Staying Healthy And Active: Indoors & Outside

1 min

Spending time out of doors? If you think of nature as a hostile force that is separate from yourself, you will go through life unnecessarily afraid and cut off from one of the great sources of spiritual nourishment. Whether you connect with nature on wilderness hikes or on lunchtime walks in a city park, you should take the opportunity to slow down a bit and observe the infinite variety of her ways. Try to make plans to spend an entire day outdoors this month and see how this experience heightens your awareness of nature and her precious resources.

Or is inside more to your taste? You don’t have to necessarily act your age…Remember being a kid and doing cartwheels, handstands, and kicking your legs high in the air? As we age, muscles can stiffen and shrink, leaving us with less strength and flexibility. While a shoulder-high kick may not be in your future, listen to your body and consider age-appropriate forms of exercise. Yoga can help restore some of the flexibility of youth. The poses and gentle movements of yoga can do wonders.

Grab your mat or a thick towel and practice these 3 at home this spring:

• Legs Up the Wall Pose
  Provides gentle anxiety and stress relief and can relieve lower back aches.
• Cat-Cow Pose

Stretches the muscles of the hips, back and abdomen. Can help calm anxious breathing, and help digestion,

• Tree Pose
  Strengthens buttocks, thighs, calves and ankles, and the spine. Will help to improve balance and strength.

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