READING TO EMPOWER THE HEALTHY STYLISH & BEAUTIFUL YOU
|
Getting your intuition back is the most valuable self development you can ever do. It is the no fail, no lie, no bullshit, truth serum. Listen to it, and it will tell you what to do.  Getting your intuition back is the most valuable self development you can ever do. It is the no fail, no lie, no bullshit, truth serum. Listen to it, and it will tell you what to do.
Childhood, for most of us, impaired our ability to access our intuition. When we listened to intuition and told grown ups, we were corrected, ridiculed, and told we were wrong. You may ask why is daddy hurting me? He isn’t hurting you, he loves you. Why is mommy crying in her bedroom. Mom’s not crying. She just got something in her eye. We accepted what they said, although internally we knew they were lies. These small betrayals to our internal compass slowly erode our confidence in our intuition. It’s essential you get your confidence back. Break the habit of doubting the voice which is quite clearly telling you what is going on. It's hard to do. You will learn to hear yourself in Be Your Own Guru, but begin by militantly being on your own side. You need to trust yourself - it’s the key to confidence and getting your intuition back. Relying solely on our rational mind - the alternative - does not nourish you. Meditation is helpful in this step. When you give space to listening you will hear intuitive hunches and create the internal space for them to percolate up. That’s valuable stuff. Love, Julia xo
Love, Julia xo BREATHE .... notice your breath. Anxious? Breathe in. Breathe out. Scattered? Breathe in. Breathe out. Nervous? Breathe in. Breathe out. Overwhelmed? Breathe in. Breathe out. Stressed? Breathe in. Breathe out. Worried? Breathe in. Breathe out. Panic? Breathe in. Breathe out. Fearful? Breathe in. Breathe out. Butterflies? Breathe in. Breathe out.  Although meditation can seem complicated and difficult - at the root it is simply paying attention to your breath. Thoughts? You have too many thoughts? I am glad to tell you they too are part of the process. Thoughts strengthen, over time, your ability to concentrate by offering roadblocks to the concentration.
Start here, and then come to class. In class you will experience sample mediations, learn how to use your breath to calm or energize you; and receive frequent prompts to help you more easily meditate. If you can't sit - recline, stand, whatever is comfortable. 30 minutes too long? Meditate for a bit and then let it simply be recharging time. Either way, you will be refreshed, calm, and more focused when you leave. Love, Julia xo You can enjoy the holiday season and any hectic time of life with bliss. Only thing you need is a little intentionality to put you in a space of ease under pressure. Here's how:  Begin each morning with meditation. Meditation will center you and give you the power to pace your day. One minute to 20 minutes of meditation is all you need. Click here for a free 6 minute meditation to begin your morning.
Eat clean whenever it isn’t a holiday or a party. Allow yourself to enjoy holiday parties, Christmas Eve and day, and New Year’s Eve. Whenever you are not celebrating, eat clean. The cleanse this coming week is a great way to begin. If interested in a future cleanse, click here. For me clean is eating vegetables and protein primarily - with two squares of chocolate and a glass of red wine every day. Move daily, even for just 20 minutes. A little counts - especially as it related to movement. Move to stay in the routine of working out, move to keep your mood up, move to burn calories. Check out my instagram for inspiration. Pretend there are only six days in the week. When making commitments, creating plans only factor in six days, this way you have a built in overflow or self care day. Take an at home spa hour. Self care is the oil that keeps you going without getting cranky, exhausted, or irritable. Self care at home for ease or schedule something for luxury. Visit jolie for some great products. Say no more often. When I am under pressure anything that isn’t hell yes, turns into a no. To enjoy the holidays, I commit to only that which really lights me up. I wish you a super fabulous holiday season!! love, julia xo Red is classic. But it can be scary. It’’s a statement. I’ve had full lips before Kim Kardashian made them hot. My father always said that my lips were too big. As I became older, he vocally discouraged me from wearing lipstick. Naturally, I was always self conscious of them, never appreciated them.  lIn my journey to loving myself - my physical self - my lips were one of the hold outs. But, this is the only body I have. Why be at war with it? I step by step took myself on a journey of love and not only acceptance, but celebration. First step wear noticeable lipstick - not nude. Once I got comfortable wearing lipstick, I challenged myself to wear red lipstick for an entire winter. At first I was incredibly self conscious. I felt that everyone was looking at my lips with the same judgement as my father. I felt like they stood out like a sore thumb. In my head, I expected