4 Best Yoga Workouts for Kidney Health

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(Written & published by Elite Sports)
Your kidneys are helping you run your body. They are located just under your ribs on the back side and help you detox your body as well as balance out the water level in your body. So, right from improving blood circulation to helping you get rid of all the extra salts and toxins that can gather in your body, your kidneys are helping you stay healthy every day. Without proper functioning of your kidney, you will see a lot of toxin buildup which will eventually cause the failure of other organs because your body will find it too challenging to run with all the pollutants. In short, everything that you eat and drink is balanced out by using your kidneys.

Since the functioning of kidneys is vital for our life, it is only fair to pay special attention to their functioning. According to experts, most people who live a very passive lifestyle or have a desk job feel less thirsty. As a result, they drink less water and the functioning of their kidneys gets affected over time. Moreover, you will also notice that by sitting in the same position the blood flow towards the kidney will also be affected. This is the reason eventually kidneys stop working in later life and cause issues linked with other blood-related disorders. According to experts, if you drink enough water throughout the day and exercise so the blood circulation improves, your kidneys will be able to work in a much better way. Since the workout is mentioned most people will link it to intense running and weight lifting but this is not essential, instead you are required to just start with cardio that can improve blood circulation. However, so far the best way to improve the function of your kidneys is if you start yoga. With the help of yoga, you will be able to improve blood circulation mainly in your kidneys and this will further facilitate the detox process as well.

With the help of this article, we will look at some of the best yoga poses that will help you improve the function of your kidneys.

Viparita Karani

This is a simple L shape pose that you will make with your body by using the support of the wall. You will lay down on the ground and make sure your back is straight. Now line up the upper part especially the shoulders just straight against the floor. Now, you will keep your legs against the wall. This will make an L shape. With this pose, the blood will rush to your kidneys making sure it is healed and the blood purification process is fully supported.

Balasana

This pose is also called the child pose or fetus pose. You will get into the crunch ball position where you will fold your knees and bring your legs closer to your chest. After that, you will fold your upper body like you are covering your lower body like a blanket. Make sure to place your arms back rather than keeping your weight on them. When you don’t rely on your arms, the stress will be on the lower body and you will notice the blood rushing to the kidneys.

Bhujangasana

This pose is also known as the cobra pose. For this pose, you will lay flat on the ground and your tummy will be up against the floor. Now with the help of your arms, you will lift the upper body as well. Make sure that when you lift your upper body will also stretch your shoulders and upper back area backward. Also,

when you stretch try to lift and extend your neck area completely so you can see improvement in mobility and flexibility.

Naukasana

This pose is the opposite of the cobra pose and this is known as the boat pose. You will have to start by laying down flat with your back against the floor. Now you will extend your arms and leg fully and then just by relying on your hip and lower back area you will lift the body in the air. This is very good for kidneys as it improves blood flow.

Bottom Line

To sum it all up, it all comes down to the holistic approach that you choose for recovery. If you have already been diagnosed with kidney issues then relying on yoga while quitting your medication and not focusing on your health is not enough. Just relying on yoga will not be good for you even if you think that can speed up your recovery. On the contrary, with the right medication, a good diet, and a workout you will be able to reduce the chance of renal failure. In case there is a disease that is causing renal failure, you must try to resolve that first so you are resolving the issue that is causing renal failure. In most cases, people who have diabetes report renal failure so make sure you get the right treatment for that first.

Why Is Yoga Considered Ideal For Pain Management?

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(Written & published by Elite Sports)

When we think about health we do not just focus on physical health but also on mental health. While other exercises will just help you work on the improvement of your physical health, there is just one type of exercise that will improve your physical health while offering a boost to your mental health as well. Yoga is a complex mix of meditation that is slowly focused on using the healing energy of your breathing, diverting it to mental health, and some exercises that can help you improve the health of your body. Yoga is also known to be the oldest kind of exercise that is used for natural healing. Experts believe that no health issue cannot be treated by using yoga. From simple diseases that affect your organs to chronic illnesses that can be transferred to your future generations, yoga offers a completely treatable solution for everything. However, relying on yoga solely is not possible because it can help with treatment but doesn’t cure the disease completely.

Why is yoga important?

The basic purpose of yoga is that it helps in relaxing your body organs. From improving muscle mobility to helping your breath properly, you will see yoga impacting every function of your body. It also strengthens your mind and body as it boosts your immunity. There are so many different yoga styles that you will come across, especially because almost every region of the earth is focused on evolving yoga. From India to China and the modern-day US, you will see different yoga styles gaining popularity. Each style of yoga utilizes different anchor points and embeds energy from different scenarios so you can see improvement in the function of your body.

