Squeeky clean

Spring is a time for rebirth, blooming, new life and if you are me, cleaning! I have been on a mission lately to find safe & truly natural cleaning solutions that actually work for my big spring cleanse for the house.

What does this have to do with yoga you may be asking yourself? Well in it's simplest form, it does touch on the first Yama, (which are a rules or code of conduct for living), Ahimsa: Nonviolence. Abstinence from injury; harmlessness, the not causing of pain to any living creature in thought, word, or deed at any time. It is said, if you can truly follow the first yama, all of the others fall into place. This can translate to your yoga practice by being kind to yourself rather than judgemental or perhaps pushing yourself too hard because your neighbor is doing a pose which is beyond your current physical ability. 

Back to the topic at hand, spring cleaning; I found a few home runs with some simple items from the pantry.

My personal favorite, is using a grapefruit & kosher salt to clean the bathroom.  To do:  sprinkle a liberal amount of kosher salt (approx 1/4 cup) into 1/2 of a grapefruit and scrub away.  Keep the kosher salt in one hand and your grapefruit in the other so you can sprinkle on more salt to scrub away any stubborn gunk.  Then rinse any leftover salt and grapefruit residue off with water.  Dry with a clean soft cloth.  It removed stubborn water spots and the bathroom smelled fantastic when I was done.  All of the faucets were sparkling.

For more stubborn grime, such as a tile shower floor and hard water stains in the toilet.  Add white vinegar to a spray bottle, spray area liberally then shake baking soda over stained area.  This makes a really cool bubbling reaction which excite chemistry nerds like myself.  Then scrub with a brush.  This left the grout nice and white.  Voila, all done in the bathroom.

For the windows, 1 cup or water, 1/4 cup white vinegar, and 1/8 teaspoon Dr. Bronner's pure castile soap (Note: you can also use Dawn to cut the grease and I do admit this works better but this is a petroleum product, or you can just leave the soap out, however I find the little bit of soap is what gives this mix the wow factor).

Gone are the days when I used to have to hold my breath from the bleach wipes and run out of the room coughing and usually getting a subsequent headache.  Not to mention the insane costs of cleaning products.

These are just a few simple finds I've added to my spring cleaning arsenal.  I would love to hear of any "must try" safe and natural cleaning solutions you have found.  Post a comment here or email me at: info@yogabyjulie.com

See ya on the mat!  Much love,
 ~ Julie

Off track

During my morning ski, the once nicely groomed trails my neighbor so graciously provided, were getting a little sloppy.  We had a big un-thaw and then a quick freeze which caused the ski tracks to be slightly uneven.  The entire ski, I battled with keeping my ski's and subsequently my feet and mind "on track".  I'm constantly spraining my ankle, it's so bad I have actually sprained my ankle twice getting into Easy Seated Pose (Sukhasana); so I was anxious about a sprain the entire ski.  I feel like I wasted this amazing opportunity to take in nature's splendor, seize my alone time and enjoy, instead I was mentally wrestling with being "off track". 

One of the amazing gift's yoga has given me, is that life has many metaphors, and moment's like this are an opportunity to look internally.  So I decided to examine what is "off track" in my life.  Well let's see, it's been 8 months now and I still have 36 of those baby pounds to lose.  This seems to consume all of my mental and physical free time and energy.  While I do love skiing, I have to admit to myself I've become a bit obsessed.  I drug the whole family out for a night ski last week after dinner.  I advertised it as a moon & star viewing opportunity to my husband & son who are both avid star gazers.  Unfortunately, neither of the kiddos appreciated this, and it ended up with my husband sprint skiing across the lake in the dark via headlamp to get both screaming kids back to the house. 

My eating & wine consumption has also been off track, however I did download a new app for my iPhone called, myFitnessPal and this has done wonder's for getting my calorie consumption back "on track".  I'm happy to report I've lost 10.5 lbs since starting this about a month ago, oh yeah and it's free.

Our lack of immunity at the Frank household has also been throwing the entire family "off track".  Each of us has been sick with something, I swear since school started last fall.  It tempts me to lock everyone up & not let them make contact with other germ infested life forms, but that reminds me too much of the Seinfeld episode of the boy in the bubble.  So I carry on our daily lives of play dates with runny nosed kids & try not to visibly cringe; at least not so their mom's can see me.  My homeopath tells me fear brings sickness into the body, well I'm sorry but I say it's snot!

Whatever your situation, yoga invites you to explore an internal scan, "What's going well?", "What's not?"  "Am I 'off track'"?, and "What can I choose to do about it, or not?".

With that, I leave you happy, on the road to healthy, and peaceful!

The light in my honors the light in you.  ~ Namaste

Julie

www.YogaByJulie.com

Julie’s post-ski yoga stretches:

After you’ve taken you ski’s off, (note: this routine begins with ski boots on) and while your heart rate is still elevated, take caution and only do what feels right, take breaks as needed, you know your body better than anyone.  These postures are merely my suggestions based on my personal yoga practice and may be too advanced for a beginning practitioner.  If you do not know some of the postures listed, attend a yoga class with a certified teacher, research the web, or feel free to ask me.  Enjoy!

• Wall supported Dancer (Natarajasana)
• High lunge (chair or stair supported as you untie your boots)
• Hamstring stretch, foot flexed, while removing your boots
• Crescent lunge (Anjaneyasana)
• Side angle (Parsvakonasana), rotate chest open & lift upper arm, look up
• Repeat on other side
• Empty coat sleeves, gently continue until your heart rate has dropped enough to move your head below your heart, at any time if you feel dizzy, come up and rest, discontinue practice or continue when you feel ready.
• Wide legged forward fold (Prasarita Padottanasana ) with hands clasped behind back in yoga mudra
• Mountain (Tadasana) with shoulder circles
• Half Moon (Ardha Chandrasana)
• Standing Backbend, support low back with hands..if you have a mat or somewhere comfortable to lie down move forward, if not end here
• Standing forward fold (Uttanasana)
• Wind relieving pose (Pavanamuktasana)
• Reclining Pigeon (Supta Kapotasana)
• Happy Baby (Ananda Balasana)
• Corpse pose (Savasana) rest for at least 5 minutes!

May you be happy, may your be healthy, may you know peace! (oh yeah, and may we get more snow!) 

Shanti!  (That’s peace in Sanskrit!  )

Hope you’ve enjoyed.  I teach locally in Bemidji 2^nd & 4^th Saturday’s at the United Methodist church, 9^th & Beltrami Ave. @ 9:30 AM if you would like to check out one of my classes.  Be well.

~Julie

about me:  I have been practicing yoga since 1995, 2012 marks my 17th year! I am a 200-hour Registered Hatha Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance. I have 200+ hours of Yoga Teacher Training in: Asana, Pranayama, Anatomy & Physiology, Philosophy and Meditation.

My yoga styles of study include Ashtanga, Hot Yoga, Jivamukti, Kripalu, Kundalini, Vinyasa, Prenatal and Restorative. While each of these have their own dedicated methods, I have found inspiration from each and they have meshed themselves into my own unique style. For more information visit my website at www.YogaByJulie.com