Soap Heaven

Photo via Lauren Ross Photography.

Photo via Glen Allsop Photography.

Sometimes we need a space for escaping. A spot to relax, unwind, create, imagine. A space simply to be.

You can create such a space in your home with the right mindset, a nice candle or two, and a lovely spa in your very own bathroom.

I highly suggest soaps and dead sea salts from Sharilynn Studios on Etsy to do the trick. Shari creates dreamy handmade products that are awesome for daily use as well as for special at-home spa days. 

My husband and I have been enjoying her well-crafted, gentle, and lovely-smelling soaps for a couple of weeks now and we both love them. I also love knowing that they're made from all-natural, healthy ingredients that are great for my skin. Plus, she's got a great variety of scents that aren't overly feminine or masculine, so they are great for anyone.

Our favorites so far are the eucalyptus spearmint zen and the coconut lime verbena flavors. Amazing!

A few of Shari's amazing soap and dead sea salt products I've been trying. Love them!

On days when I feel tired or a little stressed, a bath featuring her amazing sea salts helps immensely. I can finally warm up, let go, and enjoy a good steamy bath with no distractions, no conversations, and no negative thoughts in my mind.

Sharilynn Studios also has awesome back scrubbers and pumice stones for sale, so you can get that little extra "oomph" in your cleaning routine.

I also love that Shari's site features artwork and art supplies for sale. She is a talented artist with an inspired, insightful eye for beauty. Swing by her Etsy shop to find out more-- and tell her I sent you :)  You won't be disappointed!

And believe me, when that lovely box shows up on your doorstep with goodies inside (like it did for me), you'll be on your way to luxe and joyful goodness!

Photo via Sharilynn Studios on Etsy. Artwork for sale.

Healthy Lifestyles Workshop from Heaven Meets Earth Yoga Studio in Evanston

Ashley, a friend of mine and an amazing yoga teacher at Heaven Meets Earth, is teaching a workshop on healthy lifestyles, weight loss, and mindful exercise and eating.


If you're in Evanston or the Chicago area, consider attending!

Healthy Yoga Body

with Ashley Moran

6 Week Monday night series 

Mondays 7:30-9pm, January 3-February 7.

Starts tonight!

Photo via Heaven Meets Earth.

 Please feel free to share with friends you know who are always dieting or who could use a boost in their body image and self-confidence.


A few details:

Whether you want to lose weight, detoxify your body, or learn more about the ancient art and science of Ayurveda, this class is for you!


Healthy Yoga Body is a mindful approach to weight loss through yoga and the Ayurvedic lifestyle.

Photo via Heaven Meets Earth.

We will explore the basics of Ayurveda, the doshas (body types), and identify appropriate foods and exercises for your type. You will learn how to create a personalized home yoga practice and a community of support. Discover how mindfulness can transform your relationship with food.

Each class will include a lecture, yoga practice, and meditation. Students will leave class every week with amazing resources --delicious, healthy recipes and short mindfulness exercises to support your efforts during the week.

Cost: $120 for six-week series. Beginners welcome! No yoga experience necessary.

Materials: This class will reference texts “Yoga Body Diet” by Kristen Schultz Dollard and John Douillard and “Eating Mindfully” by Susan Albers, psy.d. These books are fantastic resources for your body/mind transformation!

Ashley Moran, CYT, was inspired to create Healthy Yoga Body community after taking a Yoga and Ayurveda workshop with John Douillard. 


Register at Heaven Meets Earth or call 847-475-1500.

Photo via Yoga Journal of a Not Very Calm Character.

A Labor Day Weekend to Remember: Yoga, Boating & A Midwestern Car Auction

A panorama view of the spot where I just practiced a little yoga on my own. Beautiful, eh?

This has been a Labor Day weekend to remember! On Friday, the Hubs, Best Man and a lovely friend of mine headed out of Chicago on our great adventure to eastern Indiana. We spent Friday through Monday morning with an awesome family with three NU guys we know, some awesome parents who attended our wedding, and their daughter who I hadn't met yet. They are one of the loveliest families we know, and their place is rockin'!

