As per one report nearly 14 percent of British youngsters are clinically obese. The cost of Obesity to the NHS is about £ 1 billion a year. By 2010 the number of overweight and obese youngsters in the European Union nations is expected to hit 26 million. An estimated 20,000 obese youngsters will have type 2 diabetes as per another report.

Obesity put strain on heart, respiratory and eliminatory system. It also increases the chances of diabetes, hypertension and heart diseases. In stressful people who eat very fast and in excess and secondly in household person who eat from boredom. As the people put on weight they tend to become less happy because of their appearance and become more frustrated. Some people think by taking insufficient food can help in reducing weight. But when they start dieting, body starts to slow down in order to conserve energy and boost its chances of survival. This is why weight loss tends to slow down as we continue to diet. So in a way dieting is not the good method for reducing weight.

Some of the schools in the UK are planning to introduce yoga for thousands of young students. This is an excellent step in the direction of fighting the obesity problem of UK. Yoga practice provides an excellent means for maintaining balanced weight and overcoming obesity problem, provided a daily yoga program is followed with regular routine.

Along with Yoga, healthy diet at proper time and practice of relaxation technique is very helpful for overcoming obesity and maintaining balanced weight. Click here if you would like to know more about our one to one sessions or kids classes.

Do you have the days where you are just don’t feel going along to your yoga session or even meditation class? Sometimes Yoga in London can mean so much in our fast paced environment but some days it can feel more of an effort than others.

Pam Horton has been teaching for 34 years and is someone to draw inspiration from when we have the days where we just don’t want to step on the yoga mat.

She started taking classes in 1966 and was attracted by the composure of the yoga students and the reflective nature of the activity. She continued taking classes for the next seven years before training as a yoga instructor myself.

It’s now 34 years down the line, and she has never missed a day of work due to ill health. She incorporate lots of movement into my daily life.

“To wake your body up, it’s useful to do something it hasn’t done before. If you do the same activity all the time, you will get bored – you need to be stimulated. Engaging your mind is as important as your muscles.”

Exercise definitely affects your mental wellbeing. Her best advice is not to overthink exercise – something is always better than nothing, you just have to make sure you do it.

We would love to hear more of these inspirational stories throughout the Summer. Are you fairly new to yoga and have had a life changing experience? To get in touch click here.

How does yoga help?

More and more research is being used to show the benefits of yoga for depression. The majority of Yoga classes in London are promoting the benefits of reduction in stress and anxiety levels. When putting together our tailored programmes so many of our private yoga clients have asked for yoga for stress relief. So we figured we should give you a bit more of an idea of why you sometimes get that yoga high when you come out of relaxation, ready to float out of the yoga class to get your night bus home.

Researchers have found that three sessions of the yoga classes a week can help fight off depression as it boosts levels of a chemical in the brain which is essential for a calm and relaxed mind.

Scientists have found there is higher level of the amino acid GABA in those that practice yoga compared to those that more strenuous exercise. GABA promotes a healthy nervous system and brain function. Low Gaba levels can lead to depression and anxiety.

Recent research from Boston University School of Medicine, USA, monitored two groups of healthy individuals for a period of 12 weeks, half spent the three hours practicing yoga while the other half walked. There brains were scanned prior and after the experiment to measure GABA levels, there were also asked psychological questions throughout the 12 weeks.

Those who practiced yoga had increases in their mood and lower level of anxiety.

Katie Prior, of mental health charity Mind, welcomed the study.

She said: “Any kind of exercise is good for improving a person’s mood and self esteem. It makes you feel good and look good, both of which help with mental wellbeing.

“Yoga is a relaxing, low impact activity for people who don’t like the thought of walking or running.

“It can be done in the privacy of a person’s own home, or people can join a class where they can meet others – this is a great way to meet people, especially for those who may suffer from isolation and loneliness.”

So next time you feel all floaty at the end of your yoga session you know why, it’s all about the GABA levels.

