Liv By Ciara Wimby

3 Ways to Stay Hydrated

noreply@blogger.com (Ciara Wimby) — Wed, 10 Jul 2013 22:56:00 +0000

We love the summer! Time for travel and lots of fun outdoor activities! But with all the exposure to the sun and heat, we also tend to lose lots of fluids leading to dehydration.

Here are 3 simple ways you can stay hydrated throughout the summer to beat the summer heat:

Water: It’s hot outside and you think a cold refreshing glass of water will cool you down. Actually drinking room temperature water is more beneficial to your body. The water is absorbed better and less likely to cause stomach cramps.

Fruits/Vegetables: We are all aware that water is the major source to keep us hydrated, as our bodies our made up mostly of water. Fruits and vegetables are also made up of mostly water, making them an excellent choice for hydration. Watermelon, strawberries and cucumbers are a few choices you can carry around to snack on while having your summer fun!

Coconut Water: This yummy drink is comprised of 95% water. It’s a great replacement for sports drinks as it has fewer calories, less sodium and high in potassium.

The summer is about having fun! Not passing out! So stay hydrated!

Steps to Cool Down during Pitta Season

noreply@blogger.com (Ciara Wimby) — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 18:47:00 +0000

July begins the start of the Pitta season according to Ayurvedic Science, the science of life and sister science to Yoga. The Pitta season represents the fire element. Fire is hot, bright and sharp.

We want to pacify the Pitta season by adjusting our lifestyles to the intensity this season brings. Adding foods and activities that are cooling to our summer routine can help us work with the heat instead of against it. Thus allowing us to enjoy all the fun and benefits this season brings.

Steps to cool down the intensity of the Pitta season:

Drink lots of water (preferably room temperature)
Eat cooling foods such as sweet fruit, bitter vegetables and grains
Water activities like swimming, surfing, sailing or simply sitting by the water

Living in accordance with nature can help bring full support and healing power of nature that underlies the growth and development of all living things. (Continue Reading)

Liv Your Truth!

Essential Oils to Balance the Third Chakra

noreply@blogger.com (Ciara Wimby) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 23:52:00 +0000

Essential oils are used in the branch of healing called aromatherapy. Using certain oils can help in healing and balancing disorders we have in our bodies. Essential oils that can aid in balancing the third chakra...(Continue reading...).

Liv Your Truth!

Your Third Chakra and Digestive Healing

noreply@blogger.com (Ciara Wimby) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 23:37:00 +0000

The third chakra or Manipura Chakra is located int the solar plex, navel and digestive area. Associated with the color yellow, this chakra is involved in self-esteem, warrior energy, and the power of transformation; it also governs digestion and metabolism. Physically, the benefits of having Manipura in harmony include excellent digestion, strong muscles and joints, boundless energy, calm nerves, mental clarity and overall A+ wellness (Manipura, at the gut, is really the seat of our vitality).

An under-active Manipura leads to timidity and passiveness, losing your voice in a group. It’s hard to make decisions, and when you do, you likely lack the confidence to stand up for what you want. On a physical level, you might suffer from a weakened immune system and have issues with indigestion and infections. (Continue reading...)

Liv Your Truth!

Digestive Problems in Women

noreply@blogger.com (Ciara Wimby) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 23:16:00 +0000

Women are mothers, wives, leaders in business and best friends. You try to heal, nurture and fix everyone's problems hardly leaving anytime for yourself. How you internalizes your many roles of life can have negative affect on your digestive system.

Although your brain is the head honcho of your body, your digestive tract is the central processing unit. From beginning to end, a healthy digestive tract is critical to feeling good, functioning well and avoiding some pretty serious diseases. The digestive tract is designed to take in nutrients to feed every cell of your body; it also serves as a key support system for your immune system.

When your GI tract is constantly off kilter, you run the risk of actually creating systemic (throughout your body) inflammation, which can lead to an overactive immune response, increased oxidative stress, insulin resistance and increased fat tissue deposits. Be aware of the following types of issues: (Continue reading...)

Health = Success

noreply@blogger.com (Ciara Wimby) — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:47:00 +0000

The process to begin living your truth starts with improving your health. It is not important that you are skinny or have lots of muscles. What is important is that you have the capacity to breathe easily, to move around without quickly tiring and not feel sick all the time.

