4 Simple Steps To Get Great Posture (Video)

Our posture both reflects and creates how we feel and how we live, so obviously good posture is so important! When it's not so good, we often feel more sluggish and weak, but when it's good, we feel great! We have lots of energy, and we're strong enough to do anything we want.

Since our posture is created by what we do all day, it might take more than a few shoulder-rolls to get everything perfect. But there are some things you can actually do for just a few minutes each day that will help your body learn (and remember!) the optimal ways of moving and holding still. From here, great posture becomes an all-day, every-day good habit!

It's helpful to remember that posture isn't just about your shoulders and back. How you hold yourself builds on a chain of interconnected parts —  beginning at your ankles and then knees, up through your hips, belly, and lower back. From there it runs up the full length of your spine, into your neck and shoulders.

You want this chain to be not too taut, not too loose, but just right in the middle. Think of your body like water in a glass —  easily and fluidly movable, encompassed by a nice big container that keeps us from spilling all over the place!

Here are four key areas of movement that I cover in-depth for you in the video below. Try getting into each of these areas every single day, and your body will start to align perfectly and your back will thank you!

1. Get on your hands and knees (or feet!) and move everything you've got, in every direction you can move it.

This gives you a great way to move and explore the full length of your spine easily, in every possible direction. This kind of movement is critical for development of all the small supporting muscles along your spine, which in turn helps your ligaments restore and maintain proper position for healthy alignment.

2. Get up on your feet and challenge your balance.

By playing with balance, you further develop and fine-tune all the small supporting muscles in your body. These muscles are the key to how you hold yourself. When they're engaged and evenly-developed, you will naturally hold yourself up just right (without even tiring!) and be ready for anything.

3. Get all-around STRONG in your core!

We all know a strong core is necessary for a healthy back and good posture. Here, we'll get into your core as we did before, by moving evenly in every possible direction. By starting this multi-directional movement right from your center, we'll check off a key element in healing and strengthening your body's natural alignment systems.

4. Release and relax the hips and hamstrings.

Finally, we wind it down with some easygoing releases for your hips and thighs, by exploring all around these areas again, in every possible direction. Your legs and hips are a key part of the chain that sets up how you stand, sit, and move, so keeping them stress-free and easily movable is important.

When you awaken every inch of your body and move happily, your body becomes a wonderful orchestra —  all the pieces in tune, playing the best music there is.

Want perfect posture? Tune your orchestra! Move happily, everything you've got, in every direction you can. Do it every day, and you're going to like what happens to your body, I assure you.

Here's the video to get you started. Enjoy!
 

Article originally appeared on mindbodygreen.com and was written by Michael Taylor

Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com

Why Do We Sneeze?

Whether you sneeze because of a cold, or after sex or a good meal or in sunlight, the good old Achoo is the body's way of ridding itself of irritants.

A sneeze seems like a simple thing—especially since it’s so common—but it’s a complex neurological phenomenon that occurs for a multitude of different reasons.

Sneezing, technically known as sternutation, is triggered by anything that irritates the nerve endings in the mucous membranes of the sinuses. The irritation sets off a reaction that sends signals to the brain stem, which controls most of the body’s essential functions, like breathing. The brain then tells the body to leap into action. The eyes close, the whole body contracts, and the glottis—a slit-like opening between the vocal cords—snaps shut as the body forcefully inhales. That’s followed by a powerful exhalation that, because the glottis is closed, has to go up through the nasal passage—the “achoo.” The exhalation expels the irritants.

A sneeze can contain 40,000 droplets (often packed with bacterial and viral particles), rushing out at an average speed of 100 miles per hour, but can range up to 600 mph. That’s a fast and furious way to spread disease, which is why doctors urge people to sneeze into their elbow.

But there’s still much that’s not known about what happens in the brain and why the sneeze mechanism developed.

Sneezing is most commonly associated with allergies, and colds, but can also be a non-allergic reaction to dust, perfume, mold, smoke, or even a change in temperature or the moisture content of the air. And, sneezing “may be seen with exercise, with a full stomach, and even after sex,” says Andy Nish, chief of allergy and asthma for the Northeast Georgia Physicians Group in Gainesville, Georgia.

