yoga
Yoga and meditation are essential in living a health and wellness lifestyle. Longevity highlights yoga poses, celebrities, trends, and fads.
How Tension Affects Beauty
Notice how a president ages in office? A year in the White House with all its concomitant pressures can make a man look five to ten years older. Few of us have the worries of a head of state, but in the stresses of modern life, we all encounter and must learn to cope with tension. The amount varies from person to person, as does the tolerance for it. Those of us who cannot cope with our tension, find it taking a toll on our beauty; the pain on the inside shows on the outside. The resulting wrinkles, grey hair, and pinched-up facial muscles all can make us look old before our time.
Mackenzie LuPublished 8 years ago in LongevityThe Mantra of Making
Funny how a random conversation with a fellow knitter turned into a comparison of the unexpected similarities between the mechanics of knitting in the round and how to use prayer beads.
Kara Gott WarnerPublished 8 years ago in LongevityHow Meditation Can Change Your Life, According to Science
Most people’s vision of mediation is a guru seated lotus style on a peaceful mountaintop, but there’s way more to it than that. Scientists and doctors are starting to catch on that mindfulness can be a powerful tool for healing. Even if you’re not a big fan of “woo” type stuff like massage or essential oils, you can’t deny actual medical studies that say that meditation changes the structure of your brain (1). It’s also a proven thing that there’s a connection between the brain and body, and that changes to our brain chemistry affect how our bodies work. With that, it’s really not a stretch to think that meditation can heal your body.
Tips for Creating a Yoga Space at Home
If you care very much about your health and body, then you might not be a newcomer to the word “yoga.” Yoga has no linguistic, cultural, or regional differences. It can be practiced easily. If you are familiar with a few postures and can guide yourself using instruction CDs, then there is no better place for you to practice than at your home, albeit some modifications are in order. Here are a few tips for creating a yoga space at your home.
Mackenzie LuPublished 8 years ago in LongevityHolistic Gym Bag Must Haves
The word “holistic” has been throw around a lot lately in the world of health and fitness, but what does it really mean? Living a holistic lifestyle means practicing preventative care, namely through exercise and healthy eating. Rather than the traditional healthcare system which focuses on specific symptoms, holistic living takes a whole person approach. We often don’t realize the effects that nutritional deficiencies, food allergies, lack of exercise, stress, and lifestyle choices can have on our bodies. You can start living a holistic lifestyle by stocking up on these holistic gym bag must haves to set you up for success before, during, and after your workouts.
Longevity StaffPublished 8 years ago in LongevityWhat is Hatha Yoga?
While exercise fads sweep the country yearly, encouraging intelligent people to do the strangest things, there is one exercise system that has maintained an enthusiastic following for over 6,000 years: hatha yoga. This system employs techniques western physiotherapists are still just exploring: the stimulation of internal organs, nerves, and muscles through a number of unique postures combined with deep rhythmic breathing. The exercises evolved from the yogic belief that no man is healthy unless his heart, lungs, liver, nerves, eyes, glands, hearing and so forth are functioning correctly. A man with well developed muscles is not necessarily healthy — he can easily succumb to a kidney or nerve ailment. Consequently, the ancient yoga postures were devised to stimulate individual organ and nerve groups. A healthy mind relies on a healthy body.
Izzy ErlichPublished 8 years ago in LongevityThe Most Gorgeous California Yoga Retreats
Breathe. Stretch. Unwind. Whether you're hoping to become a certified yoga instructor at an intensive two-week program or just relax on a weekend getaway, a yoga retreat is probably the perfect thing - and sunny California is the perfect place. You can camp out in tents and sleeping bags or revel in a luxurious room complete with an organic mattress and breakfast in your room. And when you're not in warrior pose, you can fuel yourself with healthy, fresh (usually vegetarian) meals that will help you feel amazing. At many locations, daily hour-long massages are also included - ohhhhhh yeah. If that's not enough to put you into a complete state of bliss, you can wander over to the hot tub or hot springs and soak away your remaining woes. What are you waiting for? Grab your mat and book your retreat right away - most are filled up a year in advance.
