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Health & Lifestyle

Yoga For Balance (Get Steady, Then Act – For Better Results)

January 22, 2019 by Harshitha Leave a Comment

Yoga Poses For Balance And Strength:

We know our body parts work independently and in sync. It is our responsibility to keep up the balance with our life’s routine. This yoga for balance gives you a steady state coordinating each part that performs functions independently and synergistically.

Yoga for balance helps you maintain the body balance. This body balance helps you achieve calmness to your mind.

Asana is done to bring stability to the body and the mind. Without a stable body, we cannot sit still in pranayama. 

-Book: AgeLess, Author: Sharath Jois

What Is Body Balance?

Balance is integrally related to a steady state. We put something in
a steady position so that it does not fall. It is an even distribution of weight, enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady.

Body balance is we make our body parts steady and controlled for the better use of it. Body balance makes you centered and calm.

The body balance is very important for life as we go through a roller coaster ride every day, to make it effortless and sucessful.

Balance Disorders:

Balance disorders occur when we’re biased to use one side of our body over the other (R vs L) to perform daily activities (pushing, pulling, lifting, twisting and more) without realizing it.

This leads to body imbalance due to overuse or underuse of muscles and joints. Also affects the posture creating stress.

Another common factor is a weak core. Connecting the upper and lower body (structurally and functionally), the ‘core’ is the central cylinder formed by the abdomen, back and pelvic floor muscles. It is the ‘trunk’.

Yoga For Balance Poses:

Vrksasana (Tree Pose):

Vrksasana is a standing yoga pose in a tree pose. You have to balance the balance the body on the single leg in this asana.

Regular practice will slowly reveal what you are capable of becoming. A tree draws stability from its roots, allowing the trunk and branches to sustain through strong winds and rain. Similarly, we can learn to weather the storms in our lives by focussing our mind on the reserve of strength and peace from deep within us.

Procedure:

Yoga For Balance - Vrksasana (Tree Pose)
  1. Stand up on your feet ground to the floor.
  2. Tuck the tailbone down towards the earth and pelvis towards the body like an extension through the spine.
  3. Roll the shoulder back and drop back towards the hips.
  4. Focus on the breath.
  5. Shift all the body weight to left leg and lift the right bending the knee and place the foot on the crook of the left inner thigh (or a little lower to the crook).
  6. Join the palms in namaste position and place them on the waist.
  7. Set the gaze at a point and focus on the breath. Gradually increase to 10 breaths.
  8. Repeat the same on the other side.

Benefits:

Improves balance, stability and concentration.

Garudasana (Eagle Pose):

The garudasana, eagle pose is also a standing yoga pose on a single leg which on regular practice gives you balance.

Garudasana Steps:

Yoga For Balance - Garudasana (Eagle Pose)
  1. Stand up on your feet ground to the floor.
  2. Tuck the tailbone down towards the earth and pelvis towards the body like an extension through the spine.
  3. Roll the shoulder back and drop back towards the hips.
  4. Focus on the breath.
  5. Inhale; bend the knees, sinking the hips little down, exhale; bend the elbows and place them on the hips.
  6. Inhale; lift the right foot and cross over on to the left leg shifting the body weight to the left leg. Hook the right foot around the left calf touching the toes to the calf.
  7. Then lift the arms and cross the right elbow over the left elbow. Hook the elbows and move down towards the chest. Open the palms and join together.
  8. Keep your eyes fixed at a point and hold the pose counting breaths for as much time possible. Gradually increase to 10 breaths.
  9. Repeat the same on the other side.

Benefits:

Improves focus, strength, balance and concentration.

Vasisthasana (Side Plank Pose):

Vasisthasana is completely arm balancing pose. On regular practice, you can improve your balance and increases the strength of the body.

