazing acroyoga transitions - I wouldn’t say that is our thing, but what they can do is very cool. We would actually like to learn more of it but finding the time is a little tough. We like to practice together and then help one another stretch or calm down to find stillness.

How would you describe partner yoga communication?

Our relationship with the practice right now is more partners who practice yoga then the more traditional thought about partner yoga. The acroyoga stuff that we do practice is cool because we are both aware in our bodies, familiar with yoga poses, and have very little training in it. We look at what other people are doing and talk about how they are moving and if we think it is achievable for us. I think it helps us think through movement in a different way, which helps us talk through things and be analytical together.

Do you consider yourselves good communicators?

Like all people I think we go through phases of being good and bad! Sometimes we are on the same page with everything, other times we need to sit back and solve problems. Nobody is a perfect communicator and can be straight forward all the time. As individuals we all want what serves us best. Being in a relationship you have to find the balance between doing the things that work best for you and taking care of another person. I think that is very simple logic that applies to all relationships, romantic or otherwise. Being open in communication helps us make things as good for one another as possible!

Describe the key ingredient to a your relationship in one word!

Fun-loving! Since I added the hyphen i think that counts as one word right? Honestly we really love life, love each other, love our cats (I had to add them in here somewhere) and feel very fortunate to have ended up where we are right now.

@patrickbeach @carlingnicole 43

LIFESTYLE Yoga Couples - Balance of Giving & Receiving

Dylan Ashley

D

ylan Werner and Ashley Galvin are full time yoga teachers in Los Angeles based out of Manhattan Beach, California. They relocated there only one year ago to teach daily yoga classes, lead retreats, and teach workshops and festivals around the world. It was that decision that sky rocketed their yoga careers. “To be able to share our passion and teach yoga has been one of life’s greatest gifts.”

How long have you been together?

4 years, and we just got engaged!

How long have you been practicing yoga?

Yoga 5 years, Acro 4 years How did you meet?

We met in a yoga class in Redlands, CA where we used to live. We were both fairly new to yoga but shared a strong passion for yoga and

Yoga is a part of everything we do. It is not only the physical postures. It is the way you treat one another, how you react to one another, its how you speak and share your truth. When we found yoga individually it strengthened our lives as a whole, we bring those same concepts into our relationship. were hungry to deepen our practice. We had a passion/obsession for yoga that bonded us, and our relationship formed around it.

What’s your favorite way to spend time together?

We love the beach, we love to travel together and are really big foodies. We love to relax and enjoy a glass of wine and a cheese plate.

What do you enjoy doing that the other does not?

We love a lot of the same activities but what we disagree most on is what to watch on tv.

How does yoga strengthen your relationship?

Yoga is a part of everything we do. It is not only the physical postures. It is the way you treat one another, how you react to one another, its how you speak and share your truth. When we found yoga individually it strengthened our lives as a whole, we bring those same concepts into our relationship.

Mindfulness, patience, trust. It’s still a learning and growing process, we are human,

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but we try to remember what is at our core and the way of life we center our world around.

What challenges does being in the yoga spot light place on your relationship?

As yoga teachers, we try to lead by example. We still make mistakes. We still have problems come up like any couple does, but we do not view that as a challenge, we view that as a learning opportunity to grow and share with our students. Pretending that you lead the perfect life isn’t reality.

By sharing your truth and being open about how you can change your outlook and grow from experience you will touch so many more lives.

Do you attend each other’s classes as a student?

Yes, more than any other teacher, we take each others class most. We always have.

Do you offer each other feedback?

Yes, We took our Teacher Training together and it started there. We always offer something we loved about the class and something that we think could have been better, or maybe felt weird in our body or said different. Its important to have that communication where we have each others best interest at heart, and we are in an open place to hear feedback.

What other common interests besides yoga do you share?

Food, wine, travel, the beach. We are both adventurous and love discovering new places.

Do you do partner yoga?

Yes

How does partner yoga strengthen your bond?

Partner yoga forces communication. It cultivates trust, in your partner and in yourself.

You are vulnerable and often times 100% dependent on your partner. It teaches you to give and receive.

How would you describe partner yoga communication?

There is verbal communication and non verbal communication. The longer you fly/ practice with the same partner the less you need verbal communication. However, we are always communicating. You listen with your body.

Do you consider yourselves good communicators?

Haha yes and no. We do our best.

Describe the key ingredient to a your relationship in one word!

Compromise

@dylanwerneryoga @ashleygalvinyoga 45

LIFESTYLE Yoga Couples - Balance of Giving & Receiving

Sam Raquel

S

am Salwei and Raquel Hernández are well known for bringing their students to their edges and beyond.

As modern day nomads, you can find them driving coast-to-coast, or hopping on a plane to teach overseas. Sam is the co-founder of the YogaSlackers, and has a great deal of knowledge and experience on the slackline, creating amazing spectacles wherever he goes. Raquel’s extensive training in different types of Yoga, AcroYoga, Slacklining, and listening make her a motivating and receptive teacher, great at progressing her students further. With their many combined talents and skills, these two always have something new and exciting to share, making them the perfect teaching team.

How long have you been together?

2 and a half years How long have you been practicing yoga?

Raquel since 2003. Teaching since 2006 Sam since 2004.

How did you meet?

We met at the YogaSlackers Teacher Training.

What’s your favorite way to spend time together?

Traveling and teaching! We love to spend our time sharing our passions with others.

What do you enjoy doing that the other does not?

I love swimming. Sam is not a fan.

Sam is also into Kitesurfing. Which I have only experienced from the ‘let’s help you launch and land the kite’ perspective. Not a huge fan of kitesurfing days.

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How does yoga strengthen your relationship?

It gives us something to ground to. Our hatha yoga practice - although quite sporadic at this time - allows us to be quiet and to nourish ourselves. While our AcroYoga and Slackline practice allow us to connect with each other.

AcroYoga in a very direct way and slackline yoga through play and challenges.

What challenges does being in the yoga spotlight place on your relationship?

Sometimes it’s hard to allow people to see you being human. Just as any other human being, we get sick, we fall, we fail. Our relationship is the same. Sometimes we are having an amazing time, sometimes we struggle. The difference with most couples is that we are always in someone’s spotlight, our traveling nature does not gives a lot of space for ‘alone time’. Which means, that we show up to places with what we have, happy days and not so happy days it does not make much of a difference.

Do you attend each other’s classes as a student?

We barely teach as individuals. But even when we are co-teaching classes we give each other space to be the teacher and be the student. We are constantly learning from each other.

Do you offer each other feedback?

We do! After each class we speak about what we liked and what things we can improve. It is the only way to keep progressing and to strengthen our co-teaching relationship.

What other common interests besides yoga do you share?

Lots! Slackline Yoga, AcroYoga, climbing, Handstands, trail running, mountain biking, a lot of sports in general, our mutual love for traveling, watching movies for free and Indian food.

Do you do partner yoga?

We practice and teach AcroYoga.

How does partner yoga strengthen your bond?

Particularly for couples, AcroYoga is a way to look at your relationship and how you communicate with each other. It took us a while, but now we both feel very connected while practic-

The communication in partner yoga is based in being able to express your needs and to listen to the needs of your partner.

We find it particularly challenging for some at the beginning, mainly because you still do not know what you need

ing - and when for some reason we are not - we have the tools to strengthen our connection.

How would you describe partner yoga communication?

The communication in partner yoga is based in being able to express your needs and to listen to the needs of your partner. We find it particularly challenging for some at the beginning, mainly because you still do not know what you need.

You simply know that something is ‘wrong’.

A deeper practice allows you to discover your needs and to communicate them better.

It also allows us to view how we all react during stressful situations, during failures and successes. In a short period of time you can discover your different reactions and if you take a moment to analyze them, and work through them, it strengthens your communication on and off the mat.

Do you consider yourselves good communicators?

Most of the time! Communication is something we are constantly working on.

Describe the key ingredient to a your relationship in one word!

Compassion

@yogaslackers

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Global Glue

Connecting the World

through Real

Relationship Stories, One Couple at a Time.