Yoga breaks have become increasingly popular over the last five years. ‘Yoga holidays are becoming de rigeur,’ said the UK’s Guardian last May – and indeed there are many advantages to a yoga holiday when considering a trip abroad.
An intensive (although not too intensive) burst of yoga is a great introduction to this . A yoga holiday offers the chance to practice free from the distractions of work, family or social life. If, on the other hand, you’re a yoga newbie then it’s a great way to learn. Many people think about yoga but somehow time doesn’t allow them to practice as much as they’d like – a yoga holiday is a great way to kick start your practice or whatever you’ve learned so far.
Is it difficult? Like any skill or technique it gets easier the more you do. Almost all yoga holidays are tailored to beginner/ intermediate levels – teachers, for example, usually offer advanced variations on postures so you can go further if you like. And there’s a careful distinction between a yoga holiday and a yoga retreat – with the latter being much more disciplined and challenging, the former being aimed at relaxation and fun.

So whether you’re a regular yoga practitioner or a complete beginner, travelling alone or with friends, a yoga holiday is a great place to develop your knowledge. You’ll return home feeling much better, more relaxed and healthy. Regular yoga practice develops discipline, self-awareness and increased concentration – and what other type of holiday can say that?

If you would like to know a little bit more about a range of international and UK yoga retreat, yoga holidays and yoga breaks then take a peek here.

We have just been told about the £99 Yoga Holiday and we’re really excited about the service. After a significant amount of research we found that many yoga holidays cost £500 or more per person for a long weekend. In our opinion yoga should be accessible to the many, rather than the few so in response to this we decided to develop a new more affordable service.

Cornwall Yoga Holidays & Retreats

Our yoga holidays offer an opportunity to practice yoga twice daily, we will work on both asana and pranayama practice building strength and flexibilty, we will also place emphasis on meditation during which you can appreciate your stunning surroundings! Weather permitting we will hold classes on the beach until sunset, the sounds of sea crashing in making this stunning place even more memorable.

Activities Around Cornwall

Magnificent sandy beaches, lush green countryside, huge craggy cliffs – and of course, plenty of the wet stuff. For those with a spirit of adventure and a love of the outdoors, Cornwall is one big, beautiful playground. Get the blood pumping by trying your hand at an adrenaline filled extreme sport or recharge the batteries with a serene coastal walk. Whatever your passion Cornwall can deliver. It doesn’t matter if you’re a novice or an expert, the Cornish sea air is guaranteed to bring out your sporting prowess! Surf-pounded cliffs and mirror-clear lochs, humming cities and ancient towns, romantic wildernesses and island getaways…with so much on offer, which Yoga Holiday will you choose? We know where we will be spending most of our Summer days. If you would like to know more then click here.

Pranyama breathing technique – Brahmari the Bee

Pranayama cultivates a deep connection with the flow of life force (Prana) throughout your body.Brahmari means Bumble Bee and was named after the black Brahmari bee in India. This simple practice is very useful for calming the mind and releasing any tension.

Step by step guide -

1)      Sit cross-legged on the mat. If you can sit in the Padmasana Lotus Pose or Sukhasana Easy Pose that would be ideal. But if you cannot, then you may simply sit on a chair

2)     Move your arms forward and place your palms on your thighs.  Open your palms and touch the tip of your thumb to the tip of your index finger. If your mind still wanders then concentrate on your inhalation and exhalation.

3)     Raise your arms and place your palms on the sides of your head. Place your thumbs on your ears and block your ears. Place index fingers on eyelids to block put light and relax the rest of your fingers on the face. . Take a deep breath closing the mouth and make a humming sound in the back of your throat on the exhalation.

4)     Repeat for 5 rounds.

Tips

• There should be no strain involved with the humming yoga breathing exercise. Do not force your lungs to inhale or exhale any deeper or longer than is comfortable.
• Always breathe through your nose. It not only warms the air to your body temperature, but also helps promote deeper, longer breathing.

Eat Lighter

If you truly aspire to be a butterfly—and not a sluggish bear—you’ll want to complement your asana and breathing practices with more awareness about your diet. The most important way to ensure a healthy agni is to eat—and not eat—at regular intervals during the day; having routine meals with adequate time between them strengthens mind and body.

