ayurveda, blissful living, health and wellness, healthy living, stress reduction

Yoga Goodness

Benefits of Yoga

Over the last several years yoga has emerged to a new popularity here in the west but it has been practiced for thousands of years in the east, particularly in India where it originated. It is believed that yoga is the sister science of Ayurveda and the two sciences work wonderfully together.

As yoga has become increasingly more popular in the western world, scientist have armed themselves with new tools that allow them to look even deeper into the body allowing to see what happens physiologically when a person practices yoga- not just asana or postures but pranayama and meditation. The doctors, neuroscientist, psychologist and other researchers are uncovering fascinating evidence of how the practice affects us mentally and physically and may help to prevent and assist in the treatment of a number of the most common ailments that jeopardize our vitality and wellbeing.

Dozen of studies are being conducted at places like Duke, Harvard and the University of California San Francisco in an effort to establish how truly beneficial yoga is for the mind and the body. While the studies of the impact that yoga has on our health and wellbeing are in the early stages, patterns are beginning to emerge that indicate that the knowledge that we have about how yoga keeps up healthy and well are just the tip of the iceberg.

Some of the benefits of yoga are:

· Relief for certain types of chronic pain

· Decreasing anxiety and depression

· Less prone to emotional outburst

· Positive moods, equanimity and emotional resilience

· Helpful in treating insomnia and other sleep disorders

· Helps your brain to stay sharp and work better

· Better sex

· Helps to reverse the aging at the cellular level

· Fortifies the body’s ability to ward off illness ~ Immune booster

· Helps to decrease stress

· Lower inflammation or inflammatory levels within the body

· Reduction of risk factors associated with heart disease

· Helps to keep joints lubricated which allows them to move more freely

· Healthier and stronger spine

· Decrease back pain

· Effective for maintaining a healthy weight

If you have been on the sidelines trying to figure out what yoga really is or if you should indulge in a yoga class, I say let the above benefits be a motivating factor for you to jump in and explore yoga. There are yoga studios popping up all over the place and I’m sure you will find one in your city or in a city close to you. Yoga is a great way to do something good for your body and mind that has lasting beneficial affects. So don’t be shy jump in and let your body and mind enjoy the benefits of yoga.

Wishing you much health and wellness!

Namaste,

Rochele Lawson, RN,AHP,CMS

The Queen of Feeling Fabulous

www.freegiftsfromrochele.com

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www.meditationsforbliss.com

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ayurveda, blissful living, health and wellness, healthy living, stress reduction

Do You Have Resilience?

I’ve always thought that I was a pretty resilient person however after recently reading an article on resiliency; I realized that I have some work to do. Let me explain. You see there was a 40 year study conducted on the island of Kauai and it involved the development of children. During this period close to 700 children were observed in the area of their development. What was observed was that 1/3^rd of the children grew up to be contented, successful and caring adults. The conclusion for this was that it was due to their great resiliency. These children had the ability to not let things get them down and to find happiness despite adversity.

Psychologists have discovered that resilient people share some of the same characteristics. It is based on this information that I discovered that I needed to do some more work in this area. Take a look at the information below to see if you have the characteristics of resiliency.

1) Emotional control: Changing from a negative state of mind to a positive state

of mind is not a challenge for highly resilient people.

2) Considered behavior: Resilient people are not easily distracted. They pursue

their goals with concentration and discipline. They do not give into their whims.

3) Causal analysis: In negative situations they ask “why” instead of indulging in

being angry.

4) Empathy: They are able to see things from another person’s point of view

and can change their perspective based on this information.

5) Realistic optimism: They harbor no illusions about reality. ( It is what it is).

They have an optimistic outlook on life.

6) Goal orientation: These people are always setting new goals and work at these

goals consistently.

7) Self- belief: They believe they can change themselves and their lives.

Now that you know some of the qualities of a resilient person, how many of these qualities do you exhibit or do you need improvement in areas?

After looking at these qualities and realizing that I needed to do some work in some areas to improve my resiliency, I decided to examine my practice of wellbeing to see how I could improve my resiliency. What I discovered is that I have some tremendous tools that I use and share with my clients to improve their health that can actually be used improve resiliency too. I have decided to share some of the tools that I use that are geared toward overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles and bounce back after a crisis.

Use the little irritations and challenges in your daily life as opportunities to train yourself to become more resilient.

Often people wish the world would change to suit them but in reality it just does not work that way. It is much easier to change yourself because you posses the ability to interpret and evaluate incidents in many different ways. You have the ultimate control over how you think and feel. If you have difficulty in this area here is something that may help you.

Find out which attitudes and convictions are responsible for your negative emotions. Once you do this ask yourself why you feel this way. Feel free to write this down in a journal or on a piece of paper. Writing it out helps you to see it in a more realistic and personal manner. Then write a new conviction opposite of what you have just written down that identifies how you want to feel. Cross out the old one and keep the new one with you where you will come across it frequently such as in your pocket, purse or wallet. Each time you come across it read it silently and once out loud.

While you can’t expect to change your old convictions immediately, when you realize how fabulous your new thoughts make you feel you will want to make the new thoughts a permanent part of your life. What is important to note is that as you do this you are increasing your flexibility while becoming more resilient.

Another tool you can use to increase your resiliency is to understand and question your negative emotions. Let me explain. The same situation may trigger different emotions in different people; the key is to understand what this reveals about you. When you know what makes you respond the way you do, it will become easier to control your emotions. For example, if you are often angry, ask yourself if it is because you feel someone has violated your rights or if it is something else. Being aware of this can be the key in permanently changing your convictions to a more positive state.

In Ayurveda, the goal is to keep the mind and body in a state of balance“bliss” as much as possible and increasing your resiliency is a great way to help your mind and body stay in a state of “bliss.”