Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

Mindfulness is a great way to keep calm and happy in today's world. The mental state of mindfulness can help to reduce anxiety, and keep your mind healthy through an awareness of your own thoughts. While it might be the ‘buzzword’ of the year, mindfulness has been practiced for over 2000 years, and it’s now seen as a medically recommended technique to reduce depression. Want to get in on it? Here’s a few small ways you can bring mindfulness into your daily life. Try it for one minute

Of all the five elements, the element of water most represents coolness, being in a flow state, and adaptability. When water meets an obstacle, it doesn’t break, burn, or become stuck. When water meets an obstacle, it goes around that obstacle. It always finds another way. When we connect with the energy of water, we also connect with the receptive, yin-energy, and the sacred feminine within. Someone with a water-state-of-mind has less of a “go-getter vibe” and more of a natural attitude of acceptance. A person with a water-state-of-mind may not seem to be striving in the traditional sense, but in the end, they get the desired result. In a way, this mindset allows one to more easily “go with the flow” and allow the outcome to come without chasing or striving.

Some days life feels undeniably easier than other days. It’s part of being human. Ever wake up on the “wrong side of the bed”, where one thing after another seems to keep going wrong and your mood is bad and everyone is bothering you? Life can feel like a struggle on these days, instead of something we’re meant to enjoy and savor. Do you appreciate the opposite days? The days where you are in the flow and one amazing thing after another unfolds and you’re in a good mood, are happy, content, and enjoying life. These are the days we live for. Luckily, we have the power to put ourselves into a good mood and create more of these days, even on those days when we wake up in a bad mood. It’s not always by chance whether we're in a good mood or a bad mood. We have the power to create the days and moods we want. While some days feel more challenging than others, we have the power to turn any day around.

The advantages of meditation are plentiful. According to one recent article, there are 76 different benefits to meditation. Now that’s a lot of advantages! The thing is, it could have a million advantages and that wouldn’t make any difference if you didn’t actually know how to meditate. And the truth is, very few of us do know how to meditate. I don’t know if it’s because our modern lifestyle, or that as people we are just naturally disposed towards it, but a lot of people who are beginners and try meditating give up because they don’t have the right mindset. That’s a shame – especially considering how useful it is. For that reason, here I’ll detail five different ways that you can get into the right mindset for meditation, so that you can succeed and make meditation part of your life, or even simply feel more present and meditative while moving throughout your day.

Yoga is a lifestyle, and it teaches us to look within, rather than look for answers outside of ourselves. Many people practice yoga for physical reasons – yes, it’s a good stretching exercise, a great workout, and can be a powerful tool for weight loss; but is that all that yoga is? What other benefits of yoga exist that set it apart from other forms of exercise and fitness? The history of yoga begins 5,000 years ago, in the Indian culture. At it's origins, yoga philosophy has very little to do with the body and a physical practice. Sacred communities would practice rituals for spiritual development for centuries to come. Later, the practice spread around the globe and other cultures began practicing. As yoga evolved and developed, different ideas and beliefs were merged, and it was realized that spiritual awakening is as a sum of cumulative factors put together like puzzle pieces. It’s not only one idea or focus that matters; it’s a multitude of ideas. The physical piece of yoga is an important piece, but it's merely one of several puzzle pieces. So, why is yoga more than just a workout?

Why did you start practicing yoga? Many of us come to the mat for the physical benefits of flexibility, strength, balance, and equanimity. Some people start a yoga journey for the promised benefits of relieving stress and quieting the mind. Others seek spiritual enlightenment. No matter what path you travel, you’ll receive the physical, mental, and spiritual benefits of yoga. Yoga’s benefits are interconnected. According to T.K.V. Desikachar, the author of the Heart of Yoga, it all stems from Patanjali’s eight-limbed path of yoga and his seminal text, the Yoga Sutras: “…the essence of Yoga, was formulated by the great Indian sage, Patanjali, more than two thousand years ago in this succinct definition: Yoga is the ability to direct the mind exclusively toward an object and sustain that direction without any distractions.” -Yoga Sutra 1.2 Citta Vritti Nirodhah We live in a busy world governed by multi-tasking, speed, and technology. Choosing to turn off your phone, and to leave work, relationships, and daily stress behind is the first step to creating a clear, peaceful mind.

Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) is a field of research that deals with the interaction of the central nervous system, the endocrine system, and the immune system, and how these systems can be altered through behavior and stress. The immune, nervous, and endocrine systems communicate to maintain health. All of the systems are interconnected. The interest in PNI is the effects of thought and emotion on our health. Stress affects the entire Be-ing, nerves, cells, tissues, and systems of the body (individual and global). Stress if held, can disrupt nervous, endocrine, and immune system functioning resulting in “dis-ease." What is our body communicating to us? Controlling stress begins with taking control of the feelings we hold in our mind, because our feelings determine our thoughts we hold in the mind. Thoughts are profound. Scientific research is showing that thought actually travels faster than light. The challenge is bringing the thoughts/feelings from the subconscious into the conscious mind. Once conscious we can cognitively work in shifting perception and behavior. Are the thoughts/feelings true? Feelings, conscious or not, are causing your thoughts and beliefs, influencing your behaviors, and the effects you are now living. It is possible, to live what you truly desire in your life. This is good news. When we venture into the journey of healing we create the space for others to heal as well. We have the capacity to heal all relationships, all contacts just through mindfulness and single pointed focus.

