Healthy Choices

The October Theme is Choice.

By now, everyone knows October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and the media reminds us to be aware of breast cancer. The irony for me is I celebrate the anniversary of my being cancer-free on October 4. This year I celebrated 4 years! I find the month of October a reason to celebrate and an opportunity to remind my family and friends not about awareness but prevention of breast cancer. While awareness is important from a community perspective, what really matters individually is prevention! It is prevention that has me here today! It is doing breast-self exams every month, eating healthy foods and exercising, steering clear of parabens in cosmetic and body products and avoiding bisphenol A that will help prevent breast cancer. I'll be the first to admit choosing to do breast-self exams can be scary, but the alternative of letting it go is worse. We have a choice in how we treat our bodies-- what we drink, what we eat, how often we exercise and what type of products we put on our bodies.

The root of why I started a kids yoga company was prevention. I felt it was important to instill and provide children with the healthy habits and benefits of yoga at an early age. It is my hope that in learning they have a choice in how they treat their bodies it may help them avoid dis-ease in their adult lives. I find over and over again when I share with people what I do their response is, "I wish I would have learned yoga at a young age". Those who say this seem to know the calm, peace, strength, openness and awareness that practicing yoga brings. It warms my heart when I have a parent share with me that they have found their child in their room taking deep breaths or doing yoga poses to calm themselves down (without being prompted). It's magical! So I feel, at YogaBuddies, we are teaching kids the earliest form of prevention. I join the YogaBuddies instructors and licensees who believe it is an honor and a privilege to be able to give to kids in this way. We thank you parents, school administrators, friends and family for believing in us to keep making that difference.

peace and love,

Danay