The Benefits of Meditation

The physical, emotional, and spiritual benefits of meditation have been well documented for thousands of years. Scientists, philosophers, spiritualists, and religious leaders have heralded the power of witnessing awareness. They may refer to it as deep reflection, being present, mindfulness, contemplation, prayer, meditation, or simply relaxing, but it’s all the same thing—disconnecting from the activity and drifting to the space between our thoughts.

In the Yoga Sutras, written sometime between 200 b.c. and. 200 a.d., the sage Patanjali (who created a common thread that all schools of yoga follow) defined meditation in four Sanskrit words: yoga citta vritti nirodha, which means “one-ness is the progressive quieting of the fluctuations of the mind.”

1. Effects on the Mind, Body & Spirit

Over the first few days, weeks, and months of daily meditation, the quieting impact this simple practice has on your bodymind begins to express itself in each choice you make. Your shift may be so subtle that even you don’t see these meditation benefits at first. But your thoughts, selections, decisions, and daily actions become more conscious, leading to more intuitively conscious behaviors. Then one day you realize you have a broader perspective, a deeper sense of calm, and heightened clarity… yes, greater creativity, expanded grace, greater ease. You realize you are making more spontaneous right choices. You realize you are being more authentic. There is greater alignment between what you think, what you say, and what you do. These are the myriad effects and benefits of meditation. The world is still turning—and sometimes faster than ever—but to you, that swirl is in slower motion, like texts coming into your cell phone with a really faint hum rather than a blasting ringtone.

2. Stillness, Peace & Quieting the Mind

Over time, moving from activity to stillness during meditation translates into more conscious behaviors during non-meditation (the other 23 or so hours of your day). Your interactions with the world shift more effortlessly from reactivity to responding, from reflexiveness to reflectiveness, from defensiveness to openness, and from drama to calm.

There’s a big bonus regarding the effects of meditation on top of all these other nourishing aspects of having a practice. Over time, meditation benefits you by quieting you to a state where you experience life with a deeper understanding of your true Self, which can open the door to spiritual exploration, connection, discovery, and fulfillment—one of the many spiritual benefits of meditation. It is along the so-called “spiritual path” that you truly can experience your unbounded and unconditioned Self—the infinite you that rests at the core of who you are underneath your body and beneath this worldly garb of titles, roles, masks, ego, and the complexities of this life.

Regardless of the depth of your spiritual nature, simply by spending time in stillness and silence, you will experience the benefits of meditation and become more imbued with the ability to open to greater possibilities in each moment instead of the ones you were fixed on.

Discover powerful insights and techniques for creating radiant health, happiness, prosperity, peace and flow  

This creates a more universal trajectory for the rest of your life with an expanded point of view. By seeing yourself as more universal and less personal, you’ll realize more options in each moment instead of seeing only the limited ones you thought you had before. Everything in your life becomes richer when you see there are lots of different ways things can play out and your previously constricted viewpoint only made you feel more helpless as life unfolded. But this tool called meditation and its benefits can give you the edge you need to feel strong each day, to gain clarity, and to finally regain your peace of mind.

3. Evolving our Brains: The Scientific Research

Different types of meditation styles take you to different places. Some calm you in the moment, others calm you after the moment, some open you, some inspire you, some relax you, some comfort you, others transport you, and some deliver you to a life of oneness and deeper fulfillment. This may sound like a huge leap from the clinical, scientific proof of the power and benefits of meditation, but its current trendiness, and 5,000 years of testimonials should give you the support you need right now to continue exploring

For the past 15 years, the biggest craze to hit the fitness industry came in the form of a California-based workout program that emphasized interval training and Olympic weightlifting. It may not be for everyone, but CrossFit is certainly a great way to stay fit and get some variety for those who already have a solid aerobic and strength base.  We must note, however, that it is always most important to listen to one’s own body and it’s limits.

