Yoga is an integrated holistic practice that not only keeps us physically healthy, but also helps in other aspects such as stress relief, pain management and everyday ailments. What if you were told that yoga also promotes healthy and beautiful hair or can even be your solution to hair loss? Read on to find out how!

Indian Head Massage

According to ancient Ayurvedic texts, besides helping to alleviate stress, eliminate toxins and relieve headaches, massaging the head also stimulates hair growth by increasing blood circulation to the hair follicles.

The use of natural and essential oils (e.g. sesame oil, coconut oil, almond oil, olive oil) is also highly recommended. The oil that seeps into the scalp helps to strengthen the roots and delay the process of graying hair. It also prevents hair and scalp problems such as dandruff and scalp psoriasis.

Method:

1)    Gently stimulate the pressure points on the head by rhythmically tapping the entire scalp with your fingertips.
2)    Gently massage the whole head with your thumbs and fingers, working from side to side and from the top of the head to the nape of the neck.
3)    Press the heels of your hands to your temples and make slow circular motions.
4)    Bundle your hair together and hold it together with both hands above your head. Inhale and gently pull upwards, exhale and gently press your shoulders downwards while maintaining the position of your hands.
5)    Take fistfuls of your hair from the roots at both sides of your head, keeping the base of your palms close to your scalp. Gently tug from side to side by squeezing and releasing your grasp.

Deep Breathing

We might not realise this but hair related problems can be traced back to stress and tension. Deep breathing is a great way to relieve stress and tension that we have accumulated through all those years of shallow breathing. By practising deep breathing, tension is removed from the body. Oxygen and carbon dioxide can be exchanged efficiently, allowing nutrients and oxygen to be carried to the cells of the scalp, which in turn promotes hair growth. Besides trying to consciously breathe deeply, there are also exercises that can be performed to induce overall relaxation.

Kapalabathi (Skull Shining Breath)

Kapalabathi literally means “the practice that makes the forehead and entire face lustrous”. This breathing exercise helps to clean out the lungs by eliminating all the stale air.

Method:
1)    Sit in a comfortable cross-legged position with your back straight and the back of your palms resting against your knees.
2)    Take two deep breaths. On your third inhalation, expand your abdomen forcefully exhale through the nostrils while contracting your abdominal muscles. Then inhale by letting your lungs expand automatically in a relaxed manner.
3)    Repeat this forceful expulsion and natural inhalation twenty times rhythmically, emphasizing on each exhalation. The chest and shoulders should be kept as still as possible throughout the exercise.
4)    After one round, inhale and exhale completely, then inhale fully and retain your breath as long as you feel comfortable. Softly exhale.
5)    Repeat 3 rounds.

Ujjayi (Victorious Breath)

The word Ujjayi can be interpreted as “control or victory arising from the process of expansion”. This breath enhances the ventilation of the lungs, calms the nerves and purifies the blood.

Method:
1)    Sit in a comfortable cross-legged position with your back straight and the back of your palms resting against your knees.
2)    Inhale and exhale slowly and deeply by partially constricting the back of your throat. You should hear a low hissing sound and experience gentle vibrations from the throat.
3)    During inhalation, the abdominal muscles are kept slightly contracted and during exhalation, the abdominal pressure is exerted until the breath is completely expelled.
4)    Allow yourself to relax with this slow deep breathing.

Yoga Asanas

Inverted postures such as Headstand, Shoulder Stand, Downward Facing Dog, Camel Pose and Standing Forward Bend are believed to keep the hair healthy by helping to remove stress and improve blood circulation in  the head. Here are two yoga asanas with slight variations (taken from the Kao Ascience website) to stimulate the head and entire scalp.

Fish Pose – with Haniwa (Japanese clay figure) face

Method:
1)    Lie on your back with your palms facing down. Roll your shoulders back, sliding both hands under the buttocks.
2)    Inhale and lift your chest and neck off the floor with your buttocks still on the mat. Rest on your elbows and the crown of your head. To deepen the pose, use your elbows to raise your chest higher and stay in the pose while breathing normally.
3)    In the pose, fold your upper and lower lips over the teeth. Raise the corners of the mouth in a smile.

Rabbit Pose – with rabbit smile

Method:
1)    Come to all fours position with your feet hip-width apart and hands shoulder-width apart.
2)    Place the crown of your head on the floor and bring your elbows down directly under your shoulders.
3)    While in the pose, open your eyes and mouth wide, folding your lower lip over the teeth. Bare the top set of teeth and raise the corners of your mouth into a smile.
4)    Hold this pose and slightly move your hips forward and roll your head forward to stimulate the top of your scalp.

