BENEFITS OF EXERCISE.

BENEFITS OF EXERCISE :-
As we all become health conscious, we realise the importance of strict and regular physical activity. But do we know all the benefits of exercise?
1. The elixir to long life! According to an age old study, exercise reduces the chance of premature death.

2. Help you have a lovely heart! Exercise strengthens the cardiovascular muscles and enhances blood circulation. Cholesterol is checked by the burning of those extra calories and blood pressure is regulated. Aerobic exercises are seen to benefit hypertensive individuals and the diabetics.

3. Makes you brainy! It promotes brain health by stimulating the formation of new brain cells thereby aiding memory and cognition.Those exercise have a remote chance of suffering from hemorrhage and stroke. If you have a family history of alzheimers then make it a point to sweat out and let your brain produce those chemicals that prevent Alzheimers causing inflammation.

4. On the move for flexibility! Obesity and weight gain can be solved only with regular exercise. The more intense the exercise the more are the calories burnt. 

5. For the smile! Exercise also helps to life your mental health, thwart depression and keep stress at bay. It might sound ironical that exercise would rid of fatigue by boosting energy.

6. Pain for pain. Being active would reduce joint pains and injuries, and help with arthritis. Weight bearing exercises improve bone strength and prevent bone loss.

7. For a great night! It not only soothes you in to a sound sleep but also energises you for a better sex life.

8. Last not the least, you will gain remarkable self esteem with a well toned body.

It is recommended that you get at least 30 minutes of physical activity in some form everyday irrespective of your age and gender.
But, just keep in mind that however hard you exercise you should be able to carry on a conversation without panting.

Basic Yoga Poses Set

Yoga Positions for Beginner’s | Basic Yoga Poses Set

Remember that each title is a link to the article with full details on each pose.  Also, in each of those respective articles, modifications for beginners is given whenever required, so make sure you use those modifications as you start out.

1. Kundalini Yoga Butterfly Pose:

• Duration: 2 – 3 mins
• Breath: Breath of Fire

Butterfly Pose

2. Kundalini Yoga Cat-Cow Pose:

• Duration: 1 – 3 mins
  
  
• Breath: Inhale in cow pose, exhale in cat pose

Yoga Cat Pose (Exhale)

Yoga Cow Pose (Inhale)

3. Yoga Cobra Pose:

• This is a very basic yoga pose that is part of every school of yoga practice.  It can be done with the elbows bent and also done with the elbow straight.  Beginner’s should be careful with their lower back and elbows, and should take frequent breaks if they get tiered holding the pose.
• Duration: 1 – 3 mins
• Breath: Long deep breathing.

Cobra Pose w/ Straight Elbows

Cobra Pose w/ Bent Elbows

4. Yoga Baby Pose:

• Another very basic yoga pose is baby pose.  It is pose #8 in the article.  It is a good pose to relax in whenever you need to take break during your yoga session.  In addition this pose will counterbalance cobra pose for you.
• Duration: Open
• Breath: Normal.

Baby Pose

5. Basic Yoga Pose for Balance:

• Be sure to use the modified versions if you find doing the full version difficult.  This is a good pose for the elderly to do as well.
• Duration: 1 – 2 mins / side.
• Breath: Long deep breathing.

Basic Yoga Pose for Balance (Left Arm)

Basic Yoga Pose for Balance (Right Arm)

6. Forward Bending Yoga Asana:

• The important part of this position is to keep your legs straight.  It is not necessary to reach your toes, that will happen over time.  Just reach forward as far as is comfortable, while keeping your legs straight.  For beginner’s even reaching their knees or shins is fine.  Curl your toes back towards you though, even if you do can’t reach them to accent the stretch in your calves and hamstrings.
• Duration: 1 – 3 mins
• Breath:  Do long deep breathing.  As you make progress you can do this pose with breath of fire
  .

Forward Bending Yoga Pose

7. Yoga Rock-n-Roll:

• Good yoga exercise to help you transition between poses.  It is also good for lengthening the spine and redistributing the cerebro-spinal fluid.  It is exercise #6 in the Kids Yoga Article which it is linked to.
• Duration: 15 seconds – 1 min
• Breath: Normal.

Yoga Rock-n-Roll

8. Alternating Leg Lifts for Abdominal Strength:

• Simply lie on your back, with your hands underneath your buttocks palms facing down to support your lower back.  Then lift your left leg up to ninety degrees and lower it back down.  Next lift your right leg up to ninety degrees and then back down.  Continue on with these alternating leg lifts for the duration of the exercise.  It is exercise #1 of the Ab Workout set which it is linked to.   Btw, this set is an excellent set for beginner’s as well who want to tone their abs and build their core strength.
• Duration: 1 – 3 mins
• Breath: Inhale Up / Exhale Down.