Why after sex? Interestingly, erectile tissue is found not only in the genital area, but also in the mucous membranes of the nose, says Nish. The association between sneezing and sex was first written about in the 1880s, but was not more fully described until the 1970s. Although there seems to be a physiological cause for sneezing after orgasm, it’s still considered to be relatively rare.

Sneezing after a good meal has been reported even less often, but it still managed to get its own medical term—“snatiation”—for sneezing combined with satiation.

Some people sneeze in reaction to sunlight or bright light. Nish says the photic sneeze reflex is a genetic trait that affects about a quarter of humans. The reflex is also known as the ACHOO (autosomal dominant compelling helio-ophthalmic outburst) syndrome.

Almost everyone sneezes at some point—and often in clusters, which is likely a way for the body to fully clear the irritant, says Nish. “But an inability to sneeze over a prolonged period of time might raise concern for problems with the nervous system, since intact nerve pathways to and from the brain are necessary,” he says.

Sneezing is only rarely associated with serious disease. There have been reports of sneezing accompanying seizures, and preceding a stroke. So-called intractable—or incessant—sneezing has been identified as a potential psychiatric disorder in adolescent girls. Contrary to popular myth, sneezing does not cause the heart to stop.

It’s okay to try to prevent a sneeze, but it might lead to an unpleasant feeling, says Nish. If you feel a sneeze coming on and try to suppress or contain it, that may temporarily increase the pressure in your ears and upper airway, causing a popping sensation.

Humans are not the only creatures to sneeze. Nish says that cats, dogs, chickens and iguanas all sneeze. “Most of these sneezes are probably for the same reason that we sneeze, but in iguanas, the sneeze is actually an important means of getting rid of excess salt that its body no longer needs,” he says.

Throughout human history, sneezing has been interpreted as both good and bad. “The Greeks and the Romans took sneezing as a sign of wellness and expressed their good wishes to the person who sneezed using the phrase ‘Live long’ or ‘May Jupiter bless you,’” wrote Turkish researchers Murat Songu and Cemal Cingi in an overview article about the sneeze.

In the Talmud, it is considered to be a favorable omen if someone sneezes while praying, and it is common in China and Japan to believe that if a person sneezes without a reason, this means that somebody else is talking about him, according to Songu and Cingi.

Pagans thought that sneezing got rid of the devil, but that it also created an opening for “invasion by Satan and evil spirits, or even caused part of one’s soul being ‘thrown out of the body,’” say Songu and Cingi, who trace the phrase “God bless you,” to this Pagan belief.

While you might bless someone for sneezing, “the sneeze is actually a protective mechanism for them, but maybe not for you,” says Nish.


Article originally appeared on smithsonianmag.com, and was written by Alicia Ault.
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The Easiest Way to De-Stress: Use Your Physiology

Breathing is, fortunately, usually second nature. However, when we get flustered, our breath becomes short and shallow — and stress has nowhere to go but up.

In that flustered state, it’s easy to forget to be in the moment and, as they say, “just breathe.”

But if you pause for a moment and shift focus to your breath, or what's called breathing mindfully, wonderful mind/body effects start to happen almost immediately: The body’s relaxation response kicks in, heart rate slows, escalating emotions can level off, and things like blood pressure and heart rate start to ease back down into a healthier range.

Breathing mindfully is like an instant chill pill — minus the pill!

Mindful breathing helps relieve tension, restore energy, and reduce stress. It’s one of the fastest ways to combat the stresses of too-busy days.

Best of all, it's simple, effective, and can be done just about anywhere, at any time. For many people, though, the challenge isn't knowing when to breathe mindfully — most of us can feel stress rise — but how to do it on demand.

That's why I'm sharing my favorite breathing techniques, so you can train yourself to breathe mindfully wherever and whenever you need to.

Breathing 101: How to Tune into Your Frequency

If you’re new to the idea of mindful breathing, start by becoming aware of your breathing rhythms at different points throughout the day. You’ll start to notice the breath’s varying pace depending on what’s happening at a particular moment.

For example, if you’re upset, anxious, or you’re exercising, you’ll notice more rapid breathing. When you’re relaxed or falling off to sleep, you’ll notice breathing slows.

