The Dos And Don'ts Of Meditation - Here's The Right Way To Do It

Meditation is no rocket science and sitting in silence or going into a trance is not the only way of doing meditation either. Here are a few dos and don’ts.

The first step is to stop saying that you don’t have time

We are all busy with our careers and other obligations in life and sometimes we just can’t escape it. But we can take out five minutes a day to stop and breathe. To begin with, go slow and try to be a little flexible. You can also try mindfulness meditation. For example when you're eating, eat slow and try to concentrate on the flavours or taste of the food. When walking, try counting the number of breaths you take. These small changes can help you be a more calm and composed person.

Would rather do something more productive

Meditation is not just about sitting and thinking. You can read and meditate or even chant. There are so many ways of meditating, and all you need to do is find the one which works best for you. You can also find ample guided meditations on the internet that give you something to focus on and help you develop your practice.

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This is no quick-fix solution to your problem

Don’t look at meditation as an immediate solution for your problems. No doubt it is an effective way to deal with stress and worries, but meditation should not be taken up with the idea that your troubles would be resolved in no time.

Don’t do it alone

For beginners it's advisable to do it in a group, because doing it alone can be quite discouraging and hard. Meditation requires a lot of concentration and effort, so it is better if you do it with others who have been practicing it for sometime, so they can guide you.

Meditation apps can be quite helpful

There are apps like 'calm' and 'headspace' can be a big help if you are a beginner. No doubt there's a lot of information on the internet and it's easy to get confused. Try to pick ones that are highly rated and keep experimenting with them. Soon you will find your way; it is all about hit and trial because mediation works differently for different people.

Lazy Girl's Guide To Working Out. Exercises That You Can Do In Bed Every Morning!

Getting up early in the morning to exercise can be really painful, especially if you are a lazy bum. Well we know how difficult it can get to leave that cozy bed, but the good news is that now you don’t have to anymore. Here are a few exercises that you can do in bed to start your day fresh and healthy.

1. Locust pose

Strengthens the muscles of the spine, buttocks, and backs of the arms and legs.

2. Planking

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Planking will help build a toned belly as your abdominal muscles become stronger and your mid-section tightens.

3. Push-ups

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Push-ups not only improve your flexibility but also help to prevent injuries. A well-stretched muscle also gives a good-looking appearance and improves your posture. 

4. Sit-ups and crunches

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Sit-ups and crunches will help you burn calories and get washboard abs. But some of the enhanced benefits you’ll get are from the strengthening of your core and stabilising muscles, like the ones that protect your spine.

5. Stretches

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It's very important to stretch your body like a baby when in bed, because it also helps prevent all the injuries while doing other exercises.

10 Yoga Poses That Come Highly Recommended By Prime Minister Narendra Modi

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Makarasana is useful to mitigate back problems & orthopedic ailments. #IDY2016

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Yoga May Be Good for the Brain

A weekly routine of yoga and meditation may strengthen thinking skills and help to stave off aging-related mental decline, according to a new study of older adults with early signs of memory problems.

Most of us past the age of 40 are aware that our minds and, in particular, memories begin to sputter as the years pass. Familiar names and words no longer spring readily to mind, and car keys acquire the power to teleport into jacket pockets where we could not possibly have left them.

Some weakening in mental function appears to be inevitable as we age. But emerging science suggests that we might be able to slow and mitigate the decline by how we live and, in particular, whether and how we move our bodies. Past studies have found that people who run, weight train, dance, practice tai chi, or regularly garden have a lower risk of developing dementia than people who are not physically active at all.

There also is growing evidence that combining physical activity with meditation might intensify the benefits of both pursuits. In aninteresting study that I wrote about recently, for example, people with depression who meditated before they went for a run showed greater improvements in their mood than people who did either of those activities alone.

But many people do not have the physical capacity or taste for running or other similarly vigorous activities.

