All these upcoming events, combined with the fact that we are well into the second half of the year, fall into the general theme of this newsletter: why not today? Sometimes changes you make in your life are precipitated by big events,
but why wait for something colossal in to happen to bring about a change or to do something that has been on your mind or that you have wanted to do for a while? Life is too short to not believe in yourself; know that you can do it and spice up your life with some change.

It’s easy to come up with reasons why you can’t change something in your life. You may be afraid of what people may think about you. Or maybe you are not coasting
through life right now. You could already face enough adversity on a daily basis, and the last thing you need is more chaos in your daily routine. If this is the case, you are in a perfect position to make a meaningful change for yourself. A lot of times when life is rocky, we ignore very important and much needed self-care. I am here to encourage you to go the extra mile. What I mean is to try something new that challenges you, something that is for lack of a better word “hard.” It could quite literally mean walking, running, or swimming one extra mile. If, on the other hand, you have a nice routine going for youself right now, work is going well, relationships are just dandy, you follow a fitness/health plan, lah dee dah, maybe it is time to mix it up. Up-level yourself by stepping into a new challenge. What better way to jump into the present moment than to feel the nerves, to focus, and to switch up your routine for the better - to intentionally decide to grow today. The world is your oyster, as they say in New England!

Take some time today to sit and think about one way you can alter your life towards growth. It does not need to be a colossal change either. Small changes add up and are a lot easier to begin and maintain. They also create meaningful patterns for the future. In Small Change by Susan & Larry Terkel, they say, “The power of small change lies in how much easier small changes are to initiate and maintain, and how meaningful are the patterns they create.” Something as simple as saying “I love you,” to finish a phone call to a family member, as my family would do when I was growing up, is a perfect example of a small change you can make. My friends all thought it was funny and cute that my four brothers took part in saying “I love you,” but adding that little phrase to the end of a phone call with a loved one not only reinforces the message for you both, but adds to your life tens of thousands of endearments. Start today and find a new challenge that will enhance one area of your life. Remember, if life is great right now, up-level yourself. If life is plain old hard and already feels like a challenge, find a much needed self-care challenge to spice of your daily routine.

Your challenge is to peruse the space of discomfort by switching up your regular schedule and doing something that serves your heart. Maybe it is waking up in the morning 5 minutes earlier than usual to breathe deeply while moving through a Sun Salutation or two or to meditate so that you can start your day off with a more grounded perspective. Or your challenge could be career and passion oriented as it was for me, or perhaps it is a relationship challenge. You could challenge yourself to do something extra special each day for your partner or best friend, to make their life a little bit sweeter. If you are coasting, it is time to step up and find a challenge.

So how do you react when you face adversity? When something isn’t easy for you? Do you shy away, or do you stand tall with confidence and composure? Though it’s easier said than done, we should all try to thrive on challenge and change. It provides an excellent opportunity to learn about the most important relationship in your life: the one with yourself. The knowledge, strength, or boost in our relationship that we attain from a dedicated effort towards growth is great, but the overall message that our body receives is what’s really powerful. That message – “you can do it, you are good enough, you, yes you, are amazing” – is contagious. Not just for us as individuals, as we become more likely to pursue another challenge and grow but for others who see your power and feel inspired to take initiative in their path of growth as well. Change starts with the individual, sign up, check-in, decide today is the today to GROW, because you can!

With love,

San Diego wasn’t the end game for me; I decided to go back to school, and I looked into graduate programs all over the country related to my personal interests in obesity. I chose to study under a well-renowned childhood obesity researcher at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. I had never been to Hawai‘i, but within a few months I was flying out to the beautiful island of Oahu with no place to live and a few dollars in my pocket. I landed on a Friday night, found a place to live on Saturday, moved in on Sunday, and started my research position on Monday! There is a future newsletter article on the benefits of planning ahead somewhere in that experience. For the next year and a half, I was researching 20 hours per week, taking a full schedule of graduate-level courses, and teaching nightly yoga classes. Occasionally, I would find time to explore this beautiful island that I found myself on. I was in constant awe of the magnificence of Oahu. Living in Hawai‘i took the beauty of Southern California to the next level; it’s the closest I’ve felt to experiencing Heaven on Earth. Between moving forward with my own dreams of helping others and consuming my time with what made me smile, I started to shape my own view of public health. I hurried through the program in a year and a half and graduated as a Master of Public Health. I was hired to conduct full-time research at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center in Kaka‘ako. At the same time I was teaching roughly 10 yoga classes per week and found that, though the research I was doing was important, yoga allowed me to reach out and help a larger amount of people in a more intimate setting. My teaching reflects my passion and love of yoga and reaches tens of thousands of people. I can see the shifts first-hand that my students experience both on and off their mat, the same shifts I moved through as I began my love affair with yoga. I decided to hold off on submitting PhD program applications as I originally planned, and tried my hand at teaching yoga full-time.

