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Promote my business to 5 LinkedIn friends per day

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Promote my business to 5 LinkedIn friends per day

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Practice yoga for at least 30 minutes per day 

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Practice yoga for at least 30 minutes per day 

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If you are brand new to yoga, there are certain postures that are essential for you to learn so you can feel comfortable in a class or practicing on your own at home.

It's not easy to narrow everything down since there are over 300 positions in the physical yoga practice(asana), but these poses can start you off on the right path. If you do each one of these for 5-10 breaths, it also creates a great beginner's yoga program for you to do every day.

Here are my picks for the 10 most important yoga poses for beginners. Note: You don't have to be able to do all these poses exactly as pictured - ALWAYS listen to your body and modify if needed.

Before you read on, we've created a free 28-day online yoga program with online classes specifically for beginners like you. Join the free program here. It's like a personal yoga class with your private yoga teacher.

1. Mountain Pose

Mountain Pose is the base for all standing poses; it gives you a sense of how to ground in to your feet and feel the earth below you. Mountain pose may seem like "simply standing," but there is a ton going on.

How to do it: Start standing with your feet together. Press down through all ten toes as you spread them open. Engage your quadriceps to lift your kneecaps and lift up through the inner thighs. Draw your abdominals in and up as you lift your chest and press the tops of the shoulders down.

Feel your shoulder blades coming towards each other and open your chest; but keep your palms facing inwards towards the body. Imagine a string drawing the crown of the head up to the ceiling and breathe deeply in to the torso. Hold for 5-8 breaths.

This online yoga program is your personal home practice. The online classes target your body and mind and cover all the basic styles of yoga. It's like a yoga studio in your own home. You'll do your first sun salutations on your yoga mat and practice yoga at home like a real yogi.

2. Downward Facing Dog

Downward Dog is used in most yoga practices and yoga classes and it stretches and strengthens the entire body. I always say, "a down dog a day keeps the doctor away."

How to do it: Come on to all fours with your wrists under your shoulders and knees under your hips. Tuck under your toes and lift your hips up off the floor as you draw them up at back towards your heels.

Keep your knees slightly bent if your hamstrings are tight, otherwise try and straighten out your legs while keeping your hips back. Walk your hands forward to give yourself more length if you need to.

Press firmly through your palms and rotate the inner elbows towards each other. Hollow out the abdominals and keep engaging your legs to keep the torso moving back towards the thighs. Hold for 5-8 breaths before dropping back to hands and knees to rest.

3. Plank

Plank teaches us how to balance on our hands while using the entire body to support us. It is a great way to strengthen the abdominals, and learn to use the breath to help us stay in a challenging pose.

How to do it: From all fours, tuck under your toes and lift your legs up off the mat. Slide your heels back enough until you feel you are one straight line of energy from your head to your feet.

Engage the lower abdominals, draw the shoulders down and away from the ears, pull your ribs together and breathe deeply for 8-10 breaths.

4. Triangle

Triangle is a wonderful standing posture to stretch the sides of the waist, open up the lungs, strengthen the legs and tone the entire body.

How to do it: Start standing with your feet one leg's-length apart. Open and stretch your arms to the sides at shoulder height. Turn your right foot out 90 degrees and your left toes in about 45 degrees.

Engage your quadriceps and abdominals as you hinge to the side over your right leg. Place your right hand down on your ankle, shin or knee (or a block if you have one) and lift your left arm up to the ceiling.

Turn your gaze up to the top hand and hold for 5-8 breaths. Lift up to stand and repeat on the opposite side. Tip: I like to imagine I'm stuck between two narrow walls when I'm in triangle pose.

5. Tree

Tree is an awesome standing balance for beginners to work on to gain focus and clarity, and learn to breathe while standing and keeping the body balanced on one foot.

How to do it: Start with your feet together and place your right foot on your inner left upper thigh. Press your hands in prayer and find a spot in front of you that you can hold in a steady gaze.

Hold and breathe for 8-10 breaths then switch sides. Make sure you don't lean in to the standing leg and keep your abdominals engaged and shoulders relaxed.

6. Warrior 1

Warrior poses are essential for building strength and stamina in a yoga practice. They give us confidence and stretch the hips and thighs while building strength in the entire lower body and core.

Warrior 1 is a gentle backbend; and a great pose for stretching open the front body (quads, hip flexors, psoas) while strengthening the legs, hips, buttocks, core and upper body.

