Quick Ways to Relax Your Mind

Stress is an everyday reality we face, and you may not always avoid outside triggers, but you can definitely tame your mind. Get your cortisol levels under check with these mind relaxation techniques:

1. Controlled Breathing

When you are under stress, your breathing becomes shallow and rapid. Your brain needs all the oxygen it can get to stay focused. Learn how to control your breathing under panic situations by taking a long deep breath through your nose, holding it for a few seconds, and exhaling slowly through your mouth. Repeat up to 10 times until you feel relaxed.

2. Meditation

Even 15 minutes of deep meditation before you go to sleep can make you feel brand new the next day you wake up. Choose a private place that’s far from distraction and meditate. Cleanse yourself from negative thoughts and if you need more help, you can always use music to help you reach your inner zen. Yoga and Tai Chi are the most popular meditation techniques among many.

3. Massage

There’s no replacing human touch when it comes to relaxation, even with all the massage gadgets and chairs around. Get a full-body massage once a week to help soothe your body and mind and make sure it’s done by a certified professional. You may request for an aromatherapy oil to give you that reviving effect.

4. Shut Down

There’s no sense thinking about things that have a one-in-a-million chance of happening in reality. Shut off those worries and fears from your mind when it’s time to go to sleep, or just think of the word ’sleep’ itself to help you sleep better at nights.

The mind is like a sponge and it can handle just enough. At the end of the day, when your energy has been used up, you need to recharge and relax. Your healthy lifestyle and choices can definitely help in the process. You have to put your best efforts to get the relaxation you crave for. Let Go… Relax..

Simple Relaxation — A Guided Meditation

Yoga literally means the union of your mind and body, where stretching meets deep breathing techniques. Studies say that even light forms of yoga can help you lose weight, prevent premature aging, and promotes weight loss in those who are obese. All you have to do now is find the right yoga class, be comfy with specific poses that are therapeutic for you, or you may just buy a DVD so you can do yoga even at the comforts of your own home.

What Types of Yoga Promote Weight Loss?

1. Ashtanga

This type focuses on vigorous poses that are great for losing weight. Those who practice this are the most dedicated students, though beginners are encouraged to join the program. This type of yoga is ideal for those who want to practice it at home.

2. Hot Yoga

If you have migraines or history of heart disease, you might want to get yourself checked first before you join a class. By the word itself, this type of yoga is done in a hot room which can make you sweat like crazy in a matter of minutes. Room temperature is set to 105 degrees F or 40.55 Celsius. This type may make you lose weight temporarily because you will lose water weight. It is not permanent though and you may not burn a lot of fats.

3. Power Yoga

This type of yoga combines cardiovascular activities with traditional yoga. Workouts can be intense, which makes it an extremely popular type when it comes to weight loss. This type is challenging and beginners are encouraged to try gentle yoga poses first.

Still, nothing beats your good old brisk walking, running, or swimming when it comes to burning calories. Yoga may not offer huge weight loss benefits, but it can give you all those fitness benefits that can help you live a healthy life. Yoga is great for your muscles, no doubt! Yoga can give a person a better awareness of his or her body, making her choose only those that are healthy, which contributes to overall weight loss. Namaste!

Get in Shape 3 : How to Lose Weight With Yoga

It is true that yoga needs a lot of patience and dedication. It is not only a practice of having your bones and muscles stretched and toned, but it is your very road to self-discovery. All those yoga poses doesn’t only release all those tensed feelings you’ve been harboring from within, but it can lead to an awakening of your true potential as a human being.

Yoga came from the Sanskrit word, meaning ” union. ” When done properly, it will not only give you that tone, flexible body you’ve always wanted, but also helping you reach enlightenment. Yoga is something you learn by doing to the point that it becomes an integral part of your life. What’s great about yoga is that it can be practiced by anyone, regardless of age, sex, or race. You don’t have to over-exert while practicing yoga, where you are in total control of the way your body will adapt to changes.

Why Should You Get Into the Yoga Habit?

1. Yoga will promise you not only flexibility, but helps you build muscle strength. Many people have attested to the physical health benefits that yoga had brought into their lives. The various yoga poses and breathing techniques help your body maximize oxygen and blood flow, making your cells healthier while making your mind clearer. This is why many have reported a sense of elation after a yoga session. It just feels so reviving.

2. Yoga is your safer alternative to heavy Cardio exercises that can do damage to your back. Just respect your body’s limits and you’re good to go. Unlike other exercises where you need to speed up, you can just slow down as long as you want.. until you feel you have perfected that pose.