“For me, one of the most precious gifts, is to have a friend on the path“ MC YOGI

BY GILLIAN PIERCE Relationship is really about presence. Some couples are able to achieve this without yoga, but many of the Glue couples we have interviewed rely on a yoga or spiritual practice to help ground and center them as individuals in order to connect more fully with a level of presence and attention that intimacy requires. Many couples talk about sacred daily time, or “rituals,” even if it is simply a cup of tea together in the morning, or how they go to bed at night, or how you great each other after a day of work, it’s about the energy and intention that goes into those daily interactions…a yoga practice helps attune to that sort of attention. A yoga practice demands intention, even if it is simply, “I am going to my mat now and practicing,” and relationship requires that same kind of deliberate attention to the self and other- eye contact, listening, understanding your own emotions and having the ability to process and articulate them.”

Gillian Pierce is the co-founder of Global Glue Project, a documentary project dedicated to sharing the secrets of long-term couples. She is a filmmaker, writer, speaker, and yoga teacher. Gillian holds a masters degree and has facilitated a number of workshops and courses. She has studied contemplative practices and brings presence and spontaneity to her presentations. Having filmed couples across the U.S. and in China, she shares intimate “behind-the-scenes” knowledge of the common threads that are seen in all couples, regardless of religious affiliation, sexual orientation, or race.

Glue Project (GGP) believes in a healthier planet fueled by healthier relationships. They are dedicated to connecting the world through real relationship stories and sharing the secrets of sticking together.

Global Glue Films highlight relationship wisdom and both the challenges that threaten couples as well as the glue that holds them together. These stories remind us

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that we all face the same challenges in our relationships: communication, sex, finances, and more. GGP believes in the power of story to help inspire us to find ways through and stay connected.

GGP has spent the past three years filming over 55 couples in eight countries, and have created a web resource that allows viewers to watch Glue Films in their entirety, or in short individual chapters that may be sorted by specific topics such as trust, fidelity, parenting, etc.

The yogic analogy of course for long-term relationships is holding the pose, the yoga begins when you want to leave the pose. So there you are in a long-term relationship and things come up and for a moment you get into some shitty thinking, “Oh my God, this is not working”…I have to learn there’s periods of greater intimacy, there’s periods of less intimacy, there’s periods where we’re just in the flow, and periods when we’re not. The holding the pose piece is: you stay there, no matter what, even through hardship, even when we have to say challenging things to each other, you stay there. That’s when you want to leave the pose, but that’s where the yoga is. The yoga is breath, notice what you’re feeling, what’s your experience, communicate, and connect. Don’t run away. At all costs, don’t run away.

Tommy (Tommy & Kia)

Yoga is the study of balance, and balance is the aim of all living creatures: it is our home. —Rolf Gates

Meditation is a lifelong process. Give it a try.

As you get deeper and more disciplined into the process, you’ll get deeper and more disciplined in your mind and life.

—Brendon Burchard

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Balancing on the

Waves of Life

BY ANDREA MARCUM

“Control and surrender have to be kept in balance.

That’s what surfers do…”

Brian Eno

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T

he focus and faith required when we kick up into an inversion is a bit like being that surfer balancing control and surrender. We sense fluid freedom. Out among the waves we’re not anchored or stuck, there’s liberation to being at sea. But surrendering to the unknown can be a bit scary, too. We can’t be entirely certain where we’re going to land. Nothing gets our attention like being confronted by the unexpected.

Whether misjudging a headstand and tumbling to the floor or getting fired out of the blue, we find ourselves in a surprising new landscape for which we weren’t prepared. Suddenly we are pinned beneath our wave and trying to find our way back to the surface. That which we may have taken for granted, has given way to something new. We’re staring down change and wrestling with fear... “What if I fall again and hurt myself?”

The truth is we’re guaranteed to fall again… and again. Like crashing waves, challenges will crest and crumble whether we’re talking about our headstands or our lives. As Swami Satchitananda said, “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn how to surf.” Inversions are an amazing way for us to learn how to “surf.” They are like a living laboratory where we feel tangible, postural balance merging with a far deeper tide. We are confronted by our anxiety, our expectation and even our ego. All at once, upside down needs to become right side up, and we realize that we have to surrender our tight grip on what we think we can control in order to find balance.

In the dictionary, control is defined as “the ability to direct a situation, person or activity.” There’s a part of every one of us that wants to be “in control.” And to a great extent, we can control the accountability and integrity with which we show up on our mat, at our job, in our relationships… on our proverbial surfboards.

We can arrive present and purposeful with the best of intentions, but what we can’t control is a guaranteed outcome. Even a well-rested, perfectly aligned, laser-focused, Instagram-famous handstand-master will have days when they can’t balance no matter how hard they try. And despite our carefully constructed plans, our relationships with our spouse, our jobs, ourselves, Justin’s Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cups, Facebook, (you name it), can feel out of balance and out

of control some days, too. Which is precisely why we need to surrender in order to “surf.”

When we try too desperately to control the things we can’t, we become tightly wound in lop-sided ways that leave us miserable. Which brings us to two key components in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras: abhyasa (perseverant practice) and vairagya (surrendering without expectation of a particular outcome). Abhyasa and vairagya demand that we resist the trappings of the instant gratification our modern society seems to promote. They ask us to see balance, not as a single handstand, a day at work, a moment of over-indulgence, as a weakness or wave we may or may not catch, but as a part of a larger personal pilgrimage (sadhana). When we look at things through this wider lens, we can see every wobble, challenge and fall as an opportunity to learn and grow. Each time we feel a fluctuation in the tide, we gain a little bit more wisdom to bring to our next inversion, job shift or relationship inquiry. Before you know it, balance is a part of every inhale and exhale and feeds our understanding of effort and surrender, strength and flexibility, control and freedom. And our mat becomes the perfect surfboard for us to navigate the waves of life.

When we try too desperately to control the things we can’t, we become tightly wound in lop-sided ways that leave us miserable.

Andrea Marcum is an LA based yoga teacher who

founded U Studio Yoga in 2006. She enjoys weaving philosophy into the poses and her recipe includes equal parts sweat and laughter. She loves leading the most unassuming newbies to yoga with mindfulness and works with everyone from athletes to executives around the world. Shape, NFL Network, LA Times.

Qantas Inflight, Self, C Magazine, Mantra Magazine and Yoga Magazine are among those who have featured her. You can take class with her from anywhere on My Yoga GaiamTV and get in touch with Andrea at www.andreamarcum.com

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Balancing

Exposures:

Are you making a living

or making a life?

BY KEVIN SUTTON WWW.KEVINMSUTTON.COM

A little over seven years ago, I broke my wrist. It wasn’t just a simple fall, it was a bicycle wreck that managed to destroy my wrist joint in epic fashion. I had fractured both my radius and navicular bones, something my orthopedic surgeon said, “was quite rare and difficult to completely recover from.”

This came as quite a blow to my ego. At the time, I was very involved in strength training and fitness, and this threw me into a tailspin. The doctor insisted that I would never have the grip strength or flexibility necessary to lift a weight or even support body weight with my wrist.

After several months of depression and self-flagellation, I ran into an old friend from college who was amidst a yoga teacher training. She was in search of students she could practice teaching. She enlisted me as one of her ‘students,’ even though I told her I came with a disclaimer of doom regarding my wrist injury.

In the beginning, it was quite uncomfortable and painful to practice yoga. My form suffered.

My attitude was pretty bad. Bit by bit, improvements began to happen, not only physically, but spiritually and mentally. I began to question things in my life I hadn’t before. I was forced out of my routine (my safe zone) and I had my random injury to thank for that.

I no longer felt like I had it all together in

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my life. Almost completely off balance, a weed had started growing in my mind, a seed planted there by injurious twist of fate. I questioned where I currently was in my life, my career, and what I had established as important.

One of the things I feared the most after my wrist surgery was that I’d never be able to hold a camera correctly again. I wrote this off as silly.

I loved photography but I almost never had a camera in my hand. It was something that had fallen to the wayside for me since before college.

I’d never really re-established the importance of photography in my life after that.

