September 11, 2014

$250 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway {ends 9/26}

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Welcome to the Amazon $250 Gift Card Event 
Hosted by Mom Powered Media
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One lucky winner will win a $250 Amazon gift card
to get their little one some Hipoglos and something special for themselves! So head below for your chance to win! This giveaway ends on 9/26 at 11:59pm and is open to US and CA. 

Disclaimer: The participating bloggers were not compensated for this post. No purchase is necessary to enter. One entrant per household, per address. Void where prohibited by law. Winner(s) will be contacted by email and have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen. The sponsor(s) will be responsible for product shipment to winner(s) of this sweepstakes. This event is in no way administered, sponsored, or endorsed by, or associated with, Facebook and/or Twitter, Google, Pinterest. Contact Elia@mompoweredmedia.com if you have any additional questions or comments.

#EveryBodyYoga Day 11 - Thread The Needle Pose

Day Eleven of the
#EveryBodyYoga Challenge


Thread The Needle Pose

Thread the Needle Pose is essentially just a variation on yesterday's, child's pose. Thread the Needle stretches and opens your shoulders, chest, arms, upper back, and neck while it releases the tension that we all tend to carry in our upper back and between our shoulder blades. This pose also provides a mild twist to your spine, which further reduces tension. This pose also detoxifies with it's slight twist.



While on your hands and knees, reach your arm directly underneath your body, allowing your right shoulder and temple to release to the ground. Your left hand can stay where it is, or let it go above your head, whichever feels more comfortable. Enjoy lounging in this pose again today - so peaceful!



Namaste.
Do you want to be a part of the Yoga Challenge?

It's never too late to join us...
{well, you can't win if you don't enter by September 30, 2014 but you can always practice yoga and win that way!}

You can find out the exact details on how to participate in the yoga challenge here.





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Check out the poses everyday using the hashtag
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September 9, 2014

#EveryBodyYoga Day 10 - Child's Pose

Day Ten of the
#EveryBodyYoga Challenge

Child's Pose - EveryBodyYoga Challenge
Child's Pose


Today's a totally different feel than yesterday, a much more relaxed pose that I truly think ANYONE can get into. It's a very comforting, calming pose. I use this pose to rest in between challenging poses, actually when I come out of any inversion I hang out in Child's pose for a little bit so I thought it was fitting to follow our inversions with this fantastic pose. Child's pose has many simple benefits including the stretch it offers the hips, thighs, and ankles while it helps to calm the brain and helps to relieve stress and fatigue. Child's pose also relieves back and neck pain when done with head and torso support. As you can tell, it's a very comforting pose. Chill out today and enjoy the calm pose for a little longer than you normally would.


Child's Pose - EveryBodyYoga Challenge

It's another self-explanatory pose but you can get into this pose from hands and knees, untuck your toes and lower your hips back on to your heels. With knees apart or together, lie your body on your thighs and rest your forehead on the ground. Arms can be straight forward or reaching behind you.

 

Namaste.
Do you want to be a part of the Yoga Challenge?

It's never too late to join us...
{well, you can't win if you don't enter by September 30, 2014 but you can always practice yoga and win that way!}

You can find out the exact details on how to participate in the yoga challenge here.




Follow me and all the generous sponsors
& be sure to tag us all in your photo submissions:

Lauren Paints | a beautiful life:

Instagram 
Twitter  |  Pinterest  |  Facebook 



Lush Cosmetics:
Instagram Twitter  |  Pinterest Facebook

Luna Jai:


Gaiam:

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Spirit Lockets:
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  |  Twitter Pinterest Facebook



Check out the poses everyday using the hashtag
#EveryBodyYoga on all platforms!

#EverybodyYoga Day #9 - Tripod Headstand

 Day Nine of the
#EveryBodyYoga Challenge
Tripod Headstand - EveryBodyYoga Challenge

I realize there are several of you a little intimidated by today's pose...  Inversions aren't for every body, I get that. That's totally fine - work within your abilities and trust your instincts, just do a "wildcard" pose today if you want to participate in the challenge but aren't feeling an inversion.

