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Back to School? Back to Yoga.

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Back-to-school time doesn’t need to be stressful, but even a little bit of stress caused by the excitement of a new school year can throw kids (and you!) a off your game.

Here are some ways to consciously slow yourself down when you recognize you’re stressed–and you can teach these coping mechanisms to your littles, too!

Take Five

(Breaths, that is.)

When you notice signs of stress, give yourself permission to close your eyes and take 5 deep breaths. The extra oxygen increases blood flow to your brain, and restores a sense of calm and well-being. Doing this simple exercise can greatly assist in relaxation of your body.

Taking 5 deep breaths is an easy way for kids to calm themselves and allow for clearer thinking.

Stretch Your Neck

Sit up straight, let your arms hang at your sides, and slowly lower one ear down to one shoulder. Hold for a few seconds, return to a neutral position, and repeat the exercise on the other side.

After that’s done, slowly bend your neck towards your tummy and simply let go. Carefully return to a neutral position, and repeat all three stretches if necessary.

Create a Personal Mantra

Softly chanting something soothing to yourself can be incredibly stress-relieving. This works great with kids, too. Choosing something like “I am calm” or “Be soft, be slow” can really work wonders.

Close your eyes, then breathe slowly and evenly while either verbalizing or thinking your mantra to yourself. Do this five times.

Meditate

Finding a quiet spot to sit with your eyes closed is key. Focus on your breath, and how your body responds to breathing deeply. Try to take a time out for five minutes, but even doing this for two minutes is helpful.

With meditation, it’s a great idea to create a routine each morning in which to start your day with a sense of calm. Meditating during acute times of stress is great too, but making it an everyday habit can help ward off that stress to begin with.

CLICK HERE to find some guided meditations for kids.

Come to Class

It really is the BEST. Practicing yoga regularly helps to combine everything we just recommended above. For a class schedule, visit our website.

By practicing the above tips, you and your kids can take charge of your back-to-school stress so that everyone experiences a better transition.

Namaste.

 

4 Smoothie Recipes that are Inspired by Yoga

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If you’re practicing yoga on a regular basis, chances are you’re a fairly health-conscious person. So at Parallel Yoga, we’ve come up with 4 smoothie recipes fit for a yogi! The following smoothies are delicious, nutritious, and full of yoga-inspired goodness.

Please give them a try and let us know what you think!

Green from A to Zen

As the name may imply, this smoothie has everything in it to get your body to where it needs to be. It can serve as a full meal replacement, and because the nutrients are blended, it can be absorbed and used by your body almost immediately. (No heavy digestion necessary!)

Between this smoothie and your deep, conscious breathing, you’re giving your body an excellent start to the day. Throw a little yoga class in there, and your body will love you. Go find your zen with this smoothie.

Ingredients

  • Handful fresh spinach
  • 1 kale leaf
  • ½ cup frozen blueberries
  • ½ cup frozen pineapple
  • 1 cup coconut water
  • 1 scoop unsweetened hemp protein powder (like Vega)
  • 1 tsp. chia seeds and/or shredded coconut (to garnish)

Method

  1. Combine first 6 ingredients in blender.
  2. Blend until smooth.
  3. Sprinkle with chia seeds (or coconut) to garnish, and enjoy right away.

Breathe & Banana

This banana-heavy smoothie is chill and full of protein and potassium—a mineral imperative for great heart health, and for facilitating the conduction of impulses in nerve cells.

“Deficiencies of potassium have been linked to an increased risk of hypertension, kidney stones, osteoporosis, carbohydrate intolerance, stroke and cardiovascular disease.” (1)

This smoothie is a great heart helper!

Ingredients

  • 1 frozen banana (peeled)
  • ¼ cup rolled oats
  • 1 tbsp. almond butter
  • 1 cup almond milk
  • 1 tbsp. chopped walnuts and/or a sprinkle of oats (to garnish)

Method

  1. Combine the first 4 ingredients in blender.
  2. Blend until smooth.
  3. Garnish with a walnuts (or oats), and drink immediately.

Yin/Yang Smoothie Bowl

Sometimes you want smooth, and sometimes you want a little crunch. This smoothie bowl gives you the best of both worlds!