Yoga Single Leg Lifts (Right Leg)

Yoga Single Leg Lifts (Left Leg)

9. Kundalini Yoga Stretch Pose:

• This is a terrific yoga posture, remember the beginner’s version is to do one leg at a time instead.  Again you can take breaks during this pose when you tire.  The full version is illustrated below.
• Duration: 1 – 3 mins
• Breath:  Breath of Fire
  
  
  

Kundalini Yoga Stretch Pose

10. Yoga Rock-n-Roll:

• Again we will use yoga rock-n-roll to help us transition to a new pose. See exercise #7 above for details.
• Duration: 15 seconds – 1 min
• Breath: Normal.

11. Kundalini Yoga Frog Pose:

• These can be a little tough for beginner’s to do, but I wanted to include them in this set due to their enormous benefits.  This exercise will really help you tone and strengthen your legs and also it will give your heart a good workout.  Do only a few at a time in the beginning and be sure to take lots of breaks.  Build up slowly to 52 in a row over time.
• Duration: 11 – 52 repetitions
• Breath: Inhale Down / Exhale Up.

Yoga Frog Pose (Inhale)

Yoga Frog Pose (Exhale)

12. Kundalini Yoga Archer Pose:  

• We will end this set with Archer’s Pose.  This pose is excellent for opening up your hips, strengthening your legs and helping you cope with stress.  It is also good for the mind and developing confidence.
• Duration: 1 – 3 mins / side.
• Breath: Long Deep Powerful Breathing.

Yoga Archer Pose

13. Corpse Pose:

• Once you are done with the Beginner’s Yoga Set, make sure you relax on your back in corpse pose.  For corpse pose just lie comfortably on your back and have your hands out to the sides or on your chest.  Just let go during this time and let the Universe take care of you.  Have no worries, anxieties or goals, and simply surrender to Infinity.
• Duration: 1 – 11 mins
• Breath: Relaxed

End of Beginner’s Basic Yoga Poses Set

Beginner’s Yoga Poses

Beginner’s Yoga Poses

It is time to expand the Free Online Yoga & Meditation Classes offered here at Mastery of Meditation & Yoga, and the class I am planning to add next is a Beginner’s Yoga Class (now online).  The class will consist of the best yoga pranayama techniques for beginners and it will also incorporate the beginner’s yoga positions that I have detailed below.

This yoga set, is built using basic yoga poses and exercises, but just because the positions used are not advanced or complicated, does not in any way lessen the value of this set.  It is an excellent set to incorporate into your daily yoga practice and has been carefully designed to work on each and every aspect of your being.

This set will also make up Chapter 11 of our popular Free Online Kundalini Yoga Sets E-book.  The poses and positions that make up this set can be found in the following two free online books: Free Online Kundalini Yoga Exercises E-book & Free Hatha Yoga Poses E-book.

Benefits of Yoga Positions for Beginner’s | Basic Yoga Poses Set

As I mentioned above, this set has been carefully designed to be beginner friendly and also, designed to ensure that it works upon all major aspects of your being in a balanced and harmonious way.  The detailed benefits of each exercises, along with cautions and practice tips, can be found in the article devoted to each pose, below though are the overall benefits that this set bestows when practiced consistently

• Promotes overall flexibility and strength.
• Clears blockages and increases energy flow.
• Triggers the natural healing capacity of the body, promoting health and well-being.
• Promotes peace and emotional balance.
• Purifies one’s energy and raises one’s level of vibration and consciousness.
• Improves balance and coordination.
• Helps increase metabolism and assists in weight loss.
• Builds mental focus and concentration.

Yoga Positions for Beginner’s Practice Details:

The following two articles are important for beginner’s to read as they provide guidelines on how to practice yoga:

Essential Beginners Guide to Yoga Practice

10 Important Guidelines for Kundalini Yoga Practice

Remember the golden rule is please do not overdo anything.  Especially if you are a beginner, please use the beginner’s version for the exercises where ever provided and back off if you feel uncomfortable or dizzy.  Each exercise title is a link to the chapter with the details for that exercise.  For all the poses in this set illustrations have also been provided.

You will also need to learn the Breath of Fire breathing exercise, which is taught in the following video:  Breath of Fire Kundalini Yoga Pranayama.   This breathing exercise is a fundamental breathing technique in Kundalini Yoga and is extensively used in conjunction with the yoga poses.

Treatment And Symptoms PSTD

Treatment And Symptoms PSTD:

Have you ever seen anybody survive a serious accident, or a violent crime, and come out completely changed? Or maybe a soldier who’s just returned from the tour of duty seems constantly troubled? This person may be suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD). This is a kind of anxiety disorder which usually develops in a person who has been exposed to a traumatic event, usually one which causes physical losses, or the loss of those around. The trauma could also be from witnessing or being close to someone’s death, serious injury, threat to life or even from a threat to one’s physical or emotional integrity.

