I'm thrilled to bring you my first guest blog post. When I started this blog I wanted to offer you a variety of ways to improve your life. While majority of my posts revolve around food, my goal is to begin to expose you to new ideas and ways of thinking - in the hope that you begin to experiment more and find what works best for your life and health.
I'd like to introduce you to my dear friend Maggie:
I'd like to introduce you to my dear friend Maggie:
Hello new friends! I am Maggie, one of Nicole’s friends from all the
way back in the middle school days. Just as Nicole has recently found her way to
a healthy relationship with food, the Integrative Yoga Therapy teacher training program has brought me to a happy place with my physical body
and mental self. I’d like to share with you easy ways yoga can help your life.
Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? Simply put, “yoga” means “union”; union with all the parts of ourselves, our family and friends, our surroundings, and each and every thing found in nature. This gets a little flowery pretty quick, so let’s come back to that union with ourselves. How often have you found yourself physically in one place, but mentally in about six other locations? Pretty consistently, right? It’s OK. We all do it! Somehow, I think it is how society has taught us to function. Let’s fix that.
I want you to stop what you are doing right now (well, after you finish reading this paragraph, of course!) and take a deep breath. If you are feeling fancy, you can even use a pranayama called “kaki”. This calming breath involves a deep inhale
through the nose and a long exhale through the mouth that is shaped like you
were blowing through a straw. Do this for several breaths while taking a quick
walk through your body.
How do your hands feel today? Are you sitting in proper posture? What is your energy level at this moment in time? What do your clothes feel like against your skin? What kind of noises do you hear around you?
There are so many things you will notice when you take a moment to just be in the moment.
This is all great, but how do we put it into practice when the going gets nutballs? You just breathe! You have to breathe anyway, so allow yourself that extra millisecond to take a kaki breath when you find yourself scarfing down another meal, speeding your way to your child’s soccer practice or wishing you were at happy hour when stuck in a day-long meeting. Enjoy all the moments, even the unpleasant ones. (You are getting paid for sitting in that meeting, aren’t you?! All is not lost!)
Taste your food. Make memories with your family. Find yourself in the chaos. Breathe.
Namaste.
way back in the middle school days. Just as Nicole has recently found her way to
a healthy relationship with food, the Integrative Yoga Therapy teacher training program has brought me to a happy place with my physical body
and mental self. I’d like to share with you easy ways yoga can help your life.
Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? Simply put, “yoga” means “union”; union with all the parts of ourselves, our family and friends, our surroundings, and each and every thing found in nature. This gets a little flowery pretty quick, so let’s come back to that union with ourselves. How often have you found yourself physically in one place, but mentally in about six other locations? Pretty consistently, right? It’s OK. We all do it! Somehow, I think it is how society has taught us to function. Let’s fix that.
I want you to stop what you are doing right now (well, after you finish reading this paragraph, of course!) and take a deep breath. If you are feeling fancy, you can even use a pranayama called “kaki”. This calming breath involves a deep inhale
through the nose and a long exhale through the mouth that is shaped like you
were blowing through a straw. Do this for several breaths while taking a quick
walk through your body.
How do your hands feel today? Are you sitting in proper posture? What is your energy level at this moment in time? What do your clothes feel like against your skin? What kind of noises do you hear around you?
There are so many things you will notice when you take a moment to just be in the moment.
This is all great, but how do we put it into practice when the going gets nutballs? You just breathe! You have to breathe anyway, so allow yourself that extra millisecond to take a kaki breath when you find yourself scarfing down another meal, speeding your way to your child’s soccer practice or wishing you were at happy hour when stuck in a day-long meeting. Enjoy all the moments, even the unpleasant ones. (You are getting paid for sitting in that meeting, aren’t you?! All is not lost!)
Taste your food. Make memories with your family. Find yourself in the chaos. Breathe.
Namaste.
Maggie is an aspiring writer and successful daydreamer. You can find her pontificating at her own blog, Truly, Margaret Mary, teaching pilates and yoga at the downtown Milwaukee and north shore Wisconsin Athletic Club locations and Strive Yoga in Mequon, or trying to sneak food off of your plate at all the good restaurants in our town. She lives in Shorewood with her
husband Randy and physics-ly challenged dog, Noah.
husband Randy and physics-ly challenged dog, Noah.
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