What is Better, Yoga Or Pilates?

Yoga and pilates are two totally different concepts but are regularly grouped together as a wellness or rehabilitation exercise. If you can't decide which discipline is best suited for your needs and goals, read my pro and cons list to help you choose the best option.

Yoga Pros:

-Has existed for 2000 years. It's tried and true!

-Offers many varied disciplines. Hatha is more relaxing while Ashtanga is very hard.

-Requires very little or no equipment.

-Improves flexibility and decreases stress.

-Great for muscle toning, core strength, cardio, relaxation and meditation. A total package!

Cons:

-Some types of yoga (specifically Ashtanga and Bikram) are not good for beginners, people with existing injury, heart problems and obese persons.

-Some poses are hard on the joints.

-Inflexibility will be an obstacle for most types of yoga.

-Although yoga can be great for preventing low back pain it is not a rehabilitative exercise.

Pilates Pros:

-Developed as a rehabilitation exercise for World War 1 Veterans.

-Strengthens the core and other muscle groups more gently than strength training.

-Teaches body awareness and correct breathing techniques.

-Variety in classes, equipment and levels.

Cons:

-Most pilates exercises require equipment. This can be as simple as a foam roller to as big as a reformer. If you choose pilates as your main form of fitness, be prepared to invest money or go to classes as your primary method of practicing.

-Not a good cardio workout.

-If you have a background with weight training, you may find pilates too easy.

-Not recommended for advanced exercisers looking to lose weight or build muscle.

With a few pros and cons in each category you can see that yoga is best suited for people that want a hard workout, relaxation and even some spiritual elements incorporated in to their workouts. Pilates is fantastic for the older population, rehabilitation and injury prevention/recovery.

If you are still not sure, try a class of each. Most studios have a drop in rate or will even give you a free class so you can determine if it's right for you. Alternately hire a personal trainer that is certified in both, to show you a few exercises from each, and explain the concepts more thoroughly.

Both Yoga and pilates have their strong points. While they are very different, both offer wellness and better health. Try them out as a supplement to your existing weight and cardio program, or if you have not been exercising due to illness or injury but would like to get in shape.

Kaleena Lawless
Personal Training Specialist
kalisthenixfitnessblog.com kalisthenixfitnessblog.com

Meditation Technique: The Basics Of Good Meditation Practice

Meditation is a conscious mental state where our body and mind are purposefully focused and relaxed. Expert meditators swear that doing it regularly, using the right meditation technique, leads to a higher state of consciousness. They say meditation gives you better focus,sharper concentration, and increased awareness, plus a healthier positive outlook.

You don't have to be mystic, or a 'guru' to enjoy the acclaimed benefits of meditation and you can literally meditate anywhere, but preferably where you don't have to concentrate on driving a car or machinery.

Meditation has many different disciplines and approaches, but the basic fundamentals remain common to all. The ultimate focus is getting rid of negative, wandering, and obstructive thoughts by disciplining the mind to become accustomed to a higher plane of activity. Meditation seeks to get rid of the the 'flak' and 'junk' that fills your mind, replacing it with more meaningful ideas and thoughts.

Reigning in the mind through meditation, seeks to tune your thoughts to a better purpose; to clean it of rubbish and self-defeating thinking.

One school of meditation requires the removal of all outside sensory stimulation so that exterioir noises and sights are phased out.

Other meditators deliberately focus their mind on some meaningful and important thought. This is not easy because we are all very accustomed to sensory overload in our daily lives. The paradox is that by settling the mind and training it through meditation, practitioners become much more aware of what's going on around them.

Traditionally, we are familiar with mystics contorting themselves into all sorts of weird positions when they meditate, but rather than jumping in to try yoga meditation, those starting out should simply find a comfortable position to calm the body and the mind. You could lie down, sit cross legged, or even be walking as you meditate; anything that induces an atmosphere where you can both relax and concentrate.

Ensure that your back is straight and that your muscles are not tense or uncomfortable. But, don't become so relaxed that you fall asleep, because this is a different mind state.

You should dress in very loose, comfortable, baggy clothing that does not constrict you in any way. Many expert meditators barely cover themselves at all; maybe just with a loin cloth.

The environment for your meditation should also be peaceful, pleasant, soothing and relaxing. It could be your favourite room in the house, or in your garden, or even in a warm bath.

Should you be a bit more advanced in your meditation journey, you could consider using an exercise mat. Some people even have a favourite meditation chair. Try some of the challenging positions you might have learned from your yoga or even Pilates class. But, don't be too hard on yourself. Practice easy positions first and build your meditation approach as you become more confident.

Some people prefer a silent atmosphere when meditating; others like some appropriate relaxing meditation music or recorded natural sounds, like whales singing, birds quitely chirping or water flowing. There are even good recorded guided medition CDs you can use to enhace your practice.

You might also like to have some pleasant incense burning, or even some nice smelling candles, to add to your peaceful meditation environment.

You will need to get instruction about this, but one school of meditation involves chanting, or humming what sounds like a monotonous noise. This is actually a mantra which has a mystic value to the person using it. Meditation chanting is a more advanced technique.

Breathing is an important part of meditation. Yoga teaches us to breath in through our nose to the count of five, then out through our mouth, to the countr of 10. You can use this tecnique to become calm in stressful situations.

The whole purpose of all these techniques; breathing, chanting, relaxing; is to focus and discipline the mind. Another meditation technique is to singularly focus on a particular object or idea.

A good meditation technique is to calm your mind and then to quietly, without speaking, only thinking it, name each part of your body, progressively focussing your consciousness on them in succession. You'll find it works very well to mentally visualise each body part as becoming completely relaxed, and without any tension. Some people visualise the tension flowing out of them like a soft flowing stream.

IF you are interested in taking up meditation, it's definitely worth getting some lessons from the experts. Researchers have discovered that meditation has a beneficial impact on the mind and body, but it takes practice.

Even medical doctors are coming around to the view that a healthy mind leads to a healthy body. Meditation, or disciplined relaxation of the mind, has spin-off benefits to the body's biochemical processes and organ health.

After all, practitioners have been advocating meditation for many thousands of years and, in today's frenetic world, deliberate and regular 'calming of the mind', through meditation, should be a daily practice for better mental and physical health.

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Ross Storey, CEO of StoreyWorks International – [aokhypnosis.com] - is an experienced public relations consultant, communications strategist, publisher, editor and writer with a career-long fascination with psychology, meditation and hypnosis. Please feel free to re-publish this article so long as you include this resource box.

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How to Create a Motivational Environment For Sales Success

The world of sales is perceived to be extremely stressful and competitive. There is pressure to perform on a regular basis - every week, every month, every quarter. Whether you are a sales manager or the CSO - Chief Sales Officer you must have felt the pressure. Some people thrive under pressure and give their best. There are many that crumble under pressure. Their performance dips, self esteem takes a beating, and they become clueless about the solution. It is an avoidable situation if the sales team leader knows how to keep the morale of the team high. Motivation is the keyword to deal with such situations. "Lack of motivation may result in foot dragging, passivity, feigned acceptance, hidden sabotage or outright rejection in the implementation and use of new knowledge," opines Gabriel Szulanski, assistant professor of management at Wharton. The same applies to the implementation of existing knowledge and over-all performance.

Inspire and Motivate Through Setting Examples Personally

It is the responsibility of the sales team leader to motivate the team not by mere talk but by action whenever the situation demands. As a leader the best way to motivate a team of sales people is to do the difficult thing yourself. You lead from the front and automatically the team gets inspired and vows to perform better. A leader should show the way and motivate others. He cannot safely sit in the office, shuttle form meeting to meeting, and bark orders. Like a brave captain he has to stand first in the line of fire and battle. He has to go out and demonstrate that it can be done.

The leader should demonstrate courage, skill, and results in sales. Just one or two real examples in difficult times would suffice. The sales team members may be discouraged by tough market conditions or higher sales targets. If the leader shows them that it can be done they will give their best to do it. If the leader fails to lead from the front the team members will not show faith in the leadership and will not be motivated to perform.

Be Judicious in Offering Incentives and Perks

Google has set the trend as far as motivating its employees is concerned by way of offering many comforts. The provision of gourmet breakfast, lunch, and dinner, a fitness center opened 24 hrs, yoga classes, in-house doctor, nutritionists, dry cleaners, availability of a personal trainer, the swimming pool and the spa, and high-tech buses with WI-FI access for commuting to work have earned it the reputation of having a creative and fun working atmosphere. These facilities are meant for all the employees of Google. Perks are only a part of the package. The whole package includes a good salary and well structured incentives. All these largesse make Google the best place in America to work for, according to a recent Fortune magazine report.

David Sirota, co-author of The Enthusiastic Employee: How Companies Profit by Giving Workers What They Want, concludes from the study conducted by his firm that employees are not valued in far too many companies and are "treated like paper clips." These companies pay a heavy price for treating them that way. Typically the morale of a new employee remains high for as little as six months, and after that the level of morale can nosedive precipitously if employees feel unvalued.

An unfair compensation policy is perceived as being disrespectful and callous towards the employees. This soon leads to a lack of motivation. It is nice to feel valued. Sales people that are hard workers should be compensated well by way of adequate salaries and incentives. The incentive structure should be so designed that there are no reasons for complaints from the sales team.

