Yoga Balances the Mind as Well as the Body

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yoga meditation pose at sunset

I’ve been feeling a bit off balance lately. My left shoulder started bothering me back in the fall. I first noticed it while swimming laps. I thought it would go away but it didn’t. So after going to the doctor and getting an MRI, I learned that I have severe tendonitis and a bone spur that is aggravating it. The prognosis: “If I were a betting man” said the doctor, “I’d say you will need surgery to shave the bone spur down.” Not wanting to jump into surgery (I’ve had enough of that lately!) he has me on an anti-inflammatory and will be starting physical therapy. I see him again in 6 weeks and then we’ll re-assess. I’m not sure, but I think as soon as I had a diagnosis, I started to feel worse! I can’t swim – not supposed to lift my arm over my head (hard to swim the crawl with one arm!). And what about yoga? I don’t want to give up the one thing that makes me feel grounded and peaceful!

I was able to ski last weekend though. As long as I avoided the bumps and anything that would put a strain on my shoulder I was good. But, as most of us in the East know, this hasn’t exactly been a stellar year for skiing! What can I do to keep balance? I went to my 8:30 am yoga class this morning hoping I could find enough modifications to make my practice work for me. Suzanne, my wonderful instructor was back from a month-long retreat and she made some suggestions for modifications. I avoided the poses that I knew would hurt my shoulder (chaturanga, knees, chest , chin, shoulder stand) and I modified my arm position for the other poses, avoiding stretching my left arm over my head. After shavasana I stayed for the meditation. The end result? I walked out of class feeling balanced  both in body and mind!


 

Life is Balance: Going for the Gold!

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Life is Balance is a sponsor of the Empire State Winter GamesI’m excited to report that Life is Balance® has become a sponsor of the Empire State Winter Games in Lake Placid, NY. The Empire State Winter Games is a multi-day sports event, taking place February 2-5, 2012.  For more than 31 years, the Games have brought together nearly 1,000 athletes from across the State to compete in a variety of winter sports. What better venue for Life is Balance® t-shirts? I’ll be placing a brochure in each athlete’s gift bag with a coupon code for a discount on the Life is Balance website. And, two t-shirts are going to be raffled off during the weekend!

Not only am I able to help support young athletes in their quest to realize their dreams, but I learned about some sports I’ve never heard of! The winter sports included in these games consist of: alpine skiing, biathlon, bobsled, cross country skiing, figure skating, luge, skeleton, ski jumping, ski orienteering, slopestyle, snowshoe racing, speed skating, women’s ice hockey and skier/border cross. Slopestyle? Skeleton? Sounds more like a fashion show for Halloween!

Did you know that the Slopestyle competition takes place on a course consistingof variations of jumps and handrails. Anywhere from 3 to 5 of these “features” make up a standard size run. Athlete get two attempts to execute their most difficult and creative maneuvers. Another one new to me is Skeleton –   a fast winter sliding sport in which an individual person rides a small sled down a frozen track while lying face down, during which athletes experience forces up to 5g. Crazy? They don’t think so. I think I will stick to downhill skiing!

Here are some of the winter sports themed t-shirts available from LifeisBalance.com:

Men's Ski/Snowboard T-Shirt

Keep Your Edge Men's Ski/Snowboard T-shirt

Women's long sleeve figure skating t-shirt

Controlled Spin women's long sleeve ice skating t-shirt

Men's Ice Hockey T-Shirt

Reach Your Goal Ice Hockey T-Shirt

Women's short sleeve ski/snowboard t-shirt

Keep Your Edge women's ski/snowboard t-shirt

A Feature and a T-Shirt Giveaway – Life is Balance!

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Happy New Year everyone! I am thrilled to be featured this week on Shauna Oberg’s Satori Design for Living blog this week. What a great way to start the year! Oh and did I mention  I am offering a Life is Balance® t-shirt as the feature’s giveaway as well? Shauna is dedicated to providing readers with decorating, organizing and DIY ideas for their homes. She also shares fabulous finds, a look into the projects that she’s working on, as well as life inspiration – that is, anything she thinks will inspire the lifestyle you deserve. She likes to take a holistic approach to design, her philosophy being: “When we put life into our homes, our homes will give us life.” Now how great is that? So after you read her feature on me and enter the giveaway, stay a while and browse through her blog… you just might get inspired!

Head on over to enter starting Monday January 16. Entries close Thursday, January 19 at 8 pm MST. The winner will be announced on Friday, January 20! Click on the logo below to go now:

Satori Design for Living Blog feature on Sheryl Checkman and Life is Balance