Ingredients

  • 1 frozen banana (peeled)
  • 6 frozen strawberries
  • ¼ cup pomegranate seeds
  • ½ cup vanilla soy milk
  • 1 tbsp. chopped pecans (to garnish)
  • 1 tbsp. Pepita (pumpkin) seeds (to garnish)
  • 1 tbsp. hemp hearts (to garnish)

Method

  1. Combine the first 4 ingredients into a high-speed blender (like a Vitamix).
  2. Blend until thick and smooth, adding a little more soy milk if necessary.
  3. Spoon into a bowl, and garnish with pecans, pepitas, and hemp hearts.
  4. Eat with a spoon, and love every second of it.

*If you want even more crunch, feel free to add some granola.

The Tropi-Calm

Similar to Breathe & Banana, the Tropi-Calm is a calming, muted smoothie that is high in vitamin C and iron—both of which need each other to be absorbed properly. Think of this smoothie as centered, balanced, and perfect for restoring harmony in your body.

Ingredients

  • 1 banana
  • ½ cup frozen pineapple
  • 1 mandarin orange
  • 1 cup pure coconut milk
  • 1 tbsp. unsweetened, shredded coconut (to garnish)
  • 3 chopped dried apricots and/or slice of orange (to garnish)

Method

  1. Blend first 4 ingredients well.
  2. Pour into glass, and garnish with coconut, apricots and orange slices.
  3. Drink immediately!

Enjoy, and namaste, yogis! xo

References:

1- http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/potassium-good-body-6475.html

5 Reasons to Practice Yoga Outside

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Yogis. You know we love our studio, but we also love to shake things up once in awhile. This summer, we’re offering one yoga class a week at Glenridge Park from 8:30-9:30pm on Wednesdays. This is your opportunity to find out why taking your practice outside can produce major benefits to your regular yoga routine!

Not sure? Read the following 5 reasons to practice yoga outside this summer:

You Become Better Connected to Your Neighbourhood

Giving up the privacy of a studio to practice yoga outside can be empowering for you and encouraging for onlookers! Also, the sound of the birds and other wildlife can help you feel connected to what the world is like in your immediate environment. 

Your neighbourhood is a great place to practice yoga!

The Terrain Makes it Harder

Challenge your body with an uneven surface to practice on!

If studio yoga has become a bit monotonous for you, then outdoor yoga should take you to the next level. Typically, practicing yoga outside increases core tension and demands better balance.

There’s No Competition for Mat Space

You know when you arrive twenty minutes early to class so you can throw your mat down before space becomes dismal? Yeah–you don’t have to do that with outdoor yoga!

With plenty of available space, you can roll in 5 minutes early and set up wherever your beautiful heart desires. Speaking of beautiful…

It’s Beautiful

Practicing yoga outside is beyond scenic. If you’re getting tired of staring at a wall while in tree pose, consider outdoor yoga. Birds, bees, flowers, and actual trees.

That becomes your yoga environment.

You Become Intimate with Nature

We realize nature has been a running theme in this post, but here’s the deal: you and nature? You’re one and the same–you deserve to spend more time together.

Especially in the summer when the option is available to us almost every day!

Becoming more connected to nature is an actual practice–it’s called Earthing! By practicing yoga outside, you engage in a form of Earthing that is beneficial for your body, mind, and soul.

Yogis, consider attending our new Wednesday night yoga classes in Glenridge Park, taught by Jess from 8:30-9:30pm. Sign up in studio or online, using the Mind Body app.

Namaste.

 

 

20 Ideas for Cultivating a Mindful Summer

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Ah, summer. Here we go! While it’s usually a fun-filled, busy time of year that we all try to fit as much into as possible, it’s also important to remember to take some time.

(Like, for doing slow, meticulous, quiet things.)

But first, what is mindfulness?

“Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.” mindful.org/what-is-mindfulness

Here are 20 ideas to help you have a mindful summer:

  1. Walk in the rain
  2. Meditate outside
  3. Go for a walk by yourself without your phone
  4. Go for a hike
  5. Sit by a waterfall
  6. Read a book on mindfulness
  7. Practice conscious breathing
  8. Pet an animal in silence for 5 minutes
  9. Go earthing
  10. Paint on canvas
  11. Commit to keeping a journal
  12. Write some poetry
  13. Eat an entire meal in silence
  14. Take a 24-hour technology break
  15. Create a peaceful space in your house
  16. Intentionally watch a sunrise AND sunset
  17. Practice daily gratitude
  18. Initiate a conversation with a homeless person
  19. Volunteer somewhere
  20. Stretch for 5 minutes every day

Wanna be especially mindful? Try going through this list every month! Or sharing it with others. Or adding your own ideas to it.

To be extra awesome, try attending a yoga class three times a week or more! By the end of the summer, you’ll be thanking yourself for both upping your mindful game and getting in shape, both physically and mentally.

And spiritually!

And because we’re big fans of yoga and nature in combination, we’re offering Yoga in the Park on Wednesdays at 8:30pm starting in July. Attending this class each week can help you add yoga to your schedule while practicing with the birds and the bees.

For more information, visit our website or stop by the studio. Happy Summer, friends!

Namaste, lovely yogis.

 

 

Yoga for Stress and Anxiety

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There are many benefits to practicing yoga, and relief from stress and anxiety is just one of them—but it’s a big one.

Many medical professionals believe that stress and anxiety are underlying issues that contribute to a huge variety of diseases, including digestive disease, some types of cancer, obesity, skin conditions, and many more.

By ridding yourself of the triggers that cause anxiety in your life (or learning how to manage it more effectively), you can give yourself a leg up when it comes to disease prevention. That’s huge! And at the time of year when kids are taking exams and sports are wrapping up, life can sometimes feel out of control.

But yoga helps.

Here are 5 ways in which yoga can help to alleviate feelings of stress and anxiety, while also teaching you to deal with them in ways that are productive and healing:

Yoga Teaches You to Use Your Breath

We all breathe, but learning to breathe consciously and mindfully at times of stress and anxiety can be a huge asset to your health and well-being. Breathing deeply and purposefully allows your body to take the heart rate down, circulate more oxygen to the bloodstream, and feed every single little cell with nutrients.

When this happens, our body is given a signal that we do not need to be in fight or flight, and we can relax.

And we do.

Yoga Invites Humility into Your Life

Practicing yoga helps you realize that everyone walks a different path, and consequently, your problems are not unique to you. You’re not the only one in class with a rebellious teenage son or daughter. You’re not the only one struggling at work.

And you’re not the only one with tight hamstrings.

Yoga teaches us that although we are each immensely important, we move as one and all need to respect one another in order to reap life’s rewards. This realization can be deeply powerful in combating chronic stress that leads to anxiety.

Poses and Postures Help Reduce Inflammation

Your organs feel your stress and anxiety, and although you may not feel the effects immediately, they do, and it’s only a matter of time until you recognize that.

Your body responds to stress by creating inflammation. In an effort to protect itself, your amazing body creates a buffer between its very important parts, but this buffer is not meant to be permanent.

Yoga helps to reduce and eliminate inflammation by increasing circulation (bringing more oxygen to the brain and body), calming the mind, and creating a collection of healthy thoughts and emotions within ourselves that we can draw from when we feel the need to.

Kind of like a mental health toolbox!

You Learn to Be Still

Think that 10 minutes in savasana is just a show? Think again. Some people have a harder time staying in savasana than they do in pigeon!

Why?

Because laying still in the day without expectation of sleep invites thought into your mind that you may not want there. But dealing with those thoughts in a safe place instead of avoiding them is the healthier alternative.

Learning to be still can help you eliminate a lot of stress—that’s why meditation is so amazing for your body, too!

Competition Stays at the Door

Many of us compete with each other and even ourselves without even realizing it. While competition can definitely be healthy, it’s also unnecessary to be steeped in all the time. Learning to put aside competitive feelings can have a very positive affect on your body—and your anxiety levels.

For more information on the health benefits of yoga, visit our blog. If you’d like to see our class schedule, visit HERE.

Namaste.

February Workshops + Events at Parallel Yoga

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Yogis–can you even BELIEVE it’s February?!

Seriously.

