Yoga in Prisons workshops throw up the philosophical questions such as Who am I? Am I separate from what I do? They investigate basic goodness, identity, and forgiveness as well as develop listening and empathy skills. Leaders also introduce simple meditations to help prisoners learn how to calmly be with whatever emotions arise in the present moment. The boys count their breaths and do body scans to get into their bodies, relax, and find freedom from reactivity.

The idea of spending less time in solitary may lure the prisoners but once he started attending the yoga meetings they start to see the benefits. Each session offered a brief respite from isolation, a glimpse of self-awareness, and a chance to connect to others who had similar lives filled with drugs and gangs.

Thinking it over and talking with others, I was able to sort out my ideas. Using a breathing technique, which he learned in group sessions, to control his temper. My anger and other people just don’t mix. Yoga breathing techniques have helped me cope with everyday life.

I was asked by one of the yogis this week if it helped to practice yoga while trying to concieve and during pregnancy and whether it effected you if you were stressed.

Stressed-out women are 12% less likely to become pregnant during their fertile time, Oxford University scientists have said after testing the advice to women to relax when trying for a baby.

They carried out saliva tests on 274 women and analysed levels of the stress hormone cortisol and the enzyme alpha-amylase, an indicator of adrenalin levels.

All the women were aged between 18 and 40 and were trying for a baby naturally. Researchers carried out the tests on day six of each woman’s menstrual cycle for six cycles or until the woman fell pregnant. They used fertility monitors to identify ovulation and confirmed the pregnancies with testing kits.

The study, published in the journal Fertility and Sterility, found no effect from cortisol on the chances of falling pregnant. But women in the group with the highest levels of alpha-amylase had a 12% lower chance of falling pregnant for each day of their most fertile days than those with the lowest levels of alpha-amylase.

The authors concluded: “Stress significantly reduced the probability of conception each day during the fertile window.”

This is the first study to find that a biological measure of stress is associated with a woman’s chances of becoming pregnant that month. We found that those women with high levels of a marker for stress were less likely to succeed in conceiving.

“The findings support the idea that couples should aim to stay as relaxed as they can about trying for a baby. In some people’s cases, it might be relevant to look at relaxation techniques like yoga and meditation.

If you would like to book a one to one session click here.

Yoga for Children Antidote to Stressed Families

Yoga for Children is a wonderful antidote to the hectic lives that our children lead. Yoga can be relaxing, stimulating, and promotes well being. It provides closely controlled exercise and is enormous fun for children at the same time.

A number of Yoga for Children programmes have been created by Yoga teachers to introduce the benefits of yoga and relaxation at an early age in a playful, simple and fun way. The combination of special yoga moves, breathing exercises and relaxations will energize, strengthen, loosen and balance little bodies, while helping to calm and control and relax little minds.

Kids yoga is a wonderful opportunity for the child to learn life skills that can be implemented into their daily routine. Whether it’s breathing and relaxation techniques that will help them, focus, concentrate or be calm; or postures that will help their endurance, flexibility, balance and coordination these are all very naturally a strong part of yoga.

Yoga for children is most successful if the children are encouraged to use their imagination. A dynamic, creative and stimulating approach grabs the children\’s attention.

Yoga for children is practiced in the United Kingdom. It is not new to Britain, with after-school clubs and classes gaining popularity in recent years as parents realize its wide-ranging benefits. What is new to the UK, however, is the method of Research on Yoga in Education (RYE), an international non-profit making organization which blends the standard school curriculum with exercises on concentration, attention and relaxation, drawn mainly from traditional yoga.

Yoga in Schools

Included with an educational formula, yoga for youngsters helps the young ones handle with stress in the best of ways. If in India the teaching of yoga usually begins at young ages as part of the lifestyle, in the western society it truly is the decision of parents who desire such a kind of activity for their siblings. The good part is the important advantage of yoga for young ones is that they develop self-awareness and spirituality more quickly and better than a grown-up. Yoga for kids teaches body and mind control and in many cases it helps create very good behavioral patterns.

