MARCH 28, 2011

Head Rush Or Dizziness At Yoga

Posted by Dorothy under Community Interests, Wellness3 comments

While staying in uttanasana, you initially feel all the blood flowing into your head, warming up your face and ears, resulting in a hot tingly feeling and then after a while, a sense of relaxation. On some days, when you inhale while lifting your head to fully stand up, you feel slightly off balance and dizziness. This is a common feeling of head rush.

What happens while lifting your head to fully stand is that the blood tends to rush suddenly away from the head, resulting in a sudden change of pressure from high to low. Whilst this scenario is commonly known as a head rush, for some it may be due to a medical reason of low blood pressure or hypotension. Hypotension is a measure of diastolic pressure* of less than 60 mmHG.

Therefore, if one suffers head rush in Uttanasana, do not lift to stand immediately, but lift yourself into Ardha Uttanasana and stay for a few breaths before fully standing up. Whereas for a person with hypotension, do not drop your head to look towards your legs, instead look to the ground, then release into Ardha Uttanasana before standing up.

Uttanasana

Uttanasana With Gaze To the Ground

Ardha Uttanasana

On the other hand, a person with hypotension needs to increase their blood pressure by increasing their heart beat or making their heart work harder. The few ways to do that is to do some cardio exercises, have a more dynamic yoga practice and to practice more inversions ( get used to the passive poses first ).

*Diastolic pressure: pressure in arteries during dilation

**Our next 4N 5D Langkawi Yoga And Nature Retreat: 7 – 11  April 2011

**Our next 2N 3D Langkawi Yoga And Nature Retreat: 8 – 10 April 2011

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MARCH 26, 2011

Safely Invert With High Blood Pressure

Posted by Dorothy under Community Interests, Wellnessno responses

Blood pressure is a measurement of the force against the walls of your arteries as the heart pumps blood through the body. Arteries are vessels that carry blood from the pumping heart to all the tissues and organs of the body. Since there are two types of circulation ( pulmonary* and systemic* ) in our cardiovascular system, it is best to mention that someone who has a blood pressure problem is talking about the pressure in the arteries of their systemic circulation. Read the latest
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High blood pressure is a risk for heart disease because the heart is working harder than normal thus putting the heart and the arteries under a greater strain.  When the heart is forced to work harder for long periods of time, the heart becomes enlarged. Very high blood pressure can also cause arteries to bulge of burst. Uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to stroke, heart attack, heart failure or kidney failure. This is why high blood pressure is often called the “silent killer“. The only way to tell if you have high blood pressure is to have your blood pressure checked. The level of normal blood pressure is below 120/80 ( 120 systolic* / 80 diastolic* ). High blood pressure is a measure of the diastolic pressure. One should be wary if diastolic pressure is above 80.

According to HealthSTATS International ( a privately held Singapore-based technology company with principal activities in research & development for hypertension and related illnesses ),  approximately 1 billion people worldwide have high blood pressure, and this number is expected to increase to 1.56 billion people by the year 2025. That translates to about 1 out of every 4 adults being afflicted with hypertension. The usual causes of high blood pressure is related to stress, lack of exercise, unhealthy food choices and obesity. Check out the best okinawa flat belly tonic reviews.

One of the many ways to reduce blood pressure is to eat healthily, improve on work conditions and to practice yoga asanas. But bear in mind that not all yoga asanas are safe to practice when your blood pressure is high. Special caution have to be given when choosing to practice inversion poses.

“Invert” carries the meaning of turning upside down or reversing the position. In a yoga inversion pose, gravity causes pressure to increase inside the blood vessels of the head and neck. Two situations in which this will happen is when:

( a ) the head is below the heart and

( b ) the feet are higher than the heart

The first one can be considered a mild inversion, and the second, a full inversion. Hence, students should be given passive poses before moving on to others with support or variations. An exemplary set of poses for high blood pressure in gradual process is as follows:

( a ) janu sirsasana with the chest lifted and gaze towards the toes

( b ) paschimottanasana with the head resting on a bolster or a block

( c ) setu bandhasana sarvangasana lying on bolsters or rolled up blankets

( d ) viparita karani

( e ) adho mukha svanasana with head supported on bolster or a block

( f ) ardha uttanasana

( g ) trikonasana

( h ) parsvakonasana

( i ) prasarita padottanasana

( j ) ardha salamba sarvangasana

Finally rest in savasana .