Know Your Team Well

Oftentimes good sales performers pass though tough phases in their careers and lives. New comers to the team also may be at a loss to find their footing in the team. At such crucial junctures they need some mentoring and counseling. A leader should know each and every member of his team thoroughly. He should know what the motivational triggers are for each person of the team. He must find out what problem ails a sales person and fix the problem. He should listen to the troubled sales person patiently as he may have a genuine concern. As a friend, philosopher, and mentor he can help them bounce back to good form.

Praise Openly and Criticize Privately

Another mantra for creating a light and cheerful atmosphere in the sales department is to praise achievements openly and criticize failures privately, in a one-on-one conversation. The criticism should be constructive and shouldn't be too strong.

Hire Humorous Motivational Speakers from Time-to-Time

Yes, do that. They are the masters at diffusing tension. They are the gurus of motivation. They will motivate you and help you out of the rut with humor. When you have tried everything and failed remember these people can transform your dull and drab sales environment in to vibrant ones with their expertise.

Doug Dvorak is the CEO of DMG Inc., a worldwide organization that assists clients with productivity training, corporate humor and workshops, as well as other aspects of sales and marketing management. Mr. Dvorak's clients are characterized as Fortune 1000 companies, small to medium businesses, civic organizations and service businesses. Mr. Dvorak has earned an international reputation for his powerful educational methods and motivational techniques, as well as his experience in all levels of business, corporate education and success training. dougdvorak.com dougdvorak.com

Benefits of Regular Yoga Workouts

Although it's been around for thousands of years, yoga has only been practiced in the western world for a few decades. Modern medicine is proving that it does have the health benefits that traditional yogis and the ancient texts always claimed it has. Here are just a few of the benefits you can expect to receive from regular yoga workouts:

Flexibility: Holding a series of yoga poses in a controlled, methodical way really works your muscles. The result is that your muscles lengthen, and become more flexible. As you hold a pose, you are instructed to breathe, causing you to concentrate on your breath. As a result, your muscles work harder to maintain the pose while your attention is elsewhere.

Strength: The act of holding your body in an unnatural position, or pose, causes your muscles to work in ways that they are not familiar with. This is the very essence of strength training: Working muscles harder, and in different ways, causing them to tear. It is when they heal from this tearing that they grow stronger. Yoga accomplishes this strengthening of the muscles without the use of weights, using only gravity and your own body weight as resistance.

Less Stress: Yoga is very much a discipline that combines the body and spirit. You cannot work the body without also exercising the inner self, the spirit. Yoga participants report experiencing or perceiving much less stress in their lives after participating in yoga classes. The act of coordinating controlled body movements with controlled breathing integrates the body and spirit, causing a union of the two that promotes calmness and inner peace, two enemies of stress.

Improved Mood: Participants in yoga classes report a much improved outlook on life in general. Some participants have experienced improved moods that have been likened to the effect of an antidepressant. Yoga clears the mind and body of negative, unhealthy thoughts. The concentration is on flowing movement, accompanied by controlled breathing.

Pain Relief: Studies have shown regular yoga workouts help with chronic pain relief, especially pain associated with fibromyalgia. Subjects showed a decreased perception of pain, along with an increased desire to participate in everyday activities. They also reported an improvement in their ability to cope with setbacks, especially those related to their disease. Yoga workouts show promise in the management of other types of chronic pain, although more studies are needed.

Better Sleep: There's no question about it, doing regular yoga workouts helps you sleep better. Studies have shown that participants experienced better quality of sleep, the ability to fall asleep faster, and to sleep longer once they did fall asleep. The results were similar to results gleaned from the use of sleep-inducing drugs, which shows promise in the management of sleep-related disorders without using drugs.

Copyright Sharon Sweeny, 2011

Sharon Sweeny is a writer trying to get into better physical shape by doing a daily workout 365 days in a row. Follow her progress daily on her blog at edailyworkout.com edailyworkout.com.

Yoga Teacher Ethics - How Much Emphasis Should Be Placed on Them?

Why is there a code of ethical conduct for Yoga teachers? There is a balancing act between integrity and power. Whether we like it, or not, the position of teacher, in any subject, is a position of power. At the same time, Yoga teachers must establish an environment of mutual trust.

This should be easy enough on the surface, but Yoga instructors are only human. In the words of Lord Acton, "All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority."

Power can have a narcotic effect, especially if we begin to believe those who praise us. There is nothing wrong with a positive self-image, as long as it is based on reality. The problems with power stem from situations where one cannot keep his or her ego "in check."

The ego is intoxicated by power. No matter who we are, all of us have a trace of ego. As a Yoga teacher, one is supposed to have developed enough inner awareness to see his or her own weaknesses. Yet, everyone loves to hear praise, receive recognition, and listen to the approval of those around them.

The fact is - every teacher needs a reality check. If a student gives you a compliment, that is a good thing, but put everything in its proper perspective. Almost every teacher has met a student who did not approve of him or her. In this case, should a Yoga teacher respond in kind?

I ask this because we are trained to repel negative energy without violence or anger, but most of us are not trained to handle an over abundance of positive energy, in the form of affection.

As a teacher of Yoga, you are a leader within your classroom environment. To maintain an air of tranquility with your students, and everyone else you meet in life, you should have a balanced approach to all relationships.

In the words of Mohandas Gandhi, "I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people." To get along with people, we cannot spend our time worrying about love and hate relationships with our students.

Instead, create a state of inner harmony, so that you are mentally balanced when you encounter the complex emotions of others. No one expects you to be super human, but we all know the guidelines of ahimsa (non-harming). This one guideline tells us to avoid harming others. Consider ahimsa in your classes and outside them, as well.

© Copyright 2008 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, has written many books on the subject of Yoga. He is a co-owner and the Director of Yoga Teacher Training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA.

aurawellnesscenter.com aurawellnesscenter.com

He has been a certified Master Yoga Teacher since 1995. To receive Free Yoga videos, Podcasts, e-Books, reports, and articles about Yoga, please visit: yoga-teacher-training.org/member-offer.html yoga-teacher-training.org/member-offer.html

Exercises For Ripped Abs

Doing different exercises for ripped abs has always been the goal of those "ripped ab" enthusiasts. When we envision ripped abs, we get a symbol of health, fitness, strength and attraction. There are many exercises for getting ripped abs, but we should also take into consideration dietary factors, resistance and interval training, as well as reducing our stress levels.

When doing exercises for ripped abs, we need to focus on exercises that reduce our overall body fat. When we reduce our body fat, our abdominal muscles will be more visible and appear ripped.

The dietary factors that we need to consider to add to our exercises for ripped abs consist of consuming high quality foods, that are rich in vitamins and minerals. We should eat 5-6 meals per day and each meal should be a well-balanced selection of proteins, carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables and fats. We should avoid carbohydrates like white sugar and white flour. We should always look for healthy alternatives in our diet and try not to fall for the fad diets. By eating several small meals per day, we maintain our energy levels throughout the day and help optimize our workouts to burn fat.

Resistance training and interval training are exercises that have been very effective in getting ripped abs. Both types of training increases lean body mass, which enables our bodies to utilize the energy need from the fat that is accumulated in the abdomen. The increased metabolism has also been effective in burning fat, well after the training session.

Exercises that involve interval training that have direct effects on getting ripped abs are exercises like: wind sprints, speed rope jumping, swimming sprints, hill sprints and speed rope jumping. Equipment like treadmills, stair climbers and rowing machines can also be used to do interval training.

Resistance training also adds to the ripped abs in that it helps support the abs as well as increases the ripped abs aesthetic appearance. To effectively train with resistance for ripped abs, multi-joint exercises should be utilized to help burn our overall fat. By focusing on repetitions of 8 per exercise, we can really boost our metabolism.

Multi-joint exercises that add to getting ripped abs are squats, lunges, step-ups, rows, deadlifts and chin-ups.

Both interval and resistance training are an array of exercises for ripped abs. By increasing our muscles to grow and function more efficiently, we increase our metabolic activity in our bodies. As a result, our bodies become more efficient at burning the fat to get ripped abs.

The overall reduction of stress is also another important factor we need to consider when doing exercises for ripped abs. Stress in our bodies increases a hormone called Cortisol, which increases fat storage in the abdomen.

Stress management exercises for ripped abs include: tai chi, meditation, yoga and deep breathing.

When utilizing the exercises for ripped abs and incorporating proper dieting, interval and resistance training and stress reduction, we can definitely achieve the ripped abs that we strive for. When we have our ripped abs, it will affect all other aspects of our lives, how we look at ourselves and how healthy and strong we will feel.

If you want to burn fat and fix joints the right way, please visit abstrengthguide.com abstrengthguide.com

How Does Restorative Yoga Differ From Traditional Yoga?

The intention of restorative yoga is to relax the body and mind. The body is supported by props while assuming various yoga positions. The practice is often used by those recovering from illness or injury, and may also be used by individuals when they feel weak, fatigued and stressed. The muscles do not stretch and strain to assume and hold positions with restorative yoga, but are able to relax in each yoga pose. Some refer to restorative yoga as 'active relaxation'. Other forms of yoga may require stretching and straining.

Props are used to support the body in restorative yoga. Various restorative yoga poses are practiced. Some have an overall benefit on the body, while others are intended to stimulate certain areas to reduce the effects of stress on the body as a whole or a specific area of the body.

Restorative yoga has been used to improve fertility by many individuals. Of course, couples experiencing infertility are encouraged to speak with a fertility doctor to determine the cause of the condition. There may be several reasons for infertility that may not be treated with restorative yoga or other alternative methods.

In some cases, a couple's best option is certain fertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization or intrauterine insemination. However, alternative treatments such as yoga and fertility massage may be used in conjunction with these fertility treatments to help promote fertility.

