Yoga–you can do it on the plane or in your office. Your kids can join in, and even your pets can take part, but leave it to Southern California to introduce a new twist to the ancient discipline.
No longer confined to the East, yoga has found a growing and attentive audience in the West, where its profound powers of health and healing are highly sought after. One popular style is Bikram yoga, also known as hot yoga, which is practiced in a heated room to improve circulation, reduce the risk of injury, and promote sweating (to help drive the toxins out of your body). With regular practice, yoga helps eliminate your aches and pains, decrease your blood pressure, soothe your mind, and leave you with a sense of well being.
This 26-posture series promises to improve physical strength, flexibility, and balance while enhancing mental clarity and focus. The system of poses moves fresh, oxygenated blood through each organ and fiber of your body. Your heart, lungs, and mind will feel the effects–so why not your skin too? After all, it’s the biggest organ of your body, and it protects all that it holds within.
For daytime, Chan Chi’s Asanas sequence (named after the active yoga poses) protects your skin from the detrimental effects of environmental pollutants and harmful UV rays. Begin by cleansing and soothing your face with the Ganesha Grapefruit Foaming Face Wash and the Bharani Botanical Toner. Your eyes will drink up the anti-oxidant-rich Surya Botanical Eye Gel, which boasts a combination of pure botanical extracts that hydrate as well as reduce puffiness and dark circles. Finish up with the lightweight, oil-free Sun Salutation Sunscreen–with separate formulations for the face and the body–for up to 30 times your natural protection against sunburn and premature aging. This water-resistant moisturizer also allows your skin to sweat and breathe–perfect for your Bikram sessions.
For evening, the Savasana (resting pose) sequence of skin treatments increases cell activity to alleviate fine lines, brown spots, and other signs of aging. Wash away the day’s stress with the Lakshmi Lavender Cleansing Cream and the Hatha Jasmine Hydrating Toner, then let the alpha lipoic acid-infused eye cr?me and perfecting cr?me aid in cellular renewal.
In addition to her work with the Chan Chi line, Clara teaches yoga and owns a Bikram yoga studio in Agoura Hills, California. Her skincare aims to bring the art of Zen living to its users; if Clara is any indication, the lifestyle is entirely possible and desirable.
www.ChanChiLiving.com