3. Yoga doesn’t require athletic skills on your part for you to practice it. In fact, yoga is a great stress-buster after a day’s grueling work and you can just put on that DVD on your player and do some stretches at the comforts of your own bedroom. You may also try joining yoga classes under a professional instructor if you feel like doing yoga in a group is more inspiring.

Which Yoga Style is Good for You?

Hatha Yoga – this is commonly practiced by many, which is easiest to do. It involves a combination of movements, postures, and breathing techniques for you to achieve wellness.

Raja Yoga – this involves breathing techniques and exercises, coupled with meditation. This is great for those who want to achieve spiritual wellness as well.

Bikram Yoga – more often known as hot or fire yoga. This is practiced in a room heated at 105 degrees Fahrenheit, preparing the body for deep stretching, detoxification, and tension release. Speak with your physician if you suffer high blood pressure, migraines, or heart ailments before you walk in for a session.

Jnana Yoga – considered the most difficult, practitioners consider it as a path to wisdom and enlightenment.

Bhakti Yoga – this yoga focuses on the idea of God.

Iyengar – this yoga focuses on body posture and alignment. Props like chairs, blocks, blankets, and belts are used for students to achieve progressive poses safely and effectively.

Ashtanga – more challenging than Hatha yoga, it teaches students a unique movement or breathing technique that will force your body to sweat and cleanse out all those body toxins.

Power Yoga – this is a vigorous style that is more fitness-based and is perfect for people who want to workout, as well as build flexibility and body strength.

Remember that yoga is not a religion, but a way for you to achieve your own sense of inner peace and well-being from within. Coupled with a healthy diet, lifestyle, and natural choices, yoga can definitely give you the clearest mind and a stronger body than you can ever dream of. Namaste!

A Funny ( and effective ) Video on Facial Yoga:

Perhaps the most popular health benefits of running is how it makes your body strong to resist cardiovascular diseases and certain types of deadly cancers.  Running promotes HDL or good cholesterol, reducing your risk for arterial plaques  that can cause heart stroke.  Not only will you have a healthy heart, but also a healthy pair of lungs.  Overall, running is a good immune booster, keeping your spirits high.

However, if a runner is not careful, he or she can do more damage to the body while running on the pavement, or when tackling a climb trail.  This is where yoga poses come into play, strengthening your muscle, and healing your tendons and joints.

Here are two Pre and Post Run Routine You can Do to Avoid Injuries:

Pre-Run Warm Up Routine

This is also called the Warrior I stance or Virabhadrasana I.  Stand tall.  Step your left foot back and make sure your feet are a leg-length apart.  Make sure your back arch is parallel with your front heel.  Now, bend your right knee so your thigh is parallel to the floor.  Raise your arms above your head, palms facing each other.  Hold for 5 seconds and breathe.  Feel the stretch on your thigh and leg.  Then, go back to the standing pose and repeat on the other side.

Post-Run Routine

This is often known as the low lunge position.  Face forward and bring your left foot back into a lunge.  Your right shin should be perpendicular to the floor.  Bring your hands behind your back and interlace your fingers in a clasp.  Make sure your elbows are straight but not locked.  Move your arms from your buttocks and pull your shoulders back.  Feel the stretch in your chest, neck,shoulders, and upper back.  Hold for 5 seconds and breathe. Release and go back to a standing pose.  Repeat on the other side.

There are many helpful benefits that running can do to your body and make sure you don’t get injured on your way to health.

Run to Live..

I was surfing the net to check the latest health trend when my eyes have been caught by a huge banner:  Facial Yoga

Wow…just imagine working out those 57 muscles on the neck, face and the scalp.  If one can keep the body fit with yoga, why not try it on the face?

Reading further, this new hype is all about controlling the facial muscles with resistance techniques that allow oxygen to flow more through the cells.  Good circulation means rosy cheeks without those ugly lines.  For $250 US dollars?  Is it worth it?  I guess if it relaxes those tired faces with the promise of a younger, healthier looking face without the risks of cosmetics and surgery, I’ll give it my two-thumbs up.  People are swearing to see results in just two weeks time, with only five minutes of facial stretches a day.

Here’s a quick fix for those tired eyes: You just place your fingers on the outside corner of your eyes and pull gently toward the temples.  Then, open and close your eyes.  Or you may try holding that bump on the nose, between your eyes, and move your eyebrows up and down as you put a gentle pressure.

If that felt good, then, facial yoga is definitely here to stay. It’s simply soothing.