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Whether or not you are a fan of American Idol, the avalanche of media attention has probably informed you (like it or not) that Candace Glover was crowned the Season 12 Winner.

Social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Google+ have been flooded with opinions on her merits.  Our perspective isn’t on her talent, but on her drive.  We find it note worthy that despite prior defeats, Candace Glover persevered, followed her dream, and accomplished a life-changing goal.

Dreams, life goals, aspirations; however you choose to word it – they are important. A sense of purpose can light up lives, open doors, and enrich our experience as a human being.  There is an innate sense of elation and satisfaction when a dream is realized, even if it belongs to someone else.  Every year tens of millions of TV viewers watch shows like American Idol, The Voice, and sporting events such as the SuperBowl and the World Series.  Think of the global focus during the Olympics or World Cup.

There is a feel good factor that comes with witnessing others achieve their dreams. This sense of “feeling good” can become exponential when triumph comes after adversity.  Hollywood produces movie after movie about characters who overcome challenges to achieve their purpose in life, and we flock to these movies again and again to feast on these success stories.

Speaking of Hollywood, do you remember the opening line to the movie Pretty Woman?  It’s a classic!

“Welcome to Hollywood! Everybody has a dream! What’s your dream?
What’s your dream? Hey mister, what’s your dream?”

What is your dream?

On April 28th, 2013 the City of St. Petersburg hosted the 30th Annual St. Anthony’s Triathlon. Hundreds of professional triathletes and age groupers from all over the world gathered in Downtown St. Pete to swim 1 mile, bike 25 miles, and run 6.2 miles.

The winner completed all three events, a total of 32 miles, in less than two hours.  The average competitor took about 4 hours.  These athletes stayed in constant motion, at a significant rate of exertion for four hours.  One of our i spa Health Studio team members remarked “I can’t even sit and watch a movie for four hours.”  Certainly, staying active that long and at that level of effort is quite an achievement.

It brings to mind the words of Isaac Newton:  Bodies in Motion Tend to Stay in Motion.
Now, we are not advocating that you replicate this feat and find a way to stay in motion for four hours (No, driving your car doesn’t count). The participants in the triathlon had a moderate to advanced level of preparation.  They likely spent months improving their form and endurance in all three disciplines.

What we do advocate, is the concept of being active. There have been many advances in the field of physics since Newton pronounced his apple inspired Laws of Physics. And to our knowledge, he wasn’t a triathlete. Still, good ol’ Isaac had a point.  It’s a lot easier to stay in motion once you are in motion.  It’s those first steps from “being at rest” to “being in motion” that often feel overwhelming.

Everyone wants you to eat healthier.  There are hundreds of TV commercials about eating healthy.  Social Networks such as Facebook and Twitter are rampant with posts and ads about eating healthier.  Your health nut relative (you know you have one) keeps nagging you to pick up something green and leafy.  Even Oprah, freely acknowledging her own struggles has been a long time proponent of eating healthy. She made Bob Greene a household name and kick-started his Fit For Life empire.

Okay, so we have to eat healthier because Oprah said so, and deep down inside we know we need to.  Everyday there are multiple news reports about scientific studies proving what we already intuitively know: eating less processed foods and eating more fresh food leads to less disease and longer, healthier lives.

Even our childhood rhymes give us a clue “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”. When was the last time you ate an apple?  No, not apple pie, not apple cobbler.  Just an apple? How about broccoli or spinach? Tried Kale?

But were so busy!  And those darn fresh foods don’t keep for a year in the pantry like good ol’ Hamburger Helper does.  We concede, those convenient (and possibly poisonous) preservatives make life a little easier…that is until your weight creeps up, diabetes starts looming, your vitamin levels become deplorable, and your energy level plummets.

A challenge many people experience when make those initial steps towards healthy eating is coping with food that will spoil if not used in reasonable amount of time.  Maybe you didn’t eat that apple because it turned a rather frightening shade of brown before you remembered it was in your home.