Let’s get real about fear. Fear has been on my mind and in my heart. All the ways in which we experience fear, are taught to deal with (or avoid) fear, false expectations around fearlessness, and so much more. I’ve been holding hands with fear a lot lately. Sometimes it’s a firm, solid hand hold, and sometimes it feels like fear is trying to break my fingers and crush my hand. It’s so interesting being a human. I’ve tried so many different things to get rid of fear- avoiding it, seeking it out, making choices based on it or in spite of it, saying a lot of positive affirmations, focusing on love and light, pretending it doesn’t exist- you name it, I’ve tried it.

Mindfulness refers to a state of consciousness characterized by acute awareness of the present moment. The state of mindfulness can help individuals become more aware of their emotions, thoughts and health. Mindfulness originated in Buddhist tradition, but the principles of mindfulness and meditation have been incorporated into modern psychiatric treatment since the 1970s. The state of mindfulness is primarily learned through time spent in meditation. By focusing on breathing and posture, individuals can learn the ability to enter a state of calm observation. This process allows them to gain improved awareness of external stimuli, as well deeper insights into their own feelings. Furthermore, research shows that mindful meditation can help heal damage to the brain caused by substance abuse. Learning more about the benefits of mindful meditation therapy is a huge advantage for those considering addiction treatment.

You might be thinking, you already go to the gym, so why should you include yoga into your exercise routine, isn’t that just for relaxing? Although it is a fantastic way of finding some headspace and letting go of any stress in your body, yoga can dramatically improve your gym workouts. The perfect partner to any type of exercise, whether it’s cardio or weight training, it can boost your performance in the gym and enhance your overall fitness. The word itself actually means ‘union’, so think of yoga as the perfect union between health and fitness.

Yoga and meditation can be used as a healthcare tool for healthy living. You have heard that yoga meditation is helpful or good for health. But how it is good for health or it works really? There are also many controversial stories about yoga. So, you should know scientifically about yoga meditation. There are a lot of studies shows you the proof behind the every benefits of yoga meditation. These are the 100 benefits based on the available researches.

By now, winter has long been settled into many parts of the world bringing colder temperatures. Winter can be hard on the body as it works overtime to keep your body warm and you may find yourself craving hibernation. Do you ever find your energy levels lower during the winter? Or do you always catch a dreaded cold every winter? You may be wondering how you can stay healthy to promote more energy, boost your immune system to fight sluggish energy and beat the winter blues so that you're ready to fling into spring.

I’ve had anxiety since college and have been lucky enough to use therapy as a tool for managing it. As such, I’ve learned a lot about how anxiety manifests in my life and how to recognize as well as soothe it.

In our day-to-day lives, it’s all too easy to get caught up in what others want for us. Well-meaning or not, these “other voices” can stick in your head, and if you’re not careful, you won’t be able to recognize your own, at least not as readily. By now you probably know that yoga is about the process of listening to your wisest self. It starts by hearing our bodies— hearing the knee that is out of alignment, stopping yourself from forcing a joint that just won’t bend that way. But eventually, that act gives way to a deeper listening, one where you can hear your own, deepest wants.

Are you awake? Or, are you going through the motions without really paying attention? Sleepwalking through life? When’s the last time you took the time to assess where your time and energy are flowing? Or not flowing, as the case may be.

Meditation teaches us how distracted we really are. We just don’t usually notice because we are so distracted. Most of us generally have the same series of redundant thoughts circling around in our mind, over and over and over again. In our society, we are so focused on getting somewhere, getting what we want, the “if only” syndrome so to speak. If only we can just get this job, this house, this person, fill in the blank, then we’ll be happy. When we are operating from this mindset, we aren’t focused on the here and now.

Mindful eating is a powerful tool that can be used to control weight gain, assist weight loss, fight binge eating, and deal with several other eating disorders. There are currently a lot of unhealthy solutions regarding weight loss, ranging from unhealthy fad diets to questionable, chemical supplements. Mindful eating, on the other hand, is a simple attitude that results in being aware of your appetite and thus allows you to control portions and make healthy meal choices. By practicing mindfulness while eating, you engage all of your senses, particularly when choosing foods. This way you are able to choose foods that are nourishing as well as satisfying. You will remain well aware of your level of hunger and be able to choose foods without relying entirely on emotional cues or stimuli, which drive many people to impulse eating. Eventually, you will be able to decide the ideal time to start and stop eating and the ideal foods to eat.

One day during savasana (the relaxation pose at the end of a yoga class) I basically ‘woke’ up. In that moment, I felt completely content, possibly for the first time in my life. I began to clearly see the suffering I was putting myself through in relationship to my body and eating.

Life as a child carries with it so much wonder and magic. Everything is new and exciting, and in an attempt to understand unfathomable concepts our imaginations run wild. For these reasons life as a child is always a discovery and seldom boring. During these years our spirits soar and our creativity remains high. We are able to sing spontaneously and jump into puddles. We play with anyone who is willing, and forget about things like fashion and looks. We build sand castles and dance even when no music is playing. Life is rich.

“Don’t worry about what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and do that. Because what the world needs are people who have come alive.” — Howard Thurman

A client of mine had some serious financial issues that were affecting virtually every area of her life, with a job she felt stuck in, the stressed relationships with her husband and children, and most important, her feelings of lack of self-worth. Every time she even thought about taking a positive step forward, she became paralyzed with shame and overwhelm.