DIY Life

Using a comfortable mat when doing yoga isn't really necessary, but it sure does come in handy against carpet burns, bruises from the hardwood floor, and grass stains all over your lovely white shorts. No matter how much padding you have on your tush, if you don't use a mat, you may notice all the pretty colors on your body the next day.

Your yoga mat is probably in need of a new bag, and Myam has just the thing, with a handy tutorial on how to make a yoga mat bag. To make the bag, measure the length and circumference of your yoga mat, then cut your fabric, adding two extra inches of fabric to your rectangular piece. Cut out the bottom piece. Don't forget to add two strips of fabric to make the strap.

Myam's pictures and her tutorial are perfectly easy to follow. I love the fabric she chose. It is so very energetic, and just the pick-me-up we all will need after our heart pounding yoga exercises are done and we all have to drag our butts out of the class.

via: Craft

I've abandoned my office chair for a yoga ball. The hope is that I might get a little ab-action, while sitting around on the computer. For the most part, it's very comfortable, and it encourages better posture, which I could definitely use. Still, I find that over time I start to lose my balance and the ball becomes an awkward seat.

It looks like this balance chair might be just the right compromise for me. Essentially, it's working on the same principle, but designed to give you added balance when you need it. The best feature of all is that you can easily build one yourself.

Along with the recycled seat and back from an old office chair, you'll need 45x45mm wood x 2m and 45x65mm wood x 1m, wooden shims and a hinge. You could have rolling casters on the feet if you want to pivot and move around the office easily. Check out the full assembly instructions, and images to guide you through the simple construction process. The end results aren't widely adjustable, but as long as you're not sharing the seat with your entire household, it should work just fine.

It's funny to think that we need to teach ourselves how to calm down, but it's true. We spend so much of the day on over-drive that when the time comes to decompress, we're not really sure where to begin. It is worth carving out time in the day for some calming rituals. Lifehacker points us to 12 ideas for establishing a calming routine, which I think are incredibly useful.

The tip that really caught my eye was this one about establishing a bedtime routine.

There are hundreds of "cures" for hiccups, and although my method may sound just as campy, it has worked for everyone I have suggested it to. It's a simple situation of mind over matter. Hiccups are spasms in your diaphragm; a sudden spasm of your diaphragm causes air to rush into your lungs. Your windpipe responses by closing suddenly, thinking something is wrong. Hence, the "hic" sound. The only way to get rid of the hiccups is to control the spasms, and this can be accomplished through focused, controlled breathing. The best form of controlled breathing is Pranayama, commonly known as yoga breathing.

Much like blinking your eyes, breathing can be manipulated, and by learning to control your breathing, you can regain control of your diaphragm during hiccups. Yoga breathing gets you in touch with the diaphram through slow, deep breathing. The key to this type of breathing is focus and control. Just breathing deep will do nothing, you have to mentally take control of your lungs' sympathetic system. It can be done.

For a how-to on yoga breathing, Health and Yoga has a great page on the intricacies of the breathing technique. The basic idea is to breathe in through your nostrils slowly, and fill your lungs all the way down to your belly, and exhale slowly pushing all oxygen out of your body. Ideally, yoga masters are able to slow their breathing with each inhale/exhale. Great masters can breath in for thirty seconds and out for thirty seconds. Yeah, I'm not one of those people, but I have found that the focused breathing allows me to control my diaphragm and regain normal breathing.

If hiccups last for a long time, however, seek professional help.

Last night as I lay in the savasana pose sweating and wanting to die on my yoga mat during class, I looked at my soaked mat and wondered just how much abuse the poor thing could take.

One thought lead to another, as tends to happen when you think you might expire from the camel pose, and I began to wonder just when do you throw in the towel, or mat in this case, and start fresh.

That lead me to wondering what I would actually do with my old yoga mat. Not a soul in my family would deign to set foot upon it, it is ugly and they all know I do nothing but sweat and groan on it.