Our lives have many areas of distracts and we need to make sure our health is maintained so that we can focus on having a good quality of life. To live in a truthful manner there are areas of your life that must have a level of balance. These area include, but aren’t limited to:

Normalization of weight
Increased energy level
Decreased pain
Improved sleep
Improved immunity
Improvement in balance
Increased strength and resiliency

A healthy lifestyle begins with incorporating a fitness routine. In my expert opinion, one should begin a routine that is slow paced then work their way up. Starting slowly assist in sustaining our commitment to the routine.

Also, slowly begin replacing foods with healthier food options. Again, I suggest slow because this is not a diet. You are changing habits for long term, lifetime success.

Your health must have a level of balance so that you are able to think clearly, act out your thoughts and be able to form relationships of love, friendship and support to the accomplishments of your thoughts. Your health can be summarized as complete physical, mental and social well being. Once you have met the basic needs of sustaining a healthy lifestyle it is much easier to focus on living your truth and achieving your goals and dreams.

Liv Your Truth!

Yoga & the Social Media Circle of Life

noreply@blogger.com (Ciara Wimby) — Mon, 13 May 2013 19:54:00 +0000

Social Media is a very interesting medium to me. Growing up we just had regular telephones, mail and face to face social gathering to keep you in touch, in tuned and involved. Today, you never ever have to see or hear a person if you don’t want to. Or if you do, you don’t ever have to come in physical contact with the people, yet know everything about them.

So for me, I didn’t know if I liked social media. I want to see, touch, feel and smell people (hope they smell good). I need physical interaction, as I spend enough time alone writing, planning, art or whatever I feel I need to be completely in sync with.

I felt like social media was more of barrier rather than a connector for me. Sure there is online dating, but that’s not my speed. While you can Skype, I like to see my people face to face. And there’s Facebook where most people are voyeurs into other people’s life, I’d rather talk to you on the phone to find out what’s happening with you.

My perception of social media has changed from one small event that took place and made my yoga program a success.

Social Event: Being new to the Phoenix Metropolitan area, I decided I would go on a food tour. I could hang out with some new people for a few hours. If I made a connection with one or none past the social event, it was a way to have some physical interaction.

Connection: I overheard a conversation had by a young lady, Jordan Johnson, regarding her social media expertise. For some reason I knew in that exact moment that conversation was meant for me, so I asked for her card. Jordan is also the daughter of the owner of the first restaurant on the food tour, Squash Blossom.

I called Jordan regarding web design and social media assistance for my business and upcoming yoga program I was introducing at a yoga studio. However, by the time we met, the yoga studio unfortunately had to close. No studio to host my yoga program, but I believe that one should always keep moving forward with the plan because you never know what’s around the corner. So I met with Jordan anyway.

Well the meeting was just the thing around the corner. Not only did the beginnings of a web design & social media assistance take place, but a space to host my yoga program was created. That’s right my program would be delayed a month, but had a new home, Squash Blossom.

Now I had to find an audience. I was going to use the yoga studio’s members as the people I marketed the program to. No one else, well the social media circle of life had other plans.

After much effort of face to face passing out flyers, setting flyers in businesses, I turned to social media since I hadn’t gotten any face to face responses. I signed up for Meetup.com, which I got registrants from. But it was a connection made on Twitter that created the most unusual and interesting relationship for me and my yoga program.

Social Media: Anel Arriola decided she would take a break from Facebook’s social media scene. She didn’t feel like she was utilizing and connecting with people the way she wanted. So Anel turned to Twitter to see if she would have better luck there.

A resident of downtown Phoenix, she became a follower of Squash Blossom. Unaware of my social media actions, I somehow followed Anel on Twitter. She looked more into my program and thought it would be a great fit for achieving the goals and dreams she has in her life.

Having been away from Facebook for over a month, she got back on and connected with her friend that she hadn’t seen in two years. While they had not seen each other, Facebook had been their way of keeping in touch. But since Anel had been gone for so long, the friends decided to meet in person.

During their face to face meeting, Anel told her friend of the program she had planned to register for. The friend thought it would be fitting for her life and decided that it would be great for her boyfriend to attend as well. So they all signed up and the program began.