So, with my newfound vigor for life (brought on by my newfound obsession with my daily yoga practice) I picked up a camera again.

With that, balance crept back into my life. I began to realize I had been drifting further and further away from what my truth was (what really made me happy) and the lack of purpose had become so looming, it had become impossible to ignore once my world was shaken.

Years later, I quit my job and began freelancing as a photographer. My wrist surgery is now nothing but a scar and a memory. I recovered in such a way that actually prompted my orthopedic surgeon to ask me what I had done physically to regain the strength and flexibility after such a major joint surgery.

This is Dave. Years ago he worked in the financial industry and was miserable. He now owns his own gym. He’s a staunch believer in the fact that everything can be out-of-balance, especially in the fitness world. He emphasizes that diet and exercise should be tailored to each lifestyle, and not get in the way of happiness. Dave believes that life is a balance of discipline, action, refinement, and fun.

I’ve lost my way quite a few times in life, and I’m finally to a point where I’ll readily share these experiences with anyone who asks. The lessons I’ve taken away from these mishaps have been so valuable and serendipitous, that one of my greatest passions has become helping others steer in the direction in which they’re able to see things from a broader perspective. Sometimes that just means helping them cultivate that seed.

For the better part of a decade, the practice of asana to me wasn’t anything but the practice of asana. It did help me realize an inner longing to bring greater meaning into my life, but I treated it as a strength and callisthenic exercise. It wasn’t until I again hurt myself in Ashtanga that I took a break from it fully (doctor’s orders) and began to involve the spiritual practice into my life on a deeper level.

I was shooting photos for a teacher training manual for a well-loved local San Diego yoga studio, and I somehow found myself signing up for their next 200 hour course. This studio emphasized the importance of the spiritual side of yoga, the real reason asana itself even exists.

At first, I found myself dropping back into my

old, dogmatic belief systems about yoga, but then again began to recognize parts of my life that I was able to push through because of my practice (a horrific injury, a bad breakup, anxiety and depression).

I tell this long-winded story because I really love people, and really, really love helping people. As a self-admitted introvert, this becomes quite tiring sometimes, but in a good way, a way that makes me feel fulfilled when I’ve taught someone something, changed someone’s perspective, or maybe just made them smile.

Which brings me again back to my picture-taking-ways. Photography is most certainly about the rapport between the person taking the photo and the subject. This relationship could vary wildly, of course. It could be deep (in the case of a close friend or family member that when you’re shooting a candid portrait), surface-level (on assignment with an acquaintance you’ve recently met), or even empathic in the sense of photojournalism, (in which you hope to capture an authentic moment-just being there, trying to understand the situation, and anticipating taking the photo.

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LIFESTYLE Balancing Exposures - Are you making a living or making a life?

Maicy looks at her mother Niki, with adoring eyes. This beautiful girl is the product of two awesome parents, is very well adjusted and loves the ocean. Sometimes, it’s the littlest things that make the most precious moments.

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Taylor currently works in a laboratory as a molecular biologist. Soon she will be transitioning into her role as nutrition coach where she can share her healthy lifestyle knowledge. This photo was taken for her new website.

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Balancing Exposures - Are you making a living or making a life? LIFESTYLE

Eric is a good friend of mine. I’ve known him for close to a decade and he’s a shining example of what hard work and dedication will get you. He’s always been very competitive in the cycling world, competing alongside professional cyclists whose career is to be on the bike.

Eric, however, is a Doctor of Chiropractic and runs his own practice. This means he’s up before the world putting in miles on the bike to be able to take the knowledge he’s gained about fitness and nutrition into his practice.

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LIFESTYLE Balancing Exposures - Are you making a living or making a life?

Toneille is a full-time graphic designer and also a great yoga teacher. She talked about the fact that, again, her yoga practice (as well as the sharing with others) brings an element into her life that allows her to continue to excel in the workplace, balancing creativity with effort.

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Travis is an enormously successful medical device rep in the southwest. He’s been on that career path for years. But his true dream was to open an establishment that would be a place where people could just ‘be’ - to cultivate friendships, be creative, and just enjoy life. His coffee shop, Sip Coffee & Beer, was built from the ground up with his co-owner and wife, Tida. They literally built most of the furniture, acquired the artwork (or did it themselves) and painstakingly researched all the food and beverage they serve in the shop so that it is just as amazing as the setting. Travis strives to create community and is constantly collaborating with new business owners in the area. Last time I spoke with him he had just discovered yoga and was so excited about it, he was discussing having a community yoga class led in the big patio area.

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How The Your Life Rule Can Improve

rule.

I’m sure you’ve heard of the 80/20 w, and It’s also called the law of the vital fe iple. It was originally called The Pareto Princ when started way back in the early 1900’s at 80 Italian Vilfredo Pareto discovered th d by 20 percent of the land in Italy was owne you feel percent of the people. Am I making th me! like you are back in school? Stay wi

BY CHRIS FREYTAG

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S

oon people saw how this rule played out in business. More often than not, 20 percent of your customers lead to most, or 80 percent, of your sales. Today the 80/20 rule has all sorts of cool interpretations.

To use the 80/20 rule for business, you focus on the 20 percent of your best customers who are giving you 80 percent of your sales.

To use the 80/20 rule to manage your time, you focus on the 20 percent of the things you do that really move the dial for you or your business.

In other words, your highest valued activities.

Here’s the kicker! When it comes to your health, you gotta flip the 80/20 rule and focus on that 80 percent. You know you can achieve a healthy lifestyle when the majority of your choices are healthy. See? It’s not rocket science, but it can really change how you think. It’s a universal rule and it applies to everything.

Spend the majority of your time making the right decisions, and you will love your results.

IT’S NOT ABOUT CIRCUMSTANCES, IT’S ABOUT CHOICES. A healthy lifestyle is achieved by the sum total of all of your choices. Losing weight, getting healthier or becoming more fit is not a quick fix or a gimmick, it’s the culmination of your habits and your daily decisions. This rule is about MODERATION. Yes, you can have that dessert. No, you cannot have dessert every night. Yes, you should workout most days.

No, you don’t have to beat yourself up if you skip a day.

Always strive to have most—at least 80 percent—of your choices be healthy.

You know what’s so great about this rule?

YOU CAN USE IT FOR EATING. You know it’s challenging to eat clean all the time. Work parties, BBQ’s, cookouts, pot-luck gatherings, cocktail parties, restaurant temptations, travel…all those things make clean eating a bit of a challenge. But if you can work toward eating clean the majority of the time (lots of real foods from the produce aisle), you are going to see a difference in your body and in how you feel. Hello, energy, there you are!

If you go for portion control moderation more often than not, you can effectively manage your weight!

YOU CAN USE IT FOR EXERCISE. Yes, it’s easy to fall out of your workout routine when you travel, or you have family in town, or a rerun of Desperate Housewives has you captivated to the TV, but get right back in the saddle and get back at it. Don’t let a break from your exercise routine become a break-up from exercise. Push toward that 80 percent. I never go more than 2 days in a row without a workout. It’s my little game I play to keep me consistent at least 80% of the time.

Work parties, BBQ’s, cookouts, pot-luck gatherings, cocktail parties, restaurant temptations, travel…all those things make clean eating a bit of a challenge.

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LIFESTYLE How the 80/20 Rule Can Improve Your Life IT’S EASY TO REMEMBER. When things are easy to remember, they are easy to do. Plus, you can easily turn this rule into a question to keep you on track: Are the majority of my choices today healthy? If they aren’t, start making some healthy decisions pronto. If they are, terrific! Better yet, put a post-it note on your bathroom mirror to remind yourself each morning to make it an 80/20 day.

The

80/20

rule is a lifestyle gauge. It isn’t a quick fix or a weird gimmick.

You aren’t on it or off it. You just lean toward health.