How to do it: For warrior one, you can take a giant step back with your left foot coming towards a lunge, then turn your left heel down and angle your left toes forward 75 degrees.

Lift your chest and press your palms up overhead. Step forward and repeat on the opposite leg.

7. Warrior 2

Warrior 2 is an external hip opener and opens up the inner thighs and groin. It's a good starting point for many side postures including triangle, extended angle and half moon balance.

How to do it: Stand with your feet one leg's-length apart. Turn your right toes out 90 degrees and your left toes in 45 degrees. Bend your right knee until it is directly over your right ankle while keeping the torso even between the hips.

Stretch your arms out to your sides and gaze over your right hand. Hold for 8-10 breaths before straightening the right leg and turning your feet to the other side to repeat on left side.

8. Seated Forward Bend

It's important to incorporate a forward bend in yoga practice to stretch the hamstrings, lower and upper back and sides. Seated forward bend is the perfect fold for everyone to start to open up the body and learn to breathe through uncomfortable positions.

If you feel any sharp pain, you need to back off; but if you feel the tension when you fold forward and you can continue to breathe, you will slowly start to loosen up and let go. You can also keep your knees bent in the pose as long as the feet stay flexed and together.

How to do it: Start seated with your legs together, feet firmly flexed and not turning in or out, and your hands by your hips. Lift your chest and start to hinge forward from your waist. Engage your lower abdominals and imagine your belly button moving towards the top of your thighs.

Once you hit your maximum, stop and breathe for 8-10 breaths. Make sure your shoulders, head and neck are all released.

9. Bridge Pose

A counter pose to a forward bend is a back bend. Bridge is a good beginner's back bend that stretches the front body and strengthens the back body.

How to do it: Lie down on your back and place your feet hip width apart. Press firmly on to your feet and lift your butt up off the mat. Interlace your hands together and press the fists down to the floor as you open up your chest even more.

Imagine dragging your heels on the mat towards your shoulders to engage your hamstrings. Hold for 8-10 breaths then lower your hips down and repeat two more times.

10. Child's Pose

Every one needs a good resting pose and Child's pose is an awesome one not just for beginners but for yoga practitioners of all levels.

It's good to learn child's pose to use when you're fatigued in Down Dog, before bed at night to work out the kinks, or anytime you need a mental break and stress/tension relief.

How to do it: Start on all fours then bring your knees and feet together as you sit your butt back to your heels and stretch your arms forward. Lower your forehead to the floor (or block or pillow or blanket) and let your entire body release. Hold for as long as you wish!

It's time to start your yoga journey! Join 48,292 others for the free Yoga for Beginners Program here.

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The 10 Most Important Yoga Poses for Beginners

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If you are brand new to yoga, there are certain postures that are essential for you to learn so you can feel comfortable in a class or practicing on your own at home. It's not easy to narrow everything down since there are over 300 positions in the physical yoga practice(asana), but these poses can start you off on the right path.

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Goal #1
Bring in $5,000 per month in revenue by October 1, 2019

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I've been sitting still for an hour, watching, listening, in the dark. Macaques swing through the cliff-top trees opposite, the drilling of cicadas has begun. Frogs take up the chorus below, the river rushes ahead, gibbons whoop in the distance. Even the leaves are noisy, falling around the deck of my beautiful treehouse with a thud. Stars appear to rush towards me; fireflies twinkling in the Takian trees.

I'm staying at Our Jungle House in Khao Sok - Thailand's largest national park, near Phuket. Run by social entrepreneur Bodhi Garrett, it's a model of ecotourism but doesn't shout about it. What you see is tasteful accommodation, all soft lighting and wood carvings while, in the background, they're quietly building schools and developing community-based tourism projects.

I took a group tour to Cheow Larn lake with Por, a young local guide, and we ventured north, three hours by longtail boat to Klong Saeg Wildlife Sanctuary, leaving the rest of the tourists behind. It's magical and remote, mist drifting over the jutting limestone karsts, the lake banked by thick jungle. We hiked up wild elephant trails, followed bear tracks, explored lakeside caves and ate fish caught beside the bamboo rafthouses we would sleep in. Before bed, Por took us on a night safari where we floated silently past shy gaur - tragically, the heads of these endangered bison can earn poachers £2,000 apiece.

