Owner of Hot 8 Yoga, Deanna Ainsworth explains the benefits of hot yoga.

Q: Why was hot 8 yoga created?
A: Hot 8 Yoga was created to have a clean, safe and serene studio to practice in the heat. The vision was to have a clean environment to practice multiple styles of yoga in the heat. I feel we have set a new standard of cleanliness for hot studios. Hot 8 Yoga is founded on the 8 limbs of yoga. Therefore connection with self and others is a big part of why Hot 8 Yoga was created. (more…)

By Lauren Rashap, C.N.

Sleep accounts for 1/3 of our lives; it’s where we spend the much needed time to heal and repair the body. When we’re in stress mode and that sympathetic system is blasting, not only are we having difficulty falling asap and staying asleep, but we are reducing the time spent in the Delta stage (3 and 4) necessary for lowering blood pressure, promoting tissue growth and repair and releasing that symphony of hormones – my personal favorite -HgH (human growth hormone) essential for growth, anti-aging and muscle development. (more…)

By Michelle Valenzuela Wolf

When do you feel the most yourself? I’m talking about the four C’s totally carefree, confident, clear and content. These are the moments when we tap into the best version of ourselves. Perhaps you feel this when you’re at your job or when you’re laughing with your family. Whatever or whenever this is, we want to work towards tapping into the best version of yourself at all times. How can we unleash our fullest potential?

Something that comes along with being and feeling our best is taming the negative self-talk or nagging voice inside our head that says; Am I good enough? Particularly for women this statement is true! Oftentimes we find ourselves feeling inadequate and questioning our self-worth.

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By Melody Moradi Ahadian, MS, RD

Breast milk is the ideal food for infants. It is safe, clean, and contains antibodies which help protect against many common childhood illnesses. What’s more, it has a nearly perfect mix of vitamins, protein, and fat — everything a baby needs to grow.

Many medical experts, including the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, strongly recommend breastfeeding exclusively (no formula, juice, or water) for 6 months. After the introduction of other foods, it recommends continuing to breastfeed through the baby’s first year of life.

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By Marni Battista, MAEd, CPC

There is the sound a door makes when it closes. To the ear it can be heard simply as one sound, a final beat of the drum, but what I hear in my mind is not so much that singular noise. When really listening, I hear the door closing in slow mo. If that is even a thing, hearing, in slow mo.

I can feel it too, of course, that final closure. I have known it was coming, after all. I may have heard it before it, possibly anticipating the weightiness, the sweeping dramatic finality, labeled and categorized as a phase of life: The Empty Nest. The motion of the door swinging shut leaves me with what feels like the breeze of the Maui wind coming in off the ocean on my salty skin just before sunset when the air has an imprint of heat on it. I hear, too, the series of staccato beats as it hits the frame, the metallic click, the sound it makes just before the air is pushed out as the door seals. An era over. Sealed. Shut. (more…)