Free April Desktop Wallpaper Calendar

Since I couldn't think of a good April Fool's joke, I'm sharing a new April wallpaper desktop calendar. Just click here for the larger image. Once it appears in your browser, right-click on it and "Set as Background."

Happy April!

Welcome to Recovery Week

What could feel better than entering into your final Recovery Week of P90X? Oh wait, I know . . . finishing your LAST day of P90X! And that day will be this Friday. That's right. I said this Friday. I have to admit, it's not quite as thrilling as it was last year, but none the less I am looking forward to it. My husband is insisting that we should continue the workouts as if we never finished. This is the same guy that I had to beg and plead with last year to give this 'P90 thing' a try. Now I've created a monster and I can't stop him.

I really need to shift my focus over to yoga starting next weekend. This whole P90X thing has really gotten in the way of my yoga teacher training. I've done a good job with the book portion of my training, but now I'm to the point where I have to create and practice my first lesson. I have it on paper (seems the paper portion is much easier for me) and now I have to commit it to memory. My goal is to practice my own lesson plan every day next week and perform on tape by May. If all goes well, I'll have my certificate by my birthday in early July. That's the goal anyway. I need to hop to it.

My New Recovery Drink

I found my new recovery drink—POM Wonderful Pomegranate Juice. I have been intrigued by the magazine ads lately, and finally decided to give it a try. Tony always mentions the importance of drinking a ‘recovery drink’ after the P90X workouts, but I never tried his. The reason is that I didn’t want to get hooked on some expensive drinks that I had to order online. I wanted something healthy that I could just buy at a grocery store. Enter POM Pomegranate Juice.

First of all, the bottles are so darn cute I almost have a hard time tossing them in the recycling bin. I’m constantly trying to come up with a craft project to re-purpose them. At first I thought the bottles were so little that I would need to drink 3 of them after a workout, making them just as expensive. But there are a couple of reasons why that is not the case. First, you only need 8 ounces of this wonder juice to reap the healthy benefits of it. And secondly, I discovered that mixing the juice with my favorite pomegranate-seltzer is a real treat. I compare drinking the straight juice to a glass of Merlot; strong and bold. But mixing it with seltzer gives it a lighter and yummy twist. Perfect for an after workout guzzle.

And speaking of red wine, tests found that ounce for ounce, pomegranate juice has 17% more polyphenol antioxidants than red wine. With incredibly high levels of very potent, naturally occurring polyphenol antioxidants, POM Wonderful Pomegranate Juice is truly the antioxidant superpower. And I don’t know about you, but guzzling red wine really puts a damper on the rest of the day.

Scientists believe that antioxidants may help protect the body from free radical damage. It makes sense that exercising regularly and eating a healthy diet full of fruits and vegetables including antioxidant-rich POM Wonderful Pomegranate Juice may help you stay young. It’s cheaper and more pleasant than Botox so I’m willing to give it a try.

Urban Zen Foundation

The Well-Being Initiative of the Urban Zen Foundation is committed to changing the current healthcare paradigm to include integrative therapies and promote patient advocacy. Their vision is a healthcare system where the patient is treated, not just the disease… a system where eastern healing techniques, yoga therapy, aromatherapy, and nutrition are used in combination with western medicine in a holistic approach to patient care.

As part of the Well-Being Initiative, the Urban Zen Foundation has launched two new programs in 2009 featuring instruction by Rodney Yee:

The Urban Zen Yoga Teacher Training Program is an in-depth 200-hour yoga teacher training program that can be completed on its own or taken as a suggested pre-requisite for the Urban Zen Integrative Therapist program. This program begins March 13, 2009, in New York City, and will run through September 2009, one weekend a month, with a break in July.

The Urban Zen Integrative Therapist (UZIT) Program is a 500-hour advanced program focused on integrating multiple therapies into patient care. The current year-long program started in NYC in January 2009 and the next training will start in January 2010.

For more information visit www.urbanzen.org

One Step Closer

• 50 question written test -- DONE
• 3 page essay on yoga and health -- DONE
• 1 hour lesson plan for my first yoga class -- not even close

I have to admit, I'm completely intimidated with building my first lesson plan. This is the class that I will need to lead in order to achieve my certification. It needs to be perfect. It needs to address all the different aspects of a well-rounded yoga class. It needs to take into consideration the different issues of special needs students. It needs to include only poses that I CAN DO. It needs to be an hour long. And most importantly, it needs me to be serious and on track for the duration. That will be the biggest challenge. My mind has a tendency to drift . . . . Where was I? Oh yes, worrying about how I will lead my first one hour class with the stress of a camera rolling the entire time. Yikes.

To help me prepare my class I'm reading one of the text books provided in my training kit. It's called "The Sivananda Companion to Yoga" and it is a wonderful book. I just love it. It is beautifully illustrated and well laid out. My biggest gripes with my other text books were the cheesy illustrations and the horrific pictures. But this book is simply lovely and will be an invaluable source of information as plan my lesson.

After reading a few chapters and watching a long DVD of instructor tips I thought I was ready to use my husband as a crash test dummy and lead a little yoga class at home. I did positively no planning and tried to just wing it with my newly gained knowledge fresh in my head. Well, it didn't go too good. We both ended up silly and laughing. How on earth will I pull off this taping?