Magical and remote ... Cheow Larn lake

It was all a far cry from where I started the year. January blues were abetted by minor heartbreak and I planned a healing trip to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. So far, so cliched. Friends, recalling youthful travels, promised adventure. Contemplating my more mature 41 years, I privately worried at the prospect of travelling among twenty-somethings headed for full-moon parties. Instead, I booked into a yoga centre on Koh Phangnan. I would emerge serene and calm, I told surprised friends. Arriving at the retreat, I passed men chanting among - or perhaps to - the trees. In a temple, strangers discussed receptivity to love and offered to partner me in tantric workshops. Sitting on the resort's beach, I pondered my situation when the faint strain of bongos made a decision easy. I beat a hasty retreat.

Several hours later, I was on the neighbouring island, enrolling on an open-water dive course at family-run Master Divers. Koh Tao is a diving epicentre and, as a result, the main town, Mae Haad, is also a backpacker's haven, its narrow pathways and rising streets crammed with budget accommodation. A basic, clean beach bungalow at Ananda Villas costs £23 a night (rooms start at £10) and, as with much of Thailand, there's excellent affordable food everywhere. Master Divers are keen environmentalists so, at lunchtimes, I used their reusable plastic containers to fill with fresh papaya salads and spicy noodle soups from nearby street stalls. Mornings were spent in the classroom, afternoons in the sea in small groups, under the expert guidance of Simone, a charming German divemaster.

We got to grips with the basics at one of the most scenic sites, Japanese Gardens. It's ideal for learners and snorkellers, with the reef across the bay going from paddling depth to 14m, vibrant soft and hard corals, and a wide variety of fish: wrasses, parrotfish, titan triggerfish. Once we'd mastered safety techniques, Simone led the way as we glided past lobed pore coral heads fully five metres high, and fields of slipper corals. It wasn't long before we stumbled upon a hungry turtle, chomping away, unperturbed by the captivated audience of divers: you can see why people flock here to learn to dive.

I was smitten, and this newfound passion saw me heading, freshly qualified, to Khao Lak for a liveaboard trip to the Similan islands with an underwater camera. Happy days were spent launching myself into the deep from Sea Dragon's dive boat, photographing turtles, barracuda and stingrays, and using up my air trying to outswim tuna. We were the first divers to visit the East of Eden site, reopened after two years, and here I got up close, too close, to a giant moray eel I later discovered was almost certainly Scarface - a known resident of the table coral at 16m depth, and infamous for having bitten a diver's thumb off. Evenings were passed swapping stories and pictures with other divers over the Thai kitchen crew's fragrant curries.

Diving in ... a hungry turtle spotted on the Master Divers trip

The only time I felt "older" was on the backpacker bus trail from Koh Tao to Khao Sok, where some studiously jaded youngsters viewed my cheery optimism with the contempt it obviously deserved. "God, Thailand's so slow," they whined, even as the bus company sent a car to reunite the ingrates with a forgotten backpack. Not all youthful backpackers are cast from the same mould. In Koh Tao, I had great fun with a trio of twenty-somethings from Paris, and Khao Sok was memorable for the stunning scenery and wild animals, as well as for sharing those experiences with other travellers. I set off for Phnom Penh, happy I'd made lifelong friends.

But some things are best done alone. My first day in Cambodia was spent in quiet reflection at the killing fields of Choeung Ek. It is Ros Kosal, a survivor of the Khmer Rouge's regime, whose audio narration leads you around the field, past the depressions that mark mass graves. The effects of such recent bloody history are ever-present in a country that's suddenly very young, orphaned and hungry.

However, there is a positivity everywhere, and initiatives you're glad to spend money on. In Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, I visited Romdeng and Marum, training restaurants where the staff - ex-street children - cook and serve fresh, creative food. In Kampot, visually impaired masseurs offer soothing treatments at Seeing Hands, and there's a chilled vibe and decent coffee to enjoy at Epic Arts Cafe, run by deaf and disabled workers. Much of the budget accommodation in Kampot is on Guesthouse Street, where you'll find Pepper Guesthouse offering possibly the finest fish amok in town. This fragrant fish curry, steamed in banana leaves, is Cambodia's national dish.

Kampot pepper stars in this region too, notably at the nearby Kep crab market, where the locals serve it alongside the tasty little critters - well worth a trip. A 15-minute boat ride away, you'll find Koh Tonsay, aka Rabbit Island. Seasoned backpackers who visited Thailand 30 years ago might find the pace familiar: it's pleasingly slow and sleepy, with simple stripped-back bamboo beach huts for just $7 a night, and three hours of electricity daily. I met Lisa here, a Californian backpacker and photographer my own age, and we spent afternoons swimming and walking, evenings lazing in hammocks with cold beers or eating crab (and that fiery pepper sauce) at the quiet restaurants (the two best are part of the family-run bungalow resorts at either end of the beach).

