Relaxation and Stress Reduction Exercises - Four Shortcuts to Avoid Stress

"... one, two, three..... shake your hands for ten seconds, stop shaking them, stay still, take a long steady breath in through your nose and slowly breathe out. Repeat 3 - 5 times, smile and relax..."

That is how easy it is to reduce stress and feel energised and light again.

There is a myth that you have to invest loads of money and time to learn how to manage stress. To a certain degree, that is true.

Companies invest money and resources to provide stress management training for employees. Such training helps you identify work-related stress factors and provide you with tools that you can use to reduce job stress.

However, at a micro level, there are plenty of simple relaxation exercises you can do by yourself at home or at work, which do not require expensive equipment or take up a lot of your time.

The following four relaxation and stress relief techniques are ideal shortcuts to stress release.

Four Shortcuts to Avoid Stress

1. Do Something You Enjoy. Have you noticed that when you do something you enjoy time flies? As you focus and concentrate, your mind relaxes and tension leaves your body. Doing something that you enjoy on a regular basis is the best way to manage your stress levels. Even pottering around the garden calms you and alleviates stress. Aim therefore to fill your day with activities that make you feel fulfilled and rested.

2. Spend Your Time With Positive People. Have you noticed that when you are around certain people you feel drained and emotionally flat? Whereas other people leave you feeling inspired, energised and rested. Wherever possible spend time with positive, optimistic people. Their energy will lower your stress levels.

3. Eat Wisely. Live, raw, wholesome and natural foods, such as dried fruit and fresh vegetables provide your body with the range of nutrients needed for maximum health. Wholegrain carbohydrates such as wholegrain rice are easier to digest than white, highly processed foods. They give you long term energy without affecting your blood sugar levels which can lead to irritable mood swings and cravings.

4. Stretch. Gentle stretching exercises, such as Pilates or yoga help you to relax and release muscular tension. Try this simple yoga breathing exercise and see how good you feel. Sit or stand comfortably and scrunch your face up like a dried prune. Open your eyes and look upwards, open your mouth, stretch out your tongue and roar like a lion. Repeat until you feel powerful, calm and in control.

As you can see, it is possible to shortcut your way from stressed to relaxed. All you have to do is regularly practice the four easy stress and relaxation techniques and see how relaxed and stress-free life can be.

Ntathu Allen, Hatha Yoga Teacher works with women who want a richer, more fulfilling life for themselves and their families. She inspires and supports you to take time-out from your busy schedule to release stress and nurture your mind body and soul. To find out more visit yogainspires.co.uk yogainspires.co.uk and receive your FREE Special Report - Ten Yoga Postures To Jump-Start Your Day when you sign up for Ntathu's Free weekly Yoga Newsletter on yogainspires.co.uk yogainspires.co.uk

Top 5 Workout Tips For Mixed Martial Arts

Bored with the monotony of the gym? Not interested in running in the rain? Then you may be interested in trying mixed martial arts (MMA), which is a full body workout that also provides mental health benefits as well. To get started, here are a few workout tips to ensure you are getting the full benefits and doing so safely.

Workout tip #1: Always Warm Up

Because you will be working on all major muscle groups, it is essential to warm up to prevent injury or muscle strain. Stretches, yoga poses, and jump rope are all methods of warming up your muscles. Particularly with jumping rope, since you are doing a cardiovascular exercise and working on coordination. This coordination is important when working on strikes like punches or kicks and improving balance. You can also try some push-ups, sit-ups, and deep squats to work on each of your major muscle groups.

Workout tip#2: Have a Specific Program

Whether you are training on your own or with a professional, you will want to have a specific program in place to improve your skills. If you are looking to compete, you should be preparing at least eight weeks before the scheduled fight. If you are working on fitness, you should still have goals in mind and ways to achieve those goals. Are you hoping to improve your footwork? Are you interested in protecting yourself from ground attacks? Do you need to increase your upper body strength? Outline your objectives and then determine what workouts will help you reach them.

Workout tip#3: Work on Strength

It is sometimes easy to forget to work on strength training while doing an MMA workout. Balance, flexibility, and cardiovascular conditioning are easily integrated, but if you are not naturally interested in lifting weights, you will need to be creative in making sure you are not ignoring this important aspect of your overall fitness program. Try setting aside two days per week to focus on strength or resistance training. On each day do different full body movement patterns; for example, using reverse lunges on day and squats the other. You may also prefer to use hydraulic equipment that allows for going at your own pace.

Workout tip#4: Use Props

A medicine ball workout is an extremely effective method for improving your core strength. This, in turn, will improve your striking and take-down ability. You can incorporate a medicine ball into your abdominal work, use it for strength training or as an added weight during your cardiovascular warm-up.

