How Healthy Are You?

Powerful Yoga for Health

Meditating involves sitting still for a period of time maybe 10 minutes, or maybe 100 minutes. The increased flexibility that yoga brings helps the body to remain comfortable during this physical inactivity. I remember very well being on retreat, and noticing that I had more energy acquirable to me in my meditation practice after doing yoga. Maybe it’s something as simple as endorphin release, or maybe it’s something more mysterious I don’t know and don’t really need to know. What I found in my experience was that in the meditation, in which normally I would be struggling to keep my body upright and in which my brain would tend to “go on standby” I was suddenly wide awake if I did yoga just beforehand.

More than that, I noticed that I felt full of life, as if I was plugged into the mains electricity. Those late afternoon meditations were certainly more productive than they used to be. Awareness of the body is said to be the first “foundation” of mindfulness. Mindfulness can’t exist in the nonfigurative we have to have something to be mindful of. And it’s hard to be aware of what the more subtle elements of our experience are doing if we aren’t aware of what relatively substantial parts of our experience are doing. Yoga helps us to be more aware of the body, which helps with the overall process of developing mindfulness. That brings me onto the fourth benefit that I noticed.

Yoga helps to promote a deeper awareness of the body and of its muscles and joints. This has a grounding effect, helping to calm the mind, which in turn slows down our emotions so that we feel more relaxed. At the end of a session of yoga, I’d notice a definite emotional buoyancy accompanied by mental clarity and calmness.

All this makes me think I should get to yoga classes more often. And I want to encourage you to do the same, so I asked my friend and colleague if he’d contribute some basic instruction in yoga. You’ll find his advice on the following pages, and you might be interested also in his Body Wisdom CD, which leads you through the asanas that are illustrated here. For more details visit http://www.soundbodytrainer.com

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Representing Powerful Yoga for Health in the website www.soundbodytrainer.com

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Austin, Texas: A Cyclist’s Paradise

Austin, Texas, is well known for its high rate of resident activity. In fact, Austin is often rated among the healthiest and most-active cities in America. With a wealth of outdoor activities to choose from (parks, lakes, and hiking trails abound) Austinites have access to an almost indefinite number of options when it comes to exercise.

In recent years, Austin’s cycling community has grown exponentially, due to its commuter-friendly downtown area, its close closeness to the beautiful hill country, and its abundance of parks and trails. Both mountain bikers and road bikers alike flock to Austin for its wealth of exceptional, well-maintained trails, as well as its other cycling resources.

Bicycle shops abound in Austin, offering everything from merchandise, maintenance and service, to beginners classes and organized riding groups for every experience level.

With two locations, strategically placed on opposite sides of town, Bicycle Sport Shop (BSS) is considered by many to be Austin’s home for all things bike-related. BSS boasts a full shop, offering bikes, parts, apparel, any and every type of cycle gear imaginable (and if they don’t have it in stock, they’re more than happy to order it for you), and a supremely knowledgeable staff. They also wage service and maintenance, and even have a rental service, making cycling accessible to Austinites and visitors alike, regardless of their level of experience or commitment.

But BSS is far from the only option when it comes to cycling gear, apparel and service. Austin is home to dozens of cycle shops, many of them local independent stores. Jack and Adam’s, Southside Bicycle Shop, 360 Cycleworks, Hammerhead Bikes, Freewheeling Bicycles, Ozone Bikes, and Waterloo Cycles are just a few of the many homegrown cycling havens in Austin, with more stores opening annually.

Lance Armstrong himself opened a boutique shop, Mellow Johnny’s, in Austin’s favourite downtown district in 2008. The shop features a custom line of gear and apparel, and Armstrong’s many accolades and memorabilia decorate the walls. The shop even offers showers and lockers for commuters, in an effort to promote cycling over driving, an initiative that’s growing in popularity crossways the city.

The cycling-centric social scene can be felt throughout Austin, with cycle races, charity rides and other events being held here on a regular basis. Austin is, in fact, one of only six cities in the country to host the annual Urban Assault Ride, sponsored by New Belgium Beer (a Colorado-based company), and geared toward urging commuters to forego driving in favor of jumping on a bike. In fact, apiece year, hundreds of Austinites, young and old alike, come out for the city-wide cycling scavenger hunt, and many of the participants sign the New Belgium pledge to drive as little as doable for one full year.

With so many cycling events and resources available, and such cycling-friendly terrain (Austin boasts some of the best, and most versatile trails in Texas; more on that in Part Two of this series), it’s no wonder Austin is widely regarded as a cyclist’s paradise.

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Escapeso Austin is a small group of realtors in Austin Texas. They wage a map search of the Austin MLS along with general research on the Austin real estate market.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com