Author: benefitspt

From the Royal Canadian Air Force book on physical fitness.

Working Out at Home– A Great Option

Can you get into shape by working out at home? Isn’t the gym the only way to get into shape?
Working out in your house is a good viable option for fitness. There is nothing like the gym for getting into shape. The weight machines are good for a great many people, but working out at home is a good choice – and sometimes the only option – for some. These days, I am training clients exclusively in their homes. My clients all have beautiful homes with plenty of space and even home gym equipment, but anyone can get their exercise at home for little or no cost.

Reasons to Choose a Home Fitness Plan

Cost: Working out at home is certainly inexpensive. There are no gym memberships to pay for, and no gas or public transportation expenses either.
Anyone can set a good home gym with a few simple pieces of equipment. I have a plastic step, a Swiss ball, three sets of free weights, and a set of exercise, or “thera,” bands. An adequate and versatile array of home workout equipment can cost any where from twenty to a hundred dollars.
With so many of us going through financial hardship, this is good to know. Many people say they do not have the space at home, but really all you need is a space the size of an exercise mat.
If you know yoga and pilates, you do not even need any equipment. You just need to know what you are doing. Netflix has some great exercise videos for streaming on the Internet. I use them myself when I need a little inspiration. My favorite video for streaming is called, “Yoga for Aches and Pains.” It is simply a fantastic class, great for special populations or those of you with issues or even if you are just not feeling “yourself.”

Privacy: For those of you who are self-conscious, the gym may be a really hard place to feel comfortable or motivated. A good home exercise plan is great for shy people. It is very private; there are no people to change in front of, nobody watching you work out, etc. You are in your own shower or bath after you exercise, and you are in familiar, comfortable surroundings.

Convenience: Working out at home is super convenient. There is no waiting for machines or for space on the stretch mat. You can also watch what ever you want on TV, listen to any music you want, or just take in the peace and quiet. If solitude is not the reason that you exercise at home and you have the space, you can exercise with a workout buddy or two.

Time: Working out at home saves time commuting to the gym. You can also work out whenever you have time, at your own pace, as it suits your schedule. Many busy moms work out whenever they can fit it into their hectic days. For me, working out at home is a godsend, because my odd work schedule leaves me free mostly around noon when there are no outside exercise classes available.

Cleanliness: Your workout area and equipment is as clean as you make it. You don’t have to wipe someone else’s leftovers off a weight machine or rely on a less-than-enthusiastic maintenance crew at your local gym.

Remember, however, there are some challenges when it comes to a good home work out program.

Cardio: is the biggest challenge to a home workout program. How much running in place can you do? Jumping rope can be done indoors if you have room and won’t bother the downstairs neighbors with the noise. Dancing is a good way to get in some cardio if you like to dance. I do a cardio step routine, but be aware that you need to know how to do this safely.

Procrastination and Distractions: If you are the type of person who finds it hard to get motivated, and the TV is more tempting than doing squats and crunches, then working out from home may not be for you. If you go to the gym, you will exercise, you have no choice, there is nothing else to do there. If you feel that TV, chores, kids running round the house, a partner or spouse that need this or that, or the phone will keep you from working out at home, the gym may give you the physical and mental space you need to get your weekly exercising in.

Working out at home is convent, economical, clean and private. With a little self-motivation, it is possible to get into great shape with a good home exercise program. It is not for those who will just sit on the couch and think about lifting those dusty weights someday.

Yantra Yoga Lecture at the Rubin Museum of Art: Review

I absolutely love the Rubin Museum of Art here in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood. It is my new favorite place in New York City.

Recently, I went to go see the Bodies in Balance: The Art of Tibetan Medicine there. I read about the exhibit in the New York Times, and, being a Buddhist who is interested in yoga, Chinese medicine, martial arts, and Eastern philosophy in general, I went to the exhibit. Needless to say, it was astounding!

And so I signed up for the mailing list for the museum and learned about this summer’s series of workshops and lectures focused on Tibetan healing and medicine. I excitedly got tickets for the July 9th lecture on the Health Benefits of Yantra Yoga. I had never heard of Yantra yoga and I have been practicing yoga since the 1970s.

I got dressed up and went to the lecture. The space at the museum was beautifully set up — I enjoyed a classical Indian band playing on the floor level as I headed downstairs toward the lecture hall. I got my seat next to a bunch of professor types and yoga heads (I was probably the only person in the room who lifts weights).

We were greeted by the teacher — a Tibetan Lama (priest) — in full orange robes and a rust-colored skirt, and his beautiful Russian assistant wearing a super-cute Asian-style outfit.

One of the museum curators introduced the topic and then Lama Lobsang Palden, the teacher, rang a bell, and blew a horn and greeted us. He began his lecture by briefing us on his background: Like Yantra yoga, Lobsang was born in Tibet. During his lifetime, he had to flee to Nepal because of international turmoil. Yantra Yoga is a 500-year-old style of yoga, he explained. It was kept secret from the West for all of this time.

Next, it came time for a demonstration. As it turns out, one of the Lamas who teaches Yantra yoga did a mediation and came to the conclusion that it was OK to teach this style of yoga to the world. I suspect the reason may not be so spiritual, there is a ton of money in teaching yoga these days.

There is nothing wrong with this style of yoga as many people have asked my why it was kept secret. In Asia there are many cultural reasons for keep such things secret. Remember, Bruce Lee was one of the first Chinese immigrants to teach martial arts to Westerners, and many other Chinese hated him for it. He got into tons of trouble with his community of origin over bringing martial arts out of the East and into the West.

Yantra yoga involves a whole set of mental meditation. Lama Lobsang was very clear, too, about the mental process and mediation being the most important part of this yoga. “Do not just do this as exercise,” he warned.

This beautiful form of yoga combines martial arts-like moves, some movement mediation, pressure points, and lots of heavy, purposeful breathing. It was not an easy, gently yoga style like Hatha. Rather, it was a hard yoga style like Vinyasa. There were floor moves and standing moves and the practice of breathing through one side of the face that made it challenging. The standing moves included tree and triangle poses with circular arm movements that evoked Tai Chi.

Each move came with a mental process, one move got rid of jealousy, one anger, one brought in positive energy.

It seemed like you would feel great after taking a whole class.

Lama Lobsang also told us about herbs and diet in Tibetan medicine and offered a story about how he conquered ear infections with herbs and meditation. He also gave a good small talk on spirituality.

There is not a lot of information about Yantra yoga out there yet but Lama Lobsang is working on a book and DVD. I signed up to get notified as soon as they are produced.

Lama Lobsang greeted everyone at the lecture afterward and was just an amazingly kind, wonderful, and warm-spirited man.

You can find out more about Lama Lobsang on his website http://www.lamalobsang.com

This was an amazingly informative lecture in a beautiful space and a good time as well. I think I will benefit from attending this lecture for years to come.

The “Bodies in Balance” workshop series events will be going all summer. I highly recommend them to anyone. You can find out more about the Rubin Museum’s Bodies in Balance programs at rubinmuseum.org.

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Yes I have read them all.

This Article in the New York times hold pertinent information for everyone. The article explains all about kegel exercises and how to do them. I have been adding them to my programming for everyone for years.

I have a lot of grateful female clients who no longer leak urine when they jump ,run or go about their daily activities due to pelvic floor training. Pelvic floor dysfunction can lead to even worse ‘accidents”, kegels can help prevent this.

Although I have always added them to programming for women, I learned some good cueing techniques for men last year and my male clients do them now too.

Try adding a few kegels when you do your ab work out. Hold a kegel while doing a plank or throw one in when doing a crunch. When your shoulders are off the floor while crunching tighten the pelvic floor and see how much harder the exercise is .

Pelvic floor training was also a big part of Yoga, it was called keeping in Prana ( life force). Although I am so happy so many people are doing Yoga today, so many of these deeper techniques are left out of modern classes.

Don’t be shy kegel away today!

One of my favorite recipes from last year. This year I added a little Aspall organic apple and cranberry Balsamic Vinegar and a table spoon of avocado oil, making this salad all the more splendid.

Citrus Cucumber Herb Salad

This wonderful, refreshing salad has everything you need for sophisticated summer dining. It is very easy to prepare, refreshing, nutritious, and hydrating.

INGREDIENTS:

3 medium Kirby cucumbers

1 pink grapefruit (I used organic)

1 cup cilantro leaves

1/8 teaspoon French Grey Sea Salt

DIRECTIONS (Makes 2-3 cups):

Peel the cucumbers lightly, enough so that some of the green still shows. Slice into thin rounds.

Peel and pith the grapefruit and slice into one-inch sections.

Remove the cilantro leaves from the stalks and chop the leaves slightly.

Add the dash of French Grey Sea Salt and mix.

You can use just about any grapefruit but I found the pink to be the best, in terms of flavor and nutrition. At just 100 calories, an entire grapefruit offers 120 percent of your daily Vitamin C requirements, plus more than 50 percent of your Vitamin A needs. Any type of cucumber can be used, but Kirby’s cucumber packs a little more nutrition than other types of cukes. Kirby’s cucumbers are a lean 30 calories each, and are packed with fiber, calcium, Vitamin C, and Vitamin A. Fresh cilantro adds so much flavor, and for almost no calories. I added the Roland French Grey Sea Salt, a product I am really liking these days. While it is a little on the pricy side, at about $5 for 8.75 oz., I am finding this product very worth the price, as it lasts a long time. However, any salt can be used for this salad if you do not have access to gourmet salts.

This salad stands alone — there is no need for dressing, which also saves one a lot of calories. If you want to dress this salad I would use a simple grapeseed oil and white or rice vinegar dressing to match the fruity flavors. Just be sure to use it sparingly: While a healthy fat, grapeseed oil is 40 calories per teaspoon.

Without dressing, this salad as about 70 calories per 1.5-cup serving and zero grams of fat, and is rich in Vitamins A, K, and C. You get about five grams of fiber per serving.

Dear Ms. Reichert,

Thank you for taking the time to contact me with your support for the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (PAMTA), which would work to end the routine over use of antibiotics on healthy animals and curb the growing threat of superbugs. I am deeply concerned about the misuse of antibiotics by industrial farms and will support this bill when it comes to the floor for a vote.

Medical experts have confirmed that the widespread over use of antibiotics in animals sourced for food has contributed to a dramatic rise in antibiotic-resistant infections in people. That is why I introduced the Antimicrobial Data Collection Act, which would improve reporting of antibiotic sales for food and animal production. The FDA should collect more data to better understand the relationship between anti-microbial use in animals and resistance in humans, and the degree of risk. Improving the safety of our nation’s food supply has been a priority of mine in the Senate, and I was proud to sponsor this legislation.

The FDA estimates that 80 percent of all antibiotics sold in the U.S. are used for food animal production. While antibiotics are prescribed in people for short-term disease treatment, these same critically important drugs are often fed to farm animals at low doses, often over their entire lives, creating ideal conditions for the breeding of new and dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This dosing practice increases the likelihood of antibiotic resistant bacteria being transmitted through our food, putting consumer safety at risk.

Antimicrobial resistance is an ever-growing problem within our nation’s health care system, and it is time to take action to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that antibiotic resistance in the United States alone costs an estimated $20 billion a year in excess health care costs, $35 million in other societal costs and more than 8 million additional days that people spend in the hospital.

Antibiotics are one of the greatest treasures of modern medicine, and I will work with my colleagues in the Senate to fight for critical policy that protects public health, maintains a safe food supply system, and preserves effective antimicrobial drugs for humans and animals that are truly ill.

Thank you again for writing to express your concerns, and I hope that you keep in touch with my office regarding future legislation and concerns you may have. For more information on this and other important issues, please visit my website at http://gillibrand.senate.gov and sign up for my e-newsletter.

Sincerely,

Kirsten E. Gillibrand
United States Senator

From; Animal Welfare Approved.

Misleading Label of the Month & Year of the Family Farmer

The United Nations declared 2014 the International Year of Family Farming (IYFF) “to recognize the importance of family farming in reducing poverty and improving global food security. The IYFF aims to promote new development policies, particularly at the national but also regional levels, that will help smallholder and family farmers eradicate hunger, reduce rural poverty and continue to play a major role in global food security through small-scale, sustainable agricultural production.” Throughout 2014, we will present updates on family farms and how AWA works with them. We’ll kick off with how we define a family farm in Food Labeling for Dummies;

Family Farm
No legal or regulated definition

Includes any farm where the majority of the business is owned by the operator and individuals related to the operator by blood or marriage, including relatives who do not reside in the operator’s household.

Nevertheless, this claim means nothing in terms of specific production practices, sustainability or size. Unless the claim is defined and verified by an independent third party its meaning can vary greatly.

For more misleading labels, view the full version of Food Labeling for Dummies, or download our app Food Labels Exposed.