Safer Beauty, Healthier Holdidays

Hi All,

Recovered from your Thanksgiving yet? If not I recommend tons of greens, a good sweat and lots of water. Oh and don’t go baking ginger molasses cookies like I did. Big no-no. (But if you want the recipe, coming this week!)

In other news, I’m sure you’ve noticed the holiday marketing and sales are hitting hard, and I wanted to take the opportunity to tell you about you to my newest endeavor. As you know, I’ve been a beauty editor and writer and something of a beauty addict for years. I’ve made no secret of the fact that personal care is not well regulated in the US. In fact, it’s a mess. Barely regulated at all! Did you know the EU bans over 1,400 chemicals and US has only partially regulated about 30 substances to date, and hasn’t passed a law regulating personal care products since 1938?! READ MORE >

Getting “Real” with Yoga at Home

IMG_2215Today I got on my mat. Ok, I get on my mat most days, but today felt special. After a long week of holidays and family and travel, and ‘make do’ practices, I’m finally home and was expecting a friend to join me for an asana and breathing session chez moi. I thought “Now I will finally have a real practice!” But winter arrived unexpectedly today, and my yoga buddy wasn’t able to drive. I was back to facing the idea of a solo practice. In times past this might have spelled the end of my ‘get back in gear’ plans, but somehow today’s practice was amazing, focused and sweetly sweaty. It felt just as ‘real’ as any day in the shala. How’d that happen?

Well, partly after all these years I’ve finally grown up in my practice. I still LOVE being in the room with a lot of other devoted folks and all that energy, but my mat and my own breath are familiar to me, and the habit is ingrained. I can make the energy myself if I need to. And partly I’ve developed a few rituals over the past several months of mainly self practice that have really helped me make the most of my alone time and keep the yoga fires burning, even without community around me. Here are a few:

  1. Lemon water. I get up in the morning and drink it first thing. It makes me feel virtuous and begins the ritual of the morning. Ok, I drink my coffee after that too, but the lemon water is what makes it feel like I’m beginning my day in a healthy way and setting the tone for the practice.
  2. I set a time in my mind for getting on my mat and when the clock strikes that time, I “ekam inhale.” Practicing at the same time every day is even better, but though I don’t always manage to do that, I set a time in my mind the night before and keep it like an appointment.
  3. A little rebellion. I often practice to music, at least for the opening sun salutes and standing postures. There I said it, ashtanga police be damned. Sometimes a driving beat is helpful in getting me going or keeping me flowing. I respond deeply to rhythms. They draw my breath, heartbeat and mind all into one pointed focus.

Looking for inspiration to get on your mat, go to a class, or design your sustainable delectable life and practice? I’d love to help! I’m working on a free gift for you—a cheat sheet of my ten top tips for getting on the mat regularly. In the meantime, share your unique struggles with me via email or comments and let’s see if we can start your motivational tuneup!

And, coming in the New Year, I’m launching a new program for creating a healthy-yet-balanced life that includes a dedicated yoga practice AND room for mindful indulgence. In short, A Life Delectable. To get first dibs when the program launches and keep up to date on the latest tips and recipes, don’t forget to sign up for email updates and ‘like’ the A Life Delectable facebook page!

And now back to my New Year’s Eve healthy indulgent menu planning…

Wishing you happiness, health and lots of dark chocolate in the coming year,

Laura

The Pose I Wish Wasn’t

Eka Pada Bakasana A
A number of months ago my friends at the Ashtanga Dispatch hosted an Instagram Challenge, and one of the required poses was “the pose you wish…wasn’t.” So yeah, my immediate reaction was to avoid that challenge! But seriously folks, there are very few poses I wish didn’t exist. Though there are plenty of poses that challenge me, I find most of them enjoyable to work on. But there are one or two poses that feel more than challenging. They feel impossible. As if there is no finger hold. Nowhere to begin. Like they were designed just to show me my limits. There’s no work, just a feeling of inadequacy. READ MORE >

Crazy Pants, Body Image and Musings on an IG Challenge

baddha hasta sirsasana D“You know, there really is so much too much of you!”-A Tale of Two Cities.

This is sometimes how I feel about myself. Too many thoughts, too loud, too curly, too curvy, too many asanas, singing when I should chant, talking when I should be silent. Part of my journey of yoga: embracing it all. There is exactly as much of me as there should be. Yes, self-transformation can be good, but self-acceptance is even better. If it’s true as the Baghavad Gita says, that “yoga is the practice of tolerating the consequences of being who you are,” then I may be slowly, slowly almost practicing yoga. I see the growth and the stuck places too, everywhere in my life. And it’s evidenced in my yoga pants and my Instagram account. Say what??? READ MORE >

How Not To Go On Vacation (plus some easy spring eating tips)

Tulum last night restaurant sceneSo I was cruising for the finish line. I’d worked. Taught classes. Pitched articles. Visited my in-laws and extended family for holidays and emergencies, checked on my upstate house. I had 5 days to work hard at the day job, teach more classes and get everything organized and packed and set up so nothing fell down around my ears while I was away with family in Mexico when…BAM, the flu. Or something very like it. Yeah. That kind of knee-capped me. READ MORE >