Yoga for Balance (Side Plank Pose)

Vasisthasana Steps:

  1. Start with a full plank.
  2. Slowly shift your weight to the left side, raising the right hand along with torso.
  3. Make sure you are in line from head to toe.
  4. Keep your shoulder blades strong and draw your lower back along with glutes inward direction.
  5. After that, set your eyes in forwarding direction and keep your head neutral (or you may turn your head to gazing at your thumb).
  6. Hold the pose 30-sec breathing normally. You can extend the time it depends on your capacity.

Body Balance Exercises:

Staying active is a great lifestyle choice, no doubt. Alongside, nurturing body awareness (recognising and spotting individual imbalances and posture deviations), incorporating active balance building and practising corrective movements are essential.

Some exercises that you can do anytime, anywhere, and that are aimed at improving your balance and lower body strength are: 

  • Standing on one foot
  • Walking heel to toe
  • Balance walk
  • Back leg raises
  • Side leg raises.

Filed Under: Health

Weight Loss Tips (Do It Right And Healthy)

January 21, 2019 by Harshitha Leave a Comment

Your approach to exercise and eating depends on where you need to go and how fast you need to get there. Here are some weight loss tips for you to recalibrate your diet and exercising.

Like everything else in life, fitness and weight loss also need to be approached differently based on the goal. Are you looking for short-term weight loss tips with no current worries about the long term? Like getting in shape for an occasion, training for a tournament, losing a quick couple of kilos after a vacation.

Or are you looking to make a change that will last for a long time to come? Like losing weight gained over the years, making a transformation, improving performance or strength or functionality for life.

Short Term Weight Loss Goals : For short term success…

  • Never miss a workout no matter what. Even if you don’t feel your best, get in some form of workout; it could be a very light one.
  • Be very specific about what and how much you eat. It doesn’t matter if it is an occasion or celebration; say a strong no to things that are not part of your diet or plan.
  • Stay on top of your numbers. For some, this is bodyweight or girth and for others, it is some form of the performance metric. But one way or the other, there are numbers that can dictate the next steps. Track them closely.
  • Use external motivators to help yourself stay on track. Such as posting about progress on social media. Or being a part of a programme or working with a coach or preparing for a competition or tournament.
  • But leading a life that is too disciplined is not sustainable for more than a few months. Exceptions must exist. But people who live like this for longer periods of time are very few in number and are usually those whose livelihoods in some way depend on their fitness or aesthetics (bodybuilders, movie stars, fitness professionals, models).

Long Term Weight Loss Goals: For long-term success…

  • Work out 3-5 days of the week. Don’t stress if you miss a day once in a while or don’t do much during a vacation. This is to be followed not just for a few weeks, but for many years. When duration increases, pragmatism kicks in and severity decreases.
  • When it comes to nutrition, have a decent understanding of what works for you and what doesn’t. Based on this understanding, come up with simple guiding principles or rules to help make, not the perfect choice all the time but, the right choice most of the time. Occasionally, indulge in what life has to offer without overdoing it and if overdone, balance things out over the next few meals.
  • Set outer limits to your metrics and work to stay in the right zone. Be it bodyweight or circumference or performance metrics, track only occasionally but ensure progress continues to happen, even if it is very slow.
  • Keep the larger goal of fitness, health, and happiness in mind and use habits as a way to stay on track. Exercising regularly, eating protein and vegetables at every meal, not reaching for sugar every day, sleeping enough, all need to be cultivated. They take time but once they become (good) habits, they stick around for a long time and help keep you fit, healthy and, happy.
  • But feel free to use the short-term approach when trying to work towards a specific goal or accelerate your rate of results. The trick here is that after a few weeks of any relatively aggressive short-term approach, you need to get back to the relatively simple long-term approach in order to maintain those gains.

Not Losing Weight?

Here are the probable reasons, if you’re doing everything right with the weight loss tips but are still not losing weight, you may want to visit the doctor and rule these out.

You’re eating right and you’re exercising regularly. Yet, your system seems to have slowed down, and you’re not losing weight.