As of the moment, some schools involve yoga for kids as an additional curricular activities, but most of the time classes are independent. Exactly like dance and karate classes, yoga for kids are easily squeezed that is in a child’s daily program. Therapeutic studies show that yoga has had very good results in the case of children who are affected from hyperactivity or attention deficit. That’s why with these disorders, the children constantly crave movement, yoga helps with the channeling of a lot of these impulses in non-destructive ways. Self-confidence, balance and calm are the great outcomes to result from yoga-for-kids programs.

How can Yoga for Kids help?

In addition, with yoga, kids learn easy methods to conquer victories over mind and body and additionally how to peacefully cooperate. Any anatomical flexibility specific to young age makes postures to a great extend simpler to perform; adults on the other hand need to work an awful lot more to achieve enough flexibility to practice yoga. The more tricky part with yoga for young ones is the relaxation technique, since almost all children find it almost impossible to keep their eyes shut, not to mention stand still when doing so. That’s why, visualization remains the main way of serving young and grown up yoga students get into the relaxed state of mind.

The posture names in yoga for kids classes allow children to learn them more easily. Thus, instead of performing asanas they will make a bridge, a mountain, a cat, a dog or a cobra, to name only a few. Moreover, trainers never push the practice of yoga for kids to the limit of pain, as the activity wouldn’t be that attractive with an extra pressure.

Here at Yoga Wellbeing we seem to be getting a huge amount of professional runners come to us asking for a little bit of help with flexibilty. One of the main questions is how clients can improve their classic runner’s hamstring tightness. We take classic yoga poses and alter them to take limited flexibilty into account. We play to runners strengths and adress the weaknesses.

One of our clients has ran five London Marathons and has found yoga an excellent cure for the hamstring problem. Yoga postures can correct the muscle imblances that result in high impact training. They help to realign the joints abd stretch and strengthen the muscles to prevent pain and injury. Yoga for runners is about felxibilty, so we’re not running with the brakes on and increasing the chance of injury.

A huge part of the programme is breath. Breathing through all of the stretches is key and yoga helps you to breath through some of the more challenging stretches. Running is wonderful but is not an all rounder. While most runners can run 25 miles comfortably they have difficulty touching their toes. This is because running only works mostly in one plane of motion – forward. In yoga we work in all directions. It brings balance to a running regime, strengthening to the muscles underused in running (such as the back extensors and the abs) and stretching those that get overused like the calves and the hamstrings.

If you would like to know more about our Yoga for Runners programme then please just click here.

Meditation is a practice of mind. During the meditation process practitioners learn to transcend the mind with the help
of mind. As you progress in meditation process, the more calmer and happier you become. Meditation has numerous
benefits, both at the level of mind and the physical body.

Though the actual objective of the meditation practice was different, however, it can be effectively practiced as an
anti-aging remedy in today’s fast changing stressful world.There are different techniques of meditation and all start with withdrawing the attention from the outside world and work on concentration before finally entering the meditative state.

In addition to anti-aging, some additional benefits of meditation are:

* Meditation is good for the brain

* Meditation can help you deal with stress

* Meditation can help maintain calmness.

* Meditation develops intuition.

* Regular practice of meditation will certainly make the will power of the practitioner stronger. When the mind is stronger you can be more peaceful and happier.

So set aside 5 minutes in your day and start your meditation today.

In the past we have been asked to outline what a private yoga session would include. So we decided to put together a little example of what will be integrated in the session. We now offer private sessions for all age ranges.

• Asana (physical postures)- helping with joint mobility,muscle flexibility, strength, balance, circulation and digestion.
• Pranayama (breathing exercises)- to aid respiratory problems, stress.
• Mantra and Affirmations – to help with worry and negative thought patterns.
• Mudras (hand postures)- that focus and direct energy
• Visualisation - to relax and refreash
• Relaxation and Meditation

Some Yoga Wellbeing class focuses

Alignment Based

Sessions with detailed physical alignment are good for beginners who want to start out with a safe practice or existing yoga students who feel they want to go deeper into their bodies through accuracy and awareness.  Classes will involve a great deal of “hands on” adjustments.

