Physical Health and Body Archives - Page 16 of 24

Flow Yoga Poses In 10-Minute Baking ⏲

Flow yoga is something you can add to your practice 10 minutes while you’re waiting and working on baking.

For the next few weeks, I’m focusing on a new flow yoga mini-series to help you go from one pose to the next easily. Yoga means “union” and is the mind-body-spirit connection that we all can use.

And If yoga is intimidating (or it’s better) to you, you can call it modified stretching or something similar so you can remove the mental blocks (…and yoga blocks if you choose 😉).

Stretching is needed to reset our tight and daily working bodies. So I hope this will help you through the rest of the year whether you’re traveling or staying put where you are.

…And a flow yoga routine is something easy you can practice and do year-round and anywhere, so I’ll give you a flow yoga sequence below for someone who spends a lot of time in the kitchen (myself included).

This time I’ll focus on yoga for those who do regular cooking or baking. If you know anyone who spends a lot of time in the kitchen, you could share this with them.

Body Balance Quiz

Even if you don’t think you’re good at yoga, the benefits to your body outweigh the few minutes spent… and some benefits can’t be achieved with other exercises, as you’ll not reach those hidden body muscles and crevices.

We tend to use the same few muscles for everyday use like our biceps and legs, when in fact we have about 600 muscles.

And whether you’re in the kitchen, traveling, or in an office, it’s good to plan to have a yoga mat or towel nearby, so you can stretch every day.

A mat can be a good reminder, as we take for granted that our bodies work for us every day without missing a beat. 🫀

We can all use a stretch once in a while where we let our hair down and take off our shoes and socks.

So grab your mat and here we go!…

If you’re working in the kitchen often, you’re looking down most of the day at the kitchen counter or the baked items you’re preparing. This puts a strain on your neck and all the nearby muscles running down your shoulders and back.

This mini-series of poses, or flow yoga, would be great to help you unwind and restore as you wait for your timed baked goods to bake in your oven.

You gotta love the oven for that reason!…

And last time I mentioned how great your freezer is for storage (another great piece of equipment to be grateful for). And this week it’s all about optimizing your waiting on your oven.

With an oven, you can set and forget your food cooking for a few minutes. So you can get to your other tasks… and a few resetting yoga poses while your food is baking evenly.

What flow yoga will help you do:

🧡 Undo the tension and strain you put on your body from preparing your food and bakes, even if you don’t feel it in the moment.

🧡 You may realize you need more stretching which is exactly what your body wants. Note: you can’t do too much yoga, but you can overwork parts in yoga. And if you ever do, you realize how delicate and resilient your body is.

🧡 And the best part of yoga (I think) is you will feel like a million bucks when you get back to the rest of your day.

Most poses you can do while you’re watching television, but after you already know the correct posture and alignment. That’s why it’s good to get proper instruction from a studio. But if that’s not possible, then use this general rule:

1) If it feels like a good stretch to your body in the moment, then you need more of it. It should never hurt (where you bite your lip in wincing pain).

Yoga is individualistic. Everyone has different bodies and nuance tolerances, so you have to use how YOU specifically feel as a guide and not what others tell you they feel when they’re in the pose even from one Vata to another (or from Pitta to Pitta, or Kapha to Kapha)…if you get my drift?

2) If you’re in a pose carrying any body weight, then do not move the body part that is carrying the weight if it’s a weak area.

For example, in Plow pose laying down where your legs go behind your head, your neck carries the weight of your legs and parts of your torso, so you wouldn’t want to move your neck when you get in the pose (and it’s easiest to stare at one distant spot or a light in the ceiling above).

Yoga is totally a personal journey where you get to know your body after you get the basics down.

Yoga has good body benefits even if you don’t get into your zen (and that’s a good mind benefit).

Determine Your Weak and Strong Areas

For each of us, we’re physically stronger in some areas and weaker in others, and that can be specific to specific poses.

For example, my strength is flexibility and balance. And the more I do yoga, the stronger the muscles become to support my weight (like in a Plank). It can be the same for you or you could be strong and want to work on balance, like in a Tree Pose. Or flexibility and balance in bird yoga poses. It’s all just practice.

And in yoga, endurance of how long you can stay in a pose is mostly determined by your patience and the strength of specific muscles.

If you’re newer to yoga, find out what your strong areas are. And what the weak ones are. We all have them and sometimes we don’t know what they are until we make a small mistake in yoga that shows up as a ‘lil pain a day or two later.

…That teaches us for the next time and also lets us know we’re alive!

Baking Flow Yoga Poses

So to start, practice some Cat-Cows to loosen up.

Then you can rest in a Child’s pose (or Hare pose if you want to really tuck in). There’s no hurry in yoga (except when your buzzer goes off for your bakes! ⏲)

…And so when you’re ready, then lie on your front like you would on a beach towel laying face down or reading a book.

Then reach back and grab your ankles if you can, or just alternate one ankle with the same side arm at a time, if that’s too much of a stretch initially.

You’d be surprised that you can change pretty quick in flexibility after a few minutes or sessions! The longer you hold the pose, the easier and better it is and becomes.

…Remember when you tried the splits and you could stretch even more the longer you stayed in the pose? …And don’t raise the bar too much, like a gymnast who’s built for that!

So then after grabbing your ankles, look up and peel your shoulders and thighs off the floor if you can. Lift off. Look upward. This is really good for your back and neck. And this pose is called Bow pose. Stay there for as long as you can and let go and then try again a few more times.