people to ask why are you wearing that? Even shopping for the lipstick was traumatic - focused attention on the part of me with which I was most uncomfortable. No one ever said anything negative. Key: most of our self criticism is all in our head. That part of you you hate is only noticed by you most of the time. We are our worst critics. Over the course of the winter, I grew to accept my lips and love them. Ironically when I switched up the color in the spring, my Bar teacher in Summit saw me, stopped, and asked “What’s up? Where’s the red lipstick?” Stunned. I am not suggesting that you look outside for all your affirmation, but sometimes God uses people to reflect the truth. I realized that the world wasn’t seeing it as I was - it was probable my dad was wrong and I was wrong. It was possible that my lips were perfect for red lipstick. I share this because I want each and every woman to totally embrace herself. And often the part of you that you reject, under appreciate, or think isn’t acceptable; is actually, in reality amazingly beautiful and hot, if you dare to believe it. Now I almost always wear red lipstick as a reminder to myself to treasure every part of me. Let me know what you want to embrace in you. love, julia A woman stopped by jolie the other day to share her art. Having been a psychologist for many years - in her awakening, she decided to devote herself to creative, uplifting art for others. Loving to serve, but her practice of psychology no longer had her jumping out of the bed in the morning. I loved how she purposely referred to the change, not as mid-life crisis, but as awakening.  Awakening is the courage to realize something isn’t working the way it use to. We are all alive, changing and evolving. It doesn’t make sense that everything we chose 10, 15, 20 years ago still is going to work for us.
As many of you know, I grew up in the Bible belt and Sunday School meant memorizing Bible verses. One of my favorites, I carry with me still is “I came that you may have life more abundantly.” Abundant. That is what life is. Boring. Dull. Draining. Exhausting. Stale. Do not describe abundance nor should it describe life. When we find ourselves not jumping out of bed, not truly happy, it’s time for awakening. Awaken to what your soul truly wants. What is it that makes you feel alive? What do you want life to feel like? How would you live your day? It’s a tricky question sometimes. You don’t know what you want? Maybe you haven’t even allowed yourself to consider the question. Maybe you can’t see any options due to work, kids, education. Or perhaps, you feel past decisions set you on a road you can’t exit. Awakening begins with listening. So here’s how we can listen: Sit in a quiet place. Invite clarity and light in. Begin to focus on your breath. Continue the focus on your breath until you feel quiet inside. Now ask yourself the following questions. Where am I now? Write down where you are physically, emotionally, financially, spiritually - positive and negative. Then make your wish list - here’s where I want to be. What would life look like? Think of the feeling you want to have. From here create a no thank you list of any negative feelings, negative situations, unhealthy relationships or coping habits you have. The keeper list is last. List all you want to keep what makes you feel good, alive, and fills you. Now from listening to action. Create more of what’s on the keeper list and where you want to be. In meditation, ask how - the answers will slowly come. Begin to house clean your life by looking at the no-thank-you list. What can you release now? What can you replace in terms of more positive habits or thoughts? What can you experience less? Begin baby steps to unwind yourself from the negative thoughts, relationships, habits and situations that keep you stuck. Love, Julia xo Every morning before I get out of bed I visualize what I want in my day. I see everything I know is on my calendar happening how I want it.  I see my time at jolie, my workout, time with my kids, what I’m making for dinner, my errands and chores. I see myself going through my day with high energy and enthusiasm. If I have any special request, I make it then. This morning’s request was to be open to new opportunities, The visualization sets up my day to be the best it can. I begin with an intention and belief that it’s going to be a fabulous day. When you greet the day uplifted, it smooths the winkles. Try this out. It’s easy, practical, and only takes a few minutes. You will be surprised how it uplevels the quality of your day. For help with visualizations, email me. Love, Julia xo Now that Irina is at NYU, she and I often have fitness dates in NYC. We take different classes, enjoy sweating together, and go for a meal - the restaurant depends on how demanding the workout was. Really sweaty = grabbing something and eating in the park. Now that Irina is at NYU, she and I often have fitness dates in NYC. We take different classes, enjoy sweating together, and go for a meal - the restaurant depends on how demanding the workout was. Really sweaty = grabbing something and eating in the park.
