Yoga Studio or Gym?

I recently went to take a "yoga" class at one of the gyms in the area. I have to admit that after taking classes at a yoga studio for an extended time now, I have felt a big difference between the yoga-studio practice and the gym "yoga class". Just as I entered the gym facility, I smelled the iron, heard the harsh noises of the weights and got distracted by the bouncing person on a treadmill. And if that was not enough to set my nervous system on fire, I was blasted with the loud music. Right away I realized how much I love the yoga studio's aroma of herbal oils, the soothing music, and the calmness of the voices that greet us at the door. I no longer can live without the flow of the yoga poses that restore my body and the systematic breathing that energizes my mind. I had been contemplating complementing my yoga practice with the gym, but now I can say that my last visit to the gym was just that, my last visit. I gotto say: my favorite yoga studio in town is -

Nature: vital life sustaining force

In our yoga community, our absolute dedication is to Nature, its healing power and nature's supreme rejuvenation force of our hearts, minds and bodies.
America's public lands and waters create a foundation of the national outdoor recreation system. Outdoor recreation can grow jobs and drive the economy if we manage and invest in parks, waters and trails.

The Mother Nature is not only important for sustaining our economy but is the only source for sustaining our lives.
Multiple studies found that direct jobs in the outdoor recreation industry outnumber those in the oil and gas industry nearly three to one.
While outdoor recreation supports 6.1 million direct jobs like manufacturing equipment, inventory managers, and retail, the oil and gas industry supports just 2.1 million direct jobs (data as of 2012.)

The Outdoor Industry is the biggest supporter of the Land Preservation and Conservation Alliance (a group of outdoor businesses whose collective contributions support grassroots citizen-action groups and their efforts to protect wild and natural areas.)

Researchers found that any (healthy) outdoor activity can have a positive effect on people suffering from depression and anxiety.
The study also showed that the positive effect on people's mental health was 50 % more than they might expect from going to the gym.
The study, led by Professor Richard Mitchell (Public Health, Glasgow University), polled nearly 2000 physically active people in the 2008 Scottish Health Survey. Only activities carried out in a natural environment outdoors were found to be associated with a lower risk of poor mental health. It seems that woodland and forest have the biggest effect on helping to lower mental health problems: things like mild depression, not being able to sleep, high stress levels or just feelings of not being able to cope. - The brain likes to be in the natural environment and it reacts to being there by turning down our stress response.

 

I am inviting everyone to exercise in a natural environment at least once a week to gain some mental benefit in addition to the physical benefits.
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Yoga : Meditation in addition to yoga poses

If you think yoga is just for gaining (body) flexibility, stretching legs and to make body leaner, then you are far from the true meaning of this wonderful discipline and you will miss out on the other benefits yoga provides.

Life is increasingly becoming emotionally, mentally and physical exhausting. Everybody nowadays seems to be so busy that they tend to forget to devote some time to just sit back, relax and unwind. They instead build up stress in them. Too much stress then can cause discomfort on the affected person, from a simple headache to cardiovascular ailments.

As my Yoga Buddies have learned so far, yoga is addictive. It takes few practices to learn how to connect the body, mind and soul.  However, after “it clicks” , there is no way one can stop looking for more and more of  those majestic , relaxing , therapeutic moments that yoga brings us.

Yoga is a discipline originated in ancient India. The goal of yoga is to improve health, and to attain a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility. Yoga is a discipline of three steps: physical, mental and spiritual.

The First Step is (physical) body poses. I will start discussing poses in my upcoming letters

The Second Step is (mental), Meditation:

It is hard for us to stop logical track of thoughts. But, I really want all of us to master the technique and enjoy yoga practices to its fullest potential.

I thought we should know few minor details:

The discipline (meditation), found in various forms in many cultures, by which the practitioner attempts to get beyond the "thinking" mind (also referred to as "logic) into a deeper, more relaxed state.

The word 'meditation' has been used to name a variety of practices that are different enough (one from another) so that we may find trouble in defining what meditation is.

Some of the earliest references to meditation are found in the Bible, dating around 1400 BCE.

