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by Andrea Blumenstein So you still have no plans for New Years and some cash to spare? Instead of spending New Year’s Eve smoking your last pack of cigarettes or New Year’s Day drinking Pedialyte® and consuming all of the remaining holiday calories from your fridge before “eating healthy” or binging all of the Netflix before taking a serious screen break, how about something a little bit more inspiring? Life is all about making choices and loads of people look to the New Year for a fresh start. But habits are incredibly difficult to break. This is why an overwhelming percentage (Business Insider estimates 80%) of New Year’s resolutions fail by February. Self-care is increasingly gaining popularity among heady resolutions, but without really defining it, how can you succeed? Odds are not in your favor. So, if you are looking to prioritize the mind/body, taking yourself out of your routine while also meeting a bunch of other people who feel the same way about another holiday season hangover (No thank you!) might be just the thing. Head south for one of these awesome New Year’s-themed holidays. Hola 2019 – A New Year’s Retreat at Apoyo Lodge – NICARAGUA Saturday December 29, 2 PM – Wednesday Jan 2, 11 AM Investment: Starting at $240 USD per person  (Image courtesy of Apoyo Lodge) Spend 4 nights unplugged from the outside world and connecting with your inner self at Apoyo Lodge, Health & Wellness Boutique Hotel. Start the morning with an inspiring yoga practice and then, with the support of a professional team, choose to read, relax, hike or swim in the clean waters of the volcano crater. What’s Included: - 4-night accommodation in the room type of your choice - Three plant-based meals per day including a natural drink with every meal and dessert at lunch and dinner - Daily morning yoga class - Unlimited water, herbal tea and bananas - Round-trip airport shuttle service - Unlimited WiFi (if you choose to use it) Exhale Yoga: New Years Yoga Retreat – El Salvador Friday, December 28 – Saturday, Jan 5 Investment: Starting at $1,999 USD per person  (Image courtesy of Facebook) If you like to move your body, this is for you. Lead by Yoga Teacher & Yoga to Life Coach Rachel Wainwright at Las Flores Resort, this retreat is focused rhythm, dance, yoga and surf that will foster a deeper connection to self and other like-minded individuals. The retreat schedule offers two daily yoga classes, healthy eating and a host of other activities plus welcomes in the New Year by coming together to dance open heartily with a group of positive people so that you will go home feeling lighter in love with yourself, others and life. What’s Included: - 8-night, 7-day accommodation of your choice. - Twice daily yoga classes - Coffee/tea/snacks - Three daily meals - Surfing (board rental and lessons are extra) - Salsa dancing New Year’s Rejuvenation Retreat with Doron Hanoch – Guatemala Saturday, December 26 – Wednesday, Jan 2 Investment: Starting at $847 USD per person  (Image courtesy of Doron Yoga and Zen Center) Immerse in a spiritual community and ring in the New Year from a place of balance, joy and gratitude at the Doron Yoga and Zen Center at Lake Atitlan. This is an ashtanga-vinyasa retreat, mixed with bhakti and kundalini, for all levels. This week-long retreat will focus on bringing your mind and body back to alignment to start the New Year. Prepare to laugh, eat, dance, practice powerful yoga, focus your mind like a Jedi, and learn to love yourself and others like never before. What’s Included: - Detailed workshops - Morning yoga sessions - Osho Kundalini and zen meditation - Pranayama practices to enrich your energy and life force - Yin yoga to deepen flexibility and balance the body - 3 daily meals with drinks - 7 nights accommodation Exotic Yoga New Year Retreat at Xinalani – Mexico Sunday, December 30 – Saturday, January 5 Investment: Starting at $1,995 USD per person  (Photo courtesy of Exotic Yoga Retreats)
Begin your year in vibrant health, rejuvenation, yoga and fitness at Xinalani, an award-winning eco-resort near Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The retreat features gentle flow yoga with Nina Butler and fitness with personal trainer Lisa Nielsen on a private beach. Take in the sun and sea amidst a gathering of multicultural, like-minded yogis focused on relaxation, gratitude and inspiration. What’s Included: - 6-night, 7-day accommodation - Airport pick-up in Puerto Vallarta and boat transfer to Xinalani - Three meals daily: delicious vegetarian and pescatarian dishes with option of meat on request - Exotic Yoga Retreats’ New Year Program to set your intention for 2019! - Two yoga classes daily with yoga teacher Nina Butler - Two health and fitness classes daily with personal trainer and coach Lisa Nielsen - ‘Guac Walk’ through the jungle to a neighboring beach for swimming and fresh chips with guacamole! - Evening activities: Latin dance lesson and beach bonfire - Ocean kayaking
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Fitness & Health: Why You Should Indulge More In The Things You Love, To Improve Your Health.12/1/2018 by Stephanie Spickler  Healthy is more than just an adjective, it’s a way of life. Healthy, in our day and age, is roughly defined as being free from disease or pain; overall physical, mental and emotional wellbeing; The current, full definition can be found here at merriam-webster.com We see “healthy” everywhere, in magazines, in grocery stores..on TV. But what does Healthy actually mean? I figured the definition was a lengthy scientific calculation regarding weight, height, BMI. I am slightly embarrassed to admit I thought that. I didn’t even think about mental wellness or the emotional aspect of the word. How did I not think about that? Probably because our society has been so caught up with the physical, aesthetic aspect. Apparently I did too! So why is the term healthy important and why are changing workouts regularly beneficial to overall health? Because our bodies change on a day to day basis, from the amount of sleep we get, the types of foods we eat and put into our bodies, the hormone levels, environmental conditions. The list goes on. Healthy encompasses so much more than just the physical state of being. Healthy does not necessarily mean skinny, Healthy also doesn’t mean you must look like a chiseled rock. Healthy is different for everyone. A lot of men and women, including myself at times, pack the pressure on internally, to achieve a “look” and we often forget to put enough emphasis on the way we feel. Do you eat the same thing, every single meal, every single day of the year? No, probably not. So why workout the same? Gyms have great equipment options, but they can be intimidating all around sometimes! We need to