So if there is one practice which combines posture, breathing, meditation, and exercise… it is yoga!  Know what else is great about yoga?  You can do it anywhere… all you need is your body.  So now you have no excuse for doing today’s task.

I will assume that you have been exposed, in some form, to yoga.  If not, congratulations… you live under a rock.  What I am going to stress here are points from my own yoga journey.

1. Yoga helps, not hurts.  When doing the poses, the goal is not to break yourself, but to work within your body’s limits.  If it hurts, pull back a bit.  You will eventually gain the flexibility and muscle tone to do all the poses.  Don’t rush the journey!
2. If you think you don’t have time for yoga, you really need yoga.  Yoga is a centering activity.  It brings focus and balance to your life.  It slows you down and makes you calm.  When you are rushing too hard, then you MUST stop and do yoga… that’s when you need it the most.
3. Just get started.  An hour long practice is daunting.  Just start by breathing.  Say you’ll do one sun salutation.  That will get the momentum going.  Just start.  Now.
4. If you can’t seem to practice, join a class.  Something about blocking out that time, and paying for it, will make you find the time!  And it will be worth it.

Today’s wellness task:  Do some yoga.  Don’t know how to get started?  Start with this video.

Well, the most obvious benefit of breathing is that you stay alive.  But seriously, breathing is something we do every single day… about 21,600 times per day (maybe more, maybe less depending on how active you are, etc).  But the quality of our breathing is usually sub-par.  How much would your life improve if you could take 21,600 quality breaths per day?  Would your day be 21,600 times better?  Maybe.

What is proper breathing and why does it matter?

Let me answer the latter question first… why does quality breathing matter?

Breathing brings oxygen to your blood.  Without it, you would die.  Your oxygenation level affects your tissues, your organs, your very cells!  Deep breathing provides the oxygen your cells need to thrive.  It also slows your mind and calms your body, which can lower your heart rate and put you in a healthier state.

Ok… so what is “proper” breathing?

Inhale slowly, through your nose, filling your lungs completely.  Feel your chest cavity expanding.  Then exhale slowly, releasing all the air in your lungs… expelling all the carbon dioxide.  Now repeat.  It’s that simple and that complicated.  Complicated because, like your posture, you forget to consciously keep tabs on what you are doing.  you fall back into old habits… shallow breathing or gulping for air.

Today’s wellness task:  Breath deeply all day.  If you find that you forget, and you are breathing shallow breaths, don’t beat yourself up… just try again.

Here is a page on breathing by Piers Cross, which provides many resources, including a video on breathing technique:  http://www.stress-relief-choices.com/breathing.html

So this title seems a little dramatic, but it is realistic!  Your posture affects everything in your life:  your body mechanics, how you feel physically, how you feel emotionally, how others perceive you, even how others treat you!  Good posture will get you that promotion… that date… that winning lottery ticket (ok… I’m taking it a bit too far).

So for today, your wellness task is to have good posture:

• Stand up straight AND sit up straight too!  This displays confidence.  And others won’t be the only ones to notice; your body will subconsciously get the message and feel more confident as a result.  As far as sitting up straight… the worst posture comes out when we are at a computer or driving.  Watch this video about posture while driving.
• Pull your shoulders back and down (not in your ears).  Your shoulders are not earrings.  Holding your shoulders up like that creates tension.  You will feel more tense and stressed, and you will develop shoulder and neck pain.  Eiw.
• Stand evenly on your feet.  Don’t pitch forward or backward.  Feel like there is a string attached to the top of your head, pulling you up to the sky.  Move around on your feet and find where you feel the lightest – that is your center of gravity.  Don’t pitch forward when you walk; slow down!  Leave enough time to get where you’re going and walk there upright.  Smell some flowers while you’re at it.
• Straighten your pelvis.  Stop dropping your pelvis and sticking your butt out… you’re hurting your lower back… and making your butt look big.  Seriously, there should be a slight curve in your lower back… not a sway.
• Engage into your core muscles.  Feel what it feels like to hold yourself up.  Your core muscles are in your torso.  They hold you up.  Having good posture will strengthen them, which will, in turn, better your posture.
• Look up.  Well.. not at the sky, but stop staring at your feet!  Unless you are searching for pennies, you should look where you are going.  Are you trying to fall down?  Then look at eye level!  Other people will see you as weak if you are looking at the ground… you aren’t weak!  You are awesome!  So stop missing life by staring at the ground.

Think having good posture for a whole day is easy?  It’s not.  Do the following to help you:

Wear a sign that says “If you see me with bad posture, I’ll give you a dollar.”

Want to really improve your posture?  Change one dollar to five dollars.

Check out this video about posture.  Watch it and stand up straight!