Yoga: While in a yoga class, in which we were supposed to be practicing yoga, somehow it took a turn and we decided to talk about other aspects of yoga, not just practicing asanas (poses). Our conversation revealed the synchronicity of the universe and how it assist you in fulfilling your goals, dreams and desires if you allow it. We went on to discuss how we are each a universe of our own and we each affect one another’s universe by drawing people, places or things to support our goals and dreams.

I shared with them my story of how I came to Squash Blossom. And my belief that I had drawn this place into my universe to support me in allowing my yoga program to be introduced to other people to benefit from. Anel saw the connection of how I also drew her into my universe and told the above mentioned story.

Needless to say, I was amazed at this social media circle of life. This made me a believer that social media was a great tool to connect people face to face, a capability I didn’t see before. I thought it was just one more way to disconnect.

Social Media, like yoga is a tool meant to unit and bring together. To have a oneness, holistic approach to living. There was a lesson taught for me that social media is meant to bring us together in every aspect of our life.

Liv your truth!

You & Me

noreply@blogger.com (Ciara Wimby) — Sat, 11 May 2013 21:01:00 +0000

My aunt observed a t-shirt I was wearing from pictures I had on during my yoga photo shoot. The t-shirt is white and says “You&Me.” She told me she liked it and wanted one. I said, “sure, no problem.”

Every time a picture of me was posted on Facebook wearing the You&Me t-shirt, she would remind me that she was still waiting for her t-shirt to arrive. I admit, I procrastinated and didn’t go look to see if the store I purchased the shirt from still had any in stock. A month or so passed.

Still pictures of me in the You&Me t-shirt doing various yoga poses are continually being circulated through my social media feeds. My aunt inquires even more about the t-shirt. I say, “Okay, I will go look for the t-shirt. If I don’t find it, I will send you mine.”

Of course, the t-shirt was no longer to be found. I am a woman of my word and sincerely work to honor all commitments. But I liked my t-shirt! I really wasn’t ready to part with it just yet! I just got it!

It was a great statement when teaching my yoga classes, You&Me.

I packed up the t-shirt and mailed it off. Bye, bye t-shirt! It was fun while it lasted!

You&Me have a responsibility to one another. I recognize that we are the same - Namaste. That’s what the shirt represented to me.

My aunt made me hold true to the very personal meaning of this t-shirt to me. As she has, does and will do anything for me and the rest of our family. She married a man that understood that and brought the same quality to our family.

You & Me, my aunt and I are a lot alike. We are both Aries. We have both experienced Ulcerative Colitis. And we both love to have fun with our family & friends, valuing them very. I guess it was fitting for her to have the t-shirt, the representation of You&Me.

Would you give someone the shirt off your back, out your closet or from your drawer to take care of them? Or even simply to make them happy because it isn’t always a need. Can you give away something that you want to keep?

Liv your truth!

Am I What I Eat?

noreply@blogger.com (Ciara Wimby) — Wed, 08 May 2013 20:49:00 +0000

We are told time and time again that you are what you eat! So if I eat a potato chip, I’m a potato chip? If I eat a carrot, then I’m a carrot?

There are so many theories about what a healthy diet is, it can be confusing.

Per our various sources of “expert” information, a healthy diet is:

Animal based with fruits and vegetables
Vegetarian (you can eat everything under the sun except animal meat, and fish is “sometimes” and “sometimes” not in that category)
Vegan (absolutely no animals, sometimes animals or animal byproducts, like butter)
Raw Vegetarian (Strictly and only live fruits & vegetables, that means no cooked fruits & vegetables and no pasta – for people who are vegetarians)

So confusing it’s no wonder why people have a hard time managing their weight.

In my 39 years of existence, I have been an animal eater, vegetarian, vegan and raw vegetarian at various points of my life. My food consumption has varied based off of a health challenge (Ulcerative Colitis/Crohn’s Disease), weight loss or healthier eating habits I was managing. Needless to say, they may have all served a purpose at some given time, but were not beneficially sustaining for me.

When I was a vegetarian and vegan, my GI doctor’s said I needed to eat meat because I was anemic. When I was a raw vegetarian, the Chinese herbalist said I needed to eat chicken and cooked vegetables to improve anemia and get heat back into my body. But when I eat meat all the time, I don’t digest it well and I personally don’t feel well.