The diseases and syndromes could be hampering your weight-loss efforts. If you notice any change in your body, either unexplained weight gain or sluggishness, do consult a doctor.

  • Hypothyroidism: An underactive thyroid gland means a sluggish metabolism. So the body stores more fat than it can burn.
  • Cushing’s syndrome: The adrenal or pituitary glands are overworking and producing too much cortisol. You are likely to have fat around your tummy, face, and back of the neck.
  • Medication: Certain medication, like steroids for arthritis or skin conditions, antidepressants, antipsychotics, antihypertensives, meds for diabetes, migraine, and seizures, can all cause weight gain.
  • Hormonal changes: This happens especially in women at certain stages in their lives, such as puberty, during pregnancy and menopause; it causes weight gain and changes in body composition.
  • Polycystic ovary syndrome: Caused by hormonal imbalances, apart from other symptoms like irregular periods, acne, facial hair, infertility, it also causes weight gain in women.
  • Syndrome X: This is a metabolic syndrome that causes insulin resistance and is marked by low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, visceral fat, high blood pressure, and blood sugar levels. It is known to cause weight gain.
  • A tumor: If you are hungry a lot or eating much more than usual, the appetite/satiety center of the brain could be malfunctioning, which is sometimes caused by a tumor in the hypothalamus. Tumors in the pancreas can cause the body to produce too much insulin, which can cause weight gain. This is not the most common reason, so don’t be alarmed and jump to any conclusions. Do consult a doctor.

Take Away:

There is no single approach that is superior to the other. It all depends on what you’re looking for. They are both simply tools to help you build a better version of yourself. Use them well and you can look, feel and function better, day after day.

Filed Under: Health

Hair Care Tips (Complete Do’s And Don’ts With Your Hair)

January 20, 2019 by Harshitha Leave a Comment

Hair Care Routine:

hair care tips

When you have hair loss, styling gets easier with short hair. But short hair is not always the way you like. The causes of hair fall and other issues can’t be identified so easily. It takes a lot of trial and error to conduct ourselves. It is important to be careful with certain habits such as smoking. Smoking effects on skin and hair not very easily reversible. And Itchy scalp and dandruff should be treated with the utmost care and can be done at home with these itchy scalp and dandruff home remedies. Before you get into any irreversible conditions, here are some hair care tips for you.

The falling of a little hair every day is normal. However, some people may experience excessive hair loss.

Some Hair Fall Causes:

A number of things can cause this. For example, about three to four months after an illness or a major surgery, one may suddenly lose a lot of hair. This hair loss is related to illness stress and is temporary.

Certain medicines, fungal infections, hormonal imbalance, and an overactive or underactive thyroid gland can cause hair fall too. There may be hair fall for up to three months after pregnancy too. Pulling your hair for pigtails or cornrows or tight hair rollers also can result in hair loss.

Do’s:

  1. Massage the scalp for a minute before going to bed every night. It stimulates blood flow to the roots of the hair.
  2. After shampooing hair, rinse with cold water. This makes the hair cuticle lie flat, and the hair looks healthier.
  3. The first step in hair care is regular cutting, which not many of us do, and continue to worry about hair fall, thinning and dry ends. Regular cutting is as important as washing; it makes the hair even and healthy and prevents split ends.
  4. Dry hair completely before going out in the cold. The cold will affect hair, so blow dry on the cold setting. Use a thermal protection spray if in a hurry and if using heat to blow dry hair.

Don’ts:

  1. Don’t rub the hair dry, as it can break hair.
  2. Don’t scrub the ends too much when shampooing hair. Excessive scrubbing makes hair brittle.
  3. Don’t pull hair for tight ponytails, braids or headbands, as they can break hair.
  4. Don’t brush hair too much when it is wet. It will snap and break.
  5. Don’t wash hair in hot water, as it dries hair. It also opens the cuticle, which makes it more absorbent to pollutants.
  6. Do not put on hair accessories right after blow drying, because the hair is still warm, and will instantly cool and take the shape of the accessory. Take good care of your hair and stay stylish. Always remember, hair can make a big difference to your appearance.