Workout tip#5: Always Cool Down

In the same way that it is important to prepare your muscles for a workout, it is also important to cool them back down with simple stretches and not exposing yourself to extreme temperatures right way unless advised by a physician.

With these workout tips and dedication to your mixed martial arts practice, you should see improved strength, balance and overall fitness in a short time!

Damir Butkovic is the founder of martialartsfreetips.com, an online community for people who need advice about mixed martial arts (MMA). For instant access, free exercise tips, strength training advice and guidelines for proper nutrition, go to martialartsfreetips.com martialartsfreetips.com

Most Important Health Benefits of Exercise

It has gotten to the point at this stage of our lives that we truly have no choice, if you want to live a long healthy life, you must move your body and exercise that most important muscle, your heart. Here are just a few of the many reasons to start or continue an exercise program for your health.

Exercise fortifies your heart and reduces the stress on your arteries which then in turn lowers your blood pressure. Aerobic activity, getting that heart to pump, lowers systolic blood pressure (the top number of your reading) which gauges the pressure when your heart contracts.

Exercise also helps maintain a healthy weight. Not only is aerobic cardiovascular exercise recommended 3 to 5 times per week, but research shows that regular weight training can prevent hypertension. Research has also proven that people who regularly lift weights have lowered their diastolic pressure (the bottom number of your reading) which gauges the heart at rest. Weight training should be a weekly habit of at least 2 to 3 times. Plan the time to get your heart rate up for at least 20-30 minutes and then follow up with an additional 20 minutes of weight training for optimal results.

Some cardiovascular exercise recommendations is to use a treadmill or elliptical machine to really get that heart rate up. Both of these can now be purchased at very affordable prices for your home to make it easier for you to plan exercise into your schedule. A stationary bike is fantastic also. Weight training with 3-5 pound weights is recommended to start with and as you get stronger, you can can add more weight.

Another proven health benefit to exercising is fighting the stress and anxiety in your life which are both contributors to high blood pressure and heart disease. Mind and body exercise like yoga and Pilates have been proven in studies to decrease blood pressure.

Getting yourself a yoga mat is a start, there are also other yoga tools that help with your practice. Join a local yoga class or buy a DVD. You could even see if your television channels offer yoga instruction. Awareness and recognizing what stresses you most in your life is helpful in maintaining your breathing which relaxes your blood vessels. Another healthy option is meditation, inhaling and exhaling with control and thought will keep your stress hormones in check.

These are just a few important reasons to exercise, there are hundreds more, so why not step up and take charge of your health once and for all? The moral of the story is: make time for yourself, make time for your health and make time to exercise since it is one of the most important thing you can do to live a long and healthy life.

Written By: Cristina Pierce

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Weight Loss Using Yoga Techniques

Practicing yoga is a great path to weight loss. Yoga refers to the traditional physical, mental and spiritual disciplines which one must follow to keep one's mind and body under control. This practice originated in India and South East Asia. The word 'Yoga' comes from Indian Philosophy and means the union of the individual's soul with the universe. All great for your weight loss program!

Yoga helps you to stay in shape and tone the body and is an excellent weight loss therapy.

It helps you manage stress, improves flexibility, and helps in mental clarity. It tones the body in a uniform manner unlike other exercises which can leave your skin sagging after sudden weight loss. Yoga can be practiced at any age and keeps the body supple.

It also helps in natural weight loss through various cleansing techniques like stomach wash, lung cleansing, colon cleansing, digestive system cleansing techniques etc. It has various Asans or postures like Tree pose, Angle pose, Triangle pose, Cobra pose, Camel pose, Aeroplane pose Child pose, Cat pose etc. Even a "wind releasing pose"!

All the above poses can be incorporated in toning a particular body part, like tightening the abdomen, toning up the arms and legs, chest tightening, thighs and hips toning, waist slimming etc.

Pranayam, or the breathing exercise is an excellent practice for maintaining good health and curing breathing ailments and other related problems. Meditation and relaxation are other ways of keeping a focus on your breathing pattern for some time to achieve clarity of mind.

Chromotherapy is another aspect of yoga, where certain diseases are treated through sun charged water, oil etc. Hydrotherapy is another treatment for curing diseases through water. Cold showers are said to dissolve or burn fats and cellulite and aid in weight loss.

A great way to remove toxins and dissolve fat is to take a steam bath or sauna, or even just a hot foot bath.

Fasting is another way to lose fat. Dicto therapy is a major fat burning regime wherein more of fruits and vegetables are consumed to change the quality of calories and reduce fat. Fibrous food like oats or wheat bran are great for detoxifying the digestive system and helping reduce fat in the body ultimately helping with the weight loss.

If you learn to apply yoga to your daily life, you will get a long term solution to the problem of achieving self control and self fulfilment. Without any special equipment you can do exercises that keep in you in shape, put your mind at peace and attain an internally balanced body. All you need to perform yoga is a woolen blanket or a foam mat.