Our date is a miracle. I used to find working out at the bottom of my to do list everyday. But, as the number of my children grew, exercise crept up and up the list. Shocking...I got busier and found more time to exercise. It was a necessity. People ask me all the time, how do I do it. The key is extraordinary self care. Self care is not vanity, it is not indulgence, it is not optional. It is the gold in my day that gets me smiling from one day to the next and keeps me from getting sick and all stressed out. Working out is most effective and can be habit forming, IF it is not tied only to losing weight or getting stronger, BUT to feeling happier. When I finally tapped into the amazing, restorative powers of exercise, I went from rarely working out to it being a need and oftentimes something I choose to do as entertainment. The key is a workout which helps you soar and variety. I like something to challenge me, but is doable. I need a pace which allows me to check in with myself - that way it lifts my butt and my mood. The jolie row program is based on just that, and is about to get even better. In the fall we will begin ELEVATE. The program includes:
Love, Julia xo When I am disappointed by an outcome, the first thing I ask is why. I start examining could I have done something different, did I fail to do something I should have. I was on that hamster wheel this morning while talking with my girlfriend.  She stopped me in my tracks. She reminded me that the universe has my back -- always! You don’t know what is on the other side of the issue. Maybe the minor disappointment is protecting you from something that could really be bad.
In my life, in our lives, the universe is always looking out for our good when we trust ourselves to divine goodness. What appears a setback isn’t. When a relationship doesn’t turn out how we expected, perhaps that relationship wasn’t for our highest good. The job we wanted falls through, there is something better waiting for you. You have a health challenge, it’s an opportunity to redirect, accept love from others, and sink into the now. There is an important lesson here: you are not wrong - it is not your fault. Instead of turning inward and blaming ourselves, stop the self flagellation. Look for the lesson, the opportunity, the gift. I have to break it to you. What you eat is the biggest determiner of your health. I am writing from St. Louis, my hometown. I am immersed in my gene pool. Those younger than me, older than me, and my age. Everyone has a disease or condition.  I was shocked by how my younger brother has changed in appearance so drastically. My younger sister’s response was, “Well, we are all getting older - it’s only you who’s aging in reverse.” Wow! My sister is 25 and two years ago started experiencing health problems she shouldn’t have at her age.
The big difference - diet. No toxic dump next door; my family members all live in desirable St. Louis suburban neighborhoods. Food is medicine. It is youthfulness. It is health. It is more important than your gene pool, exercise habits, or weight. The only difference between me and my family is food. They eat a regular American diet. I eat a plant based diet. Plant based, for me, doesn’t mean vegetarian. Plant based is that the majority of what I eat is either a vegetable, fruit, or plant fat like olives, coconut, or avocado. Meat and dairy are extras and grains are a garnish. What have I escaped eating this way? Inflammation, autoimmune disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, digestive disorders, skin conditions. Based on my visit, It’s all in the gene pool. You want to be healthy, you want to glow? Eat more plants. Explore the amazing effect a plant based diet can have in the ELEVATE program. Love, Julia xo Nike. I read Shoedog this summer. Take it with you on vacation this August. It is amazing! There is so much to be gleaned about how to live and create from Phil Knight’s story of the creation of Nike, it’s on my calendar to read the book every year.  Nike almost died many times. Knight comments that he knew if Nike did fail, it wasn’t going to be because they did not take big risks and do everything possible. He was going to do everything to fight to the death. Never did he leave the fate of Nike to the market, circumstances, or other people’s rules.
