Healthy Fitness Zone

Archive for August, 2011

If it is proven that eating is directly proportional to increase in the size of one’s belly, then believe me most of those people who want to be slim will be eating only once a month. Fortunately, from the view point of your health it is not true. But for instant gratification people still believe the myth that starvation will help you lose fat. Believe me this is the worst thing that one can do to oneself trying to lose weight. Definitely overeating is also harmful to your body to the same extent of not eating. Eat only that much that is required for your body and needed for your day to day activities. Hence, the thin line between feeling hungry and full must be clearly understood.

Starvation turns our body into fat reserves as they try to conserve fat for living and start breaking down muscle and burns fat for energy. Thus when we eat again after starvation we tend to eat more than normal and stuff our self. Thus it is to be understood that starving and stuffing creates emotional turmoil which is not the one we want to live with. Avoid overeating and also starvation while undertaking efforts to reduce fat.  Whenever there is more than 3 hours between mea,l healthy snacks must be resorted to. Thus weight training must be complemented with a good diet plan for burning fat.

The change in the lifestyle of human life has brought in a variety of ailments and new disorders into existence. Like fashion, people are trying to adopt old lifestyle by retrofitting into modern lifestyle. Thus people are revisiting the old techniques like massage and yoga again and retrofitting into their lifestyle. Yoga has become more popular in the western countries adopting it from the Asian subcontinent making it suitable for western lifestyle. Before adopting and integrating yoga into your lifestyle to reap benefits, naturally one should be conversant with certain terms of yoga.

Asana is the physical component of yoga and it is required to be aware about the posture and gravity of one’s body. Asana is more concentrated on the health of spinal cord as almost all the ailments causing pain are intimately linked with spinal column Pranayama refers to breathing exercises in yoga. Breathing exercises actually help to calm mind to prepare for meditation. Pranayama acts as a means for relaxation and thus it must be practiced alone or with various postures. Pratyahara is a discipline to control senses and mind and help to meditate by ensuring sensory detachment.

Yoga guru is a mentor who imparts knowledge and wisdom. Most of the yoga schools follow a particular yoga lineage. But, if you are interested to take up a class in yoga, it is not necessary to follow a particular philosophy and above all you definitely don’t require a guru to practice yoga. It is an art which is to be practiced for a better physical and mental health. Go on and start your first lesson in yoga for fulfilling lifestyle and happiness.

The world has transformed into a mechanical environment and hence poor lifestyle has influenced health of the people. With the increased awareness about growing health problems the world is trying to revive the ancient health practices to retrofit it our present lifestyle. Yoga is an ancient science which was used for stress reduction, fitness, and mental health. Yoga has been famous in India for centuries however, the western world have started to adopt it considering the benefits reaped out of it naturally. Yoga Journal indicates that approximately 6 million people around the world are practicing yoga.

Yoga looks at good health is a cumulative state of physical, mental, and social well-being. It balances the whole individual and its benefits are found in the following areas,

• Cardio and respiratory health.
• Stress reduction. .
• Mental relaxation..
• Pain relief.
• Flexibility and toning.
• Posture correction

There are five types of yoga, namely, Raja yoga, Karma yoga, Jnana yoga, Bhakti yoga, Tantra, ritual yoga, and Hatha, physical yoga. Though there are six types of yoga, many people practice one type of yoga and some combine two types and practice. Hatha yoga is a physical yoga which is most popular in the west. It strengthens and tones the body and frees mind from all kinds of distraction. The popularity in western countries is only because of the fact that hatha yoga is more physical and less spiritual..

The increasing popularity of yoga and awareness about it benefits has led more and more people to practice yoga. There is an increasing trend in women practicing yoga during pregnancy and menstrual discomfort apart from practicing yoga for personal health.

Prenatal yoga prepares you for child birth and relieves you of all the discomforts faced by women during pregnancy. Prenatal yoga provides physical tension relief in joints, muscles, and back. It helps in making birth easy by stretching pelvic muscles. The yoga poses; in conjunction breathing exercises helps in the preparation for labor. Some of the benefits of prenatal yoga are,

• Helps you to discover your inner power and strength
• Balances the body and correct postures
• Improves blood circulation
• Improves breathing aiding during labor
• Stabilize emotions and helps you cope up with the physical
• Pelvic muscles are worked upon to prepare for birth

First and foremost thing to practice yoga before pregnancy is to consult your doctor. Since a women body undergoes tremendous amount of change it is better to start off with yoga practice after the first trimester. Most of the allopathic doctors are not aware about prenatal yoga, if so; consult your prenatal yoga instructor. Consultation would be mandatory if the subject has any one of the following ailments, namely, hypertension, toxemia, diabetes and risk for premature labor. Some of the exercises that are involved in prenatal yoga are standing postures, sitting or kneeling postures, pelvic floor exercises, restorative poses, breathing and Visualization and meditation. It is better to get a visual image of the asana for prenatal yoga before practicing it. In the final weeks of pregnancy shorten your yoga practice or do only simple poses.