You don't need to be an athlete to practice yoga. If you can learn to stretch your body then you can achieve the full benefits of this wonderful form of exercise. Once you learn it from a trained yogi you can practice it in the comfort of your home and it will remain with you all your life.

So do not wait anymore. Adopt yoga in your life and achieve wellness besides weight loss.

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Yoga for Teenagers

Yoga should be studied with a well qualified professional teacher who understands both the philosophy and the practical health techniques of the science. In the case of teenagers it is an ideal time to learn many things that will help in the process of 'growing up' and maturing in a healthy, natural way - physically, emotionally and mentally.

Because Yoga has a universal approach which embraces moral and spiritual principles, it helps to strength the spiritual and religious principles which are inherent in each person who aims at excellence. Some people mistake the teaching as a religion in itself but this is not true. Its history goes back thousands of years and although it is allied to the Hindu faith and has been preserved in India, Yoga offers simply a way of life. There should be no misconception about this point. It is best of course to meet your teacher and discuss this with them as there are many teachers with different approaches and points of view. Most teachers in western society see the need to modify and adapt the traditional Indian practices to our modern lifestyle and this has helped Yoga to become very popular.

One of the first benefits students say is that after a class or two they begin to feel freer and less stressed and in the case of young people who are just beginning to understand the responsibilities that come with maturity, there are plenty of reasons why stress builds up. However, stress and nervous tension make matters worse, so the ability to relax is one of the first tonic effects when undergoing yoga training.

There are many pointers given by the teacher as to how to improve personal health. These tips will complement what you already know about physical fitness and can be applied to physical health and nutrition; exercises with breath control (the yogic way is different from average fitness programs); mastering body posture and the many dozens of yoga postures that are taken both for health reasons and as a means of developing control over the body; breathing exercises to increase vitality or to calm the mind; concentration to help the mind be efficient and meditation to allow the mind to relax and to listen to one's soul or inner being.

Following the principle that when the body is still, we can better be aware of our feelings and that when the emotions are calm we think more clearly. It is therefor natural that when the mind is calm, we can experience our deeper intuitive nature of our soul intelligence and receive inspiration.

Apart from the obvious physical benefits that come from the more dynamic practices, teenagers generally find the practice of meditation as one of the most interesting. It can be particularly helpful when encouraged by the thought that each of us has the seed of every human potential latent within us, awaiting its culture and development. The ancient Vedic teachings say it in this way in the Upanishads....

"In this body, in this town of spirit, is a little house shaped like a lotus. And in this house, there is a little space. There is as much in this little space (within the heart) as there is in the whole world outside - sun, moon, lightning, stars....whatever is and whatever is not yet, everything is there".

Students begin to feel they can draw upon their inner reserves rather than over- emphasizing the importance of external and material ambitions which can often seem limited enough by circumstances to cause frustration. Many find that they have exciting experiences when they sit quietly and attune themselves in this way.

One of the most helpful ideas the philosophy offers in addition, is that each person is unique and possesses some special qualities which can be cultivated to benefit others in some way in their lives, or given to the world as a whole. Each has to discover what those qualities and talents are and so the future provides ample opportunity for adventure both inwardly and outwardly. You can make your own future as you want.

Our native culture provides the basis of a pattern for living and a lifestyle which imbues all the best thoughts of previous generations and if the traditions are followed, much benefit is gained. But we are living in a particular time when global conditions indicate a breakdown in traditional values. This is having a negative affect upon almost every culture forcing each individual to make their own decisions about the values they wish to live by in their own life. This is made more difficult by the trends of popular thought and habit which tend to sweep the nations in great waves of influences which tend to be bad more than a power for good.

It takes individual character to withstand the negative influence of one's peers and to act, think and feel for oneself. This can often mean an unfortunate distancing of a good person that occurs by the rebellious 'popular set' rejecting a boy or girl who is trying harder, or conforms and is not shy to speak up for the good values of society. But that is just an example of the power than groups of people can have when they band together. Equally of course, good people standing together have equal power, but for good.

Yoga, however, focuses upon the individual and self discipline. Everyone has the potential to control their own bodies, their own feelings, their own thoughts and their actions. It is all up to us and our choices. When confused, or stressed, you will learn how to practice relaxation, or to practice yogic exercises and postures, or to take deep breaths and special rhythms, or you may meditate - all these techniques can be used on occasion and you will feel after you have applied yourself, you will feel much better - as if your personality has been 'ironed out...smooth' and you will feel more vital and much happier.

Yoga encourages you to face your difficulties and fears and resolve them. If you haven't a person to whom you feel free to talk out privately, one whom you trust completely, then you can always write out your thoughts in your special personal diary or communicate with your wiser soul self or with God in your prayers and meditations. Why not join a Yoga class today!