Stress may be a major inhibitor to one's fertility. In some cases, a couple's desire to get pregnant can be so strong that it actually stresses them out to the point that the stress is detrimental to their ultimate goal. Relaxing may have a profound effect on one's ability to conceive.

Certain yoga poses may be effective in stimulating reproductive organs, relieving stress and helping couples improve their chances of conception. Bridge pose and supported headstand may be effective in stimulating the hormones, while child's pose and seated forward bend may be good options for rejuvenating the body. Lotus pose and reclining hero pose stimulate and relax abdominal and reproductive areas.

A yoga instructor familiar with restorative-yoga for fertility is the best resource for further information. A trained fertility doctor is also a good resource for further information. Also be sure to talk to the doctor about the possible stressors in your life and other ways you may relieve stress to improve fertility.

Justin regularly exercises, eats natural foods, and uses alternative remedies. domarcenter.com/services/yoga.html Restorative Yoga is a specialized form of yoga for mind and body therapy, harmony, with all postures done lying on your back which is excellent for pregnant women. Register for a session or call for a consultation by visiting domarcenter.com domarcenter.com on acupuncture, mind and body workshops and special offers "before they are gone!"

Can I Get a Photographic Memory?

You've heard the stories about people who are able to read a piece of text just once, and remember all of it perfectly. Are those people born with special abilities, or can anyone get a photographic memory by taking specialized courses and training? There is no evidence that such a phenomenon even exists, and most psychology experts agree that it is a myth. There is certainly no doubt that some people have extraordinary abilities to memorize information, but the term "photographic memory" in the true sense of the word may just be impossible.

There is a term known as eidetic memory, which is the closest thing to photographic that researchers have been able to agree actually exists. People with eidetic memories are able to view an image, then recall vivid details about that image when it is taken away. The person's memory of the image is quite impressive and extraordinary, but the problem lies with the fact that it fades over a short amount of time. This ability seems to be more common with children, and often is lost or degraded as years go by.

So, now that we know it's not realistic to try to train to get a photographic memory, we can set goals that we are able to attain. The truth is that anyone can improve their memory, and even to quite remarkable levels. There is no magic formula to attaining the goal of improving your memory, but by taking a few specific steps, you can be well on your way to a more powerful mind.

One of the first things you must realize is that there are barriers to your memory in the form of distractions, such as noise and stress. Making an effort to eliminate or reduce these distractions can have a profound effect on your ability to remember important information. Learning a mind calming technique such as yoga or meditation is a highly effective way to start overcoming these roadblocks.

Another recommendation for individuals who wish to improve their memory is to give the brain the proper amount of exercise. Just like the rest of the human body, the brain needs to be exercised to remain in top working order. A great way to go about this is by keeping the brain active with games, activities, and hobbies. You can try learning a foreign language, which is actually one of the most effective ways to give the brain a work out. It's something that anyone can do, and only 30-45 minutes per day of study is needed to see great results.

Crossword puzzles, Sudoku, and Scrabble are all fun activities you can try that will be beneficial to the brain. Try to talk a friend or relative into playing chess or checkers with you. The strategy involved in these types of games require use of regions of the brain that aren't regularly tasked by many individuals. Additionally, it's a fun way to interact with other people, which has been proven to reduce stress, and increase overall happiness and personal satisfaction.

These are just a few basic actions that anyone can take to improve the power of their memory, but they are easy to try, and results are soon to follow. Although most people can't train themselves to get a photographic memory, they can certainly train their brain to improve memory power.

Timothy Romano is a memory expert. For more information on how to secretstoimprovememory.com/improve-your-memory-information get a photographic memory, visit secretstoimprovememory.com secretstoimprovememory.com.

Yoga Instructor Certification Courses: How Important is a 200 Hour Certification for Yoga Teachers?

When choosing a Yoga instructor program, you have to determine what it is that you want to get out of it. Do you want a comprehensive Yoga instructor's course or a quick Yoga instructor diploma to teach Yoga classes?

Are you looking for continuing education credits for the Yoga Alliance -The Yoga Register, British Wheel of Yoga, The International Yoga Federation, or another registry of Yoga teachers? Do you want to enhance your knowledge and teach Yoga to your friends?

It is really all about evaluating what your primary motive is to teach Yoga. You should be aware that many places, which hire Yoga instructors, are requiring a Yoga teacher's diploma from a 200 hour certification course.

The Yoga 200 hour certification for happinesslifetime.com Yoga instructor training has become a "bare minimum" standard for teaching Yoga. What is the reason for this? In a nutshell, it is liability. Liability has become a potential issue in every field, including fitness, weight loss, health, wellness, and Yoga.

Therefore, a Yoga teacher's diploma from a 200 hour certification course; would be a prudent first step. A liability insurance policy for Yoga instructors would also be a wise precaution. Injuries in Yoga class are very rare.

However, injuries can occur when a Yoga student has been inactive and develops the impulse to jump into a vigorous Yoga class. Yoga instructors should speak with potential students prior to their participation in a first class.

In this way, Yoga teachers will be aware of pre-existing conditions, within their students. Yoga teachers should establish communication at the initial meeting with any potential Yoga student. If a Yoga instructor course does not cover communication, contraindications, modifications, and some assisting, what good is it?

This is why a Yoga instructor's diploma from a 200 hour certification course has become the minimum International hiring requirement for Yoga studios. Regardless of how you choose your certification course, for teacher training in Yoga, you want to be prepared for a variety of circumstances.

Hatha happinesslifetime.com Yoga certification home study has become popular with many interns, who have family and work obligations. Some interns have expenses at home and do not have the luxury of $10,000 in spare cash to spend on a certification for teaching Yoga.

This is fine, but make sure the course is a 200 Hour Certification for Yoga teachers, and you will receive a diploma to teach upon successful graduation.

There are continuing education certificates for Yoga instructors, which are for short courses. These make beautiful "wall paper," for established Yoga teachers, but these are not Level 1 happinesslifetime.com Yoga instructor certifications, which should state that you participated in a minimum 200 hour program.

© Copyright 2006 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA. riyoga.com riyoga.com He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. To receive a Free e-Book: "Yoga in Practice," and a Free Yoga Newsletter, please visit: yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

Six Reasons Why Online Yoga Teacher Certification Makes Sense

Whether you need non-contact continuing education credits, or you are seeking your first Yoga teacher training diploma, online courses have many positive advantages. It is true that not all online Yoga teacher education is equal, but there are some easy ways to tell who is genuine and who is not.

Is the online training course written, designed, and graded by Yoga teachers? This may sound curious, but some courses are not designed by Yoga instructors. Is the course recognized by an accrediting body? Research the course and the school before you make a decision.

One more point to consider: Does the certifying institution focus on creating Yoga courses or do they have diplomas for gun smiths, dog grooming, computer programming, and appliance repair? You should consider a school that exclusively educates Yoga teachers.

Yoga is a very large topic, and it cannot be brushed over in a single course. Continuing education is an accepted part of Yoga instructor training. With this in mind, please consider the following benefits of online education for Yoga instructors.

1. Going Green: Traveling hundreds or thousands of miles by car, boat, jet, train, or bus takes a toll on the environment. If you are planning a vacation, and have no obligations to your children, you could create a Yoga training vacation. However, if the sole purpose is to become a certified Yoga teacher, long-distance travel is contributing toward air pollution.

2. Time: Each day, something or someone demands your time. If you ask your employer for a month off to attend an intensive training for Yoga instructors, will she or he understand? Holding onto a job is essential to survival and onsite training may not be an option.

3. Accessibility: You can communicate with your tutor at any time. Email and telephone support is a big help. However, forums and online chats with graduates, interns, and teachers is a big plus. This allows you interaction with like-minded people from every part of the world.

4. Documentation: Your Email conversations can be recorded in your files. It is not that easy to compile your notes in an in-person Yoga training intensive. In fact, some face-to-face trainings demand that you not have a lap top or recording device, because it is not considered "traditional."

5. Cost: An on-site Yoga certification course can cost thousands of dollars or more. Yoga teacher training, by correspondence or online, will cost you hundreds. In a nutshell, distance learning for Yoga teachers is expensive when you train in person.

6. Flexibility: For Yoga teachers pursuing non-contact continuing education credits, shutting down the studio for a month may not be a viable option. For prospective teachers - telling your family and job to stay on hold for a month is not realistic. Training by correspondence, online, or a combination of the two, gives you plenty of flexibility in your schedule.

© Copyright 2009 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, has written many books on the subject of Yoga. He is a co-owner and the Director of yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html Yoga Teacher Training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA. He has been a certified Master Yoga Teacher since 1995. To receive Free Yoga videos, Podcasts, e-Books, reports, and articles about Yoga, please visit: yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

Flexible Strength - 7 Ideas for a Youthful Body and Mind

A flexible body and a flexible mind are traits associated with youth and vitality. In contrast, an inflexible body and inflexible mind are associated with aging, such as the cliche you can't teach an old dog new tricks, referring to the inflexible thinking sometimes associated with advanced age.

Dance and yoga are ancient and proven practices that enhance stamina and flexibility of both body and mind. Exercising with weights to build muscle and reduce fat also is an effective and healthful practice for maintaining a youthful appearance.

However, flexibility is an important component of strength that is sometimes overlooked. Without flexibility, even a strong person would not be able to perform simple tasks like kneeling in a garden, squatting to pet a dog, going on tiptoe to reach a high shelf in the kitchen, or bending over to touch their toes.