People suffering from this are usually very sensitive to normal situations, and tend to avoid people and places that they were familiar with.

Posttraumatic stress was first diagnosed in war veterans, and is even now seen in our soldiers returning from combat in Iraq or Afghanistan. It is also commonly seen in rape victims. Effects of PTSD on young children can be particularly devastating. According to some estimates, 7% to 8% of all people in the US will suffer from PTSD.

If someone close to you has gone thru a traumatic experience, keep a close eye out for post traumatic stressdisorder symptoms. Mental health specialists classify PTSD symptoms into three groups.

• Recurrent episodes of re-experiencing the traumatic event. For instance, nightmares, troublesome memories, flashbacks caused by reminders of the events, or reliving the event.
• Avoidance to the extremes, where it may almost reach a point of having a phobia of places, people and experiences that may remind one of the trauma. There may also be a general numbing of emotions.
• Chronic signs of hyperarousal. These include sleep problems, irritability, anger, poor concentration, blank patches in memory and hypersensitivity to one’s surroundings.

Treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder includes psychological and medical treatment. Patients are made aware about PTSD, and taught their problem comes from trauma, and not physical or mental weakness. People are also taught to cope with PTSD and the related problems that come with it, like managing anger.

Recently, Yoga has also been found to help those suffering from PTSD. Yoga has great healing powers, and helps practitioners to get in touch with their inner feelings. Many people suffering from PTSD have been taughtHatha Yoga, and they claim that it helps them in feeling grounded, and accepting the present. The aim of yoga is to give the practitioner an awareness of his or her body and mind, and on the path to this awareness, one feels calmer and is more accepting of the past. Many people experience rushes of emotion during some yogic positions, and this may help cleanse the mental system. The good thing about yoga is that it has no negative effects, and when practiced under a good teacher, will always give positive benefits.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) And Symptoms

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) And Symptoms:

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is often seen in people who have been exposed to a severe trauma. PTSD is an anxiety disorder which may be caused when a person is exposed to a particularly traumatic event, especially one which causes serious loss. This incident could be somebody else’s death, severe threat to one’s life, serious physical injury, or an attack on physical or emotional integrity. PTSD is most commonly seen in soldiers who are returning from a war or tour of duty as well as in victims of rape and violent crimes. A large percentage of a country’s population may be suffering from PTSD after a war. It is estimated that 7%–8% of the American population suffers from PTSD.

PTSD is defined in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual – IV edition or DSM-IV. In the earlier editions, it was defined as being caused by a single traumatic event, but is now accepted to also be caused by recurring exposure to traumatic events, or repeated exposure to horrifying sights (like accidents or war), or sudden exposure to violent deaths.

PTSD symptoms can be classified into three different categories.

• Recurring episodes of re-experiencing the event that caused the trauma. For example, a person might have nightmares, troublesome memories or flashbacks caused by reminders of the events, or go thru episodes of reliving the event.
• The person may display avoidance to the extreme, where he or she may almost reach a point of having a phobia of places, people and experiences. This person may withdraw from daily life, and avoid all situations that remind him (or her) of the trauma. There may also be a general numbness of emotions, and he or she may display bipolar symptoms.
• Chronic signs of hyperarousal may also be seen. These include sleep problems like insomnia and night terrors, irritability, anger, poor concentration, blank patches in memory, and hypersensitivity to one’s surroundings.

PTSD treatment includes psychological therapies like Cognitive Therapy and Exposure Therapy. Medical treatment in the form of medication may also be used. Patients are made aware that they are suffering from PTSD, and explained that their problem comes from a traumatic experience, and not weakness. Patients are also trained to cope with the problems that PTSD brings, like anger and avoidance.

Alternative treatments can also be used to help with PTSD. Yoga has been found to benefit those suffering from this problem. This ancient Indian method of mental and physical exercise has great healing benefits. The aim of yoga is to bring together the mind, body and breath, and on this journey, bring people in touch with their inner feelings. Many sufferers have been taught yoga and report feeling much calmer, and are better able to accept the past. Yoga gives one an awareness of the body and mind, and has no negative benefits.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Diagnosis And Treatment

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Diagnosis And Treatment:

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD) is a kind of anxiety disorder which may develop on exposure to a traumatizing event which has caused physical losses. The trauma could be someone’s death, threat to life, severe physical injury, and threat to physical or emotional integrity. The history of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder starts with evidence of the disorder in war veterans and politicians. The term that is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder came in to being in the 1970s.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in children is caused by psychological trauma which can be due to witnessing or experiencing a physical threat, sexual abuse, or emotional stigma. The disorder in children is characterized by abnormal behavior with peers and guardians, an inability to talk and frequent sensation of ailments like headaches and stomachaches. Although Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is not a function of age, its effects can be horrendous in children.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder causes are as follows:

• The death or illness of loved ones.
• Being a victim of violence.
• Being a victim of natural disaster
• Wars or combat
• Violent crimes like a robbery.