So for the new study, which was published in April in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, and other institutions decided to test whether yoga, a relatively mild, meditative activity, could alter people’s brains and fortify their ability to think.

They began by recruiting 29 middle-aged and older adults from the Los Angeles area who told the researchers that they were anxious about the state of their memories and who, during evaluations at the university, were found to have mild cognitive impairment, a mental condition that can be a precursor to eventual dementia.

The volunteers also underwent a sophisticated type of brain scan that tracks how different parts of the brain communicate with one another.

The volunteers then were divided into two groups. One began a well-established brain-training program that involves an hour a week of classroom time and a series of mental exercises designed to bolster their memory that volunteers were asked to practice at home for about 15 minutes a day.

The others took up yoga. For an hour each week, they visited the U.C.L.A. campus to learn Kundalini yoga, which involves breathing exercises and meditation as well as movement and poses. The researchers chose this form of yoga largely because people who are out of shape or new to yoga generally find it easy to complete the classes.

The yoga group also was taught a type of meditation known as Kirtan Kriya that involves repeating a series of sounds — a mantra — while simultaneously “dancing” with repetitive hand movements. They were asked to meditate in this way for 15 minutes every day, so that the total time commitment was equivalent for both groups.

The volunteers practiced their programs for 12 weeks.

Then they returned to the university’s lab for another round of cognitive tests and a second brain scan.

By this time, all of the men and women were able to perform significantly better on most tests of their thinking.

But only those who had practiced yoga and meditation showed improvements in their moods — they scored lower on an assessment of potential depression than those in the brain-training group — and they performed much better on a test of visuospatial memory, a type of remembering that is important for balance, depth perception and the ability to recognize objects and navigate the world.

The brain scans in both groups displayed more communication now between parts of their brains involved in memory and language skills. Those who had practiced yoga, however, also had developed more communication between parts of the brain that control attention, suggesting a greater ability now to focus and multitask.

In effect, yoga and meditation had equaled and then topped the benefits of 12 weeks of brain training.

“We were a bit surprised by the magnitude” of the brain effects, said Dr. Helen Lavretsky, a professor of psychiatry at U.C.L.A. who oversaw the study.

How, physiologically, yoga and meditation had uniquely changed the volunteers’ brains is impossible to know from this study, although reductions in stress hormones and anxiety are likely to play a substantial role, she said. “These were all people worried about the state of their minds,” she pointed out.

Movement also increases the levels of various biochemicals in the muscles and brains that are associated with improved brain health, she said.

Whether other forms of yoga and meditation or either activity on its own might likewise bulk up the brain remains a mystery, she said. But there may be something especially potent, she said, about combining yoga with the type of meditation practiced in this study, during which people were not completely still.

The Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation, which partially funded this study, provides information on its website about how to start meditating in this style.

10 Ways To Stop Focusing On The Obstacles And Move On

When we encounter obstacles in our daily lives, it’s difficult to determine how and when to overcome them and move on. It’s easy to tell someone to stop thinking about things and get over it, but, like most things in life, doing is much more complicated than saying. If you’re looking to stop focusing on the obstacles and move on in life, here are a few tips to get you started in the right direction.

1. Accept What You Can’t Change…

There’s that which we can change and that which we can’t, and the majority of life’s obstacles are strictly in our heads. The first step to removing obstacles is accepting what’s happened, who you are, and where you’re at. You can’t change any of the external factors, but you can accept them and decide how you want to interact with them to change your scenario. When imagining the change you could have in your life, it’s important to focus on what you have and not on what you don’t have.

2. Size Matters Not, Young Padawan…

Everyone thinks their problems are worse than anyone else’s; if that were true, we’d be racing toward an inevitable doom as a human race. It doesn’t matter how many people are involved or what’s at stake – those factors are clouding the real issue, and considering them only holds you back. Regardless of how big the obstacles are, they need to be overcome one way or another, so stop psyching yourself out. If you don’t believe in yourself, nobody else will.