But guess what? We have the BEST workshops lined up for you this month! Honestly. Check ‘em out:

Acro Yoga with Stef

  • Date: Saturday, Feb 3rd
  • Time: 11:45am – 1:00pm
  • Cost: $10 plus GST

New to Acro? Never heard of Acro? A bit nervous to try? Not to worry! These classes are for all levels and will teach you the techniques and skills you need to fly, base and spot confidently and safely.

Have experience with Acro Yoga? Great!

Come on out and have some fun. In this adult-oriented class (14+), you will have the opportunity to play and practice while building new skills and techniques, so whether you are new or have experience, you will be given options to propel you further along your journey.

Office Yoga with Guest Teacher

  • Date: Saturday Feb. 3
  • Time: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
  • Cost: $35 plus GST

Do you sit for hours day at a workstation or desk? Do you feel sore in lower back, have a stiff neck and tight shoulders?

We have all heard that sitting for many hours is now considered the new smoking. Sitting for long periods can increase risk of heart disease, diabetes and many other health problems. It also causes fatigue, brain fog and improper posture.

Our bodies are meant to move, not sit for many hours a day!

You will learn how to use your breath to increase oxygenation that assists in reducing stress, to ease anxiety, and boost your mood. We will incorporate yoga poses to release tension, stretch and encourage proper posture while sitting on a chair, as well as learning how to use your desk as a prop to increase strength, blood flow and energize you throughout the workday.

You will be able to take this practice and incorporate it into your daily workday routine at your workstation or home office.

*This is a 2-hour workshop.

Restorative Yoga for Sleep with Sarah

  • Date: Saturday Feb. 3
  • Time: 6:00pm – 8:30pm
  • Cost: $49 plus GST

Come enjoy a deep relaxation restorative yoga practice and learn:

  • The restorative poses that set your body up to sleep soundly through the night
  • How to quiet your mind for a more peaceful sleep, night after night
  • The science of how to improve the quality of your sleep
  • How to enjoy ‘deep rest’ any time you need it

Led by Sarah Domes, yoga teacher and sleep coach, this workshop builds upon the previous Yoga for Sleep working and is designed for both new and returning participants.

Meditation Teacher Training with Colynn

  • Start date: Friday Feb. 9
  • Time: 5:00pm – 9:00pm
  • Course cost: $695 plus GST

This 50-hour training offers you the tools to skillfully instruct students through guided meditation and pranayama. Completing the training offers Continuing Education hours towards Yoga Alliance, as well as a certificate.

The course is set up to introduce students to several different types of meditations and pranayama, as well as delve into the chakras, learn to script meditation and pranayama into a regular yoga class and review the business and sales of meditation and breath work as workshops, full classes or in your own business. Includes home-study hours as homework and required reading.

More dates and times: February 9 and 16 6pm-9pm; February 10, 11, 17 and 18 12pm-8pm

This course offers 40 contact hours and 10 non-contact hours for the full 50 hours CEU

Introduction to Meditation with Colynn

  • Date: Saturday Feb. 10
  • Time: 12:00pm – 4:00pm
  • Cost: $50 plus GST

This workshop is taking place during a teacher training. It’s open to students and teachers that are not looking for a full certification, but rather a shorter introduction to the practice.

This 4-hour teaching opportunity informs participants of the benefits of meditation, how to set up your own practice, as well as introduces a variety of meditations.

Introduction to the Chakras with Colynn

  • Date: Sunday Feb. 11
  • Time: 12:00pm – 4:00pm
  • Cost: $50 plus GST

This is not the ordinary Intro to the Chakras Workshop, this one is a little more in depth. It is part of a teacher training and is open to those that do not want certification in meditation, but want to know more about the Chakras.

This 4-hour workshop introduces the chakras, the physical, spiritual, and psychological aspects that they govern, the anatomy of, mudras for, and much more. A discussion is generated around the chakras and imbalances, and the class ends with a chakra balancing meditation!

Introduction to Pranayama with Colynn

  • Date: Saturday Feb. 17
  • Time: 12:00pm – 4:00pm
  • Cost: $50 plus GST

This workshop takes place during a teacher training, but is open to teachers and students not interested in taking the full certification. This 4-hour class starts with a restorative breath practice, to connect the student with their breath and how it feels in their body.

There is a brief intro to the anatomy of the breath and the benefits of pranayama with a discussion, followed by several different techniques of pranayama and class ends with a meditation.

Silent Meditation Experience with Colynn

  • Date: Saturday Feb. 17
  • Time: 5:00pm – 8:00pm
  • Cost: $50 plus GST

This workshop is taking place during a teacher training and is offered for students or teachers not interested in the full certification, but wanting to experience an afternoon of the most interesting meditation techniques.

This 3-hour workshop introduces the participants to 3 different types of silent meditation, that will help you to unwind & let go of tension. Most of the experience requires silence from the student, followed by a half hour discussion of the effects of the practice. Guaranteed you will leave feeling like a new person.

*Please inform studio of any food allergies on registration

Restorative Yoga Teacher Training with Sarah

  • Date: Friday Feb. 23
  • Time: 6:00pm – 9:00pm
  • Cost: $299 plus GST

Open to current yoga teachers, wellness therapists, and other individuals look to deepen their own practice, this Restorative Yoga Teacher Training is sure to give you the tools you need to teach restorative classes and in private sessions in a meaningful way.

Taught by Sleep coach at registered yoga teacher, Sarah Domes, this course is either taken over the weekend or in separate 3-hour modules that pique your interest.

The curriculum will cover:

  • Grounding and Personal Practice
  • Props and Postures
  • Deepening Relaxation
  • Meditation and Mindfulness
  • Teaching and Integration

*15 YA CECs

If you’d like to register for any of the classes, you can do so online, in-studio, or over the phone.

ALSO: we’re running an Instagram contest this month, guys–a 28 day InstaChallenge! Here are the details:

  1. Practice yoga once a day, in the studio or at home, for at least 20 minutes.
  2. Post on IG, tag us, and use hashtags #parallelyoga and #pyinstachallenge.
  3. Comment on our daily posts starting today (February 1) with a simple “done.”

Open to local residents, only! Each comment and hashtag will count as one entry. The winner will receive lots of awesome yogi stuff! See our Instagram wall to find out exactly what the prizes are.

Good luck!

 

 

New Wellness for the New Year

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Happy New Year, friends! Many of you have probably noticed that we’ve incorporated a lot of changes to the studio in the last few months. Most notably was the addition of The Entrance Boutique, which opened in June.

But we have more changes we’ve made, too–and these ones are all geared towards creating spaces in our studio that are conducive to increased health and wellness. We want our studio to be a place to practice yoga, but also be somewhere you can visit to receive an amazing massage, sports counselling, kinesiology advice, and more.

Here’s what our studio can offer you, besides yoga:

BMR Counselling and Consulting

Because we work with so many athletes at Parallel Yoga, we’ve found a match made in heaven with Trevin from BMR Counselling and Consulting, who now provides therapeutic counselling, sports psychology, and mental performance coaching within the walls of Parallel Yoga.

Registered Massage Therapy and Relaxation Massage

Massage is a powerful tool in the tool kit of wellness. Stef is our resident registered massage therapist, and currently works on Tuesdays. Beth (aside from teaching yoga and managing our studio) is a registered massage practitioner, who offers relaxation massage.

Whether you’re looking for deep tissue or gentle aromatherapy massage, we can help you out at PY. Call the studio or stop by to book an appointment, today.

Kinesiology

Meet Garth from Pacific North Wellness. Garth has worked in fitness and rehabilitation for almost 10 years and has practiced yoga for nearly as long. As a kinesiologist, Garth has helped his clients recover from injury and has helped high performance athletes achieve their goals. It is the combination of these skills that guides his path as a yoga instructor.

Click HERE for more information.

Sports Performance Training

Your body was made for movement; condition it accordingly. Parallel Sports Performance is a sport-specific, yoga-based conditioning program for athletes. We also specialize in mobility and recovery, to help prevent and/or heal from injury.

For more information on sports performance training, what we offer, and who we’re currently working with, visit our website.

We also encourage all of you to check out our new yoga schedule, posted HERE. January is the perfect month for new beginnings, cultivating healthy habits, and creating space for self-care and happiness.

We want to see you in the studio, practicing with us! Together, as a community, we can rock 2018. Happy New Year!

Namaste.

 

 

Welcoming Change

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Change can be scary, but can also refreshing and motivating. It’s up to every single one of us to decide how we wish to perceive it.

It’s all about our ability to live with acceptance and grace, and to understand that there are some things we cannot control—and that this is okay.

Seasonal Changes

We’re sure you’ve noticed the darker, shorter days and what seem to be very long nights, lately. While this change in weather and season often feel a little constricting or depressing, it’s important to remember that it’s nature’s way of sloughing off the old, so we can welcome the new in spring!

While Mother Nature is doing her best to transition into a new season, we can all look to her for her great example, and decide what changes we need or want to make in our own lives to create more happiness and health for ourselves and those around us.

We’re at the end of one year, and the cusp of another. This is a fantastic time of year to focus on what changes you would like to make in your own life, and make a plan on how to welcome those changes with love and grace in our hearts.

While personal change is obviously amidst and inevitable for all, we’re incorporating our own changes over here at Parallel Yoga:

Scheduling Changes

We’re changing our yoga class schedule to accommodate requests and create more opportunity. Here are some changes we’re making:

  • Mondays Stretch moved to 12:00
  • All evening classes start at 4:45
  • The new, full online schedule will be posted on our website on December 3rd

Staff Changes

Garth Van Gaalen

Garth will be teaching at 6:30am and 12pm on Tuesdays and Fridays, as well as taking kinesiology appointments. Want to know more? Check out his bio online HERE.

Jessica Hart

Welcome, Jess! Jessica will be offering a preschool yoga class starting in January (we don’t have it up online yet). Cool, right?!

The Entrance at PY

Changes in Retail

We also welcome you to check out The Entrance for Christmas gift ideas! We’ve loaded up on everyone’s faves, and there are TONS of gift ideas for everyone. If you’re looking for something useful and unique, we can help you out.

Happy holidays, yogis!

Namaste.

 

 

 

 

 

Ways to Stay Healthy During Autumn

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Autumn can be stressful, and as grown-ups (sigh), it can be way too easy to forget about self-care. Between back-to-school, diminishing daylight hours, and kids’ sports activities, we can get run down pretty easily.

Here are some ways to gain energy, help focus, and relieve stress in autumn:

Learn to Say No

Saying no to requests that don’t serve our state of either mental or physical health is one of the toughest lessons to learn. We all so desperately want to be helpful and accommodating (which is great!), but always saying yes often results in frustration and burnout–which leads to irritability and resentment.

Instead of feeling like you have to say yes to everyone, think about the commitment you’re considering making, and whether or not it will serve your mental or physical health in the long-term. It’s okay to say no…saying no means that you know your own limits, and that can be empowering.

Get Outside

This is so important. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing outside, just it matters that you get there. Walk, run, hike, or stand in one spot and don’t move. It doesn’t matter. What matters is the fresh air, the ground under your feet, and the nature around you.

Hanging out in the wind and trees and bugs and dirt is cathartic. We’re animals–we were meant to spend copious amounts of time outdoors, surrounded by nature.

Supplement with Vitamin D

Vitamin D is actually a hormone, not a vitamin, and our bodies need to absorb sunlight for it to be synthesized properly so that we can use it. Foods can be fortified with vitamin D, but it’s not the same as getting it from the sun.

During the fall months, try to get as much as possible by being outside. If the sun is scarce, then turn to supplements. This hormone is often dubbed the “feel good hormone”, and we need it to balance a variety of brain chemicals that help us regulate mood.

Without adequate levels of vitamin D, we can get cranky and depressed–make sure you get enough!

Keep Up Your Yoga Practice

This may seem like a plug (which it totally is), but it’s also valid advice. Yoga helps us stretch muscles, slow down, remember to maintain mindful attitudes, and so much more. It’s an hour of time that we deserve–one that is desperately needed by most to feel replenished and maintain our cool.

See our upcoming yoga schedule HERE.

Meditate Regularly

Similar to our yoga advice, meditation can greatly assist in keeping you focused and stress-free during the autumn months. Taking just 5 minutes out of your day (everyday), can help manage anxiety and depression.

New to meditation? Try this 5-minute meditation below:

Keep a Solid Bedtime Routine and Schedule

The fall is kind of tough on our internal clocks–days become shorter and the darkness lasts longer. The time change helps a little bit, but not much. For this reason, keeping a solid bedtime schedule can help your body stay on a routine that will in turn help with wakefulness and rest.

Eat Well

This last one is super important. Eating foods that are high in vitamins, minerals, and essential omega fatty acids can help keep us healthy and alert during short autumn days. Don’t get caught in the trap of drinking too much coffee and snacking on processed sugar for a quick pick-me-up: these foods will actually make your body more tired in the long run.

Instead, treat your body as you would a child’s: lots of fruit, veggies, lean proteins, fibre, and water.

By practicing good self-care throughout autumn, we’ll feel better going into the winter, and more prepared for seasonal change in general. Remember to keep coming to yoga! It’s not just a physical practice, but one that helps strengthen your mind, body, and soul.

Namaste.

Living with Intent

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We hear a lot about mindfulness and intention within the walls of Parallel Yoga, but what do these words really mean? What do they mean to you? Living mindfully and with intent is a way to steer your daily life in the direction of your goals.

It’s also a way to be certain you’re taking full advantage of each and every day, because most of us glide through our weeks looking forward to the weekend—that is to say we “get through” things in order to appreciate what’s on the other side.

But what if the “getting through” is what we should be focusing on? We may never reach the other side, but we certainly have this moment, right here, right now.

When we choose to live with intent, we choose to slow down and consciously make decisions about our actions, and reflect on how our actions will affect other actions that take place after. We recognize that life is fleeting, and by taking the extra time to capture small moments around us, we become more attune to what we may not notice if we didn’t mindfully decide to do so.

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” –Lao Tzu

Here are some ways to help you practice living with intent:

Practice Gratitude

We are all grateful for a variety of our life’s gifts, but we often forget to acknowledge this gratitude. By actively taking time each day to recognize what we have to be grateful for, it reminds us to be gentle, have patience, and appreciate life’s incredible gifts, both big and small.

Say Thank You

As with gratitude, we are all thankful. Take a few minutes at the end of each day to say aloud (to your family or just yourself) what you are thankful for. Even on our worst days, we are all thankful for much. Saying what we’re thankful for aloud on a regular basis helps to remind us that life is not a guarantee and to develop a deeper appreciation for what may seem to be mundane.

Meditate for 5 Minutes Each Day

The 5-minute meditation is practiced by more than just a handful of people—in fact, its popularity as a way to recharge and slow down has been helping people from all over the globe in all aspects of life to gain insight, develop new ideas, and flow through their days more easily and with grace.

Just Listen

Do us a favour: walk outside, stand in Mountain Pose, close your eyes, and just listen. Maintain this for 30 seconds, and you’ll gain a temporary appreciation for what you don’t usually notice. If you do this everyday, that temporary appreciation will become permanent.

Practice Conscious Breathing

You can do this anywhere. In the car, at your desk, in bed before you drift off to sleep, or anywhere else you can think of. Just the action of consciously breathing in deep, slow breaths and then slowly letting them out is extremely relaxing and great for your parasympathetic nervous system.

Try to practice conscious breathing for 8-10 breaths, 2-3 times per day, every day.

Make Stretching Part of Your Daily Routine

Even 5 minutes of stretching each day can help your body to release tension and assist in injury prevention. Do it alone, in a safe and quiet space. Close your eyes.

Practice Yoga

Because yoga envelops so many of the above suggestions, committing to 2-3 yoga classes a week can result in huge rewards in the long-term.

Be Kind to Nature

Remember, living with intent means making choices regarding all of our actions. The next time you go to swat a fly or kill a spider, try and direct the insect outdoors, instead. Everything created by nature has a purpose, and it’s not up to us to decide what is more valuable than another.

Pet a dog. Feed a bird. Love what nature has provided for us.

Give Yourself Time

Don’t rush—instead, give yourself the time you need to experience what you need to within your day, and not have to worry and stress. Leave for an appointment ten minutes early. Don’t wait until you feel sick to eat.

Treat yourself with the respect you deserve, and don’t rush. Slow down. Breathe consciously. Stretch. Practice yoga and meditate. Notice nature and listen to her sounds. Be thankful and grateful and love your life—it’s a gift, remember. Don’t accidentally waste it.

By choosing to live with intent, we can enrich our lives in many ways.

Namaste.