Healthy lifestyle Journey

For women who are regular yoga participants, pregnancy can create a unique challenge to participating in their favorite activity.

But becoming pregnant doesn’t mean that you have to put your yoga participation on hold until you give birth.  In fact, participating in yoga may help pregnant women cope with the physical and mental changes that go along with it.

There’s no doubt that pregnancy will force a woman to change her regular yoga routine (not to mention her entire life).  But while a woman may not be able to attend yoga sessions as regularly as she may have before becoming pregnant, or engage in all of the exercises as she once did, she can still reap the benefits of yoga by employing a few modifications to her routine.

According to yoga instructors and medical experts, yoga can aid pregnant women by encouraging breathing and relaxation.  As anyone who has heard of or participated in a child birthing class, particularly a Lamaze class, breathing exercises are an important part of the procedure.  Although the breathing in a child birthing class may be more of a forced, deliberate type of breathing (short, quick breaths), the classes also include controlled deep breathing that is intended to calm and relax the body during the delivery and it is extremely similar to the type of breathing exercises performed in a yoga class.

By utilizing the moderate breathing exercises taught in yoga, expectant mothers can reap the benefits of relaxation at all stages of the pregnancy experience, from the pre-natal phase through labor to birth and afterwards.  The breathing exercises associated with yoga help relax both the mind and the body, helping to eliminate the stress, both physical and mental, which is associated with pregnancy.

But as we said, pregnant women should take care when participating in yoga, as there are specific precautions that need to be taken during each trimester.  The following are suggestions for how to incorporate yoga into each trimester of your pregnancy.

To start, women who are in their first trimester and are regular yoga class attendees should consult with their yoga instructor to let them know of their condition so that they can work together to modify the yoga routine.  And if you are pregnant and experiencing “morning sickness”, don’t feel guilty about pulling out of a class, skipping a few of the more strenuous poses or moving to a less difficult class.  Take morning sickness as a signal that it’s time for you to change your yoga routine.

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If you are a pregnant woman who has never participated in yoga before but want to take advantage of the health benefits it offers, seek out a prenatal yoga class in your area.  There are many yoga studios that offer classes specifically designed for expectant mothers, and the class will also offer you the opportunity to meet with other mothers and share information.  If you can’t find a prenatal yoga class in your area, there are prenatal yoga videos and DVDs on the market that you can use in the comfort of your own home.

Yoga experts say there are specific poses and movements that are well-suited for women in their first trimester of pregnancy, movements that promote flexibility, particularly in the hip area that can help make the actual birth process easier.  Yoga experts recommend expectant mothers practice poses such as the Triangle, Knee to Ankle, Warrior II, the Pigeon, Ardha Chandrasana and Baddha Konasana.  In addition, yoga instructors recommend positions like Cat-Cow, which require the student to get on all fours, because it helps place the baby in the optimal birthing position inside the body.  On a related note, yoga instructors recommend that pregnant women avoid poses that require her to stretch the muscles too far (especially the abdominals) since being pregnant increases the production of relaxin, a hormone that softens the connective tissue between the muscles which, in turn, allows the uterus to expand.

By the second trimester, when morning sickness has usually passed, those who have never tried prenatal yoga may want to begin now.  But no matter what level of experience, pregnant women who participate in yoga at this stage should exercise caution and not exert themselves too much or engage in poses that require sudden movements or extreme stretching.

Yoga experts suggest that pregnant women avoid jumping or rolling while transitioning from one move to the next, but rather crawl or step.  For instance, with a move such as the sun salutation, yoga instructors recommend that pregnant women keep their chest no more 85 degrees from the floor in the forward position of the move and place their hands in front of their feet as opposed to the sides.  Also, they recommend avoiding extreme twists which could cause placental abruption, poses that press the heel of the foot into the uterus while sitting or seated in the lotus and half-lotus positions unless you are able to keep the position loose and not twist the knees too much.

In the third trimester, an expectant mother will increase in size and her level of fatigue will change, which means she will have to alter her yoga participation.  All yoga poses that compress the stomach should be avoided and they should recognize and respond to their feelings of general fatigue.  In this trimester, they can keep participating in yoga, but only if they feel up to the task.  If not, doing gentle stretching and calming breathing exercises will suffice.

In the 36th week of pregnancy, it is recommended that women limit the number and type of inversion yoga poses they perform, including Legs Up Against The Wall, Downward Dog and Bridge Pose.  These moves, doctors and yoga instructors state, can put the baby in a bad position in the body.  The only exception for performing these positions is if the baby is currently in the breech position in the womb.  In that situation, those poses may actually help to turn the baby around.

