FitSugar

Partner Yoga Book: The Joy of Partner Yoga

FitSugar — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:30:00 PDT

It's no secret that I enjoy partner yoga poses. I find The Joy of Partner Yoga ($12.21) by Mishabae truly inspirational. She also made a great Partner Yoga DVD, too. She really knows her stuff.

This book is perfect for newbies and yogis alike. Each page is filled with beautiful photographs and step-by-step instructions of the poses. Mishabae has created sequences of partner poses, so you can flow from one into another. It feels like you are dancing. If you're not into the spiritual aspect of yoga, skip over the introductory pages of each chapter.

Partner yoga isn't just for you and your lover. Any two people can benefit from it, no matter what their relationship. So grab your daughter, your best friend, or your sister and check it out. I guarantee that after doing some partner yoga poses, you'll both be smiling and laughing.

To look at some of the pages click the images below.

View 3 Photos ›

Partner Yoga Book: Yoga for Partners

FitSugar — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 12:30:00 PDT

I love the idea of going to a Partner Yoga Workshop with my hubby, but he shudders at the idea. He does like to do yoga, but isn't really into going to classes. Why? He doesn't like that instructors tell you what to do, and you don't really have the freedom to do what your body feels like doing. I see his point, so we compromise and do yoga together at home.

When you have no instructor showing you what to do, a Partner Yoga book is really helpful. I just picked up a new one called Yoga for Partners by Jessie Chapman ($10.17 through Amazon).

It has over 75 black and white photos of postures you can do with someone - a lover, friend, or child. Each picture is accompanied by an explanation of how to get into the pose, health benefits, helpful positioning tips, and breathing advice. This book is really easy to use. Just pick a posture and go for it.

Partner Yoga is all about exploring your relationship with another in a creative and playful way. It's sure to deepen your connection, make your body feel open, and bring out some laughs as well.

Tina Fey Shares Memories of Her Skinny and Chubby Years

Susi May — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:56:14 PDT

Happy Birthday to our fave funny lady! Tina Fey turns 42 today. We've been fans of the actress, writer, and comedienne since her early days on Saturday Night Live. Like many of us, Tina's weight has fluctuated over the course of her career, and to mark her birthday, we're sharing some of her funny quotes from juice cleanses to body image.

Before making the leap from writers room to on-camera talent, Tina followed the pragmatic Weight Watchers program to drop pounds. But that doesn't mean she hasn't dabbled in more extreme techniques to lose weight. She explained to Jimmy Fallon, "I don't really believe in those [cleanses] - your body's not like a purse. You're not supposed to turn it inside out and shake it. But I was like, 'Oh, I don't care. I just need to jump-start this.' So I tried it." After an allergic reaction caused her lips to swell, she abandoned a juice cleanse. Go figure.

These days, Tina works out with trainer when she can fit a session into her hectic schedule, and if she can't, she takes a walk. She's even become a fan of yoga and the superfood kale.

Before settling into her healthy weight, Tina experienced both sides of the weight equation and shared her memories of these phases in her book, Bossypants. In two short, consecutive chapters, she explains the positive and negatives of the different times. Keep reading for a brief excerpt after the break.

For Better Sleep, Do These 3 Things 20 Minutes Before Bed

Jenny Sugar — Thu, 10 May 2012 05:01:37 PDT

We spend about a third of our lives in slumberland, but many people complain of not sleeping well. If you have a tough time falling asleep or you toss and turn in the middle of the night, try exercising during the day and limiting alcohol and caffeine a few hours before bedtime. But if you are doing this already and still have troubles, here are three things to do immediately before hitting the hay to calm your body and mind and help you get the restful night of sleep you crave.

The Power of Water
Twenty minutes before bedtime, dim the lights in the bathroom, turn on some relaxing tunes on your iPhone and take a warm shower or bath. The heat soothes achy muscles, and the steam clears your sinuses, which is essential if allergy symptoms prevent you from sleeping well at night. It's also a great way to wash away germs and prevent you from getting sick, which can also make it difficult to sleep.

