Yantra Mat Review (Week 1)

If you follow my blog you know that I had never heard of a Yantra Mat before I received one in the mail last week. Since then I have used it for ten minutes a day and have enjoyed every minute of it!

(Sorry about the horrible picture!)

According to the website "For the first few minutes, you will likely experience discomfort; this will subside." I actually didn't experience any discomfort at all, which surprised me because the points are very sharp to the touch. This may have been because I wore a tank top each time which put a layer in between my skin and the mat.  So far I have only tried lying on my back with my knees bent, but this week I plan on trying out some other positions.

My only previous experience with acupressure is when I have squeezed my hand in between my thumb and pointer finger in order to alleviate headaches. I found that lying on the mat gave me the same sensation! It kind of felt like my brain is a little tingley, in a good way. This does not explain the sensation well, but it is the only way I can think to describe it. I felt very relaxed and comfortable the whole time.

I have also noticed feeling more energetic than normal this past week. I'm not sure if this is related to the mat or not. I will have to see if this continues in the next week!

From Yantraway.com: On the back of the Yantra Mat you'll notice an Indian meditation symbol, the Yantra. This word comes from the Sanskrit word yan, which means “form,” and tra, which means “free.” The Yantra symbol will remind you to breathe deeply and relax, even when you're too busy to lie down.

The Yantra Mat is made of 100% cotton. The spiked flowers are made of 100% non-toxic ABS plastic.

The mats are available in 2 colors: purple and green (I have the green one)
They come in 3 sizes: medium, large, and extra large (I used medium)

This week I will start using the mat for 20 minutes a day. I will update you next week on how this goes!

So, what about you? Have you ever tried acupressure? Would you like to try a mat like this?

This review is solely my opinion. Other people may have different experiences with the product. I have received no compensation for my review other than receiving a sample to test.

Guest Post: Top 10 Reasons To LOVE Being Vegan!

I would describe my diet as 95% vegan working towards 100%. Here is a guest post from Tess Challis --vegan chef, author, wellness coach, healthy cooking instructor, meditation instructor, and weight loss coach. Her website is Radiant Health Inner Wealth.

This post was inspired by all the wonderful New Years Resolvers (A word? Not a word?) who are new to being vegan. I've received countless messages from folks who are making veganism their New Year's Resolution this year! So, I thought they might enjoy hearing why a seasoned (19 years of spice) vegan loves it so much!

So here goes...

The Top Ten Reasons Being Vegan Rocks:

1. The food tastes amazing! Who could possibly feel deprived while eating "Chocolate Bliss Pie" or "Soba Noodles with Vegetable Tempura and Ginger-Daikon Sauce?"

2. The health benefits are profound. For example: Not only did my acne and chronic health conditions clear up when I went vegan almost two decades ago, but they have never returned!

3. Being vegan brings a peace and harmony to your whole being. Basing a diet on plant foods reduces the "bad karma" that arises from eating animal foods, as well as elevates your state of consciousness. Yes, I know this sounds new-agey! But I also know it's true. Try it for yourself - give up animal foods for a month and observe the difference in your state of mind.

4. You'll end up spending less money in the long run. Yes, I know organic produce can cost a small fortune. But, when you're not shelling out big bucks at the doctor's office, you'll still come out ahead!

5. You'll discover a whole new world (a delicious and fun one!). Have you ever used things like coconut butter, cacao nibs, shiitake mushrooms, or bean thread noodles? You will now, and your taste buds will give you that long overdue trophy.

6. Being vegan automatically reduces (drastically at that) your risk for all kinds of illnesses, including cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.

7. It's just good clean fun. When you "lighten your load" with your diet, you begin to feel lighter in all aspects. You feel better. You wake up energized. You enjoy life more and more on every level!

8. It's the most versatile diet on the planet! Sounds crazy, but once you stop thinking about all the things you "can't" have, you'll be amazed at how much more varied your diet will actually be! Thinking back to what I ate in my pre-vegan days, it all sounds so boring to me now. Chicken nuggets and burgers don't hold a candle to Thai Spring Rolls and Chili-Lime Noodles (two foods I knew nothing about before going vegan)!

9. With all the great products on the market these days, you won't miss a thing! Even if you want to keep eating basic things like "chicken nuggets" and "cheese pizza," it's no problem! There are delicious vegan options for anything you can think of these days. Try some Daiya cheese on your quesadilla or some crumbled tempeh in your chili. It will still please the palate, while simultaneously keeping you happy and healthy!