3. Detach from the Results…

Yoga is one of my favorite ways to free my mind from unhealthy thought patterns. Ally Ford, an Ashtangi and one of my first instructors, helped guide me through the process of resetting my brain to remove the obstacles in my life. I reached out to Ally to discuss this piece, and she offered a great gem about how yoga helps us remove obstacles.

“Rather than be blinded by the smoke of the roaring flames,” says Ally. “This practice helps us maintain a certain inner peace and groundedness, have better discernment, and make better choices for how to respond accurately.”

Through yoga and meditation, you learn to stop attaching your self-value to your achievements. Ally always reminded me during our practices that if I fail, I’m still me; my identity doesn’t hinge on success, and I’ll still be experiencing life one way or another. It’s better to walk with your head high than to advertise your every scar to the world. Remember that every winner loses, but not every loser wins.

4. Free Your Mind, and the Rest Will Follow…

Once you’ve removed the mental blocks and look at the world with a fresh perspective, you’ll find you’re more productive. Now instead of looking at your computer as a way to escape reality, you can view at it as a way to move toward a better one. You’re connected to the internet; stop viewing it as a consumer, and start viewing it as an entrepreneur. It’s the key to moving on, regardless of your physical circumstances (assuming you have the internet, otherwise how are you reading this?).

5. Shed Your Anxiety…

Stop fearing the future, because time moves on whether you’re ready or not. If it’s going to happen anyway, you may as well start controlling the way you experience it. Look at it this way: when you’re on your deathbed, would you rather look back on your life and regret all the things you didn’t do, or would you rather look back with a smile about all the things you did? It doesn’t matter who else is watching – do it for yourself.

6. Be Brave like Merida…

Bravery has nothing to do with a lack of fear. Anyone can act when there’s no consequence; it takes true bravery to participate against all odds. People may not agree with your choices, but they will eventually, so long as you’re working at it. Dedicating your life to a purpose is the only way you’ll ever find this strength, because if you’re only working for yourself, you’ll be too afraid to take a chance.

7. Rewrite History…

Many times, the obstacles in our present are thoughts about past events. It’s ok to take time to deal with your own problems, but you don’t have to wear them on your sleeve at all times. You don’t need to walk around surly all the time simply because you have problems – it’s simply not necessary that everyone view you as “tough” just because you’ve had tough times.

Guess what? I’ve had some really tough times in my life, and have experienced and survived some truly horrible things. Even with those experiences under my belt, I make an effort to smile when I interact with other people. Just because I had a bad day is no reason to drag everyone else’s down.

8. Stick to the Script…

Practice makes perfect – even if you can’t see the progress you’re making, it’s happening. You’re improving every time you try, and one day you’ll wake up and realize you’re a stronger and better person. Kino offers these tips on reframing your obstacles and working on them through a daily practice.

“Within the context of yoga, I’ve experienced almost every difficult emotional reaction that I carry within myself. Since these have arisen during the laboratory of my yoga practice, when they arise in ‘real’ life I’ve practiced a more conscious response and am better able to deal with those challenging situations.”

9. Imagine That…

Imagine yourself as a winner, and you’ll become that winner. Don’t worry about what other people think about you daydreaming; those people aren’t going anywhere you want to be. It doesn’t matter who you are in your imagination, because at the end of the day, it makes you feel better and doesn’t affect anyone else in the real world. Remember – it’s all in your head.

10. Never Give Up…

Every path has bumpy roads, and every sky has dark times. It’s ok; just keep your head up, pick yourself back up, and keep going. At the end of the day, you’re the one in charge of your life, and you’re the only one who will ever experience it. It’s also the only life you’ll ever experience, and we don’t get a second chance or any re-dos. Don’t give up – be a winner.

3 Strategies to Generate Creative Energy

At the end of the week — or even the end of a Monday — you are depleted. You’ve given your all, physically and emotionally. You can’t imagine thinking about one more creative solution or doing one more chore. How will you do it all again tomorrow?