With that said, I take my pictures the day before the posting day for this challenge, it's just easier that way most of the time... Yesterday I wanted to take my picture for today at the beach. It was cloudy but not raining when we ventured out of the house and I was super excited to rock out some inversions on the beach. We went to my favorite spot and it started drizzling. "No big deal - I still can do a headstand", I thought to myself. Hubs and I grabbed my yoga mat and walked through the drizzle that ended up turning into a steady rain toward the beach with the camera wrapped in a plastic baggy. I attempted to get into my headstand, which I do daily. I couldn't seem to get it. I kept trying over and over again but I just couldn't seem to bring my second leg up. I was reminding myself to  breath deeply, I was trying to convince myself "I can do this", I was maybe even being a little forceful with myself...
 Tripod Headstand - EveryBodyYoga Challenge

And that's when I decided I was going to be real about today's pose. It's not always easy... it's a challenge for those of us that aren't fitness buffs or super experienced yogis. Some days I can easily lift up into this pose and other days my body is just simply not in the mood. The good news is that there are a few ways to make this pose a little more attainable for everybody: I suggest using a wall to find your balance, I actually started doing headstands in the corner of my extra bedroom. If you feel woozy or light headed when coming up, you need to stay in child's pose for a little - it helps. DON'T kick up into a headstand, gently lift yourself - it's easier on your neck and the rest of your body. I also suggest attempting this pose for the first time with a yoga instructor to guide you... but I started popping up into headstands when I felt my body was "ready" for inversions without the assistance of anyone, other than an instructor on youtube. Practice at your own discretion.

Tripod Headstand - EveryBodyYoga Challenge

Anyways, after feeling totally defeated at the beach... I came home and ended up easily lifting my feet into a headstand in our yard. To my surprise, I was pretty stable the entire time... Although I do have to credit the fence for helping me find comfort in my balance. 

I'd love to give you a step by step guide on how to get into Tripod Headstand but there isn't really much more to it than following The Guide to Getting into Tripod Balance that I posted yesterday; other than engaging all your muscles while lifting your legs towards the sky.

Do you practice inversions?
Any tips or tricks for beginners?






Namaste.
Do you want to be a part of the Yoga Challenge?

It's never too late to join us...
{well, you can't win if you don't enter by September 30, 2014 but you can always practice yoga and win that way!}

You can find out the exact details on how to participate in the yoga challenge here.




Follow me and all the generous sponsors
& be sure to tag us all in your photo submissions:

Lauren Paints | a beautiful life:

Instagram 
Twitter  |  Pinterest  |  Facebook 




Lush Cosmetics:
Instagram 
Twitter  |  Pinterest Facebook


Luna Jai:

Instagram 
Twitter  |  Pinterest  |  Facebook


Gaiam:

Instagram  |  Twitter Pinterest  |  Facebook
 
Spirit Lockets:
Instagram
  |  Twitter Pinterest Facebook



Check out the poses everyday using the hashtag
#EveryBodyYoga on all platforms!

September 8, 2014

Setting Goals: Six Tips to Help You Set & Achieve Your Goals #Tools4Wisdom Planner Review and #NSNation announcement


If you are a regular reader you may have realized this already, I set a large amount of goals for myself... Hence my Fit in 2014 series, my list of 101 things I want to accomplish in 1,001 days, and I'm sure my list of goal related posts could go on and on but I'll stop there. From little goals like cleaning the house to big goals like buying a  house- setting goals helps to give you a picture of the future while providing a boost in short term motivation; it helps you to organize your time and your resources so that you can make the most of your life.

