One of my favorite winter exercises is Hot or Bikram Yoga. But not all Hot Yoga is created equally & it certainly isn’t for everyone.

What is Hot Yoga?

Hot Yoga is a series of yoga poses done in a heated room. The room is usually maintained at a temperature of 95-100 degrees. As you can imagine, a vigorous yoga session at this temperature promotes profuse sweating which rids the body of toxins. It also makes the body very warm, and therefore more flexible.

What is Bikram Yoga?

Living yoga master Bikram Choudhury is a Hot Yoga innovator. His method of Hot Yoga is a set series of 26 yoga poses, including two pranayama exercises, each of which is performed twice in a single 90 minute class. Choudhury, who was born in Calcutta, India in 1946, founded the Yoga College of India in Beverly Hills in 1974. He and his wife Rajashree were both yoga champions in India. Recently, Choudhury was involved in a lawsuit over his attempt to copyright his series of 26 poses done in a hot room. At the heart of the controversy is Choudhury’s desire to prevent anyone teaching yoga in a heated room from calling their class “Bikram Yoga.” He would like to reserve this title only for those teachers who are certified by his Yoga College of India and who stick to his prescribed method exactly (including not only the temperature of the room and order of poses, but also the carpet and mirrors in the room, and his approved text). The lawsuit was resolved with an out-of-court settlement in which Choudhury agreed not to sue the members of a San Francisco-based collective of Hot Yoga teachers and they agreed not to use the Bikram name. Bikram remains a very controversial figure in the yoga world.

Hot Yoga Tips and Cautions

It is essential to have your own yoga mat and towel when doing Hot Yoga since you will be sweating so much. Students tend to wear very little clothing for the same reason. Kinda Yuck but worth it!

Make sure to drink plenty of water before and after class so you don’t get dehydrated. It is not advisable to eat during the two hours before class. You really don’t want to temp this one….just trust me!

If you want to try Bikram’s method, make sure the Hot Yoga studio you choose has been certified to teach Bikram Yoga.

Hot Yoga is not advised for pregnant women, since it can raise the core body temperature.

So have a wonderful work out, and if you find it is not for you, that’s cool too.

We live in a particularly sketchy part of the country in terms of weather. It can be snowing in the summer & 75 on Christmas.So when my fall days turned to blustering winter ones I should not have been surprised. But I am just not ready for the snow.

I enjoy fall so much & there is a very real transformation that takes place for me between summer days & winter nights. So when that process is interrupted by early onset of winter. I get very thrown off. I feel like I have not gotten the right amount of leaf watching, or pumpkin picking in to justify winter.

Fall is my chocolate on the pillow at the season hotel & I am a bit miffed that the maid seems to have forgotten it this year!

I will adjust I am sure but this does kind of stink! Now it is yucky & will start to get dark at 5pm soon & I am just flat out not ready.

One thing I hate about conversations surrounding spirituality is the preach factor. All religious preferences aside here,there are just some topics that are more self serving than helpful.

I have noticed after speaking with all kinds of people in my line of work ,and just being on this planet in general, that there are few things that turn peoples ears off & start their mouths better than this topic. Even with in a specific religious or spiritual group.

It seems to me that everyone is willing to share their beliefs with you, not to help you as much as to justify the decisions they have made themselves. Often times to me it seems that people do more convincing of others that their way is wrong then finding the right path for them.

No matter what you choose as a spiritual path I feel that the best way to share your light is to live your life. The fruit of your heart will pour out of your daily living more than any well thought out sermon from your mouth intended for your unruly neighbor.

If more people just lived their lives & concerned themselves with themselves & growing in their faith, then naturally they would be a witness.

I do understand the importance of evangelising your faith. There are third world countries that only get filtered news letters from their governments that create religions to self serve. But we live in the most well educated place on earth. At what point did we think that we needed to spend so much time trying to convince uncle so & so that they need to be just like us to have it all, when our actions are saying something different. Did you ever think that if you had it all that others would naturally want what you have & it would be tangible to those around you? Yeah it would & you wouldn’t have to shove it down their throats, they would come begging for it.(P.S. this cannot be faked so don’t even try to go that route)

Please don’t get the wrong idea here. There is a time & a place so just be lead on that. But in large part if we all just took a better look inward & didn’t worry about the out word world  I am sure that we would find a more peaceful life.

I have my God & I am accountable to Him for MY actions. That’s it! So if Sue next door is doing something that I know the other ladies in my Church or my place of worship would never do. It is none of my business:) Yeah I said it. Again all religious preferences aside! I have been preached at by the most loving Buddhist & the strictest Catholic.

The bottom line is that you are accountable for you! If what you have is really where it’s at. People will see by your actions & want more. Then you can share. Simple right? Now go do it!

-Blessings,

Jenna

I am a big tea drinker. I love it’s comforting warmth & it’s versatility. Not to mention to health benefits. But I found myself not knowing much about the plant or it’s origins. Sure I can spout off a few tid bits, & most everyone has some knowledge, but recently I went searching for a bit more. www.dadotea.com has this great article that was short & simple 7 I had to share it. Check out dadotea for more……………………

It is not clear whether the tea plant existed in China and India simultaneously, or whether the tea plant was transported from China to India, or vice versa. Another theory is that the wild camellias were indigenous to southeast Asia, northern Thailand, eastern Burma, southwest China, northeast India and upper Indochina simultaneously. Wherever it originated, thank goodness for its existence.There are several legends concerning the origin of Tea. According to one Chinese legend, tea was discovered some 5,000 years ago in 2727 B.C. by the Chinese Emperor Shen Nung while boiling water to drink. Some tea leaves were blown into his pot of boiling water by a gust of wind. He drank the water and felt refreshed. From that moment forward, he drank a cup of tea everyday and hence the culture of tea drinking began.

According to another Chinese legend, about 5,000 years ago The Holy Farmer (Shen Nung), who was also the God of Farming, not only invented farming tools and taught people how to till the land, but also introduced people to the medicinal benefits of tea as the God of Medicine. One day as he was experimenting with different wild plants to ascertain their effect on the human body, he was poisoned seventy-two times. That day, he discovered the tea plant, brewed its leaves and drank the liquid. He discovered that as a result of his tea consumption, the toxins in his body were gone. Hence, the medicinal benefits of tea were introduced.

Pregnancy is a tough thing. You are creating life & your body is working over time. So this should be a time to kick back & relax right?….. Well not really. The days of sitting around with your feet up eating chips are over ladies. Doctors & experts all over the country agree..there are benefits to exercise during pregnancy.

Does this mean you should coast until you get pregnant & then start a marathon? NO! You should start a routine before you conceive, then most of the time you can continue it with just some slight modifications. You always want to ask your doctor about your level of exercise & take their recommendations to heart. But already being active really helps & being over all healthier can help you conceive it sure worked for me.

I walked, hiked, did yoga, & ball work with both my boys & I had wonderful pregnancies. Sometimes it was hard to gear myself up to go to class or take a stroll, but once I did I felt soooo much better. I had trouble keeping it up some days in the 1st trimester because with my boys I was so tired, but I listened to my body & took my cues from how I felt that day. This worked for me & most experts agree it will work for you too.

If you have gotten pregnant & want to start getting in shape, again ask your doctor but walking is always good, Pilate’s, yoga, ect. can all be great. Anything that keeps you limber, the blood moving, & your overall health well will reap huge dividends nine months from now.

Still not on board? Here are some major bene’s to working out during pregnancy….

• During labor you can concentrate on enjoying the process in the knowledge that your body isn’t going to give up on you
• Your body’s going to bounce back a lot more quickly after all the fun’s over with
• You won’t feel or look like a beached whale 24/7
• Varicose veins will be kept at bay
• Back ache will not raise its ugly head
• Fat ankles will be something you associate ‘other’ people with.

Of course exercise isn’t the cure all & pregnancy can throw all kinds of things at you, so take it one day at a time & don’t obsess over your routine. It is most important to listen to your body especially during pregnancy & only go as far as your condition that day will allow.

This is a joyful time, so enjoy it! Just don’t sit ideal if you can help it….trust me there are lots of women on bed rest that would give anything to go for a walk right now, so put down the ice cream & lets go once around the block

 -k-