With the help of this article, we will look at the pain treatment that is linked with yoga. We will see how yoga improves and heals pain-related issues. We will also see how stretching can improve the chronic pain management cycle in your body.

How Yoga Can Heal Pain?

Most people think yoga is just another stretching exercise. This might be true to some extent because you will see dynamic stretching used as a way to help your body in improving blood flow, focusing on helping and helping you improve your flexibility. However, most people question how stretching can heal the pain. This is a valid question because if you look at stretching techniques they cannot help you help the pain. If you don’t use the stretching techniques properly, you might even end up with muscle pain. The main idea is that yoga is not just stretching. It also utilizes your ability to handle positive and negative energy. It helps you breathe properly so your body can generate the right amount of energy required to complete a simple task. Apart from energy handling yoga also helps in improving the mobility of your body by fixing flexibility issues. You will see improvement in your posture and you will also see that your body movement is much more effortless and pain-free.

Why Yoga Is Suggested For Chronic Pain Management?

Before looking at chronic pain management it is very important to know what chronic pain is. Well, the idea of chronic pain is that it is a long-standing pain. Usually, it evokes in the later stage of life so once you step into your late thirties you will feel that your bones become brittle and every time you move you can hear the knocking sound. Also, you will see that things that you used to pick easily are now becoming a task. Some of the most common chronic pains include lower back pain, shoulder pain, leg pain, etc. this issue mainly happens because the body is not able to absorb nutrients properly and the overall muscles and bones are becoming weaker. To ensure that you get the right amount of nutrients you will have to focus on the diet and then work out so the body can absorb the nutrients properly. Moreover, you also have to add stretching to your daily routes so the mobility of the body is not affected.

4 Yoga Poses That Are Good For Male Hormonal Balance 

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(Written & published by Elite Sports)

Our body is a much more complex machine than most of us think of. It doesn’t just consist of cells and tissues forming organs and bones. Instead, you will see so many underlying activities happening that you don’t even notice. Apart from the duct system that directly helps us send messages from one part of the body to another we also have a very complex hormone system that helps in controlling our overall metabolism. 

The hormonal system is so complex that even the slightest change in our body is either caused by hormones or can impact the production of our hormones. Unlike other systems that can be repaired and can be easily noticed, any imbalance in the hormonal systems is so slow that most people never notice the impact unless it’s too late. From mood and energy to the development of our body and even puberty and beauty, everything is controlled by our hormones. However, when you see any hormonal imbalance, you will also see an impact on your energy, your sleep, and your productivity. 

With the help of this article, we will try to help you explain how your hormonal imbalance can be detected. We will then look at some of the best yoga poses that can help you heal your hormonal imbalance. 

Signs and Symptoms of Male Hormonal Imbalance 

It is a common misconception that hormonal imbalance is only common in females. However, just like most of the disorders that happen in both genders, males also go through hormonal imbalances. Usually, the hormonal imbalance in males affects their sex hormones. This includes testosterone, growth hormone, and cortisol. Due to the imbalance of these hormones, you will notice a lot of issues in your body. From the impact on the growth to low mood and even bad libido, you will see your body showing signs of bad hormones everywhere. 

For a beginner who is not familiar with the impact of hormones on our lives, here are some important signs and symptoms to explain how you can tell if you have a hormonal imbalance. 

·   Irregularity in appetite 

·   Sudden weight loss or weight gain 

·   Slow metabolism 

·   Sleep irregularity 

·   Impact on sexual libido 

·   Mood swings 

·   Feeling extremely hot or cold 

·   Cold sweats 

·   Dry, brittle and porous skin 

·   Sudden change in blood sugar level 

·   Change in blood pressure level 

·   Feeling tired 

·   Excessive urination and increase in thirst 

·   Depression and anxiety 

·   Change in body mass especially enlarged breast tissues 

·   Hair loss 

·   Memory loss and muscle mass loss 

4 Yoga Poses That Are Good For Male Hormonal Balance 

Cobra Pose 

This is one of the most used and recommended poses. You will be getting into the push-up position and then lifting your upper torso by using your hands. Make sure you stretch up and extend your neck while keeping your shoulders level. Also, make sure to keep your toes pointed outwards. 

Bridge Pose 

Perfect for the strength of your core and helps you improve the blood flow to the upper and lower body without straining the body. The focus should be on breathing while you are in the lifting position. For this pose, you will have to lift the core in the air while your weight will be on your elbows and feet. The main idea is that as you lift the core the blood flow will get to the brain improving the pituitary, the neck improving the function of the thyroid, and also the feet. 

Garland Pose 

This pose is perfect for the blood flow to the prostate and this will also help in improving the blood flow to the gentiles and lower body. Usually, when you sit for a long time or you sit cross-legged you will feel the pressure built up in the groin area. With the help of the garland pose, you will see the blood rushing to the hips, groin, and to the gentiles which improve the hormones as well. 

