Most of the time, we all know what to do to make us feel better, right? Like have a regular meditation, breath or stretch routine, but many of us don't follow through. Or how about all the New Year resolutions with good intentions that stop after a few weeks or months!!

Why is that and how can we close this GAP??

What we want or who we want to be, is different from who we are right now. We get inspired about our future-self, but our present-self doesn't like change and is on auto-pilot.

When you engage your inner thighs, lower butt cheeks and bring your navel toward your spine and lifting, your core is engaged.  I think actually activating these muscles whenever you remember during the day will result in a strong core without having to attend lots of classes. 

In this breath meditation, you breathe in for 2 counts and exhale for 4 counts.  When exhalations are longer than you inhalations, you produce more carbon dioxide which helps oxygen get absorbed into your cells and blood;  so very healthy for you!

Here is a 5 minute breathing meditation.  

Here are 5 Very Important Things to remember while stretching.  

Now that you know how to open muscle locks around your neck & shoulders and THEN stretch out the area; it's time to strengthen.  Here are 3 on-the-go strengthening exercises you can do at work, or in your living room.  

I always welcome questions:)

I like to break up tight muscles before I stretch or strengthen them; especially if there is pain or misalignment.  Here is a quick video showing one way to break up tight muscles around the shoulders and neck using la crosse balls.  

Last week we opened the front of our chest to release the neck.  Here are two more stretches that help loosen up the muscles around the shoulders and arms to allow flexibility around the neck. 

From birth to 5 or 6 years of age, we don’t know how to process our emotions; we just feel them. Most of our parents didn’t know how to deal with us when we were sad, angry, frustrated, loud, throwing a tantrum, etc. Instead of holding space for us to feel our feelings, we learned to get rid of them asap. All these unprocessed emotions get stored in our bodies.

Each time we don’t process our feelings, it’s like adding a big rock to our imaginary backpack. Can you imagine how heavy that load gets year after year!!! It makes me exhausted just thinking about it and it feels like it can drown you. This is what makes your body ill, and your mind foggy foggy foggy!! Only a small portion of your brain becomes available to be present and clear.

In this blog, we will explore simple tools to process your emotions on a daily basis through living consciously and breathing through tough times. 

I have spent most of my life working one on one with clients in my studio in La Jolla.  To simplify stretching for my clients that travel, work a lot or have major injuries, I narrowed down stretching to 15 essential range of motion stretches.   These simple and powerful yoga stretches take major joints through the natural range of motion they need to go through as well as break up muscle tightness around those joints.  

BUT....the most important thing I have found, is the mental state and the messages you give your body while stretching and through out the day.  Your breath, presence and intention make the stretch at least 50% more effective.  So why not make the most of your precious time and work with your breath & intention while stretch. 

For busy people, I will show you how you can weave these stretches into your daily life.  Stretching does not have to be an event.  It can be part of your...