In addition to these tips, there are a few general rules that apply to pregnant women participating in yoga:

•    Avoid Bikram or “hot” yoga.  Studies show that overheating could adversely affect your pregnancy.

•    Beginning with the second trimester, when the changes in your body can alter your center of gravity, perform standing poses with a chair for support or with your heels against a wall to reduce the chance of losing balance and becoming injured.

•    When bending in a forward pose, bend from the hips with the breastbone leading the way and the spine extended from the base of the skull to the tailbone.  Using this technique makes it easier for a pregnant woman to breath.  If you are bending forward while seated, put a yoga strap or towel behind your ankles and hold the ends with both hands.  Again, bend from the hip and keep the chest elevated to avoid compressing the abdominal area.  Keep the legs open approximately hip width to give your stomach more room.

•    When performing a twisting pose, twist primarily from the shoulders and back rather than the waist and only twist as far as it feels comfortable.  This helps avoid putting pressure on the abdominal area.

•    Avoid poses that involve backbends, balancing on one leg, handstands, headstands and upward bows.

Lastly, do not ignore the signals your body sends you.  This is an amazing time in your life and yoga can help make pregnancy less stressful, less discomforting and even more peaceful.

Article by Ginnie

When you are out to build muscle it is important that you realize right from the start one very important fact. Weight training does not build muscle, never has, never will. That’s just not how it works, you see weight training actually destroys muscle fibers, the body then rebuilds those fiber and builds new ones to supplement the rebuild ones in order to help prevent the damage from occurring again. What we call body building is just a systematic and control process of planned destruction and predictable reconstruction performed over and over again until we achieve the results that we desire.

In order for body to be able to perform the rebuilding part of the process you need to provide it with the fuel and materials it needs to do so. Muscle is built primarily of water and proteins so you need to make sure that you are including large amounts of both into your muscle building diets. But, make sure that your muscle building diets are not mostly protein as this is unhealthy and can lead to certain medical conditions. The general rule of thumb is that you should be consuming 15%-20% for your daily calories from proteins but at the most you should never have more proteins in your daily intake that 50% of the carbohydrate you take in.

Carbohydrate, a word that has gotten a bad rap. The truth is that if you want to burn fat then you have to have carbohydrates in your muscle building diets. If you want to build muscle then you have to have cabs in your diet and if you want to stay healthy, vital, and energized then you have to have large amounts of carbohydrates in your diet. Carbohydrates are the fuel that your body runs on, proteins are the building blocks. Think about your car its made of metal but runs on gas, how far to you think your car will drive if your replace all the gas in the tank with metallic powder? And before all of the cult programmed crowd out there start jumping up and down about the special diet that a certain “doctor” made famous, let me give you something to think about, The American Medical Associations declared him a quack and tried several times to revoke his license to practice medicine citing his diets as dangerous due to depriving people of needed FUEL to repair and maintain good health. You should have about 65% of your total calories from healthy natural carbohydrates products such as grains, pasta and starches. Your body cant build without fuel, when was the last time you saw a building being built with a bulldozer that was out of gas, Carbohydrates are essential to your muscle building diets.

Water is the last consideration, it is vital to your muscle building diets. The truth is that “America runs on StarMooseCoffeeSuperCorp Cafe & Donut Co.” we are a nation of people who have forgotten that nature gives us what we need and to get it we need only walk to the kitchen sink with a glass. Water accounts for 70% of your body mass and you should be drinking at least 8-10 glasses of water a day for good health more if you are detoxifying your body or are trying to build muscle mass more efficiently, If carbohydrates are the fuel we run on then water if the carrier of the fuel, water must be a large part of your muscle building diets.

Keep these things in mind and you will be on the way to building muscle mass faster and more efficiently than ever before.

Here you can find more information about muscle building diets.

Health Net Inc. has reshuffled responsibilities of two executives in light of UnitedHealthcare’s recent acquisition of the company’s Northeast U.S. licenses.

Health Net said it named Linda Tiano as president of regional health plans for Health Net of the Northeast. She has served as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary since January 2007.

To replace Tiano, the company named Angelee Bouchard as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, effective immediately.

In the newly created position, Tiano will relocate to Health Net’s Shelton, Conn. office and will lead the Northeast operations under an agreement with UnitedHealthcare. She will report to Jim Woys, Health Net Inc.’s chief operating officer.

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Attempts to get comment from Health Net weren’t immediately successful.

“Linda will work with the local management team to continue to provide excellent customer service for our members during this transition,” Woys said in a statement.

