Lifestyle:
Spring Into Yoga
Spring is an exciting time of the year, full of fresh, new and renewal. Motivating us (if only in theory) to get more active, spend some more time outside and focus on our health. As I peek out of my window I see hints of flowering bulbs and bushes, and some delightful sunlight (which is highlighting the dust on everything in my house but I’m successfully ignoring it).
It’s enough to almost make me slip on my gum boots and hit the garden, but instead I’m going to find a path of sunlight streaming through my window and do the next best thing, garden themed yoga.
Garden Gate Pose
1.) Starting on our knees on the floor, knees hip width apart and making sure to keep the hips stacked over our knees.
2.) Extend one leg out to the side of the body with the foot on the floor (like a bike kick stand)
3.) Lift the opposing arm up over head
4.) Inhaling the arm up towards the ceiling and over the body towards the extended leg
5.) Breath into the open side of our ribcage, waist and chest
6.) Keeping the lower body nice and strong while the upper body keeps lifting up and over
Use this opportunity to inhale through that open side of the body, opening further through the ribcage and stretching the intercostal muscles between the ribs, you may also be able to feel a stretch through the inside of the extended leg. Enjoy for as many breaths as you feel comfortable and then repeat on the opposite side.
04-2010
Article by: Gaylene Theony Find Gaylene on: Twitter | Yoga Webiste | Facebook | Email
Silk Flowers Are Back!
Flowers made of silk date as far back as early 27th century BC, by the Chinese, and made from the same fabric as their clothes. Around 1325 the Italians began making artificial flowers. By the 14th century, French silk flowers were all the rage in the old world and the French continued to improve both the quality of the flower and the fabric from which it was made. The better made of these artificial flowers are made botanically correct, and were created first by dissecting the flower and recreating it as closely as possible. There are increasingly better looking and affordable silk flowers and greenery available today to grace your home for many years. Choose classic flower colors for a timeless look. Fashion them into a bouquet. Many brides are starting to purchase silk bridal bouquets for their wedding, which keep forever. Don’t let wondering how you’ll clean them stop you from adding these lovely additions to your home. Cleaning them is as easy as using a silk flower spray or put salt in a bag with the flowers and shake them clean.
Watch a video on making a silk flower bouquet.
03-2010
Beauty and Chocolate
Chocolate massage and chocolate facials smell good enough to eat, but it is not recommended. However, this is definitely a luxurious and decadent way to be pampered! Chocolate is said to soften the skin, perhaps due to the cocoa butter. Added benefits aside, just the scent can have a soulful effect on you. Check out your local spas and see if they offer chocolate versions of your favorite massages, facials or body treatments. The shelves of the drug stores and beauty shops also carry chocolate scented body butters and lotions for that tantalizing beauty treat at home like this all-over fudge delight!
02-2010
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Non-Typical Ways to Celebrate Love | Champagne and Love | Beauty and Chocolate | Yoga for Couples (or Friends) | Pearls: History and Beauty