When you do work you love and engage in a purposeful life, it’s hard to recognize when it’s time to stop. While there is a big difference in the tired you feel after working a soul sucking job and doing work that makes your heart sing, you are tired either way.

Instead of waiting until something’s gotta give, recharge on a regular basis. By carving out this time, you will be more creative, productive and happy and less grumpy, blocked and miserable to be around.

Recharging and refocusing allows you to generate creative energy.

Your Creative Energy Strategies

Take a Nap

The longer you’re awake, the more difficult it is for your brain to store new information, whether it’s names and faces, the details of a conversation, or your grocery list. An afternoon nap seems to refresh this short-term memory and open your mind for new information, researchers found. This makes sense to me. I am much sharper in the morning and tend to get a little fuzzy towards the end of the day when it comes to processing new material.

In the study, the researchers asked 39 college students to learn a series of new names and faces at noon and match the faces and names a few minutes later. They then performed the same test at 6 p.m. the same day. A group of students who took a 90-minute afternoon nap at 2 p.m. performed better than non-napping students, who had a serious decline in their memory test scores.

“Why? The part of your brain where short-term information and memories are stored is a bit like your email inbox, says the study’s lead author, Matthew P. Walker, the head of the Sleep and Neuroimaging Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. “You can only receive so many emails before your inbox starts to bounce,” he says. “When you sleep, essentially what you may be doing is clearing out that inbox to another folder, so you have a refreshed capacity to receive new emails.”

Move every day

The best way to stimulate creative ideas is to move. Take a walk, go to a yoga class, or jump in a pool every day. Taking 10-60 minutes to disengage from your work and get your heart rate up will actually save you time. You’ll spend less time procrastinating and more time creating. Have a small notebook and pencil nearby while you are exercising, and get ready for the ideas to flow.

Give

You are so wrapped up in your work and your life that when you step away and focus on someone else, you will naturally relax and take yourself less seriously. All the little things that cause stress and anxiety will become less important when you give and help someone else. Give your time, talent and treasure to benefit a worthy organization or individual. They benefit from your gift and your creativity will soar.

Don’t wait until you crash and burn. Instead, intentionally add these healthy habits into your daily life. By simply directing your energy to napping, moving and giving, you will benefit in more ways than one. Not only will you experience more creativity, but better health as well.

5 Ways To Turn Stress Into Productivity

Stress prevents productivity, which is why you need to learn how to manage your stress levels in order to become more productive. Stress is self-imagined, self-imposed, and self-created; Which means you basically create your own stress and therefore you’re the one that’s preventing yourself from getting things done.

Stress is an unhealthy emotion that wastes too much of your energy. Instead, you should be focusing all that energy on the task at hand. Stress only becomes as powerful as you allow it to (at least that’s what Yoda told me). An emotion like stress can derail your day and control your actions, but it doesn’t have to; by stopping and addressing the issue once it starts, you’ll be a lot more likely to spend your day actually getting things done instead of just stressing over getting things done.

1. Get Caught Up to Stress Less

It won’t be easy to concentrate on what needs to get done today if you’re stressed about things that didn’t get done yesterday. Instead of letting the unfinished tasks daunt your mind, be more productive with your time and focus on completing them rather than worrying about them. If you’re behind on your list of things to do, getting caught up will offer some relief and you’ll find yourself not stressing out so much. Stress isn’t going to get things done for you, no matter how much energy you put in to it.

2. Give Yourself More Time and Take Breaks

Unless it’s absolutely crucial for you to get something done by a certain time, don’t give yourself strict deadlines that’s not easily manageable; Doing so will cause you to stress out about getting the project done on time and you’ll be in constant worry as you repeatedly glance at the clock to see how much time you have left. While this may cause you to work faster to get things done, it’s not likely you’re actually putting in the quality work that’s needed if you’re simply speeding through the task because you’re fueled by a deadline you’re stressing over.