Recharged, I crossed the border to Vietnam, taking a heart-stopping bus ride to Can Tho, the largest city in the Mekong Delta. I hired an automatic motorbike, procured a vague tourist map of the region and set off to explore the Delta. In every direction was river, little tributaries inviting exploration. I scrambled down palm-fringed dirt tracks, the air heavy with the scent of coriander. When patches of drying rice blocked my way I was unsure how to proceed, but smiling women in nón lá paddy hats waved me across, and I rode gently over the grains. It felt wrong, trampling over food on my dirty motorbike, but these piles of rice were ubiquitous and I got used to it.

Susan, her bike, and a new friend

The delta gradually swelled from tiny backwaters to vast estuaries. I crossed some on ferries so rickety it took all my courage to ride up the wobbly ramps. Commonly, as I rode, children ran alongside, shouting, people thronged, incredulous at this western woman, alone on a motorbike, unable to make even my "xin cha" (hello) understood in their tonal language. I stopped at a streetside wedding party to find myself holding a gorgeous fat baby, posing for photos. Weird and wonderful.

Emboldened, I headed for Ho Chi Minh City. Everyone warned against motorbiking there - estimates put the number of bikes at between two and four million. I told the hotel reception I wanted to rent a bike. "Motorbike taxi?" No, motorbike. "For how many?" Just me. "You? Alone? Out there?"

The rules are a little ... loose. People don't stop at red lights. They ride en masse towards you, on what you naively thought was your side of the road. And, yes, they are in their millions, which means you don't need to check your blind spot - there's always someone in it. It was so much fun, so mesmerising, that, come rush hour, I was still riding around, in a thunderstorm, soaked in a summer dress. Proudly, I rolled up to Quan An Ngon restaurant on Pasteur Street, threw my keys down like a local and ordered a delicious banh xeo (sizzling cake). "You obviously live here," a New York visitor said. "Where can I get a good cocktail?"

I had found my place, and my heart was happy.

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Backpacking in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam

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On a restorative trip around Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, Susan Smillie finds spectacular diving, quiet reflection and delicious local food

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Healthy eating is a whole lot easier when you're full and fueled. These wholesome recipes are packed with whole-grain goodness (from oats, farro, wheat berries and more) to keep you going strong.

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Healthy eating is a whole lot easier when you're full and fueled. These wholesome recipes are packed with whole-grain goodness (from oats, farro, wheat berries and more) to keep you going strong.

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If you're a woman just starting out in the gym, you may be feeling intimidated. Not only is the array of machines overwhelming, but most gyms are replete with muscular men who look like they'll crush anything in their way-including you.

If this describes how you feel, you're not alone; many women can identify. But if you're willing to take a tiny step beyond your comfort barrier, you'll be on the road to some fantastic fitness progress.

Let's review some of the key points you need to know to design a machine workout that will get you started on a weightlifting regimen. Then, you can follow the full program, Beginner Machine Workouts for Women, in BodyFit Elite. Track your workouts, swap out exercises to match the machines you have access to, and watch demonstration videos of every movement in every workout!

1. Kiss: Keep It Simple, Sister

First, keep your workout as simple as possible. Your objective at this point is to get the muscles used to the stress of the weight lifting stimulus and prepare yourself for more advanced programs.

Since you're new to the concept of weightlifting, your body will respond quickly to even basic exercises. So progress will happen quickly. Track these changes for motivation-it's called positive reinforcement!

Machine weight training is great because the apparatus helps you through the correct pattern of movement with no stress on your part. You won't have to worry about proper form as much as you would with free weights. Machine exercises will also help you get comfortable in the gym.

2. Focus On Form

At this stage, the goal is not to lift as much as possible. You don't need to be concerned with personal bests. For now, get comfortable and ensure you're performing each exercise correctly.

While the machine will guide you through proper form, there are still some things you need to be careful about.

One, make sure your back is pressed flat into the bench or back pad in machine exercises like the leg press, chest press and shoulder press. And two, don't hyperextend your knees or elbows as you do the shoulder press, horizontal chest press, horizontal row, triceps press-down or leg extension.

3. Don't Push Far Beyond Your Comfort Zone

Work hard, but not so hard that your comfort zone disappears and you want to quit. If you leave the gym feeling exhausted because you worked so hard, you may develop negative feelings toward working out.