That’s empowerment in a nutshell. Keep acting. When you hit a dead end, look for options. It doesn’t mean we won’t fail or mess up, but we get to decide what will be. Empowerment is about not being a victim. A victim gives their power to another. We allow circumstances, beliefs, people, past wrongs to define and limit us. We do not need to blame situations or others for our present state. You are an amazing, powerful person. With a little action and a shift in mindset, you can create a new reality. Empowerment is recognizing things can be different. Then doing something to move the needle towards what we want. What happens when you don’t know what you want, but know what you have isn’t working? The answers are not always evident. I share with you an exercise I do frequently when I’m stuck, not sure what to do next, or have that vague feeling of uncertainty. The Practice Consider the situation or challenge you’re facing. Create three list. List everything you know. List everything you don’t know. List questions you can ask. They can directed to God, a particular person, or just questions you need answers to. Taking inventory gives us clarity. Writing the question list - at least 50 - forces us to access our imaginations and observe. Also, by formulating the questions we prepare ourselves to see answers, signs, and clues to the next step. When you get the next step, take it. If something, inspires you, explore it more deeply. Clarity often comes in the process of doing. There are no mistakes - only opportunities to learn. Take them and use them. Be Unshakeable is about creating the tools to move forward. Finding out how to not be a victim. Love, Julia xo Simply put, it clears my vision - providing clarity on what’s happening now and a glimpse of the path before me. I get to heal and release the past, empower the present, and inspire the future.  Readings have the connotation of being something scary where you walk into a dark room that feels a bit witchy with a very strange person there - but it’s not. It’s a conversation with the most intuitive mother ever. She illuminates the past; we talk about my life, relationships, challenges, and future goals.
Before the session, I set an intention and think about the questions I am holding in my heart. Then I stay open. After sessions I feel lighter, brighter, more empowered, with more clarity and direction. Readings don’t take away our free will. Instead, they are a great source of general guidance for me to keep in alignment with my path and purpose. Readers are able to see glimpses of future events, but the unfolding is completely up to me. Sessions are like doing a cleanse. A cleanse is a quick, intensive reset that sets us up for training and taking care of ourselves better. A session is like years of therapy and prepares us to better use the coaching, therapy, and self development we already do. It’s such an important tool. Love, Julia xo Happiness is not a place to get to or a goal to achieve. It is a state of the heart and mind which we must continuously cultivate. In that way, happiness is like a garden that we must give attention, water, feed, occasionally clear things away for it to grow.  We have peaks of happy experiences in life, but they are not generally what it means to have a happy life. They are one part of happiness which is the day to day pleasure we take in life.
Taking pleasure in the moment to moment experience of living comes with practice. Essential elements are: gratitude, mindfulness, and allowing yourself to feel the full range of emotion in you. We can support daily happiness by consciously creating pleasurable experiences for yourself. The second part of happiness is how satisfied you are with life. It means you go beyond what’s okay to what truly lights you up inside. It requires that life evolve as you dreams and goals change. It means constantly reaching outside of your comfort zone so you can grow and experience new things. Here the important concept is to create time to listen to your heart - aka meditation - and do what comes up. When you find yourself off track find your way back to happy first with gratitude and acceptance. Then send out loving energy out to others and listen to what your heart wants. Know without doubt you have the inner resources to build a happy life for yourself. I love Kasia. She is the woman who has shaped my teaching more than any other. One of her first lessons was fully inhabiting joy. She didn’t teach it, but I saw it in her. Good news she would yell in joy, raise her arms, and smile the most sincere, childlike expression of joy. Good news via text - she answered me like she was girl tween. I began to experiment - pleasure research as I call it - with joy.  As an emotion it moves up and out. It makes our chest big and full. Our arms and legs want to move, dance, jump. We get the urge to shout out.
