A regular daily practice of deep breathing is one of the best tools for improving your health and well-being. 

Your breath is free to use and always available, and by training your body to breathe deeply through regular practice, you will begin to breathe more effectively even without concentrating on it. 

Performing one of these breath techniques twice daily for only three to five minutes can produce long-term benefits. You can also use them any time you are feeling stressed or notice that your breathing has become constricted.

The breath comes in, the breath goes out. So simple and so powerful all at the same time. 

Complete Belly Breath 

• With one hand on your belly, relax your abdominal muscles, and slowly inhale through the nose, bringing air into the bottom of your lungs.
• You should feel your abdomen rise. This expands the lower parts of the lungs.
• Continue to inhale as your rib cage expands outward, and finally, the collar bones rise.
• At the peak of the inhalation, pause for a moment, then exhale gently from the top of your lungs to the bottom.
• At the end of exhalation, contract your abdominal muscles slightly to push residual air out of the bottom of your lungs.

Alternate Nostril Breathing 
When you are feeling anxious or ungrounded, practice Alternate Nostril Breathing. Known as Nadi Shodhana in the yogic tradition, it will immediately help you feel calmer.

• Hold your right thumb over your right nostril and inhale deeply through your left nostril.
• At the peak of your inhalation, close off your left nostril with your fourth finger, lift your right thumb, and then exhale smoothly through your right nostril.
• After a full exhalation, inhale through the right nostril, closing it off with your right thumb at the peak of your inhalation, lift your fourth finger and exhale smoothly through your left nostril.
• Continue with this practice for 3 to 5 minutes, alternating your breathing through each nostril. Your breathing should be effortless, with your mind gently observing the inflow and outflow of breath.

Ocean’s Breath 
This is a favorite of mine. When you feel angry, irritated, or frustrated, try a cooling pranayama such as Ocean’s Breath, also affectionately called Darth Vader Breath, or Ujjayi (pronounced oo-jai) in yogic settings. This breath serves to immediately soothe and settle your mind.

• Take an inhalation that is slightly deeper than normal. With your mouth closed, exhale through your nose while constricting your throat muscles. If you are doing this correctly, you should sound like waves on the ocean.
• Another way to get the hang of this practice is to try exhaling the sound “haaaaah” with your mouth open. Now make a similar sound with your mouth closed, feeling the outflow of air through your nasal passages.
• Once you have mastered this on the outflow, use the same method for the inflow breath, gently constricting your throat as you inhale.

Energizing Breath 
When you are feeling sad or sluggish, use the Energizing Breath (Bhastrik) to give you an immediate surge of energy and invigorate your mind.

• Begin by relaxing your shoulders and taking a few deep, full breaths from your abdomen.
• Now start exhaling forcefully through your nose, followed by forceful, deep inhalations at the rate of one second per cycle. Your breathing is entirely from your diaphragm, keeping your head, neck, shoulders, and chest relatively still while your belly moves in and out.
• Start by doing a round of ten breaths, then breathe naturally and notice the sensations in your body.
• After 15 to 30 seconds, begin the next round with 20 breaths.
• Finally, after pausing for another 30 seconds, complete a third round of 30 breaths. (New to this kind of breathing? Definitely take a break between rounds!)
• Please note: Although Bhastrika is a safe practice, stay tuned in to your body during the process. If you feel light-headed or very uncomfortable, stop for a few moments before resuming in a less intense manner.
• Do not practice Bhastrika if you are pregnant or have uncontrolled hypertension, epilepsy/seizures, panic disorder, hernia, gastric ulcer, glaucoma, or vertigo. Use caution if there is an underlying lung disease.

Keep breathing, my darling. Everything is going to be okay. 
​
I love you and I'll see you real soon!

Since being diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder last year, I've made a bunch of small changes, one by one, in an effort to decrease our contact with toxins and increase our overall level of health and wellness.

These changes have also led to stronger immune systems in our bodies - we get sick a lot less than we used to around here, and when we do get sick, we bounce back faster than before. 