When students are comfortable with the above poses, they can be done without props. Then, it may be possible to move on to poses in which there is increased pressure in the neck and head such as halasana , salamba sarvangasana and dolphin. Extra care has to be given for those with high blood pressure who want to attempt sirshasana as there will be maximum pressure in the head. Check out the latest revitaa pro reviews.

A good guide is to move into the pose gradually and remain only if the breath is not strained ( unstrained breath comes with a relaxed abdomen ). Additionally, try to keep the face, neck and throat relaxed.

*Pulmonary circulation: exchange of blood between heart and lungs
*Systemic circulation: exchange of blood between heart and tissues of body
*Systolic pressure: pressure in arteries during contraction
**For more in depth information about blood pressure and yoga, please refer to chapter 8 of
“ Anatomy of Hatha Yoga ” by H.David Coulter

**Our next 4N 5D Langkawi Yoga And Nature Retreat: 7 – 11  April 2011

**Our next 2N 3D Langkawi Yoga And Nature Retreat: 8 – 10 April 2011

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JANUARY 23, 2011

“Be the change you want to see in the world” – Mahatma Gandhi

Posted by Dorothy under Community Interests, Natural Highs, Philosophyno responses

The first thing that comes to mind when anyone talks about world peace is the unity of people and countries where we respect one another’s views and opinions as long as no one is harmed. Have you ever thought about world peace in terms of the relationship of  humankind with the environment, plants and animals?But how does this can happen when the dog of your neighbor’s dog doesn’t stop barking during the night? We this was my case and my solution was to learn how to get dog to stop barking at night. Now it’s a very peaceful neighborhood.

As a dog and cat rescuer, I have learned countless things from these beautiful creatures: some abandoned, abused, injured and neglected. Situations in which I learn most from these animals is when they lack trust for humans. The patience one has to have to gain their trust and to let them know that they are in safe hands is a challenge in itself. But it is rewarding when trust is gained and the animal reciprocrates to the act of kindness. I always advise people out there to learn to understand an animal like you would your own child as most of the time, they behave like kids do.

I would also like to note that my love for these animals was cultivated only about 6 years ago. Before that, I did not have much contact with pet cats or dogs nor was I educated to love them, therefore I was afraid of them. So it was a big change in some perspectives of my life when I got to know them better and that made me a more compassionate person, not only to animals but human kind alike. We’ve been getting a lot of questions about CBD dog treats lately. Dog treats with CBD are they worth the money? It also fights off free radicals to help prevent the development of cancerous cells. Knowing this, it’s easy to see why people are choosing to give CBD treats to their dogs, read more about how to treat your pet with CBD. Glucosamine for dogs is a supplement that supports cartilage, which is the tissue that provides smooth movement of the joints. Buy amazon glucosamine for dogs to help maintain joint mobility, may reduce inflammation, may have some antioxidant activity, and are often used as part of a multi-modal treatment of osteoarthritis.

It has been 5 years now since I have been involved in volunteering with cats and dogs. Check out the benefits of broccoli veggie for dogs on Article Insider’s website.

It is my karma yoga, my natural high, my soul food and my way to advocate world peace. I believe that my little act of kindness to animals will benefit myself and others alike. As  Mahatma Gandhi once said :“You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result”.

Other interesting quotes which inspire me:

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened” – Anatole France ( French writer )

“Life is as dear to a mute creature as it is to man. Just as one wants happiness and fears pain, just as one wants to live and not to die, so do other creatures” – The Dalai Lama

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” – Mahatma Gandhi

**Our next Langkawi Yoga And Nature Retreat: 17 – 21 February 2011

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