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STEP IT UP: If you are getting fewer than 5,000 steps a day, you are classified as sedentary! What’s a better goal to shoot for to improve your mood, your cholesterol, your heart health, your weight? 12,500, not 10K, say the American College of Sport Medicine..  And you don’t have to meet your goal all in one outing. Split it up and add some non-walking intervals.

DO THE TWIST!!!!!

The act of Twisting is more than a dance move. And more than just a yoga asana, ((although it is an essential part of the yoga curriculum). Twisting is physical movement which done deliberately and intentionally can change the way everything works in your body--from your outer to your inner geography. Twisting  strengthens those  oblique muscles on the side body, exercises the upper back and the waist, and even helps to detoxify your liver, according to the Yoga Institute.  The action of twisting helps to create inter-vertebral space thus lengthening the spine. This decompresses the vertebral space, and protects spinal nerves. The flow of energy is also improved in a gentle non-evasive way leaving you feeling newly rebooted. Twisting actions stimulate  blood circulation and release tension in abdominal muscles, allowing the digestive organs to experience a fresh blood flow rich in oxygen and nutrients.  Twisting can help you de-stress. opening up the shoulders, chest and back to boost oxygen and decrease anxiousness.  You can do a twist while lying in bed, sitting upright in a chair or cross-legged on a yoga mat or even standing.  Twists --however and wherever youo them  and that’s anywhere from the breakfast table in the morning to your desk at noon or your bed at night-- can affect  the upper, middle and lower back helping to  improve the spinal cord’s range of motion (including  the neck) by  engaging the  supportive soft tissue surrounding the spinal cord.  Everything old feels new again.

Maybe best or all, twists can profoundly affect at-risk backs that slouch at a desk or in a car or train/plane for long stretches, a situation that not only weakens the integrity of the spine, (the center of our being), but ultimately affects what happens in our head space, as well. Think of headaches, fatigue and gloomy moods often following prolonged periods in one position.

Do the Twist!

WITHOUT KNIFE OR KICKS

Two ways to get healthier from your feet to your fork?
Eat more raw veggies.  Cooking destroys many nutrients and digestive enzymes while eating your peas and carrots  in their natural state provides ATP, a key molecule for transporting enzergy to cells.
And when you put down the salad fork, try  jumping on a mini trampoline. According to the American Council on Exercise, it's as effective as running six miles an hour. And maybe more giddy fun!

NAILING IT!

Are you poisoning your pinkies with standard issue salon  polish?
All of the toxic ingredients commonly found in polish, removers, and nail adhesives  -- including acetone, formaldehyde, dibutyl phthalate (DPB), xylene and parabens-- can cause everything from headaches, dizziness and lung irritation to liver and kidney damage and reproductive harm, says the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
There are healthier, prettier, and more cost effective ways to nail it these days.
Whole Foods type markets sell a range of safe nail products for DIY care (or take them to your salon).
And what good deed can you do your teeth and bones you're probably not doing now? Invest in a bottle of the vitamin E family supplement,  tocotrienals. The most popular form of vitamin E , alpha tocopherol, doesn't appear to  do the trick. 430 to 860 mg a day helped to improve bone and dental health in recent studies.

HEALTHIER NOT HEAVIER

• Start 2018 with a few clear- conscience snacks -- and a spicy drink to have in front of that  wintry night fireplace!
•  Skip that fatty butter on your morning bagel. Spread with blender whipped yogurt and berries.
• After lunch munch-- Toss spears of English cucumbers  with Maldron (or Himalayan) salt, pepper and fresh lemon juice. Beats chips and salted  nuts 
• Innovative imbibing at Happy Hour?  Have a Sriracha-Lada! Combine 1 ounce of lime juice, 2 tsps of sriracha sauce, and a dash of worchestershire sauce, pour over crushed ice in a salt-rimmed beer glass and top with a good Mexican lager  To cut down on foam, pour in beer over the back of a spoon). Hey, beer is rich in minerals like selenium and magnesium plus B Complex:)

SPRINKLE AND STRETCH

Tightness even a few Spine Stretch Forwards doesn't fix ? Take a hint and knock back some Hintonia Latiflora.  Sometimes called "vegetable insulin" this herb native to Columbia and Mexico contains a neoflavinoid  that lowers blood glucose levels, blood fats and even blood pressure, in addition to relaixing muscles. Beyond Hintonia, two herbs mentioned in the Yoga Sutras that improve flexibility in the muscles and joints are at our fingertips-- turmeric and cinnamon bark. Both make great holiday teas!

FORMALDEHYDE IN THE FLAME?

What's more sensual than a scented candle?  But nothing may be more dangerous at the same time. Heavily perfumed candles emit the chemical limonene that can react with ozone in the atmosphere to create the carcinogen formaldehyde. 100% beeswax candles may be pricer, but they are also safer to sniff!