Healthy hair is a result of treating your scalp and head in a kind and loving manner. Hair is like the flowers that bloom from a well-tended garden. How beautiful and healthy the plants turn out depend on the nutrients that are present in the soil. So remember that apart from exercising external care, we also need to pay attention to what goes into our bodies by cutting out junk food, drinking plenty of water and eating more fresh fruits and vegetables. Fuelled by the right nourishment and practising the methods mentioned above, you should be on your way to healthy and luscious locks.

The sun is nature’s greatest gift to us. Without the sun, live on earth could not exist and yet, many of us shy away from it. What if we were told that the sun, in its purest form will be able to provide us with all the nutrition needed and cure physical, emotional and mental diseases?

There is now certain group of people who practise and believe that by gazing directly at the sun during certain times of the day, we will be able to receive the energy to complement or replace solid food. This practice has been given various names such as Sun Gazing, Solar Gazing, Solar Healing and Solar Yoga.

Apparently the phenomenon is not something new and has been practised by our ancestors including the ancient Egyptians, Romans, Indian Yogis and native Americans. It is no wonder the sun has been an object of worship for different civilisations through the ages.

Born in 1937, Hira Ratan Manek (HRM) was a Mechanical Engineering graduate who worked in his family shipping and spice trading business in India. After retirement in 1992, he delved into this forgotten ancient practice that had captivated him since childhood. HRM has lived on water (with occasional tea, coffee and buttermilk) and the sun’s energy since 1995. He continues to travel the world giving talks and lectures on the practice of sun gazing in order to heal humanity of their ills.

According to HRM, the brain is like a super computer that nature has bestowed upon mankind. Unfortunately, the average human only uses 5-7% of the brain capacity. The rest lies dormant and is activated by harnessing energy from the sun which can only be reached via the eyes. Through trial an error, HRM has managed to come up with a technique that can be easily be adopted by anyone. Practitioners are advised to gaze at the sun once a day (anytime within an hour after sunrise or within an hour after sunset). Beginners start with 10 seconds the first day, gradually adding 10 seconds more each day up until they reach 44 minutes of continuous gazing (takes around 9 months). For step by step instructions, visit the official Solar Healing Center website.

Testimonials stating the benefits of sun gazing have been phenomenal. In the initial months, changes that have been reported are a more positive mindset, better sense of confidence, a balanced mind, sharper memory, improved sense of judgement and curing of mental depression. Later, physical ailments start to disappear. This includes anything from arthritis to bad eyesight.

Nature has blessed humans with a remarkable organ called the brain. To unleash its limitless powers, nature too has blessed us with an abundant source of energy called the sun. Doesn’t a free and costless way to a healthy and harmonious life warrant a trial run?

Yoga has been successfully marketed and re-branded to entice urban dwellers like us. Gone are the mental imprints of bearded men and in place are slim girls in lycra wear. This is yoga as we know it today. Unfortunately nowadays yoga is widely practised merely for its physical benefits. Practitioners have become fixated with the goal of achieving a toned body or conquering a challenging pose. Interested candidates are concerned about whether yoga is able to help them slim down. So called ‘regular’ practitioners only gravitate towards classes that physically challenge them. But we are not entirely to be blamed as sadly, this great art has been packaged and sold to us in that light.

The Eight Limbs of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras states that Asanas (yoga postures) must be attained before deeper aspects of yoga can be pursued. In that context, it is indeed true that we are on the right track by placing importance in our physical practice. However, it cannot be dismissed that the fundamentals of yoga speaks of the ultimate unification of the body and the mind. This piece of wisdom can and should be integrated into our practice. For example, instead of recklessly forcing ourselves to achieve the perfect looking seated forward bend (and ending up pulling a muscle), it is more beneficial experiencing the flow of energy by linking breath to pose. Similarly, the accomplished practitioner who effortlessly displays perfect form, should not allow the mind to wander in restless boredom but begin connecting at a deeper level by bringing awareness to the control of breath, muscles in play and the subtle intelligence behind those movements.

There is no right or wrong to the role yoga plays in your life.  Just as long as we remain aware and open to the deeper potential it holds beyond the sweat factor.

The Moment you are in Tension
You will lose your Attention
Then you are in total Confusion
And you will feel Irritation
Then you will spoil personal Relation
Ultimately, you won’t get Co-operation
Then you will get Complication
Then your blood pressure may raise Caution
And you may have to take Medication
Instead, understand the Situation
And try to think about the Solution
Many problems will be solved by Discussion
This will work out better in your Profession
Don’t think it’s my free Suggestion
It’s only for your Prevention
If you understand my Intention
You will never come again to Tension

And then try some simple yoga poses to relieve your tension:

Mountain Pose

Stand upright and focus on your balance and breathing. Breathe in and raise your hands up, breathe out and lower them. So easy right?