Samir Becic, 4 times Number 1 Fitness Trainer in the world and HFR’s “Top 10 Health Benefits of CrossFit”:

1. Intensity: CrossFit is a fast-paced, intense workout that can take less than 15 minutes a day because that quarter of an hour is going to be condensed, nonstop movement. It may only be three or four routines, such as burpees, a jog and squats, but the idea is that you keep doing each one over and over through the set time. It’s a concentrated shot of exercise and it burns the system — in a good way.
2. Motivation: The key to CrossFit is the intensity, but hidden in that fact is that you’re inherently pushing yourself to do the most you can through each exercise in the workout. Everyone wants results, but not everyone puts in the effort. In a regular gym, it’s easy to cheat reps here and there or sneak a longer break than necessary, but because of how the CrossFit workout is tailored, there’s no option other than to max yourself out.
3. Time efficient: In a span of 15 or 20 minutes, you’ll be asked to complete as many rounds of a specific circuit as you can. By the end of it, because of the aforementioned intensity and effort, you’ll have burned more calories than a regular workout.
4. Building relationships: Often times a gym is just a collection of random people focused on doing their own different exercises. At a CrossFit box, which is what they refer to as their gym, it’s community. You’re surrounded by a group of people – even strangers! – who encourage you and help you push your boundaries. Even the people who finish last get a round of high-fives for pushing themselves as hard as they can. Everyone has the same goal in mind: to get in the best shape possible. The camaraderie in CrossFit is part of what makes this exercise experience so unique.
5. Dynamic workouts: The workouts are sometimes hard to describe because they are so multidimensional. When you’re doing CrossFit, you’re not just going to the gym to bulk up or to climb steps. This isn’t a basic circuit of weightlifting; it’s a program that mixes many different exercises that push all parts of your body to their limits. As they say, CrossFit’s specialty is not specializing. It’s constantly changing, which keeps your mind and body from getting bored.
6. Personal coaching: All CrossFit classes are led by a coach to ensure proper form, provide modifications, encouragement, uphold standards, and occasionally give you a “no rep” when they see you not doing something properly or not giving your full effort. Your coach will become an inspiration, counselor, buddy, nutrition advisor and your biggest cheerleader.
7. Improved heart health: Your heart rate remains elevated throughout the entire workout, which increases your endurance. In fact, data from an American Council on Exercise study showed that participants’ heart rates were elevated to 90 percent of maximum heart rate, which was sustained throughout two CrossFit workouts. Fitness industry guidelines suggest a HRmax between 64 to 94 percent in order to improve cardio endurance. Scientists also found that individuals averaged 80 percent of VO2max, which is the maximum amount of oxygen a person can utilize during intense exercise. Industry guidelines suggest 40 to 85 percent of VO2max for improving cardio fitness and body composition.
8. Increased joint mobility: This is a result of the varied functional movements involved in a CrossFit workout – you’re not just doing simple bicep curls, but moving your limbs in all different directions. Also, by learning the proper ways to lift heavy things off the floor and hold them overhead, your risk of injury in your everyday life significantly decreases.
9. Overall improved health: CrossFit was created to focus on these major domains: stamina, strength, coordination, flexibility, power, speed, agility, balance, accuracy, endurance. This is achieved by promoting neurological and hormonal adaptations across all of the metabolic pathways in the body. The combination of the vast variety of movements leads to a complete transformation of your personal quality of life.
10. Lifestyle improvement: Being surrounded by people invested in fitness and health, it is hard to resist giving in to some new life style habits. Before you know it you will be trading your pre-packaged snacks for something whole and real. Rather an meet your friends for lunch/drinks/coffee, you’ll meet at the gym and THEN head out to socialize.

provide physical and mental health benefits

Learn about the different types of yoga and how it can be used as a tool to help you stay healthy.

Like yoga, the osteopathic approach to wellness focuses on your body’s natural tendency toward health and self-healing.

“The purpose of yoga is to build strength, awareness and harmony in both the mind and body,” explains Natalie Nevins, DO, a board-certified osteopathic family physician and certified Kundalini Yoga instructor in Hollywood, California.

While there are more than 100 different types, or schools, of yoga, most sessions typically include breathing exercises, meditation, and assuming postures (sometimes called asana or poses) that stretch and flex various muscle groups.

“As an osteopathic physician, I focus a lot of my efforts on preventive medicine and practices, and in the body’s ability to heal itself,” says Dr. Nevins. “Yoga is a great tool for staying healthy because it’s based on similar principles.”

Physical benefits

“The relaxation techniques incorporated in yoga can lessen chronic pain, such as lower back pain, arthritis, headaches and carpal tunnel syndrome,” explains Dr. Nevins. “Yoga can also lower blood pressure and reduce insomnia.”