There are foods that are recommended for people to eat based off of Doshas (Auryvedic Science), Chinese Herbal Medicine, Blood Type, etc. Again, many schools of expertise to determine what’s a good food consumption plan for you.

What’s a girl like me to do?

Well through my experience, I have gained a very clear understanding regarding food and it’s connections with weight management, using it as a tool for healing, and sustaining healthy living. My expert information this:

Learn your body and understand what makes it tick. Write in a food journal to see what makes you feel good/bad. This will help you find out what foods are helpful to you.
Listen to your bodies cravings. And not the chocolate cravings, your body doesn’t NEED this all the time. But become very in tuned with your body because the more aware you are, the better you can identify a real food craving which is your body is sending you signals to tell you it needs, because sometimes it is chocolate.
Monitor your food intake. Portion control is important. And balancing your food choices, be a potato every now and again, but make sure you’re a carrot too.

Liv Your Truth!

Creative Management

noreply@blogger.com (Ciara Wimby) — Tue, 07 May 2013 17:30:00 +0000

Your creative juices have begun to flow. Watch out because a flood of thoughts and ideas are rushing through your brain. You may have started a project and needed ideas to help you along the way to see that project through.

Then another great idea comes along that may not look like it has any relatedness to the project you are trying to complete. But your creative juices have been so slow to flow for so long that you feel the need to take on another project. Ideas are flowing for that project. You are and overflowing source of creative lava.

Project number 2 is now getting all of your creative attention. You begin to neglect project 1. You recognize the neglect and decide you can manage both. Just then, creative thought produces ideas for your best project yet!

Project number 3 is born. Because it is your best thought ever, you become solely consumed. You are experiencing creativity begetting creativity begetting creativity.

This can be a wonderful time as your creative juices are on fire. You are inspired! You are highly productive.

Completing all your creative endeavors may become challenging in the mist of it all. They each have a place in your heart and in this world where you feel will be beneficial. They are all important.

Take a step back and breathe!

Managing your creativity is a process that will allow you to utilize your creative abundance experience in a manner that will work for you. You need to begin with the following steps:

· Organize your current projects. Identify the need base for the project. Categorize and place your efforts to the one that will bring the most benefit of service.

· Write down other ideas that come to mind. Jot down notes as other ideas for those projects come to mind. This will assist you in capturing the idea and its creative path without overloading yourself with more projects you can handle at the present time.

· Overlap each project. Identify where you can use the simultaneously in conjunction with one another. For example: I teach yoga and I have new interest in expressing myself through painting, my first pictures are of yoga poses.

There’s no reason why creativity should go to waste. We just need ways to manage our creativity to produce the results we want. Liv Your Truth!

Flexible Mind, Flexible Body

noreply@blogger.com (Ciara Wimby) — Fri, 03 May 2013 01:06:00 +0000

Yoga is synonymously affiliated with being flexible. Practicing yogis and naturally flexible people are able to contour their body into various poses that seem to be impossible for the average person. But in reality, we all can get our bodies into most of the asanas (poses). With practice!

Asanas being merely one aspect of yoga, allows one to see what can be done in the physical can also be done in the mental. However, it’s in the mental where we can first see what we can do. And what we cannot do!

You’re as flexible as your mind allows you to be. When a person who has never practiced or new to yoga states that they are not flexible, they have just revealed something about themselves. And it’s not the mere statement of their body’s limits, but the perceived limits they have for their mental body, extending into other areas of their lives.

Thoughts of our flexibility in our body only reflect the way we are flexible in our life. The state of flexibility in our mind allows us the ability to maneuver and adjust to the many events that life brings. We see how adaptable we are to the changes that occur and our recovery time to stabilize.

A feeling of inflexibility is a good reason to incorporate a yoga practice into your daily routine. It will assist in the discovery of your flexible body, but more important your flexible mind limits. We need to be pliable and fluid to remain centered and balance to any of our life altering events. A yoga practice will assist in giving your confidence in your flexibility in your body and in all the other areas of your life.

Liv Your Truth!

I’ll Change on Monday

noreply@blogger.com (Ciara Wimby) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 20:00:00 +0000

Is there ever a good time for change? Oh yeah, every Monday, next month and the beginning of the year.