Meditation , is sometimes the translation of meditatio (in Latin), which is one of the steps used in ancient form of Christian prayer. In Latin, Meditatio means ‘to concentrate’. Christian meditation is the process of deliberately focusing on specific thoughts, and connection to God.

When it comes to yoga, we refer to ‘Meditation’ as a second of the three steps of Yoga. That is  when we attempt to becoming calm and concentrated, that is when “one perceives the self within oneself".

When we practice yoga, we have to meditate in a sense of becoming calm and concentrate on within.

Movement Meditation:

The Movement Meditation technique is where breathing and gentle flowing movements are combined Center and concentrate.  We take several deep, cleansing breaths. We center ourselves by visualizing our feet connected to the soil. We draw energy from the Earth.  We gently move our bodies in an undulating motion.

I use music to focus our attention on the movement during our group practices. Please, allow yourself to get lost in the sense of movement and the beauty of your body as it moves. Feel the areas of your body that are tight and let the movement loosen them up.

You can learn about meditation techniques by going this website:

http://www.abc-of-yoga.com/meditation/techniques.asp
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Healthy skin: Beauty assisting smoothie

Do you want to get your body fat under control and make your skin to look beautiful, glowing and spotless? Ah… did someone say, No!?   That is right, I did not think so. Here is something I have been experimenting on myself, and I swear this works : You will need to give some love to:

Raw Food: Antioxidants

Antioxidants can be found in different foods. I will give you the list of those, but before:....
What is antioxidant in common language? Antioxidants - a term used for referring to a number of chemicals that help protecting your body from the damage from free radicals. What is a free radical? Chemistry 101: The human body is composed of many different types of cells. Cells are composed of many different types of molecules. Molecules consist of one or more atoms of one or more elements joined by chemical bonds. Normally, bonds don’t split in a way that leaves a molecule with an odd, unpaired electron. But when weak bonds split, free radicals are formed (oxidation process.) Free radicals are very unstable

Healthy Eating: Understanding Starch and Gluten

Starches in Your Diet

Dietitians and scientists tell us that research based recommendation is that 45 to 65 % of your calories should come from carbohydrate. You should know which carbs are simple (they are a simplest form of sugar and are not good for your diet) and which carbs are complex (healthier choice.)

Also:

Because many carbohydrate foods contain starch, we should balance our carb intake between starchy and non starchy foods. If you incorporate the knowledge I am providing you with in this article while making food choices, you will be able to avoid weight-gaining- problems.

The Light on Yoga: Ashtanga Philosophy

The Light on Yoga (first published 1966)

B. K. S. Iyengar (born December 14, 1918)

Book report

“The practice of the art is more difficult to communicate than a purely literary or philosophical concept”.

B.K.S. Iyengar makes frequent references to the philosophical and moral principles in his book called The Light on Yoga. He believed it is important for the people to understand the origin of asanas, and he stressed out the importance of following the correct and safe methods for practicing (mastering) asanas (poses) and pranayamas (breathing).

External beauty, as a bonus: Minerals, Enzymes, Raw Food

It is true that your family genetics contribute to the type of hair, nails, and skin you get. But, do you think it is as simples as: you get thin hair because of your mom… or, you get acne prone skin because of your dad or else…??? No, the genes are not regulating the hair or nail, or skin type directly. They regulate the other conditions in the body that contribute to our organs health and functionality. The appearance is the result of the body-system condition such as functioning of the digestive system, internal organ functioning, preposition to certain organ weaknesses. So, this should slowly lead you to a conclusion without me finishing the point; Right?

Raw Food: Body pH; Acidic and Alkaline Foods

The idea that over-acidity in the body can cause illness and disease was first exposed to Western health professionals in the 1930s by William Howard Hay, a New York doctor. He believed all diseases are caused by what he called "auto-toxication." That is when the body is poisoned by the accumulation of too much acid.

The body's acid/alkaline levels are measured using the pH scale on a level of 1 to 14. The lower the pH, the more acidic the body is. A neutral pH is 7.0. To maintain health, the diet should consist of 60% alkaline forming foods and 40% acid forming foods.  In a case of low PH, to restore your health, the diet should consist of 80% alkaline forming foods and 20% acid forming foods. Let's learn why this is important to know and how this relates to your healthy weight and diet.