Other physical benefits of yoga include:

• Increased flexibility
• Increased muscle strength and tone
• Improved respiration, energy and vitality
• Maintaining a balanced metabolism
• Weight reduction
• Cardio and circulatory health
• Improved athletic performance
• Protection from injury

Mental benefits

Aside from the physical benefits, one of the best benefits of yoga is how it helps a person manage stress, which is known to have devastating effects on the body and mind. “Stress can reveal itself in many ways, including back or neck pain, sleeping problems, headaches, drug abuse, and an inability to concentrate,” says Dr. Nevins. “Yoga can be very effective in developing coping skills and reaching a more positive outlook on life.”

Yoga’s incorporation of meditation and breathing can help improve a person’s mental well-being. “Regular yoga practice creates mental clarity and calmness; increases body awareness; relieves chronic stress patterns; relaxes the mind; centers attention; and sharpens concentration,” says Dr. Nevins. Body- and self-awareness are particularly beneficial, she adds, “because they can help with early detection of physical problems and allow for early preventive action.”

Cycling is a healthy, low-impact exercise that can be enjoyed by people of all ages, from young children to older adults. It is also fun, cheap and good for the environment.

Riding to work or the shops is one of the most time-efficient ways to combine regular exercise with your everyday routine. An estimated one billion people ride bicycles every day – for transport, recreation and sport.

Cycling for health and fitness

It only takes two to four hours a week to achieve a general improvement to your health. Cycling is:

• Low impact – it causes less strain and injuries than most other forms of exercise.
• A good muscle workout – cycling uses all of the major muscle groups as you pedal.
• Easy – unlike some other sports, cycling does not require high levels of physical skill. Most people know how to ride a bike and, once you learn, you don’t forget.
• Good for strength and stamina – cycling increases stamina, strength and aerobic fitness.
• As intense as you want – cycling can be done at very low intensity to begin with, if recovering from injury or illness, but can be built up to a demanding physical workout.
• A fun way to get fit – the adventure and buzz you get from coasting down hills and being outdoors means you are more likely to continue to cycle regularly, compared to other physical activities that keep you indoors or require special times or places.
• Time-efficient – as a mode of transport, cycling replaces sedentary (sitting) time spent driving motor vehicles or using trams, trains or buses with healthy exercise

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To be fit and healthy you need to be physically active. Regular physical activity can help protect you from serious diseases such as obesity, heart disease, cancer, mental illness, diabetes and arthritis. Riding your bicycle regularly is one of the best ways to reduce your risk of health problems associated with a sedentary lifestyle.

Cycling is a healthy, low-impact exercise that can be enjoyed by people of all ages, from young children to older adults. It is also fun, cheap and good for the environment.

Riding to work or the shops is one of the most time-efficient ways to combine regular exercise with your everyday routine. An estimated one billion people ride bicycles every day – for transport, recreation and sport.

Cycling for health and fitness

It only takes two to four hours a week to achieve a general improvement to your health. Cycling is:

• Low impact – it causes less strain and injuries than most other forms of exercise.
• A good muscle workout – cycling uses all of the major muscle groups as you pedal.
• Easy – unlike some other sports, cycling does not require high levels of physical skill. Most people know how to ride a bike and, once you learn, you don’t forget.
• Good for strength and stamina – cycling increases stamina, strength and aerobic fitness.
• As intense as you want – cycling can be done at very low intensity to begin with, if recovering from injury or illness, but can be built up to a demanding physical workout.
• A fun way to get fit – the adventure and buzz you get from coasting down hills and being outdoors means you are more likely to continue to cycle regularly, compared to other physical activities that keep you indoors or require special times or places.
• Time-efficient – as a mode of transport, cycling replaces sedentary (sitting) time spent driving motor vehicles or using trams, trains or buses with healthy exercise. 

Health benefits of regular cycling

Cycling is mainly an aerobic activity, which means that your heart, blood vessels and lungs all get a workout. You will breathe deeper, perspire and experience increased body temperature, which will improve your overall fitness level. 

The health benefits of regular cycling include:

• increased cardiovascular fitness
• increased muscle strength and flexibility
• improved joint mobility
• decreased stress levels
• improved posture and coordination
• strengthened bones
• decreased body fat levels
• prevention or management of disease
• reduced anxiety and depression. 
  

