Mental and Physical Benefits of Swimming

Swimming is a fitness activity whose benefits are recognized by millions of practitioner all over the world. Exercising in the water, whether it is swimming or  water aerobics is an excellent physical training for everybody, teenager and elderly citizens, pregnant women and well fit men, overweight people and people recovering from an injury. If you are thinking about starting any fitness activity do not look anywhere else than at your local swimming pool. Keep reading to know why I am advocating so much in favor of the benefits of swimming.

Easy on the joints and effective on the muscles

Because of the support the water gives to your body, training in the swimming pool is like training in a weightless environment. Your joints and ligaments are not stressed as much as in other dry-land fitness activities such as jogging or tennis. Swimming is therefore a sport virtually free from injuries. Nevertheless, all the muscles of your body are trained very effectively. Because all the swimming movements are gentle and performed with stretched muscles, while you train your strengths and endurance  you also train the muscles flexibility. If you start swimming now, you will find yourself stronger and more flexible in a matter of few weeks.

Cardiovascular fitness benefits

Swimming activates all the major muscle groups in your body, but the benefits of swimming go further than just muscle strength. Regular swimmers get an overall conditioning which includes a great improvement on their cardiovascular system. Even just training twice or three times a week you will increase your lactate threshold. This means, your lungs and your heart will be able to support your body during the training effort with more oxygen and a more efficient use of it to fuel your muscles. You will then be able to train harder and improve further or simply to last longer doing any physical exercise. A better fitness level in your body will bring great benefits to your life balance. You will lower your sugar levels, burn calories, and feel mentally stronger to face the challenges of your daily life.

Burn calories

Because swimming activates all the major muscle groups in your body it burns more calories than jogging. Not only that, but being easy on your ligaments you won't get injured as much as going jogging and you will be able to keep up your training throughout the year because you will keep being healthy. To lose weight however, common sense needs to be applied. Training is essential, and the benefits of swimming for losing weight are clear, but you need to keep in mind that you will lose weight only if you burn more calories than you take in. So watch your diet and distribute the meals wisely during the day. A good advice is to try to wait a couple of hours before and after the training session for having something to eat, eat only healthy food and do not forget to drink plenty of water also during your training.   

Swimming During Pregnancy

All Doctors would recommend you to do some mild physical exercise during pregnancy. Walking, practicing yoga, or participating to some soft aerobics class for pregnant women are usually considered activities pregnant women can benefit from. Because of the peculiarities swimming has, pregnant women can benefits greatly by including a soft but regular swimming fitness routine in their life. Swimming trains very effectively the upper part of the body including your back. Your back needs to be strong to sustain the weight of your prominent belly. The best stroke to swim while you are pregnant is breaststroke. Breaststroke does not require rotation of the torso and thus it is more comfortable to do with a big belly. Even if a light training is generally advisable for all pregnant women, you should always ask your Doctor before starting exercising. Your main target with the training should be to maintain your level of fitness and not improving your swimming performance.

How to Get Started

If you feel ready to get started I would recommend you to go and check out what kind of activities are offered by your local swimming pool. You can start with getting a teacher to introduce you to the swimming techniques, in case you are a beginner, or join a master team if you want to train more and maybe have some fun competing. I would also advice you to just get to the swimming pool and plan your own training. There is plenty of information on the Internet and plenty of nice swimming training programs available for you to follow.

One resource I would recommend for information, suggestions and free coaching is effectivewaterfitness.com effectivewaterfitness.com. There you can find all you need to get started with swimming as a fitness activity or to improve your swimming performance if your are more advanced. Download the "4 weeks swimming training plan" for free at effectivewaterfitness.com/4-weeks-swimming-workout effectivewaterfitness.com/4-weeks-swimming-workout/. This training plan is designed to make progress your swimming technique and your physical fitness level easily and effectively in only 4 weeks. Start now and enjoy the benefits of swimming for the rest of your life.

Gab .G

Why is Teaching Yoga so Rewarding? Part 2

Independence, from the daily grind, is total freedom to meditate, be your own boss, and live the dream of teaching Yoga to others. If you teach Hatha Yoga, you will be in the best possible physical shape, due to the physical aspects and living with a moderate diet. You can stop and visit your local bookstore at any time, while the world is in "9 to 5 mode."

Having time to spend with your family, enjoying life, and having the "time to smell the flowers," are newfound parts of a Yoga teacher's life. What is more important than the quality time you have to spend with loved ones and friends? Yoga gives all of us time to reflect on the real priorities in life and Yoga practice could be compared to a brief vacation in your daily life.

