Oatmeal +

Not only is oatmeal an energizing, nutritious, and delicious breakfast; it's an easy way to introduce healthy additions to your daily food habits! Try different topping combinations to give your mornings some tasty and health-boosting variety. A few of my favorites include blue berries, raspberries, blackberries, chia and flax seeds, dried coconut, almond slivers, almond butter, and a pinch of brown sugar.  I also love strawberry, banana, and cinnamon!  What are your favorite oatmeal combinations? Comment below to share!

Check out some of my flavor combinations for more inspiration: 

Nature's Path Organic Instant Hot Oatmeal, Original, 14 Ounce (Pack of 6)

$20.10

Mindful Monday - Coming to Pensacola in August 2017

Starting August 2017: 

Introducing Mindful Monday: Group Counseling + Therapeutic Yoga 

Three different yoga therapy groups available every Monday, all designed to improve mood, self care, coping, support, mental health, and functioning.  Choose from a variety of group types including chair yoga, hot yoga, and restorative.  Read on for more information about each:

Chair Yoga for Chronic Pain

Enjoy being guided through gentle and engaging movement, postures, and breathing sequences, designed to promote a healthy balance between activity and rest.  Topics practiced in this supportive yoga group include healthy coping with chronic pain, fatigue, and physical limitations.  In chair yoga, we use chairs, straps, and blocks to practice both seated and supported standing poses. (No getting up and down from the floor!)

10:30 - 11:30, Mondays

Hot Yoga for Depression & Anxiety

Bring your water bottle!  Get ready to sweat as we work to replace negative thought and behavior habits that get in the way of enjoying life.   In this group, we practice open level yoga in a heated room to encourage personal reflection, cultivate focus and concentration, and yolk our mindful intentions with a physical practice.  Topics covered in this engaging yoga group include managing depression and anxiety by improving self-talk, self-esteem, and self-expression.  At the end of our session, be rewarded with a cold lavender towel and guided relaxation.

2:00 - 3:15, Mondays

Restorative Yoga for Stress

Indulge the senses in this candle lit restorative yoga group, designed to provide a safe place to rest, reflect, and restore the mind and body.  Restorative yoga is especially gentle and practiced primarily on the floor with a variety of props including bolsters, straps, blankets, and eye pillows (provided).  Topics explored in this restorative yoga group include recognizing and managing stress triggers, chronic overwhelm, and emotional burn-out.   A variety of therapeutic modalities are offered in this group, including guided muscle relaxation, aromatherapy, gentle and restorative stretching, mindful breathing exercises, and an (optional) shoulder press. 

4:00 - 5:15, Mondays

Location: 

Uru Yoga, 955 Nine Mile Road

Pensacola, FL, 32514

Please visit the services page to register for Mindful Monday sessions: 

Be you.

To be the best you, try these tips below in times of self-doubt.

Live and Learn

Failure is no reason to give up, and if anything, it can be our greatest teacher. Setbacks, errors, and mistakes teach us what DOESN'T work so that we can consciously choose a different way. 

Other times, failure reminds us that our skill level simply has not reached its full potential yet. With continued effort, focus, and practice, our "trials and errors" are replaced with knowledge, experience, and progress.

When we are willing to tolerate the process growth and learning, we make success possible. 

At the center of wellness, we find yoga

Yoga. What do you need to begin the ancient discipline of meditation and movement?

Only your body and an open mind. 

By way of introduction, we often define wellness as a healthy mind, body and spirit, and yoga exercises and strengthens them all together. With simple guidance, beginners can experience the wealth of health benefits the practice provides, from increased flexibility and lower blood pressure to relief from chronic back pain. 

In this section of Self Haven we’ll explore physical exercise focusing on yoga. You’ll find instruction for all skill levels, whether you’re just starting or are a lifelong practitioner.

You may feel intimidated at first by all the different forms of yoga — there are more than 100! — and not know where to start. Fortunately, you don’t even have to be flexible to begin, and just like other types of exercise, you can start at your own knowledge and skill level and learn as you go.

Beginners won’t have to wait long to be encouraged. A study cited by greatist.com found that just one yoga class “had the ability to significantly reduce tension, anxiety, depression, anger, hostility and fatigue.” After 12 weeks, lower back pain was lessened. 

One of the first poses that yoga students learn is called the mountain pose, illustrated in the photograph above, and you can try it now by just standing up. Pace yourself as you follow these simple instructions from dailyburn.com:

“Stand with your feet together and arms at your side. Ground your feet, making sure all four corners are pressed down. Next, straighten your legs, then tuck your tailbone in as you engage your thigh muscles. As you inhale, elongate through your torso and extend your arms up, then out. Exhale and release your shoulder blades away from your head, toward the back of your waist as you release arms back to your sides.”

There is so much more you can do, and we invite you to explore this amazing resource for self care.