10. My 6-yr-old contributed this last reason. She's been vegan all her life and loves it too! In her words, "Lots of reasons. But I guess mostly just cuz I don't want to hurt animals."

Guest Post: Is the phone book obsolete?

Just the other day I was thinking about how long it has been since I have used my phone book. The I saw this article at eCycleGroup.com posted by Brandy@ecyclegroup.com. eCycleGroup.com is a website where you can get paid for recycling your used printer cartridges, cell phones, and M3P players.

When you want to find the phone number of a local residence, where do you look for the information? Do you haul out the white pages to “let your fingers do the walking” through the entries, or do you search online using one of the internet’s free directory services?

According to banthephonebook.org, as many as 5 million trees are cut down to create the white pages phone books that are dropped on our doorsteps each year. Additionally, taxpayers spend $17 million per annum to have these books recycled.

In rebuttal, a detailed Yellow Pages’ blog demonstrates the process of making paper for the Yellow Pages industry uses mainly woodchips and saw mill byproducts as well as recycled newspaper and directories.

Regardless of which data is more accurate, when you consider that today’s consumers most likely use online directories, social networks, and mobile phone applications to find the contact information they need, some feel it simply does not make sense to have the white pages phone books automatically delivered to us every year.

According to a recent WhitePages.com survey, over 80% of consumers would support an ‘opt-in’ program (only receive a white pages phone book upon request) if they knew it would have a positive impact on the environment and save taxpayers money. WhitePages.com has gathered more than 20,000 signatures for its “Ban the Phone Book” campaign, which seeks the creation of “opt-in” programs for white pages phone books so they are delivered only to people who request them. The idea is so popular that its fanpage has already garnered nearly 6500 fans on Facebook.

According to an article at the New York Times, “Legislation aimed at limiting the distribution of white pages directories only to people who request them — or at least providing customers with a way to opt-out — has already been introduced in several states, including Alaska and New York.”

According to the article, state laws require telephone companies to print and distribute free phonebooks to their landline customers. Free deliveries began in California and many other states more than a dozen years ago as a way to minimize calls to directory assistance and promote yellow-page advertising programs. However, in this digital age, many feel the books are simply a waste of paper. Some of the telephone companies agree and are testing their own white pages opt-in programs.

“It’s all about choice,” said Fletcher Cook, a spokesman at AT&T, in an interview with the New York Times. “We want to act with an environmental conscience but also respect our customers’ preferences.”

To assist consumers with this choice, the Yellow Pages Association, a trade group representing most phone book publishers in the United States, has created a “Yellow Pages Opt Out” site that allows users to type in their ZIP code to obtain a list of local publishers; it is then up to the consumer to notify them directly if they want delivery stopped.

If you want to join the white pages opt-in movement, add your name to the petition at banthephonebook.org. More than 16,000 people already have signed the petition.

Meanwhile, don’t just toss your outdated phone books into the trash! I keep a copy in my car to help when I’m trying to locate a business while out and about. Or, contact your local Yellow Pages publisher for phone book recycling drop-off locations.


Creative Commons photo credits:
Wet phone book by http://www.flickr.com/photos/kumanday/ / CC BY 2.0
Trashbin of phone books by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wellohorld/ / CC BY 2.0
Phone book recycling by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/funkeemunkeeland/346216318

How my Husband Became a Pescatarian

Here is a guest post from my dear husband about how he came to be a Pescatarian. You can find my husband at his blog LostInTheBeerAisle.com or on twitter @lost_in_beer.

My lovely wife asked me to write a guest post over here at TheStyleMD, specifically asking me to talk a little bit about my transition away from eating meat. Melissa went veggie last Winter. After observing the wifey go without meat for a number of months, I came to two main conclusions, which follow.

#1: I don’t like what’s in most meat.

During the spring months when I was still eating meat but she was not, we began learning a lot about the health benefits of abstaining from meat. We listened to a few books on tape (the titles I can’t recall) and watched Super Size Me. Furthermore, Melissa passed along tid-bits of information as she ran into it on the interwebs.

Side note: While I have a chance, I want to throw in a plug for the movie Food Inc. I had already stopped eating meat by the time the movie hit theaters…but nonetheless it’s an excellent film that everyone should see.

In learning about factory farming, I was most concerned with the various additives, preservatives, and medications that could be present in meat. For example, I’m an engineer by day, so my analytic side freaked out when I learned that ground beef could have meat from dozens, or hundreds, or even thousands of cows. Contemplating the exponential number of “bad” things that one could be exposed to in just one hamburger was a big deal for me.

