Chasing Good Health

7 Important Tips for Yoga Success Yoga has been proven to relieve stress by using exercises that unify the mind, body, and spirit. If you are new to yoga, these seven tips will start you on the road to a more centered life. 1. Talk to your doctor and explain what type of yoga poses you intend to practice. Show your doctor pictures of the poses for illustration. Your doctor may rule out specific poses if you have high blood pressure, glaucoma, a history of retinal detachment,... or heart disease. Make sure you follow your doctor’s recommendations. 2. Find a yoga class that best fits your abilities. Talk to prospective teachers, and decide whether of not you can handle a program before you sign up. It’s very important to take it one step at a time. Try a few beginner classes before you attempt more vigerous classes. Don’t move ahead too quickly. Allow your body to adjust to your exercises. 3. Listen to your body and be aware of your physical abilities. You don't want to hurt yourself. Make sure the instructor understands your level of experience and any limitations you may have. Don’t allow anyone to push you ahead too quickly. Remember, this is supposed to be fun and relaxing. 4. If you can’t find a class that meets your needs, you can always practice yoga at home. There are many books, programs, and tapes available to help you get started. Search for the best products on the Internet and read reviews. Talk to others for recommenations. 5. Why not try private lessons? You can book some one-on-one sessions with a teacher in your area. Most yoga instructors offer private classes or can help you design your own program. This is a good way to get started. You can always take group lessons or practice at home after you’ve had private lessons and learned the basics. 6. Find a yoga buddy. It’s nice to practice with someone and it will help reduce injuries. It’s also a great way to keep up your enthusiasm and interest. 7. Eat lightly before practice. Wait at least two hours after meals before yoga class or practice. An empty stomach is best, but don’t let yourself get too hungry to think. You won't be able to focus on the poses or enjoy yourself during the relaxation or meditation exercises. Now it's time to grab your mat and a towel and get the most out of your yoga exercises.

Enjoying Your Weight Loss Brain cells come and brain cells go, but fat cells live forever. - Anonymous... Weight loss doesn't have to be something that you dread every day of the week. You should be eating good healthy food that doesn't leave you feeling starved although initially you might feel that way as you change from the bulk poor quality food that you've been eating to smaller portions of better quality food. It can take time to your body to adjust and one of the best ways to help out in this situation is to drink more water. Most people realize that exercise is one of the best ways of losing weight although there are a lot of people who are reluctant to exercise for one reason or another. For those people who are obese it can be quite difficult to exercise although there are forms of exercise their can cater to virtually anybody. Swimming biking and walking are three very good low impact forms of exercise that can improve your fitness and reduce your body weight. They can speed up your metabolism and help you to burn fat and swimming in particular is very good for people who are overweight to the extent that they find walking difficult. Recently Nordic walking has become a lot more popular and this is a particularly good form of exercise for two reasons. Firstly by using the poles when you are walking you are using a lot more of your upper body muscles for the exercise and in doing so this helps to burn more calories than walking without them. The other benefit of using the poles when walking is the fact that it takes a lot of the stress off your knees and hips and this can be a godsend for oversized people who find that their joints take quite a hammering when walking due to their weight. Is no wonder that Nordic walking is becoming one of the most popular forms of exercise throughout the country.

Complete Home Gym I feel that the greatest reward for doing is the opportunity to do more. - Dr. Jonas Salk... We are used to the convenience of having everything at our fingertips these days, from meals on demand to all the gadgets in the house that make life easier for us. It is no different with exercise where people are realizing the benefits of having a complete gym readily available in the home. Without the need to get in the car and drive down the road to the local gym, and wait in line while someone else is using the equipment that we want to use, it becomes so much easier to exercise when we want. The best thing about the latest home gym equipment, is the fact that the complete home gyms offer all of the same opportunities to workout as a membership to a top gym. Multi station gyms have the ability to work every muscle of your body and the equipment is built to the same high standards as commercial gym gear. Increased demand from private buyers has seen the prices fall and now it becomes a decision of economics whether you want to continue paying for monthly or yearly gym fees or own the equipment yourself. If by chance you decide to no longer exercise you still have an asset that you can sell. As there are so many variations of equipment in the market you need to consider what your goal is, and if you have a family you might need to consider what their fitness goals are also as all members of the family can take advantage of having a gym in the house. Some home gyms are focused more towards specific areas of fitness but generally the premium home gyms will target all areas of the body allowing for a complete fitness training facility that can be stored in a small room or a corner of a garage. Many of the more popular all in one gyms are advertised on television and they are available at the on line fitness stores for very reasonable prices depending on the attachments you decide to buy. You will be sure to find something that will fit your requirements.