Being able to reconnect your spiritual side is a part of Yoga practice. Regardless of your religion, you will gradually gravitate back toward "your roots." You do not have to look outside your religion for answers. The answers to life, and the divine, are within the religion you were brought up with. Yoga is a tool to improve your spiritual health. Yoga does not discriminate and does not condone intolerance.

All Yoga teachers will pursue the path of self-improvement. It may start as pursuit of physical prowess at first, but will end up being much more. This is why Hatha Yoga is a gateway toward many other forms of Yoga that benefit the complete health of mind, body, and spirit.

Why do Yoga teachers love their job? With all that has been stated up to this point, Yoga teachers and their students are some of the happiest people in the world. This comes at a time when the vast majority of humankind is stressed out, having anxiety attacks, and feeling aggression. Words like tranquility, harmony, success, and gratification, seem like a myth to those who do not practice Yoga on a regular basis.

On another note, you have control over your job. Yoga teachers choose the age group they want to teach. You can teach Yoga to a particular age group or all ages.

The time and place are up to you. If you are a late riser, you can stay in bed. If you are an early riser, you can teach Yoga in the early morning and "close up shop" earlier in the evening.

What if you do not want to be a Yoga teacher? Will your Yoga training open up doors for your dream job? The fact is - Yoga practice gives all of us the power of self realization. We become aware of the real priorities in life. There is no better gratification than self-help and being able to help others.

© Copyright 2006 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He is a master instructor of martial arts, with multiple Black Belts, four martial arts teaching credentials, and was recently inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students, who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher. yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

Yoga Careers Have Broad Appeal and Rewards

Finding work that is financially rewarding and personally fulfilling is becoming a greater and greater challenge in today's workforce, which struggles to understand how to balance financial security with the need to contribute to the world in a healthy balanced way. More people are looking for part time work that fills their need for wellness and health, while augmenting their income. And more and more are turning to a career in Yoga.

National Standards

In 2003, the Washington State Workforce Training Board certified its first yoga teacher training vocational school, The College of Purna Yoga, which is also a Registered Yoga School with Yoga Alliance. As the first yoga vocational school, The College of Purna Yoga seeks to bring industry standards to yoga training where none exist. Right now, anyone, no matter their level of training or knowledge, can teach yoga, which is very dangerous. Yoga--when done correctly--has amazing properties for health and wellness, integrating the whole body with the mind and the spirit. However, when taught incorrectly, by a poorly trained teacher, yoga can cause injury or worse. While health fields such as massage, chiropractic, and personal training naturally require standards in certification, yoga has been left off the list; there is no national standard for certifying yoga teachers.

Because the lack of standards, students are left in the dark when choosing a studio or a teacher. Students often don't know the importance of good training or the dangers of a lack therein. There are big differences in types and levels of yoga teacher training. Quality yoga teacher training programs should train teachers in how to do and teach asana and yogic breathing, as well as the therapeutics and rehabilitative aspects of yoga, meditation, philosophy, nutrition, and ethics for yoga professionals. One international organization, called Yoga Alliance, is attempting to provide standards where none are mandated. Teachers voluntarily register themselves at one of two levels of training: the 200-hour Level or the 500-hour Level.

The Importance of Professional Training

Yoga careers offer people a choice for a more balanced career that can dovetail their existing careers if necessary. A 200-hour training is perfect for people like physical therapists, massage practitioners, chiropractors, and martial arts instructors, who already work in the health field and want to expand their professional repertoire by being able to utilize the many wonderful tools of yoga correctly, to help their students find long-term sustainable healing. Also, anyone just getting started will find the 200-hour level as the perfect place to start to build their foundation.

For teachers who really want to transform their teaching into to a sound profession, a 500-hour training is mandatory. Most schools offer a 300-hour supplement to the 200-hour training to reach the 500-hour level. To register with Yoga Alliance at the 500-hour Level, a teacher must also demonstrate that they have taught at least 100 hour of yoga classes. Students learn that in order to be an inspiring teacher, they must also be an inspired practitioner. 500-hour trainings must spend time on developing the professional skills as well as the personal integrity to commit to the yogic life. At this level, teachers must live their yoga, rather than merely speak about it.