Paul Lambdin, president of Health Net of the Northeast, who helped to close the Northeast transaction, will continue with Health Net during the first quarter of next year to help with the transition of membership to UnitedHealthcare.

Recently, UnitedHealthcare, a unit of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), completed its roughly 0 million acquisition of Health Net’s Northeast U.S. health plans in a deal that expands its presence in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York (BestWire, Dec. 14, 2009).

UnitedHealthcare was to pay Health Net (NYSE: HNT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) million for its Medicare and Medicaid business, and renewal rights for commercial membership (BestWire, July 21, 2009).

Bouchard joined Health Net in 2003 as vice president, assistant general counsel and assistant secretary. In this role, she oversaw the company?s corporate finance and merger-and-acquisition transactions as well as Health Net’s corporate governance program.

Health Net of Connecticut, Health Net of New York and Health Net of New Jersey each currently has a Best’s Financial Strength Rating of B+ (Good).

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) January 17, 2012

After a mysterious and debilitating disease involving the nervous system sidelined him for several years, author Robert Polsky has burst back on the scene with a book for anyone who has ever wondered why they cant seem to lose weight. Why You Suck at Weight Loss: How Your Emotions Make You Fat and How to Transform Them looks at eating disorders, such as emotional eating, food addiction and binge eating and gets to the root of why even good diets so often fail.

Despite the cute title, the book is actually the culmination of some of the most profound teachings from both Eastern and Western medicine, as well as the psychologically sound teachings of Buddha, said Polsky.

Polsky is uniquely positioned to write about the topic. Overweight as a child and fighting a spare tire as an adult, it wasnt until he sought healing at multiple meditation retreats in Asia that he realized the role emotions play in food addictions and eating disorders such as emotional eating and binge eating. His new book grew out of that insight, providing essential information that enables readers to take control of heal their emotions and beat the battle of the bulge. Polsky states: It is actually a book about healing and transforming the Spiritual Heart or what Author Eckhart Tolle has called the Emotional Pain Body. Polsky suggests this is what is at the root of these food cravings and compulsive and addictive disorders.

The author addresses addictions to simple carbohydrates and the unconscious emotional forces that lurk within that can turn an otherwise healthy eater into a beast that devours food unchecked, due to addictive cravings and what he refers to as false hunger pains. Polsky helps readers take a candid look at their bodies and motivation for eating, and provides three essential steps to transform a ferocious addictive food craving into manageable eating habits.

Polsky examines the psychology of binge eating and how feelings can masquerade as hunger pains. In todays busy world that encourages eating at all hours, many have lost the ability to tell the difference between true hunger pains and those generated by emotions. Why You Suck at Weight Loss examines the condition in depth and teaches techniques to learn how to tell the difference for a slimmer, healthier lifestyle. The author also promises that improved physical, mental and emotional health are additional benefits from the practice of the lessons addressed in the book, resulting in greater peace and calm.

Polskys website at http://www.WhyYouSuckatWeightLoss.com offers an additional book: Glycemic 101 that shows individuals how to use the glycemic index with foods the body craves to avoid dangerous spikes in sugar. Bonus materials also include Fat Loss Jumpstart, a book of recipes from a well-known fitness and nutrition expert. Readers will also receive 7 Secrets of Permanent Fat Loss and Fitness, with the seven secrets to burn fat faster.

Why You Suck at Weight Loss is the distilled knowledge Polsky has accumulated during his 30 years as a researcher, having lived, studied and practiced in places such as India, Central America and Southeast Asia for several years. The book draws upon his knowledge from studying with and/or being treated by some of the most revered experts in the field, from Western doctors to an 86 year old Tibetan monk, who was the former personal physician of the Dalai Lama. The author takes readers along with him on his journey of discovery and healing as he chronicles his search for peace, enlightenment and a lasting weight loss solution.

Why You Suck at Weight Loss is available on Amazon for Kindle that includes free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet, Smashwords, or you can purchase it at http://www.WhyYouSuckatWeightLoss.com to get a specially priced package of weight loss e-books with special bonuses. Hard copy is available at Amazon Create Space and can be ordered online. You can also find relevant blog posts and excerpts from the book at http://www.WhyYouSuckatWeightLoss.com/blog. An audio version is soon to be released and will be announced at the blog site, so be sure to get on the list to be notified.

Fans can follow him on his Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/whyyousuckatweightloss.

An audio version is soon to be released and will be announced and will be announced here, so be sure to get on the list to be notified.