Eat light, easy-to-digest foods during spring and wait at least three to four hours between meals. Try eating less of or eliminating foods that increase kapha —dairy products, iced or cold food or drinks, and fried or oily food—especially in the morning and at dinner.

Instead of a snack, do a short pranayama practice and see what happens. If you’re truly hungry, have something nourishing like miso soup or a some juice. And remember that strengthening your willpower is an excellent exercise is a great way to step into Spring.

To take your ama-flushing a step further, consider a dietary cleanse. As an alternative to strict fasting, spend five to 10 days eating only fresh (ideally local) fruits and vegetables and kitchari, a curried mung bean and rice dish. This will improve your digestive system.

During your cleanse, you can also drink tea made with cinnamon, black pepper, and ginger one hour after breakfast and lunch. Drink herbal tea in the evening; it’s beneficial to your digestive and circulatory systems.

Tune into Nature

Now it’s time for the fun part, to enjoy nature. All you have to do is look around to be inspired at this time of year; renewal and transformation are literally welling up from the ground. The natural world is going through a rebirth, so be creative and forge a connection to this awesome process. For some of you, this may mean turning to your daily yoga practice to nature. An easy starting place is with Sun Salutations, which were traditionally practiced in the morning. Your efforts to connect to nature can go beyond the edges of your yoga mat. Head outdoors and enjoy the sunshine. Anything that gives you time and space to appreciate and feel energetic stepping into Spring.

Yoga Wellbeing would love to know how you are enjoying Spring and bringing different influences into your practice.

The great yoga master T. Krishnamacharya adjusted his approach to practicing and teaching yoga to correspond with the time of year. You may not have a spring festival or an Indian yoga master to guide you, but by weaving some simple Ayurvedic principles into your life, you can weather this seasonal transition smoothly and emerge feeling transformed and ready to get your springtime groove on.

I wonder like me, if in the dark Winter months you stay in bed for a little bit longer so when you get to work, there is no chance for a stretch, and when you get home in the dark all you want to do is cook dinner or relax.

To keep the balance in the body it is important to counter stretch the cyclists position, which I fondly refer to as the prawn position – hunched forward, shoulders, abs, hips, wrists and neck short and tight. The neck and digestive areas have such important functions they do deserve a stretch out every few days. (Lance Armstrong takes yoga classes twice a week!)

So Yoga Wellbeing have put together some top 3 yoga stretches for you to incorporate into your well rounded yoga practice:

• Downward facing dog
• Pidgeon pose
• Low lunge

Yoga Wellbeing would love to hear from you so give the stretches a go and let us know if they helped you stretch into your super speedy pedalling.

• Start the day with 10 minutes of meditation and 5 minutes of pranayama.
• Do 5-12 Sun Salutations before jumping in the shower.
• Take a 10-minute yoga break at lunch time to do a few Sun Salutations, chair yoga, perhaps some pranayama.
• Spend 5 minutes doing pranayama around the 3:00PM mark — just when you start hitting the proverbial wall.
• Sit for 10 minutes of meditation after dinner.
• Do 10 minutes of yoga right before bed.

Does this sound more manageable than a full yoga class? I notice that when I suggest this to my clients, they seem a lot less intimidated by the thought of maintaining a regular yoga practice.

Personally, I enjoy interspersing my day with little yoga breaks. Earlier this afternoon when I needed a little pick-me-up, I did some pranayama. After I finish this post, I’m going to squeeze in a short yoga sequence before having dinner.

Sometimes a brief yoga practice can be a great way to transition during the day — before work, after work, after dinner, before bed, etc. You get the idea. This is not to say that having a longer practice isn’t amazing either. It’s all good — long or short. As long as it’s consistent.

Well, I’m off to do my 10-minute transition from work to play yoga practice. Remember — you don’t have to bit off more than you can chew in regards to practicing yoga. Start off by thinking bite-sized.

Namaste!