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IT’S A LIFESTYLE RULE NOT A FAD. You know what I dislike about diets? Besides the teensy fact that they don’t work? People are either on or off diets. Diets come and go and actually now people aren’t doing “diets” they are doing “cleanses” –same thing in many ways. The 80/20 rule is a lifestyle gauge. It isn’t a quick fix or a weird gimmick. You aren’t on it or off it. You just lean toward health. Each day try and get more of your choices to favor your health. Wake up tomorrow and try again. Take a nod from one of my favorite authors, Michael Pollen, who says, “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.” Bingo! That’s easy to follow.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE PERFECT. Okay, I had a green smoothie for breakfast, my FitBit says I’ve walked 10,000 steps and it’s only lunchtime, I ate a salad for lunch with lots of veggies, I think it’s okay to eat this afternoon cookie.

Or, I ate a big muffin for breakfast. I am going to hit the gym after work and I’ve been

drinking lots of water today, but I think I will skip the Birthday cake for my coworker.

See how it plays out? You just lean toward healthy the majority of the time.

YOU CAN BE HUMAN. One of the funniest things about being a fitness trainer and health coach is other people think I only eat foods from the produce aisle and I never have a bite of chocolate or a glass of red wine or (Gasp!) sugar. Yes, I probably lean more toward 90/10 with my healthy habits, but I do allow myself some room to enjoy indulgences from time to time. Did someone say ice cream? Let the 80/20 rule give you permission to sometimes just enjoy the things you love in moderation. Don’t serve yourself up a giant helping of guilt and remorse with that small dish of ice cream or that cone. It falls into your 20 percent and it’s OKAY. Breathe.

YOU CAN SAVE TIME. You don’t have to weigh your food, count calories or do anything else that takes up time you don’t have. Maybe tracking every morsel of food you eat just doesn’t jive with your lifestyle or what you like to do. While tracking what you eat can be extraordinarily helpful, you don’t have to do it if you use the 80/20 rule. You know when the majority of your decisions are healthy and when they aren’t. Work slowly toward getting more of your choices into the healthy camp! I always suggest getting familiar with what portion sizes look like and then get good at eyeballing them.

Bottom line, another way to describe the 80/20 rule when it comes to food is portion control.

IT WORKS. I guarantee if you exercise on most days and eat clean most of the time, it will work. You will be at the weight you want to be at and you will be healthier. The 80/20 rule is a doable, healthy lifestyle plan that you can enjoy! Try it and let me know what you think.

Chris Freytag is a nationally recognized fitness

expert, speaker, and founder of GetHealthyU.com – Helping U Get Better Every Day. Known for her fitness DVDs and as a regular contributor to Prevention magazine, Chris served as the chairman of the board for the American Council on Exercise for several years, and was named as a top ten fitness influencer by Sharecare. Chris has appeared nationally in SUCCESS magazine, on The Today Show and as a regular healthy lifestyle guest on QVC. Chris appears weekly on NBC’s Minneapolis/St. Paul affiliate Kare 11 News, in a segment called Motivation Monday.

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Why do we love it? The class schedu le fits the busiest of schedules, the facilities are impeccably clean, the trainers are highly mot ivating and the staff makes you feel right at hom e! The hour flies by and you leave feeling like eve ry muscle has been worked! www.orangetheoryfitness.com

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Cultivating

Ayurveda Balance with

BY MEENAKSHI GUPTA

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F

reedom from ailment depends upon escalating our own consciousness, bringing it into equilibrium, and then extending that balance to the body. Finding a healthy connection between our mind and body helps us shift from an imbalanced to a balanced state. When we’re in optimal homeostasis, we naturally attend to our body and make selections that support balance, happiness, and well-being. Here are 5 simple Ayurvedic Tips to help you cultivate balance in every aspect.

HEALTHY DIET

An Ayurveda balanced diet includes the six tastes: sweet, salty, sour, pungent, bitter, and astringent. Eating only sweet, salty or sour can lower metabolism. The pungent, bitter and astringent tastes increase metabolism due to their anti-inflammatory properties. Foods like ginger, mustard, peppers, spinach and turmeric give your metabolism a boost. Seasonal fresh vegetables, milk, fruits, most grains and almonds increase balance in the mind. Eating slightly less than what your hunger demands and at regular times also helps to create optimal balance.

EXERCISE

Walk outdoors when the sun is rising and experience the morning’s first rays while practicing pranayama (yogic, 3-part, nostril breathing).

Incorporate a yoga practice, as yoga is essential to creating balance. Yoga helps clear blocked emotions and increases the power of the digestive fire to improve processing power.

Exercise also releases positive neurohormones, elevating mood and positive thoughts.

MEDITATION

MINDFUL SLEEP

Ayurveda suggests going to bed before 10:00 p.m, the Kapha time of night. This generates a deep, restful sleep that truly refreshes mind and body. Falling asleep after 10:00 p.m. produces a more restless sleep, making it more likely for you to wake up during the night. Wake up before sunrise, which is BRAHMAMUHURTA (GOD’s Time).

There is a preponderance of purity in the mind and atmosphere at this time. Sleeping later than 6:00 a.m. causes the channels of communication to be clogged with impurities, leading to a dull mind, depressed moods and slow communication between the heart, soul and mind.

Meditation is transforming the mind to encourage and develop concentration, clarity, emotional positivity, and calm. Meditation is one of the most powerful tools for restoring balance to our mind and body. See more on meditation ‘The Journey Within: The Role of Meditation in the Practice of Yoga Posture’ on page 17

HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS

Ayurveda considers balanced, loving, healthy relationships to be a must for a long and healthy life. The intimate life is an important, integrated element of being human, and it is as important as eating. Nurturing relationships maintains psychological balance, and actually aid further mental and spiritual development.

There are two key principles of Ayurveda:

1.

The mind and the body are inseparably connected.

2.

Nothing has more supremacy to heal and transform the body than the mind.

Meenakshi Gupta is an accomplished Ayurve-

dic practitioner, with a Masters of Doctor in Ayurveda, (classically trained in India) with more than 17 years of experience practicing and teaching Ayurveda worldwide.

Meenaksi specializes in Life Style Management, treating ADHD and Parkinson, as well as skin disorders such as chronic eczema, and hives. She also specializes in stress, anxiety depression, Insomnia and Bio-cleansing modalities.

You may reach Meenakshi at ayurroots@gmail.com.

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Organic

Gardening

101

What would you say if I told you that you could eat all the organic, non-GMO vegetables you wanted for free?

BY RD COPELAND

N

o, I’m not “full of it” unless you mean full of information, experience and a willingness to share what I know about organic vegetable gardening. I am not a degreed horticulturist, botanist, or plant scientist. I’m a grower and farmer and I’ve been growing, preparing and cooking food my entire life. Experience is what I’ll share with you, along with some common sense ideas for beginners, and a few tips for the more seasoned gardeners. So THAT’s why there’s a random farmer from out west in Yoga Digest.

I’m sure not qualified to teach you the Flying Crow pose but I can show you how I grow vegetables organically in some pretty adverse conditions on my farm in north-central Texas. I want to help you grow your own fresh,

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nutritious, chemical-free vegetables, fruits and herbs. Sharing my gardening knowledge is my way of giving back, so let’s get to it.

Planting a 2,500 sq. ft. garden outdoors may sound a little far-fetched. Fortunately, modern day gardening techniques have expanded to fit almost everyone’s lifestyle and local growing conditions with aquaponics, hydroponics, self-watering pots, soaker hoses, rain catchment, raised beds… there’s no excuse! Get ready to get your hands dirty and clean up on nutritious organic, non-GMO homegrown vegetables.

Over the next month, plan out your garden type, whether it’s a tower garden (an all-inclusive, water-filled stack of containers and pods with hydroponically grown plants), a

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NUTRITION Gardening 101

The week-to-week tasks will be to prepare your garden beds, choose plant varieties, start seeds, set up your water catchment system, plant the seedlings, fertilize and safeguard your plants from pests (and pets), then ultimately harvest your garden’s bounty and eat the best tasting meals you’ve ever had. raised-bed garden beside your house, or the full-blown yard full of food garden big enough to feed a hungry block party.

The week-to-week tasks will be to prepare your garden beds, choose plant varieties, start seeds, set up your water catchment system, plant the seedlings, fertilize and safeguard your plants from pests (and pets), then ultimately harvest your garden’s bounty and eat the best tasting meals you’ve ever had. If you’ll put in the time now preparing your garden soil or device for the next growing season, the payoff will come much sooner than you think.