Hair Care Tips | How To Take Care Of Hair Daily:

  1. Beat egg with six to eight drops of lemon juice, apply on hair and wash it with a herbal shampoo.
  2. Use a very mild shampoo and conditioner every day. Rinse thoroughly.
  3. Soak a towel in hot water and squeeze lightly, and cover the hair for 10 minutes.
  4. Soak squeezed lemons in water overnight and use it to clean hair.
  5. Drink 10 to 12 glasses of water daily. Include plenty of fruits, vegetable, and dairy products in your diet.
  6. We only think of hair wash, conditioners and the like when it comes to hair care, but there’s so much more. Paying attention to hair texture makes a lot of difference, for, each type — oily, dry and normal — requires a different treatment. The next step is washing. Regular washing is the best for any type of hair. But, it’s not about using an expensive shampoo; choose a shampoo according to the hair type, irrespective of the brand. A lot of hair problems can be solved by choosing the right shampoo. Ideally, hair must be washed every day; it makes the scalp healthy. Those with dry hair can wash it every other day.
  7. The final step is conditioning. There are conditioners for different types of hair, so be careful about the one you use. After shampooing, the conditioner must be applied only on the hair, without touching the scalp. It should be done regularly for all types of hair, as it gives a coat to the hair, makes it smooth, and protects it from the sun and pollution. Hair serum or leave on is one of the best conditioners.
  8. Use the right hair products and plenty of conditioners. A conditioner will help hair maintain its elasticity and movement. A deep conditioning hair treatment every week is ideal; it helps hair remain soft and gorgeous.
  9. Style hair using a volumizing mousse, to make it appear more glamorous and healthier. Healthy looking hair is the easiest to work with — it is easier to style and maintain, and has better movement and body.

Shampoos For Your Hair Type:

Just as nutritious food is a pre-requisite for a healthy body, oils and shampoos are necessary for hair. However, one need not confine to just chemicals. There are plenty of herbs that help keep your hair lustrous.

Herbs For Hair Growth And Thickness

Jaswand:

This herb enhances the growth of hair, reduces roughness and lends shine, strength, and life to the strands. It is ideal during acute hair fall.

Bhringraj:

Regular use of this herb may help in retaining the darkness of the hair, which is why it’s used as a dyeing agent. Also, it helps fight dandruff.

Aloe Vera Linn:

Aloe Vera makes hair strong, flexible and dense, which explains its use in shampoos.

Styling With Short Hair:

Finally, the hairstyle. The short hair is the best alternative for people with excessive hair fall, as it reduces weight from the hair when the scalp is weak.

It is easy to maintain and requires less styling. Short styles include bob cuts, prom choppy, chin-length blunts, layered blunts, short shag, tapered teen layers, slide cuts, feather cuts.

Filed Under: Health

Running Tips For Beginners (10 Basic Running Tips)

January 19, 2019 by Harshitha Leave a Comment

10 Basic Running For Beginners

Running encourages people to stay fit and active and enjoy life. However, one must guard oneself against the injuries. The following running tips help you run safely.

There are two kinds of injuries; one that results from acute trauma and the other that is caused by the repetitive pressure on a tissue.

Over-training by increasing distance or intensity too fast, inadequate rest and recovery period between training runs, unsuitable footwear or running on uneven terrains can cause injuries.

Walk-in:

Start every run with a few minutes of walking. When you start the actual running, gradually ease your way into the run.

Progress slowly: 

Gradually increase your mileage and speed while training.

Don’t make up for missed workouts: 

If you miss a scheduled workout (such as a long run), let it go and don’t try to make it up the next day.

Go soft once or twice a week:

 If you are running on roads, run for a few days on grass surface. It will give your legs the much needed rest.