What happens to us as adults? How did joy get reduced to a high five, to a happy contained smile? How did it become a simple thumbs up? What stops us? Do we think it’s not “grown up” to be truly joyful? Do we fear being laughed at or that something bad will follow? We stop up our joy. Robbing ourselves of joy, we rob ourselves of fully feeling alive, celebrating the triumphs - we miss fully feeling every ounce of the moment. Do some pleasure research with me? Next time you see a happy, joyful kid - study them. See what joy looks and feels like without “adulting” it. THEN, do the same thing next time something great happens! Just try it once. I guarantee you will feel soooooooooo good!! When you are in the good feeling - it will delete the negative, it youthens you, and you feel the rush of life which makes this crazy world so worth it. Love, Julia xo P.S. To get you in the mood, use this free meditation to pump up your joy!  watermelon, cucumber, & feta salad
Dice equal amounts of cucumber and watermelon. Mix together with crumbled feta to taste.Voila - an awesome summer treat! easy gazpacho Finely dice ripe tomato, cucumber, bell peppers, a clove of garlic, and chives. Mix everything together including the juices from the vegetables with salt and a generous portion of olive oil. Allow to macerate for several hours. Chill and enjoy.  Can meditation help when you're facing a challenge like cancer?
I have a dear friend undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Alternative cancer treatments have been my obsession lately to help support conventional treatments and make them less painful. Mindfulness meditation, the practice of focusing on the present moment, has helped cancer patients experience less pain, more calm, and increased happiness according to a 2011 study. Mindfulness also helps the body to heal by helping cancer patients sleep better and feel less stress. By concentrating on compassion and the present moment, meditation is an alternative to the anxiety and worry many people experience. Through mindfulness, we become more aware of our thoughts and emotions. This allows us to create more space so we can choose to enjoy the present moment and not race towards future what ifs. We can choose more healing thoughts and appreciate what is - positive mindset has been documented over and over as a non-medical key to healing. Experiencing a health challenge? Try developing a meditation practice. My Learn to Meditate course offers instruction in mindfulness and using meditation to promote calm and relaxation. Also, experience our mindfulness and compassion meditations as well as singing bowl meditation to help you cope with the stress of illness. I wish all health and healing. Love, Julia xo Recently, I've been feeling heavy. It is from all the end of school activities, not eating right by eating on the run, and everyday going until I hit that wall which short circuits my brain and drives me to bed. After my son's middle school graduation, I was talking with a group of moms feeling the exact same way.  So, how to feel light now that summer is here?
1. Schedule in time to do nothing. Create a buffer that allows you to partake in unexpected pleasures like having a latte outdoors with a friend, sitting at the pool with your kids, or reading a magazine. I am putting daily time at our pond club in the late afternoon. 2. Eat more raw foods. Going to the farmers' market inspires good, light summer salads with fruit and raw vegetables which fill you up and are satisfying without making you lethargic in the summer heat. 3. Take life outside. Being outdoors reminds us the world is large and limitless. It inspires and calms. Eat outside, Camp in the backyard with the kids. Swim. Hike. Garden. Bike. Let me know what you think! Love, Julia xo 1. Fill half your plate at every meal with vegetables and berries.Powerful antioxidants and synergistic nutrition found in berries and vegetables heal your body by fueling the mitochondria. Strong mitochondria equals strong cells which equals recovery.  2. Take a Coenzyme Q10 supplement daily. It increases energy production in the mitochondria giving you and your body more energy for less fatigue and more healing.
