Focus on Your Breath

No matter where you are and what you're doing, if you are reading this blog, you are doing what keeps you alive, and may just be the key to unlocking your healthy self: You're breathing.

In and out.

In and out.

In and out.

How often do you really tune in to your inhalations and exhalations?

Try this simple exercise a few times:

Inhale for six seconds, hold for two seconds, exhale for six seconds, and hold for two seconds. Feeling more balanced? What does this do for you?

For me, breathing steadies my body and mind. In my yoga practice, I try to match each breath with a movement or a pose. When I walk or jog, my breath is part of a machine in motion.

Your breath is always there for you, a friend.

Thanks Joan and #temt for helping me out this summer. As the school year starts, I'll be sure to check in with all of you. My back-to-school tip for the day should come as no surprise: Focus on your breathing!

-Julia

Honor Your Body

photo by Mike Baird

In my earlier posts here on the #temt blog, I wrote of my Curves workouts, which I love. It's a great full-body circuit workout for strength and cardio. Earlier this year, my friend added yoga to her running regimen and she really loves it. I decided to check out the yoga studio near my house.

Santosha Yoga is a wonderful studio and I signed up for a package of classes. I've been going to basic classes, but tonight I felt more like yoga than Curves, and Yin was the offering on the schedule this evening.

A softer type of yoga, yin yoga helps stretch the connective tissues of the body. The practice is quiet and passive; it has a quality of stillness. The poses are held for a longer period of time which can be very meditative and calming allowing your awareness and breathe to be directed to a particular part of the body. In the Yin practice we concentrate on keeping your joints mobile and helping regulate the flow of energy in the body. This type of practice is beneficial to all levels. (from the Santosha Yoga website)

Yin has the same instructor I've had for basic, so I felt safe trying it. (hmmm, sounds like a post for my other blog.) The class had a wide variety of women, some of whom have obviously practiced yoga for a long time, as they could practically fold themselves in half! I, on the other hand, not so much! But Jean's constant message: "No judgement. Honor your body, however far it can go today."

So that, friends, is my message to you today. Honor your body. You haven't (insert exercise here) in a while? You did too much yesterday? That's OK. Honor your body and do what you can. You will improve!