Thank you to everyone that joined us for yoga today where we reflected on cultivating an internal focus. 

Below are the strategies for self-focus during yoga that were shared throughout our practice. 

“The wise man lets go of all results, whether good or bad, and is focused on the action alone.”

Bhagavad Gita

Being You in Yoga Practice
"Whether on or off the mat, you have the opportunity to live more into who you are. Here are some tips for being you in yoga practice:

• Show up on your mat with the intention of giving yourself the gift of being present in this moment.
• Close your eyes as much as possible (and when it’s safe to do so) during your practice to help you stay inwardly focused.
• Use your breath to synchronize the movements of your physical body from one asana to the next.
• Approach new poses with curiosity, an open mind, and a playful heart. Remember that at one point in your life, you didn’t know how to ride a bike and now it’s effortless.
• When given instruction on a pose you find challenging or scary, have the courage to ask the instructor for guidance. That is what they are there for and they will be happy to help.
• Take new asanas one step—or phase—at a time. Don’t rush into the full expression of a pose just because someone else is doing it.
• Honor where you are today. Some days you will be stronger, some days you will have more or less flexibility, and other days you will have better balance.
• Look for correlations between your practice on the mat and how you’re navigating your daily life. Where are you feeling strong? Where can you practice being more flexible or cultivate more balance?
• Acknowledge and appreciate the beauty of those around you and then immediately come back to your mat.
• Have fun and BE YOU!

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if you can wrap your leg around the back of your neck or hold a handstand in the middle of a busy intersection. Yoga is about connecting to, integrating, and being you. It’s about showing up exactly as you are and allowing yourself to express in whatever way feels authentic in the moment.

There will always be distractions, and your aim is to find your center in the midst of all that’s going on around you—on and off the mat. There will always be beauty and inspiration in those around us and the key is to find that within yourself. Stay in your own lane and on your own mat. Just be you."

Tris Thorp
Vedic Educator and Lifestyle & Leadership Coach

Tris Thorp is one of today’s leading experts in the field of emotional healing. Having spent the last decade traveling the world, being trained by and sharing the stage with Dr. Deepak Chopra in the field of consciousness and mindfulness-based practices, Tris has a real gift for integrating the ancient spiritual teachings with modern-day mindfulness to help people all over the world let go of their past and create an empowered new future.

Thank you to everyone that joined us for yoga today where we closed with this poem by Robert Frost. 

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.   
His house is in the village though;   
He will not see me stopping here   
To watch his woods fill up with snow.   

My little horse must think it queer   
To stop without a farmhouse near   
Between the woods and frozen lake   
The darkest evening of the year.   

He gives his harness bells a shake   
To ask if there is some mistake.   
The only other sound’s the sweep   
Of easy wind and downy flake.   

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,   
But I have promises to keep,   
And miles to go before I sleep,   
And miles to go before I sleep.

Robert Frost

We are so excited to be starting a new yoga winter session January 14, featuring two class times every Sunday at Ways to Wellness. Full class details are below; I hope you can join us!

10-11a Sundays | All-Level Vinyasa Flow
Noon-1p Sundays | Beginner Yoga 
Location: Ways to Wellness (formally Raindrop Yoga) 9 White's Bridge Rd, Windham
Class cost: $12

ALL-LEVEL VINYASA FLOW
Every Sunday from 10-11a join me for All-Level Vinyasa Flow, providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all mobility levels. This class offers a unified flow featuring many modifications throughout to offer beginner, intermediate and advanced tracks within the same yoga practice. This way the flow is appealing to both students new to yoga and seasoned yogis alike. I will also employ music and yoga philosophy class themes, such as being present, non-attachment, self-care, Ayurveda, etc., via quotes and readings weaved into classes to teach students about the other seven limbs of yoga, beyond just asanas. This approach tends to both the mind and body in a single class, offering students exposure to mindfulness and stress reduction techniques. To me personally, yoga is a way to focus on constant evolution and growth with regard to my self-care, and I hope to pass that philosophy onto students. Since class is offered at the Sunday morning timeframe, and appeals to all levels, this is a great one to attend with friends and family members.
 