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BEDS, CONTAINERS, & GROWING DEVICES

Choosing where to plant your garden is the first step. If you have a big yard, designate an area for an old fashioned garden right in the ground.

All you’ll need do is add a border to hold your soil in place, keep pets at bay and discourage pests. For those with limited space, raised beds, container gardens, greenhouses, hydroponics, aquaponics and other non-traditional growing means will work more efficiently. Even if you just have a small kitchen herb garden, and four large pots out on the balcony planted with tomatoes, beans, lettuce and spinach, you’ll immediately see the benefits of growing your own organic food.

A traditional garden is part of your yard with plants or seeds sown directly in the ground, in full sun, and near a water source. Starting from scratch means literally scratching off the grass with a sharp shovel in your designated garden area. Dig down a couple of inches then angle the blade away from you and somewhat parallel to the surface. Catch as much grass and soil as possible in the shovel and pile it up in a wheel barrow or cart for removal from your yard. That’s right, say goodbye to grass you can’t eat and will never have to mow again.

HINT: Use a water hose as a temporary outline to your garden if you’d like the border to be odd-shaped or rounded, then lay out your actual border next to the hose.

If you have a tiller, you’re in luck! If not, if you have a neighbor, brother, cousin, friend of a friend with a tiller, you’re in luck! Get a tiller and use it---at least this first time to unpack the soil. You can rent them for a day if need be. Once it’s tilled up, you can easily add organic compost, fertilizer, nutrients and other soil builders. If absolutely no one you know has a tiller you can borrow, and renting

one isn’t feasible, use a shovel or broad-fork to plow up your ground. Just make sure you dig down 8-10 inches to break up the hardpacked dirt.

You’ll need some sort of border around your garden to hold the soil in place. This border can be made of rock, bricks, wood, landscape pavers... whatever you like. Make sure the top of the border is enough above grade to keep the grass out and the garden soil in. Get creative and use re-purposed wood, bricks and rocks in many colors. Try to avoid treated wood or anything with lead-based paint.

Cedar works best and it helps keep harmful insects away. Most garden and home stores

sell landscape timbers, pavers, boards, and rocks but I like to repurpose things whenever possible. You’ll see a little bit of everything in my garden. I know there’s an old kids peddle car in there somewhere beneath the mulch.

Construct something that will draw you out into the garden... especially once those weeds begin to pop up!

Raised bed gardens work well in tight spaces.

Cinder blocks are inexpensive and make great borders. Build up your raised bed border to two or three feet above grade to avoid stooping while tending to your plants. With raised beds you can pair up companion plant varieties.

Many vegetable plants will grow better and

Apartment dwellers or house renters may want to plant in large containers to make the best use of limited space and to insure mobility. Containers also allow you to start your plants earlier in the year.

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in containers but can sometimes be hard to find in your particular zone. Clay pots, vintage bathtubs, five-gallon buckets, wooden crates and pallets, kiddie pools, the list goes on and on of containers you could plant a few future meals in, so dress it up as much as you’d like.

I’ll want to see your creations and so will your friends.

Aquaponics, a relatively new growing system, or the more widely known hydroponics system are also good options. These devices can get very expensive but if you have a large family of vegetarians one might work for you. Ranging in price for a small unit known as a tower garden at around $800 (You can order one from me!), to large scale systems capable of growing 100’s of plants at $20,000. Advantages include the ability to grow plants indoors year-round, avoid harmful insects and disease, massive output--a garage-sized unit could grow 100 heads of lettuce each month, or more! Check them out online to gauge whether setting one up will be to your benefit. If so, I can help you order the components and with the setup if you need me.

SOIL PREPARATION ward off harmful bugs with the right companion. If you need help designing raised beds, get in touch. I have built many.

Apartment dwellers or house renters may want to plant in large containers to make the best use of limited space and to insure mobility. Containers also allow you to start your plants earlier in the year. You can move your plants inside at night and on extremely cold days, then back out into the sun during daylight hours. Not all plants work well in containers. For instance some Open Pollinated vegetable plants (more commonly known as “heirlooms”) grow vine-like. Bushy is better

Cold weather doesn’t always inspire outdoor activities, however there’s usually a day or two filled with sunshine that draws you outside. Use those days to prepare your garden soil, build beds, apply fertilizer and compost, or set up your system if you plan to utilize non-traditional gardening techniques such as aquaponics or a greenhouse.

The soil (or pods with organic additives used in aquaponics and hydroponics) is the most important part of a healthy, organic garden. Test your soil for organic matter, the amount of nitrogen, potassium, manganese, and other vital nutrients already in your garden. You can send off samples to labs or buy

Compost is extremely important for maintaining healthy garden soil. If you do a lot of juicing, the leftover pulp is perfect for composting. Use all your leftovers from the kitchen with the exception of meats and animal fats like butter.

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Gardening 101 NUTRITION a much cheaper kit that will at least tell you if the soil is high alkaline or not.

There are many additives for improving your soil available at garden stores and online. Please use organic products!

I will never recommend chemical herbicides or pesticides. There are too many time-tested ways to grow without them, and who wants to ingest a gallon of poison over the summer? No one!

SEED SELECTION

Now that your garden soil is prepared, it’s time to select what vegetables, herbs and fruits to grow. I will only recommend organic, open pollinated, heirloom vegetables and seeds.

Anything else and you’re on your own. Since making the switch, I’ve had little trouble with disease, rot, and even insects. I feel very strongly about using organics/heirlooms and will never again allow GMO seeds or seedlings, sprayed and grown in herbicides and pesticides into my garden. It’s an unsustainable growing system where bugs and diseases develop tolerance to chemicals, then more chemicals are needed to keep your plants growing, then more resistance builds, and so on. Most vegetable seeds are not GMO seeds, but check for organic and heirloom on each variety offered.

Stick with the old school methods of nurturing your soil and using Mother Nature’s fertilizers, insect management and nutrients.

days, minimum for the microbes to begin doing their work of breaking down the refuse. You can purchase organic compost by the bag or truckload at most garden stores.

STARTING SEEDS INDOORS

It never hurts to get an early start on growing a garden. Seeds should be started 6-8 weeks before the average last frost in your area. I plant seeds for many of my vegetables on January 1st; sort of a New Year’s resolution and tradition rolled into one.

Recycled paper starter pods work well but I use large plastic trays to cut back on expense.

Label everything and keep your seeds in rows to facilitate transplanting when the risk of frost dwindles. Plant seeds according to package instructions. Keep the soil moist and well-lit with florescent grow lights. South-facing windows and patio doors provide a good supply of natural light. Stack the trays on rolling racks for moving outdoors on warm days.

Good Luck and Good Growing!

R.D. Copeland is an organic farmer, rancher,

and writer who lives off-grid on his 50-acre farm in The Sunflower, west of Dallas, Texas. You can contact him at rdcopelandjr@yahoo.com.

COMPOSTING

Egg shells and coffee grounds are a daily addition in many homes. A compost pail works great for use in the kitchen to hold your daily excess. Carry that pail out to your composter, bin, container or fenced-in pile, and dump it in. Add grass clippings and leaves from the yard and keep the entire mass damp, but not wet. Turn the pile with a shovel once or twice per month as you add ingredients. Compost is free and possibly the best additive for your garden soil mixture. It will need to sit for 90

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Complete

Guide to Juicing Congratulations Juicer or Juicer-to-be! Your decision to add juicing to your lifestyle is one you will never regret. You are off to becoming a high-energy, healthy, glowing, nutritionabsorbing machine. In other words, a juicing rockstar.

BY LINDA BALDWIN

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W

hether you are a newbie or a veteran, when it comes to juicing each time can be a little different. Therefore, we want to share important info with you on the how to’s and what you might expect. We’ve also included a bit about what to do after your cleanse. Here we go!

