Yoga is an ancient practice that brings together mind and body. It incorporates breathing exercises, meditation and poses designed to encourage relaxation and reduce stress.

Practicing yoga is said to come with many benefits:

Improves Flexibility 

Moving and stretching in new ways will help you become more flexible, bringing greater range of motion to tight areas. Over time, you can expect to gain flexibility in your hamstrings, back, shoulders, and hips.

Builds Strength

Many yoga poses require you to bear your body weight in new ways, including balancing on one leg or supporting yourself with your arms. Holding these poses over the course of several breaths helps build muscular strength.

Increases Muscle Tone and Definition

As a by-product of getting stronger, you can expect to see increased muscle tone.

Yoga helps shape long, lean muscles in your legs, arms, back, and abdomen.

Improves Balance

Improved balance is one of the most important benefits of yoga as you get older. Poses where you stand on one leg and, for more advanced students, inversions, are great ways to build the core strength that keeps you upright.

Supports Joint Health

The movements necessary for yoga are low impact, allowing you to use your joints without injuring them. Yoga also helps strengthen the muscles around the joints, lessening their load. 

Get in the know. Subscribe to Azura for updates on the blog and the magazine.

Executive presence is a blending of temperament, competencies, and skills that, when combined, send all the right signals. Leaders know they must embody executive presence to get ahead, influence others, and drive results.

Executive Presence alone isn’t the thing that will launch your career, but its absence can keep you from achieving your full potential. Some people seem to naturally have that leadership vibe, but EP isn’t something that you’re just born with. The best leaders know that it can be cultivated, developed, and practiced just like any other career skill. If you are working hard and are an expert in your field, polishing these factors might be the missing link to take it to the next level.

Four Tips to Developing Your Presence

1. Be aware of your appearance. Are you dressing appropriately for meetings or events when you’re meeting someone who is new?
2. Be aware of how you communicate and how you use your voice. Be clear, present, and strong, and project an action-oriented aura.
3. Be aware of your energy. When you walk into a room, do you stand straight, with good energy, and are you prepared to interact? Remember that eye contact, a firm handshake, a smile, and your first and last words are part of the first impression you make.
4. Consider your differentiating factor. What is it that makes you special, and how do you broadcast it so people are aware of it? Being an expert at something teaches you how to embrace the spotlight and broadcast your talents to other people, because sharing with others helps you create a network, take a leadership role, and create new opportunities for yourself.

Get in the know. Subscribe to Azura for updates on the blog and the magazine.

Refresh that fridge!

Never worry that last night’s salmon will leave your fridge smelling, well, fishy for months to come again. Baking soda absorbs strong food odors so they don’t linger or change the taste of neighboring foods.

Clean your veggies!

Mixed with water, baking soda can remove dirt and that waxy coating that comes on produce from the supermarket.

Do you smell pets?

De-stink those pet bed! Sprinkle, wait 15 minutes and vacuum.

Old toys = New toys

Naturally fight the effects of your little one’s grubby hands by wiping them with a sponge dipped in a baking soda and water solution.

Smelly Sneakers?

Freshen up after gym class by sprinkling some baking soda inside your shoes. Just tap it out before you wear them again.

Get in the know. Subscribe to Azura for updates on the blog and the magazine.

Scarves go in and out of fashion so use your scarves to make a delightful craft.

Hang them on the wall

You can use your own scarves to create a beautiful decor piece and give a drab wall a fresh look.

Create a tablescape

If you are worried about getting stains on your scarf, consider putting your scarf under a glass tabletop. Scarves are also great way to hide the wear and tear on the tops of vintage wood furniture like side tables and dressers.

Convert into curtains and coverlets

A collection of scarves can be turned into a dramatic room divider with very basic sewing skills. Or create glamorous custom cushions by sewing scarves into pillow shams.

Wrap a gift

Furoshiki are traditional wrapping cloths used to create custom bundles to transport clothes, gifts, and hard-to-wrap goods. There are dozens of ways to fold scarves into carrying cases for everything from books to bottles.

Get in the know. Subscribe to Azura for updates on the blog and the magazine.

You may associate red meat with a food that is off limits. However, Red meat actually has high nutrient contents that are beneficial for health. Some benefits include:

Preventing Anemia

The most important function of iron in the body is the formation of Hemoglobin or red blood cells. In the body of work, hemoglobin carries oxygen throughout the body.

Preventing Insomnia

Red Meat is also needed to cope with sleep disorders or insomnia. Consuming foods that contain high amounts of iron right can help someone get quality sleep.

