The Best Question for Self-Care: What Do You Really Need Today?

a post by Alison Kate for the Tiny Buddha blog


“Each day is a little life: every waking and rising a little birth, every fresh morning a little youth, every going to rest and sleep a little death.” ~Arthur Schopenhauer

About a month ago I came back to my daily meditation practice after realizing I’d been pushing myself too hard, and I was amazed at how easy it was to sit, get into that groove, and just be. I expected to sit for ten minutes, but on this day, my body didn’t want to move. I was completely content in the stillness, in silence.

I have been meditating and practicing yoga for many years, and different variations of different practices feel good at any given point in time. However, this was the first time in thirteen years that I sat down in meditation and didn’t fidget, or move a single millimeter, until the time was over.

This continued for a few weeks, and I was elated. I felt like I had reached a new level of comfort in my body, of awareness of what is important, of connection to a magical inner peace.

But life is a constant ebb and flow, and after that sweet three weeks, I was back to discomfort and fidgeting beyond about ten minutes. I felt a bit bummed, somewhat jokingly thinking that my Zen super powers were gone.

Continue reading

---

10 Amazing Things That Happen When You Do Yoga Every Day

a post by Samantha Lefave for mbgmovement [brought to us by World of Psychology]



The yoga industry has seen its fair share of fads—goat yoga, boozy yoga, and naked yoga, just to name a few—but there's one thing that remains a constant: People always roll out their mats. That's because it's an excellent way to get sweaty and centered, whether you're a total newbie or longtime pro. Plus, there are some seriously awesome health benefits of yoga that you can score from a daily practice.

Continue reading

I do a yoga class every week – no mat required, just a chair! And yes, even at that gentle level it helps.

---

Does Yoga Benefit Your Mental Health?

a post by John M Grohol for the World of Psychology blog



For those who partake of yoga, it is often seen as a way of life. It’s not just going to a class once or twice a week, but engaging in daily practice of yoga and mindfulness. There are many different styles and types of yoga, too, each with its own practices and guidelines.

Many practitioners and teachers of yoga claim it offers benefits for one’s mental health. It seems like an obvious conclusion, given that most yoga focuses on exploring one’s inner world of consciousness.

But what does the research show?

Continue reading

Hazel’s comment:
I can’t get down on the floor/mat but I love my chair yoga classes and the breathing exercises that we do.

---

Yarn Work & Wellness: 3 Breath Tips for Crafting Comfortably

a post by Ally Carey for the Lion Brand blog


Image from Vickie Howell

Many of us picked up crafting to carve out a little me-time in our busy days. It’s a significant gesture, taking a few moments for ourselves. Chances are, you’ve read about the additional health benefits of crafting. Maybe you saw our post last month, ‘Craft for Less Stress’! One of the most important benefits, which is also one of the subtlest, is how our breathing changes when we concentrate. By focusing on our breath, we can get the most out of our crafting time. Read on for easy breath tips for crafting more comfortably.

Continue reading

Allow yourself plenty of time! There’s three videos to watch. Very useful although I cannot, and will not, do anything which involves sitting on the floor with my legs crossed.

---

Why Adults Need to Play More Often

a post by Derek Beres for the Big Think blog



People take fitness seriously. Those ten thousand steps. Marathon over, time to tackle the ultra-marathon. Pounds upon pounds on the squat rack – just make sure to post it or it never happened. And yoga, well, people take their yoga very seriously.

Taking health seriously is wonderful, arguably better than not considering it at all. That said, one of the greatest joys of exercise is play. Your workout should be hard, otherwise you’ll plateau and never grow stronger. Yet this does not imply it can’t be fun.

Many sequences I create for my classes begin with me rolling around on the floor. In fact, that’s what inspired me to pursue fitness in the first place, a dance class in which crawling around was mandatory. It reminded me of my youngest years rolling down hills because, well, the hill was there. Only later do we justify what once was spontaneous and pleasurable.

Continue reading

---

Change Your DNA with Mind-Body Interventions

a blog post by Kathryn Drury Wagner for World of Psychology



Meditation, tai chi and yoga – we know how good it feels to practice these and other mind-body traditions. We become more relaxed. More focused. We find ourselves becoming better partners, parents and coworkers. A new study, though, shows just how deeply these mind-body interventions (MBIs) truly work.

The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology, suggests that the behavior of our genes can be changed, benefiting both mental and physical health, when MBIs are used. Researchers at the universities of Coventry and Radboud looked at 18 studies, done over 11 years and covering 846 people, and found patterns in how genes activate to produce proteins.

Continue reading

---