A free e-version of the book is being offered to members of the media, including bloggers in related field. Send email to bookreview@whyyousuckatweightloss.com and write “free e-book” in subject line.

About the Author

Robert Polsky grew up in St. Louis, MO and obtained a bachelors degree in finance. After launching a successful career in commercial real estate, he was stricken with a mysterious and debilitating health challenge that lasted for several years. Seeking relief and a cure, he became a researcher in his own right and journeyed to various parts of Central America and Asia where he spent several years cumulatively, exploring acupuncture, Tibetan and ayervedic medicine, herbology, various forms of yoga and meditation, breath work and chi kung. He has studied with and/or was treated by some of the most well-known experts in Eastern and Western medical and natural healing techniques.

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Bountiful, UT (PRWEB) January 19, 2012

January 19, 2012 ARIIX, a premier health and wellness company, is pleased to welcome Lynesa Williams, award-winning business and sales expert, to the ARIIX Global Success Leaders team. A proven leader with awards acknowledging her leadership and accomplishment throughout her career, Lynesas experience in the corporate and network marketing industries brings insight and knowledge that will benefit the entire organization.

Lynesas experience as a successful corporate executive focused on key skills such as introduction of company product, recruitment of new business, and maintaining and retaining customers. When she found herself searching for a new life path that would satisfy her needs for both professional and personal growth, all of these skills transitioned seamlessly into the multi-level marketing industry, where Lynesa quickly earned top honors as Rookie of the Year, Company MVP and for her continued multi-million-dollar earning records with the company she represented.

Ive always been a promoter of loving yourself from the inside out and I knew the minute that I was introduced to ARIIX, that the companys vision matched everything I was about. Each day I live and teach the companys motto of Unleashing the Human Potential for Good. And I love every step of the journey.

The WHY or the true purpose of our existence should be filled with the LOVE of who we are, what we yearn to do, long to do, and would do for free, said Lynesa. It is the LOVE in our WHY that makes us ultimately fly.

Lynesas passion as a mother, combined with her business acumen, has also led her to become the inspirational founder of eMothers-at-Home (eMAHs) an organization that teaches women how to become wise and spiritually-rich women AND entrepreneurs. Lynesa is based in Los Angeles and is mother of twin daughters, Jasmine and Jessica, and son, Stephen.

Wow, we just cant say enough good things about Lynesa, said Riley Timmer, ARIIX COO. She is the whole package passion, persistence and vision completely in alignment with ARIIXs mission to help people around the world unleash their potential for good. We look forward to watching her leap and grow as a valued member of our Global Success Leaders team.

About ARIIX

ARIIX is a premier health and wellness company that is using the latest research in nutritional science to create their leading-edge nutritional products. The company was born from the shared vision of leaders in business and nutritional science, who wanted to create a unique company based on the golden rule of helping others to unleash their potential for good. ARIIX stands out with their blend of global vision, outstanding industry experience and leadership, unparalleled quality nutritional supplements and the philosophy that when one person thrives, the whole community benefits. The company currently operates in the United States, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan and Mexico.

For more information please visit http://www.ariix.com or phone 1-855-GO-ARIIX.

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The group health insurance rates at my day job increased 33% this year, after rising just over 30% last year. I have a family of three, and the new health insurance rates are now 11% of my salary, which in my opinion, is too high (while I won’t disclose my actual salary, I will state that I earn a fair amount). The new health insurance rates made me think about getting individual health insurance for my family.

Group vs. individual health insurance? Before we go further, it is important to understand the difference between individual health insurance and group health insurance. Basically, group health insurance plans guarantee all members of the group coverage, regardless of their health risk. Because coverage is guaranteed with group plans, they can be more expensive for relatively healthy individuals than an individual plan, which is priced based on your specific health history. In my case, my family and I are healthy, so it is a good idea to investigate individual health insurance options.
Determine your health insurance needs to find the best plan

When comparing health insurance plans, it’s important to make sure you are not only comparing apples to apples, but also getting the best plan for your needs. Make sure you get the best health insurance plan for your needs, whether that is an HMO plan, PPO plan, high deductible health insurance plan with a health savings account, hybrid, or other. [More on health insurance options].
Finding and purchasing health insurance while self-employed

One of the biggest concerns among the self employed individuals is health insurance costs, which can be expensive. Some self-employed individuals may be eligible for a group health insurance plan if they meet certain criteria, or they may be eligible for other health benefits, such as COBRA benefits. For example, if you are leaving a traditional job to become self-employed, you may be eligible for COBRA. If you are not leaving a job that offers health insurance, then ignore the tip regarding COBRA coverage.