Eagle Arms

Relieves shoulder and shoulder blade tension – after hours in front of your PC, you know how good this feels.

Bridge Pose

OK you can’t really do this in the office but if you have an argument with your spouse, you know what to do afterwards.

Downward Dog

Give your back, arms and hamstring a deep stretch

Seated Twist

When you hear that crackling sound, you will know how good it feels.

No you have no excuses to feel tension right!

Let’s look at the pros and cons of some of the options.

VCD/DVD
Some people prefer to learn yoga by themselves as they feel they can carry out the yoga anytime at no cost. You can by VCDs taught by some well-known teachers in video shops and even hypermarkets like Tesco and Giant. There are many types of yoga VCDs available in the market teaching people to perform yoga at home. But most VCDs are designed for basic to intermediate yoga practice to cater for the mass market. If you are looking to take your yoga to a higher level, then you will need to look further.

Books
Books are also great way to learn yoga, especially if you wish to blend practice with theory. Although you cannot listen to a voice to direct all the poses to be done, however there are pictures shown in the book. So you can follow those poses and do yoga in the comfort of your home. Good books are readily available in bookstores like Popular, MPH, Borders and Kinokunya. Some of the books only contain pictures with the name of the poses, whereas some with the explanation of each posses perform.

Prenatal yoga classes in Malaysia is an underserviced market. If you can’t find a suitable class near you, one way to learn is through books but if you wish to do this it is good for you to have some basic yoga experience first. That way you will reduce the risk of injury and harm to your baby.

The best way to practice yoga is to join a yoga class taught by a good teacher. You will have a real teacher to guide you through the poses step by step. All the poses that you do during the class are observed by teacher and it is important to have a caring teacher to show you the proper alignment, how to get into and out of the pose. If there is any question to be asked regarding the posing, you can ask the teacher after the classes.

In certain poses such as the Triangle Pose, it is easy to make a mistake in your alignment, for example by collapsing your back to try to reach your feet. Practising with a teacher will help to do such poses properly so that you will benefit from it.

So, which way you prefer? Choose it already? Then, don’t wait anymore, get the first step and go YOGA!!!!!

The food we consumed everyday and our daily physical exercises are important to determine whether we are pursuing a healthy lifestyle or not. However, try as we may, it is never an easy task to set a proper balance of what we consume nor how much physical workout can we do a daily especially when we have other priorities in hand.

At the end of the day, we could only be achieving a minimum improvement to our healthy lifestyle regime. Then it’s back to the question, how?

What About YOGA?

Yoga is one of the hottest discussions around, especially when healthy lifestyle is concerned. Though most people painted Yoga merely as an exercise of relaxation or a therapy for the stressful, it is more than that. It is also a gateway for better health and physical fitness to the body. That’s not all, it is never a waste of time in Yoga, where each time spent doing Yoga involves the development of healthy body and mind. At the same time, it will definitely improve your social circle as well.

More explanation on the Benefits of YOGA

Professionals, especially those who spend majority of their weekdays in office, are limited to exercising as they spend most of their time confined to their desk and in front of their computers. By the time they are home after a long day of work plus the hours stuck in traffic jam, they would prefer to retire to their sofa, in front of the television or straight to bed. The only exercises or body movements they have done are probably walking to their car or walking to the Photostat machine!

How about students? Similar to the professionals, students’ routines has always been sitting in class, facing books and teachers almost everyday. This will only help in the development of mind, however, neglected their physical needs. With all the work, meetings, and tasks to be completed everyday for the adults; school projects, homework and studying for the students. It could only lead to one thing – stress.

So how does Yoga help to make a difference in your healthy lifestyle plan? Well, unlike other excessive exercises that will take a neither long time nor strenuous, Yoga is a less exhausting practice that only need about three exercises a week. All you need is 45 minutes to 1 hour per exercise to maintain good health.

Do you know that Yoga helps in crafting and toning your body as well as losing weight?

Yoga shapes up your body because all the Yoga poses help to tighten your muscle and make your body line better. From what seems to be a sweat-less exercise, Yoga will actually help you burn unnecessary fat and generate sweats to rid of any body toxin.

Unlike many other exercises that build bulk, Yoga helps increase your flexibility. As age creep up on you, this becomes more important.

Yoga is a perfect exercise for retirees and housewives who spend their time at home to go for something useful and healthy.

That’s not all! Expand your social circle when you learn Yoga as you will meet all kinds of new friends at Yoga centre. So why wait? Let’s do Yoga together for a healthier lifestyle and personal well being!

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person’s lifetime.