Locust Pose 

This pose is also known as the reverse boat pose but you will be extending your feet towards it. You will have to lay on your tummy and extend your legs into a pointy toe position just like in the contemporary dancing style. Then you will be relying on the core and lifting your legs and your extended arms. This pose is perfect for the blood flow in the core and lower body area. This pose is ideal for people who have low libido or testosterone issues. 

Bottom Line 

To sum it all up, hormonal imbalance is not a very visible issue. You cannot just get it diagnosed, put a Band-Aid on it, and think that it can easily heal once you take off the Band-Aid. The healing of the hormone is a much more complex process and it requires a change in your overall lifestyle. From altering your diet to thinking about the way you live, exercise, and proper medication, you will have to follow a complete route so you can notice the difference. In case you end up missing any of the steps, you will not be able to heal properly.  

How Yoga Helps Prevent Lifestyle Diseases.

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(Written & published by Elite Sports)
Did you know that yoga can help prevent lifestyle diseases? There are many different types of yoga, each with its unique set of benefits. There is a lot of research that supports how yoga can help prevent lifestyle diseases. Yoga is a holistic practice that helps to improve physical, mental, and emotional health.  

It can help to improve posture, circulation, and breathing. Yoga also helps to reduce stress and anxiety, which can be a significant contributor to lifestyle diseases. 

This article will discuss how yoga can help keep your body healthy and free from disease. We will also look at some of the most common lifestyle diseases and how yoga can help prevent them. 

 If you are looking for a way to improve your health, then consider adding yoga to your routine. But before indulging yourself in any type of exercise, make sure you wear immensely comfortable and stretchable workout clothes to get the maximum out of your workout session. 

Controlling Hypertension With Yoga 

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a common problem that can lead to heart disease and other serious health problems. While medications are often necessary to control hypertension, many lifestyle changes can help. Yoga is one such change that can be beneficial. 

There are many different types of yoga, but all forms of the practice involve stretching and strengthening techniques. Yoga can help to improve circulation, which is important for controlling hypertension. The deep breathing exercises in yoga can also help lower blood pressure. In addition, yoga can help to improve stress management, which is often a factor in hypertension. 

If you are looking for a way to control your hypertension without medication, yoga may be a good option for you.  

Improving Posture With Yoga.  

There are many benefits to practicing yoga. One such benefit is that it can help improve your body posture. When you practice yoga regularly, you stretch and strengthen the muscles in your back and core, which can help correct your posture. Similarly, the concentration and breathing exercises involved in yoga can help you become more aware of your body and position, which can help you to maintain good posture even when you’re not practicing yoga. 

There are a few yoga poses that can help improve your body posture. One such pose is called the “Camel Pose.” to perform this pose, you will need to kneel on the floor with your knees hip-width apart. Place both of the hands on your back (lower back area), and press your hips forward as you arch your back. Hold this pose for a few seconds, and then release it. 

Another yoga pose that can help improve your body posture is the “Puppy Pose.” to perform this pose, you need to get in the crawling position, with the assistance of both of your hands, which must be placed directly below your shoulders and your knees hip-width apart. Get your back in the round position by getting your chin towards the area of your chest and extending your tailbone towards the floor. Hold this pose for a few seconds, and then release it. 

Boost Up Your Immunity With Yoga.  

There are many yoga poses that help boost immunity, but some of the most effective poses are the Downward Dog, the Child’s Pose, and the Cobra Pose. These poses help to open up the chest and lungs, which helps to improve breathing and circulation.  

They also stretch out the spine and muscles of your back area, which ultimately helps to improve overall flexibility. Along with that, these poses help to increase blood flow and circulation throughout the body, which helps to keep the immune system functioning at its best. 

Improving Your Lung Capacity With Yoga.  

No one yoga pose can specifically increase lung capacity, but practicing yoga regularly can help improve overall lung health. Some of the best poses for improving respiratory function are those that open the chest and lungs, such as Camel Pose, Cow Face Pose, and Fish Pose. These poses help to stretch and open the chest and lungs, which can help to improve breathing efficiency and lung capacity.  

Similarly, many other yoga postures help in curing asthma, but some of the most effective ones include the camel pose, the cobra pose, and the locust pose. These poses help to open up the chest and improve breathing, which can help to relieve asthma symptoms remarkably.   

Also, as discussed above to perform any workout you need to wear the appropriate athletic wear that should be easygoing, sweat-wicking, and lightweight.  

Improved Mental Health With Yoga 

There is a lot of anecdotal evidence and scientific research that suggests yoga helps improve mental health in people of all ages. One study published in the journal Mental Health and Yoga found that yoga was associated with improvements in symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress in people with mental health conditions. 