Improving Memory

Omega 3 including the food intake of the brain that plays an important role in the development of cell membranes in the brain and neurological system signal path. Medically proven omega 3 is able to optimise the development of the brain’s memory both in children and adults.

Improving Concentration and Focus

Consuming red meat can make your blood flow better. It makes your brain feeling healthy and makes you can more focus on your daily activity.

Maintaining Eye Health

Red meat has Omega 3 complex. Based on research results even omega 3 is known to be one of the major components in the retina. Omega 3 can maintain eye health and improve vision in general.

Preventing Early Aging

Selenium inside of Red Meat is also able to prevent premature ageing, and also can eliminate the symptoms of premature ageing.

Get in the know. Subscribe to Azura for updates on the blog and the magazine.

You would be surprised at how many people use eyeshadow and don’t really know what they are putting around their eyes. We have all fallen victim to fallout, streaky shadows and poor pigments. Sometimes when you go back to old favourites and wonder why on Earth did you even use this, or recommend it to everyone you know?

As you get more experienced with makeup then you’ll be able to identify what it is that you need. Reviews are a good way to source information about products, but the very best is to test it out for yourself via samples.

PIGMENTATION

We are not just looking for pretty colours, we are looking for pretty vivid colours. For these, a little goes a long way. That’s not to say that sheer tones don’t look good, but if the package says full colour, the product should deliver.

STAYING PUT

Longwear is key. This is one of the things that fallout depends on–the staying power (or lack thereof) of the eyeshadow. If the shadow has grains that are rough or has no binder, then it won’t be able to adhere to the skin for a long period of time. Fortunately, there are eye primers that can help with this.

GOOD BLENDABILITY

An eyeshadow is no good if it can’t work harmoniously with other shadows. A team is only as good as its weakest member and with makeup, if your eyeshadow isn’t up to par it can affect your entire look.

Get in the know. Subscribe to Azura for updates on the blog and the magazine.

Blues have become a big trend in fashion and beauty this season. Throughout this year there has been multiple throwbacks to the dazzling 70s and this article was one way to highlight it.

Get in the know. Subscribe to Azura for updates on the blog and the magazine.

Good workplace habits are essential for anyone who is passionate about success.

Arrive early every day

Commitment to your job begins at the start of the day. Are you arriving early, on time, or just running through the door a few minutes late?

Effectively manage your time

Develop a system for tracking your time and the various tasks at hand. Consider that we all have the same amount of time in this world.

Avoid workplace gossip

It’s easy to get sucked into workplace gossip and get carried away with it. Most people are more concerned about others’ misfortunes than they are about keeping positive and highlighting a person’s virtues rather than their faults.

Follow the Pareto Principle

The Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20-Rule states that 80% of the results come from 20% of the efforts.

Stay Professional

Would you want a manager who misses deadlines, forgets to answer emails, and gossips about other employees? Of course not—so if you want to get ahead, you shouldn’t be displaying those behaviors, either.

Get in the know. Subscribe to Azura for updates on the blog and the magazine.

Curtains are a staple in many homes but new interior decor is choosing alternatives that are a far greater value-add to the home.

Blinds
Blinds can be cheaper and are available as a DIY option too. They are a fairly simple mechanism, allowing you to give the room as much light or shade as you prefer. Blinds also offer some UV protection and can help to control the sun’s glare.

Plantation shutters
Plantation shutters offer security to the home, making it a valuable treatment and an excellent alternative to curtains. These shutters can be used across windows and doors and are often used for security purposes, but have been designed to look really swanky in the home.

Wooden window panels
These wooden window panels can make a real statement in the home, as the wood is cut to your specifications and design needs. The wooden panels look stylish and are fairly easy to keep clean. These panels can be used on windows and glass that curtains would not suit.

Frosted window vinyl decals
Frosted vinyl decals are easily and quickly applied to glass windows or doors. They are cost-effective and have protective qualities that help make the home more comfortable. Frosted vinyl can be customised to your specific design and privacy needs.

Get in the know. Subscribe to Azura for updates on the blog and the magazine.

The name Azura means sky-blue. It was chosen as the name of this magazine because of what the sky symbolises. The openness of the sky is parallel to the mind, which is why for our first issue it was made our theme.

Our cover aptly depicts the sky, but in a black and white illustration centred on a contrasting background. It was a deliberate choice to keep the illustration in black and white over a continuous stroke of blue to emphasise the sky.

There were many different ways we could have executed this, but we chose to use muted versions of the primary colours. Which of the alternatives do you prefer?

Get in the know. Subscribe to Azura for updates on the blog and the magazine.