Finally, there are those teachers who understand the true potentials of yoga. Teaching yoga requires an extended and focused course of study, which, like any great art or science, requires the development of both tangible knowledge and inner wisdom. For many teachers, the 500-hour Level is not enough training. To truly embody yoga, one must dedicate themselves to a much deeper course of study. For example, at The College of Purna Yoga, a third level is offered: The Purna Yoga Certificate Level, which involves one year of rigorous study that places the greatest attention on the development of a teacher's personal integrity, professionalism, and inner connection to wisdom and Truth--in addition to expanded technical knowledge.

The Importance of Lineage

Yoga is both an art and a science. As an art, it is a refined and intricate as classical music. As a science, it is as complex and precise as physics. Joy lies in its infinite exploration. The successful learning of any art or science requires a master to transmit the lineage. Many yoga schools are created by master yoga teachers, who have given their lives to the infinite exploration of yoga. Schools without a master teacher or a lineage backing them up have two challenges: They often end up teaching from a tired, uninspired databanks of information that pays no regard to the evolution of yoga; or they try to teach all styles of yoga, without really covering any one in depth. To teach yoga requires true inspiration, which comes from the wellspring within the teacher, not any textbook. To teach yoga is to give to others the greatest gift of all: the ability to realize their unique individual purpose and to fulfill their destiny.

? 2008 Aadil Palkhivala

Aadil is the author of "Fire of Love", a book for Teachers of Yoga and Students of Life.

To buy a copy- click on this link: buyfireoflove.com buyfireoflove.com

Full Body Fitness With Yoga

Kundalini Yoga is a great science to help with full body fitness and health. This is because kundalini yoga combines powerful breathing with dynamic movement, and this combination helps deliver a workout which both, builds your strength, as well as helps with flexibility and stamina. In this article, I will teach you three great yoga exercises which when combined will help you on your march to achieving total body fitness.

The three exercises which will help you in strengthening your entire body are Plank Pose, Stretch Pose and Frog Pose. Plank pose will work on the upper body, helping build your chest, shoulders and arms. Stretch pose will work on your abdominal systems, helping to tone and strengthen your abs. Frog pose is excellent for building and toning your legs, especially your thighs and buttocks. So the combination of these three exercises will give you a full body workout and done consistently, will make you fit and strong.

Here are the details of each of these three exercises:

Plank Pose for Upper Body Fitness:

a. How to Do Yoga Plank Pose:

* Most of us are familiar with doing push ups, and plank pose is essentially the up position when doing a push up.

* For plank pose be sure to keep your body in a straight line, now allowing the butt to sag and the hands should be directly underneath the shoulders.

* Breathing is normal, except if you are doing a particular Kundalini Yoga Kriya, which might require you to do Breath of Fire while holding Plank Pose.

b. Duration:

* 15 seconds - 7 minutes.

c. Benefits:

* Strengthens the arms, shoulders, chest and back.

* Develops your core strength and abdominal muscles.

d. Practice Tips:

* Advanced variations of Plank Pose include, lifting one leg up and holding the pose, or lifting one arm up and holding the pose. This is to take your level of fitness to the next level.

Kundalini Yoga Stretch Pose for Abdominal Fitness:

a. Instructions for Kundalini Yoga Stretch Pose:

* Lie on your back.

* Place your hands under your buttocks palms facing down (to support your lower back).

* Raise your heels 6 inches, point your feet and toes away from you, raise your head slightly and stare at your toes. You will feel the abdominal muscles go to work immediately.

* Begin Breath of Fire Breathing Exercise.

b. Duration:

15 seconds -11 minutes.

c. Benefits:

* Builds abdominal strength.

* Increases core fitness, energy and power.

* Helps develop the much coveted 6 pack abs.

* Improves your digestive system.

d. Practice Tips::

* To modify this pose you can do this posture with your legs bent at the knees, or do one leg at a time. Either way you will reduce the pressure on the abdominal muscles.

Kundalini Yoga Frog Pose for Lower Body Fitness:

Kundalini Yoga Frog Pose Practice Details:

a. How to Do Kundalini Yoga Frog Pose:

* Squat on the floor on your toes, with your feet apart and your heels either touching or very close together.

* Have your knees spread out and your arms inside your knees with your finger tips touching the floor. The elbows are straight.

* Look up, you can have your eyes opened or closed. Inhale. This is the starting position for frog pose.

* Rise up now by straightening your legs. At the same time bring your head towards your knees and keep your fingers touching the floor. Your heels should move down towards the floor. Straighten your legs as much as possible. Exhale. This is the ending position for frog pose. This completes 1 repetition.

