We’ve all experienced times where we feel stuck. We struggle to find a new way to approach a problem. It could be about money, relationships, career, family or even our schedule. In situations like this, we need an infusion of fresh energy around the issue as well as a new way of thinking. There is no way out of approaching a problem from the same perspective unless something shifts. Einstein said that the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” So, how do we find this new way of thinking? 1. Exercise. When we feel stuck, we need …

Back in November of last year, my neighborhood of Charlestown lost its grocery store. As a result, instead of walking up the street and shopping in familiar surroundings, I’ve been relegated to shopping in a variety of locations, including some of the big superstore grocery chains. This has been an experience for me. Shopping in these big grocery stores is a chance to experience everything that frustrates me about the food industry; it’s loud, (can be) unhealthy, obnoxious and manipulative. Just look at the physical space when you walk in: it’s assaulting. Bright, loud and colorful, it’s …

Over the years as a yoga teacher, I have had (and currently have) early morning classes that require me to get up before 6 a.m. This never gets easy. The funny irony about it is that I am not a morning person and yet I teach several early morning yoga classes. When I was growing up, my father would call me “Lucy” (from the Peanuts comic strip) because I was so grouchy at breakfast. I was thinking today as I checked in students for the 6:30 a.m. class about how we motivate our bodies and minds to get up early. There are certainly better ways to do it than others. I see people on their way to …

Around this time of year, people start re-evaluating their New Year’s resolutions. They either are still on track and feeling great or they’ve lost their resolve and are feeling frustrated and defeated. One of the common goals set at the beginning of the year is around weight loss. As a yoga teacher, I get questions about yoga’s effectiveness for weight loss. People want to know how many calories they’ll burn, is hot yoga more effective for weight loss than unheated yoga or how many times per week do you need to do yoga to lose weight. I usually say something like this: “Yoga, done regularly …

These past weeks have been challenging for all of us as we struggle to move through the holiday season after the tragic event that was the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on Dec. 14. This column was going to focus on New Year’s Resolutions and goal setting, but I thought it’d be more helpful to focus on thoughts of healing. Many of the essential teachings of yoga talk about the struggle we have as humans and techniques we can use to ease our suffering. Many of these actions live in the mindfulness realm and emphasize things like meditation and attitudes of forgiveness and compassion. …

It’s that time of year again: the holiday season. There are gifts to buy, parties to attend, family to visit ... and it all happens around your existing crazy schedule. This can be a time for joy and celebration but it can also be a time when people experience sadness, anxiety, stress and exhaustion. Here are 10 ways to stay healthy this holiday season: 1. With the exception of one night a week, stick to the same sleep schedule. Don’t try to make up for lost sleep by sleeping late. Instead, try to nap once or twice during the day for 15 minutes. Drink lots of water or other vitamin infused …

I worked for many years in the corporate world, both before and after teaching yoga. After I started teaching part-time, going to work seemed more and more unhealthy. The florescent lights, the constant stream of emails, the unpredictability of the flow of the day and dealing with stressful co-workers all made my blood pressure rise. Now that I work for myself, I can say with certainly that my stress level around those issues has decreased, while it’s increased over other things (nothing is perfect, right?) But now that I have the perspective of working in both environments, I can share some …

One of the best ways to stay healthy is to feel healthy about yourself. In my work as a yoga teacher working with both adults and children, I find that often it’s the last person you’d expect to have low self-esteem that is struggling with putting themselves first. There can be no typical profile for someone like this; financial success, being in a relationship or having a great job can all exist in the life of someone who just doesn’t feel good about themselves. Sometimes these habits are ingrained from patterns we learn as a child. While it can be helpful to go back in time to try to …

I’ve been in the wellness business in one way or another my whole professional career. Certainly though, in the past 10 years as a yoga teacher, my focus has shifted specifically to yoga, running, mindfulness techniques and overall wellness coaching. Here are some of the more common questions about wellness that have come up in my work with people: 1. Is yoga a good way to lose weight? One of the wonderful things about yoga is its versatility. It can be practiced for varying lengths of time, in varying temperatures and with variety in terms of the poses that are done. Also, the pace of a yoga…

As a yoga teacher, I lead adults and children through many different ways to move their bodies. Each pose emphasizes something different. When people try balancing postures, they often crack a smile, surprised at how challenging it can be.  Sometimes, students get frustrated; you can see it in their faces and watch how it shows up in their bodies. It’s hard to back off and try a little less, especially when you have expectations to do more. Try Tree Pose, for instance. Stand on one leg and bring the other foot to your inner thigh, shin or ankle. Bring your hands together in the middle of your…

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. …

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 …

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 …

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 …

As the New Year approaches, we may be inspired to set new goals for ourselves, also known as “New Year resolutions.” These are always tricky as they are often large, undefined visions without specific steps. We may find that after a few days, weeks or months, we’ve lost track of our goal and we instead are left with a feeling of failure. In order to set ourselves up for success, we need to be specific as to how we’ll reach our goal and by what timeframe. We can’t just say, “I want to lose weight” because that’s too vague and has no timeframe associated with it. By the same token, to say, “I …

This time of year, things can go either way for many of us: we’re either excited for the holiday season or we feel a sense of dread.  This depression can be related to financial troubles getting in the way of buying the gifts you want to share, to missing someone in your life who's died or from being single and not having someone special with whom to celebrate. At the same time, we all live in a wonderful neighborhood, surrounded by many people who we see on a regular basis, many of whom are our friends as well as our neighbors. It’s a great time of year to do something special for them and …

As we head into Thanksgiving and then into the rest of the holiday season up to and including New Year's Eve, many of us can already feel our stress levels rise. I’m sure over the next few weeks, there will be a host of articles on the topic -- here’s my contribution with a healthy and mindful angle: Stay active. One of the best ways to beat stress is to move your body. Yoga, running, Cross Fit and the gym are all great options. As the weather gets colder, try ice skating, a brisk walk in a local park, snowshoeing or cross country skiing. Anything that keeps you moving and gets your heart …

As we head into the winter months, it gets harder to keep a positive attitude. For those of us that have lived in New England for many years or were born here, we have a rough exterior and a stiff upper lip when it comes to New England weather. It’s part of what we “weather” in order to enjoy the beautiful fall, the Cape and Islands in the summer and living in a great city. But as November begins and the threat of winter is upon us, we need to work harder to keep our mood upbeat. So, in an effort to head off a case of the winter blues, here are some tips to keep you shining: Read about the …

Last year, I started a yoga-based wellness program in my home. Called “Women’s Wellness Groups,” the program is a weekly class that combines yoga, guided meditation and a wellness discussion. These weekly classes give women a chance to learn yoga in a small group environment and meet other women who are working to make wellness a priority in their lives. Many of the women that attend live in Charlestown. Each week, when I bring a wellness topic to the group, while it might kick off the conversation and provide new information, the women inevitably add their own thoughts, wisdom and …

Last week, I wrote a column about things you can do to improve your health that don’t have anything to do with physically moving your body. They were more attitudinal steps you can take to decrease stress and see things from a different, healthier perspective. With that in mind, I headed into my own week with a renewed sense of optimism and intention. I recently taught a chair yoga class to seniors at an assisted living center in my neighborhood. I’ve done it before, but it inspired me a great deal on this particular day. A mixture of chair yoga and (optional) standing poses supported by a …