#2: I don’t NEED to eat meat.

We were trying a number of meat substitutes. Many of which were sub-par, but quite a few which were quite good. In once instance involving a particular brand of soy-based hot dog, I liked the “fake” version WAY better. You can eat a couple of these particular hot dogs without getting that bloated “ugh, I just ate two hotdogs” feeling. You could call this my “AH-HA” moment.

I didn’t need to eat meat to be happy. In fact, NOT eating meat PHYSICALLY made me feel better, and thus made me happier.

Finally, I had watched Melissa go veggie for months. It looked really easy, and the diet seemed so much healthier. The fact of the matter was, when we ate at home, we were eating a vegetarian diet (after all, we weren’t about to make two dinners – a veggie one for her, and a meaty one for me). Neither of us missed eating meat.

So in early summer 2009 I became a pescatarian: a big scary word a vegetarian who also eats fish. I couldn’t give up sushi; sorry fishies! Since then I really haven’t missed meat. Every time I think I miss it, I watch someone eating it and get grossed out.
To everyone who eats meat: Learn about what you eat. I won’t ever try to push my views or my lifestyle on anyone else, but I HIGHLY recommend that everyone learn about what they are eating, where it comes from, and what is in it. You owe yourself that at the very least!

To anyone considering going veggie: I recommend you just give it a try. If it isn’t for you, you can go back to meat. No one will hold it against you. :)

What is a Yantra Mat?

I had no idea until I received this in the mail today.

I opened the mat.

Hmmm.... The mat is about 2 1/2 feet long and a 1 1/2 feet wide (without using a ruler). There is foam inside and lots of white plastic circles on top with sharp points sticking up. Still don't know what to think...

Then I checked out the website YantraWay.com to figure out what I am supposed to do with this.

Here is what I found on the website:

•Stressed out?
•Sleeping poorly?
•Experiencing fatigue?
•Headaches?
•Muscle tension?
•Back or neck pain? 

You don’t need to be interested in yoga or acupressure in order to use the Yantra Mat. Just lie down, and the mat will take care of your rest.

In minutes, you’ll feel warmth along the parts of your body touching the mat – that’s an increase in blood flow, a natural response to acupressure. Improved circulation means lower blood pressure and better nutrient delivery.
Additionally, the Yantra Mat’s 8,820 acupressure points provoke the kind of clarity and focus that usually comes with prolonged meditation or intense physical activity. A more relaxed state further improves circulation.

I do have a problem with muscle tension in my back and neck and who doesn't want to reduce stress? So, I decided that I will test this mat out for ten minutes a day for the next few days and then come back and post my experiences.

So, have you ever heard of an acupressure mat? Would you ever try one? Wish me luck!

This review is solely my opinion. Other people may have different experiences with the product. I have received no compensation for my review other than receiving a sample to test.

Love the Green Giveaways!

I am a totally giveaway addict. Here are some green giveaways that I'm entering with right now!

Yogavive Yogachips ~ Flavored Organic Dried Apple Chips Giveaway from Leslie Loves Veggies!

Village Naturals Bath Products Giveaway from Mama's Money Savers!

Eat Cleaner Biodegradable Fresh Produce Wipes Giveaway from A Giveaway Addicted Mommy!

Sweet Leaf Bath Soap Giveaway from Canadian Natural Mama!

Tropical Traditions Moisturizing Lotion Giveaway from Three Different Directions!

Let me know if there are any green giveaways that I have missed! Good luck!

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2010!

2009 was a great year for me. I made a lot of important changes in my life in the last year. I became a vegetarian and started practicing yoga. I got braces to correct a jaw issue which had caused me to have debilitating headaches almost every day. I started twittering and blogging about green and vegetarian issues which cause me to learn a great deal. All of this was very life changing in the best way possible. Also, thanks to my sister, I got a brand new nephew who I am madly in love with! 2009 was a really great year.

But, I know there are more good things to come so I am looking forward to 2010.

Here are my resolutions:

-Cook more. My husband and I rely too much on processed, packaged foods. This is not good for our health or the environment. I'm a terrible cook, but I think I just need more practice.

-Become more flexible. I am going to start to stretch a little bit everyday to improve my yoga practice and become more flexible.

-Be able to do real push ups. My upper body is so weak and I would love some beautifully toned arms.

I think these are all very doable, which is important so I don't get discouraged. I will let you know how I do!

How was 2009 for you? What are your New Years resolutions?