Bye-Bye Pains
After your 10-minute warm bath or shower, slip into your PJs and do five minutes of stretching to ease any pains that prevent you from sleeping. Lower back pain is common for many, so if yours bothers you, here's a yoga sequence to offer back pain relief. If a sore neck and shoulders are your woe, do these soothing stretches. A little self-massage can also ease muscle tension, or apply a heating pad or one of those rice pillows you warm up in the microwave to sore areas.

Get Bored
Now slip into bed, not with a riveting, can't-put-it-down book, but one that has a dull, monotonous, stale topic that's bound to have your eyelids drooping in minutes. Be sure to read from an actual book, not a laptop or iPad, as the lights cue your brain to wake up.

Sugar Shout Out: Global Culinary Wedding Traditions

PopSugar — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 23:55:43 PDT

Secrets to Saving on Your 7 Favorite Indulgences

Emily Co — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 13:25:48 PDT

We all have our weaknesses, and yours may be a Starbucks addiction or even an avid book reading habit. Although we advocate saving, we're also a big fan of being able to indulge on occasion. After all, if you keep denying yourself, it might be counterintuitive because you may end up buying on impulse. Here are some ways you can still enjoy your favorite purchases, yet save at the same time:

Starbucks: Sign up for a Starbucks card and you can accumulate rewards such as free drinks. Once you buy five drinks, you get free syrup or soy milk and free refills on brewed coffee, iced coffee, or iced tea. You'll also get a free tall drink if you buy a bag of coffee beans. Once you buy over 30 drinks, you get a free drink for every 15 drinks you buy. As a card holder, you'll also get a free drink of your choice on your birthday.

Frugal secret: You can make your own Starbucks drinks in your own home. Check out Squawkfox's recipe for a homemade Starbucks Frappuccino that costs only 32 cents to make. Don't forget to also check out YumSugar's Starbucks-inspired pumpkin spice latte recipe.
Books: If you got a thing for books, there's always the library of course. But for those who just love permanent additions to their budding book collection, you can consider joining book clubs like Barnes & Nobles, which sends regular discounts and coupons to your inbox. You can also get really cheap indie ebooks for free or for 99 cents on Amazon. Some of the books are actually really good, but check out the reviews before buying if you don't want to waste your time on a dud.
Frugal secret: Shhh, don't let anyone know, but you can get free books from authors, even the acclaimed and famous ones, if you try this trick. A lot of times, you can even get the book ahead of its release. All you have to do is start building up a nice repertoire of really solid and detailed book reviews on Amazon or Good Reads, the social network for book recommendations. If your Amazon reviews are good, people will start voting on them, which may qualify you for Amazon's Vine program, an exclusive club that "invites the most trusted reviewers on Amazon to post opinions about new and prerelease items." And if you're a popular Good Reads reviewer, authors will start reaching out to you to review their books.
Yoga: You can save on yoga classes by subscribing to daily deal sites and keeping an eye out for discounts at your local yoga studio. Lululemon also offers free yoga classes, so you might want to check out your local shop. A lot of studios have free or donation-based classes on occasion, so you might want to check with them, too.
Frugal secret: Become a yoga teacher to get access to free classes. You don't have to worry about teaching taking up too much of your time because I have friends who teach only once or twice a week and still get the perks of a full-time teacher, such as being able to attend classes for free. You can also offer to trade services (writing, graphic design, admin, or whatever skill you can provide) with the studio in exchange for free classes.

Read on for more.

Everything You Need to Know About Retirement

LearnVest — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 12:02:28 PDT

Does the topic of retirement make you scratch your head? LearnVest breaks it down for you in simple terms.

You know what’s awesome?

Retirement.

No, really. Imagine it: Waking up every day to head to your favorite yoga/art/synchronized swimming class. Catching up with friends daily. Starting (and finishing) every book or movie that catches your eye.

It’s the ultimate extended vacation, and the best part is, by the time you get there, you’ve already paid for it. You know how that happened? You started today.

