Author: Camryn (Naturally Fit Living)

Review: Best Yoga Mats for Any Practice

Published by

The search for the perfect yoga mat is like a quest for the Holy Grail. Or maybe it’s like being a contestant on Bachelor in Paradise, where the options seem limitless, but quality? Maybe not-so-much. One of the things that makes yoga so appealing is you don’t need much to do it. Get some comfy clothes and a mat and boom! You are ready to rock and roll. Or chill out. Either/or, because yoga lets you choose your own adventure. Yogis who have a consistent practice get pretty obsessed over their mats, and for good reason. We literally shed blood (sometimes), sweat (always), and tears (it happens) on our mats. And trust,  Goldilocks has nothing on yogis when it comes to how picky we are about our mats. It must be grippy-but not have too much grip, cushy but not squishy, sturdy but not too heavy. I’ve put together a review of some of my all time favorite yoga mats. They aren’t the cheapest out there, but they are high quality and will withstand even …

5 Powerful Ways to Manage Anxiety

Published by

In the quest for wellness and an abundant life, we often overlook the most important aspect of truly thriving: mental health. Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health issues in America. As a society, we’re getting more stressed out and less capable of handling that stress. We’re overstimulated and under-supported. We use flimsy distractions and coping mechanisms to get through the day, and only really deal with our mental wellness when we’re in a truly dire state that we can’t ignore. People are often reluctant to admit to anyone—including themselves—that they have bouts of acute or chronic anxiety. Even when they do acknowledge it affects them, they usually don’t really know how to deal with whatever they’re struggling with. I completely get that, because despite all the advice out there on managing stress and anxiety, the information often seems a bit glib and sometimes even trite. Breathe through it? Um, ok, thanks. Focus on something else? Yeah, not working for me, bro. Go for a walk? Uhhhh…super enlightening. The first step to managing …

7 Ways to (Actually) Improve Your Yoga Practice

Published by

Yoga is one of those crazy beautiful experiences where you can receive whatever you need. Some people attend yoga classes to chill out, others go to work out. Many people gravitate to yoga because it truly is a healing experience, both emotionally and physically. This is how yoga works. It gives back however much you invest. It teaches and transforms us however much we are willing to allow. Regardless of what draws you to yoga, you’ll get the most out of your practice if you fine-tune it. Over the years, I’ve discovered some factors that really help me as a yoga practitioner, so I’m passing them onto you. Because sharing is caring. And I fricking care. CONSISTENCY IS KEY: Let’s just get this one out of the way early, because it’s obvious. Consistency is the key to everything in life, but it can be one of the more challenging things to obtain. Yoga brings out everyone’s inner tortoise or hare. You know what I’m talking about: the story of the race between the super slow …

How to Prevent Common Yoga Injuries

Published by

Yoga is magical. After you finish a class, you basically float out on a tide of goodwill and feel like you’re riding on the back of a unicorn while sweet baby angels sing into your ear. But beyond the undeniably euphoric effects of yoga, it can be a truly healing experience, both mentally and physically. This aspect of yoga draws many people initially to their mat, so when injuries occur, it can legit feel like a gianty-giant let down. Is it not enough that we endure demanding jobs, horrific traffic, depressing articles in the news (I cannot handle anything related to current events right now), and global warming?! Must we also experience injuries during our cherished outlet known as yoga?! Good news, fellow yogi: injuries are preventable, and I’m about to tell you how.  Get that good mojo and keep it! The topic of yoga injuries is near and dear to my heart, because I’ve gone through a slew of them while doing some intense Ashtanga/Mysore training. I’ve cracked my sternum, busted some ribs, did …

Gluten-Free Strawberry Pancakes with Vegan Whipped Cream

Published by

MORNINGS ARE THE WORST. And if you don’t agree with me, I do not even understand what kind of super-powered human being you are. Does your heart pump pure caffeine into your veins? Are you the product of a crazy scientific experience? I DON’T GET IT. Mornings are the literal worst. I pretty much feel punched in the face the second my eyes slowly, very begrudgingly peel open. My first thought is usually, NOOOOO! Or just like a moan of agony. My husband is one of those (disgustingly) disciplined people who wake up everyday at 5:30am, and therefore by proxy, my fat cat and I are forced to wake up at the same time. UGH. WHY, GOD. Even though my body might be awake, my mind doesn’t operate until at bare minimum around noon. Brunch is basically God’s gift to all the people who stoutly reject mornings. Let all those early bird’s catch all the worms they want; I choose pancakes and mimosas. I love hosting brunch parties, because it’s such a perfect way to …