Sarah QuinnPublished 8 years ago in LongevityFunny Things That Only Happen to Yogis
Yoga is so much more than just a workout - it’s a lifestyle. It changes you as a person—it contributes to your self-development and it improves your overall health. Through yoga you can meet your future friends, soulmates (and I don’t mean just your yoga mat) and even start a new career you never knew existed. Once you’re in it, you’re a yogi for life. And the results are phenomenal.
Mackenzie LuPublished 8 years ago in LongevityStephanie Miller's Hatha Raja Yoga
The Dalai Lama once said, "We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves." With help of their local yogis, people are chasing inner peace all over the world. Stephanie Miller is one of those yogis. Stephanie Miller is the director of BambooMoves Yoga, and a practiced holistic healer. BambooMoves was founded in 2007, and consists of yoga studios in Forest Hills, NY, Englewood NJ, Palisades Park NJ, and Baltimore, MD. Honoring a more ancient teaching of yoga, BambooMoves focuses not only on fitness and health but largely on spirituality and mental wellness. Often described as the "heart and soul of BambooMoves", Stephanie guides her students in this journey. Stephanie Miller was the first graduate of the BambooMoves teacher training and became the director after the departure of founder Andrew Tanner, and has experience in Taoist energy training, martial arts, dance, and a variety of yoga forms. She received her 500-hour certification with Sri Dharma Mittra in New York City and studied in India at the Shri K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute with Saraswati. She uses a fluid teaching style to combines power and grace, and is dedicated to cultivating a deep sense of peace within each of her students. Stephanie works to ground her students in the present moment and guide them with gentle yet focused Hatha Raja movements to find a more flexible place in their bodies and minds.
Frank WhitePublished 8 years ago in LongevityUninhibited Animal Yoga Poses
Thousands of years ago yoga practitioners would observe they way animals stretched – uninhibited, free of social convention.The more flexible the body, the more flexible mind, according to ancient yoga teachings. Animal poses protect your body from muscle pain and tightness. Try to absorb the essence of each pose, imagining the stretch for its namesake and remaining present and uninhibited.
Izzy ErlichPublished 8 years ago in LongevityBest Yoga Snapchats to Follow
Today with our technology almost consuming our every moment it can be challenging finding time to be more mindful or healthy. Some of us try to join a gym or a yoga studio to release some of the tension built up due to our busy lives, but it can be disheartening, at times, when you are unmotivated. Recently there has been a surge of fitness gurus flooding social media willing to share their experiences and teach you their secrets to lead a successful, healthy, and mindful life. Since Snapchat's creation in 2012, Snapchat has introduced a space for anyone to share their stories and provide a glimpse into their personal lives. Many fitness and yoga experts hopped on the Snapchat train to help expand upon their messages of motivation, healthy eating, and encouragement. And with the increased interest Eastern philosophy and meditation but still living in the modern age, people are turning to Snapchat to gain further insight into these lifestyles. People who are intensely interested in yoga, maybe inexperienced, but are looking for tips of to start practicing or looking for encouragement or just simply looking for some how tos can look to these yoga Snapchats for inspiration and guidance. These tech savvy Yogis help others block out our world that is filled with constant noise and distraction while helping others lead more mindful lives. So if you think your yoga game isn't on point, take a peek into some of the lives of the most motivating yoga Snapchats social media has to offer and you will sure to be inspired!
George GottPublished 8 years ago in LongevityIntense Forms of Extreme Yoga
Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual practice that is designed to better the body and mind. There are many different forms of yoga. The most popular schools of yoga are hatha yoga, jnana yoga, hot yoga, and bhakti yoga. Each form is designed to link the mind and body through various poses. Each form of yoga presents its own health benefits. More rigorous forms, such as hot yoga, raise your heart rate and have cardiac benefits. Slower forms of yoga, such as yin yoga, can greatly increase flexibility.
Mackenzie LuPublished 8 years ago in Longevity