BEGINNER YOGA
I believe that yoga is for everyone and every type of body so I am so excited to start teaching a weekly Beginner Yoga class every Sunday from noon to 1p. Beginner Yoga is taught assuming students could be walking into their very first class, or just getting back to regular movement. It therefore fuses gentle yoga poses, stretching, Restorative poses and many modification options. Classes also feature in-depth demonstrations to introduce poses, with both visual and audio cues, as well as content about what body parts and muscles poses hit. In this way I hope to covert a community of people new to yoga, impressing upon them the countless wellness benefits students reap with a regular practice. Class will also weave yoga philosophy throughout class that focuses on beginner dharma content to teach students about yoga beyond asanas. Such topics could include the meanings of common yoga terms such as Namaste and Om, the many health benefits of yoga, committing to a self-care practice, Chakras, and seasonal or emotional wellness themes. I often like to quote something I read, “you are new to yoga for the first ten years you practice,” because that really puts things into perspective with regard to the sheer scope of things we can learn and teach that are part of yoga. Beginner Yoga cultivates an environment free of intimidation, reinforcing that yoga can be highly variable to meet the needs of any student demographic.

ABOUT YOUR YOGA TEACHER
Katie Engels studied Vinyasa yoga with Chanel Luck at Radiant Yoga Boston to complete teacher training, and has been teaching yoga for two years. Katie’s yoga classes weave yoga philosophy and music along with asana (the physical practice of yoga), to cultivate a warm and welcoming atmosphere for new and seasoned yogis alike.

Why Does America Struggle with Such a Preventable Health Crisis?

The answer is very complicated and most frustratingly, it has a lot more to do with our environment than failings or lack of willpower on the part of the individual. As many have observed, if you “go with the flow” in America, you will be overweight or obese. 

This does not mean, however, that individuals are powerless or that we should accept this with certainty as our assured fate. Education and wellness coaching can go a long way in empowering individuals to swim against the current towards better health and wellness. 

This blog post will explore some of the issues that tangle together to make healthy living in this country so elusive for the majority. 

The more you learn and know about the environment in which we need to make food, activity and ultimately health decisions each day, you more you realize weight issues and obesity can not be blamed on a failure of individual agency or willpower. We are not doomed, but understanding the issues described below is imperative for the individual to have a chance of navigating themselves and their families towards health. In America, health is the ultimate “knowledge is power” issue of our time. 

Our Very New Toxic Environment is at Odds with Our Evolution
In the last 75 years, we have created a toxic environment in America that is incompatible with the way our body’s needs have evolved. Our modern world is characterized by excess energy reserves hard to avoid and this abundance of calories is evolutionarily new. For 4 million years humans have inhabited an environment of food scarcity so we are programed to eat as much as possible when calorie dense foods, such as meat, become available. 

This hardwiring allowed us to survive food insecurity, and even famine, but in our current landscape of overabundance, the instinct becomes disadvantageous. Food is now obsequious everywhere in America – we see it at gas stations and bookstores and vending machines are present at every school and workplace. This is another new development and it provides us with unrelenting external cues to eat. 

We are also designed to walk several miles a day in search of food, water, and firewood—as indigenous people do to this very day. Since our bodies depend on this activity to function properly, our new sedentary, indoor lifestyles cause chronic discomfort, pain and arthritic conditions for the 1 in 4 American adults that get no physical activity at all. 

Additionally, up until the very recent past, people lived and worked in dwellings without the consistent temperature control of central heating and air conditioning. That meant that many calories consumed in past generations where expanded to maintain the body’s internal temperature. 

These biological factors put us at odds with our new food supply, which has become completely industrialized during the same period of time. Stay tuned for upcoming blog posts that take a deeper dive into the health and wellness issues that arise as a consequence of our industrialized food system. 