For stress related complaints –Langhana practice

This type of practice is great for anyone suffering insomnia or digestive problems. It’s a cooling calming practice that focuses on relaxing the nervous system and helping to move away from a place of agitation. Postures are more likely to involve twists and forward bends.

In need of energy  – Brahmana Practice

For those who lack energy, feel sluggish and may experience depressed moments, this practice is more vigorous and uplifting. Sessons may focus on standing postures and backbends designed to expand vitality to all parts of the body.

Immune boost – Inversions

Those looking to boost their body’s natural defences could try this upside down class! Inversions bring the feet over the head, or the heart below the hips which stimulates circulation and encourages lymphatic drainage help white blood cells to be more efficient.

If you have anymore questions then please get in touch.

Sometimes people often reason that they are too busy to go to the gym or work out at home. These people are at risk to various diseases caused by stress and sedentary lifestyle. As we know exercise helps the body cope with the stress of everyday life, as well as improve overall health. However, the demands of our daily lives increase rapidly as time goes by. These demands take away our time to take care of our health. One to one yoga sessions are the perfect solution.

The good thing about Yoga is that you can do it anywhere. You can do it in your office, in your room, or perhaps even in your car or inside the bus on your way home. For someone who is too busy at work, you can also do Yoga in your desk during your break.

Practicing in the morning will help you revitalize your mind and body, keep you energized and ready for work.Yoga one to one sessions are becoming increasingly popular to practice first thing in the morning to set people up before they make there morning commute.

Try this two minute shoulder opening exercise to help you stay centered on the tube –

• Inhale – relax the shoulders, bringing them forward
• Exhale – bring the shoulders back
• Continue for five more breaths, close your eyes if it helps you focus.

Cranberries a bright spot of color pack a powerful on the winter fruit punch of flavor landscape. Cranberries were once known as “bounce berries” because of their springy resilience. The bright red berries grow on vining shrubs in sandy bogs across the northern united States moist clime of Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Washington, and Oregon. Organic cranberry bogs provide a pesticide-free wetland habitat for other plants and aquatic animals, both conventional and organic bogs recycle copious amounts of water used to harvest berries and protect them from frost.

Native Americans prized the cranberry for its nutritional and medicinal properties, and today’s scientists agreeing saying that cranberries, which are among the richest sources of disease-fighting antioxidants, help prevent F. coil bacteria from adhering to the body’s cells and causing infection. This finding explains cranberries’ reputation for preventing urinary tract infections and has implications for alleviating gum disease. Other recent studies suggest that cranberries may lower the levels of LOL (or “bad’ cholesterol), inhibit the growth of certain cancers, and have heart-healthy effects similar to those of red wine. There are plenty of ways to enjoy the fresh berries more naturally. Cranberries are very tart, so a good way to eat them is to combine them with higher-quality sweeteners or other naturally sweet foods.” Weill makes a lightly sweet cranberry sauce that combines cranberries, pears, apples, and maple syrup. Cranberries are at their peak through December Refrigerate them for up to a month, or seal them in a plastic bag and freeze them for up to nine months.That way, you can enjoy their goodness all year long.

Cranberry Relish

A sharp, fruity relish that complements any winter Sunday roast.

Ingredients

450g /1lb fresh cranberries
290ml/10fl oz water
340g/12oz sugar
½ orange, juice only or 3 tbsp port.

Method

1. Put the sugar in a heavy-based saucepan. Add the water and heat gently until the sugar dissloves.
2. Add the cranberries and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and strain in the orange or port if used, then return to the heat.
3. Simmer for about 10 minutes or until the cranberries have burst and are tender.
4. Leave to cool.