Happiness and Inspiration Week 3

Something fun to start off your week.

Happiness and Inspiration Week 2

Some digital happiness and inspiration to start the week. Enjoy . . .

Oxygen Magazine Deal

For one day only, (Friday, February 18th) you can grab yourself a one year subscription to Oxygen Magazine for just $5.39. What a bargain for a great fitness magazine! This deal if valid for brand new subscriptions, as well as renewals. All you need to do is click on the link below to be taken to the place where you can purchase the subscription. Don't forget, this is only good for one day. Don't miss it.

Click here for the Oxygen Magazine Deal of the Day.

Just Registered for Ayurveda Training

I am very excited to have found a local 6 week course in Ayurveda. This is something that I've been fascinated with for years and always wanted to learn more about. In case you don't already know what this term means . . .

Ayurveda is India’s traditional, natural system of medicine that has been practiced for more than 5,000 years. Ayurveda is a Sanskrit word that literally translated means "science of life" or "practices of longevity." Ayurveda was the system of health care conceived and developed by the seers (rishis) and natural scientists through centuries of observations, experiments, discussions, and meditations. For several thousand years their teachings were passed on orally from teacher to student; about the fifth to sixth century BC, elaborately detailed texts were written in Sanskrit, the ancient language of India. For many years Ayurveda flourished and was used by rich and poor alike in India and Southeast Asia.

Ayurveda emphasizes prevention of disease, rejuvenation of our body systems, and extension of life span. The profound premise and promise of Ayurveda is that through certain practices, not only can we prevent heart disease and make our headaches go away, but we can also better understand ourselves and the world around us, live a long healthy life in balance and harmony, achieve our fullest potential, and express our true inner nature on a daily basis.

Now who wouldn't want to learn about this? What a wonderful compliment to my yoga certification. I simply can not wait to start the classes and I plan to blog about my teachings. In case you are in the central CT area and also have an interest in Ayurveda, the classes are being held at the Newington Yoga Center and you can find more details online here.

Sharing Some Happiness

A couple of years ago I started a fun little project. Because I had such a hard time throwing away my favorite magazines, I decided to cut them up and save only the parts that interested me. It started with me ripping out pages that included articles or recipes, but it soon turned into cutting out little words and pictures. Anything that caught my eye got cut out and pasted into what I began to call my "Happiness Book." Rather than keeping stacks upon stacks of magazines all over the house, I now had one consolidated book to turn to for all the 'fun stuff' that I wanted to keep from every issue. Not only did the resulting book(s) end up being great mood boosters, but the entire process turned into a weekly stress-relieving ritual. I make a cup a tea and sit with my previously-read magazines and just go to town with a pair of scissors and a glue stick.

Two years later I'm on my third book and I get such a kick out of looking back at all my various inspirational, smile-inducing pages that I thought I should start sharing them . . . spreading the joy if you will. So every week I will plan to post one page from my "Happiness Books" for everyone to see. Maybe it will bring you some inspiration. Maybe it will improve your mood. Or maybe it will just make you smile :-)

Biorhythms: Fact or Fiction?

Biorhythms have fascinated me for a very long time. I just never could understand why, in the course of my three-month P90X training or over the course of a long summer of biking, I would have really great days where I feel super strong and other days were I'm dogging it so bad I want to just give up. How is it possible to go from one extreme to the other in just a matter of a day or two? I just makes no sense at all to me. I tried to explain it away with the day's food intake or amount of sleep the night before, but that usually didn't hold up. I am a very consistent person and get the exact same amount of sleep just about every night of the year. I also am a very consistent eater so why the huge swings in my athletic performance?

So if it's not food intake or amount of sleep what is left? OK sure, maybe my monthly menstrual cycle plays a part. I could see how that could make me feel weaker . . . but it sure doesn't explain why my husband reports the same phenomenon in his performance! There must be some other explanation.

Which leads me to biorhythms. For those of you not familiar with this term, here is the definition taken from Wikipedia . . ."A person's life is affected by rhythmic biological cycles which affect one's ability in various domains, such as mental, physical, and emotional activity. These cycles begin at birth and oscillate in a steady sine wave fashion throughout life; thus, by modeling them mathematically, a person's level of ability in each of these domains can be predicted from day to day."

With this theory, your various levels of performance, be it physical, mental, or emotional vary from day to day and are pre-determinded. I downloaded a handy dandy little app to my Droid and over the past few months when I find that I'm having a particularly strong day, or a particularly weak day I checked my personal biorhythm – just for fun. And I'll be damned, the results almost always jived with what I suspected they would be. I don't pay much attention to the emotional or the intellectual, but the physical reading seems pretty easy to track.

And this is bad news. I just went ahead in time to see what my biorhythm will be during my upcoming 4-day biking trip to Moab. I've been stressing about this trip as I'm training for a challenging bike ride, in the dead of winter, buried under feet of snow. What could make this trip even more of a challenge at this point? The fact that my biorhythm tells me I will be at my absolute LOWEST physical point during the entire 4 days. GREAT! Just what I needed to hear. Now with this new knowledge in my head I'll have an even harder time getting through the trip. I have to conquer, not only the physical demands of the right, but the mental block in my head.

Here are a couple of links to see your own biorhythm charts: http://www.facade.com/biorhythm/ and http://www.bio-chart.com/. Or look for an app for your smart phone. My Droid app was free and works like a charm. But be cautioned . . . don't go looking into the future and setting yourself up for undo concern!


If you have any experience with biorhythm, please drop me a line. I would love to hear about it.

Overcoming Lack of Sleep

Is it possible to overcome lack of sleep? How do you maintain your training routine if you're in a bought of sleeplessness? I'm really struggling with this. For the past several days I've slept very little and yet I'm trying to plug along with P90X. Thank goodness I just happen to be in "Recovery" week right now. I can't even imagine what would happen trying to tackle Plyometrics with sleep deprecation. But Yoga and Core Synergistics is no picnic either. I'm looking for an answer. The obvious one is simply, "Get some sleep," but that can be easier said then done. I wonder if a PowerBar or a caffeinated energy drink would temporarily get me back to normal. I am so dragging my tail and I need some sort of pick-me-up . . . and quick.

Special February Desktop Calendar

This month we are proud to present our heart themed desktop calendar. The background image is a merge of two photographs by Nadia Nasiri, a promising young self-taught photographer and avid yoga practitioner. To make this image your desktop wallpaper just click on the image above and when the larger graphic opens in a new window, right-click on it and select "Save as Desktop."

Nadia will be featured in an upcoming series by Downtown Yoga Shala. This series will feature yoga self portraits taken with a tripod and 10 second timer or hand held remote. Although this began as a personal hobby for her, Nadia’s intention with sharing her art is to inspire others to begin their own yoga practice and to cultivate an appreciation for the natural world around us. Nadia actively supports the Friends of Coyote Hills (FCH) http://www.protectcoyotehills.org/ and will be donating proceeds from South First Friday to the FCH. Nadia's work can be viewed at various yoga studios around the bay area. For more of her art visit www.getoffthemat.com.

Funds donated to FCH will be used to fight issues against development of both the Patterson Ranch and Newark Area 3 and 4 which are immediately adjacent to the Bay and the SF Bay National Wildlife Refuge that is next to Coyote Hills. Money raised from the event will help complete the Refuge and their fight against this massive and ill-advised development plan, which has already gotten preliminary approval. For more info on the FHC please visit www.protectcoyotehills.org