And from there you can move into Pigeon pose, where your forearms are perpendicular (straight up from the mat), and then hinge one leg forward, and the other leg straight back behind you.

You’ll feel a nice stretch in your thigh, back, and legs that withstand so much weight when you’re standing. In your pigeon, look up slightly. And whenever you have the opportunity.

Pigeon pose is a really good stretch for your neck, back, butt, and legs. One side tends to be tighter than the other. And you’ll feel it as you alternate sides.

You can then get into a neutral Downward Dog as a flow yoga step for transitioning.

Then flip or turn over to your back on the mat (so you’re facing up).

It’s tempting to take a nap. And if you have time, go for it! But don’t forget about your oven if it’s on!

And then lift your bottom up off the mat into Bridge pose. You can feel relief in your back. This is a good one to use a yoga block.

You can insert the elevating block where your back ends and meets your tail bone. And then just comfortably rest on the block without doing anything. How nice!

The block isn’t preventing you from reaping yoga physical benefits as it helps you get stretched further in height. So it helps you and isn’t a crutch in case it feels that way!

You go higher (literally) than you would normally. Yoga is all about making your life easy… gotta love that! 🧡

And finally, when you come back down, get into your Happy Baby pose where you grab your big toes with your forefingers and thumbs (something monkeys can’t do!).

Happy Baby can leave you feeling relaxed without a care in the world for a few minutes and is a great way to end your yoga session. And you may just want to come back for more!

…And your bake should be about ready now or ready for you to check on. 😉

For more inspiration, take a look at these 100 yoga poses.

If you want to get more awareness about what your body is telling you, or would like to learn more about the Ayurvedic perspectives in the mind-body connection, you can take the body balance quiz.

Healthy Grocery Food Shopping and Save Money Tips

Healthy grocery food shopping 🛒is a weekly top of mind chore for many of us. It’s one I actually enjoy coming from a foodie work background planning parties and catered events.

…And you can find your happy and healthy reasons or get inspired in other ways. 🎉

On that mission, doing your own shopping, meal prep, and cooking/baking can be just what you need for your busy lifestyle and can save you $$ in your wallet and waistline.

…And btw, if you want a weight loss healthy tip and make healthy lifestyle moves that also saves you money, you should check out this easy way in this free guide.

You can use “make your life easy” mantra, and that’s why we we love our easy cooking tools and food prep hacks. Amen?

Like this one: I’m using my ice trays for scrambled egg cubes…

(Along with a little homemade ice cream sandwich love to cool things off the hot seasons we’ve been experiencing! ❤️)

Little things like these help to make up for this past week in food, where I couldn’t find common healthy grocery food list staples like bananas and milk. I shopped online on different days, but I can only imagine how empty the produce section must’ve looked.

…In other weeks, it was eggs, oranges, or meat shortages. And I’m sure you’ve seen similar, so it’s good to stay flexible these days!

It’s practical to stock up on some goods when possible, and especially if you want to save money and time from food shopping. Also be open to what’s abundant and on sale.

And if you want to make it quick out of a store, shop around the store perimeter where you also find the fresh healthy grocery food items. The aisles is where you can get lost a little.

Growing up, for healthy grocery food we had “gourmet foods.” I remember a test Gourmet Giant store near us. They had these great big barrel bulk bins lined up with every gourmet food you could think of. I was in food heaven as a young, picky food eater that’s pretty normal today for us in our modern 🌈 variety.

Back then, the idea of “organic” wasn’t popular yet, but gourmet variety foods like strawberry brie could be found (and probably worked on me as I went into catering planning years later when I had tasted the food possibilities early on 😋).

Food changes are a ‘lil fun (even though it’s a wee bit frustrating looking for specific items that you fell in love with that are discontinued).

But in the positives, you focus on other foods. Last year, I saw an abundance of Cara Cara oranges. And where you’re at, there could be other types or a new breed of organic strawberries as an example. That’s something to get excited about. 🤸‍♀️

Healthy Grocery Food Storage

But one thing that hasn’t changed is the freezer. A refrigerator is irreplaceable as there’s nothing else like it. When you’re young, it’s where you store happy ice cream and popsicles that sit in front of the frozen uncooked foods.

And freezers not only keep your food from spoiling but also preserve food so you can actually plan meals further out than one week. You can buy in bulk and not waste money.

And frozen veggies are a great way to always have low-calorie, nutrient-dense green foods around. You can always find occasions to use a frozen bag of kale or peas.

The fridge top shelf is your next coolest ally. That’s where the cool strawberries belong in peak season.

Morning strawberry quinoa cereal and light angel food cake are two ways I’ve been optimizing strawberry dishes…

That’s one fruit you don’t want to freeze if you want to keep them fresh and plump. 🍓

But for just about everything else 😉, optimizing your freezer for preserved food hacks is still one of the best grocery money-saving tips. Freeze bread, meats, smoothie fruits, and so many other healthy grocery food items.

You can freeze those extra tubs of yogurt and have frozen yogurt. Now that’s smart…and takes no prep work!

If you have ripe bananas, you can freeze them, so you don’t have to grocery backtrack (and that’s what I did in the banana shortage).

They’ll look frozen and scary brown or black in appearance, but they are good and taste as good in a smoothie, and even better in a baked banana bread recipe.

Just remember to prep the food before you freeze it. Like cut the bread loaf into slices, scramble the eggs, and remove the fruit peels.