If you are thinking about doing a "ditch and switch" to less toxic products, you might find inspiration from these 12 changes that we've made (or in some cases, are making) so far. 

Looking to make it through a minute of jump squats?

You’ve got to #practice building endurance.

Want cooking sessions to be a priority on your calendar?

You’ll need to #practice putting them there.

Wish you could train your brain to use a deep, measured breath to calm down?

You can; it just takes a little #practice.

Energy flows where your attention goes.

In other words, what do you want in your life, and are you willing to #practice getting it there?

My current goals are to walk in truth with a strong body, clear mind, and open heart; accordingly, some my current practices include:

• guarding my sleep like gold
• drinking heaps of water,
• meditating in nature,
• showing up strong to my workouts,
  
• choosing laughter to entertain me, 
• writing down all the positives from each day, and
• holding hands with my husband every chance I get.

What about you?

How do your current days reflect the life you want to be living?

What are you willing to #practice this week to get you that much closer?

Wishing you a week of beautiful days and sweet surprises, my friend...
​

We grow through effort.

Only when you #push yourself will you *really* know the full extent of your capabilities.

Sometimes, what we think we can do and what we can actually do are off by a few degrees. When that happens, it’s usually our assumptions that are wrong.

When you #push yourself, that’s when you get stronger, faster, leaner, and fiercer.

That extra moment of oomph is how your stamina develops, your endurance grows, your flexibility increases, and your confidence builds.  

Don’t #push yourself, like, EVER, and you risk perpetual mediocrity, status quo, and boredom on the cusp of stagnation - blech.

What I know for sure about every person reading this right now is that there isn’t a mediocre soul among us - we are built for excellence, and we have the power to #push ourselves there.

I challenge you to look for ways to #push yourself.

It doesn’t have to be big, just a smidge more than you perhaps were initially planning. Get up off that couch after the long work day. Finish the entire minute of mountain climbers. Complete the whole set of bicep curls. Entertain a different perspective that stretches your worldview.

#Push your beautiful self out of your comfort zone, into the dazzling light of possibility.

I promise you it's worth it. 

xo
​

Defined as "mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty," courage is something with which we are all equipped. 

We have an endless supply, actually - the trick is learning how to tap into it on command.

Because courage is necessary to face change, and change is necessary for our soul's development during our lifetime, so the more we flex our courage muscle, the better. 

Fortunately, opportunities to call upon our own personal stash of the stuff seem to multiply as the years go by.

A couple of years ago I was in Miami for a coaching conference.

The night before it began, there was a little “mixer” in the hotel bar, and in typical Alex fashion, I walked into the huge room full of people I didn’t know, smiled and looked around for about 35 awkward, uncomfortable seconds, then quietly slipped out the door and beelined back to my hotel room, where I immediately put on my pajamas and climbed into bed to read.

No big deal, I figured; large social gatherings where I’m expected to make small talk with complete strangers is a hit or miss scene for me, and that night, it was a miss. It happens.

The next morning, I was recounting the situation with a laugh when something a colleague said stopped me in my tracks, potentially changing the way I show up in my life from here forward:

​“But what’s the point if you don’t #participate?” ​

In my "Non-Scale Victories of Consistent Self-Care" blog post, I provide a comprehensive list of ways to gauge your progress towards a health/wellness goal, and why they are better than stepping on a scale.

Here is that list in a simplified form. Whether you print it out or simply use as reference, I encourage you to spend a few moments contemplating each item and making note where you are at before you begin any new undertaking or challenge or change in diet or increase in movement. Then, use the same list throughout and after your challenge to see how far you've come!

Directions: on a scale from 1-10, with 1 being "Excellent/Not a Problem Whatsoever," 5 bring "Average/Sometimes an Annoyance," and 10 being "Ugh, this is a Daily Source of stress/anxiety/embarrassment/frustration and I'm OVER IT," rate the following considerations before and after your program to measure your progress on your health and wellness continuum.