Even if I don't have time for a full hour-long yoga practice, it's nice to get my energy flowing before I start my day. Here are some of my favourite yoga poses. Try to hold each pose for 30 to 45 seconds, and remember to breathe!

Intention: Before starting the practice, I like to take a minute to set an intention for my practice, or simply check in to see how I'm feeling. If you are not used to meditating, just focus on your breath by bringing your attention to the inhale and exhale and feeling your belly move as you breathe.

Cobra: Cobra pose is great to help open up the chest and a great back bend. You want to move slowly into this pose. If cobra is uncomfortable for you, try doing sphinx pose. While lying down, place your hands beneath your shoulders, legs are together as you inhale slowly coming up. If you like, bring a soft smile to your face and remember to breathe.

Crescent Lunge: Start in a lunge position or you can flow into this from downward dog. If you want to challenge yourself, keep your back leg straight. Make sure to keep your hips square, and as you inhale, proudly lift your arms up towards the sky or you can also keep them on your hips.

Warrior 2: From lunge, you can move into the strong Warrior 2 to help open up your hips and strengthen your quads. Turn your right foot in slightly to the right and your left foot out to the left 90 degrees. As you exhale, bend your front thigh over the ankle of your front foot. Keep pressing your left foot into the ground to help anchor you. Now lift your arms up like arrows with your torso in the middle, make sure it's not moving forward as you gaze over your right hand.

Dancer's Pose: Start in mountain pose, standing with feet hip-width apart. Shift your weight to your left leg; bend your right knee and hold your right foot from the inside with your right hand. Lift your left hand towards the sky. Breathe. If you like, you can stay right here. Otherwise, take a deep breath, lengthen the left arm and torso up and forward while the right leg lengthens back and up. See if you can allow your torso to become parallel to the floor as you keep kicking your back leg. This is a very active pose, and requires tremendous concentration. I always remind myself to breathe and smile. This is a fantastic pose to help stretch the shoulders, chest, thighs and abdomen. Needless to say, it is a great posture to help improve your balance and concentration.

Tree Pose: Stand with feet hip-width apart, then shift your weight to your left leg as you bend your right knee. Reach down with your right hand and clasp your right ankle. You can place your foot up against either the ankle, knee or inner thigh of your standing leg. If you feel like challenging yourself and your foot is not slipping, take your right foot and place it on the outside of your left leg. You can hold it with your right hand, or bring both hands in prayer position.

Bow Pose: Bow pose is an amazing backbend. We spend all day bending forward, that's why I enjoy doing backbends a lot. Bow pose helps stretch the entire front of the body and strengthens back muscles. While lying on your belly, bend your knees and hold your feet in the middle. As you inhale, lift your heels up and away from the body and make sure to keep your shoulder blades down.

Full Wheel Pose: Begin by lying on the ground with the soles of your feet on the floor, close to your sitting bones. Place your hands on the floor just above your shoulders with fingers spread wide, finger tips pointing towards your shoulders. Take your time as you press your feet into the ground and press your palms down as you slowly lift your torso up evenly. To come out of this pose, bend your elbows, tuck your chin in and slowly lower down.

Half Twist: Sit on the ground with both knees bent and heels pointing outward. Shift your weight to the left and take your right leg over the left knee. Keep the spine erect. Now bring the left arm down on the outside of the right knee and place your right hand on the floor behind you, close to your spine. As you exhale, twist to the right and look over the right shoulder. This is a great posture to help increase flexibility in your spine and also helps detoxify liver and kidneys, and stimulate digestive fire.

Corpse Pose: It is truly very important to allow your body and nervous system to relax after your practice. Savasana, also known as the corpse pose, helps calm the brain and relieve stress and mild depression. This is the time for your body to reap all the benefits of your practice.

Is losing weight your New Year’s resolution for 2013? If you are a seasoned dieter of commercialized diet plans and weight loss supplements, only to find that the battle of the bulge is an endless cycle of losing weight and gaining it all back, then the answer for all your failed weight loss attempts may lie in your DNA.