7 Healthy Grocery Food Money Savings

✅Stay flexible with fresh and frozen produce. Sometimes the same items are abundant or about to expire and cost less than frozen items. And sometimes frozen items are less.

✅Stock up on some cans. Sometimes canned items are less expensive than other times. But I don’t sub fresh/frozen vs canned as they don’t usually translate the same. Such as, frozen or fresh peas are great, but canned, not so much. And canned beans are great, but frozen beans, well… we can move on…

It’s also hard to predict what will run out on the shelves, so you can keep some cans available that stack nicely, and free up your freezer space that’s in high demand.

You can also always find some happy mediums. Like applesauce works for many baking recipes instead of storing refrigerated apples.

And to save money, you can do an apples-to-apples comparison online where grocery is usually priced per ounce, lb, or count.

Shopping online makes this easy to do as you’re not distracted. And also so you don’t have to drive all over creation to compare costs between stores…

These days, that’s super smart as sizes have gotten smaller, so using basic quick math tools help.

Sometimes healthy grocery food store chains have found a way to be the lowest cost store for a specific food item you’re looking for.

One like Whole Foods you would think is more pricey is often less costly than other chain grocery stores on certain items. When there’s abundance, the goal of the store is to sell the abundance of produce as fast as possible to maintain top freshness, and competitive pricing is the best strategy.

✅Wherever you shop: one smart item to keep on hand is a shelf-stable milk substitute. Such as milk powder packages, nut milk cartons, and/or evaporated milk cupboard cans. They can come in handy for a recipe or shortage, and they last a long time.

✅Look for your holiday baking items after the holidays. If you look for pumpkin puree or chocolate chips online around the holidays, good luck. You may find them at an astronomical price.

You’ve probably already experienced that before (and today is a good time to start looking 👀).

✅Another option for fresh alternatives and self-sufficiency is growing your own garden greens, herbs, fruits, and veggies.

That’s what many of the American Blue Zoners do (in Loma Linda, CA) that we can learn from. These are the Adventist Health community-goers. They’re the largest group of oldest Americans that have celebrated 100 with flying colors.

But if you don’t plan to have a garden in the city or have a brown thumb, then you can still support those who do. You can get fresh “in season” from a local farmer’s market stand where you shop.

✅Save at ethnic food stores that have cropped up everywhere metropolitan. And when you get curious about exotic foods, then you open your palate and become to variety that’s good for your gut. Ethnic grocery stores often carry more healthy ingredients. In America and other western world grocery stores, we tend to have an abundance processed foods staring us in the face and in the check out lines.

✅And finally, when you find one good item from a brand, search the brand itself as they rarely just stop at producing one item that you love.

They learn to leverage economies of scale, so they add more products to their portfolio. And then you can be a customer for life (or as long as their shelf life).

One that comes to mind, is a money-saving club like King Arthur flours for those who do a lot of baking. Then there are the local cost-saving clubs we all know that are packed any given weekend. I avoid those bulk places for many reasons. They’re warehouse-size for a reason.

And instead of jumbo stocking up on and eating the same items, you can switch it up. That pleases this Vata (…and maybe you too?)

You can find balancing healthy recipes here.

Ayurveda to Unleash Creativity (Part 2)

Ayurveda is today’s topic. It’s part 2 of 2.

This week, I’m breaking down the secrets of Ayurveda and how it can free you from feeling stuck. And how it restores calm, improves mind-body health, and allows for daily creativity which leads to your best life new opportunities, and passions. That was my experience learning about mind-body types.

…Plus, I’ll clear up the common confusion about Ayurveda if you’re wanting to learn more… and how you can apply simple, but completely effective Ayurveda ways to your lifestyle where you’re at…

Last time, in Part 1 of Ayurveda, I talked about why you want to care about the mind-body connection. If you missed that blog post or aren’t sure, you can go back and read that one too as it could make a game-changing difference in getting your best life today…

I also shared how change and permanence are part of the natural order in this life. They keep us going and growing.

You get to choose whether you want to do this life holding onto anxiety, fears, or worry, or letting them go daily for your emotional freedom and better moods.

…You can restore daily calm even with life chaos happening around you. That’s a healthy choice.

You can change how anxiety, overwhelm, irritations, and triggered situations stick to you when they don’t have to …but, interruptedly rear their ugly head into your system and you just want them to go away!

As humans, we experience these negative emotions to varying degrees. And everyone grows weary and tired at some point.

And, that’s when we want to be vigilant to snap out of those emotions after we purge, process, and know what’s behind them so we can take necessary action, and so that we don’t stay stuck in those places any longer than necessary.

…How?

You step out and sidestep into your daily calm and productivity with the strategy of partnering with your mind-body to soothe and get the most out of the situation and your life… with small effort and adding healthy enhancements.

At some point, you probably figure(d) out that Life is about being in the process. And filled with trying lessons.

Sometimes it can take several similar, but different scenarios to play out to catch onto the lesson and make changes for a better today, tomorrow, and life.

But, when you see your part and role in what happens next, your eyes are open and you can apply wisdom. That takes awareness in the moment or in reflection.

And if you have knowledge or know what to do, you can save yourself from unnecessary pain… and sometimes your life. Like if caught in a rip current wave, you survive by not panicking, calling for help that’s nearby, and swimming parallel to the shore if you can.

You also can survive your daily life situations and undesired moods weighing you down if you know what to do.