Explore Wellness Coaching to Combat These Issues 
Learn more about developing your own personalized formula for heath and wellness to combat these issues by working with a Thrive Wellness Coach.

In a recent Forbes article, Noma Nazish breaks down why self-care is so important for wellness, and includes a list of simple ways to introduce more into your life. 

Work with a Thrive Wellness Coach to develop your own custom formula for health and wellness. 

“No matter how indulgent or fancy the term may sound, self-care is crucial for our physical, emotional and mental well-being. You shouldn’t neglect self-care and here's why:

• Know your worth: Self-care is important to maintain a healthy relationship with yourself as it produces positive feelings and boosts your confidence and self-esteem. Also, self-care is necessary to remind yourself and others that you and your needs are important too.

 

• A healthy work-life balance: Contrary to common belief, workaholism is not a virtue. Overwork, and the accompanying stress and exhaustion can make you less productive, disorganized and emotionally depleted. It can also lead to all sorts of health problems, from anxiety and depression to insomnia and heart diseases. Professional self-care habits like taking intermittent breaks (for lunch, calling your mom, or taking a stroll), setting professional boundaries, avoiding overextending, etc. ensures that you stay sharp, motivated and healthy.

 

• Stress management: While a little dose of stress is a healthy way to give us a nudge that we need to meet the deadlines or finish that overdue task, constant stress and anxiety can have an adverse effect on your mental and physical health. Smart self-care habits like eating healthy, connecting with a loved one or, practicing meditation cuts down the toxic effects of stress by improving your mood and boosting your energy and confidence levels.

 

• Start living, stop existing: Life is a precious gift. So why waste it when we have the choice to have a more meaningful existence? Yes, you have a lot of responsibilities— fixing the dryer, mowing the lawn, paying bills. But it’s important to remember that taking care of yourself is also your responsibility. Little things like sipping tea while looking at the raindrops racing down the window glass, enjoying a bubble bath, or reading a book are essential for your daily happiness. While things like taking up a new hobby or learning a new language can make your life more purposeful by giving you a new reason to get up in the morning.

 

• Better physical health: Self-care is not just about your mental health. It’s also about caring for your physical self, by eating healthy, taking adequate sleep, caring about your hygiene, exercising regularly, etc.”

 
Click here to read the full article.

Every age.
Every race and ethnicity.
Every class and socioeconomic status.
Every gender identity and sexual orientation.
Every size, shape, height, weight & disability.

The Trail Is Waiting
​
​The Appalachian Trail is the longest hiking-only footpath in the world, ranging from Maine to Georgia.

​Explore the trail by state. 

We can add another benefit to exercise to our already long list. 

According to this great infographic from Fix.com, Your Brain on Exercise, “[regular exercise] can improve learning and mental performance, encourage the pituitary gland to release endorphins, and reduce sensitivity to stress, depression, and anxiety.”

Exercise is particularly important for children with developing brains, and regular doses often improves academic performance as, “a link has also been established between attention span and concentration and exercise.”

Learn more by viewing the full infographic: Your Brain on Exercise.

According to the New York Times, surprisingly few, it seems. According to a new review of studies related to running and health, jogging for as few as five or six miles per week could substantially improve someone’s health.

The reviewers found that even with such skimpy mileage, runners generally weighed less and had a lower risk of obesity than people who jogged fewer than five miles per week or (more commonly) not at all. These runners also were less likely to experience high blood pressure, cholesterol problems, diabetes, strokes, certain cancers and arthritis than the barely- or nonrunners.

“It seems like the maximum benefits of running occur at quite low doses,” said Dr. Carl J. Lavie, medical director of cardiac rehabilitation and prevention at the Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans and lead author of the review, which was published in September in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

As little as “one to two runs per week, or three to six miles per week, and well less than an hour per week” can be quite beneficial, he said. Read more.

1. The quality or state of being healthy in body and mind, especially as the result of deliberate effort. 

2. An approach to healthcare that emphasizes preventing illness and prolonging life, as opposed to emphasizing treating diseases.

