The latest incarnation of the Star Trek saga gets its big DVD release soon. So in honor of “boldly going”, let’s think about living long and prospering:

> How long will you live? Calculate your life expectancy here.

> Where in the world do people live the longest - and what are they doing that we should try?

> Explore the cuisine of another region of the world where folks live longer, healthier lives.

> 40+ tips for the 50+ set

> 20+ skin challenges across our lifespans

> Add years to your life - and money to your savings - with this healthy switch.

Bring a little of the outdoors to your indoors!

Houseplants add an organic, natural touch to rooms in your home or to your office workspace. Gazing at the greenery amidst that tangle of cords and technology can be quite soothing.

According to Eureka! Science News, “Adding these plants to indoor spaces can reduce stress, increase task performance, and reduce symptoms of ill health.”

Not only that, plants can also help to clean up indoor air - which can sometimes be even more polluted than the air outside!

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) given off by furniture, paints, building supplies, and office equipment can make people sick, triggering headaches, nausea, dizziness, irritation to eyes, nose, and throat, and worsening of asthma symptoms. Long-term exposure to high VOC levels can increase risks of cancer and damage to the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system. (Read more about “sick-building syndrome” here.)

But thanks to a process called phytoremediation, indoor plants can gobble up these pollutants. Of the plants tested by researchers from the University of Georgia Department of Horticulture, a few leafy species seemed to have super pollutant-neutralizing powers:

- Purple waffle plant

- English ivy

- Variegated wax plant

- Asparagus fern

- Purple heart plant

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Got pets? Before bringing plants into a pet household, check their toxicity to cats and dogs (known to nibble on leaves now and then …)

To commemorate the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street, here’s Dr. Thad and the Medications with their 1978 hit “The Ten Commandments of Health”:

I think this Sesame Street tune offers kids (and grown-ups) some wise and simple health advice, don’t you? For the record, Dr. Thad sings the praises of these 10 healthy habits:

1. Wash your hands before eating.  What timely advice!

2. Brush your teeth after meals. Well, here are a few caveats to this recommendation.

3. See your doctor for checkups, even if you’re healthy. Here’s how to make the most of the precious time you get with your doc.

4. Cover your nose when sneezing. Good idea, since sneezes travel very quickly!

5. Cover your mouth when you cough. That’s definitely a good reminder for kids.

6. Dress warmly in cold weather. Check out 9 ways to stay warm as temperatures drop.

7. Exercise to keep in shape. And here’s how much you need as a “grown-up”.

8. Bathe or shower at the end of each day. But maybe not everyday once it gets really cold.

9. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Especially fruits and veg in these 9 nutritious colours!

10. Give your body the sleep it needs. Fact-or-fiction check 4 sleeping beliefs and know the 9 signs you’re not getting enough.

Now I’m reminiscing about my favourite Sesame Street moments and characters! I still have a soft spot for Snuffleupagus and I adore those skits with Grover as a waiter to the impatient little customer with the mustache. Share your cherished Sesame Street memories in the comments below!

As usual, after all of the physical exertion of the previous 90 minutes, we closed off last night’s yoga class with savasana - also known as “corpse pose”. For those unfamiliar with the pose, savasana is a culminating, resting pose where you lie on your back with your legs out straight in front of you and your hands relaxed and palms-up at your sides. You close your eyes, slow your breathing, and allow all of your physical and mental effort and energy to settle into your body.

Savasana feels different for me depending on the day. Most of the time, I gradually fall into a calm, pleasurable, restful pose after some minor adjustments to my hips or my neck. Other days I struggle to calm myself down or to find a comfortable way to lay there on my back, my body a bag of unhappy bones and nerves.

My savasana serenity has also been interrupted by the rumbling of hunger pangs or a nearby restaurant’s aromas wafting through an open studio window. There have also been moments where I’ve noticed myself slipping toward the edge of sleep - you know, that spot in your consciousness where you start to feel like you’re dreaming but you could twitch out of it at any second? And I know I’ve heard people snoring during savasana, which is a no-no, since you’re supposed to stay awake!

No matter how it goes, savasana always manages to clue me in to my current state of mind. Last night’s savasana was a doozy. One of the best ever. I found myself effortlessly sinking into a still, serene, supine pose with waves and waves of good, positive energy flowing inside of me. Afterwards, as I talked to a friend about it, I recalled a quote I read on YogaJournal.com:

via YJ: “You lie there and look dead, but as you relax and sink into the feeling of the very alive energy that is being you, it literally feels like you come to life again.”

That’s what I felt like - fully restful yet humming with new energy. I’ve often wondered what savasana feels like for other people. Any yoginis out there want to share their experience of savasana? I’d love to know what you feel when you’re in the pose of the dead?  Do you just lie there distracted by your to-do list? Or do you feel like you’re about to be reborn? Share your savasana stories in the comments below!

US First Lady Michelle Obama has garnered lots of positive press for her initiative to build a White House garden and farmer’s market. But poor old beets didn’t make it into the garden because, apparently the Prez hates the red rooty bulbs. I can just hear him now … “Let me be clear: No beet will be eaten by this administration.”

Too bad. President Obama, like anyone else, could really benefit from the nutritious bounty of beets.

Why beets are hard to beat (can’t resist that easy pun!):

- Beets are cheap and low in calories - but full of natural sweetness that can add a lot of flavour to other foods.

- Beets boast B-vitamins, like B9 - better known as folate or folic acid (when in supplement form). Folate-filled foods are especially beneficial to women who are pregnant or hoping to become pregnant soon, because the vitamin is important for healthy cell growth.

- Betacyanin, the pigment that gives beets their rich red colour, is a potentially powerful antioxidant.

- Beets burst with fibre to aid digestion and blood sugar regulation.

Also, beets can be eaten from top to bottom - roots, stalks, leaves and all!

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Tickle torture. That’s what I kept reminiscing about after watching the recently-released film version of the children’s book classic “Where the Wild Things Are”.

The movie, like the book, features young Max and reflects on that scary precipice of mid-childhood - that point between being a wild little beast who throws a fit to try to get what you want and realizing the repercussions of your emotional outbursts and how your needs coexist with your parents’, your siblings’, your family’s needs. The film managed to be a lovely, touching portrait of one boy’s empathy epiphany and how much we can learn from our own internal “wild things”.

When Max suddenly bites his mother’s arm in a confused emotional moment (anger mixed with fear of being ignored or abandoned as family dynamics change), I remembered the way I used to torture my little sister with tickles when we were kids.

We were good-natured kids, my sister and me, rarely fighting and never hitting each other or anything like that. But tickling would start really innocently. We’d just be playing and I’d poke at her, a small tickle and then we’d both fall into a fit of giggles. Sometimes I’d stop after a few giggles, but there were other times when I’d push it a little too far, and what started as a tickle would become torturous to her. “Stop! Stop!” she’d shout between pained laughs. At least once I remember it all ending in tears.

Reliving those times as an adult watching a movie, I realized how quickly we can slip from being playful to being hurtful. But how can something as simple and innocent as tickling become violent? And is it possible to tickle ourselves? [Read more →]