Time to Separate Your Emotions "I don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions> I want to use them, to enjoy them, and dominate them." Oscar Wilder It’s not possible to be entirely emotionless. Emotion drives you to action. But there comes a time when emotion is not as helpful. Sometimes, you have to turn the emotion off and push through to success. When will you know the difference? It comes down to personal assessment. Are the emotions you’re feeling right now helping you... or holding you back? Learn how to take control of your emotions to turn them into positive energy you can use to move forward with your goals. If your emotions are holding you back, time to switch strategies. Successful people know how to separate facts and best practices from their emotions. They know how to make decisions the right way. I’ve found that simply paying attention to your emotions and how you feel is very helpful. Many of us operate on emotion every day without being mindful that we’re doing it. You have to train yourself to be more aware so you can take control. See more

Everything In Moderation The commonest form of malnutrition in the western world is obesity. - Mervyn Deitel... How many times have you heard that statement? The best results are always when anything is done in moderation. You gain body fat because you weren't eating or drinking in moderation so in order to reverse that situation you also need to plan your weight loss programs so that eating or exercising that is involved with that program is also done in moderation. Excessive exercising for somebody who hasn't done much in the past can result in injury and that injury can make you less mobile and increase the opportunity to gain body fat. Sudden changes in diet will send the body into reactionary mode storing fat. Gradual changes to your diet on the other hand done in moderation will not send signals to the body that is a starving and in fact you won't feel as though you are starving either if you do it in moderation. Making moderate changes to your food and exercise won't infringe on your lifestyle anywhere near as much and that will in effect make it a lot easier for you to maintain the changes for a lot longer until they become second nature. This is when you will get to the stage where you can gradually keep reducing the body fat and become healthier and healthier and more energetic as time goes on. Even your intake or water has to be in moderation because drinking excessive water can flush out important nutrients from your system doing more harm than good. You are better drinking a glass of water here and there throughout the day rather than trying to drink gallons of water in the hope that it will help you to lose weight faster. Even good foods need to be eaten in moderation as excessive quantities of these foods can still cause the body to store them as fat. It's a simple rule to follow really; if you are eating drinking or exercising too much or too little you are unlikely to get optimum results.

Resistance Training Benefits I still need more healthy rest in order to work at my best. My health is the main capital I have and I want to administer it intelligently. - Ernest Hemingway... Resistance training involves the use of free weights and/or machines to stimulate muscle growth and also to help burn fat. Muscles burn fat, so it goes without saying that the bigger your muscles the more fat they are going to burn. Not only will you build a stronger fitter body from resistance training but you will also help your body to become leaner at the same time. For beginners, it can be sufficient to use your body weight with exercises that use neither weights nor machines. This is the best way to start to ensure you don't get injured or over load muscles that haven't had much physical exercise for a period of time. Usually, beginners will progress relatively fast and it won't take long to begin using more and more resistance. This initial burst of progress encourages many people and this can drive people on to adding more resistance training or more weights to their training. There is a need to ensure that the body is recovering enough between periods of exercise or there can be a tendency to over train and actually do more harm than good. Most professional sports people use resistance training in some form or another, as any strengthening of muscle groups will assist in their performance. The fact that resistance training also has a big influence on the burning of body fat has seen many weight loss programs add this to their regime. It is no longer the domain of the bodybuilders alone. People of all ages are sculpting their bodies faster than ever with resistance training. There are some excellent home gyms available now that work all muscle groups of the body and the convenience of having this equipment in the home makes it all the easier to train and maintain your body.