3. Provide your body with high quality protein daily. Protein is necessary for the repair which has to be done throughout the body to curb the symptoms of autoimmunity. Tell me how it these changes impact you. Love, Julia xo  Gratitude is the key practice to transform your everyday life. Gratitude is the secret sauce that turns our everyday into something magical. Offering thanks daily is the quickest way to change our mood and perception of our life. Thanksgiving magnifies the good stuff and makes everything else fade into the background.
I cringe as I think of times in my life that have felt dull and constraining. I remember stretches that felt like the laundry cycle of a washing machine: wake up, cook, tidy up, change diapers, run errands, read bedtime stories, rinse and repeat--over and over and over. Living like that can kill you, both figuratively and spiritually. It is definitely not the space in which relationships grow and expand; new possibilities do not easily present themselves in that place; nor do children feel boundless love coming from their parent. It is not the place of joy, beauty, and connection. But it is an opportunity to remake your life. The practice of gratitude transforms cleaning up the third spill of the day into something closer to the sacred. Milk spills. Gratitude changes our perspective. The spill is not a burden. We may still be unhappy about it, but frustration dissipates. Thanks for the child drinking the milk. Thanks that we have milk. Thanks that there can be more milk to fill the cup. Thanks that you're there to care for that child. Thanks for the ability to clean it up. Thanks for the cow, and the farmer, and the grocery store. The list is endless. Any and all events in our lives are elevated by gratitude. The color and energy of joy and happiness are intensified. We more deeply appreciate good when we infuse our experience with gratitude. The people around us feel more appreciated and seen when we express our thanks for them and for what they do. Transformation happens when we give thanks for the small and big things. Our eyes open to what is happening around us. Our hearts lighten because we connect with the present moment. We become fully present to what is. Gratitude is something we consciously must practice until it becomes as natural to us as breathing. Join jolie in your journey of gratitude. Meditation is an excellent opportunity to reflect and sink into the good. Also, the Thursday Mom 2 Mom is a great way for mothers to up level their day with little effort. Please share your gratitude practices with us on Facebook and in person. with gratitude, Julia Exercise began for me as a way to lose weight, get in shape, and relieve stress. It has become for me one of the primary ways I keep my body feeling and looking young. Exercise is a powerful youth serum available -- if you know how to make it. I created Row jolie as a workout and youth serum in one.  The key markers or characteristics of aging are: limited mobility, frailty, muscle loss, loss of bone mass, weight gain, thinning, sagging skin, random aches and pains, and inconsistent energy levels.
Bright, radiant skin, defined muscles, fluidity in movement, flexibility, endurance, energy, an overall good feeling in your body, and quick recovery from illness and/or injury are the signs of vitality. When I work out, design workouts, and have personal training it is always important that the movements not only do no harm, but assist in keeping my body young and vital. Renewal is the name of the game. 6 ingredients necessary to turn exercise into youth serum 1. It is essential you incorporate full range of motion in some of your weekly exercise. For example, aim for full articulation of your shoulder. You want arm movements which mimic life: arms overhead, pulls and pushes. Think of picking up or playing with a baby - those are the movements: picking the child up, holding the baby and gazing at him, placing him gently in a crib. Push, pull, raise your arms overhead regularly. For the lower body, there is nothing better than lunges and squats. Fully articulate the joint with fluid, controlled movements using body weight or free weights which allow you to build strength while maintaining proper form. 2. Deterioration of balance is a key sign of aging. It affects your stride and ability to recover from being jostled or tripping. Balance is one of things that if you don’t use it, you lose it. Daily exercises that require balancing on one leg and bending over and straightening are a must. Lunges are a great example of balance maintaining exercises as well as one legged squats and burpees. 3. You do not have to jump to build bone density. Closed chain movements build bone density at the same rate as jumping. A closed chain exercise is where the feet are stationary and movement is made by exerting the legs and core. Rowing is an excellent example of closed chain cardio. Weighted squats and pushups are another forms of closed chain exercises which build bone density. 4. Cardio is not only a calorie burner and essential for heart health, but in your youthening routine it provides regeneration at the cellular level. Aging is marked by a decrease in the number of mitochondria in the cells. Aerobic activity, especially interval training, stimulates the production of more mitochondria in the skeletal muscle tissue. More mitochondria equals greater energy, faster recovery, better functioning cells, higher metabolism. On the contrary, as mitochondria in skeletal muscle cells decrease, the cells become insulin resistant, inefficient, and prone to degenerative disease. This increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, systemic inflammation, and weight gain. All three of those situations are a step toward looking and feeling old. 5. Weight training 2-3 times a week. You look younger with visible, defined muscle. Beyond looks, strong muscle contraction maintains the connective tissue surrounding joints and builds bone density. In addition, strong muscle helps maintain posture, improves sleep, and balances blood sugar. Also, strength is important to power the activity of life. Getting up, carrying groceries, gardening, caring for children, moving things around, a day out in the country or in town are all powered by your muscles. The stronger your muscles, the less taxing these activities are. In addition, muscles burn a lot of calories making it easier for you to maintain your figure and not experience the dip in metabolism that many say is an inevitable part of aging. 6. Detoxification. Exercise is an important detoxifier. Sweating, deep breathing, increased circulation all detoxify the body. This creates a healthier environment for every cell of the body by preventing the buildup of free radicals which interfere in cellular function. In addition, sweating and increased circulation stimulate the production of skin cells; thereby preventing thinning and sagging. Healthy cells are young cells, young cells equals young body. I urge you to incorporate each of these six points into your exercise weekly. Over time you will see a difference in your appearance, increase in energy, and the disappearance of random aches and pains. I tell my youthening clients to expect to carve off one year for every month of moving, eating, and living to youthening. Stick with it - the results are amazing! with gratitude, Julia Sometimes it seems the fog in our brain will not lift. We have been at a deadline or a big project, and find ourselves in the Twilight Zone of thought. Stale ideas that keep coming back. Our creativity vanishes. We get tired of even thinking.  This is when you are in need of brain rest. The brain, like your muscles, needs recovery time to refresh so that it can work creatively and powerfully. Think of it as rebooting your computer -- everything closes, the computer shuts down, rest for a moment, and when it's restarted the glitch you had disappears.
5 Steps to reboot your brain:
Next time you are close to brain fatigue, whip out these tools. In just a day or two, you will find energy, productivity, and inspiration restored. with love and gratitude, Julia Yoga is a perfect antidote to a bad day -- disappointment, criticism, and low energy fade away. Next time, aka tomorrow, you need a pick me up, instead of stopping at Starbucks or at the mall for retail therapy, drop into jolie for a yoga class.  Concentrate your mind and body and you will find relief; relief by sourcing your strength and clarity; in that, you find peace and satisfaction through yoga. How does yoga transform your day?
1. Yoga allows you to connect to your resilience - physical and emotional. Holding a pose will challenge your muscles, as you dig deep to hold a difficult pose you find out you're stronger than you think you are. The focus of holding warrior pose will connect you with your mental and emotional fortitude. Tapping into our strength during yoga is just the push we need to get us mental back in the game after a stressful day. 2. Clarity created by concentrating on a pose: breath, posture, alignment is akin to a moving meditation the concentration creates gaps in which our mind can float. This not only relaxes us, but opens up space for solutions and insights to bubble up. 3. Rest of savasana is integration time. Not only is it integrating the work you have done in your practice that day, but it also allows mental rest to digest the events of the day. This digestion allows you to let go of the waste, and be nourished by the good. It is an effortless letting go. Lay in the pose for deep restoration with no effort. 4. You get a natural high. Craving an escape or an increase in your energy, yoga is the answer accessible to everyone. Yoga causes the release of endorphins to lift your spirits and energy. People leave yoga, as they do meditation, with a radiant, glow from the cascade of joy hormones. Stop by daily to experience yoga at jolie. We have everything you need, just bring yourself. Check out our new Yoga for the People - pay as you wish and support women's empowerment - all adult classes included. See you soon! with love and gratitude, Julia Skin. Skin shows our age. Skin is the barrier between us and the environment. Skin is exposed to heat, cold, dryness, humidity, sun, toxins, pollutants, and irritants constantly. A fit body and an aged face reads as old, whereas a young face and not so fit body still reads as young. A very inshape friend of mine was horrified to learn this despite efforts to eat well and workout. On the way back from a playdate with other moms of a similar age, her toddler asked her why she was older than the other moms. She asked her daughter jokingly why she thought that. Answer: because her face was older. Secret to beautiful skin: CARE. The skin on our faces needs more care than our teeth do. No one would skip brushing. Knowing I am super serious about skin care my friend asked me for suggestions to restore radiance and elasticity. I asked my friend how she cares for her skin. She washes it in the morning and most of the time at night and applies moisturizer. If she's particularly tired and not wearing makeup, she'll skip the night washing.
