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.

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.

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.

Springtime is beautiful, dynamic, and even a little magical. As nature moves out of the cold, wet, dark winter toward a brighter season. Nature makes it look smooth, but for us humans it’s not as easy to transition gracefully from one season to the next—especially from winter to spring. More often we find ourselves feeling heavy and sluggish, like a grumpy bear reluctantly coming out of hibernation. Here’s our first instalment to step into Spring.

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.

Yoga Wellbeing have more and more yogis that are over-60′s joining our group and private yoga sessions. Bupa has revealed that the over-60s are fitter than ever, leaving their younger counterparts behind when it comes to exercise. Research from the Bupa ‘How are you Britain?’ report reveals that UK residents who are 60 plus are three times more likely to exercise every day than those in their 20s. Having more awareness for their overall wellbeing and health.

In fact, nearly a quarter (22 per cent) of over 60s exercise, at least five times a week, with just 15 per cent of 20-somethings making a similar effort.In fact, nearly a quarter (22 per cent) of over 60s exercise, at least five times a week, with just 15 per cent of 20-somethings making a similar effort.It’s age-defying celebrities who are spurring on the athletic older people (AOPs). Bupa’s research placed the yoga-toned Helen Mirren (aged 65) at the top of the list of such inspirational celebrities (19 per cent), closely followed by Joanna Lumley (15 per cent).As a result of exercise, the over 60s are enjoying a greater quality of life, with a third (33 per cent) losing weight and over a quarter (26 per cent) feeling less stressed. A few even attribute their better luck with the opposite sex** to exercise.All this physical activity is helping the 60 plus generation to feel younger than their years (70 per cent***) as well as doing wonders for their health.

Simon Fairthorne, musculoskeletal physiotherapist from Bupa’s Barbican Centre for Sports Medicine, London, said: “The benefits this generation is experiencing from exercise are substantial – they are less likely to suffer from chronic illness than their parents and have a longer life expectancy. It also helps reduce the risk of serious health conditions such as heart disease, high cholesterol, as well as improving mental health and overall wellbeing.

The emergence of the AOPs is very encouraging as more than a third (37 per cent) of over 60s feel they are exercising more now than they did 10 years ago.”Not content with general exercise, some AOPs are going one step further and competing in endurance sports events.In fact, the Bupa Great North Run has experienced a 14 per cent boost in entries over the past five years in the older age group.

I love the energy and buzz of London life. But sometimes after a day at work and a tube journey,  you can feel a little  sapped of energy and goodness.

So I wasn’t surprised to read about recent research from Harvard Medical School that shows spending a few minutes on a busy city street can affect the brain’s ability to focus and to manage self-control. That makes sense, because all of the stimulus takes up a lot of the brain’s processing power.

According to an article by Scott Edwards that appeared in On The Brain:

Directed attention fatigue is a neurological symptom that occurs when our voluntary attention system, the part of the brain that allows us to concentrate in spite of distractions, becomes worn down. People suffering from directed attention fatigue can experience short-term feelings of heightened distraction, impatience, or forgetfulness. When the condition is severe enough, people can exhibit poor judgment and feel increased levels of stress.

What to do about it?

Next time I’m going to head for the streets, I think I’ll head for the hills instead. Research shows that only 20 minutes in nature is a remedy for getting the brain to recover from directed attention fatigue. So, step away from the desk and get yourself to the nearest park.

Yoga Wellbeing would love to know – When the big smoke gets too much, what do you do?

What a brilliant way to start the weekend, from today onwards His Holiness The Dalai Lama will initiate The Buddha Maitreya. Maitreya is the Buddha of Universal Love, and the goal of this teaching is to bring abundance, peace, and joy to the planet. For this event, taking place at a monastery in India, The Dalai Lama has called ten thousand monks from around the world.

Of course, most of us can’t attend. But you can do your part, thanks to Do As One. This site hosts online “breathing rooms,” where people can sign in and join others breathing; current breathing rooms include Laughter Room and Om Room, among many other great ideas.

“I had a vision of having a billion people breathing together synchronously,” says Do As One co-founder Rabia Hayek. “And then I realized with the Internet that I could actually do it.” The goal is 10,000 people breathing together at any given time.

For this week’s happening, Hayek encourages everyone to log in and join the Universal Breathing Room anytime during the 4th, 5th, or 6th to take part.

We would love to know – Do you think breathing together will have a positive effect?

A yoga practice builds body awareness and acceptance, but can it be used to lose weight? Until now, doctors and scientists weren’t convinced. But a recent study from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle may make them sit up and take notice.

Researchers queried healthy men and women about their weight history and physical activity from the ages of 45 to 55. It turned out that study subjects who were overweight and did yoga at least once a week had lost five pounds over the 10-year period, while their non-yogi counterparts had gained eight.

The reason? Lead researcher and Anusara Yoga practitioner Alan Kristal believes that it’s not the number of calories that yoga burns, since only the most vigorous yoga practice will burn enough to trigger a weight loss. But yoga builds mindfulness. You learn to feel when you’re full, and you don’t like the feeling of overeating. You recognize anxiety and stress for what they are instead of trying to mask them with food.”