Keep yourself hydrated: 

Drink enough fluid, but avoid drinking too much too quickly, or in short spells.

Take rest: 

Take at least one rest day per week, but also plan for one easy week of light running per month and one easy month per year.

Stretches: 

Do stretches before and after running. Here are some yoga for runners for a good stretch and get rejuvenated for next run.

Seek expert help: 

Consult an experienced trainer and physiotherapist if you experience pain.

Monitor shoe wear: 

Wear a good pair of running shoes.

Listen to your body: 

Pain is your body’s way of telling you something is wrong. If there is pain, stop running.

Filed Under: Health

15 Tips On How To Sleep Through The Night (Sleep Hygiene Tips, Foods)

January 16, 2019 by Harshitha Leave a Comment

How To Sleep Through The Night:

After we’ve gone to bed, our bodies work tirelessly to heal and repair cells from oxidation and stress-related damage as we sleep through the night. So, it is very important that we maintain good sleep hygiene. Check out the best tips on how to sleep through the night as you read on.

It all happens while we’re sleeping and we don’t even have to think about it. You’ve heard it too many times before, but sleep is crucial for longevity, repair, and recovery.

Have you ever heard someone say, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead?” That’s how a lot of us approach sleep these days. With deadlines at work, appeasing clients and social commitments, most of us struggle to get 6-7 hours of solid, uninterrupted sleep.

This is one of the main points of the tips on how to sleep through the night. It’s no surprise that we wake up feeling tired and need copious amounts of caffeine to get through the day. In this frantic, always-connected, dog-eat-dog world, our need for sleep has never been more pronounced.

Sleep Deprivation Effects:

Sleep deprivation effects are very frightening and serious long-term consequences.

It doesn’t just affect your mood and waistline, but also:

  • Impacts blood sugar levels
  • Slows metabolism
  • Diabetes
  • Hypertension
  • Heart disease and stroke

Symptoms of chronic sleep deprivation can cause people to become angry, irritable, depressed, with a tendency for frequent infections, due to lowered immunity. You can build a stronger immune system with this yoga for immune system to rejuvenate yourself.

That’s where sleep hygiene or sleeping clean comes in. It’s important to take corrective measures to establish a nightly ritual to get better quality and quantity sleep. Here are ways to promote deep and restful sleep with these following tips on how to sleep through the night.

Tips On How To Sleep Through The Night:

Sleep contributes to health more than any exercise or food can. Realize that your body works all day, every day and sleep is your body shutting down for maintenance. This downtime is very critical for the optimal functioning of your body over the long term and there really is no alternative.

No matter how hard or consistently you train or how well you eat or how amazing your vitamin pills are, sleep is when repair and replenishment happen.

Without sufficient sleep, your body performs sub-optimally, the focus is off, motivation is limited, productivity plummets and eventually your body crashes, resulting in some form of illness, thereby forcing you into downtime. 

The smarter, easier and healthier option — ensure you get sufficient sleep on a daily basis by following these tips. 

Things To Follow Through the day For Better Sleep:

You need to follow certain rules during the day too to maintain sleep hygiene in the night. Because you can’t just leave the whole day behind when you go to bed.

  1. Cut out caffeine after noon.
  2. Avoid going to bed either hungry or on a full tummy. About half an hour before, try a warm elixir of almond milk, honey, turmeric, and ginger. Not more than 60 ml, because you don’t want to be awoken with a full bladder halfway through the night, interrupting sleep.
  3. Do a little restorative yoga and yoga nidra before bedtime; a 15-minute practice will help you ease those frayed nerves.
  4. Keep exercise in the morning or to the earlier hours of the evening.
  5. Do resolve conflict before you head to bed.
  6. Keep protein-rich foods to earlier in the day, as these take time (and energy) to digest.

