Usually, when we seek more balance in our lives, we think first about getting rid of things—clean out the closet, stop working so much, schedule some "do nothing" time. But what if balance instead meant you added something to your busy schedule?

That was the solution for Ashley Fieglein, 34. Five years ago, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist was on vacation in Costa Rica with her expert-surfer brother. A surfing novice, she took lessons with Alvaro Solano, a six-time national champion in the small Central American nation. There, she had an epiphany: she had too much stress and not enough happiness. But rather than cutting back on her busy life, she made it busier. Within months, the San Francisco resident changed jobs, purchased property near Jacó, on Costa Rica's wave-blessed Pacific coast, and broke ground on what became the Vista Guapa surfing and yoga camp. The camp is now in its fourth season, with Solano and his family managing the three-bungalow resort full-time.

Some yoga enthusiasts have a relationship to their mats that borders on friendship. In my own classes, I've heard people use adjectives like strong, safe, rejuvenated, replenished, and generous, to describe how they feel upon plopping down on their own rectangles of anti-slipperiness. But the truth about how most yoga mats are created isn't so glowing.

In yoga, the concept of ahimsa instructs us to “do no harm”—not to ourselves, not to others, and not to the planet. Last Wednesday, Lime.com reviewed several yoga mats that take kindness to our environment seriously, either through nontoxic manufacturing, sustainable and biodegradable materials, or both. Today, we look at the yoga mat's popular companion—the block, in search of the same eco-friendliness.

It could be the single most important nerve in the body. The vagus nerve stretches from deep within the brainstem all the way into the belly. Literally the mind-body connection, it’s the cabling behind your "gut instincts." One doctor refers to the vagus nerve as the inner eye.

A gentle yet invigorating way to generate Valentine’s Day intimacy is partner yoga, an approach that allows couples to lean, twist, and stretch with each other for greater trust and sensitivity. Yogi Richard Rosen calls the practice a “yoga dialogue.” It’s true. By doing postures together you must communicate well so that no one goes flying or under- or over-stretches. There are also poses that make room for silent, simple communion that might feel awkward or silly in other contexts.

Oddly enough, Penobscot School, “a center for language learning and international cultural exchange,” in Rockland, Maine is selling a 2006 calendar of bendy, beautiful female yogis to raise funds for itself. The “Yoginis’R US Official 2006 Calendar” (which, despite the name and genre, is actually quite tasteful) features yoginis from Hawaii, New Hampshire, Maine, and Virginia in various nature-flanked postures. The project’s photographer, Chuck Lamb, told VillageSoup.com, a local Maine site, that the calendar came about when he and his wife visited the Hawaiian Island of Molokai a couple of years ago and a yogi friend showed them some photos of herself mid-asana.

If those ubiquitous sleep-inducing tips like “use your bed only for rest” and “draw a hot bath” are not helping, the zYoga program, comprised of DVDs and CDs, promises to knock you out with ease. zYoga, The Yoga Sleep Ritual, is 40-minute posture and breathing DVD to unwind your body and slow your mind—the accompanying zYoga Lullaby CD is an actual bedtime song that is supposed to seal the deal. It’s all taught and sung by Ann Dyer, a faculty member and teacher at Rodney Yee’s studio in California. In addition to being an Iyengar yogini, she studied the yoga of sound (nada yoga) for ten years. Her website (which is actually relaxing just to look at), sleepgarden.com, has sells her full line of sleep-inducing and stress-relieving products.

If you already thought yoga a tad decadent––an hour or so to only stretch, breathe, and be––add chocolate for a true dip into full-body delight. California-based yoga teacher David Romanelli and Katrina Markoff, founder of high-end Vosges chocolate, have brought this inspired synergy to you in the form of Yoga and Chocolate workshops around the country.

Today is Be a Yogi day in AOL’s New Year’s fitness awareness-raising program, “30 Days, 30 ways.” Part of “America Takes it Off” month, in conjunction with Good Morning America, 30 Days invites readers to do something new each day of the month. Kicking off with the article and suggestion Retrain Your Brain––a basic fitness foundation with tips like “set goals,” “make a plan, “and “reward yourself”––the month includes everything from Just Breathe to The Gym 101 to Tone With Tai Chi to Be the Outdoorsy Type.

The New York Times Science section reported this week on subtle empathy cells in our brains known as mirror neurons. In our brains they exhibit the same behavior whether we are experiencing something firsthand or merely observing another being having the experience. It’s one small but significant scientific step towards hardwired, physical evidence of yogic wisdom, “As without so within.”