A case history:

A belly dancer with weight loss goals hired a personal trainer. He coached her very effectively in exercise to develop her muscles and burn fat. While this resulted in a beautifully toned body, the training also resulted in abdominal muscles which were so tight that she could no longer roll her belly and perform the snakelike undulations of her art. This was an appalling discovery for her. When she looked in the mirror at the gym and exclaimed, Look how tight my abs are, they won't move!" her trainer beamed with pride. The training resulted in difficulty for her dance career, and months of retraining to get back her flexibility.

Flexible mind, flexible body

Many body-mind experts believe that developing a flexible body helps to develop a flexible mind (and vice-versa). They believe that when the body learns how to be flexible, that the mind also becomes more flexible and creative, open to news ways of solving problems and enhancing creativity. This helps maintain a youthful body and a youthful attitude.

Stiffness of the mind is sometimes reflected in the body, such as in the case of a dance coach who is challenged with stiffness in her legs and torso: her attitude towards coaching and mentoring students is correspondingly stiff. She will not deviate from her predetermined lesson plan to accommodate the needs and abilities of her students.

Creative thinking and flexibility with solving problems is especially important in today's world of constantly changing technology and work environments, where we are required to adapt many times during a career. Working with people has always required flexibility, since everyone is unique.

The modern workplace often requires learning new computer skills and adapting to ever-changing technology in order to be successful. Today's challenging workplace sometimes requires a person to change careers (not only jobs) several times. This requires mental strength, flexibility, and openness to learning. A group of people over age 100 said in interviews that they believed their ability to adapt to changing circumstances by letting go ot the past and effectively adapting to change contributed to their longevity.

If there is one certainty in life, it is that circumstances will change. Healthy flexibility in mind and body help us deal effectively with changes in the world around us.

Activities to enhance flexibility and a youthful appearance:

* Do something new or different. Update your hairstyle or clothing for a fresh, youthful look. A makeover is fun too.

* Consult a doctor prior to beginning an exercise program. Discuss your concerns, needs, and fitness goals. Select a type of activity you enjoy; you'll be more likely to stick with it.

* Find a qualified professional instructor for your exercise. Be sure they are attentive and understanding of your concerns, needs, and goals.

* Dance classes are a great social outlet, a wonderful way to make new friends, and

build strength and stamina. Dance classes can be moderate or strenuous exercise, depending upon the type of class.

* Yoga and gymnastics are especially helpful with enhancing flexibility. There are different approaches to teaching these classes. Discuss your needs with an instructor in order to find the class which will benefit you the most.

* Belly dancing is an ancient art which enhances flexibility and muscle control. There are different styles and approaches to teaching belly dancing. Try out a class-it's a fun and exotic way to exercise, and you'll meet interesting people!

* Smile! It makes you look younger.

Ramona is the author of Dynamic Belly Dance, the Joyful Journey of Dancemaking and Performing. See free belly dance videos, read book excerpts and order an autographed copy at DynamicBellyDance.com DynamicBellyDance.com

Copyright 2007 - All rights reserved worldwide. Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article as long as you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article, give author name credit and follow the EzineArticles terms of service for publishers. Contact the author if you have any questions. Thank you!

Changing Lives by Inspiring Others

He enters the heated, dimly lit studio and his yoga students crawl out of their cocooned positions and poses to sit and listen to their teacher. Making his way into the middle of the room, he sits cross-legged on his mat and it's as if the entire class's energy focuses on the centre of the room where he begins his instruction.

Jeff Mah, 5'8 and 140 lbs., isn't the type of guy who commands attention with a large physical presence, but his smile is usually what captures his students.

He thanks the class for coming despite the frigid outdoor temperatures and begins to guide his students into a simple yoga pose.

Anyone going to one of Mah's classes could be forgiven for thinking he has taught yoga for most of his working life, however, until seven years ago, Mah was a mechanical engineer.

While he was working for Nortel Communications, Mah found himself unsatisfied with his life. Sitting eight hours a day in front of a computer monitor was far too sedentary for the outdoorsman Mah describes himself as.

Although it paid well, he says, engineering wasn't fulfilling him emotionally and it seemed there was little meaning attached to his work.

After careful contemplation, he decided it was time to make a change in his career.

"I'm a pretty methodical thinker so it was a process," Mah recollected.

"I remember there was this one time in the morning while I was in the shower and I realized this is not for me, this specific career path. But at the same time, it took me about a year to finally follow through with that first spark of a decision."

Throughout that year, the one thing he struggled with the most was "dealing with financial insecurities" that would become evident if he switched from being in a highly paid job to one that, monetarily speaking, wasn't comparable.

He knew he had to take a substantial pay-cut, but Mah says he became much happier once he stopped working as an engineer and began practicing and learning yoga.

Instead of sitting at an office desk he was now able to move freely and engage with his students to help them refine their skills and find deeper meaning in their own lives.

"I was a small cog in a big machine and my job was meaningless. Here (yoga) was a chance to make a difference," he says.

During a Journal interview in Mah's cozy home, the brisk air of winter streamed into the living room through a window that was cracked open.

Mah and his partner, Hilary Young foster cats. The two kittens had full reign of the kitchen and bathroom and unfortunately were ill with diarrhea. The stench of the house was ripe, but Mah, always levelheaded, accepted the situation without resentment.

Mah lives simply. He has what he needs to be comfortable: a nice couch, a desk filled with books, and a small kitchen where Young is making homemade granola while Mah is talking with the Journal.

As we chat, the one aspect of Mah that I notice most is the genuine nature of his very being. He lives in the moment, and doesn't seem to have insecurities and worries about the future as some of us do.

"I always try to live my life in a better way and that can be so encompassing. That can be being with my partner Hilary, traveling, being good with people around me, being out in the mountains...they all tie into trying to live better," Mah says.

He says he has found himself drawn to more than the health benefits of yoga. The spiritual effect on the mind that he achieved through consistent and honest practice attracted him as well.

Mah describes yoga as, "a process for change. If one practices yoga faithfully, they can have opportunities to change whatever it is they want to change about themselves."

"It's definitely more than what people would perceive in the mainstream.... Yoga is a process of better self-understanding of one's self and then applying that clarity to understand everything else."

As a yoga instructor at the Bodhi Tree, (821 14th St. NW), Mah says he feels much more fulfilled and says, "It's changed my life completely. It changes values and how I see the world."

"Often it doesn't feel like a job. It makes me feel great...usually when I think of the word [job], it's automatically tied with drudgery and having to be there, and doing things that one doesn't want to do."

He has quickly become one of the most popular yoga instructors at the studio, where he is also a co-owner.

One of his long-time students, Niki Heer, attributes her "higher energy, increased flexibility, and increased strength" to Mah's instruction.

"I was a lot weaker a couple months ago and now I just feel a sense of confidence because I've accomplished difficult tasks in his class and I've pushed myself to limits," says Heer.

"I would say every class you leave feeling awesome. I have friends that have come to the studio and they say, 'Jeff Mah is awesome, we're only coming back to his class,'" she pointed out.

The biggest difference she noted was, "He makes an effort to get to know his students so it's personal right? He's not just another yoga instructor, and I'm not just another yoga student. He's Jeff Mah, and I'm Niki Heer, so we have a repoire."

Mah has been practicing for 7 years and has done extensive training in Mysore, India and Boulder, Colorado. Yoga to him is a "process of seeking true clarity."

"The more one does yoga, the more they will be able to find a deeper sense of what truth is. And if you can have clarity in your life and a better understanding of truth, then you have the right things to change your life in a positive direction -but it's not easy," he notes.

Mah's colleague and fellow yoga instructor, Siobhan McGrenra says, "He has a very good way of connecting with all of his students."

McGrenra says: "I think it's just the way his classes flow. There's a nice flow, and his instructions are nice and detailed."

The one aspect of his teaching that stood out for McGrenra was his sense of humor.

"He's funny, his classes are enjoyable and they're not too serious."

Ultimately, for Mah, he hopes all of his students leave the studio feeling better about themselves.

Mah says: "The greatest thing is I would want them to get a greater trust within themselves. The fact that someone is willing to make changes, be here, and practice yoga, things are going to change."

He notes that you don't' have to be at a studio or at a class or even do classical yoga poses to be able to enjoy and practice yoga.

"It's almost like a mind state. If they can just find that state of mind that things can change, they'll be on their way."

His advice to those of us that get caught up in the chaos of city life is to, "Always try to move on a middle path."

"Life is about balance, that is the truth. The truth will not be found in extremes, it's found in the middle," Mah says.

Mah is also the ambassador for a successful yoga-based store, Lululemon. Photos of him can be seen at the Lululemon store on 4th St. SW.

It seems Mah is not only a yoga instructor, but an inspiration to others to live their lives to the best of their ability.

Benefits of Yoga Nidra Meditation

Yoga Nidra is deep sleep. Many people mistakenly believe it's twilight sleep, that stage between awake and dreaming, but it's even deeper than that. It goes beyond the dreaming stage and into a state of conscious deep sleep. While that sounds like an oxymoron, it's not. It's the third of the four levels of consciousness where there are no images in the mind. Mental images live in the domain of a waking state, the first level or the dreaming state, the second level. It is a deep meditation right before the last level, the turiya, higher consciousness.