* Come back down to the starting position and repeat the cycle as many times as indicated.

b. Duration:

* Beginners, start with as many as you can do and work up to 26 froggies.

* Intermediates, work up to 54 froggies.

* Advanced, work up to 108 froggies or more.

c. Benefits:

* Shapes, tones and strengthens the legs and lower body. Specially the thighs muscles.

* Builds the cardiovascular system and respiratory system. Promoting better circulation and better respiration.

* Promotes flexibility in the hamstrings and calves.

* Overall, builds one level of fitness and endurance.

d. Practice Tips:

* Careful with your knees. If you have bad knees, approach this exercise with caution.

* This yoga exercise will get your heart rate up, so careful not to get dizzy. If you feel breathless, light headed or faint, stop and take a break.

* It is beneficial to stretch the hamstrings before doing frog pose.

Summary of Yoga for Full Body Fitness:

As you can see from the above exercises, a good yoga workout can deliver quite a punch and be an effective science for building your full body fitness and health. These exercises don't just promote flexibility, but are also excellent for training your most important muscles. Doing this set consistently will undoubtedly make you fit, strong and toned.

For more great yoga sets to help you achieve full body fitness and health check out, anmolmehta.com/blog/2009/06/22/yoga-for-full-body-fitness Yoga for Full Body Fitness, created by Yoga and Meditation Master Anmol Mehta. Also, enjoy the free yoga videos, meditation classes and spiritual e-books he offers on his popular and free website.

Cross Training - What You Need to Know

Being fit means that you can do any and every activity with the same degree of efficiency and gusto. Some people who consider themselves fit and in better shape than most, often fail to do activities that do not form a part of their regular schedules. The simple deduction that can be drawn is that they are not fit. Do you find yourself in this category? You might, if you have fallen into a nice 'comfort zone' with your exercise schedule. If so, you must consider cross training.

When an exercise regimen does not provide you with a challenge, you might as well not do it. You might also be mentally fatigued in case you are following the same training schedule since ages. Cross training is just what you need and wake and shake up!

Cross training can be described as a great way to:

- Condition different groups of muscles

- Develop new exercise skills

- Eliminate boredom from workouts

Cross training benefits you, the non-athlete, more because you are not trying to excel in any particular sport. So you need to focus on developing some specific muscles groups only and instead should try to get a whole body workout. This helps you do just that.

Here are some exercises that can make up a good cross training regimen.

1. Cardiovascular exercises such as running, swimming, cycling, rowing, skating, skiing etc should ideally be a component of cross training. You can even try some sports like basketball or squash.

2. Strength training exercises such as weight training, calisthenics etc should also be a part of your cross training regimen.

3. You should also do flexibility training such as stretching and yoga.

4. The other beneficial exercises that you can do are:

- Speed, agility and balance drills

- Circuit training

- Plyometrics

The benefits that you can look to derive from cross training are:

You can modify your training plans easily. Cross training gives you the flexibility to substitute a particular exercise for another, provided they both have the same benefits. So, on a really cold day, you can go for a jog rather than doing laps at the pool.

Because you are covering multiple aspects of training, you tend to get a better workout overall. This ensures that your body is better conditioned and you can easily engage in different kinds of activities even if you are not habituated to them. So you can take up the challenge of a short sprint with your friends or emerge as the star sportsman of your locality, without breaking sweat!

Complete conditioning of the body also means that you have lesser chances of injuring yourself, at work, at play or in course of daily activity. This is because your muscles are stronger and can endure more stress.

You can also work on some muscle groups while giving others a rest. If you know the exercises for each muscle group, you can easily do this.

It can be more beneficial if you take help of a fitness trainer. A certified trainer can effectively guide you in your attempt to incorporate different types of exercises in your training schedule.

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Yogalates - Another Fitness Fad, Or the Best of Both Systems?

Terms such as yogalates often seem to be a typical fitness con / fad designed to make a quick buck from poorly advised people looking to lose weight. At first, I thought that the term yogalates was a complete joke. To start with, many of the exercises in Pilates are taking directly from various schools Yoga. Yoga is essentially a form of stationary exercises and stretches aim at improving balance, strength and flexibility. Pilates was developed to help hospitalised patients to build strength while still bed-bound.

So what does Yogalates have to offer, which traditional yoga, or Pilates, classes cannot? All it actually does is strip down both yoga and Pilates to their core exercises, which work the abdomen, and upper body. The easiest way to learn is from a yogalates instructor, although they are hard to find. A good alternative, especially if you have had some yoga or Pilates experience, is to learn from a video.