The foods we eat and the level of physical activity we’re engaged in represent the two most significant life-long environmental impacts on human health. Nutrigenomics, a revolutionary scientific field that looks at the connection between nutrition and genes, is among the newest science-based platforms to promote health and lose weight. Effective weight loss strategies become increasingly important in today’s obesigenic society, because being overweight or obese places you at higher risk of developing serious medical conditions, including high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes. Together, these medical conditions are the second leading cause of preventable death.

Evidence of Nutrigenomics

Nutrigenomics has delivered evidence of the principle that humans are different with respect to optimal diets. This explains why a low-fat diet may work well for some, while a low-carb or balanced diet works better for others. As nutrigenomics builds the scientific foundation for this, and as genotyping technologies become readily accessible, people may gain value through information on their personal genetic make-up. A now famous study conducted at Stanford University looked at the long-term effects of weight loss using a few different diets assigned at random. Results showed that some participants lost weight on one type of diet, such as low-fat, while others did not. The study then tested participants' DNA for three specific gene variations and found that those using a diet best suited to their DNA lost as much as 2.5 times more weight than those not using their best DNA diet.

DNA-Matched Diet and Exercise

So, how do you know what your best DNA-matched diet and exercises are to achieve your New Year’s weight-loss goals? Do a DNA test. The DNA test involves swabbing the inside of your cheek to collect DNA. Scientists at a laboratory then look for single nucleotide polymorphisms, or variations, in four different genes relevant to your metabolism. The test cost ranges between $150 and $200.

The genes tested have been validated as significant modifiers of body weight and responsiveness to diet and exercise. The genes were selected from the Obesity Gene Map Database based on a comprehensive review of existing scientific literature. The genetic test panel evaluated for five variations in four genes. These gene variations can affect fat absorption, fat cell formation, fat mobilization for energy, and fat breakdown. Test results provide dietary (low fat, low carb or balanced) and physical activity level implications unique to your genetic make-up.

According to Registered Dietitian Keri Glassman, there are physical, clinical, and also symptomatic measures that point to one of three DNA diets.

The Three DNA Diets

Whether using DNA testing or other measures to determine the diet that is right for your specific metabolism, one of the following three DNA diets will be your key to sustainable weight loss.

1. Low-Fat Diet: The low-fat diet may be best for your DNA if you have a family history of heart disease, low energy levels and high LDL cholesterol. Portion breakdown: 70 percent carbs, 15 percent protein, 15 percent fat.
2. Low-Carb Diet: The low-carb diet may be best for your DNA if you have weight around your midsection, high blood pressure and high triglycerides. Portion breakdown: 30 percent carbs, 40 percent fat, 30 percent protein.
3. Balanced Diet: May be best for your DNA if you have a family history of diabetes or heart disease, Mediterranean ethnicity, frequent indigestion or constipation. Portion breakdown: 50 percent carbs, 30 percent fat, 20 percent protein.

Bottom Line

DNA testing takes the guesswork out of food selection and exercise strategies for losing weight by properly matching diet and exercise to your personal genetic make-up. However, genetic testing is no one-stop solution for weight management, because losing weight is much more complex than knowing about gene variations. Living in an obesogenic society, one must first adopt a healthy lifestyle that consists of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, optimize your detoxification systems to rid yourself of toxins that contribute to weight gain, and ensure sufficient quality sleep before investing in a genetic test. For more information on DNA testing for weight management, and how it may help you in your New Year’s weight loss goals, enlist the professional guidance of a naturopathic doctor. Your naturopathic doctor will educate you on the principles of healthy living and detoxification; identify and address any serious underlying medical conditions that may be contributing to your weight gain; provide medical supervision and monitor your weight loss progress, which may include a digital body composition analysis; and provide nutritional recommendations that fit within your DNA diet.