Obviously, you should avoid feeling bad about working out. Instead of feeling exhausted, you should leave the gym feeling energized and excited about your next workout.

There's a difference between challenging yourself and pushing yourself to the limit. Save the extreme workouts for after you have a solid training base. Then knock yourself out.

4. Remember To Rest

Finally, rest enough to recover. This is a critical part to success with any training program, but some beginners tend to overlook it.

Leave at least one day between each of your full-body machine weightlifting sessions. If you're just starting out and know that you have a slower recovery system, rest for two days.

More rest beats not enough rest, so make sure you're fully recovered and feeling great each time you step in the gym.

As long as you get in at least two workouts per week, you will start seeing fitness improvements and more lean muscle mass. If you can do three sessions, excellent! But don't force yourself if you feel like you could use another day off.

On To The Program

So now that you know the key components of what makes for a successful machine workout, you're ready to get in the gym and follow a full program!

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The Ultimate Beginner's Machine Workout For Women

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Free weights are great, but machines have their place too-especially for newbies. Learn how to make the machines your friends in the gym.

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I have been writing something about myself or my everyday for almost 5 years now. It has been one of the greatest and most freeing experiences in my life because I can actually slow myself down to think about what's truly happening around me as well as my part in it.

Most people treat journaling as something they "know they should do" but rarely ever take up the practice. And if they do, they fall off the wagon within a few months.

It doesn't have to be this way, especially when you learn about the amazing benefits of journaling. Here are 6 ways that journaling will change your life:

1. Dig into your true feeling

Journaling can help you get out of the way of what you truly feel on the inside. In other words, taken the time to sit and write about something that is affecting you can lead to a deeper and more realistic view of what feelings you are actually feeling.

When we are caught up in the "rat-race" of life, we tend to disregard our feelings and keep ourselves, busy and jaded. It isn't until we slow down for some time to let the feelings inside be what they truly are.

2. Give you a point of view

Another thing that journaling can give us is a better understanding of our own point of view as well as what others may think of a situation.

It's always thought to know exactly what others are thinking, but journaling can allow us to slow down enough to start to try to understand someone else's point of view.

3. Remind you of a life worth living

I like to think of journaling as "my life's story". That alone makes it fun, enjoyable, and inspiring to write a little about myself and what is going on with me every single day.

After you have journaled continuously for sometime and you look back on the things that you have written you may realize that your life is much more interesting and deep than you once thought.

In fact, if you are down on yourself a lot, journaling is a great way to get around this and discover that your life is truly worth living.

4. Reassure yourself of who you are

Do you know yourself? Without thinking too hard about it, you may just simply say, "of course I do," yet if you haven't done some serious introspection and work on who you are, chances are you may only know who you think you are.

This was definitely the case for me before I started writing for myself every single day. I thought that I knew what I liked and disliked, who I was, and where I was going in life.

But in reality I these aspects of myself were what I thought I should be; not actually who I was.

With journaling, I uncovered dreams and goals that I never imagine would be mine. I realized that there were so many things that I just couldn't stand to do and therefore gave myself boundaries to say "no" more.

Journaling can do this for you too. You can finally say hello to yourself.

5. Help you record your legendary stories

The idea of being able to write for your life and then pass that writing onto someone else, whether it be old friends, children, grandchildren, etc. is inspiring.

I could only wish that my father or grandfather would have been able to pass on something like that to me. It wouldn't have mattered if the words they wrote were deep or insightful; just as long as they were words that I could read and feel more connected to them.

You can journal every day and then pass this legacy on to loved ones later in life. They can learn about you and what made you tick as a human.

6. Build your serenity

Getting back to number one; when you start to write about your feelings and how situations in your life change your feelings you gain the ability to start to process those feelings.

Rather than leaving feelings completely bottled up inside, you can put them down on paper and get them out of your heart and mind so you can process and understand them more which will lead to a more serene existence.

This especially works well with feelings like anger, jealousy, resentment, etc. Putting these feeling out on paper and letting them take their course is a great way to stay balanced.

Final thoughts

The simple act of writing a few words, sentences, or paragraphs everyday can have a profound and instant effect on your life for the better.

Journaling can change your life. It makes you a more interesting person through the years and makes you feel more interested in your life.

Featured photo credit: Unsplash via unsplash.com

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6 Unexpected Ways Journaling Every Day Will Make Your Life Better - LifeHack

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Keeping a journal is a tough practice. But you can be inspired to keep going by learning 6 different ways journaling will change your life. Then making it a habit will be a lot easier!