Getting through your non-life threatening situations can be challenging for a day or two, as moods can stick like mud, but don’t have to play out and grow into a season!…

And you don’t want them to, because health and stress are on the line, and your moods can worsen and influence you to make poor decisions and miss out on great opportunities.

[In physical health terms, moods are like inflammations… you want them out or on the way out within a few days, or else it could spread like poison ivy inside and become a bigger problem.]

But the really good news here is… you can nip-in-the-bud those less-than moods weighing you down as easily as they entered.

How?…

Co-create the right and comfortable environment that your mind-body wants, and therefore is what you also want!

Remember, you are not your mind-body. Your mind-body runs 24×7 and never shuts off when you’re asleep. Keeping your mind-body in mind (no pun intended), for your optimal life you want to do what will turn things around fastest for you.

That doesn’t mean you need to move or uproot your lifestyle, that just means a few healthy tweaks that your daily mind-body wants.

Ayurveda (the science of life) helps to restore and bring natural balance and order back into our lives despite constantly changing situations… and naturally, the way it’s intended.

In our work-life balance modern world there seems to be a gadget for everything to solve our daily problems and make life easier and help us live longer. But we don’t always use (and sometimes ignore) the most effective tool that’s already built inside us!

In Western world, our health is often seen through the lens of food, fitness, wellness, and self-care. In our healthy efforts, we don’t always get to the root cause and directly restore or heal what our mind-body needs. And that can lead to a long (sometimes painful) season.

…BUT be encouraged, it’s restorable and not your fault!

As you have free will to choose. You do what you feel like doing or think will help based on the (limited) knowledge you have at the time.

And also because…

Our Western Society… The Good and Bad

Conditioning that you and I have received since we were children, that goes like this… Oh, the doctor will fix that…

And as an adult, if you were sent home with a prescription for resting or exercising more, you’d be dissatisfied as most of us know that’s helpful but not what we want from our doctor. We expect a procedure, prescription, or two.

The problem is your body doesn’t want medicines if it can handle the foreign body disruptor on its own. But we don’t know what exactly our body needs because we can’t talk to our body or get inside for those knowing answers.

So, our common Western way is curing with medicines, “just in case,” and because we’re conditioned to expect those protocols.

But, too many antibiotics in the system damage gut health, and surrounding systems that alter your body. Good probiotics can only help so much to reverse effects.

So that’s the bad, but there’s a lot of good in medicine…

Like when used for a disease outbreak where massive chaos in the body has already erupted and medical intervention is needed. Your body needs help.

We can learn from Steve Jobs’ story in more than his genius Apple tech abilities. He passed away too young from cancer. Wisdom leaves clues.

Western medicine doesn’t usually prescribe natural herbs to cure cancer or other diseases.

Anything supernatural can happen in our favor at any time, but that’s not the common or wise protocol. God created doctors and gave us our brains to make good decisions to see doctors when needed.

…So then where does Ayurveda (science of life) fit in?

Ayurveda’s sweet spot is in health prevention, and helping change unwanted common everyday moods and annoying flare-ups.

It’s risky for most conditions that require medical attention. …and I wanted to clear up in case that wasn’t clear and obvious. So good, now you know what Ayurveda is good for…

Ayurveda works for what it’s meant for. But as a practice, not mentioned much in our society partly because prevention can’t be measured. And that’s not where medicine focuses attention.

So, it can get brushed aside or seen as a health fad.

…Even though Ayurveda has been around working as an Ancient healing system for thousands of years.

People smartly use it as part of their daily healthy lifestyle.

They can be part of the routines and habits we stack and track in our day.

When you have a healthy lifestyle and know how to use Ayurveda in your daily life, then you’re better off leaning into your balanced natural essence. There are no downsides to report.

And a decade later… in my opinion, it’s still the “best-kept secret.” And why I’m unpacking it here.

Your mind-body is a direct source that knows what it needs… and Ayurveda cracks that code.

Enter Eastern-Western Ayurveda Awareness

American society tends to lump natural, holistic, alternative medicines, and Ayurveda as mystical and woo-woo, when really what Ayurveda needs is rebranding.

Ayurveda is not just what you see as available products on the market.

Two things that could make people iffy in the beginning about Ayurveda (I know I was!) are:

1.. Messy oils, strange elixirs, and take-time-out routines. They don’t always mesh well in a Western modern society that’s go-go-go where schedules are filled to the brim and even fitting in eating can be trying.

2. Silent practices when you don’t have a door that stays closed or that can shut out the world around you. And without a list of to-do’s or worries for the day running in your head.

Those daily practices are more Eastern (slower-pace life) than Western techniques.

And what works in Ayurveda for Western-style living and restoring mind-body techniques, can be woven into your busy day with very little effort or inconvenience.

You can skip the Eastern-style practices and you won’t be missing a mood-improvement beat… I promise!

And some universal practices you may already be doing sometimes or regularly… like, yoga is a today-popular Western Ayurvedic general practice. Sometimes you have time to fit in, and sometimes you don’t, but it’s not the end-all-be-all to making moment-to-moment restoring changes because yoga reset to feel-good feelings lasts for a 90-minute class, a cup of tea, and maybe a relaxing spa visit, but then you’re back to your life, triggers and interruptions in your mind, and your work.

Even though I love yoga!… maybe you too?

In 2008, there were few studios when I had to search around so I’m glad it has taken root.

Another popular example is eating plant-based anti-inflammatory foods. Yup, that’s part of a healthy Ayurvedic lifestyle. Wherever you are, you have access to markets, online stores, farms, and gardens (…or you can start your own).