Storing fresh food is a bit more challenging than throwing boxes and cans into your pantry. To help you and save the lives of countless apples, bananas, tomatoes, etc… the i spa Health Studio team has put together a handy list of popular fresh foods and storage guidelines.

Imagine a group of people sitting on mats with one foot behind their head and their hands intertwined behind their backs.

What does this make you think about?  (Aside from pain and possible hysterical laughter).

Did you say Yoga?

Many people associate Yoga with images of slender, willow, beautiful people twisting their bodies into almost impossible contortions.   Humorous, and almost always inaccurate, variations of Downward Dog and Tree poses are rampant on TV sitcoms and have helped create the impression that Yoga is all about being flexible.

There is More to Yoga Than Meets The Spry!

The birds are singing, the sun is shining (more and more), and flowers are blooming – it’s officially Spring!

It’s a wonderful time of the year.  We start to open our windows and emerge from the warm coziness of our homes.  Some of us will start gardening, others will head to baseball fields, and some will fastidiously clean every nook and cranny of their homes.

It’s the season of renewal, rebirth, and even reinvention.  There is something really special about the freshness of Spring. It’s almost as there is more space.  Perhaps it’s the longer daylight hours that invite more playfulness after work, or the delicious weekend days when the sun is warm, but not yet scorching.  

While January allows for new beginnings, resolutions sometimes feel like a mental commitment or pledge of obedience.   Spring holds a promise of its own.   Springs feels lighter.  It allows for a deep breath that expands the spirit even as it fills the lungs.  There is something symbolic about shedding your winter coat and layers of insulation.  We become synchronized with nature.  We are nourished by the warmth and refreshed by the breezes and somehow in the joy of it all we smile more, laugh more, and we feel better.

We noticed something very interesting last week.

Usually, when we post a quote, a story, or a picture on the i spa Health Studio Facebook Page, we get some comments, a few likes, and about 100 views.

But not on Friday the 22^nd of March.

On Friday we posted this picture:

That joyful reminder of the upcoming weekend was so popular it was view by over 525 Facebook members.  No paid promotions, no ads.  It organically reached an audience 5 times bigger than usual.

It got us wondering why?  What was so special about this post that is was so enthusiastically received?

At i spa Health Studio we are pleased to share more about Natural Medicine and the services we proudly provide the community. Acupuncture, is one example of the exceptional services we provide and encourage you to utilize for healing and wellbeing.

Those who have never experienced it tend to regard Acupuncture with a mix of curiosity, skepticism, and even fear. But, overwhelmingly those who have experienced an Acupuncture treatment- love it.

Rarely has a medical treatment been so misunderstood, and with the possible exception of dentistry; so feared.  If the thought of Acupuncture makes you shiver, then read-on.  We are about to lay your fears to rest and share the plain truth about this simple and highly effective medical treatment.

Can you believe it’s March?  Here we are 60+ days into 2013. We survived the holidays, we made resolutions, we celebrated (or ignored) Valentine’s Day, and now we are sliding head-first into spring.  Yes, it’s March.  Already.

It’s around this time of the year that our clients start buzzing about “getting in shape for the summer”. We get asked lots of questions about nutrition and eating healthier, so we thought we’d share simple ways to get a lot more veggies into your diet.

Wait. Let’s clarify our use of that incendiary word “diet”.   When we say “diet” we don’t mean “a miserable period of self-imposed semi-starvation”.  When the i spa folks say “diet” we mean the collective food that you eat.   Are we agreed on terminology?   Excellent, let’s move on.

Vegetables.  Why are sharing tips on eating more veggies?  Simple, when we review our client’s eating patterns we typically find a lot of grains and protein present, but vegetables tend to be ignored.  Since most folks can’t seem to embrace the loveliness of bright green broccoli on their plates on a regular basis, we’ve given you some easy replacements of things you commonly eat.