You might wonder how you could be awake and yet asleep at the same time. The state is that of introversion where you look deep into your soul. It allows you to look at past lives and future lives, to address your karma and cleanse the storehouse consciousness. It is a way to purify the unconscious mind and commune with divine energy. It is a state of inner awareness. You enter it by remaining in the waking state of consciousness while mentally moving beyond the thoughts, emotions and images. You go beyond the dream state while you remain awake. It is not only extremely relaxing, it is a method of purification. It is the state where astral projection and thought form take place.

Those lucky enough to enter into this state claim that a half hour in this state is like getting three hours of regular sleep. While yogis don't recommend it as a sleep substitute, it demonstrates how relaxing the effect is on the body and mind. Since the body uses sleep time to repair, it still needs normal sleep but Yoga Nidra is one method of relaxation available when sleep time is limited. The most important use, however is still to commune with the Divine energy of the Universe.

Yoga Nidra brings on serenity, calmness and clarity. It takes your awareness through all the mental states into stillness where you find insight. It is more than meditation, where you remain in a waking state and even though it has some commonalities with autosuggestion, it definitely isn't that as autosuggestion indicates the use of the waking mind.

Since it rests all parts, including the mind, it gives access to universal knowledge and refreshes the practitioner. It is also an excellent tool for accelerated learning.

Since this is he level where astral travel and thought form takes place, Yoga Nidra takes on a psychic appearance. Astral travel is the ability to be in a different location without moving your body and thought form is the ability to materialize items from the use of your mental energy. These are not mystical tricks performed by yogis, but the ability to use the spirits energy. This ability is available to everyone who chooses to study and practice. Before entering the world of the psychic, you must first learn the discipline to control the conscious mind. Without this training, you may become a danger to your own essence.

Conrad Raw is an expert on practical techniques for personal and spiritual development. He is a bestselling co-author with Wayne Dyer and Brian Tracy and is the author of "The Zensation Manual: Forbidden Secrets of Personal and Spiritual Development". TheMindWizard.com Mental telepathy: Visit his website to get your free video course on how to activate your true potential. powerfullifebalance.com Meditation course.

Hot Yoga Therapy

Hailed in the US as one of the most popular yoga styles among movie stars, Bikram yoga has now found its way to Thailand. The instructor is Benjaporn Karoonkornsakul, a former investment banker who learnt Bikram yoga while working in Hong Kong.

Benjaporn, 31, followed a training course and received certification as a Bikram yoga instructor in New York earlier this year.

Introduced to the Western world for the first time in Los Angeles in 1974 by Bikram Choudhury, this form of yoga immediately differentiated itself from other schools.

Bikram yoga does not require the numerous and complex asanas (postures). A 90-minute session is composed of just 26 simple postures and is carried out in a room heated to about 34 degrees Celsius. Thus, it comes as no surprise to hear that many people have nicknamed Bikram yoga the "hot yoga".

"That's the main way in which Bikram differs from other types of yoga. I personally feel it's a perfect combination of yoga, a work out and meditation. And that makes it even better! You get to stretch, meditate and sweat a lot. It gets rid of all the pain and aches in your muscles and also clears your mind," says Benjaporn.

Its inventor drew up new postures and drew upon some basic yoga poses to help strengthen his muscles after a severe childhood injury crippled him. Benjaporn says that all the 26 poses of Bikram yoga are easy yet offer maximum muscle strengthening.

"You won't find any compromising poses in Bikram yoga. That's because Bikram himself wanted to create yoga poses that were easy for him at that time, but I assure you that all enable the same maximum muscle build-up, stretching and strengthening effect. And during the 90 minutes of our class, we want to make sure that you can complete all 26 poses without skipping or compromising any particular one to make it easier on yourself. It's simple and I'm sure everyone will be able to follow it. Here, we encourage you to work at your own pace and stay within your own limits. But we also make sure that you don't short-change yourself," says Benjaporn.

Benjaporn recommends Bikram yoga to anyone in good health aged 10 and above. She also stresses that beginners should come to classes regularly - she suggests three or four times a week - to see and feel the improvements in their well-being.

"Most people will experience an improvement in the knee and back area. Many also say that they've shed some unwanted kilos. During and after class, I encourage my students to drinks a lot of fluids so they won't dehydrate."

Benjaporn Karoonkornsakul, the Managing Director, founder and owner of Absolute Yoga Bangkok (absoluteyogabangkok.com absoluteyogabangkok.com) has trained to become the first bikram hot yoga teacher in Bangkok. After the first year, Absolute Yoga Bangkok branched out to offer other traditions of yoga and opened more locations to distinguish ourselves as Bangkok's dedicated yoga place. Our future plans are to continue to expand both in locations and in what is most beneficial to the practioners of Thailand.

Yoga Conference - Develop A Better Lifestyle

Lecturers would probably discuss a much healthier lifestyle exposition showcasing yoga and fitness studios, nutritious meals, healthy cosmetics and knowledge you could use to produce beneficial choices associated with your mind and body.

Schedule workouts could help you maintain a healthy weight, reduce your possibility of heart disease, and enhance your bones and muscles. But before you put on your workout footwear, you might want to speak with your physician. Although physical exercise is totally safe for many people, at times you must have a doctor's OK prior to deciding to exercise. Simply whenever a person would need to see their doctor isn't known. Following each exercise session, consider a couple of minutes to take delight from the good sensations that exercise gives you. This sort of inner reward may help you make a long-term resolve for regular workout. External returns may help, too. Once you accomplish a long range goal, treat yourself to a new pair of trainers or even new tunes to take pleasure from as you exercise. If you're too busy to exercise or simply don't feel up to it, get a couple of days off. Always be gentle with yourself when you need a rest.

This sort of routine workouts can help you control your weight, lower your risk of heart disease, and strengthen your bones and muscle groups. Right after each exercise program, take a few minutes to relish the good feelings that physical exercise provides you with. Do physically demanding workout, and you'll burn energy right away. And you may lose the exact same amount of calories with less severe exercise: Simply get it done longer and/or much more frequently. If you're unfamiliar with the number of calories burned during exercise, you may be disheartened when you first find out about it. For example, when you weigh 150 lbs and start on a quick, 1-mile stroll for 20 minutes, you will make use of about 100 calories, significantly short of the 3,500 calories needed to drop one pound.

If you are planning to practice yoga as a kind of stress management, it must not be as difficult as it seems because you no longer need to understand all the concepts and philosophies guiding it. This kind of ancient custom that will require serious meditation has been verified as an ideal way to wind down. You must know the basic information you'll need to enable you to use the idea to your everyday life.

Yoga Conference are certainly not cheap, but the experience, community and being able to emerge having a fresh new understanding of a pose and an appreciation of yoga is priceless. Yoga conferences are grassroots event. You get a really personal experience and actually get to meet the instructor. It's really a beautiful community get together. If ever an opportunity occurs write it in your planner and start saving those pennies so you can discover for yourself what it's all about.

Yogafit has a lot of very informative advice in all aspects of yogafit.com yoga poses, training, and everything else. She also has a number of yogafit.com yoga conference meetups several times a year and is known yoga guru and mogul around the world.

How to Choose a Yoga Teacher Training Program

Becoming a Yoga instructor can be a very rewarding career especially if you understand how the Yoga industry works. One interesting thing is that there are many programs that you can choose to train in all over the world. In the US alone there are over 1000 schools to choose from. The variety of programs makes it a bit confusing especially when you are choosing the Yoga programs that you can train in. These simple steps can enable you choose the right Yoga teacher certification programs.

When you search for a Yoga school to take your Yoga teacher training program with, you will want to make sure they are registered with the Yoga Alliance. This is a non-profit group that sets standards for the Yoga industry and helps keep the integrity of the teacher training courses

The next step is to decide on where to do your studies. Choose a Yoga instructor's schools that you can attend more affordable. Those schools that are within your city are better since you will save on cost.

Look at the programs that each school offers and make a decision concerning the one that has the exact programs that you would like to enroll in. There are many schools that can offer you the chance to learn specific Yoga styles Like Bikram, Iyengar or any other type. There are also some schools that make it possible to study for general certifications hence offering you the chance to practice widely. Consider the cost of each school and also their payments schedule and choose the right one that will meet your requirements.

Ask where the Yoga instructors who will be teaching the course trained as this are very important. It will also help knowing if they are certified or not. This will enable you have a clear picture of what is to be offered. If you are still not sure about what a certain school offers, you can give it a try by attending one of their sessions before committing yourself fully.

Teaching Yoga can be very exciting. Taking your yogatrainingguide.com/yoga-teacher-training-tips/yoga-teacher-training-curriculum-overview Yoga teacher training will push and challenge you in many ways. Practicing Yoga is one thing. Teaching it and leading a group of people watching you is another because you will need to be prepared to be in front of a lot of people. So if you are shy or have any issues speaking in front of large groups, then this will be an opportunity for you to overcome this challenge

As the director of YogaTrainingGuide.com, Sergio DiazGranados has been helping many students along their path of becoming a yoga teacher and taking their yogatrainingguide.com yoga teacher training. For three years he worked for one of the largest yoga media companies (Gaiam) publishing their yoga magazine Gaia and has been in the yoga and wellness industry for ten years.

Endurance Cycling - Training to Go Longer & Faster

The usual approach to train for endurance riding is lots of long rides. On paper this makes sense but in practice it isn't the most effective way to train. A targeted approaching building all facets of cycling fitness will improve your endurance cycling fitness faster than a diet of long steady rides. Learn how to put the pieces together and see your performance increase. There are many fitness factors that let you do well at endurance events. You need high threshold power, good recovery ability, aerobic endurance, muscular endurance, core strength and upper body muscular endurance. If any of these areas are weak you will find your performance drops quickly in the later miles of a long event.