…So you may already have a ‘lil Ayurveda in you! 😉

…So, is an Ayurveda lifestyle right for you?

These are questions you can ask yourself and things to think about:

Are you interested in preventative health?

Are you interested in unleashing more daily creativity?

Are you a lifelong learner who is open to the deeper self?

And do you want to live sustainably healthier and longer?

…Like Blue Zone Centenarians who live healthy lifestyles that are part of their culture. They don’t live like most Americans (and not even the Adventist Health Blue Zone community in California).

Some live more simply, slower lives, eating from the land, and need less mood restoring without all the complicated high tech. 😉

And so many countries rank higher in longevity than the States, that’s ranked closer to the bottom. That’s a hard pill to swallow considering all the conveniences we have.

…Even though I can’t imagine my identity with any other culture.

So I added Ayurveda into my lifestyle to make up for the deficit.

And you can too. The thing is… you’re probably already habitually doing Ayurveda to some degree in your healthy every day routine. You’ve been using all your senses since you were born.

…But probably not for balancing moods consistently as you didn’t know what really works with your specific mind-body, type, and imbalance combinations you’re experiencing. That’s really what it boils down to.

And when you do change your moods and imbalances, then you can get to your inner creative self more easily and consistently.

Creativity Inside Us

Sometimes there’s a creative block. And we don’t know what we don’t know could be, or are missing out on our greatest passions that give us joy.

I was creatively mind-blocked in my corporate management work life.

I couldn’t be fully creative beyond short spurts of free time where I delved into hobbies for creative outlets.

In those few moments, I experienced calm, joy, and felt weight off my shoulders. I could get into a creative flow where I lost track of time and those were usually well into the weekend or on a Sunday.

…Have you been there or can relate?

Unleashing the creativity inside feels free-ing. And when I got longer stretches of time away from work, I realized I had creative hidden talents I didn’t even know I had, that were waiting inside me for the right-ready time.

…And you do too. Plus, ones that you haven’t uncovered because you have gotten there yet to take action.

After you remove the anxious, stressful, and overwhelming layers and feelings, you can get a direct path to your creative juices and energy.

That’s your ticket to your happiest and best life. When you feel lighter and good, you feel on top of the world.

You feel empowered at the very least, and maybe even superpowers to take on activities you didn’t know you could perform (like sing or dance… you get the point).

And that’s a time when you get the most out of your life and push the pedal forward and make breakthroughs.

It’s the opposite of these types of common feelings (that keep you uninspired and stagnant):

–Tired: where you don’t want to do much let alone work on a creative pursuit. You lack energy but with a good night’s rest you can be renewed and passion-filled again if you’re re-energized, aren’t triggered, feeling burnout, or are depressed.

–Anxious: where you’re trying to manage your anxiety symptoms to stay afloat… trying to stay relaxed while your body-mind takes over. That’s a bad time to make good decisions, let alone try and be creative.

–Irritated: where you’re trying to get over negative feelings and a critical-judgmental mind that permeate your system when energizing the wrong thoughts. Good creativity doesn’t emerge in non-loving attitudes.

But, you can change the channel or get your relaxed self back as quickly as you got in your tense state. Like in the shower, the ideas can come. Or in a joyful activity where you lose track of time.

And, if you’re feeling balanced and calm throughout the day as the normal way, that changes everything. You can switch to your creative self when you want without losing valuable time.

And those steps take you to your next move in life, passions, and pursuits.

And if that’s where you are ready to go and be your very best today, but maybe feeling off or not quite there yet, start with the body balance quiz that shows symptoms on the body as part of the mind-body connection.

Butternut Squash + Seasonal Allergies Tips

Butternut squash is a low histamine food that’s good for seasonal allergies.

Food does make a difference and you can mix in your veggies and lean into more squash with spaghetti squash.

Often we ignore some produce foods in the grocery store, heading for the ones with marketing words and labels.

But the best seasonal foods (like butternut squash) and those for seasonal allergies don’t have ingredient labels. They don’t need them.

And they contain vitamins and minerals, and healthy food body benefits that are contained inside the food.

The PLU, color, and skin often give away what that can be.

But then there are other food benefits like low histamine that is underrated for seasonal allergies.

If seasonal allergies has got you, you’re in good company and I have a list of natural above-the-neck soothing tips below…

Before 2015, I never felt outdoor seasonal allergies living on the east coast. Now, they linger around year-round and I’ve learned to manage them… and maybe you manage yours.

Tree pollen (e.g maple, juniper, elm, oak, etc.) found in most U.S. areas is the main culprit for spring seasonal allergies that starts as early as February these days.

Allergies are your body’s annoying, but healthy response to your immune system working. 🌱

Reducing histamine can be the difference of low congestion, itching, aches, and digestive issues.

Sneezing is the body’s natural way to rid of allergens in the body, but some congestion days that doesn’t always work.

If that’s you, you can keep a black pepper tin nearby and peppermint essential oils are good to sniff and use in your steaming shower.

Seasonal allergies are not affecting this unicorn in the pool — You have a choice to stay indoors for high allergy days which is really the most effective way to dodge seasonal allergies. Try to do your outdoor walks earlier in the day. I know that’s still a bummer. So another idea is you can jump or stay in the pool. You may be able to pull it off like this unicorn making the most of it! 🦄

And when you’re indoors, stay further away from the open window if you’re super sensitive or keep the blinds semi-shielding.

