Ten Ways to Kick Yourself Out of a Bad Mood

Turn your frown upside down with these easy tips.

Are you having one of “those days?” You’re feeling blue or sad and you don’t know how to get yourself out of it. Or, maybe you recently had an awful day and you ate your way through an entire bag of Pepperidge Farms cookies and still didn’t feel better. When we live in close quarters with people, we notice mood shifts. Not only in those we love but our in our neighbors, co-workers and the people we come in contact with on a daily basis. When we have a bad day, sometimes we let everyone around us notice it. But how can we shift our mood? Here are some easy tips: One of the foundational principals in yoga is the idea of transience. This is the idea that things are shifting on a daily basis and nothing is ever stable. We might notice this …

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10 Signs that Stress is Harmful to Your Health and 10 Positive Changes You Can Make

Prevent stress by taking these steps towards better health.

I know a lot of entrepreneurs. These are people in my neighborhood that left working in a corporate position to work for themselves. In every case, they were unhappy with their lifestyle and passionate about something else, so they created an opportunity to start their own business. I see them often in my local coffeehouse and we talk about business ideas and how things are going. You might think that when you make a move such as this, you leave stress behind. This actually is not the case. Speaking from my own entrepreneurial experience, I can say that stress is a daily factor of my life. Juggling many different things regularly, completing daily activities as well as making time for future planning all can create stress. But, the one …

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Mom Talk

Too Fat or Too Thin – Can The Law Help?

If we recognize that eating disorders are related to obesity, lawmakers in Boston and in Massachusetts can help more kids at risk.

“Mommy, I’m fat,” says my daughter, all 40-something lbs. and 40-something inches of her. I see a perfectly smooth belly, and a body that is all little-kid taut. She looks in the mirror and manages to stick out her tummy a bit farther by arching her back. “You’re not fat,” comes my truthful response. It's a conversation that goes on. As much as kids are their parents’ parrots, I hope my child is not copying my own body concerns – since I have my metabolism and city walking to thank and I’m not overweight. But to blame her behavior on any media is all too easy. Yet talk about fat we will – from Michelle Obama to Tom Menino, Disney World to City Hall, the conversation is hard to escape. Half of the adults and a third of Boston’s children are…

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7 Tips to Improve Your Financial Health

Create better health through improving your finances.

Quick: do you know how much money is in your wallet? When was the last time you balanced your checkbook? Do you go to the ATM machine frequently and have little idea where all your cash goes? Mindfulness is the practice of awareness. As a yoga teacher, I try to bring awareness to students by offering suggestions for body position and breath. As a yoga student, I try to bring awareness to my practice by breathing deeply, resting my gaze in each pose on one spot and listening to my body. So, what do these tips have to do with spending money? Most people think about money in the context of having a budget. But having a budget doesn’t do you any good if you don’t stick to it. Also, having a budget doesn’t take into consideration how you feel …

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Opinion: Heart-Healthy Tips for February

Make your heart stronger and live longer!

While February has Valentine’s Day as a heart-centered day, it also is American Heart Month, as recognized by the American Heart Association. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and there are many things that each of us can do to improve our heart health. Taking care of your heart is really a two-fold thing. First, there’s the focus on the actual heart itself and making it strong and healthy. This is done through a combination of dietary choices, exercise habits and stress management. We can eat all the healthy food in the world but if we’re constantly stressed, that can lead to high blood pressure (hypertension) and can put a strain on our heart. As a yoga teacher, I know that yoga has a tremendous …

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Opinion: Tune In for Better Health

Disconnect from technology and tune in to your body instead.

In the past few weeks, there have been two notable reports in the news about companies encouraging, if not forcing, their employees to stop emailing after work hours. A New York Times story, “A Time to Tune Out,” described Volkswagen’s new policy to turn off the email server to selected employees one half-hour after their shift ends, only to resume it 30 minutes before their next shift starts. In another report on NBC Nightly News last week, a Boston-based company was profiled in which the CEO and some staff set an automated response in their email that is sent out in response to any email that they receive after 5:30 pm. While they still answer their phone calls, they refrain from responding to emails after work hours. The growth of …

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7 Ways to Boost Your Health, Without Breaking a Sweat

Mindfulness techniques can provide you with immediate stress relief, which can have a lasting affect on your overall health.

In a column about health and wellness in your neighborhood, I usually focus on active things you can do to improve your health. I’ve written about yoga, walking programs, training techniques for runners, nutrition and information about resources right “under your feet” that can improve your wellness. I was recently exposed to a new mindset that I found very powerful and one that immediately had a positive affect on my own health by decreasing my stress level. For those of you that are aware of mindfulness techniques, you know that there are many things one can do to improve one’s health that don’t involve moving the body but instead involve things like deep breathing, shifting your attitude and shifting the way you see the world.  So today…

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Kick Off Fall with a New Attitude

It doesn't need to be warm outside or the start of the calendar year for you to vow to start a new health program.

Many people look to summer as the time to make changes in their lives around their health as the warmer weather coaxes them out of the house and outside. But any day is a wonderful day to make a new commitment to your health. The fall is also a great time to make new changes in your eating habits, exercise plans and overall health. But is something holding you back? Sometimes it’s not a matter of our body, but often our mind that’s holding us back from beginning something new or getting back into a routine of taking care of ourselves. In my work as a yoga teacher, I sometimes hear people share stories of the way they used to be, physically, before other things happened that got them off the track of living healthy. Former college athletes…

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Photo Gallery: Yoga "Maestro" Now Teaching Children

Your Moment of Glen: Local teacher is dedicated to building community.

The Sanskrit word Sadhana is often translated into English as a path to realization, or a means to accomplish something, usually spiritual in nature. In the South End, Sadhana Studios serenely, and quite unassumingly, provides a means to find that path toward what owner Glen Cunningham terms, "a space and culture that allows for each individual's personal practice." Cunningham has a particular dedication to building community which has made Sadhana a welcoming and inclusive Hatha-like yoga studio for over five years. In fact, responding to requests from community members, Sadhana is now offering a six-week course for kids 7-11 years of age. Taught by Sadhana instructor Solange Voss, who has specialized training in yoga designed for …

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