Long rides do need to be part of your training program but not the foundation. I advocate a periodized approach that builds functional threshold power and speed with a progression to longer rides as the season progresses. Speed is the hardest thing to build so we spend a far amount of time over the winter increasing sustainable speed and force development which allows you to do your longer rides with a higher average power.

The training year will brake down into a number of phases with different goals. Here is how the average year should break down.

Training to Train Phase

(4-8 weeks depending on how long your end of season lay-off was)

At the end of each season should be some sort of lay-off or reduced training load to let the body recover from the season. The Training to Train phase gets your body back into the swing of things after a layoff. Over the course of this phase you will gradually increase the workload to get the body ready for harder work to come. Workouts will include Aerobic and Tempo rides, Yoga, light cross training and core/balance training.

Speed and Muscular Endurance Building Phase

(12-16 weeks)

The goal of Speed Building is to increase you Functional Threshold power and build full body muscular endurance. Intensity is high with an overall training volume of 6-10 hours per week depending on training experience and schedule. For most of my athletes they will be on the bike at least 5 days per week with a mix of 2-3 hard workouts and 2-3 Aerobic or Tempo rides of 60-90 minutes between the harder workouts. The hard workouts are a mix of threshold repeats, Velmax Intervals, Tabata Intervals, 4 x4 intervals and time trials. Keep mixing the workouts up but make sure that you do a little more each week. If you did 20 velmax intervals this week, do 22 next week. I plan increases for 3 weeks with the fourth week eased off for recovery. During the recovery week I take out the intensity work and have athletes do 4-5 Aerobic rides. This is enough to allow the body to recover without losing cardiovascular fitness. In fact after a recovery week you see a noticeable increase in performance as the fatigue built over the three week build goes away.

In addition to the rides, there is cross training and Yoga done during this phase. Crossfit full body circuit workouts done 3 times per week pay huge dividends with very little time spent training. Crossfit's recipe of functional movements done with constant variety at high intensity is the most effective cross training I've found for endurance athletes. Over the course of 4 weeks we will do 10 cross training workouts ( 3 per week during the build weeks and 1 during the recovery week). All 10 workouts will be different. This keeps hitting the body in different ways, not allowing it to adapt to the training, therefore you will keep making progress. An example of a Crossfit workout is: 5 chinups, 10 pushup, 15 bodyweight squats - Do as many repeats of this circuit as possible in 20 minutes with as little rest between exercises as you can manage. Another approach is to take 3 compound exercises (ones that hit more than one muscle group) and do 3 repeats of the circuit in as fast as possible.

Sample workout

3 Rounds for time:

20 Pushups

20 Dumbbell Swings

20 Pullups

In addition to the Crossfit, incorporate 20-60 minutes of Yoga 2-3 times per week into your program. The Yoga builds flexibility, static muscular endurance and speeds up recovery between workouts. Hard training makes muscles tight so you need to focus on keeping things loose and supple. Yoga is the best way to do it as it hits the whole body and builds cycling specific fitness at the same time.

Endurance Phase

(8-16 Weeks)

Now is the time to start building the miles. This will start in the spring so you can get outside again. For most people, this means your can do a few hours a night during the week and build longer rides on the weekends. I'm in favor of doing a couple of interval workouts during the week along with a 1-2 steady rides with the longer rides on the weekend. Interval workouts will be split between one with shorter high intensity intervals and one with longer intervals. Try to get a long ride in both Saturday and Sunday on the weekends. Make one a harder workout with hills or a fast group ride and the other a steady aerobic ride. Just like the previous phase build your volume over three weeks and ease off on the fourth week. Keep the increase per week to no more than 10%. If you are aiming to do a century (100 miles) the time of your long rides should build to at least 5 hours.

During this phase you want to keep doing Yoga at least twice a week and do a couple of cross training workouts with a focus on the core and upper body muscular endurance. It doesn't take much work each week to maintain the gains you made over the winter. As your legs are getting tons of work we don't need to do cross training for them.

You want to build a quality that I call "Fatigue Resistance". This is the ability to do repeated harder efforts without a decrease in performance. For endurance riding people think in terms of steady pace, but unless you are riding a perfectly flat course, you will have repeated hard muscular efforts with every hill climb. There is no way to do hills at the same level you do flat terrain, without going so slow you fall over. In endurance events you want to pace yourself on the climbs but they are still harder than riding on the flats. This is why we still have harder work during the Endurance building phase.

Competition Phase

(4-8 weeks)

This is when we put the finishing touches on your fitness leading up to your key event for the season. It's hard to maintain peak fitness for a long period so it's important to plan your events ahead of time. During this time we will add some over distance rides as well as multi-day blocks to build capacity in the body. With block training your will do 3-4 days in a row of either long or hard workouts with a corresponding number of easy or rest days afterward. You want to time this phase so the week before your event is an easy week. During that week you want to cut hard intervals to one short session at least 5 days from the event and cut your volume by 20 % to give the body a chance to recover to a higher fitness level. During the last week before an event you can't build any more fitness so you need to focus on recovery so you are as fresh as possible. This takes experimentation as some people do well with 5-6 days of recovery, while other can need a taper of up to 2 weeks depending on the workload and recovery ability.

Recovery Phase

(2-8 weeks)

A recovery phase can be at the end of the season or used mid season after a hard event to let you recovery to rebuild for the last half of the season. The rides are light and fun. Keep the workload mainly aerobic and recovery pace. Keep up the Yoga to loosen up the body and don't start thinking about hard training until your body is fresh. After an event like a 24 hours solo mountain bike race, it can take up to 2 weeks for the fatigue to go away. When you start feeling like you want to go hard again, give it a few more days.

At the end of the competitive season, it's a good idea to give your self at least a full week off the bike. Enjoy yourself and make sure that any riding you do is fun, not training.

Overview

As you can see from the number weeks in the phases, there is a lot of variation to how much time you spend in each. This is both a function of doing a given phase more than once during the year and how long your competitive season is. While the actual mechanics of a program can be pretty complex, the basic outline is pretty simple: get the body ready to train, build speed, add endurance, peak for your event and then recover. If you are self coached it can take a few seasons to work out the loads and durations that work for you but if you start with a plan you will get much further ahead than just trying to ride more.

It's in you to become a better cyclist. Helping you get there is goal. Equipment, riding skills, fitness and nutrition all have to be dialed in to reach your potential. To take your next step on that journey visit cyclecambridge.com cyclecambridge.com

Yoga For Flat Stomach - 3 Easy Poses You Can Do

Yoga for flat stomach has become a very popular physical activity as of late. What some of you may not know is that yoga is certainly more than just the ability to hold rather difficult positions at a time. It's also a great way to stay in shape, instill discipline, and unwind after a tediously long, busy day.

You have to understand that yoga isn't just for high profile celebrities nor is it an exclusive leisurely pursuit of tree-hugging individuals striving to lead very different lives. Anyone at any age or from any kind of background can easily enjoy this worthwhile activity and take advantage of all its benefits - stay-at-home moms, CEOs, retirees, high school kids, blue collar workers, you name it. On top of your usual weight training or cardio, doing yoga for flat stomach will only get you faster, leaner, and more impressive results.

Before we go into the nitty-gritty of tummy-targeted poses, you must realize that yoga is far from your typical workout routine. Instead of heavy breathing and profuse sweating, your objective is to execute every pose as perfectly as you can and hold each one for a specific duration. With the poses you'll find below, you can try doing 3 to 5 reps each and gradually increase your reps as you progress.

Now, let's get on to the 3 most effective yoga for flat stomach poses and the benefits you can achieve by doing each one:

The Reverse Boat Pose or Prishth Naukasana

For this pose, you need to lay flat on your yoga mat, face down. This is also called the reverse corpse position or Advasana. From there, simultaneously stretch out your arms and your legs toward the walls. Hold that position for about a minute or for as long as you can.

With the Reverse Boat Pose, you put significant yet tolerable pressure on your abdominals. Aside from targeting tummy fat, this also facilitates in the improved function of nearby organs like your pancreas and liver. This yoga for flat stomach pose ultimately leads to better digestion, blood sugar levels, and a leaner, stronger abdomen.

The Cat Pose or Marjariasana

This is probably something you're familiar with. To complete the pose, simply position yourself in all fours and take a deep breath in. As you exhale, you need to pull in your butt, tailbone, and abdominal muscles. To get it perfectly, the trick is to press down on your hands and curve your spine so that the arch of your back is pointing out to the ceiling.

Doing this yoga for flat stomach pose regularly will loosen up your muscles, increase your mobility, increase blood circulation, massage internal organs, strengthen affected muscles, and notably tones your arms and abdominals.

The Lying Abdominal Stretch Pose or Supta Udarakarshanasana

It sounds more complicated than it actually is. Just lie straight on your back and rest your hands on the floor, palms down. As you breathe in, bend your left leg and rest the sole of your feet against your right thigh. As you breathe out, pull your left knee toward the direction of your right hip, use your right hand to hold it down to the floor, and twist your head slightly to the left. Hold it there while breathing normally then release. Don't forget to do the same yoga for flat stomach pose on the other side.

On top of trimming down fat around your abdomen, hips, and legs, you are also ensuring good posture, proper bowel movement, and increased metabolism.