Once you’ve spent some time paying attention to your daily breathing rhythms, try practicing this simple form of awareness:

• Breathe shallowly and rapidly — and see how you feel.
• Then breathe deeply and slowly — and feel the difference.
• Breathe in and out, preferably through the nose, with the exhale lasting longer than the inhale.

As breaths come and go, they’ll teach you to let go and go with the flow. Remember, it’s not possible to control everything and be perfect — so “let it go” as you breathe with awareness.

The 3 Best Breathing Exercises To Soothe Your Body & Mind

1. "The Speedy Soother": A Basic Abdominal Breathing Exercise

• Find a quiet spot where you won’t be disturbed.
• Get into a relaxed position, either lying down or sitting up.
• Put your hands on your abdomen, close your mouth gently, touch your tongue to your upper palate, and breathe through your nose. If your nose is blocked for any particular reason, it's fine to breathe through your mouth.
• Inhale deeply and slowly into your abdomen rather than your chest, becoming aware of your diaphragm moving downward and your abdomen expanding. Your hands on your abdomen will feel the expansion like a balloon filling.
• At the end of the inhalation, don’t hold the breath; exhale slowly so that your abdomen falls automatically as you exhale.
• Try to get all the breath out of your lungs on the expiration. The expiration should normally be about twice as long as the inhalation when you're relaxed.
• Keep repeating this, keeping your focus on your hands rising on the abdomen with inhalation and falling as you exhale.

2. "The Tension Terminator": An Abdominal Breathing Exercise For Pain

• Find a comfortable position.
• Do 10 abdominal breaths.
• Then, imagine with your next inhalation that you're breathing into a tense area such as a tight neck, a strained lower back, your head, your buttocks, or wherever you may feel pain or tension.
• With the exhalation, let the tension go out of your nose along with the air.
• Keep repeating this until the pain or tension starts to ease.

3. "The Workday Wonder": A Quick, Do-Anywhere Breathing Exercise

• Place the tip of your tongue so that it’s touching the place where the back of your top teeth meet the roof of your mouth.
• Exhale completely, making a whooshing or sighing sound.
• Close your mouth and inhale through your nose for 4 counts, hold for 7, and exhale for 8 counts.

For more on the wonderful ways mindful breathing supports health and well-being, check out The 5 Healing Benefits of Breath.


Article originally on Mind Body Green and was written by by

Photo Credit: Stocksy

How Can Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy Help You?

By Shari Arial

We all have an internal guiding compass, something inside us that truly knows what we want and need in our lives.

Well, what does that mean exactly?

Think of intuition, emotion and sickness as salesmen at your front door.

First intuition knocks ever so sweetly but you are in the kitchen busily doing your list of things to do.  You pause because you think you heard something, but don’t give it a second thought. It eventually goes away.

Then comes emotion. It knocks a little louder and this time you peek through the blinds to see who is there. You still don’t answer but you know emotion is out there, and you feel as if it knows you are there. It lingers on your doorstep.

Finally, sickness comes to your house. It does not knock or wait for an invitation. It kicks down your door, steps into your foyer and yells, “Honey I am home”!!!

Have you had this happen to you– where you know something is going on but either can’t tune into it or are unsure of what it means? We all have an internal guiding compass, something inside us that truly knows what we want and need in our lives. The trouble is that sometimes we become so overwhelmed by our lives that we don’t feel we have the time to slow down and tune in. It is when we completely ignore our body’s wisdom that sickness steps into our lives and that’s when we usually become aware of something needing to change.

But what if there was a way to tap into that intuition– that ever so subtle knock at the door?

A Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy session gives you the opportunity to explore what is happening in you in the present moment, to get quiet and listen. Thoughts, emotions, sensations, images, LIFE, are all stored in the body and can cause physical or emotional pain. A Phoenix Rising session uses supported yoga postures and yogic techniques along with a dialogue process that is self-directed. Imagine restoring your body for an hour in a supportive environment where you can reflect on your own wisdom and what you truly need, and bring that awareness into your life. And the best part is no yoga experience is required.

Change happens when you open the door to the salesmen and acknowledge that they are, in fact, standing on your doorstep and consider what they have to sell you today.

“So often we run from our uncomfortable situations and never allow them to teach us.” ~ Michael Lee, Founder of Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy