Author: Alien

Taking for granted that one has already practised purakas and rechakas of ten and twenty seconds respectively, for a month or so, one should, on the first day, introduce holding of breath in the last round, for ten seconds. After completing the puraka, both the nostrils should be closed, the right one with the thumb, and the left one with the last two fingers. The head should be lowered down in the front, and the chin set against the jugular notch below the throat. This technique is known as “jalandhara-bandha.” It should beaccom”panied by two other bandhas called respectively “mulabandha”. and “uddiyana-bandha”. The former involves contraction of the anus, the latter, contraction of the pelvis (lower abdomen). These three bandhas are supposed to have a special significance. After holding the breath for ten seconds after the putaka through the left nostril, the head may be taken to its normal erect position, the muscles of the anus and pelvis are relased, and then rechaka and the next puraka are made through the right nostril. Another kumbhaka is then made, which is followed by rechaka through the left nostril. The number of rounds involving kwnbhakas may be increased by two per week,so that within five to six weeks all the ten rounds would include holding of breath. After practising twenty kumbhakas (of ten seconds duration each) every day for about a month, the duration of each kumbhaka may be slowly increased to fifteen seconds.This would be achieved in about a month and a half, and may be practised regularly for nearly a month. Then the time may be progressively increased to twenty seconds.

Another sitting may be added at this stage. In the beginning the dose of ten rounds (i.e. twenty kumbhakas of twenty seconds each) may be split up into two doing ten kumbhakas in the morning and ten in the evening. The number at both sittings may be increased by one every week, so that after five weeks one will be doing forty klllnbhakas per day, twenty in the morning and twenty in the evening. The maximum dose of kumbhaka that an advanced student of yoga is expected to practise every day, as mentioned in Hathayoga-Pradipika , is eighty kumbhakas per sitting, with four sittings in a day. One should thus practise Pranayama in the morning, evening, and at midday and midnight. The maximum duration of kwnbhaka in each round is traditionally expected to be sixty four matras. The definition of a matra seems to vary in different traditional texts. For example, in the Yogatatvopanishad it is said that a matras is the period required for taking the hand round the knee neither hastily nor slowly, and making a sound by sliding the middle finger downward from the apex of the thumb. This means nearly thirty six matras in one minute. A matra is defined in the Markandeya Purana as the time required for winking of the eyelids, or for uttering a syllable. This may mean about one hundred matras per minute. The Brihadyogi-yajnyavalkya Smriti speaks of a matra as the time required for making a sound thrice by the middle finger and thumb, or for moving the hand once around the knee and the thigh. This is rather vague. Brahma. nanda, the commentator of Hathayoga-Pradipika mentions several meanings of the word “matra”.We need not go into the details of these meanings.

It seems reasonable to assume that sixty four matras are equal to nearly forty eight seconds.A kwnbhaka of this duration may be described as of the “highest type”. A duration of twent four seconds would make a kumbhaka of the “medium type”, while a kwnbhaka lasting only twelve seconds may be called the one of a “low type”. It is supposed that a kwnbhaka of the low type causes profuse perspiration of the body, the one of a “medium type,” cause tremors in the body, while that of the “highest” type may cause the body to be raised from the ground. The highest type of kwnbhaka must however, be developed with due care and caution: preferably under the guidance of a person .who has himself mastered it. The author of the Hathayoga-Pradipika (II, 15-16) does well to warn the student of yoga against the ill effects of an improper practice or Pranayama. He has rightly compare breath control with the process of taming a lion or an elephant, emphasizing the need for exercising caution and care.

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Author: Alien

The organs constituting this system are: the mouth, the pharynx, the gullet (foodpipe), the stomach, the duodenum, and the small and large intestines. From the point of view of the science of diet, the food we eat should contain five constituents, namely, carbohydrates, proteins, fats, mineral salts, and vitamins. The first three constituents in this list are supposed to yield energy that is required for the life activity of an individual. One gram of carbohydrate or protein gives 4.1 calories of energy, while one gram of fat is found to give 9.2 caloriesof energy. We get large amount of carbohydrates from cereals, potatoes, sugar, etc. The proteins, in addition to supplying energy, perform another important function, that of building the muscles of the body. They are of two types, namely, plant proteins, which are contained in large quantities in pulses, and dried nuts, and animal proteins, which may be received from animal sources, like eggs, meat, fish, poultry, milk, and so on. The animal proteins are more valuable, and hence vegetarians must include sufficient quantity of milk in their diet, so as to fulfil the requirements of animal proteins. The fats can also be had from two sources, namely, plants and animals. Both these are found to have equal energy value. But the animal fats, which are contained in butter, meat, egg, fish and poultry, are more valuable in as much as they are rich in vitamins A and D.

Many minerals, like Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Sodium, Iodine, Sulphur, etc., are found in the human body. They play an important role in controlling the biochemical activity going on in the body.Calcium and Phosphorous are largely required for the proper development of bones and teeth. Many disorders are caused due to deficiencies of various minerals, and hence, it is necessary to have them in sufficient amounts in one’s diet.

The vitamins, although needed in very minute amounts, are often found to be lacking in diets. They are obtained from fruits, vegetables, milk, etc., and are very intimately concerned with the maintenance of health and vigour of the body. Along with these nutrients, water is also needed in large amounts, because nearly 65% of the weight of our body is made by water. The body fluids, like saliva, the blood, the digestive juices, and endocrine secretions contain large amounts of water. Water helps in maintaining the body temperature within the normal range.

The mouth is the receiving organ for food. The food is cut into pieces with the teeth, and is ground into finer forms, and is moistened with saliva, so that it can be easily passed down the throat. The pharynx is a part next to the mouth, where seven paths come and meet: two from the nose, one from the mouth, two from the ears, one going down to the lungs, and one to the stomach. The food masticated and moistened in the mouth passes through the pharynx, down this last path, made by the gullet or oesophagus, which leads ultimately to the stomach. The food remains in the stomach for about two hours, and gets mixed with the Hydrochloric Acid and digestive juices secreted by the stomach wall. It then passes to the duodenum which has the shape of an inverted horse-shoe. Three digestive juices get mixed with it here, namely, the pancreatic juice (secreted by the glands called pancreas), the bile (produced in the liver), and the juice of the duodenum itself. As a result of the action of various digestive juices, the constituents of food, especially the fats, proteins and carbohydrates are broken down to simpler substances which can be assimilated in the body. The small intestines which are over twenty feet long, are responsible for absorption of the digested constituents of food. The remaining part goes to the large intestines (nearly five feet long), and is ultimately eliminated through the anus after absorbing water from it in the large intestines. The assimilated constituents of food are largely stored in the liver, and are supplied to the tissues, muscles, and all the parts of the body, through the agency of blood.

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Author: Alien

Also known as the cardio-vascular system this consists of the heart (which pumps the blood to various body parts), and the blood vessels (which carry the blood from the heart and back to it again). The heart is a very vital organ which works incessantly from birth till death. It is divided into four compartments. The upper right compartment receives impure blood from all over the body, and sends it to the lower right one, from where it is sent for purification in the lungs. The purified blood from the lungs goes to the upper left compartment of the heart, and thence to the lower left one, from where it is pumped all over the body, through the arteries. The arteries are thickwalled tube-like structures which carry blood from the heart to various body-parts, through their branches and minute sub-branches. These minute sub-branches divide further into capillaries which are very thin-walled. The capillaries ramify into various muscles, organs, and tissues. Due to the thinness of their walls, the capillaries allow the nutrients and oxygen in the blood to come out of them, and be supplied to the tissues. In return, the carbon dioxide and other waste materials from the tissues diffuse into the capillaries. Minute sub-branches of veins start from where the capillaries end, and blood (with the waste materials in it) proceeds through the veins, and is ultimately returned to the heart. The veins are thin-walled. They have to raise the blood from the lower extremities, pelvic region. trunk, and abdomen against the force of gravity. This is achieved with the help of valves situated in the veins.

The blood contains nearly 90% water, in which three kinds of bodies keep floating. These are: the red blood corpuscles, the white blood cells, and the blood platelets. The R.B.C.s contain a scarlet coloured substance called “haemoglobin”, which is the carrier of oxygen. The W.B.C.s constitute the defence force in the body. They fight any foreign cells such as bacteria and other micro-organisms which, if allowed to infest the body, can cause many diseases. The blood platelets are supposed to play an important role in the coagulation of blood, when it comes out of the blood vessels due to cuts and wounds. The circulatory system is thus responsible for carrying out three main functions in the body, namely, supplying nutrients to various parts and collecting waste materials from them, maintaining the body temperature at the normal level, and supplying oxygen to every part and collecting carbon dioxide. In this last function it works in co-operation with the respiratory system.

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Author: Alien

This may be said to start from the nose, and is composed of the larynx, the wind pipe (trachea), its two branches (called “bronchi“), and the lungs. It is concerned with the vital function of making available the much needed oxygen to the body. It would be well to understand here why we need oxygen so badly for remaining alive. Our life activity is ever based on biochemical processes which cannot go on without a continuous supply of energy. This energy is received from the food we eat, especially the carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. The end roducts of these constituents are supplied to each tissue by the blood. The energy stored in these products can be released for the purpose of life activity of any tissue, only through the process of oxidation. This is a process in which oxygen combines with the substance containing energy, and releases energy along with water vapour and carbon dioxide. This process has to go on continually in every living tissue of the body, and it is, therefore that we can not live without oxygen for more than a few minutes. The carbon dioxide produced in the process of oxidation is a poisonous gas, and must be removed from the body as quickly as possible. It is collected, as we have noted earlier, in the blood flowing in the capillaries. We shall now see how it is eliminated from the body through the respiratory system.

Air from the atmosphere enters our body through the nose, and goes to the larynx or the sound box, and then to the wind pipe. The wind pipe further divides into two branches, one of which goes to the left lung, and the other to the right lung. They give rise to further branches and sub-branches in the lungs. At the ends of the minute sub-branches are borne the air sacks or cells (alveoli) which are surrounded by capillaries, through which the blood flows from the heart to the lungs, and back again to the heart. The walls of the air sacks are very thin. They allow gases to pass through in both directions. The oxygen from the air sacks is absorbed in the blood in the capi11aries, and the carbon dioxide and water vapour from the capillaries enters the air sacks. This gaseous exchange is a very important phenomenon concerning the respiratory system.

The lungs are made of elastic tissues which expand and contract during respiration. They are contained in what is called the “thoracic cavity” which is pro­tected on all sides by the ribs. The base of this cavity is made by a dome shaped band of a muscle cal1ed the “diaphragm”, which plays an important role in the mechanism of respiration. The cavity below the diaphragm is called the “abdominal cavity”. The cavity accommodates organs like the stomach, duodenum, liver, pancreas, kidneys, and intestines.

The act of respiration is composed of three parts, namely, inhalation, exhalation and pause. During inhalation the thoracic cavity increases in volume due to an elevation and extension of the ribs, along with a descent of the diaphragm downward. The lungs expand due to this, and air rushes in through the nose to fill the vacuum created thereby. The lungs then contract automatically after a while, due to their elastic recoil, expelling some amount of air during exhalation. This is foHowed by a state of pause, and then another round of inhalation and exhalation takes place. Car-bon dioxide and water vapour are got rid of through exhalation.

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Author: Alien

This consists of the kidneys, the ureters, the bladder, the urethra, as well as the skin, and the large intestines. The kidneys (two in number) are situated in the abdominal cavity on the two sides of the body. They contain a network of very minute tubelike structures through which blood is strained, and the unwanted materials like extra amount of water, salts, waste products of digestion and other biochemical processes, are separated from the blood. This forms the urine, which goes down from the kidneys through two tubes called the ureters, to the bladder. The urine is passed out of the body through a duct called urethra.

The skin provides another arrangement for getting rid of excess salts and water in the blood. This is achieved by minute glands called the sweat glands which are situated under the skin. When the blood flows through the sweat glands, they separate some salts and water, along with some other unwanted materials, from the blood. The separated fluid comes to the surface in the form of sweat, and evaporates. This helps to keep the body temperature normal during hot summer days.

The Endocrine System

This system consists of many glands situated at various places in the body. The important ones among them are: the pituitary, the pineal (both in the head), the thyroid, the parathyroids (both in the neck), the thymus (in the thoracic cavity), adrenals, and the sex glands (in the abdominal cavity). A special feature of these glands is that there are no ducts to carry their secretions(called hormones) outside the glands. Hence they are also called the ductless glands. The hormones prouced in the endocrine glands are thrown directly in the blood flowing through them and are thus made available to different organs and tissues of the body. The hormones (e,g. pituitrin, thyroxin, adrenalin, etc.) are very much essential for a proper development of the body, and are found to be intimately concerned with many important functions like metabolism, growth, sexual maturity, emotional set-up, action of the heart and the lungs, and so on. A deficiency as well as an excess of the secretion of hormones may lead to many disorders.

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Author: Nikki Davila

Are you thinking of subscribing to free online yoga programs? You may want to consider this option if yoga classes are not so readily available or affordable in your area. Nowadays, there are many sites that will teach you yoga for free, but there are some important things you should know about before joining.

The Benefits of Yoga

We all have been told that yoga is one of the best sports for just anyone, but what exactly you can benefit by practising yoga? To put it short, it improves your physical strength and flexibility and keeps your organs and systems functioning properly. It also calms and relaxes you and relieves pain and stress. In the end, yoga ultimately leads people to physical, mental and spiritual harmony. In other words, yoga can help you achieve overall health and change the way you respond to life situations and conditions.

Free Online Yoga Programs

Many sites now offer yoga instruction for free, and there are many ways you can get instructions. Some sites offer step by step e-mail instruction while others provide free newsletters. The more advanced sites will let you download whole yoga class videos or view the videos online. The perfect choice of mode of instruction will depend on your learning style and preference. Regardless of your mode choice, you should always pick a free offer that provides clear and easy to understand instructions to avoid possible injury.

Different Types of Yoga

You can not just pick and use any free online yoga material. You have to find out first which kind of yoga you are most comfortable with. You may for example prefer Hatha yoga over Ashtanga yoga or Kundalini yoga over Bikram yoga. Different forms or kinds of yoga will teach you different techniques.

You should not forget too that there are different levels of yoga practitioners. Although many free materials are for beginners, you have to be certain that you are not performing techniques that are too advanced for you. If you do get instructions for beginners, find out if the material terminates at a certain point. That means you may have to enroll for advanced classes if you would like to proceed further, usually at a cost.

Your Instructors

Just as there are different yoga disciplines, there are also a great number of yoga masters. This is especially true online. Since authenticity is a little difficult to check on the internet, some scam artists may even pose as yoga masters. Do a little research on where exactly your free material comes from. This can protect you from injury and help you achieve the goal of yoga better.

Self-Discipline

One problem with online programs is that you have to do things on your own without the supervision of an expert instructor. This may not work well for those who are not good at following instructions or are not self-disciplined enough to learn on a long-term basis. With free yoga materials, you have to monitor yourself and your own progress.

Now that you know what to consider with free online yoga instructions, you can go ahead and pick a right one for you. Make sure, though, that you have enough enthusiasm and will be persistent in learning. That way, you can truly benefit what yoga exercise can bring you.

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If you are serious about undertaking free online yoga class, you may like to get started with our free yoga videos. You can also check out this related article about benefits of yoga.

Author: Kevin Sinclair

Yoga is a very common style of exercise that is practiced by people all over the world. These exercises help to build strength and flexibility in our bodies by creating a balance. Yoga is derived from ancient India and is still going strong in its beliefs and practices. If you are just starting your yoga training or are curious about some basic postures for yoga, then perhaps this article will be of some benefit to you. We will discuss a few of the basic postures that are easy to do.

The first posture that we will discuss is called The Cobra. When doing this posture, we want to do this in easy stages. First we want to lie down with our forehead touching the floor, our face needs to be prone and our legs should be tight together and stretched back. Next we want to place our hands under our shoulders with our palms facing down. Once we have done this we want to inhale and raise your head back pressing your neck backwards. The next step is with the use of our hands we will push up our trunks until we have formed a beautiful arc that reaches from the lower part of our spine to the back of our necks.

Once we have reached this point, there is really no need to go any further, but if you feel that you can, then you can fully extend your arms. Beginning at the knees you can bend your legs and stretch your head as if try to touch your feet. Whether or not you can actually touch your feet with your head is not important as long as you can hold the posture and remain deep breathing. When coming out of this posture, we want to do this very slowly. Return to start position with our faces prone, then relax with your head to one side. This is the Cobra posture. Now all you have to do is repeat the steps.

The second posture of yoga that we will discuss is called the Bow. This posture is a more extreme version of the simple bow posture. Amazingly, there is an outstanding number of children who can easily do this posture easily almost immediately. As with the Cobra posture position, this one also we want to do in stages. First, let us lie face prone on our mats. For this posture, you may want to consider a padded mat, if you are a slim person with a neck that is thick. Now we are gonna inhale and bring our knees up.

Now that we have our knees up, we want to extend your arms back and while our fingers and thumbs are together, grab your ankles. Now that we are in this position, we are going to inhale and raise heads and our chest at the same time we are going to pull on our legs with our hands. This will lift our knees and thighs off of the mat. Now, we want to breathe normally all the while we are trying to raise our legs higher and our heads up. We are now bent into the Bow posture. With this yoga posture, we are balancing our body weight on our abdomens.

Once we have reached this final step, we can stop or we can continue to stretch your body a little further. To do this we need to move our hands down our legs, lifting them higher. Keeping our knees together, we want to pull back as much as possible. Now we want to hold position for a few normal breaths, then we will will relax and return back to our face prone positions with our heads to one side. We have now successfully completed the Bow posture.

The last posture position that we will discuss in this article is the Shooting Bow posture. This posture is also known as Akarna Dhanurasana. To start, we will sit with our backs straight and our legs extended. Now we want to extend forward and reach our feet with both our hands. We want to grab hold of our left foot with our right hand and using our left hand we will grab hold of our right foot.

While we inhale, we will bend the left knee and bring our left foot close to our chest across our body. We also want to make sure that our elbows are pointing up, while slightly twisting our body to the right. The left hand that is holding the right foot needs to stay tight and firm. While we are holding this position we will breath normally, then slowly release and relax.

Once we have completed this step, we will repeat the same steps for the opposite side. For beginners to yoga or this posture position, it will suffice to hold the now bent left leg with our right hand. Once you have done this a few times and it becomes easier to do, we will reach down and grab hold of our left foot with our right hand. Now we will continue to pull on our left foot, bringing it higher with each breath that we exhale.

These are just a few of the basic yoga posture positions that you do easily. They are perfect for the beginner yoga trainee and will help you train your body to be more flexible and stronger at the same time. By following these steps, you will start to create a balance in your body that can not be achieved any other way.

About the Author:
Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of My-Personal-Growth.com, a site that provides information and articles for self improvement and personal growth and development.

Author: Luke Johnstone

I know this sounds ridiculous but it is true. Sleep is an underrated tool that can actually help speed up our weight loss. At the same time, a lack of sleep can hinder our results.

3 Reasons Why You Can Lose Weight Sleeping More.

1. A lack of sleep is stressful on the body. This causes the body to release a catabolic or muscle wasting hormone, cortisol. Now increased cortisol levels result in the body losing muscle. This leads to a slower metabolism and makes weight loss a hell of a lot harder.

2. Our growth hormone levels are elevated during sleep. Increased Growth hormone levels actually make our body want to build muscle and lose fat.

What is also great is that high levels of growth hormone actually makes our body do its best to keep fat from building on our bodies, no matter how much we eat.

So then we obviously want to get enough sleep to take full advantage and maximise our results.

3. Strength training is the best way to speed up our metabolism. This is because the more muscle we have, the faster our metabolism will be.

Now what many don’t realise is that muscles don’t grow in the gym. Once they are stimulated they need plenty of rest, recovery and food.

Now sleeping is the absolute best way to speed up your recovery. Cutting out sleep cuts into your muscles recovery time, and hence leads to sub optimal results.

Obviously you aren’t going to lose weight by simply sleeping more. However, getting enough sleep can drastically speed up your results. Strive for at least 8 hours a night.

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Author: Luke Johnstone

Growth hormone is an amazing substance that can help us build muscle and lose fat faster. It is also extremely popular in helping to reverse the aging process.

To experience these wonderful benefits, there is no need to take dangerous or expensive supplements. There are a few things that you can do to boost your growth hormone levels naturally.

6 Tips To Stimulate Growth Hormone Naturally

1. Get At Least 8 Hours of Sleep a Night.
Growth hormone levels are elevated during sleep. Getting more sleep is a great way to speed up your muscle gain/fat loss progress.

A lack of sleep not only results in a decrease in growth hormone production, it increases a muscle wasting hormone called cortisol. This hormone actually destroys our muscle!

2. Perform Strength Training
Strength training is proven to be more efficient at stimulating the release of growth hormone more than any other form of exercise.

3. Perform the Big Lifts
When in the gym, it is best to focus on the big lifts. Exercises such as squats, lunges, deadlifts, bench press, chin ups and dips are the most efficient exercises at boosting our growth hormone levels.

4. Short Intense Cardio
Doing brief, intense cardio sessions are a great way to increase our growth hormone levels. They are far superior to longer, lower intensity exercises such as jogging.

5. Get Out Of Breath
Whether it is your strength workouts or your cardio, you want to push to the point where you are gasping for air. The build up of lactic acid and the out of breath feeling, are good indicators your training will boost your growth hormone levels.

6. Wait a While After Training Before Eating
You want to wait an hour or 2 before eating anything after a workout. This is because our growth hormone levels are elevated after a workout.

If we eat during this time, we risk increasing our insulin levels. This will automatically decrease our growth hormone levels. This is because growth hormone and insulin don’t work well together. If one is high, the other will be low.

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For more fat loss tips, as well as a free ebook outlining how you can lose fat eating absolutely anything you want check out http://www.lukesfatlosstips.com

Author: Rebo Trampoline

If you’re one of those terribly lazy people who can’t be bothered to exercise, or you’re simply finding your usual regime lacking in fun, consider investing in a good trampoline. Yes, all those hours you spent as a kid jumping until your head couldn’t take it anymore did help to keep you in shape. Experts have recommended trampolines as good exercise for the entire family – and you can’t deny that the exhilaration of defying gravity is addictive!

Why trampolines though? Well, fitness experts say the activity of jumping on a fitness trampoline is akin to a good cardio workout. The increase in heart – rate stimulated by jumping aids weight loss and enhances energy usage. In fact, spending about five to eight minutes on a trampoline is almost equal to running a mile – but of course, a trampoline takes half the time and effort.

Jumping on a trampoline is said to improve coordination, while also toning your lower body. Think about it – when you jump, you work the muscles in your hips, thighs, calves and abdomen simultaneously. Since these are usually the problem areas, a trampoline workout is the perfect solution to aid in weight loss.

Of course, jumping on a trampoline as an adult is obviously not going to be as easy as it used to be when you were a kid, with no extra kilos or long-unused muscles bogging you down. Getting the hang of it will take you some time but the rewards are manifold. Not only does jumping help tone up your muscles and lose those extra pounds, the very act of repetitive jumping improves your breathing and helps increase the capacity of your lungs.

Trampolines are easy to use, but it is advisable to follow the safety guidelines your trampoline will come with: the injuries that you can incur when you fall from a bad jump off a trampoline can be quite severe. Accessories like safety nets and padded edges are a good way to stave off accidents and any sports goods store selling trampolines will usually be able to direct you in this regard.

Safe, simple and fun to use – there isn’t much more that needs to be said in favour of trampolines. An exercise accessory that can be used by the entire family, a trampoline is a good choice to spice up your exercise routine, and is exactly the thing you need to get your kids off the couch and into the garden for some good, old-fashioned fresh air and exercise.

About the Author:
Mytrampolines.co.uk is a specialized website offering trampolines and all kind of accessories at discount prices in the UK. MyTrampolines is also an accredited dealer of Rebo and Duplay trampolines. If you feel like jumping contact the customer line (0845 680 1919) or visit www.mytrampolines.co.uk for more information.