Thank Yoga Studio

Styling yourself or getting a makeover during pregnancy sounds like a fun activity for most women. Painting the nails for hours can be relaxing, but who would have thought that something as negligible as nail polish can have consequential effects on you during your pregnancy.  Researchers have found that nail polishes contain certain harmful chemicals that are deemed to be unsafe for the fetus growing inside you. It is not worth taking the risk. So let us help you guide through a few essentials you must know to provide yourself a happy & safe pregnancy.

Which Nail Polish Safe for Use?

Most nail polishes in the market are formulated with three toxic chemicals- Dibutyl phthalate, formaldehyde, and toluene. Exposure to these chemicals for an extended period can cause irreversible effects on you and your fetus. Starting from headaches, itchy eyes to reproductive issues, the adverse effects are endless. Now let’s discuss how each of the chemicals could be harmful to you.

1. Dibutyl Phthalate – Most commonly known as DBD, this specific chemical have shown to cause improper hormonal production in women. Additional studies have confirmed that DBD has a potential impact on miscarriage and other congenital disabilities.

It is highly recommended to avoid anybody’s product that contains DBD in their ingredient list.

2. Formaldehyde – The risks of exposure to formaldehyde include spontaneous miscarriages, gestational diabetes, preterm deliveries, and many more. It is for the best to stay away from such products, especially during the perinatal period of pregnancy.

3. Toluene – exposure to toluene during pregnancy can cause growth and mental disabilities in the baby. Other health effects include liver and kidney damage, reproductive malfunctioning, irregular heartbeat, or even death.

We understand your concern, and there is no need to feel overwhelmed. There are well-renowned brands in the market that specializes and targets for chemical-free polishes for pregnant women. These polishes are completely safe for application and free of DBD and other toxic chemicals. Make sure you check the ingredient list or search for the pregnancy-safe nail polishes before making a purchase. (more…)

Many think that shoes or bags is the best accessories that completes an ensemble but not many people know that true accessorization lies at your fingertips, as in the literal fingers. If frequent social media, you know very well that we are talking about nail gems. Neck and ears are no longer the parts of the body that can be tastefully adorned by diamonds, aside from the finger nails can be designed with diamonds too. If you don’t like showcasing expensive bags and shoes, then nails diamonds is the perfect way to show off your style without appearing obnoxious.

Nail gem art is trending in social media and women are going bonkers with it. Rhinestones will instantly glam up your nails. These sparkly little gems come in all different shapes, sizes and colors so the designs that can be created are endless. Here are some of the designs that you can recreate on your own.

Blue Abstract Rhinestone Nail Art

Blue nail looks very elegant on its own but adding some rhinestone on it will surely cause the hell to break loose. A gorgeous blue nail accented with stones will surely make your and other people’s jaw drop and it is very easy to recreate using any shade of blue. Blue nails using DND DC dip nails and silver stones combined is a sure hit cool look. (more…)

Your hands do a lot for you throughout the day. It deserves only the best treatment that you can provide. This will make working or staying throughout the day a lot easier. To do this, you can have a hand spa or give your nails some TLC with one of the best nails supply available at the nearest salon or at home, if you prefer to DIY. One of your best options for some high-quality products would be from OPI nails supply.

OPI, A Classic Name In Nails Supply

OPI offers a huge array of exciting colors in gel, lacquer, and dip powder. The name has been in the industry for several decades now and has continuously provided top quality nail care and design products that have been among the top favorites of fashionistas and nailaholics. (more…)

It took me a long time to get to the place where I can admit this without shame: I am a lazy person. Getting motivated and staying motivated is easily my biggest challenge (anybody there with me?). I have tried so (so so so so) many of the “motivational strategies,” but none of them ever seem to stick long term for me. The sirens call of my couch is like really strong.

I know what you’re thinking, “yea, Melissa…couches are wonderful, but can you get to the point?” (I’m getting there I promise).

My point is this: any strategy that you use to motivate yourself has to be tailor fit to you as a person, because all of our brains work a little different. It has seriously taken me all 30 years of my life to figure that out.

When it comes into creating new habits for myself there are a few things that are crucial in making them stick: consistency, accountability, and starting right now.

If you want a habit to truly become a habit it has to feel like second nature, that’s where consistencycomes in. In the first few weeks of a new endeavor I have to give myself a no-way-out-clause. There is no such thing as “I don’t feel like it.” I know thats strange coming from me, because I’m typically pretty outspoken about doing what feels right. (more…)

I was listening to a podcast recently and the host and her guest are talking about the importance of a regular yoga practice. And I’m listening, nodding along like, “YAS! YAS! YAS!” And then the arrived at their point: We don’t practice yoga to get stronger/better/more flexible, we practice yoga to rewire our brains.

This notion isn’t foreign to me. In fact, it’s something that I talk about quite frequently. But the way that it hit me in that particular moment nearly knocked me on my ass.

I’m a very risk averse person. I always wear my seatbelt. I don’t like jay-walking. I do a lot of research before I go on vacation. I like predictability and control. But these past few months have thrown me into the deep end, and I find myself feeling lost and overwhelmed too much for comfort.

So I’ve had to ask myself: why do I feel so unprepared for unpredictability? And this truth has been a hard pill to swallow. I’ve spent so long playing it safe that I find it hard to function in a reality where my feet don’t touch the bottom of the pool.

And where this shows up for me in my practice is inverting. And before you get all “well, technically downward facing dog is an inversion…” I’ll clarify: I hate any pose where you are upside down relying only on your hands/head/forearms to keep you from breaking every bone in your body. (more…)

I talk a lot in my classes about habits and patterns that we create in our lives. And while some of these habits are worthwhile and healthy, like brushing your teeth, many, many, many of them are just filler. And this is where the magic begins.

I think about some of the lecturers I had in college, and how the monotony of their voices would make me drift off. Sometimes it was straight up sleep, sometimes a daydream, sometimes just the scary bowels of my overly anxious brain.  But in any of these cases I was never really present.

And this is how many of us are living our lives, lulled into a half sleep by the persistent monotony of our own patterns.

I was talking with a friend recently who told me a story about driving a car that was not her own. “My car has a back up sensor, so when I was pulling out of my garage I had no idea I was going to scratch the side until it was too late.”

My eyes got real big, not out of judgment or surprise, but more like: “oh girl, you know that’s what this practice is here for.”

But all of that is your work as a student. It’s your job to wake up. It’s your job to identify all of the knots you’ve created and begin the slow steady work of untying them. But then I come back to the question at hand WHAT THE FUCK IS MY JOB!?

We so often talk about the experience of yoga practice as a path or a journey. And for a long time I thought my job was to guide people down that path. But: A. People are theoretically at different points of the “path” and it would be impossible for me to meet them all in a 60 minute class. And more importantly: B. I’m not even sure this “path” even exists. (more…)