Two Day Magazine

As many of you may know, I LOVE yoga! I have been practicing Bikram yoga for almost three years now and find it to be very therapeutic and beneficial in many different ways. I am pleased to announce that Pittsburgh is holding its second annual Yoga Expo, which has been choreographed by one of my favorite Bikram teachers, the lovely Rebecca Rankin. I sat down recently with Rebecca and chatted about all the excitement surrounding the event. If you will be in the Pittsburgh area this Sunday, February 17, come check it out!

I am so fortunate to be a guest on Lisa Davis' show: It's Your Health Radio! We have had wonderful chats in the past, but I was very excited to be on for an extended period this week. We dished on all sorts of interesting topics, pulled right from twoday magazine. So click through to the next page and enjoy Part 1 of our fabulous segments together!

Lisa Davis and I have been having such great conversations on It's Your Health Radio! Today we turned our attention to fitness. Check out what we had to say about the one exercise move you should be doing (courtesy of Phil Gephart, twodaymag's personal strength coach!)

Hello! I hope you have been enjoying the wonderful chats Lisa Davis and I have been having on It's Your Health Radio. We have discussed all kinds of interesting topics and today's segment is no exception! Click through to the next page to hear what we had to chat about, and don't forget to check out other fantastic interviews on It's Your Health Radio!

I love being on It’s Your Health Radio with the always amazing, Lisa Davis!

Today, we talked about what NOT to say to singles...sometimes we can be a little insensitive to friends that aren’t in relationships...and maybe they actually LIKE being single! So, let’s be supportive of the people in our lives, whether they are in a relationship, or free as a bird!

I’m always fortunate whenever I get the opportunity to chat with Lisa Davis. We have covered all kinds of relationship-related and pop culture topics on her show, but I was honored when she wanted to discuss my advice column, askNatalie, for twoday magazine.

By: Richard Ernsberger

There is always something very special about voting.  It is the opportunity to select between two, three, or even more potential visions for the future. Each vision has merit, but is weighed by the community at large. And if the vision for the future does not work out, you can always elect someone else next time. And, how could you ever forget the first time you voted? It’s a proud moment for everyone.

However,  it isn’t as simple to vote as it should be this year.  Recently, in Pennsylvania, a voter identification law was signed into existence that will require all individuals voting at the polls to carry photographic identification before they are allowed to vote.

By: Anya Alvarez

“Progress always involves risks.  You can't steal second base and keep your foot on first.”  ~Frederick B. Wilcox

I’m sitting in a coffee shop right right now, looking at everyone around me. This is probably the last time I will sit in Espresso a Mano, a coffee shop I came to love while living in Pittsburgh.

I started to think about the difference between letting go and saying goodbye. To let go means to transition and move on from one stage of life to another. To say goodbye means to part, with the possibility to be reunited again. I began to reflect on the familiar faces I saw every morning while getting my coffee, or the sound of the cars passing by on the busy road that all made up a part of my daily life here in Pittsburgh.

Do boys and girls really learn differently or are these just societal constraints that we have put on them to behave in a certain way? Lisa Davis and I discuss whether or not single-sex education is better for the future generations of this country.

By: Anya Alvarez

I look at my tattoo and I have to laugh. Four years ago, on the side of my right stomach I decided to get a paraphrase of the last stanza in Robert Frost’s poem "A Road Not Taken".

It goes like this: “Two roads divergded in a wood, and I took the less traveled by and that has made all the difference.”

Divergded? I didn’t realize that a spelling mistake had been inked into my body until after I got the tattoo. I wasn’t angry when I realized the mistake. I just had to laugh about it. What could I do about it now? I couldn’t get an eraser and fix it. The only thing I hoped for was that people wouldn’t even see the mistake and just compliment the beauty of the meaning of the poem.

Language is a powerful tool. Possibly the most powerful tool that we as humans have learned to wield over the years. Words can inspire, words can demoralize, and words can shape the course of our humanity. And depending on the context...words can take on different meanings, like chameleons changing color right before your eyes.

Take the word “bitch” for example. According to the dictionary, the definition of bitch is as follows: (Be prepared...it has a lot of different uses!)

By: Anya Alvarez

Everyday someone asks me, “Why did you move from Seattle to Pittsburgh?” And everyday, I give the same answer, “Because I moved for a boy.”

After my ex and I broke up, giving that answer left a bitter taste in my mouth. It wasn’t a bitterness towards my ex, however; it was a bitterness towards myself. We should have broken up months before we ended the relationship. I tried to make the relationship work, but not because I really loved him. I was afraid of failing and feeling like I moved all the way across the country only to find myself alone once again. I did not want to start over. More than anything, I couldn’t handle the disappointment in myself for not having a successful relationship.

By: Anya Alvarez

I’ve been accused of smiling too much and not taking life seriously enough. I love all things silly and and more often than not, I am laughing hysterically at something. Things that may not even be funny to other people, like when a little girl I know says, “Hoobs,” instead of ‘boobs.’ Gets me every. Single. Time.

I laugh when I get nervous. I laugh when I get upset. I laugh when I do something stupid. At all times my laughter is genuine, it just carries a different tone at certain moments.

By: Anya Alvarez

For the last six years I have spoken publicly about the times I had been sexually abused. Appearing on national forums, speaking at high schools, and writing columns about my experiences I have left everything out in the open. I thought by sharing myself and being a vocal advocate for those sexually abused it would help me with my own recovery process. I also felt by sharing my story I would help those as well who lived with the shame and guilt of sexual abuse.

I was right on both accounts: Some people told me I inspired them to receive help and I got the release I needed through sharing my story. However, after appearing on a reality television series that really played up my past history with sexual abuse, I have gotten to the point where I feel overexposed. It seems as though everyone knows my story. If you took the time to Google me, link after link would direct you to my past. I have, in a sense, lost myself through my openness.

By: Anya Alvarez

The other day I thought I was going to go insane. I looked at my calendar and almost had a mini-panic attack. How the heck would I accomplish all these tasks in a short period of time? I have the tendency to overbook my days, and then wonder why I am so stressed out. There is a part of me that likes being busy. If I have free time on my hands, something feels out of sorts. I twiddle my thumbs and look around for something to do. I don’t know how it feels to sit down for ten minutes and be okay with doing nothing.