Things To Follow In the bedroom:

  1. Dim the lights at a particular time each night and ‘retire’ to your rooms.
  2. Establish a cut-off time for electronic devices. So no scrolling on Instagram and no responding to your colleagues post 9 pm. The blue light these devices emit blocks the production of melatonin.
  3. Curl up with a cup of caffeine-free herbal tea (chamomile, for instance) and a calming book (not a spy thriller, preferably).
  4. Ensure that the temperature in the room is comfortable, so as to allow sleep induction and relaxation. A room too cold will have you running to the bathroom and a room too warm will leave you tossing and turning.
  5. Keep out mosquitoes by burning some lemongrass oil: you don’t want to be disturbed with bites!
  6. When buying a mattress, lie down on it to check for comfort; don’t just sit on it. Test pillows in the same way. And if your existing mattress is sagging, consider buying a new one. Sun out mattresses and pillows every few months, to prevent bed bugs crawling in. Always use cotton covers; they’re healthier for the skin.
  7. Avoid alcohol before you sleep — it may seem like it lulls you into relaxation, but it actually interferes with it, and you may wake up not-so-fresh.
  8. Avoid popping a sleep-inducing pill (even if you’re jet-lagged) unless advised by a doctor.
  9. Lavender has been shown to decrease heart rate and blood pressure, putting you in a state of relaxation, says the National Sleep Foundation, US. But if you have allergic rhinitis, you may want to avoid this one.

Foods That Help You Sleep Through The Night | Sleep Inducing Foods:

When counting sheep to fall asleep fails, night after night, going to bed can become a nocturnal trauma instead of being a time to rest and recover. Sleeping badly can be anything from tossing and turning, waking up at midnight and unable to complete the sleep, insufficient and fragmented sleep and disturbing leg cramps at night. As we age we tend to sleep lesser.

Sleeping disorders are on the rise and may even be thought of as becoming almost an epidemic. The anxieties of the daytime following into the night, lack of relaxation, wrong food and drinks late evening, deficiency of certain vitamins and minerals are some that attribute to incidences of bad sleeping sequences.

Tryptophan and serotonin – the first things that come to mind are milk and bananas. The soporific effect of milk (at bedtime) is an age-old tested truth. The tryptophan, B6, minerals like calcium, magnesium, all suggested for sleeping well are rightly packed into a glass of milk. Add a banana to that and complete the recipe for a somnolent night. Milk is effective for those who have difficulty initiating sleep after hitting the pillow.

Here are some foods that help you sleep through night.

Vitamin B6 For Better Sleep

  • The B6 is required for making the hormone melatonin that induces sleep triggered by darkness (night sleep).
  • Sources are fish, cherries, milk, curds, bananas, dals, whole grains.
  • B complex vitamins are useful to prevent leg cramps at night.
  • B1 supplemented to elderly shows improved night sleeping and reduced daytime dozing.

Carbohydrate-rich Foods Make You Sleepy

  • Carbohydrates make one sleepy, day or night. If this sleepiness can be induced at night it can be to one’s advantage.
  • Complex carbohydrates like oats, barley, ragi, with a glass of low-fat milk at night make you slumberous.
  • Whole grains are rich sources of minerals and vitamins that aid undisturbed sleep.

Magnesium, calcium and potassium

  • The magnesium, calcium, and potassium are muscle relaxants prevent leg cramps at night.
  • Both banana and milk are naturally high in these minerals.
  • Lack of magnesium is suggested in not able to going back to sleep after waking up the middle of the night while calcium helps to fall asleep.
  • Other sources are green vegetables, nuts, whole grains, and fruits.

Vitamin D 

  • Deficiency of vitamin D causes poor sleep.
  • If you are tested low in Vitamin D 3, then correcting the lack of it may quite effectively help you sleep.
  • Foods that cause heart burn – fatty foods, highly spiced dishes should be avoided late evening or up to 4 hours before sleeping.

But, surprisingly, excessive doses of multivitamins supplements may actually keep you awake at night.

Take Away:

The best way to sleep well is to get those helpful nutrients by simply eating the right foods.

Filed Under: Health

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