Aromatherapy is great! Grow some herbs. The smell of lavender can calm and center you for the day.

Everyone that I know wants to stay healthy. But does everyone know how much work it can be to stay on track?

I have struggled with my weight my entire life, so I know how hard it is to keep the weight down to a level where I can feel well and healthy.

The many aspects of health include mind, body and spirit.

If you really want to stay healthy in all of these areas, a method that I have found included learning and practicing yoga. Many people think that you have to be an expert or very flexible in order to even attempt yoga, but that is not true.

Yoga is where you are. It can be a slow progression of stretching exercises, coupled with some breathing and meditation. All this will help you develop the mind, body, and spiritual health you need in order to stay well and healthy.

Here are some tips to look at from author Linda-Christy Weiler in her book: The Mind-Body Connection

Take a look at Gravity- it pulls at you, and you need to co-exist in a good relationship with it!

When you want to feel less stressed and in touch with your  mindful self, take a look at your posture and movement. The force of gravity is always pulling us down, so go with it. Stand up straight and plant your feet strongly in the ground. Feel yourself, like a strong tree as you play with your posture, standing strong like a mountain in mountain pose.

With yoga, you can feel heavy and light at the same time.  Yoga allows you to stay in alignment. Your body is flexible and straight. You are light and heavy!

Why learn Different Yoga Postures?

When you begin with even some simple postures such as mountain ( which is standing up straight, with feet planted in the ground) you begin to relax your body, mind and soul.

You practice with relaxation and stillness in mind~ body~ soul

Noticing yourself and your body

You can begin to notice the sensations and tensions in your body. You begin to notice that one side of your body is more flexible than the other. Even your balance for the day may be uneven. If you stand on one foot and then the other, you will see that your physical balance is different on each side of your body.

Slow and deliberate

When you do your postures with a slowness and deliberate way, you act as a witness to your own performance.  For example, if your body trembles with a certain yoga posture, you need to lessen the degree of difficulty. You may have to move out of the pose and then in again.

The Breathing during yoga poses

Always breathe at a natural rate, and never hold your breath with yoga poses.

Relax into a full inhale and exhale– rule of thumb~ breath out (exhale) as you bend over and move down a posture and exhale during flexion

Breathe in ( inhale) when lifting up or out of a posture. Inhale during extension

Taken in part from: Weiler, L.C., The Mind-Body Connection. First Edition. 2001