No, really, today. There’s an important deadline you need to know: April 17th. This year, it’s the deadline to contribute money to a Roth or traditional IRA for 2011-in other words, if you didn’t get around to saving the maximum you could for retirement last year, you still have this window to do so. (The maximum contribution for 2011 is $5,000-unless you’re over age 50, in which case you may contribute up to $6,000.)

Now that you know that, want to make sure you’re on the right track for retirement? Don’t worry, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know, right here and now.

So go ahead, start stocking up on sketchbooks.

Your Options

To set the stage, let’s refresh our memories about the main types of retirement accounts available to us. There are three: the 401(k), the traditional IRA and the Roth IRA.

401(k)

A 401(k) is a free retirement account you can only get through an employer, and it holds money taken directly from your paycheck. Sometimes, said employer also contributes money to your retirement fund-that’s called “matching.” Traditional 401(k) plans grow tax-deferred, meaning that you’ll pay taxes when you take the money out, not when you put the money in.

Read on for more.

7 Reasons Your Yoga Instructor Might Yell at You (and How to Handle It)

Jenny Sugar — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 15:30:44 PDT

Yoga instructors are often the calmest people you'll meet, but when their beliefs are grounded in strict yoga principle and technique, they may sometimes put their foot down during practice. Here are some reasons your yoga teacher might reprimand you during class.

Drinking water: Practicing yoga is about building your energy or prana, otherwise known as your fire. Some by-the-book instructors believe gulping water puts out the fire you're working so hard to create and may say something if you reach for your Klean Kanteen. It's important to hydrate before coming to class, but while you're practicing, you can't always prevent a dry throat or feelings of being overheated. Only you know if you need to drink some water, so if your teacher says something, politely smile, take your sips, and get back to your practice.
Doing another variation: Yoga instructors take great pride in designing their classes, so when a student strays from a teacher's sequence by doing a different pose, the teacher might not be pleased. Due to injuries and different ability levels, it's imperative to listen to your own body and do the practice that's right for you. Of course, what you do on your mat shouldn't disrupt other people in the class. But if you're quietly doing the more advanced Full Wheel rather than Half Wheel and your instructor gets peeved, chat with them afterward, or try out a class with a more lenient teacher.
Coming out of a pose too soon: Yoga instructors are there to inspire your practice, which means designing challenging sequences of poses. Sometimes it's too much, and if your quad is burning after the sixth variation of Warrior 1, I can understand needing to straighten your leg to come out of the pose. It's great for an instructor to encourage deeper stretches in poses, but only you know your body and what it needs. If an instructor makes you feel bad for taking a break, then they may not be the nurturing teacher you need.

Keep reading for more reasons your yoga instructor might yell at you.

Stretch Those Tight Hips and Lower Back

FitSugar — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 19:16:40 PDT

If you have the ever popular office job that involves sitting at a desk for eight hours a day, it can wreak havoc on your precious body creating tight hips and lower back pain. Many stretches for your hips also stretch out your lower back, so these poses are like two for the price of one.

Butterfly

Sit on the floor, bend both knees, and bring your feet together. Using your hands, open your feet up like a book, pressing your knees toward the floor with your elbows. If you want more of a stretch, extend your arms out in front of you.
Stay here for five breaths.

Continue reading to learn how to do three more hip-opening yoga poses.

Lil Link: Jessica Alba Reveals Her Mom Revelation Moment

Rebecca M Gruber — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 05:33:31 PDT

Jessica Alba opens up about the lessons her kids have taught her - Parenting
Twenty-three things to never say to a pregnant woman - The Stir
Julianna Margulies thinks TV is dangerous for kids - Celebrity Baby Scoop
Christina Applegate says Sadie is her toughest critic - Celebrity Baby Blog
Prenatal yoga for real live after labor - FitPregnancy
Baby making after birth control - The Bump
Ten parenting books that terrify new moms - Momformation
One week of 20-minute dinners - Circle of Moms
How to teach your tot about advertising - LearnVest
Do women spend too much time with their kids? - Real Simple
Teaching your kids through water play - HuffPost Parents