Another study, published in the journal Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, found that yoga was effective in reducing anxiety and stress among college students. And a study published in the journal Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback found that yoga was effective for lowering rumination (a thinking pattern that can lead to depression) among adults. 

So why does yoga seem to be so beneficial for mental health? There are likely several reasons. Yoga can help improve mood by releasing endorphins, which are hormones that have mood-boosting effects. Yoga can also help improve self-awareness and mindfulness, which can help people become more aware of their thoughts and emotions and manage them more effectively. And finally, yoga can be a form of relaxation and stress relief, which can help reduce feelings of anxiety and depression. 

The Toll of Mental Health on Physical Well-Being

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To say the last year has been tough would be a huge understatement. Lockdowns have thrown our routines out the window and the constant sense of uncertainty on the future and the inability to make real concrete plans has compounded this sense of hopelessness for many. As a result, many are understandably in a continuous state of stress. This blog isn’t a solution to everybody’s problems, nor could it be – but there are some methods you can apply to help improve your mental and emotional state. But first I want to explain why this is important.

Why it’s important we keep our minds healthy

To summarise: stress and fear weakens the immune system. In fact it’s incredibly toxic for our bodies, as this state compromises our bodies ability to fight off antigens which makes us more susceptible to viruses and infections.

“For stress of any significant duration – from a few days to a few months or years, as happens in real life – all aspects of immunity went downhill. Thus long-term or chronic stress, through too much wear and tear, can ravage the immune system.”

Your mental state can therefore influence your health status, which is why it’s so important we recognise this mind-body interaction in an age where keeping our immune system strong is more important than ever, particularly if we’d like to achieve some normality within our lives again. Our immune system is our bodies defence mechanism against viruses and various other ailments, it detects toxic intruders within our system and our white blood cells fight off these germs.

“Your immune system steps in, like a bouncer who means business. It releases white blood cells and other chemicals that destroy these threats. Or it causes a reaction, like a sneeze, to boot out a virus in your nose. It’s an elite squad of agents that zap invaders — like bacteria, viruses, and fungi — ASAP. They zoom through your body and defend you.”

Managing negative emotions such as stress, fear or depression essentially helps our bodies fight germs. Volatile emotions can cause our body to release cortisol and adrenaline, which are hormones that are generally released during fight or flight situations, which supplies us with a burst of energy at moments where our bodies are required to make a rapid response. These hormones can spike our heart rate, blood pressure and energy levels (from extreme highs to lows) and as a result, can cause anxiety, lethargy, fluctuations in heart rate and so on. This impairs your body’s ability to rejuvenate and replenish itself particularly if this state of distress is continuous. Naturally this compromises the body’s production of white blood cells and its ability to fight off viruses and infections.

How can we can improve our mental state whilst the world is in chaos?

Exercise

I know this might sound like a trivial solution to some but exercise DOES improve your mood and your mental health. Exercise is a powerful medicine for many mental health challenges and has been shown to reduce mild to moderate depression just as effectively as anti-depressants. A study by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that running for 15 minutes a day or walking for an hour reduces the risk of major depression by 26%. Exercise causes your body to release endorphins and serotonin, which are potent feel-good chemicals within the brain that enhance your mood and lighten your spirits – making exercise a natural and effective treatment for mental anguish.

For me personally, I find exercise to be a great way to focus your mind; whether you’re balancing on one foot, lifting heavy weights or moving in a more explosive, dynamic way – your senses will naturally become overloaded with what’s currently occurring in the body. This doesn’t give your mind the chance to drift towards negative thinking, your mind as a result is then fully engaged in the present moment.

We know that exercise is good for the body and this extends to our immune systems too:

As with anything, balance is always key. Too much exercise, too often that is too intense will also give your immune system a battering. Recovery and rest is also important to achieve balance.

Posture

How your body naturally positions itself can also affect your hormones, which will naturally influence your mood and potentially compound negative feelings if you’re already feeling low. I’ve written a blog that details how your posture affects your mood, click here to view.

If you’re feeling gloom, try not to carry yourself as if you are down in the dumps as you’ll only reinforce this feeling.

To conclude…

This blog draws attention to how the state of the mind directly impacts the health of the body by altering the function and strength of our immune system. Hence why I’d like to stress the importance on keeping our mind in good form and our spirits high in the midst of a pandemic.

This blog focuses on the physical changes you can apply that’ll help change the direction of your emotional state that’ll benefit you both mentally and physically. Though this piece fixates on the physical, there are other ways to lift your spirits during these times, such as connecting with friends/family, meditating and/or volunteering to help out in your community.