These are 10 Tips For Seasonal Allergies:

✅ Change your clothing and take a shower as soon as you can or remember to. The steam will help you feel better faster. A night shower will help especially if your seasonal allergies feel worse in the afternoon or evening.

✅ Weekly, use a neti-pot to clean out nasal passages. This helps you get some relief naturally and prevents nasty sinus infections and your taking unnecessary antibiotics. That’s probably the best tip I can give you! Water is your friend away from pollen.

✅ Also, use a natural saline nasal spray to clear your nose as needed e.g. 2-3x per day for relief. Look for grapefruit seed extract with microbial properties that help prevent bacterial, viral, and fungal infections.

✅ Use a free-standing daily air filter machine with a HEPA filter for pollen (not just dust). Pollen kicks up in the afternoon and evening so it’s good to have the machine cranked up while you’re sleeping.

Change your house air filters as needed and vacuum the filters regularly as they will work better dust-free.

✅Use a desk humidifier or have one set in each room. Moisture like this works especially well during spring allergy season.

✅ Keep eucalyptus or mint oil essential oil drops close at hand. They work well in the steamy shower. You can put a few drops in a small vessel of water and sniff. Unlike a nasal spray, the oil drops don’t enter directly into your nose.

✅ For foods, add fresh horseradish or spicy wasabi that’s great for clearing nasal passages. Also increasing Vitamin C and bromelain helps. Pineapples are a good source.

Disappointingly, local honey doesn’t work the way that maybe you hoped it would for seasonal allergies.

Honey comes from flowers, and tree pollen comes from trees so there’s no cross-pollination… or an ex-pollinating effect that would be helpful for spring seasonal allergies.

But raw honey is a good natural sugar substitute and a natural humectant that when topically used on the skin help prevent dryness and other light skin inflammations or itches.

Honey also has other “anti” properties that are good for you… antioxidant, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal.

✅ Keep up your vitamins and minerals, especially Vit C, D-3, Calcium, Zinc, etc. Butternut squash is loaded with Vitamin C and A. And a tropical fruit smoothie is a great way to help soothe seasonal allergy symptoms.

✅ Drink teas. You can try a good green matcha tea or black tea (Vata preference) early in the day and then switch to decaf/herbal teas in the afternoon. You can do decaf all day if you prefer.

✅ Keep eye drops close by for dry eyes. You can wear blue-light-blocking glasses, so you don’t have to strain on devices that worsen dry eyes (and they help you sleep better).

✅ Keep cough drops nearby, in case you get a dry or itch in your throat. And menthol cough drops help to open up passages.

Seasonal allergies don’t have to be the daily annoyance that runs your life. You can have a much smoother season if you stay informed.

✅ And finally, bring in more healthy anti-histamine foods such as bell peppers, squashes, and eggs. You can incorporate a butternut squash spaghetti recipe that you can blend with regular egg pasta or spaghetti squash. 🍝

For more weekly healthy tips, visit healthyhappylifesecrets.com

Butternut Squash Spaghetti

Butternut squash is an anti-inflammatory food and easy to add to your savory meals like a spaghetti dish.

Course lunch

Cuisine American

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

1 box spaghetti, whole wheat or spaghetti squash
1 butternut squash
basil leaves or pesto sauce (optional)

Instructions

Cook (or bake) your spaghetti or spaghetti squash.
Cook your butternut squash to soft.
Mix with your spaghetti.
Add a basil or pesto sauce (basil and olive oil) to enhance (optional).

Best Yoga Poses – 100 Poses To Inspire You

Best yoga poses are subjective, but I’m sharing with you why I think these 100 poses make the (my) list. I’ve been practicing yoga since 2008 when I attended a life altering Ayurvedic program journey across the country, to enrich my mind, body, and spirit, that we all are in this life. Then I wrote about the lessons learned from my experience (in my first and optimizing mind-body blog post on this healthy and happy blog) that I think can help all minds and bodies. 🎉

100 blog posts landing on Easter deserve confetti sprinkles 🧁

But this article post is ALL about the best yoga poses that I started learning in that eye-opening experience and as my journey unfolded with yoga.

Because growing up for me in America, getting on the mat meant a sweaty experience on a vinyl padded mat in PE class.

But around the globe in the eastern world, they were lightening years ahead and aware of the healthy healing that a mat can provide.

In some cultures, they get up and off the floor (or out of their sitting position) on a daily mat in one fell swoop as they did in younger years.

And that’s one of the characteristics of the Blue Zones’ Okinawa Centenarians.

The Blue Zones around the world have the largest group of Centenarians, whose longevity we can aspire to.

Most can remember facts and figures and walk up hills quicker than some younger able people. And re-tell stories of their youth like a historical tale. They live extraordinary lives as they are revered in culture for their Golden Years activity, sharing wisdom and enjoying younger generations.

They breathe in and out purpose daily (…and have breathed about 1.4 million more breaths than a 30-year-old).

But whatever age you’re at, you can start with your intentional breathing and yoga moves that help build your balance, strength, and flexibility.

Yoga is not just about getting in the pose.

It’s an individual journey that enriches life. And most of us in modern, busy life don’t take time do daily yoga. But if you did, you would reap the reward of an enriched mind, body, and spirit.

We all have a unique yoga start story and hopefully a way to keeps us with a yoga practice. As I’m convinced, yoga can fix anything in the body that ain’t broke!

And as you do more, you can discover how it can help heal the mind-body and restore your lesser moods going through this life full of tough twists and turns.