But don't just stop at yoga; read more on the sixpackabsguide.com/reviews/truth-about-six-pack-abs truth about six pack abs and get that irresistibly flat tummy you deserve. Celebrated fitness guru sixpackabsguide.com/reviews/mike-geary Mike Geary has a lot to say about it, so make sure you're in-the-know. Start right now!

Yoga - The Ideal Route to Health and Happiness

Yoga, the roots of which lie in India and the Hindu philosophy, is a vast, complex and integrated system designed to provide mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing. If you are a beginner to this ancient practice, then you can easily get overwhelmed with the vastness and expanse of yogic philosophies, practices and the literature available on the subject.

Yoga is not just a couple of exercises or poses to attain health and wellbeing; it is all rounded discipline which aims at healing the entire body at psychological, physical and spiritual levels. There are a few key principles that you need to understand to grasp the essence of this ancient health practice.

'Liberation teaching' is what experts say yoga is all about. The end result of yogic training should be to liberate your mind and body from all the limitations that you had and attain a greater, wiser and better you. It is best to learn the practices of this ancient form from an instructor or with the help of live videos. But having said that, there are also books and CDs which can be used to learn yogic poses and are helpful in the long run. Learning from an instructor or guide gives you the advantage of understanding the complete meaning of the particular pose and you can also get corrected instantly if you are making a mistake.

There are different styles of yoga which have been designed in accordance to the strengths and weaknesses of each human body. Hence you must first understand what your body requires and then adopt the styles best suited for you.

One important style is Raja yoga or the Royal yoga, the main philosophy of which is to liberate the mind and soul through the practice of meditation. This is best suitable for people who have the capability of immense and intense concentration. Hatha yoga has been designed to use physical exercises and transformation to achieve liberation. Mantra yoga is another style which makes use of powerful sounds like 'Om' and 'hare Krishna', the repetition of which is used to attain liberation of the mind and soul.

Yoga is an equal mixture of theory and practice and hence understanding the principles and practicing the yogic postures regularly is important for good and sound physical and mental health. The yogic philosophy is deeply rooted in good moral values like truthfulness, sincerity, nonviolence and kindness; hence to achieve real liberation, it is important to inculcate these moral values. Self-discipline is an important concept of this ancient form and a positive change should be adapted in every walk of your life to imbibe the real goodness of yogic practice.

Self-transformation at a physical, mental and spiritual level is the main principle behind yoga and for this, the first value that you must learn and practice is patience. Leave behind old and unwanted habits to untangle the complexities of your life; a simple and humble approach to every aspect of life is the essence of yoga which in turn gives us good health, peace of mind and happiness.

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Exercising Is Not Very Difficult

If you are thinking of losing some weight, then an exercise routine will be a big help. The key to any weight loss workout is intensity,so have a look at these proven exercises to lose weight.

Running.

Running is one of the best exercises you can do and is excellent for losing weight. It includes both weight bearing and cardiovascular activities. Every time your foot strikes the ground you're bearing your own weight, which is good for muscle and bone strength. The cardiovascular is good for your heart and lungs. Combined, this means running is one of the best exercises to lose weight.

Cross Country Skiing.

When you think of cross country skiing you will probably think it is only good for the winter months. But in actual fact with the use of indoor facilities or outdoor roller skis, you can actually participate in this activity all year round. It's also a little easier on your joints, unlike running,and it too is good for your cardiovascular fitness. It promotes weight loss, builds muscle and improves your health. And it's fun!

Swimming.

If you're a water lover then you can't go wrong with swimming, which is a whole body workout. It strengthens your upper and lower body and builds your core muscles and the muscles in your stomach and back. And it also provides a complete cardiovascular workout. Swimming is a significant exercise for weight loss and it's also good to help quiet the world.

Dancing.

Dancing is so much fun. It's great for the spirit and good for your body. And perhaps even better, it helps you to lose weight. There are lots of dance fitness programs for you to choose from. Zumba is a really popular fitness program right now. It blends Latin rhythms and dance steps with a fun filled and exciting weight loss routine. Or if you prefer a more soulful style of dance and music, there is Soul Sweat. And of course any jazzercise or dance aerobic class is going to be good for your body and mind.

Strength Training.

Lastly, you may be aware that muscle burns more calories than fat. This means that if you add a strength training workout to your fitness routine you will be able to increase your weight loss results. An easy way to add strength training to your routine is to purchase and use a fitness ball. Or you could lift weights. And if those don't appeal to you, you could try yoga, or Pilates, or martial arts.

If you want to burn some fat, consider adding one of these exercises to lose weight to your workout or routine. The more energy you put into your fitness program, the more you will get out of it. So if you feel your efforts need to go up a notch, consider one, or more, of these exercises. And enjoy the weight loss results.

If this article interested you and you would like to read more on weight loss and fitness please go weighless-online.com HERE for more information.

How to Lose Weight by Positive Mind and Nutrition

I will commence with what I feel is the fundamentals to any fitness goal including weight loss. I believe you will feel fantastic if you abide by all of these. The foundation is to start with a healthy body which is:

Good nutrition. This includes eating three meals a day. Each meal having the correct macro nutrient balance so that you are getting carbohydrates and some good fats and proteins, I can provide an exact idea of how to eat to your metabolic type or blood type. In fact, I can also provide you information on foods that promote weight loss and foods to avoid to weight loss specific to your blood type.

It is best to eat fresh, local and organic foods containing plenty of fresh vegetables, good organic proteins and some fruit (no more than 3serves per day). It is desirable to avoid alcohol, smoking, take away, meal replacement supplements and processed food. Importantly, you should be avoiding the white poisons white sugar, white salt, white flour. These are all highly refined and as a consequence make you want to eat more (usually more bad food).

Keep a food diary and note which meals are making you feel good or make you feel hungry again quickly (usually means you have not balance the macro nutrients.

Take food with you everywhere, if you are caught without the foods from home you can trust you may be tempted to eat badly or miss a meal.

Eat most at breakfast and least in the evening when you should eat less carbs including fruits.

Hydration. It is important you are drinking only spring or filtered water. Do not drink unfiltered water, as this is full of chemicals harmful to your body. On average drink 2 to 3 litres of water per day. To assist in retention of the water, I recommend adding a pinch of Celtic sea salt to every bottle of your water.

I also recommend you filter your showers so you don't inhale vapourised chlorine and other chemicals or absorb them through your skin.

Digestion. A poor digestive system is an important factor in avoiding future joint pain for persons losing weight. Just like a swollen ankle will affect your foot in running, a swollen tummy or to put it another way, digestive problems really impact on your core activation and have ramifications on the stability impacting all surrounding hinges your joints. If you are having digestion problems such as non regular emptying of bowels (what I call pooing), excessive gas bloating or burping. These are an indicator that you need to improve your hydration and nutrition or seek to eliminate beverages or foods which are causing intolerance to your stomach. I can assist you with detecting some of your digestive problems or refer you to allied health professionals.

Well rested; this includes going to bed by 10:30 PM every night. This is because your body is designed to sleep and rest in darkness. Your body is recovering from 10 PM to 2 AM. Going to sleep well into or past this time will result in chronic physical injuries as it is deprived of its recovery time. You cannot properly catch up sleep during daytime, because sunlight hitting your skin automatically releases the hormone cortisol in your body preparing you to wake up, this disallows you to sleep property in sunlight.

Stress. In order to alleviate pain and gain normal movement, a person must be relatively stress-free. A highly stressed person will find it difficult to manage movement correctly as its body is probably concerning with more life threatening concerns and disease instead of wanting to run around the block. Stresses may come from many forms including digestive psychological environmental and physical factors. If you go over your limits of tolerance to stress it will result in harm to your body and may be reflected in sickness or an inability to exercise. This is why movement and exercise should be increased gradually to a stressed body as it can be an excessive physical stress to the body. If you would like an indication of your body stress levels please ask for my health and lifestyle questionnaire, this will give you real ways to reduce your stress levels so that you're not tipping over the limit of your stress limits.

Movement. I suggest you do movement for half an hour everyday. For many this sounds like an enormous task, however there are many opportunities for you to move throughout the day from hiring a personal trainer, walking to work, parking further away and playing with the kids or dog. A simple way to make this fun used to jot down seven activities which you like and to program them into your week as your movement objective.

I also believe that all athletes advanced or beginners should balance their movement and exercise between slow energizing and fast strengthening exercises. So all athletes should have heavy sessions such as pumping weights sessions as well as recovery sessions such as walking or yoga.

Breathing. Many people breathe shallow and only in the chest. However if you want to see how to breathe properly look at the baby and how they breathe and you will notice it's breathing into its belly and the belly moves up and down. I take the time to teach all my personal training clients how to correctly breathe. The essence of this is to breathe deeply into your diaphragm not just your chest beating in through the nose for five and then out to the mouse for five. This is both coming and meditative thinking improve your core activation. Breathing is also the body's major mechanism of detoxifying the body, so improving your breath will improve your body detoxification and can even assist with weight loss. Let me reiterate why breathing is important, because you take 20,000 breaths per day.

Tip deep breathing squats - 300 per day can help you lose weight. Why detoxification of breathing and it is a large compound movement which will increase your metabolism. Easy huh. If it is hard to count them, count them once and time the amount, then do them in a timed manner. You can also do 100 after every meal. Go on do it.

Then the fun part...

Once these fundamentals are underway, I check or do a posture, strength and flexibility assessment. As everybody has a different posture and no one has a perfect posture, this along with any weaknesses and tightness throughout the body must be known in order to individually design corrective exercises for a patient to avoid pain or injury down the track.