If you are at work on a task under a strict deadline or you simply find yourself getting worked up over completing a task, you’ll find it beneficial if you just step away for about 5 or 10 minutes and take a breather. Use that five or ten minutes to calm yourself, rest, get some fresh air, etc, and you’ll have a clearer head when you return back to the task which will allow you to work more efficiently.

3. Don’t Do It All Yourself

If you are under a strict deadline or you find yourself feeling overwhelmed by completing the task, you should ask for help if you need it. Everyone needs help at some point and having an extra set of hands to help won’t feel as overwhelming as if you were doing it by yourself. With help, you’ll be twice as productive and you’ll worry less about meeting that deadline now that you have someone helping you. If you know that you can’t do the task yourself, you shouldn’t push yourself; Doing so is only going to cause more stress and diminish the quality of work you’re producing even further.

4. Get Some Perspective on Your Task

Becoming more productive in your day to day life can be accomplished by realizing what’s important and what’s not important because you’re likely spending a lot of your time stressing over things that are not that important in the big picture. A lot of the things that people stress over are actually not as significant as they would like to think they are; Unless something is going to do you bodily harm, then it’s probably not worth mentally upsetting yourself over it. Keeping a positive attitude as you start the day, dive into your tasks, and tackle everything that needs to be done can deter you from getting sidetracked and wasting time on stressing over insignificant things. Method 5 will explain a way for you to figure out if what you’re stressing over has any actual significance at all or not.

5. Focus on Your Stress and Confront It

Sometimes focusing on your stress can be a good thing, if you’re trying to figure out how to better handle it that is. If trying to avoid stress isn’t as much of a successful method as you would like it to be, you could be productive through your stress and write down what it is that’s making you feel that way so you can confront it. In addition to writing down what stresses you out, also write down what’s the worst that can possibly happen. This will allow you to be able to look at back at what you wrote at a later time and see for yourself whether or not what you were stressing over was actually something significant. Usually, things end up not being as bad as they seem once you remove yourself from the situation and get a clearer head when looking at things.

Stress can ruin your life, but it only will if you let it. By learning to maintain your stress, you can become more productive, be happier, and learn how to look at the bigger picture of things. While it’s natural to feel some extent of stress when it comes to some things in life; Stress shouldn’t dominate your day. When you notice that it has, that’s when you know you have a problem. When you feel yourself about to start stressing, stop and address it. Put things in perspective, let the insignificant things go, and start getting more done everyday.

The Simplest Ways To Clean Up The Toxins In Your Body

Our bodies are pretty good at naturally filtering out any toxins we might ingest or breathe in, but sometimes they need a little help. That’s where these 10 exercises come in. Once you do even one of them, you’ll feel cleaner, slimmer, more energized, and more relaxed. Don’t believe us? Well, give one a go and you’ll be saying “aaaaahh” in no time.

1. Cut processed foods out of your diet.

Fruits, veggies, unprocessed whole grains, and lean meats should be the only things you eat. This helps your body recover from some of the junk food you’ve been eating (don’t worry, we all do it!). By removing highly processed foods from your diet, you’re also cutting out excess fat, sodium, sugar, and, often, ingredients such as high fructose corn syrup. Unprocessed food will cleanse your body and leave you feeling awake and alert (and might just help you shed some pounds in the process).

2. Drink green tea.

Green tea is full of antioxidants which help speed up your metabolism. It also hydrates your body very effectively, and can help prevent diseases such as the common cold. Sipping on green tea even once every day can have you reaping the benefits.

3. Do stretching exercises.

Stretching, especially stretching that involves holding one pose for a long time, such as in yoga, can help oxygen flow through your body, thus aiding in the detox process. After even a short session, you’ll feel loose and relaxed.

4. Sweat.

More intense exercise, like cardio, can do wonders for your body. We all know exercise is good for us, but what you might not know is that it helps your body rid itself of toxins. Sweating can release some of these toxins and draw them out through your skin.