How Posture Affects Your Mood

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The health complications of poor posture vary across multiple areas, from back pain to digestive problems to issues with circulation. But can these health complications within our bodies have an impact on our mood, energy levels or even personality? Is it possible that our poor posture is making us depressed and lethargic? We’ll take a further look into this mind-body connection.

Body Language & Mood

Your body language, how you sit, stand, walk and how you position yourself when interacting with other people, influences your hormones level, which regulates your mood.

For instance, standing up right with the hands to the hips, expanding physical space has been shown to influence the body to produce more testosterone (which influences confidence and sociability) and less cortisol (a stress hormone), whereas body language that involves making oneself look physically smaller, with shoulders rolled down and the body and gaze positioned downwards, showed lower levels of testosterone and also serotonin, a chemical that contributes to feelings of happiness and well-being.

Our minds influences our moods, which in turn influences how we carry ourselves physically, but the same is also true in reverse. You can actually trick your body into producing certain states of emotion simply by adjusting your body language. Strong, powerful body language can produce feelings of strength and confidence. In a social psychology study conducted 2009, students were asked to sit a certain way (either slouched or upright), then rate what they believed their future potential job satisfaction and professional performance to be using three descriptive words (either positive or negative). The students that sat upright, were confident in their word choices (whether positive or negative) whereas the students that slouched, weren’t convinced of any of their traits, they didn’t trust themselves in what they wrote down.

“In a series of experiments, Peper found that sitting in a collapsed, helpless position makes it easier for negative thoughts and memories to appear while sitting in an upright, powerful position makes it easier to have empowering thoughts and memories.”

Energy Levels & Postural Health

Poor circulation of blood flow and oxygen causes fatigue, and as posture affects circulation, this has a direct impact on our energy levels. Poor posture partially constricts critical veins and arteries, which inhibits your body from circulating the necessary blood/nutrients/oxygen it needs around the vital organs of its system. This in turn prevents your body from replenishing itself the way it should. When your body isn’t recovering itself adequately, it becomes prone to lethargy.

In addition, once the body and the muscles around the spine starts to stiffen up, this leads to tension and potentially pain, particularly when performing certain movements, which means we’re less likely to move around. Less movement contributes to lower energy levels – so it becomes a slippery slope on our health and thus our emotional well-being.

Researchers have established a vital connection between spinal health and overall wellness. People with poor spine health have been connected to chronic feelings of lethargy, sleepiness, nonchalance, and general malaise. Widespread spinal issues can result in blocked nerves, restricted blood flow, and chemical imbalances – all of which impact the way you feel.

Another area our posture affects that influences our mood and energy levels is our digestive health. Having poor posture (especially when seated) compresses our abdomen, so the organs involved in digestion can’t function as effectively as they need to. This prevents your body from adequately breaking down and absorbing the nutrients it needs from its food, thus potentially contributing to feelings of sluggishness.

Conclusion – How Can We Fix This Problem? 

There is strong evidence demonstrating that poor posture has a direct impact on how we feel about ourselves and also our energy levels. As our hormones are affected by poor posture, we become more prone to feelings of uncertainty and depression. As our energy levels are also affected, we’ll become less prone to feelings of motivation and inspiration. These issues will thus feed off and amplify one another.

So the solution? Fix your posture. How do we do that? You fix the muscular imbalances that have occurred as a result of your lifestyle factors.

I have created a channel specifically for people looking to improve their posture. Within the videos are a series of stretches and strengthening exercises that can be used to rectify the muscular imbalances (tight chest/weak back) that occurs from poor posture.

To check out my exercise videos, click here for ‘Postural Corrective Exercises’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 Effective Ways To Overcome Social Anxiety

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Social anxiety can be described as a fear of interacting with other people due to an overly self-conscious mindset, one that is rooted in a insecurity of being negatively judged by others.

As a yoga teacher with a background in psychology, I’m going to combine my knowledge on these two areas to provide you with the four methods below.

Breathe properly

When you’re starting to feel antsy, and your heart rate and body temperature goes up, if you take this moment to reflect on your breathing pattern, you’ll notice that your breathe has become short and erratic, you’ve developed this quick “in & out rhythm”. What happens here, is that your rapid breathing pattern is sending signals to your body that you’re in a “fight or flight” situation and your body is responding by producing stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline. This amps your heart rate and body temperature up! So what happens when you breathe slowly and deeply? The exact opposite – you dampen your body’s production of stress hormones AND you relax your nervous system. Think of it this way, your breath influences your physiology, which in turn influences your emotions, so control your breathing!

