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Here are 5 poses which will remind you of the desert.  Whether you are reading a book about deserts, are lost in a desert right now, or plan on camping out in a desert real soon, these poses will get you pumped up and feeling good about the occasion.  Do them preferably in order and remember, you can always add more or repeat the cycle a few times.

Rabbit Pose:  This pose helps alleviate stress in the shoulders and neck. It stretches the back and spine.  This pose is great for headaches, sinus problems, and even insomnia. 

How to:  Sit on your shins, bend forward and rest the top of your head on the mat in front of your knees. Grasp your fingers together behind your back, roll the shoulders down the back, away from the ears, then lift your arms over your head. Breathe deeply, then reverse the clasp of your hands and stay here for 5 more breaths.

Snake Pose:  This pose is a good counter stretch to Rabbit pose.  It stretches and strengthens the back, arms, and shoulders.  It opens up our chest and heart.

How to:  Lie down on your belly with your feet together and legs straight, like a strong snake tail.  Place hands next to your shoulders, palms down.  Press down, lifting your chest off the ground.  Breathe deeply for the count of five and then lower the chest back down to the floor.

Fox Pose (really Downward Dog Pose):  This pose is great for strengthening the arms, wrists and shoulders. It stretches your back and legs.  You can run in place, which is great cardio-vascular exercise.  This inverted pose is also good for energizing the body and calming the brain.

How to: Start by posing on your hands and knees (like a baby ready to crawl).  Your hands should be shoulder width apart.  Lift your seat up into the air as if your body is making a triangle, where the floor is one side, your legs are another side, and your arms and back are a third side.  Your booty is an angle, as well as your toes curled under and your hands pressed down to the ground.  Take 5 deep breaths. 

Prehistoric Desert Sloth: This pose is a great stretch for the back and legs.  It alleviates stress which accumulates in the shoulders and neck. 

How to:  From Fox/Dog pose, walk your feet towards your hands.  Then, lift your hands from the floor and let them hang, as well as your head and neck.  Your legs should be straight and your whole upper body should be dangling from your hips.  Stay in this pose for a few deep breaths to get the best stretch for your body.  This is not a stretch you should do quickly.  When done, slowly lift your upper body-stacking one vertebrate at a time until you are standing straight and tall.

Hawk or Eagle Pose: This pose is great for balance and stability.  It helps one feel confident and happy, and can exert enough energy where you will feel heat rising from your body.

How to: From a standing position, cross one ankle over the other  Extend your arms out in front of you and cross them over your wrists.  Turn your thumbs down to the floor, so your palms are facing each other and interlace your fingers.  Bring your clasped hands toward your body, resting them on your sternum.  Breath deeply.  For an added challenge, try crossing your front leg over and wrapping it around the calf of your other leg. You should be balancing on one leg.  Also, bend forward and try to touch your legs with your arms.  Feel the heat.

Children have the best imaginations and you can, too with this desert adventure.  It's a great little break from sitting and reading or driving long distances, such as a road trip.  Tell a story about being in the desert and about coming across these animals.  Do the poses while you talk about the adventure, adding in details whenever needed.  For example, "Did you know that rattlesnakes don't lay eggs like other snakes?  Or that the biggest sloth on Earth was the prehistoric sloth which lived in the Southwest deserts of the United States millions of years ago. It was the size of a bear!  Have fun while stretching and feeling fit.

A balance board is a board that is a lever and either rocks from one side to the other (think North and South), East and West, or in a circular motion.  It's used for recreational purposes, training, therapy, help in balance and coordination, core strength, brain development, or a wide variety of other purposes. 

In sports, balance boards can help with core strength, focus, and stability.  Skiers, snowboarders, dancers, ice-skaters, martial arts performers, skateboarders, and baseball players are just a few of the people who use balance boards to help them.  Balance boards are great with yoga, too.

Besides sports-related activities, balance boards can help children, too.  Balance boards are used in sensory integration, gross and fine motor development, brain development, core strength, balance, balance, and expand neural network connections. 

Balance boards have been around for decades and come in a variety of shapes and sizes.  Now depending on the balance board type, a person (or other animal) would stand on the balance board.  However, there are types that can be used for sitting and lying down as well. There are also aquatic balance boards.  Some balance boards are extremely dangerous and should not be attempted by your great grandma, whereas others can be used by toddlers and the elderly. 

When choosing a balance board, test them out and find one that fits your needs.  If you can't test one out, I recommend a balance board on rockers, as it can be used almost anywhere and practically anyone can use it.  In other words, you can share it with your family and friends.

If you choose a balance board with rockers, try it out on different surfaces for a variation of instability.  For example, if you use it on the sand, the board will not rock as much, which will be easier for you and your friends.  If you want a little more challenge, use the board on a hard surface such as hardwood floors or cement.  This creates much more instability. 