The Yogalates DVD shows how to harness the health benefits of Yoga and Pilates. Yogalates for Weight Loss is the ultimate low-impact workout for those wanting to slim down, tone up and lose weight safely. It not only targets the tummy and upper body, sculpting the arms and toning the abs, but also targets the lower body, tightening the buttocks, shaping the legs and aiding all over toning. Follow this award-winning programme at least three times a week, and you'll see a noticeable difference within a month. For even faster results, a 15 minute 'Instant Abs' routine is included for an intensive abdominal workout. Of course, what Yoga plan would be complete without a guided body relaxation to help you unwind?

Alternatively the book Yogalates: the breakthrough workout that combines the best of yoga and pilates, by Louise Solomon, is described as a brilliant combination of the gentle stretch of yoga and the core-building strength of Pilates. Yogalates is quite simply the perfect East meets West fitness answer for just about everyone. Everything a beginner needs to know is shown in dozens of color photographs, from body basics and breathing essentials to six complete, easy-to-follow workout plans. This total toning program will kick start the abs; work the waist, shoulders, and arms; tighten the butt and thighs; and train every muscle. There's even a resistance series and dynamic stretching. In-depth information explains how to control the breath; find the proper alignment; master the principles of movement and coordination; build endurance and prevent injury; and activate the core muscles. Each series of exercises is laid out clearly, simply, and logically, and taken together they absolutely transform any body into something beautiful. There's no better way to reach your ultimate goal.

So Yogalates really is a good combination of the schools of Yoga and Pilates. It takes the best exercises and teaching from each school to create a workout that is more intense and aims to provide quicker results. You can learn more about motleyhealth.com/yoga.html yoga, pilates and yogalates at MotleyHealth.com.

J.P.Wade runs MotleyHealth.com, a health and fitness community, motleyhealth.com motleyhealth.com/

Yoga and the Intellect - About the Three Stages of Yoga - Concentration, Meditation, Contemplation

It is in the last three of the eight limbs of yoga presented in the Saga Ultras that we find the training and use of the mind. In this there are three clearly defined stages. These three may be translated as:

? Concentration

? Meditation

? Contemplation

In this first of these there is the application of the attention of the mind, to a particular thing or idea, without wandering away from it. This not wandering away, constitutes what is called control (nirodha).

In the second of the three, namely meditation, there is a play of thought upon the object. While this is going on the concentration is still in operation, but the play of thought goes on with reference to the object of attention without passing away to other things. Thus, for example, if the object is a flower there will be every possible thought about the flower. Usually in looking at things we are content to note a few outstanding features and the same is true also m our thinking about them, but in meditation there should be complete thinking, if possible.

A and B were at a party last night. Today A says to B. Do you remember Mrs. Whelkson, who was there? B replies, Yes, I remember her very clearly. She was the lady with the big nose.' A then asks, What was the colour of her eyes and her hair and dress? B cab only reply that he has not even the foggiest notion.

The usual thinking of most people is based upon data almost as bad as this. In matters philosophical or devotional, with which yoga is very much concerned, this will not do. Hence the need for the three processes already named, which are thus described in the aphorisms:

The binding of the mind (chitta) to one place is concentration (dharana).

Continuity of ideation there is meditation (dhyana).

The same, but with the shining of the mere object, as though with a part of ones own nature, is contemplation (Samadhi)

In the last of the three the reader may recognize the chief characteristic of ecstasy or rapture. In that one forgets oneself, is taken out of oneself, and yet is intensely conscious. The quality of consciousness is, in fact, at its best. This is not an emotional state, but an operation of seeing or knowing, in which there is nothing partial and nothing brought to the picture from memory, or from the past, to colour the present experience with any comparison or classification. If you were looking at a picture, and saying, 'How nice it is. See this group of trees here, and that little stream there, and that light on the hillside...', you would be experiencing the delight of meditative examination, which would gradually build the picture into one unit, as you grasped these various interesting items clearly and then combined them into one and discovered the unity of the whole.

But if you 'took in' the whole picture at once, missing nothing, not flitting among the parts from one to another, you would undergo ecstatic discovery and experience of the unity. For this, the picture must of course be good; that is, there must be no slightest mark on the canvas which is not necessary, just as, for example, in an excellent human body all the parts must be there, but there must be no redundancy, such as an extra thumb growing on the side of the proper one.

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