Fitness Exercise

Daily Healthy Tips for Fitness, Exercise, Yoga, Pilate

Breathing and Relaxing

Posted on January 28th, 2010 by

You don’t need to fall into the stress mode of life. You can use breath to relax, rather than stress, your mind and body. Yoga helps you to relearn that natural state that your body and mind want to be in: relaxation.

Deep breathing is both calming and energizing. The energy you feel from a few minutes of careful breathe is not nervous or hyper, but that calm, steady energy we all need. Slow, steady, and quiet breathing gives a message to your nervous system: Be calm.

Whole books have been written on yoga breathing. Here is one 5-minute Breath Break. (Read through the instructions several times before you try the practice.)

1. Sit with your spine as straight as possible. Use a chair if necessary but don’t slump into it. Feet flat on the floor with knees directly over the center of your feet. Use a book or cushion under your feet if they do not rest comfortably on the floor. Hands are on the tops of your legs.

2. Close your eyes gently and let them rest behind closed lids.

3. Think about your ribs, at the front, back, and at the sides of your body. Your lungs are behind those ribs.

4. Feel your lungs filling up, your ribs expanding out and up. Feel your lungs emptying, your ribs coming back down and in. Don’t push the breath.

5. The first few times you do this, do it for 2 to 3 minutes, then do it for up to 5 to 10 minutes. At first, set aside a time at least once a day to do this. When you learn how good it makes you feel, you’ll want to do it at other times as well.

Just as one stressful situation goes into your next challenge, relaxing for a few minutes every day gradually carries over into the rest of your daily life and activities.

Astanga Vinyasa Yoga

Posted on January 25th, 2010 by

Astanga, or sometimes spelled ashtanga Yoga is actually taught today by a man named Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, in Mysore, India.  He has brought astanga yoga to the west about 25 years ago and still teaches today at 91 years of age.  Astanga yoga began with the rediscovery of the ancient manuscript Yoga Korunta.  It describes a unique system of Hatha yoga as practiced and created by the ancient sage Vamana Rishi.  It is believed to be the original asana practiced intended by Patanjali.

The Yoga Korunta emphasizes vinyasa, or breath-synchronized movement, where one practices a posture with specific breathing patterns associated with it.  This breathing technique is called ujayyi pranayama, or the victorious breath, and it is a process that produces intense internal heat and a profuse sweat that purifies and detoxifies the muscles and organs.  This also releases beneficial hormones and nutrients, and is usually massaged back into the body.  The breath ensures efficient circulation of blood.  The result is improved circulation, a light and strong body and a calm mind.

There is a proper sequence to follow when practicing Astanga yoga.  One must graduate from one sequence of postures to move onto the next.  The Primary Series (Yoga Chikitsa) detoxifies and aligns the body, purifying it so that toxins do not block. The Intermediate Series (Nadi Shodhana) purifies the nervous system by opening and clearing the energy channels, allowing energy to pass through easily. The Advanced Series A, B, C, and D (Sthira Bhaga) integrate the grace and stamina of the practice, which calls for intense flexibility.

It is best to find a trained and knowledgeable teacher to assist you through this discipline.  It is an intense practice that is rigorous, six days a week. You are guaranteed to find inner peace and fulfillment with each breath you take.

Developing Your Own Weight Loss Plan

Posted on January 19th, 2010 by

Weight Loss: Are you interested in losing weight?  If you are, you may have been told to create your own weight loss plan. Weight loss plans, which serve as guides and motivation for many individuals, have been known to help many achieve their weight loss goals. Although it is more than possible for you to join a local weight loss program or an online weight loss program and have a weight loss plan given to you, many take comfort in creating their own, customizable weight loss plans.

If this is your first time attempting to create a weight loss plan for yourself, you may be unsure as to how you should proceed. If that is the case, you will want to continue reading on. Below, a few of the many components of a weight loss plan are outlined for your convenience.

Perhaps, the most important component of a weight loss plan is that of healthy eating.  Healthy eating is a vital component of losing weight. When it comes to healthy eating, you don’t necessarily need to cut junk foods, like chocolate, completely out of your diet, yet you should limit your intake.  If you find that you have a problem cutting junk food or sweets from your diet, you may want to create an eating schedule for yourself. That eating schedule could include days or meals where you allow yourself to have a treat.  In a way, you can consider that time as a reward for doing so well.

In addition to making a generalized schedule for yourself, you may also want to create a more detailed eating schedule.  To get started, you may want to research healthy recipes online or buy a healthy eating cookbook.  Once you have a collection of healthy foods to make, you can better plan out all of your meals.  To help prevent you from becoming bored with eating the same foods over and over again, you may want to experiment with different healthy foods and healthy recipes.  The best way to keep yourself focused and on task is to “spice,” up your weight loss plan as much as possible.

Aside from eating healthy, another important component of losing weight is regular exercise.  That is why your weight loss plan should include exercise.

Similar to the healthy eating schedule outlined above, you may want to create an exercise schedule for yourself. When incorporating exercise into your workout plan, you have a number of different options. For instance, you can get a membership at one of your local gyms, buy workout DVDs to use at home, buy other exercise equipment, like a treadmill or a stair climber, or exercise for free with walking.

If you do decide to create your own exercise plan, there is something that you may be missing out on.  Should you join an online weight loss program or a local weight loss program, you would likely be a part of a larger group; a group that offers support to each other.  When creating your own weight loss plan, you may not necessarily have that same support. For that reason, you may want to think about seeing if you have any friends, family members, neighbors, or
coworkers who would like to exercise with you.  Having a workout partner may help give you the support that you need, as well as serve as a little bit of motivation for you.

When creating a weight loss plan for you, you are advised to put your plan in writing.  You may even want to turn to your computer, as many computers have nice template programs that you can use to make easy to read schedules or charts.  Having your weight loss plan in writing, namely the exercises that you wish to do and the foods that you wish to eat and when, may help to motivate you with losing weight.  What you may want to do is post your schedules in a
well-seen spot, like on your refrigerator.

In short, weight loss plans serve as guides, as well as motivation.  The above mentioned points are ones that you should keep in mind, when making a weight loss plan for yourself.

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