Yoga.........Smogah

Okay, so when someone mentions yoga, most of you get that glazed look and tune out, right? I know, I know, yoga makes you think of super thin, bendy people, who are most likely vegetarians, who have this weird ability to be peaceful in the most stressful of moments. Plain and simple, those SCARY people! Well, I'm one of those scary people. Well, not really so scary, definitely not thin, but somewhat bendy. Although I eat pretty healthily, I can't let go of all meat to become vegetarian. Let's face it, steak is pretty freaking good. Unless the doctor tells me tomorrow.... "If you eat another piece of red meat again you will die!"..... I'm gonna indulge occasionally. I am an omnivore and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Still I applaud my vegan and vegetarian friends and I do try to be more like you guys everyday. ;)



I love yoga. I really do. After being one of those people that secretly laughed at the bendy ones, I was encouraged by a friend to give it a try. I was in my late 20's and looking for something to relieve stress after my divorce. After much eye rolling, and snarkisms, ssurprisingly, I fell in love with yoga. I felt soooo good when I did yoga. I felt stronger, more graceful, centered. I can honestly say that one of the most balanced times in my life, emotionally and physically, was when I was meditating and doing yoga. I continued this practice for many years, but when I hit the last few years of my late 30's, I picked up considerable weight. I didn't feel like I had the right body for yoga and let's face it, some of the positions were near impossible for me, I became discouraged and abandoned it.



Now let's fast forward to 2009. After turning 42, I realized I needed to re-assess my life. If you've been reading this blog, you already know some of the conclusions I came to. I realized that I missed my daily mediation and yoga routines, so I vowed to fit them in my schedule pronto! The meditation part was pretty easy........find a quiet corner and do breathing/visualization exercises.........ommmmmmmmmmmmm, but the yoga, oh the yoga, yeah..........my body still thwarted my efforts. I was determined, I tried very valiantly to do my old routines, but I suffered and resented every moment of it. Yoga no longer felt good. So, what's a round girl to do when boobs and a belly get in the way? Well, I'll tell you what you do, you look for yoga for people without typical bodies or physical abilities.



I started researching on the net. I typed in Yoga for heavier woman *wasn't willing to put in the word FAT in yet* and I came up with all types of hits. When I pushed my research a little farther, I found yoga for heavy people, yoga for women, yoga for people with back injuries, yoga for people that are bed bound, pretty much yoga for anyone person that had to desire to practice this great art. I was ecstatic!

Now I'm not gonna go through the litany of types of yoga here. I will tell you that Bikram and Hatha are the two I practice. These two types suit my needs and it's up to you to figure out what works for you.

A great find for us fuller figured people is "Yoga: Just My Size" with Megan Garcia. Megan also has a great book called "Mega Yoga", which helps you create your modified routine. There is an awesome dvd called "Yoga For the Rest of Us" with Peggy Cappy, which is great for non traditional bodies. You think you are too heavy, too old, too out of shape for yoga? Well this dvd may just change your mind. Another good option is a dvd called "Yoga In Bed". I used this some nights when I'm really tired, but still want to do a yoga routine to be faithful to my goal. It's great and I sleep like a baby afterwards!

If you research yoga, you can find there are all sorts of yoga. Yoga for back injuries, yoga for diabetes, yoga during pregnancy, the list goes on. Find something that fits your needs. Yoga can be for anyone, the trick is to find the one that suits you. Then one day, maybe you too can become one of the "bendy" ones. I hope this encourages some of you to just give it a try. I can't convey how much it helps me overall and I think if you just give it a chance, you'll soon be a convert too. Until next time, Namaste.

Green Goodies

I'm always on the look out for great ideas to live a greener existence. Hours are spent perusing the Internet, in search for cool and reasonably priced items. Today I'll pass along a few I've found.

Recently my old lunch bag gave out. KAPUT! It had been my son's lunch bag since 2000. Since he is now closing in on 21, this bag has seen 10 years of use. Not too shabby. It's an insulated bag, which decided to disintegrate during its last washing. I sighed and looked around the house for something that I could use in its place. No such luck. The cloth bags I used for groceries are out of the question, since I needed something insulated, because many times there is no room in the fridge at work. So I went on the hunt and found this site. http://www.laptoplunches.com/

Their products contain no phthalates, bisphenol A (BPA) or lead, which is what I look for in such products. In case you are scratching your heads going phtha...........what? Or bisphenal who? I'll give a brief rundown on these compounds. Phthalate is used in plastics to increase their flexibility, transparency, and durability. However, once the plastic starts to break down, which it invariably will, it releases the phthalate esters into the environment. This is bad because studies have reported that high levels of phthalates can cause changes in hormone levels, birth defects, and endocrine disruption. There are current studies going on that believe that this can lead to obesity and metabolic interference. BPA is also used in plastic and studies have shown that it is also an endocrine disruptor. Along with the side effects I listed above, there is also an increase risk in cancers, such as breast, prostate, and neuroblastoma. Nothing about these chemical compounds are positive and, in my opinion, need to be kept out of our environment.

The Bento lunch boxes and their sleeves look to be exactly what I am looking for. I 'bag' it a lot these days, partly because of money, but also as a part of my "cut down on my consumer consumption" pledge. I am most excited about the little container for salad dressing or sauce. Yay! I hate hauling around an entire bottle of dressing for just one lunch salad. This will also help on portion control. The site also comes with ideas and menus for lunch, which can help liven up a boring meal. One can only stand so many sandwiches.

The next goody is a somewhat cheap and easy to install, solar panel. This panel will not power your entire house, but it can be used to power tvs, computers, and some lights. We are all told about how much our computers drain on our electric grids. I power down my laptop everyday, but I have to leave up my PC, because I have Comcast Phone and it is powered by my PC. See my dilemma? I have been talking about installing a solar power for just powering my computer and my ex hubby recommended this http://www.harborfreight.com/45-watt-solar-panel-kit-90599.html.

This panel is right at $200 and seems to be just what I am looking for. I think I will put a few bucks away and purchase this in the next few months. I'll then report how much money I saved, due to running a few appliances off it's power.

I have some more things for you guys to check out, but I'll post those in coming blogs. Hope both or at least one of these items piques your interest. If you guys have ideas you'd like to pass along, please email me at greenermusings@gmail.com.