Pilates workout: Fit, strong, and flexible

February 23, 2010 by admin  
Filed under Health

jamiehanson asked:


Pilates is mainly a form of exercise which includes restricted and flexible movements of the body. You require to focus on respiring patterns while doing Pilates in order to attain the desired results. You need to pay a lot of concentration on how your body works out so that you gain most from Pilates teaching sessions. Pilates has a number of benefits that helps you to remain fit, strong and flexible as your entire body is involved to get the perfect pose and right moves with restricted breathing. There are number of Pilates exercise and various machines to help you achieve the flexibility in your movements and lead a quality lifestyle. If you practice Pilates daily and correctly, you will be surprised to experience the various benefits that your body attains. Some of the benefits of Pilates are: – Pilates help you to keep your body in shape and healthy as it helps to cleanse your body by detoxifying dangerous toxins that may be accumulated due to bad eating habits. It also improves your digestion process by perking your metabolism rate, thereby purifying your body thoroughly. – Pilates concentrates on your inhaling pattern, due to this your respiratory tract is cleansed which helps your to stay away from common diseases like cough, asthma and other respiratory diseases. Thus, you have a healthier resistance against common cold and cough and you feel bright and strong. – You have an increased blood circulation and this benefits you immensely as oxygen is circulated to each and every part of your body. This helps you to conquer a number of health problems thereby making you better and stronger. – Pilates helps to give flexibility to your body as it mainly concentrates on your movements, this helps to retain balance in any pose and you feel much secure while walking, running, dancing etc. – It helps to heal your internal as well as external injuries quickly, as it enhances your internal normal mechanism to revitalize the wounded and damaged cells. – You never feel exhausted while performing Pilates and you have an improved body, mind and soul. You feel relaxed as Pilates helps you to get great respite from tension. As you are extremely concentrated while practicing Pilates, you feel pure, bright and complete. – Pilates works out on every part of your body and thus it helps to eliminate any kind of pains in your joints and muscles. Due to its elastic movements, your tensed up muscles are deeply relaxed thus soothing your sore body. – Pilates is quite useful to sports trainees as they require immense energy and strength to practice their sport activities, the increased flexibility helps them conduct better in sports. – Pilates revitalizes your entire body thereby you feel youthful and look excellent. You have a radiant and younger looking skin. So, you not only feel youthful but you also look young. With such remarkable benefits, Pilates is indeed useful and effective to remain in shape, strong and elastic. As Pilates offers definite results to the entire body, internally and externally, it is best to practice Pilates daily and for more improved results it is excellent to use helpful Pilates machines that help you perform better. So, for a healthier and strong body, practice Pilates daily.



Yoga Mat – How to Choose One

February 23, 2010 by admin  
Filed under Yoga

Bertil Hjert asked:


A yoga mat is useful for both beginners and experienced. It is the best accessory one can have when it comes to practicing yoga. There are several reasons for it.

A yoga mat works towards providing the best of grip to you when you require to perform certain complicated steps. Second, exercises that need to be done while lying down require good support. It provides you full back support and does not let you slip. It even absorbs a good amount of sweat that you tend to expel from your body when performing yoga.

A yoga mat is a must-have for those who are serious about pursuing yoga. Once you have decided to purchase a yoga mat, it is very important to learn certain things that would allow you opt for the best.

A) Here are certain steps to guide you on choosing the best yoga mat in order to facilitate you perform all the ‘asanas’ without any difficulty:

a) Avoid the cheapest

The most common mistakes people tend to make when purchasing a yoga mat is that they go for the cheapest. It is a blunder. Yoga supplies are not very expensive when you compare with expensive modern exercising machines. Don’t ever go for standard plastic yoga mats.

These are very thin and do not provide the type of cushioning that you require for performing yoga. It will smell of chemicals and not let you breathe pure. These mats are made of phthalates. Leaving this mat inside a car is also harmful as it tends to expel harmful chemicals when hot. Additionally, plastic yoga mat is not environment friendly.

b) Jute mats

Cork or Jute yoga mats are environment friendly. However, these end to absorb sweat when you start practicing yoga. This result in a bad smell that may distract you while practicing. Additionally, these tend to get weak over a period of time.

c) Rubber yoga mats

This can be a real money saver and environment friendly yoga mat. It is available widely across the globe. However, if you are allergic to latex or rubber, you need to go for another option.

d) Pilate mats

These are also an excellent source for performing yoga. These are thicker and provide you the kind of grip that you require. It will prove beneficial in saving your hips, elbows, shoulders and spin from certain contact injuries.

B) When choosing a yoga mat you need to consider the crucial points provided below:

a) Carefully consider whether the yoga mat you are purchasing can hold up to repeated washings.

b) The yoga mat you purchase should lay flat on the floor.

c) An ideal yoga mat should be able to shake off lint and dust easily.

d) Make sure that the yoga mat prevents your feet from slipping.

e) The grip should be maintained in the same even when you sweat.

f) The yoga mat should be light weight and ideal for carrying around.

g) Cork for the durability

h) The length and width of yoga mat should suit you ideally.

i) Personal comfort level is the most important thing. You need to test whether you are feeling comfortable when lying or practicing on a yoga mat.

Keep the points mentioned above in mind and you will be able to purchase the best of yoga mat available across the globe.



Insider Secrets to Marketing your Yoga Teaching Service (Part 1)

February 7, 2010 by admin  
Filed under Non Fiction

Paul M. Jerard Jr. asked:


There are many choices, when it comes to advertising and marketing your Yoga teaching skills for Yoga studios and Yoga instructors. As I’ve mentioned in other books, and interviews, the biggest difference between advertising and marketing, is cost. Advertising will usually cost you money. Marketing and public relations can sometimes cost you nothing, if you do it yourself.

You can market by press release, Email, FAX, mail, referrals, public relations, shoe leather (cold call – knocking on doors), and community outreach. Knocking on doors is a very inefficient use of your time. Whatever you do, remember that press releases about charity drives, interesting news in your studio, or your last visit to Tibet, are interesting to the public and cost you nothing.

If you send anything electronically, please make absolutely sure you have permission from the recipient. There are a number of penalties for sending out “Junk Email” (Spam). In the US, the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission and can result in fines or imprisonment.

You should not Fax prospects without permission either. Within the US, there are penalties for sending “Junk Faxes.” The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 and the Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2005 have rules that ban sending unwanted advertisements to a fax machine, without first receiving the receiver’s permission.

Therefore, learn the rules of electronic marketing or hire a service that does. It is in your best interest to know the law. Most Yoga teachers do not want the prospect of teaching Yoga, as an inmate, in prison. It is much less expensive to learn the rules and laws, or hire someone who does.

Advertising your Yoga business, on the other hand, will cost you money, and you want to get the best return for your investment. The return on investment is what makes the Internet so attractive to small businesses, such as Yoga teachers and Yoga studios.

The Internet is your absolute best return on investment. Yes, that’s right, and you will notice every major ashram, wellness center, studio, Yoga school, and Yoga teacher, who is worth their weight, has a website. You won’t see many “fly-by-night” Yoga teaching services, with a strong natural search engine ranking.

The reason is – it takes a little while to establish your business on the web. Realistically, it takes about five months for a website to gain a strong presence in the natural search engine rankings.

© Copyright 2006 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications