It’s 2am and all you’ve been doing is rolling from side to side like a rotisserie chicken, making a complete mess of the bed sheets and keeping the cat awake (who doesn’t care because she sleeps all day anyway). You try to read, count sheep and have a glass of warm milk, but nothing seems to make your eyelids heavy. If only that blazing red light from your digital alarm clock would just stop itself from sneaking so quickly to 6am, you could steal a few hours of quality snoozing before your big day ahead.

Whether the excitement of the proceeding day is keeping you awake, or you just can’t seem to get comfortable, these yoga poses will help mellow you out so you can fall gently into a happy, restful slumber.

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Are you lacking in time or motivation to make it a yoga class today? Don’t worry; you can still practice yoga even if your mat is hiding out in the closet or lost somewhere in the back seat of your car.

Many people see yoga as a workout that strengthens, stretches, and relaxes our mind and body, but it is also deeply layered with philosophical premises. These premises are what help to fuel the sought after “post yoga glow” at the end of class. You will emit this glow after holding sometimes rigorous and sweat producing yoga poses, but there is a lot more you can explore beyond taking your favorite yoga class.

First, you must identify your intention for practicing yoga. Are you after a perfect rear end, sculpted arms and a flat stomach? Or is your approach more about reducing stress, heightening the awareness of your body or flirting with new levels of spirituality?

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Teachers are educators, leaders, pseudo parents, heroes, friends and mentors. Their jobs are often thankless, yet teachers are those amazing people that help shape the future of our world.

Being a teacher takes a tremendous amount of commitment, and commitment requires a tremendous amount of energy. Presenting concepts, math equations and scientific theories while continuing to be a positive influence in the classroom can be challenging for the tired and overworked educationalist.

Thankfully, the magic of yoga can come to the rescue to refresh, rejuvenate and inspire before burn out ensues.

Bank a second wind well before you might actually need it with these simple suggestions that can be practiced in the teacher’s lounge or in the classroom.

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by Kelsey Murray

Spring and summer are possibly the most popular times for a wedding. Unfortunately for many brides, along with the wedding comes a boat load of stress to look “perfect” on their big day. Sadly, this quest for perfection can be very hard on a bride’s health. Crash dieting is often the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions a bride’s preparation for her wedding.

Aside from drastic weight loss, there are many other things that brides often do in preparation that can be unhealthy or harmful to her health. Here are some tips for avoiding some common practices that brides-to-be might not realize are putting their health in danger.

Choose your makeup carefully. Some makeup contains ingredients that can cause allergic reactions. Some symptoms might include skin redness, dryness, and itchiness. Look for makeup that is fragrance-free or made for sensitive skin and do not change makeup brands right before a big event because you do not know how your skin might react to it. If you are having your makeup done professionally, ask the makeup artist which makeup he or she uses and make sure that it will not cause you to have a reaction.

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Stress is simply a part of life. Stress can be a positive thing: It can save your life in a fight or flight situation, or it can be the kick in the butt you need to finally finish that project at work you’ve been putting off. Too much stress, however, can have a negative effect on your mental and physical health. In today’s society, where we are moving faster, taking on more responsibility and are constantly technologically connected to the demands of work and home, our lives are becoming more overwhelming, and it may be taking a toll on our waistlines.

Cortisol, dubbed the “stress hormone”, is an important hormone secreted by the adrenal glands, responsible for many functions in the body including regulating metabolism and blood pressure, immune function, inflammatory response, and releasing insulin, which maintains blood sugar levels.

Cortisol isn’t only secreted when the body is under stress, but it is secreted in higher levels during the body’s “fight or flight” response to stress (think of when something pops out and scares the crap out of you. That surge you get is your body’s fight or flight response- you either jump and run, or start swinging.) The stress we encounter on a daily basis isn’t always so obvious or sudden, but daily stress, i.e. a jam packed schedule the next day or not knowing how you are going to afford next month’s bills, isn’t immediately remedied, so your stress levels stay elevated for an extended period of time until the stressor is remedied, or more often than not, until another stressor comes along and takes over.

Just as with everything in life, too much of something is never a good thing. Elevated cortisol levels cause many physical, negative changes to the body, including impaired cognitive function, blood sugar imbalances, high blood pressure, and lower immunity, causing you to feel slow and drained of energy, or even come down with an illness.

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