If you’d like to understand more on how breath influences physiology and what kind of breathing exercises you could practice, click the link here “Dealing With Anxiety Through Meditation”.

just-breathe

Focus your attention on the other person

When people get nervous in social situations, their attention is directed inwards – towards themselves and how they are being perceived. What does this demonstrate? That’s social anxiety is a form of self-absorption! You become so enamored with your feelings of self consciousness that you’re no longer mentally present in the moment, your attention is on yourself – not the other person (or people).
If you’re not mentally present in the social interaction, then you cannot properly contribute to the discussion. You simply won’t be in sync with the theme of the chat.

So listen intently, to what the other person is saying. Look at how they communicate with their body language and facial expressions. Become consumed in what they’re saying, because once your attention is shifted away from your own self-conscious thoughts, towards the other person, your mind won’t get the chance to indulge in its anxious thinking.

Stand up straight and make eye contact

Don’t stand in a way that makes you look and feel weak. How you carry yourself – your body language has a strong influence on your hormone levels, which again affects your mood. Standing in a typical alpha male stance (see below) causes your body to produce testosterone, which in turn impacts your confidence levels whilst dampening your body’s production of stress hormones. Confident body language also influences your body’s levels of serotonin, a hormone that regulates positive emotion (serotonin levels are high in naturally dominant personality types).

Standing or sitting in a way that makes you look small, whilst avoiding eye contact conveys weakness. Think of it this way, you don’t want to communicate your insecurities via your body language, so make the conscious effort to stand/sit up straight and make proper eye contact.

alpha-beta-body-language

Adopt a “care less” attitude

Probably the hardest yet most effective method of tackling social anxiety. If you’re not self conscious of what other people think of you in a social interaction, what is the likelihood of you getting nervous in the first place? This doesn’t mean you stop caring completely about how you conduct yourself in social situations, you can still want to improve your social skills yet hold a level of detachment to how people perceive you. There will always be people out there that take a disliking or disinterest towards you, even when you present yourself in your best form, so don’t take every knock back personally. Develop thicker skin, and just think “fuck it”. Identify where you might have gone wrong and improve yourself in that area with practice. Don’t get caught up in how you wish something went, you can’t change that – you can only try and improve your character through trial and error.

Lao Tzu

Summary

The best way to overcome social anxiety is to practice socially interacting, practice it to the point you gradually become desensitized to the act. Reflect on what frightens you the most, whether it’s large group settings, speaking to someone you’re attracted to or the opposite sex – then expose yourself to those scenarios repeatedly, practicing the methods above (this is how your character grows). However much that idea frightens you, the short term consequences of feeling awkward certainly out weigh the long term consequences of growing old with poor social skills. The older you get, the less cute it gets – that’s the harsh truth of it. Trying to ween out social anxiety from your personality will be one of the most rewarding things you can do, because it’s not a characteristic that is going to enhance your life in anyway.

Practice makes perfect, so try and have fun whilst you practice. You’re not going to bash out an ingrained behavior overnight. Keep pushing forward nonetheless!

The Impact of Tight Muscles On Posture

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Poor posture is a big visual indicator that the body’s health isn’t in good condition. Office work and sitting for long periods of the day can contribute to muscle tightness, which in turn can affect posture and the overall health of the spine. This blog will identify the common areas that get tight and how this impacts the alignment of the spine.

Why Healthy Posture Is Important

When your spine is healthy, the pathways of the nervous system become strong and clear. Vital energy, blow flow, nutrients and so on, can flow around the muscles and organs of your body, which maximises your vitality and well-being.  If you’re hunched forward at the shoulders, this will naturally create a shortness of breath as your body compresses forward. If you’re slouching then you’re stomach is also compressed, which means you slow digestion and inhibit healthy blood flow (this call also lead to weight gain). An over-exaggerated arch at the lower back can impact how your body moves, it weakens your core, hamstrings and glutes, which in turn can lead to lower back pain.

Types of posture

Tight Hamstrings
Image 1

Hamstrings are a common muscle group to experience tightness as a result of sitting for long periods of the day. However, the hamstrings can also become tight through excessive use without stretching (through activities such as football, cycling, etc). The hamstrings attach to the base of the pelvis and run all the way down towards their insertion point just below the knee. So imagine if this muscle gets overly tight and shortens, it can tug on the base of the pelvis and create what is known as a “flat back” or “sway back”. In both cases, the natural arch of the lower back has now been flattened out. This can lead to cases of mild or severe back pain (depending on how severely the pelvis becomes misaligned). As a result of a flat/sway back, the shoulders can end up protruding forward, along with the head and neck, in combination with tight chest muscles.

In sway back conditions, as your hips end up extending forward to compensate for the muscular imbalance, this pushes your knees into hyper-extension, which can lead to joint instability and pain. If one area of the body goes wrong, this has a chain reaction that ripples into other regions of the body. As the quadriceps are the opposing muscle group that work with the hamstrings, these muscles become weak as a result of the hamstrings becoming overly tight.