ABOUT CLEANSING

If anyone tells you a cleanse is easy, then they probably aren’t being completely truthful. It isn’t easy but it is absolutely rewarding, especially if you follow the steps. Commitment and a good attitude makes all the difference to your overall success. A juice cleanse is for people who want fast but long lasting results.

So, what’s the good news then? Well, by day 3 you will start to feel amazing. Your body will now be in full detox mode, eliminating all of the poisons you’ve been carrying around and building up. You’ll feel moments of complete joy and peace. It really is quite unlike anything you’ve ever experienced.

We would always recommend that you check with a health professional that you’re good to go. Juicing is not for everyone, especially people who are pregnant, underweight, diabetic, have unstable heart disease, low

blood pressure, or who have life-threatening health challenges. With that said, there are many health professionals in support of detox cleanses.

BEFORE YOU CLEANSE

It’s good to take a few factors into consideration. What has your diet been like the last six months to a year?

Do you regularly eat fast foods like pizza, hamburgers, fries, nachos, cake, cookies, donuts and such? Do you regularly drink alcohol? Do you smoke or take drugs?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may want to take a good 5-7 days before you start your juice cleanse to prepare your body.

By following the recommendations below, you will gently prepare your body to get the most out of your cleanse. If you tend to have a healthy diet, eating organic fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, organic meats and eggs and drinking 8 glasses of water a day,with the occasional glass of wine, you should be fine doing a cleanse. If not it is best to cut back on processed foods, sugar, coffee and alcohol for a few weeks before attempting a cleanse. Begin by adding a juice or two a day in place of a higher calorie meal or snack.

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NUTRITION Complete Guide to Juicing GET STARTED, YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!

You can cleanse for one day, one week, one month, or even incorporate juicing into your diet as an ongoing basis, it’s all up to you.

Each day, Intelligent Gourmet recommends you drink a 1/2 gallon + 1 pint of juice (80 ounces), followed by a 16 ounce nut milk laced with a scoop of plant based unsweetened protein powder as your last beverage. We recommend the nut milk so you will feel fuller and sleep better with a protein boost at the end of your day.

Most people don’t feel the need to eat while juicing but some people definitely can’t manage the hunger.

If that is your case, you are welcome to incorporate small servings of raw fruit, raw veggies or sprouted nuts and grains. Our general rule of thumb is the more you want to get out of it, the less you eat.

HOW TO CLEANSE

Note: First rule, keep it organic. Otherwise you are ingesting many of the same pesticide, herbicide and antibiotic residues the body is trying to clear out. And know what fruits and veggies are the “Clean 15” (and “Dirty Dozen”).

First thing in the morning begin your day with warm glass of alkaline water with the juice of a 1/2 lemon squeezed in it.

Bring out the juicer and be sure to rinse your veggies and fruits (organic vegetables can have more dirt on them than you think). We recommend having on hand some or all of the following: cucumbers, romaine, arugula, fennel, lemon, celery, parsley, carrot, ginger, green apple, spinach, red cabbage, kale, asparagus, broccoli, green beans and liquid stevia.

Select celery, cucumber, parsley and green apple for your base juice and prepare 1 gallon of green juice with those items. Divide the juice by filling one 16 ounce mason jar to the top with the base juice then equally divide the remaining juice in four separate jars.

Here’s where the fun begins. Experiment by juicing the two additional ingredients together and adding to a jar at a time. Try different combinations finding things that work well for you. Sweeten with a little liquid stevia (1 drop at a time) if necessary. You can do this each day or make three of each jar for your three day detox.

Begin drinking the first 16 ounces of juice around 9:3010am by drinking the entire juice within 15 minutes. In between each juice you want to ensure you are drinking lots water, green tea (iced or hot) or yerba mate tea.

Make sure you wait about 2 hours inbetween each juice you drink.

• If you get fatigued in the middle of the day you can drink low sugar coconut water such as Harvest Bay (only 4 grams of sugar) available at Whole Foods it will help with hunger and energy levels.

• Some people who workout extensively will feel the need to supplement with plant based protein i.e. Life’s Basics in raw almond or coconut milk after a workout, or add hemp protein to any of your juices. Though we know lots of yogis and very physically active people that have no problem without supplementation.

THE BENEFITS

• REST AND REPAIRS THE GUT Some foods are toxic to our bodies, things like saturated fats, refined carbs, sugar, foods with additives, pesticides and allergenic foods like wheat gluten and dairy. Another type of

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From the foods we eat to the environment we live in, we are constantly challenging our intestinal flora and fauna or lack there of, we make it awfully hard for our intestines to do their job correctly.

This all leads to toxic gut which can cause breaks in the intestinal barrier called “leaky gut syndrome.” This allows substances into our bodies that should not be there. irritant are medications we take daily or occasionally such as antibiotics or antacids. Then there is stress.

Stress runs havoc on our bodies and can hinder the function of your gut.

From the foods we eat to the environment we live in, we are constantly challenging our intestinal flora and fauna (or lack there of) and we make it awfully hard for our intestines to do their job correctly. This all leads to toxic gut which can cause breaks in the intestinal barrier called “leaky gut syndrome.” This allows substances into our bodies that should not be there. Research has shown that consuming a phytonutrient-dense rainbow plant-based juice diet allows food to be assimilated quickly through the intestines.

This consumes less energy, while the toxin-free, nutrient-dense food of juices helps to repair the gut itself.

• REST THE LIVER The liver is our main detoxifying organ. Every piece of food that is absorbed through the intestinal wall except fiber (which is not absorbed), has to move through the liver for detoxification and preparation before it’s allowed to enter the rest of the body. Problem is, there are too many toxins for most of us to handle and many toxins pass unchecked into the general circulation to attack cells in other parts of our bodies. An organic juice cleanse rests the liver’s overload.

• RESTS THE STOMACH For the tens of millions of people in this world who are on acid-suppressing drugs and, for older persons who often don’t produce enough stomach acid making the stomach work less to extract, nutrients can be a huge benefit. Juicing doesn’t require

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NUTRITION Complete Guide To Juicing

Juicing doesn't really shrink the stomach although it feels like it does.

Juicing eliminates the habit of comfort eating, and makes you feel satisfied with less food than usual.

This provides a big psychological boost to help get over the hurdle of changing habits. much work of your stomachs digestive acids allowing for a rested digestive system. As an important note, remember digestion begins in your mouth so gently chew the juices to add oral enzymes.

• REDUCES YOUR APPETITE Juicing doesn’t really shrink the stomach although it feels like it does. Juicing eliminates the habit of comfort eating, and makes you feel satisfied with less food than usual. This provides a big psychological boost to help get over the hurdle of changing habits.

• REMOVES THE FOOD DECISION-MAKING Juicing focuses on consuming fresh whole food produce every few hours and gets rid of the constant thinking of what the next meal is going to be. Not only do we feel sated, but realize we are no longer slaves to our addictions of what is usually harmful, processed foods.

• ELIMINATE HARMFUL FOODS The juice cleanse eliminates dairy, wheat, gluten, coffee and alcohol from our diets. Eliminating these common trigger foods for a period then reintroducing them can help define what foods are causing our body problems.

• NUTRITION BOOSTING An all vegetable and fruit diet gives our bodies the essential vitamins and minerals we need along with phytonutrients that are

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powerhouses for the clean-up and healing process.

Juices are nature’s raw foods and retain nutrients that would be destroyed by cooking, including some B vitamins and especially (digestive and anti-inflammatory) enzymes.

WEIGHT LOSS Juicing is generally low calorie so you will naturally lose weight. Some of the weight loss is water bloat, though some is fat loss.

A juice cleanse, which takes a minimum of three days to actually detox, is a great way to jump start a diet. It not only helps control appetite and cravings, but is supplying the body with more concentrated, beneficial, energizing and healing nutrients than it has seen before.

• INCREASED ENERGY The first day can be an adjustment period. For some, they miss chewing their food. Most people begin to feel much more energy and clarity (by consuming only fresh juices) than they ever did from their frequent caffeine drinks.

• HYDRATION Our bodies are made up mostly of water hence the need to stay hydrated without having diuretics such as coffee or tea as your main beverages. Drinking enough fluids (1/2 your body weight in ounces) throughout the day makes the body function more efficiently, increases energy, makes you in a better mood and reduces the afternoon

brain fog. Proper hydration also helps insure proper elimination of toxins.

• PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS RELIEVED Long lasting symptoms such as headaches, rashes, acne, general aches, congested sinuses and lungs, bloating, cramping and gas are all greatly improved. Much of the time our body is fighting off the things we do to it especially with regard to foods, but also with lack of sleep, inactivity and stress. Juicing allows you to give your body a much needed break.

• DETOXIFICATION Juicing optimally supports all phases of the body’s detox process. In order to detox properly you need a very broad range of plant-supplied nutrients like antioxidants and anti-inflammatories.

When you give your body super-nutrient dense foods from juicing, you’re giving your body the support it needs to go through the phases of detoxification. It even helps to eliminate the long stored toxins.

• CELL PROTECTION A diet that is highly alkaline (an organic plant-based diet) allows cells to work efficiently to re-establish efficient internal messaging and manufacturing processes, allowing the mitochondria to create energy without having to fight off all of free radicals and inflammation. This reduces some of the damage to our DNA functioning.

WHAT YOU MIGHT EXPECT

Headaches or migraines may occur. This happens when your intelligent body discards toxins like coffee or theobromine from your tissues and transports them in your bloodstream.

As these toxins travel on its way to their final destination for elimination, these irritants register as pain. It could be a headache, joint pain, weakening of a limbs, etc.

When you encounter these symptoms, do not give up. Your body is going through a regeneration process, which on average may take about seven days to a couple of weeks depending on the toxicity level in your body. Take this period to rest as your body recuperates and prepares for better health ahead.

Be persistent and wait out this period. When these symptoms happen, know that your choice to improve your diet is the right thing to do and that a renewing is happening within you.

Your success starts here! As you understand the process, you know that you are on the way to a healthier and new you.

When you give your body super-nutrient dense foods from juicing, you’re giving your body the support it needs to go through the phases of detoxification. It even helps to eliminate the long stored toxins.

AFTER YOUR CLEANSE

After day 3 when you are finished with cleanse you want to eat clean foods and take it easy on your system for an additional 3 days. Each meal should incorporate fruits and veggies. Feel free to incorporate whole grains, nuts and seeds into meals in small amounts. Sprouts and all green vegetables are great after a cleanse. Super foods like chia, goji berries, blueberries, ginger, acai, and cacao are great to add to smoothies as well as green powder, E3 Live and wheatgrass.

Linda Baldwin is the team leader at Intelligent Gourmet

in Tampa, Florida. She received her training at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in New York City and is certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. Linda and her team lead healthy lifestyle workshops and offer health coaching to adults and families. www.intelligentgourmet.com

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NUTRITION Juicing for the Chakras

1st Chakra Red, Affirmation: I am safe, stable + secure • • • •

Balance your mind, body and spirit with these fun and flavorful Chakra Juice Recipes!

Everything is connected. A blockage in one chakra can lead to blockage in other areas. Restore balance in the Chakras and you will restore balance in your life!

Represents Balance Yoga Pose: Tree Pose Stone: Garnet Location: Base of your spine • Positive Aspects: Security, courage, pioneering, strength of will.

• Imbalance: Dry skin + hair, constipation, swollen hands + legs, varicose veins.

Balancing Juice Recipe 1 red beet 3 carrots 1 inch of turmeric root 1 inch of ginger

2nd Chakra Orange, Affirmation: Beauty, joy and harmony of the universe flow through me

3rd Chakra Yellow, Affirmation: I choose, light, love + goodness.

Balancing Juice Recipe

Balancing Juice Recipe

• • • • •

Represent Allure Yoga Pose: Cobra Pose Stone: Carnelion Location: Lower abdomen Positive Aspects: Sociable, creative, joyous, independant.

• Imbalance: Infertility, weak bladder, adrenal fatigue, low back + pelvic pain, immune issues, IBS. 1/2 papaya 1/2 orange 1 carrot 1 inch of turmeric root 1/2 teaspoon maca powder or maca root

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• • • • •

Represents Power Yoga Pose: Bow Pose Stone Citrine Location: Solar plexus Positive Aspects: Positive, alert, optimistic, good natured.

• Imbalance: Digestive issues, low immunity, ulcers, hormonal, easy to anger, bloating, difficulty sleeping, arthritis, diabetes.

1/4 of a small pineapple 1 yellow bell pepper 1 small fennel bulb 2 sticks of celery 1/2 inch of ginger root or more if desired

4th Chakra Green, Affirmation: My heart is open wide • • • • •

Represents : Compassion Yoga Pose: Camel Pose Stone: Rose Quartz Location: Center of the chest, heart Positive Aspects: Loving, harmonious, balanced, generous.

• Imbalance: Heart disease, hypertension, asthma, skin issues, cold sweats, muscle tightness, upper back tension.

Balancing Juice Recipe

5th Chakra Blue, Affirmation: I express myself with clear intent • • • • •

Represents Expression Yoga Pose: Shoulder Stand Pose Stone: Turquoise Location: Throat Positive Aspects: Loyal, trustworthy, tactful, calm.

• Imbalance: Voice + throat issues, gum or tooth disease, chronic infections, allergies, thyroid disorders.

1 cucumber 1/4 bunch of kale 2 celery sticks 1/2 lime 1 granny smith green apple: more is okay if necessary.

1/4 bunch of cilantro

Balancing Juice Recipe

6th Chakra Indigo, Affirmation: I see and think clearly

7th Chakra Violet, Affirmation: Each moment is divine

Balancing Juice Recipe

Balancing Juice Recipe

• • • • •

Represents: Clarity Yoga Pose: Seated Yoga Pose Location: Between the eyebrows Stone: Amethyst Positive Aspects: Highly intuitive, faithful, clear sighted integrity, orderly mind.

• Imbalance: Headaches, brain fog, poor memory, lack of concentration, sinus + nasal congestion, sleep disturbance.

1/2 cup of blackberries 1 fugi apple 1 red bell pepper 2 handfuls of spinach leaves Super foods: berry powder, goji, pomegranate, acai blend (available at whole foods)

1/2 cup of blueberries 1/4 bunch of kale 1 cucumber 2 fugi apples 1/2 lemon

• • • • •

Represents: Wisdom Yoga Pose: Downward Facing Dog Location: Crown of the Head Stone: Quartz Crystal Positive Aspects: A reverence for all life, self sacrificing in the service of others, idealism, an ability to see the appropriate route for benefit of the higher self.

• Imbalance: Depression, anxiety, and loss of direction/purpose.

1/4 head of purple cabbage 1/2 lemon 2 carrots 1 inch of ginger root 2 granny smith apples

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Easy and Delicious Recipes to Start the New Year Eating healthy shouldn’t mean going hungry.

Eating food is one of the most intimate things we do! We should pause to think about what we eat, how it is prepared and where it comes from.

Let this year be about developing a healthy relationship with food, not just as nourishment but as an experience to be enjoyed and shared.

During the winter months, think warm and hearty comfort foods prepared with organic and in-season ingredients. Here are a few recipes to warm the soul without the guilt!

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These naturally sweetened coconut flour muffins are grain-free and bursting with fresh cranberries and oranges.

Ingredients

¾ cup coconut flour 6 eggs ½ cup orange juice (from 2 oranges, or 6-8 clementines) Zest of one orange (about 2 teaspoons) ½ cup pure maple syrup, at room temperature ¼ cup melted coconut oil 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon baking soda ¼ teaspoon salt 1 cup fresh cranberries

Instructions 1. Preheat the oven to 350F and line a standard muffin tin with 12 baking cups. (Silicone baking cups work best with coconut flour; parchment cups tend to stick a bit.)

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the coconut flour, eggs, orange juice, zest, maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Use a whisk to mix well, breaking up any clumps, then fold in the fresh cranberries.

3. Divide the batter among the 12 cups, then bake at 350F for 23-25 minutes, until the edges are golden the centers of the muffins feel firm to a light touch.

Allow the muffins to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.