These are some yoga articles to help inspire your specific yoga journey (wherever that may be for you today):

Mood Boost Yoga

Car Seated Yoga Moves

Travel Yoga Poses

Yoga Poses While Baking

Bird Yoga Poses

Yoga Tips at Home

Yoga Tree Pose

Creative Yoga Poses (Help Aches and Pains)

Plank and Downward Dog

Vinyasa Yoga Common Mistakes

Yoga Accessories

First off, something I learned in my journey is that yoga is amazing because of the benefits for the mind-body connection: where the mind and body “talk” to each other.

If we’re lucky and focused we pick up on the cues as a witness to our mind-bodies.

This is an area that traditional Western doctors aren’t necessarily trained on. It originated from Ayurveda, an eastern life science perspective, that’s made its way slowly to the Western world (and I started practicing in 2008 when I became aware).

Over the past decade, we’ve learned that the prevention of chronic diseases and inflammation in the body is connected to better mental health and less stress we carry.

And we can often tell by our anxious, irritated, or lethargic moods.

Sometimes it’s hard to do yoga until we get in a balanced mood, even though we know if we did yoga, we’d get there sooner. We can get in our way.

So, in case you need to overcome that or need a dose of moving or getting going inspiration, I’ve listed 100 best yoga poses that are timeless reminders, challenging, and fun (I think so anyway!).

I included some quick encouraging words for each pose that come to mind. They include thoughts of when to do the pose, reminders, or intentions that could be useful for you as they are for me. Some poses are better done when you have more energy.

And it helps if have a known purpose for doing the pose, to help be motivated. We can all use a good metaphor reminder in our daily lives.

So here we go to my picks of the 100 best yoga poses…

Standing best yoga poses:

1. Sun salutations – reminder: life is constantly changing, and you keep moving. This is a good series of poses to start the day with, like just before you have your first glass of water for the day

2. Warrior I – reminder: feel empowered to take on the day

3. Warrior II – reminder: take up more space

4. Warrior III – reminder: focus on moving forward

5. Sun Warrior – reminder: don’t forget to look up and stay open

6. Dancer pose – reminder: you’ve got this day with your calm and grace, and letting go of the past. Today is a new day 🌱

7. Tree pose – reminder: you’re resilient and unshaken even in uncertain times

8. Mountain pose – intention: peace and reaching higher

9. Heart center hand – reminder: focus more on what’s in your heart and get out of your head if you’ve feeling stuck

10. Chair – good for when you want to feel grounded

11. Triangle looking up – good for seeing different perspectives

12. Lunge – reminder: stay productive

13. Humble Warrior – reminder: lessen ego and pride

14. 5-Pointed Star – do when you want to feel balanced

15. Eagle – good for when you feel on top of the world

16. Tree with hands straight in the air – reminder: you’re a unique tree

17. Tree with hands at heart center – feel centered and connected

18. Tree with hands in prayer pose behind your back – intention: feel more spiritual

19. Half-moon – do this pose when you’re feeling daring (tip: you can do this against the wall so you have back support, and you can use a yoga block)

20. Extended leg stretch – intention: feel energetic

21. Bird of Paradise – intention: be more mindful for the best outcome

22. Forward bend – intention: feel earthly

23. Standing half-bend – reminder: pause, but keep going because you’re almost there

24. Crescent lunge – reminder: be flexible

25. Pyramid Pose – do when you need more structure (feeling scatter minded, i.e. Vata mind)

Seated poses:

26. Boat – do when you want to feel less grounded

27. Pigeon – intention: feel less stress stretching out common areas of tension (leg, back, shoulders)

28. Seated spinal twist – reminder: the past is behind you

29. Seated forward bend stretch – reminder: keep challenging yourself and you may just surprise yourself with how far you can go

30. Seated side angle – reminder: try a different way

31. Lotus – intention: peace, and serenity

32. Baby Cradle – reminder: you’re in control of your body

33. Cow Face – reminder: it’s possible even when it’s hidden

34. Staff – reminder: sit up tall and be disciplined

35. Thunderbolt – do when you have problems, and you can reverse engineer to come up with solutions

36. Butterfly pose (Bound angle) – reminder: you’re evolving

37. Seated knee hug – reminder: you are loved

38. Staff – do when you want to straighten your back and remind yourself that your back is an important part for your body’s support. (reminder: build strong abs)

Side best yoga poses:

39. Side angle – do when you need a break or stretch

40. Extended side angle – intention: stretch your mind

41. Side crow – do when you feel adventurous; one side is probably easier than the other and that’s your strength

42. Side plank – do when you feel strong

43. Falling Star – tip: like half-moon is great to do against a wall when you’re first starting out so you can lean further. Intention: feel free and creative

Front face down best yoga poses:

44. Cobra – reminder: you’re making progress

45. Sphinx – reminder: you can do anything you want

46. Upward Dog – reminder: you’re almost there!

47. Turtle – reminder: stay steady on the course

48. Bow – reminder: your hands, head, and feet are all closely connected

Lay down poses (starting with back flat on the mat):

49. Bridge – tip: use a block on the small of your back and feel grounded

50. Fish – reminder: relax and let go of heavy problems

51. Lay down spinal twist to one side – when you do this on each side, you see a different part of the room or space you’re in and is a good reminder that you have different options from different perspectives