Fortunately there are an endless array of hamstring stretches within yoga, ranging from a standing & seated forward bend, to pyramid pose, half splits, and so on. If the hamstrings are overly tight, some stretches are better off performed with bent knees to prevent the tight muscle from tugging on the pelvis. If your standing forward bend resembles the guy to the left of the image below, then you should bend your knees.

standing-forward-bend

Tight Hip Flexors
Image 2

Being in a seated position means that your hip flexors are naturally in a shortened, flexed position. Over time, this muscle starts to tighten and become restricted. In addition, your glutes become weak from under use, which means they can’t effectively perform one of their important functions (supporting the pelvis and spine). These factors can create an anterior pelvis tilt (meaning the top part of your pelvis tilts forward) which creates pressure at the lumbar/lower back. This can cause the discs to degenerate and nerve roots to become compressed – which is highly likely to cause back pain.

Having your pelvis titled at such an angle causes a chain reaction in the body that leads to other deficiencies, such as weak abdominals and glutes, both of which are muscle groups that aid in giving the spine support.

Yoga poses such as lizard/runners pose or a low lunge can help add length to the hip flexors. Other poses such as pigeon pose or eye of the needle can open the outer hips and add length to shorten glutes (very effective for helping to relieve sciatic). Poses such as chair pose or bridge, strengthen both the glutes and thighs, helping to provide the necessary strength to stabilise the body.

Tight Hips

Tight Chest & Neck Muscles
Image 3 & 4

Having your upper body in a hunched forward position when at a desk or looking at your phone can cause the muscles round the chest, neck and shoulder area to become shorted and tight. This problem becomes compounded if repeated frequently and for long duration’s. Once the muscles round the front part of the body become tight, the muscles at the back lengthen and weak to compensate for the shortened muscles at the front. As a result, your shoulders round forward. This not only limits your shoulder mobility, but can lead to upper back and neck pain as a result. The muscles round the chest also impinge on nerves, which can end up sending pain or a tingling sensation down the forearm into the hand and wrist. The combination of tight and weak muscles round the upper front and back part of the body can also lead to headaches and migraines.

To counter this rounding forward of the shoulders, chest openers, shoulder mobility exercises and strengthening exercises for the upper back can help rectify the problem. Upward dog, cobra, camel hinge and humble warrior are just a couple of many yoga poses that stretch out the key muscle group that gets tight leading to rounded shoulders. Additional poses such as locust and bow pose open the chest whilst simultaneously strengthening the back.

Shoulder Stretch

What The Body Needs

To simplify, the muscles that become tight need to be stretched, and the muscles that have become weak need to strengthen. Think of it this way, there is a tug of war going on between two muscle groups and the tight muscle group is winning the battle. Yoga can be useful for opening up tight areas and strengthening the weak spots. Be as specific as you can when detailing any back pain you have to your yoga teacher, so they can identify what areas of the body need fixing and in what manner.

 

Sport Psychology: The Power of Visualisation

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What is Visualisation?

Think of visualisation as a form of mental rehearsal. The goal is to produce a specific outcome with our mental energy, by focusing on what we would like to experience. Evidence demonstrates that our mind plays a vital role in creating our experience, making visualisation exercises a way to program the mind for a better experience. Subconsciously, we naturally practice visualisation in our general day to day thought patterns, however the process is now being practiced and directed for those that would like to channel their consciousness towards a particular result.

Who Uses Visualisation Techniques?

According to the Telegraph, Wayne Rooney, Mohammed Ali, Andy Murray, Jessica Ennis-Hill and Jonny Wilkinson actively visualised their success before experiencing it.

For Wayne Rooney, the practice of visualising his sporting success was something he did naturally and has honed in on since he was a kid.

“For Rooney, this use of imagery – the act of creating and ‘rehearsing’ a positive mental experience in order to enhance your ability to achieve a successful outcome in real life – is an instinctive method honed since childhood” – Telegraph.

Rooney

Rooney claimed “I lie in bed the night before the game and visualise myself scoring goals or doing well,” he once revealed. “You’re trying to put yourself in that moment and trying to prepare yourself, to have a ‘memory’ before the game. I don’t know if you’d call it visualising or dreaming, but I’ve always done it, my whole life”.

MMA fighter Conor McGregor, an open believer in the concept of the Law of Attraction, and an athlete that oozes complete confidence in his athleticism, states that his ability to envision his success and focus on the positive, especially in times of struggle, is what drives him forward. McGregor stated in an interview: “If you have a clear picture in your head that something is going to happen and a clear belief that it will happen no matter what then nothing can stop it. It is destined to happen. It’s perfect”.