Setting Goals - Six Tips to Help You Set and Achieve Your Goals

As my life gets busier and busier as a blogger, a student, an artist, a wife, a friend, etc. I need to start structuring my plan so that I have a better vision of what I can do now to help my future self. I've always used a planner to help me keep track of my day-to-day to-do lists, so I've always used my planner in a way to help accomplish goals - they are typically short term goals though. When I was contacted by Tools4Wisdom to review one of their Goal Planners I wasn't sure if it would be something I would like, I have planners... Why do I need another one? Because this planner is different.I love that this the Goal Planner is so easy to use, with pages to list personal and business goals, questions encouraging you to consider how you can reach these goals, it even features a little thoughts journal in the back.

The Tools4Wisdom Goal Planner is full of inspiration which I'll need a lot of over the next few months as I take another big stride toward getting Fit in 2014! I'm officially going to be partnering with NutriSystem and I'm so excited about it! I can't wait to see how the program works for me and I know using this planner to plan my monthly weight loss goals, my daily work outs, etc. will absolutely help! I've always said if I just had my meals planned and made up for me I could lose this weight, now we'll find out if I was right! I'm now officially a member of the #NSNation and my structured diet will begin in just a few short weeks. My goal is to lose 30+ lbs and I can't wait to see if I achieve this, even if it is a tall order.

Setting Goals - Six Tips to Help You Set and Achieve Your Goals


I also have some pretty hefty blogging goals for the remainder of this year and several for 2015, this planner is definitely going to be helpful come Holiday Gift Guide posting time! I love how easy it will be for me to keep my posts in order. The only thing I don't really like about this planner is the tiny squares for daily goals, but if they gave me a page for each day then the planner would be the size of a textbook so you win some, you lose some. I suppose my goal for my blog would be to DOUBLE my numbers and to make every single post full of genuine, authentic content.
Check out some of the awesome features the planner provides:

Setting Goals - Six Tips to Help You Set and Achieve Your Goals

Interested in getting a planner of your own, check out Tools4Wisdom!


Setting Goals - Six Tips to Help You Set and Achieve Your Goals


Six Tips to Help You Set & Achieve Your Goals:

1. Break It Down - Break your big goals down into smaller goals, it's that easy.  For instance, if your over all goal is that you would like to purchase a home, a good goal would be "I'll deposit $100 out of every pay check into a savings account" or "I'll begin searching for homes that I'm interested in". Big goals are great but without breaking them down they can get overwhelming.

2. Write Your Goals in The Present Tense -   Write your goals in your planner in the present tense, as though they already happened. This gets your mind used to thinking that your dreams aren't just dreams; they can be reality. Also, if you have Netflix. Put this goal on your list: WATCH The Secret.

3. Make Your Goals Measurable - You have to be able to measure your goals to know whether or not you have succeeded. If your "goal" isn't measurable, it isn't really a goal. The difference is


This is a goal: I want to lose 30+ lbs.

This technically isn't a goal: I want to not be fat.


4. Make Daily To-Do Lists - These are little lists of daily goals, obviously... but they will help you achieve all of your goals by helping you to remain organized and informed about what you plan to achieve. I highly suggest using the notes part of your planner to do this!

5. Be Flexible - While setting goals is great, be open to re-evaluating your goal list every so often to make sure all of your goals and your actions are aligned. If you aren't working toward a goal regularly, you either need to change your actions to begin working toward the goal or maybe decide on a goal that motivates you a little more.

6. Do It Anyways! - This is for all the procrastinators and lazy bums (like me) out there: no matter what is going on, get up and take action. You don't want to work out? Do it anyways! You don't feel like saving that $100 this month? Do it anyways! You'll thank yourself later if you take my advice and stop letting what is holding you back from achieving your goals get in the way...

Setting Goals - Six Tips to Help You Set and Achieve Your Goals


So, what goals do you have for the remainder of 2014?
What goals do you have for your life in general?


[Like the Yoga shorts pictured above? Check out LunaJai.com and use the code "LAURENH" to get 10% off!]


I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com.
Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.