4. Since these muffins are very moist, leftovers should be stored in the fridge for best shelf life, but bring them to room temperature again before serving for best flavor and texture.

Notes:

Since these muffins are very moist, leftovers should be stored in the fridge for best shelf life, but bring them to room temperature again before serving for best flavor and texture.

Recipe from Detoxinista.com

Megan Gilmore is a certified Holistic Health Counselor,

trained at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Her mission is to make healthy living easier and more accessible. She loves sharing quick and easy recipes, made with only all-natural ingredients, to prove how delicious real foods can be! You can find more of her delicious recipes at Detoxinista.com.

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Healthy Chicken Marsala Lifestyle recipe by Intelligent Gourmet Yield: Makes 2 Servings

Ingredients:

2- 8 oz. Chicken breast trimmed of all fat ⅛ tsp. Natural Sea Salt ¼ tsp of fresh ground pepper 1- clove of fresh garlic minced ½ tsp. of a Salt free Italian Seasoning blend 1 tsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1 cup of sliced portobello mushrooms 2 tsp of fresh chopped parsley ¼ cup of sweet marsala wine ¼ cup of dry marsala wine ½ cup of low sodium chicken stock 1 tsp of corn starch (optional)

Preparation: 1. Clean and trim breasts, pound slightly between plastic wrap if thinner pieces is your preference. Season Breast on both sides with Italian seasoning, garlic, salt & pepper.

2. Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until just beginning to color, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a baking sheet and finish in the oven to an internal temp of 150, and cover with foil to keep warm.

3. Add mushrooms; cook, stirring often, until softened, 2 to 4 minutes. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are tender, 2 to 4 minutes.

4. Increase heat to medium-high, add Marsala and cook until it begins to bubble and reduce and broth; bring to a boil. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits, until the sauce thickens slightly, 1 to 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low, continue cooking until the sauce reached desired consistency another, 1 to 2 minutes. If you like your sauce a bit thicker like gravy dissolve the cornstarch in broth and add to the pan. Serve garnished with parsley.

Nutritional info: DF, GF, NF, SF

Per serving: 214 calories 8 g fat ( 1 g sat , 4 g mono ) 46 mg cholesterol 7 g carbohydrates 0 g added sugars 31 g protein 1 g fiber 206 mg sodium 368 mg potassium.

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Chef Notes:

Marsala, is a fortified wine from Sicily, it can be used as a flavorful addition to many different sauces. An opened bottle will store in a cool, dry place for months. Don’t use the “cooking marsala” sold in many supermarkets—it is surprisingly high in sodium. Leftover canned broth keeps up to 5 days in the refrigerator or up to 3 months in your freezer, just remove from can or box into a refrigerator or freezer safe container. Add to soups, sauces, stews; use for cooking brown rice and grains; add a little when reheating leftovers to prevent them from drying out.

Healthy New Year Recipes NUTRITION

Mashed Cauliflower - with Thyme Lifestyle recipe by Intelligent Gourmet Yield: Makes 2-4 Servings

Ingredients

1 large head of cauliflower broken into florets 2 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled 1 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided ¼ teaspoon salt Freshly ground pepper to taste 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme

Preparation:

1. Place cauliflower florets and garlic in a steamer basket over boiling water, cover and steam until very tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Mash well with the olive oil, salt and pepper to taste and stir in dried thyme 2. Transfer the mash to a serving dish and serve hot.

Kale & White Bean Stew Lifestyle recipe by Intelligent Gourmet Yield: 1 quart & 4 - 16 ounce containers

Ingredients:

½ cup chopped onions Sweat Onion 2 tablespoons of garlic 1 teaspoon of celtic or real salt 1 tablespoon of thyme ¼ teaspoon of crushed red pepper ⅛ teaspoon of cayenne pepper 3 cans of Organic cannelini beans 1 can of Organic garbanzo beans 1 large (28 ounce) can organic diced or fire roasted tomatoes 1.5 bunches of kale torn (stems removed, 3- 4 cups) 2 cups of organic vegetable stock, more as needed 1 whole lime

Preparation:

Chop onions and add to pot with 2 tablespoons of EVOO, cover and sweat. Add garlic stir cook for 2 additional minutes and add 2 cans of canelini beans, & 1 can of garbanzo beans. Stir and cook uncovered 2 minutes. Add thyme, salt, & peppers, and tomatoes with their juices stir and cook 2 minutes. Mix 1/4 of the veggie stock with can of drained canelini beans and puree in vita mix. Add the rest of the stock and the pureed beans to the pot, stir and add in your kale cover and cook 10 minutes over low to medium heat simmering not boiling. Remove from heat squeeze in lime juice, stir and adjust salt if necessary.

Linda Baldwin is the team leader at Intelligent Gourmet

in Tampa, Florida. She received her training at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in New York City and is certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. Linda and her team lead healthy lifestyle workshops and offer health coaching to adults and families. www.intelligentgourmet.com

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If you had to rank

HEALTH and

HAPPINESS,

which would be

As a yoga teacher and wellness innovator for the past 15 years, I was always under the impression that one first needed to be healthy in order to be happy. Do your exercise, eat your vegetables, take your vitamins...and then you will enjoy life.

But a single life-changing encounBY DAVE ROMANELLI ter forever shifted my view of health and happiness.

I had been volunteering with a charity that helps NYC’s senior citizens who have run of out resources.

Their oldest client was a lady named Katherine. We’re talkin’ really old! On June 8th, 2014, Katherine turned 111 years old. That made her one of only 60 or so people on the entire planet who are super centenarians (110 or older).

As I followed a social worker up the steps leading to Katherine’s third story Upper East Side apartment, I wondered what it would be like to meet a woman who, upon turning eighty, had another lifetime (thirty-plus years) ahead of her. Would she be wired differently? Would there be something unique about her attitude, her energy, her eyes, her smile?

I walked through her front door and Katherine excitedly threw her arms in the air as if I was a long lost friend. While most elderly folks might fear the appearance of a new person in their home, Katherine was inherently trusting.

As the quote goes, “Trust your journey.” That was Katherine’s mantra throughout her winding and weaving life. Born in South Dakota before it became a state,

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Katherine had a radio talk show, and she moved to New York City because she wanted the big city experience.

While there were definite signs her body was starting to disconnect from her soul (including loose dentures that made it hard to understand her), Katherine had the vibrancy of a young child. Squirming around, flirting, a glimmer in her eyes, a passion to meet, to share, to taste . . . she was squeezing every possible ounce out of a life that began way back in 1903.

When the social worker put his hands on her asking, “Do you want to lie down?” she retorted, “Are you propositioning me?”

Ha! She was still as frisky as a teenager. Seriously, there were sparks flying off this woman, horsepower, an energy that said, “I am greater than my problems and stronger than my circumstances.”

This free-spirited, indulgent approach is best referred to as joie de vivre or “joy of life,” one of the most common qualities shared by super centenarians.

Claude Choules, the last surviving World War I veteran, passed away in 2011 at 110. He went swimming in the ocean every day until he was 100.

The oldest human of all time, Jeanne Calment, died in 1997 at 122 years young. Every week of her life, she ate two pounds of chocolate!

As I write this, Misao Okawa is the oldest person in the world. She attributes sushi and sleep to her 116 years of age. And 115 year old Jerelean Talley is the third oldest person in the world at the moment I put these words to the page. She bowled until she was 104.

These might be some of the oldest humans ever to walk the earth, but they are the embodiment of a young and increasingly popular definition of wellness. Let’s be clear. They are not yoga fanatics. They do not do ultra-marathons. They are not gluten free or vegan or paleo. Rather, they show us that real, lasting health is rooted in something deeper than the physical body. They show us that “happy” is the new healthy!

Adapted from Happy is the New Healthy by Dave Romanelli.

Copyright 2015. Published by Skyhorse Publishing. Dave Romanelli is a leading health and wellness innovator. He has pioneered the art of fusing ancient Eastern practices with modern sensibilities like Yoga + Chocolate, Yoga + Wine, and Yoga for Foodies Discover more about his journey on www.yeahdave.com.

David lives in New York City.

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