3. When the person’s immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastro-intestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

a. Sugar – Cancer cells feed on sugar. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like Nutrasweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in colour. Better alternative is Bragg’s aminos or sea salt. (THE WEST MADE US 2 CHANGE FROM SEA 2 WHITE IODISED SALT).

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro- intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soya milk cancer cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment – a meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful,especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine.Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body’s killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Florssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body’s own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body’s normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor.

Anger, unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells. SOUNDS LIKE YOGA IS GOOD, RIGHT?

PLEASE READ ON :
1. No plastic containers in micro.
2. No water bottles in freezer.
3. No plastic wrap in microwave.

Dioxin chemicals causes cancer, especially breast cancer.

Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don’t freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto (Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital) was on a TV program to explain this health hazard.

He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat.

He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body.

Instead, he recommends using glass, such as CorningWare, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food.

You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So things such as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn’t bad but you don’t know what is in the paper. It’s just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.

Also John Hopkins pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.

It really depends on your personality and what you are comfortable with. I came across an article in The Star yesterday titled “Fitting the Right Gym”. Quoting Mark Davis of Triyoga:

“If you want washboard abs and the ability to bench press your own wait and run a six-minute mile, it isn’t going to happen with yoga. But if you want a strong, vital body that feels light, dynamic and pain free, an elegant posture and naturally healthy eating habit, and a calmness and inner radiance that has everyone thinking you’re in love, then sign up for a yoga class.”

Well said indeed. But let’s face it… none of us yogis get to feel that good by just signing up for one class. Do it 2-3 times per week for a couple of months, and you really get what Mark Davis is saying.

From celebrities such as Sting, to office workers, councilors, and housewives, yoga is one of the most popular forms of exercise as well as way to relax and de-stress.

So why are so many people claiming that yoga has helped them chill out like no other form of exercise?

For thousands of years, people have used yoga as a path towards ultimate health and wellbeing.

A recent scientific study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine has validated the benefits that people have been talking about for years.

19 individuals were assigned to either a 1-hour yoga session of postures and conscious breathing, or a 1-hour reading session.

It was important to the creators of the study to compare two activities that have been known to be calming and pleasurable in order to ascertain the true power of yoga. Most people have used reading at some point in their lives as a way of relaxing.

The level of GABA (gamma amino butyric acid) was tested before and after the session. All subjects were then assessed for brain levels of GABA both before and after the session. GABA is a brain chemical that has a generally calming, anti-anxiety effect within the brain.

Individuals who completed the yoga session had a 27 percent increase in GABA levels on average. However, those who read saw no change in the levels of this brain chemical.

This scientific study reinforces what Yogis, celebrities and your average Joe have been raving about all these years.

Article Source: http://www.defyagenaturally.com ….combining the world’s most up to date scientific research on how to stay young naturally in both mind and body with a heartfelt, personal touch. When we have the right information and take some dedicated action, we can be in charge of our health and our aging process.

Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.
~Author Unknown

I have often wondered if we keep practicing yoga, will we be able to maintain or improve our flexibility as we age?

So I decided to do some quick research on the web, and generally the conclusion is that the older we become, the longer it will take to develop flexibility. Hopefully, we all become more patient when we get older.

With appropriate training, flexibility can be developed at all ages, although this does not suggest that flexibility can be developed at the same rate by everyone.

One of the reasons we become less flexible as we get older is a result of certain changes that take place in our connective tissues.

There are suggestions that exercise can delay the loss of flexibility due process of dehydration as we age. Stretching stimulates the production of lubricants between the connective tissue fibers and thus prevents the adhesion formation.

Connective Tissues

Most experts believe that an increase in the ability of muscle and connective tissues to elongate/stretch can be achieved at any age.

When connective tissues are underused, they provide significant resistance to stretching and limit flexibility. Elastin begins to fray and loses some of its elasticity, and the collagen increases in stiffness and in density.

Aging has some of the same effect on connective tissues that lack of use has.

Note that if connective tissues are overused, they may also become fatigued and tear.

Joints
Everyone has different levels of flexibility in different areas of the body. Depending on the type of joint and its condition, the bone structure of the joint places limits on flexibility. This is a common way in which age can be a factor limiting flexibility since older joints tend not to be as healthy as younger ones.

Other physical changes attributed to aging include:

- Increased calcium deposits, adhesions, and cross-links in the body
- An increase in the level of fragmentation and dehydration
- Changes in the chemical structure of tissues
- Loss of suppleness due to the replacement of muscle fibers with fatty, collagenous fibers.

This does not mean that we should give up trying to achieve flexibility if we are old or inflexible. It just means that we need to work harder and more carefully when attempting to increase flexibility.