Tag: yoga

The 3 main benefits of the Legs-up-the-wall yoga pose

Posted on by Fiora Touliatou

Article by Fiora Touliatou

Would you like to know a quick tip for refreshing your tired legs, sore back and rebalancing your energy levels after a long day? Practice the Legs-up-the-wall yoga pose every day!

Legs Up the Wall Pose, also known as Viparita Karani in Sanskrit, is a restorative (passive) inverted yoga posture with amazing benefits.

The 3 main benefits of this pose

Firstly, it refreshes your legs especially after long hours of standing up or sitting down (especially if you are jetlagged). This happens as it assists lymph and blood circulation to flow from the legs towards the main body. Therefore, if you have swollen feet, varicose veins and tired legs, this pose will relieve and refresh you, give you a gentle boost, and rebalance your energy levels.

Secondly, it relieves headaches.The introversion of the pose with the head located lower than the feet and legs, wil help the blood to flow better to the heart, will lower the blood pressure and will increase blood circulation to the head. Therefore, it will lower the heart rate, quiet the mind and even relieve any headaches.

Thirdly, it relieves lower back pains.While the pelvis is placed against the floor, the lower back muscles will get stretched out and will be relieved from any pressure. Therefore, the pose will relax the lower back and relieve it from any pains.

How to get in and out of the pose

Start by finding a comfy spot next to a wall. You can either lie with your back on the floor or on a bed. If you choose to lie on the floor, you can place a yoga mat or folded blanket for extra comfort. Next, shimmy your hips as close to the wall as possible. Afterwards, stretch out your legs up the wall until your body is in an L shape. Make any adjustments if needed i.e. place a pillow under your head, rest your arms on your belly, out to the sides or behind your head.

At this point, focus on your breath; the best would be to try the belly breathing technique. For maximum results, try to keep the pose for at least 5 minutes.

To come out of the pose, bend your knees and simply let your legs lower to one side. When you completely lie on your side, push yourself off the floor and slowly sit up. Be careful not rush to get up quickly as your blood pressure has lowered and you might get dizzy!

Belly breathing aka diaphragmatic breathing

Posted on by Fiora Touliatou

Article by Fiora Touliatou

Photo by Metadata

Breathing is the function that keeps us alive. Since ancient times, different spiritual practices have considered breathing the connection of our body-mind-soul and what brings our awareness to our bodies and the present moment.

Diaphragmatic breathing is the proper way to breath. Also known as belly breathing, it is a fundamental bodily function that mammals do instinctively. The process of breathing is facilitated and relies mostly on the thoracic diaphragm, the dome-shaped muscle located just below the lungs and heart, which contracts and expands continually during respiration.

During inhalation,the diaphragm contracts (flattens) so that the lungs fill with air. During this contraction, the diaphragm pushes down the abdominal internal organs causing the belly to expand. During exhalation, the diaphragm relaxes, thus the organs go back to their initial position thus the belly contracts. This bodily function is mostly done involuntarily.

However, because of several circumstances in our daily modern lifestyle, we unfortunately disrupt this natural process and we have developed a shallow breathing habit during which the diaphragm doesn’t move to its full capacity and the breathing is done with expanding the chest instead of the belly. Consequently, this causes several health issues such as stress, anxiety, panic attacks and even depression and severe mental health issues.

So what causes shallow breathing?

First of all, bad posture! For most of us nowadays, daily life involves sitting down in front of a computer. Even while using mobile phones, we tend to lean our hear down to look to our phone instead of lifting the phone higher to our eye level. Bad posture causes the shoulders to drop, the head to lean forward, the chest contracting and putting enormous pressure on the lungs and the heart. Consequently, as we cannot take deep breaths in, we start breathing shallow and faster which causes our heart rate to increase as well as the cortisol (the stress hormones) levels in our body. Moreover, we are inhaling less oxygen so our brain gets less oxygen too which lowers our concentration levels and while increases the possibility of headaches and migraines.As mentioned above, having a habit of shallow breathing creates chronic stress and anxiety disorders, even leading to mental health issues.

To reverse this shallow breathing and bring back the harmony and balance to our body-mind-soul, we simply need to connect to our breath. There are several ways to practice and relearn how to breathe properly. For a daily practice on your own, dedicate 5-10 minutes. Focus on your breath and your belly:

  • take a deep and slow breath in from your nose
  • let your belly rise/expand
  • count for 10
  • take a deep and slow breath out from your mouth
  • let your belly flatten/contract
  • count for 10

This can be practiced any time in the day, especially when you feel stress and you need to reconnect with your body and mind.

If you like to further your practice, you can start with holistic practices such as hatha yoga, meditation, taichi, chikung or/and internal martial arts which teach this principle as an essential practice for our energy system and overall welbeing.

Health means happiness

Posted on by Fiora Touliatou

Article by Fiora Touliatou

Health is not merely the absence of illness… Health is the balance of our body-mind-soul wellness, our holistic wellbeing.

What is health? Most of us would say the absence of illness. However, there is a much more profound meaning than that.

Health is the balance of our body-mind-soul wellness, our holistic wellbeing. Health is being physically, emotionally and mentally well. If one aspect of this balance is affected, the others get affected too. Therefore we need to take seriously all areas of our lives in order to be healthy. We could eat the right food, do exercise, even drink or smoke socially and have absence of physical illnesses while being angry, resentful and hostile to others. This is not healthy. We could be physically healthy, have a good job, good income but suffer from anxiety, chronic stress or depression. This is not healthy either.

Mental health is a big issue in our society because of many different reasons. For example, having extreme pressure at work, feeling lonely/isolated, being in toxic relationships, working in jobs that we are being bullied or harassed, having issues with friends or family, grieving the loss of a loved one, having endured a shock… The list is endless and we all have our own unique story. The lack of love, inner peace and happiness on a daily basis are huge reasons for mental health in modern society. Basic human connection is rare and we all suffer because of it. So what should we do?

Finding and maintaining a balance in all areas of our lives is the solution; following a holistic lifestyle and taking equal care of each aspect of our wellness; finding our center and inner peace. This is why wellbeing has become a trend and is getting more and more popular. The demand is huge because in modern society we have lost the connection within ourselves and we need to find it again in order to regain health.

Eastern traditions and Buddhist practices from China, India and other Asian countries have believed in this concept for centuries. Nowadays, these Eastern wisdom has spread into the West and becoming popular: herbal medicine, morning meditation, daily yoga practice, regular massage or Reiki sessions, Taichi and Chi Qung practice, mindfulness and lifestyle philosophies. Having good health is a journey, not a destination. Putting effort, creating good habits and investing in ourselves is the key.

We need to be happy and grateful every single moment, every single day. We need to focus on the positive things and find solutions for the negative ones. We need to make the most of every day and every moment. Let’s do this our new year resolution, for every year, for every day!

Photos and collage by Canva