When people point out stuff you need to change, is it their issue with you, or a true assessment of what everyone is seeing of you? It’s really hard to judge because most times, it’s someone you could point out a few needed changes to that is telling you about your stuff…really. Dr. Wayne Dryer suggest our teachers maybe disguised as petty tyrants, so there’s a lesson to learn even from those we don’t think can teach us.

The hardest thing to change about one’s self is when you don’t see anything wrong. But the discomfort in your relationships, your finances and your career may state otherwise. However, for whatever reason, we are blind to the discomfort and don’t see or believe that we may have anything to do with it.

What if we simply believed whatever error that was pointed out to us is really something about ourselves we really need fixing? And not only did we believe it needed to be changed; we actually started on Monday to change it to make ourselves better. Along with a side of, don’t retort with what they need to change, just focus on you.

Thank your enemy for the kind lesson for improvement. Meet the change with an open heart and an open mind. Don’t spend your time trying to make someone else better, spend your time trying to make you better!

Liv your truth!

Treat Your Feet

noreply@blogger.com (Ciara Wimby) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:27:00 +0000

I love my pedicure and foot massage outings. Your feet may get a pedi or massage maybe weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or annually. For some or maybe most – NEVER!

Our feet are important! They are our body’s standing foundation. They walk us, run us, and support us. We repay them by saying they’re ugly, they stink and we don’t like them.

As a yoga instructor, I have the great opportunity to work barefoot, allowing my feet to breathe, be grounded and tone muscles. These are all greatly beneficial in maintaining healthy feet. But, I also get to come home with dirty feet.

I don’t walk around my house with shoes I’ve worn outside. And I definitely don’t want to walk around with “outside” dirty feet. So when I come home, the same place I take off my shoes, is the same place I take the time to treat my feet to a foot wash.

Foot Wash: Leave a bowl or small bucket filled with water, along with a wash towel and soap, out by the door before you leave out for the day. I prefer to use Dr. Bonner castile liquid soaps, as they come different wonderful essential oil scents of lavender, peppermint, and citrus orange to name a few. Washing your feet with an essential oil scent gives you an aromatherapy experience that can calm, balance or rejuvenate you depending on what you need when you come home.

In your foyer, drop your bags, take off your coat, remove your shoes and have a seat. If you don’t have a foyer, create a nice seating area where you can come in the door to relax and prepare for your foot wash. It doesn’t have to be super fancy; leaving a fold out chair by the door can do just fine.

The water in the bowl will be room temperature. Soak the towel, get it wet and add your soap. The coolness of the towel and your scent of choice will quickly begin to relax and restore you.

This is also a great way to simply make space in your day to attend to your health and can be a meditative act.

No matter your work or workout routine, instead of coming home dropping your coat and bags to move on to the next part of your day, take 5-10 minutes to treat your feet.

Liv your truth!

Were You Missed Today?

noreply@blogger.com (Ciara Wimby) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:00:00 +0000

Daily there are 4 things I look forward to, a “Good morning” text from a friend, Seth Godin’s blog feed, John F. Groom’s positive quote and words of inspiration from a friend recovering from being paralyzed.

The funny thing is that only one of them is personal to me, I think (the “Good morning” text). Even if they aren’t personal to me, my day isn’t the same when I haven’t received this content. And I bet they don’t even know how much it all means to me that I am thought of enough to be included in their outreach even if two of the content feeds I subscribe to (lol).

So yesterday I didn’t receive my daily words of inspiration from my friend. My first thought was did I overlook it. Once I saw that I didn’t, I thought about how I needed my content from her. Then it hit me, what if she was having a bad recovery day. I reached out to her and she was fine, but I wasn’t until then because I missed her presence as part of my day.

After my world was back to normal, I started thinking about how caught up we can become in our own experiences and don’t even realize that we affect other people when we don’t send out that “Good morning,” that positive quote (sometimes John F. Groom forgets), that blog (Seth Godin sends his faithfully) or daily inspiration. And what is it that each of us give out daily that if someone didn’t get it from us would be missed? Is it a smile, a hello, a coffee, a joke, a conversation, or an I love you.