Anti-Aging, Fat Blasting Blueberry Smoothie

Published by

All these low-carb/no-carb diets are giving fruit a bad rap, but the truth is carbs aren’t evil. It just depends on the kinds of carbs you’re consuming. The brilliant thing about berries is they have a lower sugar content than other fruit, so you can eat them without experiencing a potentially drastic sugar spike. Blueberries reign supreme as a not only a power food, but also a beautifying food. When you eat beautifying foods, the ingredients work from the inside out, creating total body change. You can slather the most expensive lotions and potions and magical ingredients on your skin, but the saying “skin deep” exists for a reason. These ingredients literally mask the results of poor health and/or an unhealthy diet, but it’s impossible for those expensive ingredients to really penetrate the deeper layers of skin. All the creams in the world don’t do anything for your total body wellness. Blueberries have the highest antioxidant capacity of all commonly consumed fruits and vegetables.  If that’s not enough to convince you to try out this …

Eat Your Way to Youthful Skin

Published by

We live in a society that’s pretty obsessed with beauty—outer beauty that is. The makeup industry is a multi-billion dollar corporation, and the average medicine cabinet is overflowing with lotions and potions and concoctions promising to make up more beautiful. More youthful. More desirable. Beauty is a business, and booming one at that. Somewhere along the way though, health and beauty became two very separate entities. The ingredients in these “anti-aging” and “beautifying” products often cause way more harm than good. Recently, I went to my dermatologist for the good old Let There Be No Skin Cancer checkup (all good in the hood; all those years of drenching myself in SPF and assiduously hiding under an umbrella at the beach like a stowaway vampire have finally paid off). I had just run out of the nighttime essential oils I use, so I asked about moisturizers and an anti-aging cream. She gave me two products and sent me on my merry way. Both creams cost around $200 (JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL) and what’s worse, when I looked …

How to Do: Side Crow

Published by

Arm balances just makes me soooo happy, I can hardly stand it. I mean, honestly, every time a yoga instructor calls out an option for an arm balance or an inversion, I’m literally like, YAAAAAS GAWD. Unless I’ve eaten all the things right before class and feel as though I’m made of bricks. Then I’m like, WHHHHYYY, make the lambs stop screaming!!! Yoga is cruel to the gluttonous, just so you know. But when a girl’s gotta eat, she’s gotta eat. Even if it’s right before class. Here’s the thing I like to tell my own clients regarding the oh-so-tricky art of arm balances and inversions: it should be fun. Sure, it’s difficult—really difficult. After all, you’re both balancing and holding yourself up on a tiny portion of your body. But this isn’t the time to go Type A or let your perfectionism kick in. This is the exact moment to practice patience and give yourself grace. Before you even start, lay your ego at the door. Hey, I know you just skimmed that sentence! …

Sunscreen Swaps: the Best Picks for Children

Published by

Currently, my husband and I are spending the week in Vegas. I’m not into the casino scene, but we are having such an amazing time together. I’m convinced that you can have the time of there life wherever they are, if you’re with your Person. We got to put this to the test when our flight in was bumped, and we chilled at the airport all day…and had a ball. I’ve always been a big believer that you can make extraordinary memories from the most ordinary of days, and so far, life has proven that to be true. Meanwhile, Vegas is literally hotter than crawling into an oven, and now all those crimes on CSI make so much more sense. People are probably going crazy from the heat! Surprisingly, we adapted to the weather pretty quickly (read: we stay inside/poolside), and I’ve been pile on a bottle of sunscreen per day to protect my oh so fair skin from this desert sun. That’s an exaggeration…but just barely. If you’ve read my post/rant about sunscreens for …

Use This Not That: Sunscreen Swaps

Published by

Summer is officially here, and according to my Siri, it’s going to be a million degrees with a UV ray index of off the charts. This is what happens when you don’t recycle, people! Mama Earth gets angry at us all and then gets hotter than Hades! All that aside, I’m a delicate little flower when it comes to the sun. My skin is so white, I glow in the dark like a ghost. I really do; true story. I could effortlessly play a Walker on The Walking Dead, especially if I didn’t get any coffee when I woke up.  I’ve never been into tanning (read: the sun and I are genetically incompatible). It takes a lot to keep this Walker skin ridiculously young-ish and protected from the sun’s death rays, so I used to pile on the sunscreen. Then I found out most sunscreens might cause as much damage as sun exposure. I can’t even.  The reason sunscreens are harmful is because most are laden with toxic chemicals. These chemicals get directly applied and then …