And so here I am: full-time yoga teacher trying to broaden my audience and allow my students the best opportunity to live the life that everybody is capable of living. So you’re probably still wondering what “healthy living” is exactly, right? Get to the point already, LM! Well, I definitely won’t be able to explain it in these two pages. For now, I’ll point you in the right direction and elaborate over the coming months. In a nutshell, healthy living comes down to the management of two very broad topics: food and yoga. I think together these areas of life form a killer combo for health and happiness.

It all starts with food. I eat a vegan diet, and I have for 7 years now. All the recipes that I share in this newsletter will be vegan. If you don’t eat vegan or vegetarian, I encourage you to give them a try (starting with Carrot Ginger Soup on Page 3). They are all hearty and delicious, tested and approved favorites of mine and my friends, omnivores and vegans alike. But, don’t you worry - I am not the radical vegetarian who is going to think you are a horrible person for eating a hamburger. Vegan does not necessarily mean healthy (a pack of Oreos and a 2-liter bottle of Coca-Cola qualifies as a vegan meal), and non-vegan doesn’t necessarily mean unhealthy. The more processed your food is, or the more chemicals, additives, fillers, and food dye that have been added, the further from the “source”, or its original form, it becomes. I try to eat as close to the source as possible. However, I will be the first to tell you that I am not perfect. I have my own vices, such as french fries; when I am starving or have taught six yoga classes in one day – bring on the french fries! I am also a fan of celebrating and sometimes that means enjoying a good margarita to cheers with someone special at the end of a long and awesome day. I try to find a balance of healthy and happy in eating; the recipes I will include in this newsletter encompass both. Your diet should make you feel good, vibrant, and awake. If you don’t, something is not right, switch it up!

Yoga practice rounds out the foundation of healthy living. Yoga is for everyone, not just the skinny, flexible, or ex-athletes. Nearly every day, people tell me, “I can’t do yoga; I’m so inflexible that I can’t even touch my toes!” I tell these people that yoga is a perfect match for them. Picture yourself as a clean slate, or an empty canvas; so many possibilities! However, yoga is a humbling journey. You will be challenged, and if you don’t approach your practice as a student you will fall on your face, quite literally. All of the asanas, or poses, represent a journey and when you string them together in flow, the experience is magical. I encourage people to just begin. Show up. Once you establish a regular yoga practice, your body, mind, and soul start to open up. Everything, and I mean everything, bubbles up to the surface, from your sprained ankle in high school, to your current desk job and tight hips, to your major heartbreak from 5 years ago. You will feel it all. But the biggest challenge is to begin; after that, sit back and watch your yoga practice and life change before your own eyes. Magic? Yes, it is magical, just wait and see. Yoga is more than just physical exercise. In fact, the asanas are just one of the “eight limbs” of yoga, described in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which I will elaborate on in future newsletters. By adding a yoga practice to a healthy diet, you will start to feel more connected and aware of the state of your body and mind. You will notice that the foods you put into your body affect your yoga practice, both in terms of your ability to twist and handstand to your ability to relax and let go. Yoga is a great way to connect, to check-in with yourself and scope out the terrain of your body and mind, and to figure out how you can step-in and shake things up.

I feel grateful every day to be here, living, breathing and sharing what inspires me. It’s an honor to share my yoga practice with everyone as well as my passion for living a healthy and vibrant life. I hope you enjoy reading the future issues of Laura Mary Healthy Living. Please share the newsletter with any and everyone who you think might be interested.

With Love,