change more than just the muscles we focus on at the gym that day. Alternating from ‘leg day’ to ‘arm day’ is a great way to ensure you target all parts of your physical body, but you need to change more than that for overall health. I know that when I go to the gym, I constantly worry about my form, whos looking at me, am I doing my reps quick enough?.. Is there someone waiting for the piece of equipment I am using? All those things can distract your mind from reaping all of the benefits of the workout. Try grabbing some free weights from your local store and take them to the park. Take them to the beach with your bestie...get tan, chat with your bestie and enjoy an after workout cooldown in the saltwater! Take your workout somewhere that you can exercise and rejuvenate both your mind and body. Working out isn’t just good for physical fitness, it can provide huge benefits mentally and emotionally. It can boost your mood or help release tension, it can strengthen your muscles and your mind. It’s important to change your workout routine regularly to reap all the benefits of exercising. Just like in eating, we eat a variety of vegetables, a variety of fruits, etc.. variety is key to reaping all the benefits of the foods available to us. So... what does exercise for the mind and the emotional aspect of our health actually mean? Working out for the mind and soul can include so many things! Indulge in whatever it is that you need to work on, personally. Just like when you set a plan for physical fitness, you should create a plan for your mind and soul. Everyone is different and reflecting within yourself to find the things that stretch and work your mind and soul out is the first step. Working out for the mind and soul just means we focus on who we are as humans, our passions, our interests. We actively need to seek activities that enable us to FEEL good, not just look good - activities that help us grow our uniquely precious characteristics and individual skills. I personally change my workout style, intensity and activities. Most of November i kicked butt with intense physical workouts….but the other week I skipped my BeachBody a couple days and opted to completely rearrange the furniture in my great room. I arranged the furniture to focus around one another instead of focusing around the TV so we could inspire more conversation and family time. Everytime I switched my decorative pillows, I squatted. The next day, I rearranged the Art on the walls. I did walking lunges around my home while doing it. Then decorated for the Holiday (which did not include squats or walking lunges...I drank a beer ha! What I did do though was focus intently on making my home feel and look the way I wanted it to in order to feel good living there. It helped clear my mind while I got a workout. I came out of the experience very uplighted, excited and physically exhausted in the best kind of way and according to my iWatch, I burned 98 calories while achieving my target heart rate to consider it a cardio workout! (See more here; Burn Calories By Moving ) There are Beer and Yoga events, who says you can’t enjoy a cold beer while in Warrior pose? I personally think this sounds amazing, life is busy, combine a refreshing beer with a relaxing Yoga workout. So do what makes you happy and do what rejuvenates you. There are Wine & Painting classes you can go to that exercise your mind and soul which can rejuvenate and restore our moods. Maybe painting doesn’t necessarily burn calories or make you sweat like your spin class but it does wonders for your mind and emotional wellbeing, which is very important to overall health. Working out physically is extremely important, there is no substitute for a sweaty workout. It’s important to remember though, that you must indulge in the things that rejuvenate and build your mind and soul to. Even with perfect physical health, without emotional or mental health - we’re not healthy. So let go of the images and ideas of the perfect body or weight and focus on loving yourself all around, enjoy good sweaty workouts, laugh and love to fulfill your soul and work hard to accomplish your goals and dreams - no matter what they are or what they look like because it’s the only way to achieve a true overall healthy life. by Andrea Blumenstein  Yoga and… beer? It’s (still) a Thing. Thankfully, two of the friendliest communities around – the craft beer lovers and the yogis – are not parting ways. However, despite a bunch of press suggesting global prominence, “beer yoga” hasn’t taken over the United States quite the same way that Goat Yoga has, and they might pee on you! (But, I mean… baby goats!) Since making a debut at Burning Man and then growing international attention thanks to some beer-savvy yogis in Berlin, “Beer Yoga” has gone flat in the United States. Beer Yoga (the order of words is key) involves drinking beer while practicing yoga, and even uses the bottle as a prop. The phenomenon was picked up by male-oriented outlets like GQ in 2017 and Draft Magazine and later covered by Business Insider, Lonely Planet and Huff Post to name a few, but, my feed has been void of any such invitations. And I teach yoga. And I like beer! What is pretty rockin’ is the yoga, and then beer. Beer, or not beer, if you’d prefer temperance, is all over the place. A quick search of “yoga and beer near me” and you will find that tons of breweries are pairing up with awesome yoga teachers around the country to utilize the massive amount of open space that these places have. It seems the yoga and beer communities are forever linked thanks to resurgence in community. The yoga community is well-known for uniting its people. But what about newcomers? For the last few years, yoga has been popping up at non-traditional locations and by doing so, inviting a new wave of practitioners to the ancient art. Yoga, as many people are finding out, is one of the best remedies – and even better preventer – of ailments resultant from a lot of sitting and a lot of scrolling. Before I started teaching yoga, I wrote an article for Paste Magazine, yoga was among the suggestions for preventing and curing lower back pain. I’m all about lifting spirits the natural way, breath and movement, but no one says you can’t do both. A little bit of booze plus some awesome people in a great space? Many spirits lifted! Did you hear that Mary Poppins is back with another spoon full of sugar to make the medicine go down? She’s back but only for the Banks’ residents so for the rest of us, a little Namaste with a side of hops sounds like a nice cure for the winter blues. You can check out Beer Yoga and Neshaminy Creek Brewing's upcoming Yoga and Beer Event in January 2019 here.  photo credit Neshaminy Creek Brewing via Facebook
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