Conor Mc

By his own admission, McGregor uses the concept of Law of Attration for winning, and describes himself as like a kid in regards to how he uses his imagination. McGregor, who has had a sports psychologist work with him since 2009, added in an interview “I see myself as the champ already. I visualise everything; I visualise this conversation, I visualise the walk out, I have the shots picked out. If you see it in your head, you see it before your eyes”. To watch highlights of interviews with McGregor, click the link here.

Is It Effective?

Through visualisation, true belief in your ability to succeed can be created. Without that underlying belief in place, true success won’t be achieved or maintained, as experience is created within the mind first. If we can imagine our desired outcome as a true possibility within or mind, then this can unconsciously (or consciously) influence our action towards achieving this result.

The effects of visualisation are psychological, neurological and physiological. The Huffington Post states that: “according to research using brain imagery, visualization works because neurons in our brains, those electrically excitable cells that transmit information, interpret imagery as equivalent to a real-life action. When we visualize an act, the brain generates an impulse that tells our neurons to “perform” the movement. This creates a new neural pathway — clusters of cells in our brain that work together to create memories or learned behaviors — that primes our body to act in a way consistent to what we imagined”.

Evidence demonstrates that there is a strong connection between the mind and body, with studies on brain imagery demonstrating that visualising an exercise lights up many of the same regions of the brain that are employed when the body engages in that exercise. According to Psychology Today: “a study looking at brain patterns in weightlifters found that the patterns activated when a weightlifter lifted hundreds of pounds were similarly activated when they only imagined lifting”. The article also referenced a study using two control groups, one of which would weight lift at the gym whilst the other would practice mental exercises. The gym group had a 30% increase in muscle mass, whilst the mental imagery group had an increase of 13.5%. This means that both a physical and mental practice would increase the likelihood of athletic success, rather than rely solely on one method, the two would compliment one another.

How Do You Practice

  • Think of the brain as a muscle, that gets stronger with practice. Using mental imagery effectively is a skill in its own right, which gets better with training.
  • Visualise content that meets your needs in some way. For instance, if you find that nerves and anxiety influences your performance, then visualise yourself performing with a smooth, effortless and natural confidence. If you need to improve your ability to tackle effectively, then imagine yourself successfully winning tackles. If there are certain moves or exercises you need to improve, imagine yourself performing what ever it is, with natural efficiency and success.
  • Make your imagery as vivid as possible, using all of your senses, visual, auditory, touch, etc. Imagine all the little details, such as the set up of the environment, the energy of the crowd, the cheers, the colour of your sports uniform and that of your opponent or opponents team, and so forth.
  • Begin your mental imagery practice by visualising high quality images for short periods of time, then gradually start to build upon the time and detail in your visualisation practice.
  • Get into the habit of practicing mental visualisation/rehearsal regularly. Even if you only catch a couple minutes whilst on a train, in a queue or whilst driving somewhere. Direct your thoughts towards a positive mental focus.
  • There are two ways to practice visualisation. The first is outcome visualisation, which involves you visualising your achievement of a goal. The second type is process visualisation, which involves you envisioning all the different actions you’d need to take, to achieve the overall goal. Practice both.

 

Binaural Beats: Tracks for Meditation

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For anyone interested in meditation, I’d highly recommend listening to binaural beats.
The videos linked below range from about 10-20 minutes in length. The sounds in each track alters brain waves in a way that relaxes the listener  (so they are most effective when listened to through a set of headphones). These sets are designed to aid the listener into achieving a meditative state.

The sound is played at a different sound frequency through each earphone, causing the two sides of the brain to interact to hear the pitch, creating hemisphere synchronicity. If you’d like to understand more on the scientific nature of binaural beats, click the link here – Brain Waves and Binaural Beats: A Gateway to Higher Consciousness, Enhanced Learning and Brain Function.

My goal when I initially started practicing meditation was to calm my thoughts and develop some of this “self awareness” that all the yogis kept raving about. I practiced whilst listening to binaural beats and got exactly what I was aiming for. A calm and self-reflective mind.

I’d strongly recommend giving one of these a try – they’re only short but still effective!

Molecular Thoughts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2jGdAVDSxw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V67bJnarS7k&index=33&list=LLUL9-CWq6fHLTxukqF_RLAA&t=407s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-MUAscwSv4&list=LLUL9-CWq6fHLTxukqF_RLAA&index=34

If you’re looking for something more specific, such as a set that will help you with sleeping or being more awake and focused, check the image below to see what frequencies will induce the state of mind you want to achieve. There are even binaural beat tracks that are aimed at inducing lucid dreaming and even weight loss!

brainwavesUSE-FOR-MAIN-PIC-copy