Benefits Of Green Tea

Green tea and weight loss

One of the more topical health benefits from drinking green tea is the suggestion that consuming between 3 - 5 cups a day may help you 'lose weight.' Most studies referred to have been designed to test the affects of the antioxidant ECGC (catechins) either as a beverage or in the form of an extract. Results from studies performed to date suggest that green tea can help you to boost your metabolism and burn body fat., Experts agree the idea should not be to 'lose weight' as such, but to burn excess body fat and increase muscle using a combination of regular healthy eating, weights and exercise . As part of your healthy lifestyle, green tea can be a welcome addition to help you burn fat.

Other suggested health benefits associated with green tea

There are many other areas where the effects of the high antioxidants of green tea are being studied and any search on these topics will yield information. However, we have listed the main suggested health benefits of green tea as follows :

• provides protection against cancer - although experts state evidence remains inconclusive
• helps prevent colds and flu symptoms
• helps prevent cardiovascular disease
• gives relief of menopausal symptoms
  

         

JOGGING

Jogging is one of the best exercise activities that you can participate in. We all know that jogging or running is the most popular activity. One of the best benefits of daily jogging is healthier heart. There are also many other benefits like –

Benefits of Jogging

Jogging Increases Lifespan

Researches are necessary because they make us aware of many interesting things and facts that are beneficial for human life like a fact about jogging is that it increases lifespan of human. If you take out an hour for jogging every day or within a week, it increases your lifespan by 6 yrs.

Jogging is a Natural Depressant

There are many types of medicines which are helpful for human beings to overcome depression but jogging is a natural way to reduce the problem of depression. Jogging is one of the best ways because when we talk chemicals, they give relief, but not for longer. Once you start jogging it will give you relief for a long time and provide best results.

Mental Health

30 minutes of daily jogging can give you excellent results. When you start jogging it releases endorphins into your system. This will help you to overcome from mental diseases. It allows you to clear your mind and make your mind healthier and gives you stamina.

Heart and Lungs

Jogging is one of the best exercises that reduce the chance of heart and lung diseases. The human body uses 10 times more oxygen during light exercise than it does while sitting still. Over time this strengthens the cardiovascular system and enables your lungs and heart to perform more efficiently.

How to build muscle and strength without lifting weights

THERE ARE TONS of at-home workouts you can do with no equipment with positive effects, but it’s tough to make those workouts add bulk and muscle mass to your physique. The key, according to trainer Brian Nguyen, is not only doing the right exercises, but also doing them in quick progressions that force your muscles to be explosive.

Nguyen trains Mark Wahlberg and has worked with several other celebrities and star athletes, such as Will Ferrell and Kobe Bryant. He is also the co-founder of Brik Fitness, which plans workout programs for a number of stars, Olympic athletes and collegiate teams.

This training routine, encouraged by Nguyen, is a great way to work out at home when you can’t make it to the gym, unless you already do most of your workouts outside that setting. Regardless, the exercises and movements utilized here maximize results by constantly testing your strength against gravity while also working on stamina in various muscle groups.

INSTRUCTIONS: Perform this workout as a circuit. Do each exercise from the first "category" for 30 seconds, then move on to each of the exercises from the next category for 30 seconds, until you get through all 12 of the exercises. Rest for 3 minutes after each circuit. Do the circuit for a total of three to five times.

1. Squats: Bodyweight ("Air") Squats, Squat Jumps, Isometric Squats

2: Pushups — Standard pushups, Plyometric pushups, "Pause" pushups (hold for 1 second in the middle of the rep)

3. Lunges: Bodyweight Alternating Lunges, Split-Squat Jumps, Isometric Lunge Holds

4. Planks: Side Planks, Front Planks, Hip Bridges

It’s all about pushing your muscles constantly over a brief period of time—getting a lot done quickly, in other words.

For example, do the body weight squats at a good strong pace, setting your legs up to be explosive for the squat jumps. Fatigue should set in during these jumps, which is, of course, great for muscle building as you move forward with the workout. “Then finally, the iso hold is like the icing on the cake,” Nguyen says. “Because the muscle has nothing left already and I’m still asking it for more. So ultimately, it breaks more muscle cross fibers so that you get growth, and that’s the bulk part of it.”

Nguyen stresses the importance of the explosive exercises in this routine, saying the squat jumps, plyometric pushups and split squat jumps will really work to reshape your body and build muscle. “If you’re doing the body weight movement of these exercises but not the explosive component, then you’re going to have more of the muscle you might find on cross country runners,” he says. “If you’re looking to bulk up, it doesn’t really make sense to just do repetitive motions like jogging for a long period of time.”