Post Traumatic Stress symptoms include:

• Nightmares.
• Incidents of recalling past traumatizing incidents.
• Scary thoughts.
• Feeling of loneliness.
• Suicidal tendencies or resorting to violence.
• Angry outbursts.
• Sensation of guilt, feeling of being sad.
• Trying to avoid certain people and places.
• Inability to sleep peacefully. .

Post Traumatic Stress diagnosis includes the following steps:

• Identifying exposure to a trauma
• Frequent recurrence of the experience of traumatic events of past
• Avoidance of stimuli that caused the trauma
• Persistent incidents of arousal
• Impairment of various functionalities in social and occupational areas
• Persistence of these symptoms for more than a month.

The disorder might can be almost debilitating for many because of it’s disruptive nature that may hamper social integration and a variety of other activities. Prompt treatment is of the utmost importance as it can save the affected individual and their loved ones a lot of grief and misunderstanding. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder treatment involves:

Exposure Therapy: This therapy is based on the principle of classical conditioning as well as operant conditioning. This therapy reduces fear and anxiety using principles of habituation and cognitive dissonance.

Cognitive Therapy: This therapy helps the afflicted persons to overcome dysfunctional thinking, behavior and responses. This therapy helps the sufferers to identify distorted thinking and modify beliefs.

Medications: Medications include peroxetine, fluvoxamine, and sertraline.

Alternative therapies: Alternative therapies such as Yoga can also provide long term benefits in treating PSTD. Yoga directly affects the autonomous limbic system and can therefore, promote healing at a very elementary level.

The persistence of disease has grave consequences and as such, must be treated in a timely manner.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder And Treatments

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder And Treatments:

Obsessive compulsive disorder is an anxiety disorder symbolizing cognitive disorders. It is characterized by rampant unwanted thoughts or repetitive behavioral patterns. Repetitive behaviors are generally performed so as to avert the unwanted thoughts. For example, an obsessive compulsive disorder afflicted person may repeatedly wash hands or perform various cleaning tasks to avoid the risk of germs and diseases. Performance of such repetitive behaviors provides temporary relief and non performance of these activities leads to anxiety. The causes of obsessive compulsive disorder can be psychological or biological.

Obsessive compulsive disorder can afflict people of all ages but obsessive compulsive disorder in children is of particular concern as it can ruin their formative years and thereby lead to obsessive compulsive personality disorders later in life. If the ailment is diagnosed in early childhood, it is easier to cure the disorder, thereby ensuring that the child leads a normal life in adulthood.

Obsessive compulsive disorder symptoms include repetitive behavior which is more or less irrational and bordering on paranoia. Obsessive compulsive disorder symptoms are two-fold and would include two diagnostic parameters namely, Obsessions and Compulsions. These different lines of symptoms can be illustrated in detail as follows:

Obsessions:

• Recurrence and prevalence of unwanted thoughts or images that may lead to anxiety.
• These thoughts are not necessarily real life problems and worries.
• The afflicted individual tries to prevent anxiety caused by unwanted thoughts, by performing some kind of repetitive behavior.
• The afflicted people may recognize the fact that these thoughts are imaginary and not real.

Compulsions:

• These are the repetitive or compulsive behaviors that the sufferers of the disorder carry out in response to the unwanted thoughts.
• The afflicted individuals carry out compulsive or repetitive behaviors to suppress the effects of unwanted thoughts and to prevent anxiety.

Obsessive compulsive disorder treatment includes various therapies and medications. Each of these treatment methods can be explained as follows:

Behavioral Therapy: This therapy is bases on the principle of classical conditioning as well as operant conditioning. This therapy helps the patients helps identify environmental causes of their affliction.

Cognitive Therapy: This therapy helps the afflicted persons to overcome dysfunctional thinking, behavior, and responses. This therapy helps the sufferers to identify distorted thinking and modify beliefs.

Complementary Therapy: Yoga can be used as a complementary therapy in the treatment of such disorders. In particular, the meditation techniques practiced in yoga help to focus the mind and enable the patient to identify and control their obsessions and compulsions.

Medications: Medications include peroxetine, fluvoxamine, and sertraline.

Obsessive compulsive disorder is a grave ailment that may ruin your ability to think and comprehend logically and as such, must be diagnosed and treated promptly.