They offered us sweet digs in their Honeymoon Suite room -- complete with super-comfy king size bed and our own bathroom, plus a quality room for our friend, too. Then Mrs. P cooked delicious meals all weekend, we boated in the sunshine, and rode golf carts around the place to get from their office house to their main house and their fitness center. It's been fantastic!

And the best part is, it was a weekend filled with friends, great conversation, sleeping in, playing with dogs and cats, golf cart football, swimmin in a lake, and appreciating gracious hospitality. Quite splendid, if you ask me!

One of the highlights: doing some yoga on my own in their Japanese sun room. You know, one of those incredible spaces that is perfectly serene with lush carpet and the sliding paper doors? See below:

Yeah, that's the room I'm talkin' about. Pure peace. Complete with incense burner, birds chirping in the distance, and gorgeous chandelier light overhead that looked like this...

Can you believe it? Straight out of a movie, I say. Which isn't entirely unlike the way the whole weekend felt, actually...in the sense that it was super awesome, the whole time!

We relaxed. Enjoyed the scenery. Ate homemade lasagna and gumbo (um, YES?!)...

This is where I spent my weekend. Yeah. Wondrous!

Killer view from (one of the) killer boat(s) I chilled on. Beautiful sunset included!

Oh, we also attended the largest Midwestern car auction! It was excellent. Something my dad would have been super proud of. Lamborghinis, Porches, Camaros all around. Everything in ridiculously good condition, plus a real live auctioneer selling them at full speed. And all the fair food you can imagine! Well, except for funnel cake. We did eat a pretty tasty chicken pita, though.

Then on Sunday we went for the boat ride of a lifetime! Talk about style. Italian-looking wooden speed boat with sweet red and white interior. An American flag billowing off the back. It was hot. I felt like a girl from a James Bond movie!

Plus, under my dress I was wearing a sweet Bond-style / Kill Bill style swimsuit I just bought on sale recently. Black and yellow and silver -- bikini bottoms and a zip down strapless top that totally makes me look like I'm either a superhero or out of a movie for sure. It was excellent! Plus we jumped in for a most-refreshing swim. Ahhhhhhh.

Hey if you can't make it to Bikram, you should swim or bike, I say!

I'm pretty darn excited to get back to our new place tomorrow night and get back to the Bikram first thing Tues morning, but I have to say: this was one of the best weekends I've had in a long time. So relaxing, so fun.

Thanks, P family! We love you guys and man, you sure know how to treat your guests well. :) Thanks for everything!

Blog world, what did you do for Labor Day? Who attended a crowded class? Tell your stories here!

Private Practice: Just You and the Mirror

Photo Via Health Food Nation.

After some careful thought about yesterday's post -- and with the help of my sexy, remarkable fiance and his willingness to love me no matter what -- I came to a realization that might have the power to revolutionize my Bikram practice (or, if applied more widely, my life!):

In the hot room, your focus should be forward. Your practice grows when it is intensely, deeply, passionately focused.

Sounds simple enough, right? Keep your eyes on the mirror and you should be good to go.

But in reality, it's not always so easy. We want to look around the room, see what local characters have joined tonight's class. We start to compare our bodies to those around us. We check to see if friends are around. We guess what that guy over there does for a living, whether that old lady up front will be able to keep up, how the woman one row back can possibly be so flexible. Or smelly. Or whatever.

If your mind is wandering around all over the place,
what are you practicing?

Bikram reminds us: "The whole Bikram class is one big brainwashing session." Or, one of my personal favorites which one exceptional teacher from my studio often repeats throughout class:

"If you let someone steal your peace, you lose."

So next time you find yourself aware of how crowded the torture chamber is, and the endless amount of distractions available to you -- the unceasing number of emotions, thoughts, disruptions present all around -- let them go. Get out of your own head. Don't fall into the trap of comparing yourself to others. Not only will it prevent you from falling out of the balancing poses in the standing series, but it will strengthen your entire practice from the inside out.

Bikram is a collective experience and requires a group energy, but it is first and foremost a private practice. Keep it between just you and the mirror!