Experience your day, however it may come, but don’t forget in the middle of it all to give someone that little something something that would be missed of you if they didn’t receive it.

Liv your truth!

Life Without Limits

noreply@blogger.com (Ciara Wimby) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 18:30:00 +0000

“You never asked us if we were beginners?” said Ileana Salinas. She is one of the participants in the Live Project 12 week – achieve your goals/dreams through yoga. She continued to tell the group that she liked that she wasn't given basic yoga instruction as if she were in a beginning yoga class, even if she was still new to incorporating a yoga practice into her routine. Ileana enjoyed being pushed passed her perceived limits.

We’re in our 4^th week of yoga and our group goal support sessions. And what I teach in the yoga classes are meant to be used off the mat in their everyday life. I don’t teach super challenging poses, but I do lead them to poses that encourage balance, confidence, courage, flexibility and strength…all the tools that we need in our everyday life to achieve our goals/dreams.

During the Live Project Group Goal Support Sessions, the participants discuss the feelings they had before, during and after asanas (poses). To date they have shared feelings of stress prior to yoga, feelings during yoga from relaxation to rebellion, and calmness, achievement and confidence after yoga. And learning to use conscious breathing as the most chosen method to regroup and refocus on and off the mat.

Also in the Live Project Group Goal Support Sessions, they've been required to journal their dreams/goals, organize, and visualize them. Using the tools they are learning from the yoga classes, they are really beginning to reshape their perceived vision of what they thought they could accomplish to what they know they can achieve. They are seeing our connection with one another in our goals/dreams - we all want to make a living doing what we enjoy, have loving relationships with friend/family and make a difference in the world.

There aren't limits to the dreams/goals we set out to achieve for ourselves. So we shouldn't allow our perceived vision of a pose, a situation or circumstance limit us either. Know that there is always a work around over, through and under as long as you remain balanced, confident, courageous, flexible, strong and keep breathing along the way!

To learn more about the Live Project or get involved (click here).

Liv your truth!

Reflections of You

noreply@blogger.com (Ciara Wimby) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 19:25:00 +0000

Have you ever noticed when someone else does something your disagree with?

A friend of mine got his taxes prepared at a very expensive tax firm in downtown Chicago. After signing and executing the process of his return, he later discovered that the expensive tax firm had used his last years tax filing information instead of the current tax filing numbers and information. Oops!

Rightfully so he was upset! He went on about how this was an expensive tax firm in downtown Chicago and they should do a better job than just simply coping and pasting from one year to the next. I agreed! But then I asked him an important question...

"Where in your life do you find that you don't pay attention to detail?"

He responded, "A lot of places. I expect for people to do there job." Which he should, but he didn't look over his tax return before signing off and allowing the expensive tax firm to file on his behalf. He neglected to pay attention to the details of his life.

We have a habit of noticing the mistakes of others, but never our own. When we see areas in other's that need improvement, take a moment to see where the improvement may need to be taken from within. Other people's behavior that we may disagree with can reflect the mirroring image of our own behavior.

Liv Your Truth!

Writing Your Life’s Best Work

noreply@blogger.com (Ciara Wimby) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 18:36:00 +0000

Writing is a skill, a talent, an innate gift…you posses it!

You begin to write…you stop, you start over, you delete.

Writing is creative, revealing, healing...for your life!

Journaling your thoughts, feelings and dreams can lead you to writing your life’s best work.

Here are 3 ways to begin your journaling process of achieving your dreams and goals.

1. Understanding yourself through self exploration and asking questions - 6 Ways Journaling Will Change Your Life (click here).

2. A creative approach to expressing your words with Art Journaling (click here).

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3. 10 Journaling Tips to Help You Heal, Grow and Thrive (click here)

May you write all of your dreams true. Liv your truth!

Stress Quotes: 8 Celebrities On How They De-Stress

noreply@blogger.com (Ciara Wimby) — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 23:08:00 +0000

With yoga and Transcendental Meditation becoming popular Hollywood trends, more and more stars are opening up about what stresses them out -- and, most importantly, how they calm down, whether it's meditation, breathing exercises or just a little time at home alone.

From Michelle Obama's go-to advice for decompressing to Brad Pitt's secret stress remedy, click through the slideshow below to see what 8 celebrities have to say about stress.