The Definition of Wellness on Dictonary.com.

Discover three tips to add an inch to your arm in eight weeks from Men's Fitness. 

Schedule a free coaching session to tackle a new fitness goal this month. 

GENTLE YOGA APR 24 PLAYLIST

"Try recognizing the ways in which you meet obstacles with harshness. Experiment with being soft when your impulse is to be hard, generous when your impulse is to be withholding, open when your impulse is to close up, or shut down emotionally.

When there is grief or sadness, try letting it be here. Allow yourself to feel whatever you are feeling. Notice any labels you attach to crying or feeling vulnerable. Let go of the labels.

Just feel what you are feeling, all the while cultivating moment-to-moment awareness, riding the waves of "up" and "down," "good" and "bad," "weak" and "strong," until you see that they are all inadequate to fully describe your experience.

​Be with the experience itself. Trust in your deepest strength of all: to be present, to be wakeful."

From Wherever You Go There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn




​

The New York Times has reported welcome news: New diabetes cases have begun to fall in the United States. 

The article asserts that, "the rate of new cases fell by about a fifth from 2008 to 2014, according to researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the first sustained decline since the disease started to explode in this country about 25 years ago." The Times mentions the following possible reasons why the decline occurred. 

• Eating habits have finally begun to improve. 
• Soda consumption is down
• Physical activity has started to rise
• Obesity rates, a major driver of Type 2 diabetes, have flattened
• People realize the danger of a sedantary lifestyle
• Many realize the result of healthier habits is a better quality of life

Still, however, "diabetes afflicts one in every 10 American adults and is the country’s leading cause of blindness, limb amputations and kidney dialysis." 

“It’s not yet time to have a parade,' said Dr. David M. Nathan, the director of the Diabetes Center and Clinical Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital. But he noted, 'It has finally entered into the consciousness of our population that the sedentary lifestyle is a real problem, that increased body weight is a real problem.”

Read the full article. 

Want to work on anything this article brings up, such as eating habits or becoming more active? Contact Thrive Wellness Coaching to schedule a free wellness coaching session. 

The holidays place many more demands on most of our schedules. This is why maintaining self-care is even more important this time of year. 

Can you squeeze some of your regular workouts back into this socially packed month?  

Do you have time on Sunday to cook healthy dinners for the workweek, buffering the cocktail party fare?

Can any shopping be done online, in a fraction of the time visiting the store would take?

Read Dr. Frank Lipman's 7 Tips for A Healthier, Happier, Low-Stress Holiday. 

Namaste!

Ironman triathlete and ultramarathoner Brendan Brazier realized early on is his career that diet would play a big role in his overall performance. "Longer events really level the athletic playing field. It becomes more about training and the speed of recovery than about natural ability," Brazier says. "Nutrition allows you to train harder and recover faster." 

The refined white starches he had added to his diet to make up for the carbohydrates he was burning weren't increasing his energy levels as much as he had hoped. After extensive research, Brazier found that about 80 percent of recovery is linked to good nutrition. "Eating more doesn't always mean more energy. You can be overfed while being undernourished," he says. Brazier eased into a whole food-based, vegan diet heavy on healthy whole grains (amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat), plant proteins (hemp, pea, rice) and dark leafy greans. Besides increasing his rate of recovery, he discovered that this eating plan with frequent, small meals helped him be more productive and sleep better. 

Today Brazier guest lectures at Cornell University, has written three books, most recently Thrive Foods.

Generation X, those born between 1966 and 1980, are twice as likely to develop diabetes as Baby Boomers. 

A recent Australian study concluded that, “Compared at the same relative age of 25 to 44 years, Generation X had a higher prevalence of obesity and diabetes compared to Boomers. This suggests that Generation X may be developing the lifestyle related conditions of obesity and diabetes sooner when compared to Baby Boomers.”

Wellness Coaching is a great match for those embarking on permanent lifestyle change. Learn more by requesting a free session.