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to yoga.tips-and-gear.com Yoga

Yoga Instructor Training - A Gateway to Self-Mastery

Taking an intensive Yoga course is a great way to take control of your life, direction, and destiny. Not everyone wants to teach Yoga classes, but an intensive course will instill inner confidence and reveal many methods for establishing self-mastery.

Intensives often reveal hidden facets of Yoga practice. These are not usually covered in regular classes, due to the revolving door of new students. It is easy for most students to become side-tracked during class time, in pursuit of physical mastery, but that is only one preliminary step toward mastering oneself.

The mind sits in the "driver's seat" of the body. To develop a trained mind, through study, meditation, transformation, self-analysis, and self-realization is true self-mastery. To be in control, when surrounded by criticism and pessimism, is pure inner strength.

How often have you seen an elite athlete lose concentration during a competitive event? In a sporting event, the difference between victory and defeat is often related to the competitor's frame of mind. Just the slightest lack of focus can become a major difference in the outcome during contests between professional athletes.

Many of us are so addicted to thinking that physical prowess is the final answer to everything; we often forget the mind is the driving force behind our physical actions. We see many people who display control, compassion, grace, awareness, and fortitude into their senior years.

Yet, seniors are often under appreciated, when engaging in conversations with their grandchildren. Who holds a grandchild's attention longer - the cell phone or the good conversation with Grandma? If the cell phone rings off, most grandchildren will answer, even though they are in the middle of a conversation with a grandparent.

There is no need to say, "Excuse me" anymore. Do we blame society, parents, or technology? This is not the time for blaming anyone, or anything. It is time to realize that the power of the mind is being ignored by too many people. Technology has leaped so far forward that we are losing touch with ourselves.

It is often said that we are losing touch with nature. While this is true for a great many, it is also true that many of us run on auto pilot. Sometimes, children grow and nobody notices, until they move out. Sometimes, people consume two or three thousand calories during their commutes to work, without giving it a thought.

What could a happinesslifetime.com Yoga teacher training course do to change this rapid pace of life? It depends on the subject matter covered, but you can easily find out by researching the course online or over the phone. You may want to inquire about the objectives, benefits, and requirements of a Yoga teacher course.

Recently, a friend of mine mentioned that the top requirement for all teacher interns, to graduate, was to stand on their head, at one of the Yoga intensives she attended. That is such a silly, ludicrous, and superficial requirement, that I could not contain my laughter.

Most children, who are 10 years of age, can easily pass the test; but if you have eye problems, have had a previous stroke, high blood pressure, heart problems, neck problems, sinus problems, or epilepsy - you would be wise to avoid performing a headstand.

Therefore, do your research about courses before taking one. Yoga is much more than a gymnastic event. Yoga instructors are human too. Many good teachers have eye problems, have had a previous stroke, high blood pressure, heart problems, neck problems, sinus problems, or epilepsy.

© 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 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

Performing Yoga With Weights

Yoga has been known for decades as an important form of exercise and breathing techniques. But yoga with weights is a combination of two powerful, time-tested exercise systems. Winner of 'Mr. America' title Walt Baptiste was a bodybuilder who won this contest in 1949. He had an interesting yoga journey, one that combines yoga with weights. Walt started as a bodybuilder and later incorporated yoga into his exercise program. Instead of moaning & groaning and straining himself in his body building workouts, Walt discovered how to apply breathing techniques in his exercise regime and practice yoga along with his weight training. Thus the concept of weight yoga took birth.

Working out with weights is one of the best ways to achieve overall physical fitness, and yoga known for its benefits for personal development. By combining yoga with weights it not only addresses the needs of your body but it also goes beyond the physical dimension of your well-being. It helps you cultivate peak performance and achieve higher quality of life.

Yoga with weights consists of 1,3 or 5 pounds of weights on your ankles or wrists. The weights

Alleviate your body and help you achieve higher levels of physical benefits. It's not just a tool to lose weight but also helps your body mind and spirit beyond comprehension. Practicing yoga regularly can be a way of your well being and help you discover your true self through this journey.

Doing yoga with weights also make you feel the effect of exercising much sooner and faster. It takes months to practice this art of yoga form and for you to totally grasp this concept. The weights train your muscles and you have to figure out how and where to move your body parts to achieve maximum benefit. The weight helps you to move your body in the right position and forces you to engage right muscle. You feel the exercise more challenging doing with weights rather than traditional yoga. It teaches you to balance your body makes the experience more intense.

You need proper guidance before you start weights yoga. Once you get the concept clear you can practice it on your own and make it a part of your daily routine. Yoga is a very powerful tool to stay fit and it becomes more effective and valuable combining it with weights. It addresses your body, mind and soul and helps you develop your personality physically and spiritually.

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