[Via http://huff.to/11ZvAOA]

The healing powers of yoga for men

noreply@blogger.com (Ciara Wimby) — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 21:10:00 +0000

Men Wayne Leal has developed something called 20:21 – 20 minutes of yoga for 21 days to complement your usual gym sessions.

‘Men have this fixation that yoga is for women,’ says Leal. ‘If they knew it was originally created by men for men, I’m sure more of them would do it. If they knew about the actual discipline, the focus and the strength that’s involved to do these particular postures, they would understand there’s so much more to gain than just being able to twist yourself into a pretzel.’

‘If you do anything for 21 days you’ll see a change,’ says Leal. ‘But the exercise isn’t the only training, it’s about how you feel about yourself. It should encourage you to want to continue because you have created a daily habit. I’m not expecting you to do it every day for the rest of your life, but it’s created a good, healthy habit.’

[Via http://bit.ly/12ypYft]

UAB says exercise an important part of cancer care

noreply@blogger.com (Ciara Wimby) — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 20:00:00 +0000

There is increasing evidence exercise and overall fitness are important for those fighting cancer, and for cancer survivors. New guidelines from the American Cancer Society presented in 2012 recommend that
people living with cancer maintain a healthy weight, get enough exercise and eat a healthy diet.

"We have more and more scientific evidence that shows that healthy nutrition and physical activity after a diagnosis can lower the chances of the cancer coming back, as well as improve the chances of disease-free survival,” said Elizabeth Kvale, M.D., medical director of the Supportive Care and Survivorship Clinic at UAB and an associate professor in the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center and Center for Palliative and Supportive Care.

[Via http://bit.ly/Z7tXjm]

Putting the Pieces Together

noreply@blogger.com (Ciara Wimby) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 02:36:00 +0000

Every day is a chance for us to recreate the person we want to be. A life that we fully create! So how do we create something from scratch?

By seeing the bigger picture at the end. Because it’s the starting point that sometimes become overwhelming. But then I think about a puzzle.

Puzzles come in all these little pieces and you don’t know exactly which pieces fit where. Like life, you don’t always nowhere to start and you try different combination's of pieces that you think will match until you get two fitting pieces. And just that little win, can give you the encouragement to keep working that puzzle. Some puzzles are so intricate that it takes days on end to put it together to completion.

Creating life can bring about those same challenges, keep going, work it every day. Know that even when you don’t see how the pieces will fit together that there is a bigger picture that is just waiting for you to complete it.

Forrest Gump said, “Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.” And while I definitely think it’s true, I also think life is just like a puzzle. There’s a big picture that you can look from the end and start with little matching pieces to create it. Liv your truth!

Challenges Exist, Can You Overcome Them?

noreply@blogger.com (Ciara Wimby) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 02:22:00 +0000

There will always be a new challenge or the same ole challenge that reoccurs in our lives. No one is immune to them. The movie Groundhogs Day plays in my mind repeatedly, as I am all too aware when I can see situation in my life that resembles that of one I had faced before. And normally it’s a situation that I didn’t handle well or didn’t have the courage to commit to seeing the outcome through.

Facing our fears and obstacles one by one can give us the strengthen to face the next challenge and see us through. Problems don’t exist unless you recognize them. Ignoring them doesn’t mean that they don’t exits, it just minimizes the affect they have on us. Liv your truth!

Closing the Gap

noreply@blogger.com (Ciara Wimby) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:19:00 +0000

My aunt and I were at the mall for our 5 mile walk. She is 57 years old and usually does a 10 mile walk every weekday. However since I’m not accustomed to such a lengthy walk she has been so courteous as to reduce her walk to accommodate me, a young 38 year old.

Our walks are pretty rigorous, as she likes to walk really fast. Personally I think it’s a slow jog as fast as she likes to go. But I appreciate it, it activates the body in a different way than my normal yoga routine.

My aunt isn’t the only one who walks the mall for her daily exercise. There are groups of people that show up there younger and older. But I’ve noticed that we walk rings around all of them.

Today, however, we were walking and noticed a gentleman around 80 or so years young walking. The competitive nature of my aunt and myself, we thought that we could take him. We would speed past him like we’ve done all the other mall walkers.