Importantly You need to believe you can do it. You also need many reasons to achieve your goal. I help you know why and how much you want to do this. I can help give you a stack of reasons too.

- I listen to your goals, and set targets within a realistic time frame.

- Make sure you are committed

- Review your weekly nutrition and movement log

- Start at an exercise level correct for your body stress level and progress as your cardio and strength abilities improve. This is so you get the results faster while maintaining no injuries.

I also guarantee results provided you can all the steps I tell you too like keeping your food diary and doing your movement during the week.

Fat Loss exercises

Good fat burning exercises include large muscle group (e.g. lunges and squats), compound (many muscles at once e.g. lunge and cable pull), jumping if your body is stable enough, stepping and free weights. These are just a few, but suitable exercises will be included in your program strategy depending on your levels of stress in lifestyle questionnaire, your objectives and your body and postural assessment.

My personal favorite is the dead lift.This is because:

? it uses every muscle in the body

? with good technique you can progress quickly

? there are many subtle variations to the exercise

? it is one of the king exercises

? good for backs and knees

? it is functional to daily life

? it trains your inner unit of abdominal control

? make you hungry after you train in dead lifts, so you know it has burned calories

Some other simple tips are to:

? Include your cardio after resistance training. This is because cardio (running, stepping, cycling, rowing etc) will fatigue you and consequently make your weight training technique poor.

? Commence your workouts with an exercise which will get big muscles burning such as a squat hold against the wall. The muscle burning is a quick way to deplete the carbohydrate (usually sugar in your bloodstream) in the muscles and therefore take you to the burn fat zone faster and continue to suck up your carbohydrate (blood sugars) for the next 24 hours.

? Lift heavier but reasonable weights as you will burn more calories.

? Always do a warm up set of the exercise you are about to do, even if it is with no weight at all. This will warm up the muscles you are about to use and help you avoid injury.

? Beginners to exercise should only train at 60% intensity for 4 weeks. This will give you time to build ligament and muscle strength at a sustainable pace. You are also less likely to tip your body over the stress limit, which will have if you are already highly stressed and then you also introduce vigorous exercise.

? Time in tension is important in your workout. Make sure you are starting with high repetition sets. Keep your sessions short and intense, no longer than an hour.

Barriers to success in weight loss:

? In males it can be too much estrogens and depletion of testosterone levels.

? In females body weight can fluctuate due to hormones

? In general hormone imbalance is a key factor in weight gain. Gentle exercises can regulate hormone levels, this is why I promote use of energising exercises, plus they feel great and very suitable if you are a beginner as well. A good naturopath can do hormone and adrenal tests to see if anything is wrong.

? Change in body composition, early on there may be some weight gain due to increases in muscle. This should not be of concern if you are seeing reductions in size in your body measurements.

? Attitude and paradigms that "I can't really do that; I haven't been able to before". I suggest you look in the mirror say "I like myself and I can do this". Meditate for 5 minutes every day taking deep breathes and think about how good it will feel to achieve your goal.

? Not eating quality foods and too much sugar, processed foods and high GI foods (especially in evenings). In general, poor diet won't help you lose weight even if you exercise. Your nutrition is 70% of the weight loss battle.

? Not eating to your metabolic type or not eating the right foods for you. In particular, not having the correct macro nutrient(protein, fat and carbohydrate) mix in your meal to leave you satisfied until your next meal.

? Most people are gluten and lactose intolerant. These foods if eliminated may drastically improve your well being digestion, abdominal bloating and stubborn enlarged belly.

? Not drinking enough filtered or bottled water. Do not drink tap water as it is high in toxins. Added Celtic sea salt will improve your body acceptance and retention of the water. Also, often hunger pangs are often just dehydration. So drink quality water at first sign of hunger.

? Not taking enough steps to eliminate stress levels in the body to a low to moderate level. Stress can come in many forms such as nutritional, physical, psychological, electromagnetic to name a few. Another example is not to over train in exercise, it will make you stress your body and retain fat. Aim for intense sessions of no longer than an hour and balance your program between Cardio resistance, energising and stretching exercise. A great way to relieve stress through energising exercises is to use my free calendar and click here.

? Over training in Cardio and not enough resistance training, especially for the ladies. Weight training can be fun and very varied. It will use the carbohydrates in all your muscles and help bring you into fat burning mode. The increased body muscle composition will increase your daily metabolism and help you burn more calories even while you rest.

? The opposite is true too, especially for men. Too much weights and not enough Cardio

? People having Candida, fungus and parasites living in their digestive tract. This again is diagnosed by naturopaths. I can advise you on anti fungal nutrition which works to starve these bad guys out of your system, they do not like healthy bodies and nutrition. I can provide information to cure your Candida.

? Dieting and diet replacement pills/meals do not work. The best method is to find healthy foods you enjoy and can sustain eating for the rest of your life. Also adapting all the principles of healthy living mentioned in this article.

More on Nutrition and Supplements:

Apart from great organic nutrition. Try to get back to the native diet:

? No refined or denatured foods

? No foods with labels basically

? Animal protein from meat

? Fats from fish, seafood, fowl, eggs and raw milks

? Calcium and other minerals from animal fats

? High food enzyme content from raw vegetables

? Seeds nuts and grains

? Omega 6 and omega 3 fats

? Nutrient rich foods

? Bone broths

? Mineral salts such as Celtic sea salts

? I also recommend anti candida nutrition.

Other recommended supplements for weight loss are:

? Salmon or fish oils

? Garlic

? Magnesium

? Probiotics

? Pysillium husk

By Romeo Caporaso of bodyandbusinessbalance.com.au bodyandbusinessbalance.com.au

Romeo Caporaso is a Personal trainer in Adelaide and has coached hundreds of clients to success in weight loss, stroke rehab, rehab from knees, hips and back pain or injury. He also has his own personal training studio in Newton, Adelaide, a tranquil and ideal location to help you lose weight. I can also mentor you to lose weight without a gym. He is also a leading Home gym design consultant for more information visit designhomegym.com designhomegym.com/

Strengthen Your Shoulder

We tend to think that the routine that we do like writing, eating, playing an instrument, etc. are the work of our hands alone. But the truth of the matter is that without the shoulder, the mobility of our hands is limited, the arms would just fall limply on our sides. Even the simple motion of reaching your hand to your mouth would be quite impossible. This is why we should maintain the condition of these body parts through exercise, particularly yoga.

Reflecting on the significance of the shoulders, it is startling to note that they are somewhat vulnerable & unstable joints. Like the pelvis, the shoulder is a joint composed of a ball and socket. But unlike the pelvic joint, the socket on the shoulder is relatively not as deep. The reason for this is for mobility, allowing your arm freedom of movement. With it you can reach your arm in any direction 360 degrees. These kind of movements are impossible to make with your legs.

This innate unstableness makes the shoulder dependent on connective tissues to keep the link together. These soft tissues are composed of tendons, which connect bones to muscles; ligaments, which attach bones to other bones; and muscles, which keep the bones stable and produce movement. There are four muscles that keep the shoulder together and this group is referred to as the rotator cuff. They are wrapped around the joint producing movement every which way.

The rotator cuff is made up of the Supraspinatus, the Subscapularis, the Infraspinatus, and the Teres Minor. Aside from keeping the ball of the humerus within the socket of the scapula, each of the muscles are in charge of a particular arm movement. The shoulder is also braced by the clavicle.

The Supraspinatus muscle keeps the head (ball) of the humerus from sliding off partially out of the socket. This painful condition is referred to as subluxation which happens when the supraspinatus is under paralysis due to a stroke.

The Tadasana or Mountain Pose, which is standing with the arms to the sides then lifting the arms parallel to the ground, Virabhadrasana II or Warrior Pose II, strengthens the Supraspinatus. If you stand in the Tasadana position, then with palms toward your body turn the creases of your elbow forward, this rotates your shoulder outwardly strengthening the Infraspinatus & the Teres Minor.

These are some of the yoga positions that will help strengthen the shoulder preventing possible injury.

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Yoga and Meditation Music - Relax Your Body, Mind and Soul

Yoga is a form of meditation and relaxation, it involves breathing and physical movements and stretches. It can have many positive effects on your over wellness and health.

It massages your body and cleanses your body of toxins and negative energy. Furthermore, it helps to keep you fit and healthy, its great for muscle toning and even weight loss. Yoga can have great results especially to people who are stressed and wants to improve their health and wellness.

As mentioned before, Yoga involves both the breathing and physical movements that can improve your body, mind and soul. Since it is a form of exercise, it is usually accompanied with music or relaxing sounds. Relaxing natural music helps you set yourself in the mood and helps you find a natural flow.

There are many types of music for Yoga and meditation. Natural sounds of nature like rain, birds, wilderness together with instruments is great for Yoga. Relaxing music enhances the flow of Yoga and your life in general. Music and sounds can heighten your senses and improve your body movements so its perfect for Yoga. Music can resemble a memory or a thought making it a more than just a vibration to our ears.

Let you soul dance to the sound of music, you can practice Yoga and simple meditation yourself. Make some time for yourself and relax and rejuvenate your body mind and soul with Yoga and relaxing music. There are many sources around where you can learn Yoga and how to get started, you can join classes with a professional instructor or learn yourself with training videos or guides.

Download over 4 hours of relaxing music & natural ambient sounds here: relaxingmusicspa.com relaxingmusicspa.com/ Perfect for Yoga, meditation, stress relief and relaxation. Article written by: Ruan Otto, Music lover & Owner of relaxingmusicspa.com relaxingmusicspa.com/