52. Corpse – intention: be stress-free

53. Knees to chest (knee hug) – reminder: of self-love

54. Half locust with one leg slightly lifted: reminder -it can feel strange but still be helpful

55. Through the hole stretch – do when you feel tight like from driving or sitting, or when you feel uptight

56. Spider laying down – intention: holding onto your purpose but letting go of how you’ll get there

On all 4’s:

57. Inverted plane – reminder: great for bringing your shoulders back in mindfulness

58. Downward dog – intention: feel the day in earthly roots

59. Downward dog with one leg lifted – intention: enjoy the day by doing something new

60. Cat – do when you’re feeling fearless

61. Cow – good for feeling balanced

62. Balanced cat reaching out one arm and opposite leg

Back challenge: you can arch backward relying on all 4s

63. Backward Bend – do when you’re feeling energetic and youthful

64. Wheel – and you go higher to see and feel new possibilities

Front challenge: you may never do a full handstand, but you can get both feet off the ground

65. Crow – intention: strength (you’re stronger than you think)

66. Crane – and you can stretch higher

67. Peacock – reminder: you can get over the limitations you have

68. Firefly – reminder: you can do something different to light up the world. You may feel like a kid again doing this one (one of my fave poses and I have happy memories of catching fireflies )

Inversion best yoga poses:

69. Shoulder stand – do when you’re feeling moderately energized

70. Half shoulder stand – do when you want to feel energized

71. Plow – reminder: encouragement that you can take two steps back and come out ahead

72. Legs up the wall – intention: feel supported by the environment around you

Resting best yoga poses:

73. Child’s Pose – reminder: you don’t have to be doing something every minute of the day. It’s not how busy you are (something I had to unlearn)

74. Hare – intention: purposefully resting

Other inspirational best yoga poses:

75. Inclined plane – when you’re feeling like you want to get off the ground or you’re excited to start a new project

76. Plank – intention: building daily strength for any trials or difficulties you’re going through

77. Camel – reminder: let go

78. Dolphin – reminder: we’re born with natural abilities

79. Splits – intention: flexibly grow daily and watch progress

80. Happy Baby – do when you want to feel safe and carefree

81. Swan – reminder: have daily grace for those areas you can’t change

82. Hero – reminder: we can all be a hero in our ways in our lives serving and doing what we do

83. Neck rolls – intention: calming and releasing mind tension

84. Neck side to side – intention: take a moment to relax

85. Shoulder shrug – intention: be less stressed (letting the weight fall off your shoulders)

86. Frog – intention: feel youthful and free to spread out

87. Garland – reminder: take a break; good for when you’re feeling unsure or in between energetic and tired

88. Locust – reminder: try something different or take on a new project

89. Wild Thing – intention: let go of worries and enjoy more

90. Goddess – intention: feel ready for the world

91. Swan dive – intention: go with the flow

92. Cactus arms – reminder: take time off

93. Airplane – intention: feel free and in control at the same time

94. Spider with feet and hands on floor – reminder: you’re a beautifully unique creature

And then these sounds and breathing pair well with yoga poses and intentions:

95. Om – making the sound clears nasal passages along with mind and body. Try a variation by using your mouth to create an ah-oh-mmm sound sequence. Intention: peace and living stress-free

In yoga, breathwork is super important and great for calming. If you get heart palpitations from anxiety, these are good breath exercises to refer to and do.

For all of us, staying mindful of breath gets us in a good reminder habit to be healthy-minded. And when you get a good breath of air you can send that energy through your mind and body, to help improve both mental and physical health.

Your nose acts as a natural filtration system. If you regularly breathe through your mouth when you sleep or if you have nasal congestion and obstructed nasal passages, you may want to look for solutions to help you breathe out of your nose regularly.

And these are the special breath exercises you can do with yoga:

96. Sounding breath – this includes long and slow breaths while laying down, so is good to do when you’re getting in and out of bed. Reminder: you’re alive and able to take purposeful breaths

97. Breath of fire – while sitting, exhale out short and quick breaths from your nose (like a fire-breathing dragon that doesn’t exist) until all your air from your diaphragm feels expelled. And then fill back up gradually like a balloon. Daily reminder: you’re a miracle with automatic breaths. You can control your breathing using your respiratory muscle, your diaphragm, that sits just below your two life-giving organs: your heart and lungs

98. Bellows breath – do this one when you’re in standing mountain pose with hands at heart center (optional). Full inhale/exhale from the mouth. This is a good one to do in the morning when you’re first waking up

99. Sufi Mother’s Breath – this is a simpler version than the Pranayama 4-7-8 version. Exhale through your nose, then inhale through your nose for a count of 7, and then exhale again for a count of 7. This is great and simple to do on a walk where you’re staying present and observing your surroundings

100. Alternate Nostril Breath – take one hand and rest a middle finger on the forehead, thumb from the same hand rests on the closest nostril temporarily closing the airway, light ring, and baby finger on the opposite nostril. Then, inhaling through the open nostril. Intention: notice details about how each side feels as the air circulates more intently to one side of the body from your head to your feet. Reminder: how the air affects our body at and in this moment and how we affect others and the community around us with our breath

So there you go... those are my best yoga poses, intentions, and recommendations as someone who got on her daily mat later in life and has never left or looked back.

And if you need an activity to help ground your yoga, I find baking goes hand in hand. Because you wait for your bake, you don’t want to go far away. Or start a new project that will get interrupted by the timer bell going of.

Yoga is the perfect 10-minute wait for cookies baking (and not burning). Or if you want a sweet something that’s a little more anxiety calming?… a cinnamon roll while you slowly roll on your yoga mat.