Well, we thought wrong. The faster we walked to close the gap that separated us, the quicker his steps became. He walked fast with effortless ease. While we were working ourselves into a sweat to catch up.

We never did catch up to close the gap. The only reason we finally passed him is due to him stopping to talk with his companion whom was sitting in the food court waiting on him. I was quite impressed with his vigor.

I just hope to be that spry at his age. Until then, I’ll just do my best at keeping my body moving. Liv your truth!

A Leisurely Life

noreply@blogger.com (Ciara Wimby) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 23:04:00 +0000

How many of us can say that we live a leisurely life? A life that entails us the ability to do exactly what we want to do when we want to do it. Oh, this is what we commonly refer to as retirement!

What if we have retirement figured out all wrong? Why do we have to wait until we have worked a lifetime to then rest and enjoy life? What if we could incorporate retirement into our daily everyday life?

As retirement is defined as the point where people stop employment completely, leisure is the point where time is taken away from activities we don’t want to do. In our society, it’s generally employment that we want to retire from to enjoy a leisurely life. But what if employment could be a part of a leisurely life?

Timothy Ferriss, author of the 4-Hour Work Week, suggest how it can be done based off of his real life experiences. In his book, some of the things he teaches is:
• How to outsource your life and do whatever you want for a year, only to return to a bank account 50% larger than before you left
• How to train your boss to value performance over presence, or kill your job (or company) if it's beyond repair
• How to trade a long-haul career for short work bursts and frequent “mini-retirements”
• How to fill the void and creating meaning after removing work and the office

Today, more and more, without having read this book or even knowing that it exist, many of my family and friends have begun changing the course of their life from future retirement to leisurely life now. Leisurely life for them includes having retired from a job at the age of 50, quitting their jobs to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams or part time enjoyable work. For me it’s focusing on activities I love to earn a living, writing, speaking and teaching yoga. What does your leisurely life look like? Liv your truth!

45 Days to Change

noreply@blogger.com (Ciara Wimby) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 23:23:00 +0000

On March 1st, I decided I would begin 45 days of yoga. I was to commit to 45 days without missing, if I missed a day, I would have to start over. It was an important day to me because it would have been the birthday of my deceased uncle whom was extremely overweight at death.

March 1st became even more significant, as we found out my father was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. At the time of diagnoses, the cancer had already spread to his liver, lungs and lymph nodes. With little else to do for him, chemotherapy was the only treatment that could be offered to possibly extend his life another 3 to 5 years.

While I was committing to a challenge that would add something to my life, my father was facing a challenge that would be taking something from him. But we were both optimistic in our individual challenges. We were both committed to the path, mine being yoga everyday and his being strong enough for chemo, and had faith in our abilities to see our goals through.

By March 5th, I knew there was no turning back for me. I had 4 full days under my belt and knew that if I missed a day and had to start over that I would be upset to miss out on the 4 days I had already completed. And heaven forbid if I missed again making it a habit of starting over, I would be livid. So I decided I was committed no matter what, snow, sleet, rain or shine. No matter what happened in the world, I was doing yoga!

My father had the same outlook as me. He was committed to preparing his body for chemotherapy. His energy was low and body was weak, so over the course of a few weeks he experienced several blood transfusions that would only bring his blood levels up for a few days, but then would go back down.

His blood levels had decreased so bad, he had to be admitted again to the hospital. Still optimistic, he hoped his stay would better prepare him for his scheduled chemotherapy session at the end of the week. No such event took place.

The end of the week, chemo was no longer an option for him at this time. A new change of events revealed that my father’s liver and kidneys had stopped functioning. If over the weekend they didn’t improve, he would have to go into a hospice stage of care.

A few days later, on April 3rd, my dad passed away. It was 34 days from the time of his diagnoses on March 1st. Every day, no matter what, I continued with my practice.

On Saturday, April 14th, I completed my 45th day of continuous yoga. I started out just wanting to see if I could commit to making a change in my life by adding a daily yoga routine to it without giving up on my stated goal. I didn’t give up, I was committed, but I learned so much more.

I was grateful for my 45 days, as it prepared me for change. I found myself learning that my 45 days of yoga was my path to peace and strength that I didn’t know that I could experience in such circumstances experienced with my father with his health and his death. Liv your truth!