 Here's a little guy testing out a rocker board.  The board was on a hard cement surface, thus making the balance board very unstable.  It was a teensy bit challenging for puppy.

Forget about what everyone is saying about TV and computer games.  Here are 5 reasons why you need to get your child to sit down and watch TV.  I read that we watch a little over 5 hours of TV or other electronic devices a day!  Are you? If not, here's why you need to catch up.

1. You will always know where your kids are.  No more worrying about what they are doing outside or what they are learning.  Here, you'll know that your kids are going to be below average.  That's ok, they don't need jobs when they grow up.  They can live with you and keep you updated on the latest shows.

2. Your kids will thank you now.  Who cares what they think later, or how they'll be deprived of the outdoors and being creative.  What matters is how they feel now, now, now.  Don't worry, they won't get any ideas from the television or shows that they are watching on YouTube. 

3. TV influences your children about the world around them, so that you don't have to.  No need to explain what life is like in the real world, the responsibilities of a doctor or policeman.  The TV will do it for you.  Yes, that's right, TV will explain how love and romance truly exist. 

4. Shopping will be easier.  Guess what?  Companies spend trillions of dollars on advertising because they know that you and your children will be influenced.  So, now you don't need to write a shopping list anymore. Your kids will know just the right things to buy from watching these advertisements on TV.  Don't need an extra thigh master? Oh well, you can give it to your neighbor.

5. Say goodbye to mental energy.  No more answering all of your children's questions and curiousness.  Say goodbye to critical thinking and problem solving.  Need help later in life trying to figure out what to do or need help making decisions? You can ask your neighbor. No problem (unless they're watching a lot of TV, too)

Of course there are a ton of other reasons why TV is bad for you...oops, I mean good for you.  But these are the top few to start with.  We'll let you find the rest on  your own. 

What is daydreaming?  I believe it's a time to be inventive and reflective.  In this busy day in age, when almost everyone seems to have the tendency to overschedule, we often forget the art of daydreaming.  We think "oh, we must plan time for creative play."  That's great!  However, equally important is to allow time to do nothing.  That doesn't mean plopping down in front of a TV or other technological source; it means to relax and stare out the window and watch the world. 

Daydreaming is magical.  When we daydream or let our children daydream, anything can happen and all things are possible.  When we feel this relaxed, our brain filters out distractions of the moment and goes into a creative surge of imagination and reality.  It's like a delicious blend of ideas, thoughts, dreams, and passions! 

Daydreaming gives children and people of all ages to dream big, ask questions, ponder and bring their ideas into the real world.  When we daydream, we can dream of the impossible and then hold onto our dreams, continue to question and work to make them come true. 

We can take daydreaming to the next level by writing down our thoughts and ideas.  For children, have them talk about their ideas and then help them gather the tools and materials they need to create their inventions or carry out their dreams.  Ask questions and believe in their ideas.  Remember, a lot of great inventions came about because of daydreaming. 

Here are five great poses to do at 5 o'clock.  Nope, it doesn't matter if it's 5 o'clock in the morning or evening.  It's 5 o'clock somewhere, right? We like to call this sequence of poses the Dogsled races.  They're fun, a bit challenging, and get our heart and body ready for the day.  Do them alone and pretend you are practicing for the races, or do them with your pals, or imaginary pack of dogs.  Ready, set, go.

Downward Dog: Strengthens and stretches shoulders, back, and legs.  This pose also strengthens the wrists and arms.  If you lift each leg up for a count of 4 to 5 breaths, you will get an extra core workout.

Upward Dog:  This pose strengthens the abs, back, legs, arms, and wrists.  This pose also gives you energy.  Try doing a few Downward Dog and Upward Dog poses (going back and forth) and then move into Runner's pose after downward dog.

Runner's Pose: From Downward Dog, lift a leg and bring it under your belly and place it between your hands so that your hands and foot are aligned with the foot sandwiched between the hands.  In the photo below, the right leg is not completely in position, as you will notice. Remember to do both sides.

Half Moon:  This pose is great for indigestion, anxiety, and releasing stress.  Make sure that you do it on both sides and spend some time in the pose breathing...deep breaths.  Though the photo isn't exact, it's a good photo to show the expectations when doing these poses with young children.  The idea is to get children to love yoga, not to spend so much time on the correct posture and position. Try lifting the hand closest to the big toe up to the sky (twist). 

Mountain Pose: Whether you stand with your hands by your side or your hands in the air, the idea is to spend a few moments in mountain pose breathing.  Try standing on your tippy toes for a challenge.  Or even more challenging-look up into the sky while standing still on your tippy toes.  Mountain pose is great for posture, core strength, and confidence.  You are ready to take on the day!