Here is the problem. The skin on our bodies that is exposed most of the time needs more care than our teeth do. No one would skip brushing. Routine is the key. ALWAYS - no exceptions - take care of your face morning AND night. My "I'm really tired or rushed" routine has only three steps, but I never, never, ever skip them. Morning: 1. Wash 2. Moisturize 3. Sunscreen Night - after makeup is removed: 1. Exfoliate first 2. Wash 3. Moisturize That there is the absolute most basic skin care routine that will keep you looking fabulous. A few pointers, 1. Choose a cleanser that doesn't over dry your skin 2. Exfoliate with a fine exfoliant designed for the face. It can be a chemical exfoliant, like papaya extract or very gentle round physical exfoliant. Try it on your hand first. 3. Moisturize with a cream or oil that contains antioxidants. 4. Sunscreen always and reapply during the day, even in winter. I have a friend dermatologist who refuses to work with anyone on anti-aging that does not commit to sunscreen. If you do anything to try to counter aging, sunscreen is the first step. If you follow my bare bones protocol, your skin will start looking more radiant in less than a week. It will shock you. For more help, stop by jolie for a chat. Be radiant, Julia  Neuroplasticity is a fancy word to signify the brain's ability to reshape itself - to forge new connections and pathways. When you become fluent in a foreign language, you utilize your neuroplasticity. In a nutshell, the more you think, do, or say something the more you will think, do, or say the same thing. It is the mental corollary to you are what you eat. You are what you think! You are how you move!
A hallmark of aging is the slow down of the formation of new pathways. In times of learning and experiencing new things, new neuro connections are constantly being created. As people age, unfortunately, their curiosity flags and their exploration into new territory is often reeled in. That is a choice which ages you and makes it more difficult for you to learn new material in the future. To remain youthful constantly learn new hobbies, movements, ideas, information. However, we not only want to learn, but dive in. Although when we do something new, neuro pathways are forged we want them to take hold, the connections to be solidified. The more we repeat the activity, the more those neuropathways strengthen. For success in any activity the key is then regular, repeated action over a long period of time. Yoga is a great venue for learning, practicing, and continuing to have new frontiers of learning to master. Yoga, in addition, sharpens your ability to listen to your body, heart, and mind opening up more opportunities for you to learn of the universe within you. Over time this directs you in making decisions which are aligned with your goals and truth. Listening helps you in practical areas of life also: to eat and exercise mindfully. You will sense immediately when you have had enough during a meal. No longer will you push yourself too hard in a workout. Learning to listen to your own truth will protect you from needlessly getting suck in decisions you were not aligned with in the first place. I encourage you to begin a practice of yoga. Jolie offers yoga both during the day and in the evening. We also have kids classes and parent-child classes coming on Saturdays at 10:30. with love and gratitude, Julia |
Words to Live ByDon't wait for the world to change, change it yourself. Categories
All
Archives
February 2019
|
RSS Feed