Do this breathing exercise to reset your day

It took me years to add pranayama to my yoga practice, and now it's an essential part of my day. 

Prana what? Isn't that a clothing brand? 

Prana translates as "life force," which is pretty amazing. Our breath is our life force. Our life on earth begins with our first breath and ends with our last; the breath is the raft that carries us through the whole journey.  

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The (real) yoga journey

Most of us here in the U.S. of A. didn't grow up yogis. And I would venture to guess that even the most committed yogis weren't "all in" from the beginning.

My yoga journey has been bumpy and imperfect. I didn't start doing yoga as a spiritual quest. I wasn't even trying to gain a deeper understanding of anything except a smaller waistline. But gradually, it became a transformative journey. It looked something like this:

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Bulu Box review & discount for you!

Subscription boxes are kind of a thing now. Ever since Birchbox became a hit, this business model has been replicated for all types of enthusiasts. Whether you're into beauty, fitness, yoga, clothing, accessories or even your dog, there's a subscription box for you.

What I love most about getting a subscription box is that it's like a present each month. Dressed in its cute packaging, its unknown contents are always a surprise.

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Is Instagram poisoning the present moment?

Husband and I went to see a movie, which we don’t do often (I generally prefer movies with popcorn and couch cuddles), and I was amazed by how many times we were inundated by messages to “Turn off your phone” during the film. Even more surprising was that people didn’t listen to these prompts — there was a little light in the seat below me, its owner ignoring the movie.

Phones are neat. Thanks to smartphones, moments can be captured, edited and shared with all our friends in a matter of seconds. This is powerful. Our social channels are preserving memories. When we’re feeling nostalgic, we can quickly talk a walk down memory lane — as long as we have internet access, of course.

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The problem with #TransformationTuesday

Progress is beautiful. Too often we focus on how far we have to go instead of how far we've come.

This #TransformationTuesday trend has people posting millions of photos of their weight loss progress/fitspo on social media. (Yes, there are millions.)

The sheer mass of these photos exposes that we, as a culture, are hyper-focused on the physical — further instilling the belief that our bodies' physical appearance (read: being thin) determines our worth.

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10 signs you're a yogi

If you go to yoga class every once in a while, you're into yoga.

Once your lifestyle changes because of yoga, you're a full-fledged yogi.

You might not notice these changes at first, as it's a slow progression. You start understanding the Sanskrit your teacher is saying. You begin noticing where your body stores tension, asking questions like "Why am I storing tension here?" and then knowing poses that can help. Suddenly you start rolling your mat out at home and not just at the studio. And before you know it you're signing up for yoga teacher training!

Just for funsies, here are 10 signs you're a yogi.

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