5. Drink tons of water.

Water can flush unwanted toxins out of your body. By drinking a lot of water, you can expedite the detox process. This will also lead to other benefits, such as better skin and a slimmer waistline.

6. Meditate once a day.

Toxins can exist in the mind, too. Mediation is a great way to relax and let your mind wander. Once a day, perhaps after you wake up in the morning, meditate for at least 15 minutes. Sit up straight and try to empty your mind. Afterwards, you’ll feel calm and relaxed. Making this a daily habit will contribute to your long term happiness and help keep the toxins at bay.

7. Go for a steam.

Going to a sauna can do wonders for the detox process. It’s very relaxing, and the sweating draws toxins out of your body. Just make sure to rehydrate after you’re done, as steams can leave your body with a lot less moisture than it had going in.

8. Get regular.

If you’re not regularly using the restroom, then your body is holding onto toxins that it shouldn’t be holding on to. If you’re having a consistent problem using the bathroom regularly, then it might be time to get a laxative or talk to your doctor about possible problems associated with this issue.

9. Take deep breaths.

You can do this anytime, anywhere. At various points throughout the day, take some slow, deep breaths. This allows your body to get the oxygen it needs, and will keep you awake and energized. Deep breathing helps clear the mind and the body.

10. Don’t smoke or drink.

This can be hard, but smoking and drinking just supply the body with more toxins. In order to detox fully, you should cut these things out of your life. Not only will this help keep toxins away, but it will also make you healthier. Smoking can lead to serious respiratory problems, and drinking introduces sugars and fattening substances to the body. It also damages the liver if done for too long.

11 Quotes From Alan Watts That Will Change Your Life.

Alan Watts is considered as the foremost interpreter of Eastern disciplines for the contemporary West. He had an astonishing and an indescribable way of writing the unwritable.

Among all the qualities of this great orator and writer, he had an unique gift of expressing complex thoughts in the form of simple and illustrated thoughts. The simple way he exemplified and expressed all his reflections made him and universal philosopher, someone that could be comprehended by the vast majority of the people. Let’s see some of Alan Watts’ magic and awakening quotes.

1. “Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods made for fun.” – Alan Watts.

It is no news that we humans take things too seriously. We over think to the point where we become anxious. We over analyze and overvalue things to the point of depression.

If there was something that Mr.Watts wanted us to do is to enjoy life and live it as a joyous dance. We are a tiny spot in an enormous, out-of-our-eyes universe, no need to take things too seriously! Go out and enjoy this beautiful experience!

2. “Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.” – Alan Watts.

This quote makes reference to the reverse effort principle. What Mr.Watts simply wants to say is to don’t force things, don’t create tension. Sometimes things work out better if we let them flow and simply “happen”.

Just as floating in the water, it is not about the effort we put into floating but about letting go! Flow as water!

3. “To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don’t grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float.” – Alan Watts.

This quote does much reference to the former one. Trust, as some people wrongly conceive, is not about holding on to things or people, it is about letting go and having faith in the process.

In life, we can’t hold on to fears, over constructed thoughts, or plans. Any of this security searching habits and trust habits will only impede us from moving forward and really enjoying life. Let go and trust the waters!

4.“The more a thing tends to be permanent, the more it tends to be lifeless.” – Alan Watts.

A common seen reflection in the Eastern philosophies is the thought that life’s essence is the impermanence we find in it, something which is certainly true. Life is all about the process between life and death, creation and destruction, change.

Everything changes every moment. Cells multiply, plants grow, universe expands. Everything which is alive will be in constant motion, and this is the beauty of life. It is always passionate to change and it always brings something new to us! We have to acknowledge this as our nature, for it is!

5. “Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” – Alan Watts.

Mr. Watts made a lot of emphasis on the inefficient word system we use. Words exist thanks to a contrast with other words. Right exists because there is wrong to contrast with.

Alan Watts saw this system of naming meaningless, for there is no bad or good, negative or positive. Ultimately everything is the same, just a different side of the same coin. To live life fully and with no restrictions, we have to acknowledge that any experience is just an experience and a learning process. If we constantly oppose to one side of the coin we will never see life as it really is, a color pallet with many different colors and shades.

6. “No one is more dangerously insane than one who is sane all the time: he is like a steel bridge without flexibility, and the order of his life is rigid and brittle.” – Alan Watts.

Rigidity is just a synonym of boring, unnatural and narrow vision. In life it is essential to flow as water, this is why so many Eastern philosophers refer to water as a great teacher.

Life is wiggly and spontaneous, being rigid in life will only lead us to a boring, narrow path in life. We won’t enjoy fully and at the end of the curse we will notice that we have wasted all of our time. Be like water!

7. “We do not “come into” this world; we come out of it, as leaves from a tree.” – Alan Watts.

One of the greatest problems of society that Alan Watts pointed out is the intense separation between man and nature. Human beings tend to see themselves as aliens that came to Earth.

We have a constant will to change, destroy and manipulate nature. We, forgetting that we are also nature, are subjects to all the consequences of our acts. Global warming, total destruction of our resources, water pollution… There will arrive the moment were all of us notice that we are connected to this world and universe, just as the roots of a tree are connected to earth. We can’t keep going like this! Earth dies, we die!

8. “Without birth and death, and without the perpetual transmutation of all the forms of life, the world would be static, rhythm-less, undancing, mummified.” – Alan Watts.

Doubtlessly, what makes this world a beautiful experience is, the impermanence and mutability of all things. This world will always have a mysterious and unpredictable way of flow.

Everything is changing and it is necessary that we acknowledge that and live with it. We are organic to this world, an so, we are submit to change too. We cant oppose to our nature, we have to admit and flow with this beautiful dance.

9. “Only words and conventions can isolate us from the entirely undefinable something which is everything.” – Alan Watts.

Alan Watts held a firm point of view were he saw all life as something undefinable and with a sole purpose of experiencing it. He always said that this universe cant be defined by worlds and that the harder we try to do this the more we separate from the real experience.

To live this experience we have to see the object that we point at with our finger, not our finger. In other words, we have to live each experience and not try to define it!

10. “…tomorrow and plans for tomorrow can have no significance at all unless you are in full contact with the reality of the present, since it is in the present and only in the present that you live.” – Alan Watts.

Alan Watts was clearly a follower of an Eastern philosophy type of view. Something that any Eastern philosophy pushed on was the fact of living in the present.

It is more than true that only by living in the present we really enjoy all the pleasures of live, and more so, we eliminate any fear of the future, anxiety or depression. Making plans for the future is only useful for those who know how to enjoy this future when it arrives. It is useless to live for a future when we don’t live it when it arrives. Learn to enjoy the now and you will be able to enjoy everything else that comes at you!

11. “Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way” – Alan Watts.

All problems have a solution, problems are soluble in solutions, and solutions are inexhaustible. We have powerful minds which work by creativity and logic, we certainly have the power to create solutions.

Alan Watts, with his positive mindset, had a great ability to pose problems and find their solutions. We all can do this, it takes breathing, calming down and concentrating! Sometimes it is all about how we approach the problem!

7 Things That Will Happen When You Start Doing Planks Every Day

Bodyweight exercises are gaining ground in the fitness world due to the practicality and simplicity of getting in shape using your own body weight. Planks are one form of bodyweight exercises that will never go out of fashion. Planks are one of the most effective exercises you can do. Why? Because they require a small time investment on your part, and offer the chance to achieve substantial results in a relatively short span of time.

Abdominal muscles must provide support for our entire back and spinal column.. In doing so, they also play a vital role in preventing injuries. However, for them to perform this function successfully, our core muscles have to be strong and trained on a regular basis. What all this means is that doing plank exercises every day is a great way to strengthen your core, and in doing so, support your spine.

Now, let’s focus on what will happen when you start doing planks every day:

1. You’ll improve core definition and performance: 

Planks are an ideal exercise for the abdominal muscles exactly because they engage all major core muscle groups including the transverse abdominus, the rectus abdominus, the external oblique muscle, and the glutes. The importance of strengthening each muscle group cannot be underestimated either, for all of these groups serve their own purpose. If you strengthen these muscle groups you will notice:

• Transverse abdominis: increased ability to lift heavier weights.
• Rectus adbominis: improved sports performance, particularly with jumping. This muscle group is also responsible for giving you the renowned six pack look.
• Oblique muscles: improved capacity for stable side-bending and waist-twisting
• Glutes: a supported back and a strong, shapely booty.

2. You’ll decrease your risk of injury in the back and spinal column

Doing planks is a type of exercise that allow you to build muscle while also making sure that you are not putting too much pressure on your spine or hips. According to the American Council on Exercise, doing planks regularly not only significantly reduces back pain but it also strengthens your muscles and ensures a strong support for your entire back, especially in the areas around your upper back.

Check out this article if you would like to find out about how doing planks on different surfaces can impact the effectiveness of this exercise in strengthening your core.

3. You’ll experience an increased boost to your overall metabolism

Planking is an excellent way of challenging your entire body because doing them every day will burn more calories than other traditional abdominal exercises, such as crunches or sit-ups. The muscles you strengthen by doing this exercise on a day-to-day basis will ensure that you burn more energy even when sedentary. This is especially important if you are spending the majority of your day sitting in front of a computer. Also, making it a daily 10- to 1 minute home exercise before or after work will not only provide an enhanced metabolic rate but it will also ensure that that metabolic rate remains high all day long, (yes, even while you are asleep).

4. You’ll significantly improve your posture

Doing planks greatly improves your ability to stand with straight and stable posture. Through strengthening your core you will be able to maintain proper posture at all times because muscles in the abdomen have a profound effect on the overall condition of your neck, shoulders, chest and back.

5. You’ll improve overall balance

Have you ever felt that when you tried standing on one leg, you couldn’t stand up straight for more than a couple of seconds? It’s not because you were drunk- unless you happened to be at the time!-  but rather, it’s because your abdominal muscles weren’t strong enough to give you the balance you needed. Through improving your balance by doing side planks and planks with extensions you will boost your performance in every kind of sporting activity.

6. You’ll become more flexible than ever before

Flexibility is a key benefit of doing planks regularly, for this form of exercise expands and stretches all your posterior muscle groups – shoulders, shoulder blades, and collarbone – while also stretching your hamstrings, arches of your feet, and toes. With a side plank added in to the mix, you can also work on your oblique muscles. This will provide you with further benefits when it comes to hyper-extending your toes, a movement that is crucial for supporting your body’s weight.

7. You’ll witness mental benefits

Plank exercises have a particular effect on our nerves, making them an excellent means of improving overall mood. How? Well, they stretch out muscle groups that contribute to stress and tension in the body. Just think about it: you are sitting in your chair, at home or at work, all day long; your thigh muscles get tight, your legs get heavy due to being bent for several hours; and tension develops in your shoulders due to being forced to slump forward all day. These are all circumstances that put too stress on the muscles and nerves. The good news is that planks not only calm your brain, but they can also treat anxiety and symptoms of depression– but only if you make it part of your daily routine.

Now, the last thing left to do is to give you a sample plank exercise you can do to achieve great results in only 5-10 minutes a day.

Here is a great infographic that shows some of the best plank exercises to evenly target all abdominal muscle groups:

Are you ready to devote 5-10 minutes of your day, every day, to stay fit, healthy and, most importantly, strong as a bull? Then jump in and make doing plank exercises a part of your life.