Mardela Carrasca

When it comes to yoga, there is a lot that you need to learn. Mastering yoga is not an overnight process. It takes a lot of practice and dedication to master the art, and the fact is that there are only a few people who were able to do it. So just like any other thing people should start with simple techniques and then shift to the advanced ones. In this article, we shall discuss about the simple yoga for beginners.

Tadasana – Mountain Pose

Stand with your heels somewhat separated and hang your arms by the side. Slowly lift and spread your toes and your feet, at that point lay them slowly down on the floor. Part of your body load should be on your feet. Lift your lower legs and tighten your thigh muscles while pushing those inwards. As you breathe in, extend your middle area and when you breathe out discharge your shoulder bones from your head. Widen your collarbone and stretch your neck. Your ears, shoulders, hips and lower legs should all be in one line. You can check your arrangement if you want.

Vrikshasana – Tree Pose

This posture gives you a feeling of an establishment. It enhances the strength in your legs and back. It recreates the posture of a tree. Place your right foot high up to your left side thigh. The bottom of the foot must be to be level and set steadily. Keep your left leg straight and make sure you are perfectly balanced. While breathing in, raise your arms over your head and join your palms. Make sure that your spine is straight and take a couple of full breaths. Gradually breathe out, cut your hands down and discharge your right leg. Back in the standing position repeat it the same with the other leg.

Adho Mukho Svanasaba – Down facing dog pose

This posture extends hamstrings, chest and stretches the spine, giving extra bloodstream to the head. It will boost strength and increase your energy levels. Sit on your heels, extend your arms forward on the yoga mat and lower your head. Form the shape of a table, such as pushing your hands, pressing your legs and gradually raising your hips. Press your heels down, let your head hand uninhibitedly and tighten your abdomen area.

Trikonasana – Triangle Pose

It extends the legs and middle area, strengthens the hips and improves deep breathing. Stand with your feet wide separated. Extend your right foot out to ninety degrees while keeping the leg closer to the middle area. Keep your feet squeezed against the ground and concentrate your weight similarly on the two feet. Breathe in and as you breathe out twist your correct arm and make it contact the ground while your left arm goes up. Keep your midsection straight. Make sure that your body is bowed sideways and not forward or in reverse. Extend as much as you can while taking long, full breaths. Repeat the same procedure on the opposite side.

 

1. Change your vehicle driving habits – 

We don’t all have the advantage of strolling all over. However, vehicles are the greatest trade-off to our air. Those tailpipes are at road level, where we can breathe in the dirtied air specifically. Consider a reality where you carpool, Uber, walk or take extensive travel all the more frequently.

 

2. Focus on your level of water utilization – 

Have shorter showers. Try not to leave the tap running when you’re brushing your teeth. Purchase a vitality proficient showerhead. Everything makes a difference.

 

3. Lessen the measure of paper you use – 

It is a fact that 40% of the world’s industriay cut timber is utilized for paper. This imperils familiar natural surroundings and utilization a tremendous amount of water. Since it has turned out to be economical to print, we do it without considering. What’s more, in case you think you are paperless, think about your bank articulations, the paper towels you use to clean the ledges, the garbage mail you haven’t quit and the manner in which you wrap your Christmas presents. There are numerous territories where every one of us can reduce paper creation.

 

4. Reuse and refill plastic containers – 

Filtered water and discard bundling are inefficient. Landfills are packing with water bottles alone. It is likewise assessed that 3 liters of water is utilized to bundle 1 liter of filtered water. The time has come to spend too much on containers and BPA lunch bundles that will last. Falling flat that, a bricklayer container never harmed anybody, except for maybe your craving to not be viewed as a fashionable person.

 

5. Be aware of what you toss in the waste – 

From kitchen scraps that can be utilized to make stocks to things that can be reused, our waste ought to be less full the more mindful we get. Always make sure to perceive how frequently things can be reused or repurposed as opposed to just discarded.

 

6. Always carry your own bag – 

Before wandering out on your next shopping trip, ensure you’ve some reusable shopping packs with you. Plastic bags are an enormous risk to marine life, and they’re a bother to nature in general. Reusable sacks are therefore the best alternative to these terribly disruptive creations of mankind.

 

7. Fix or borrow over purchasing – 

Purchasing throwaway fashion is inconvenient for nature as 1 kg of fabric produces 23 kilograms of ozone-harming substances! Begin contemplating keeping what you possess and turn out to be additionally recognizing. Darn your socks and sew on new buttons. Acquire or borrow your garments in the event that you discover you are in the middle of sizes.

When people talk about yoga, they often associate yoga with the physiological benefits that it offers which include an increase in flexibility, reduction of the muscle stiffness and increase in the bone strength. Most of the yoga discussions never exceed this point. But more than the physiological benefits, the benefits offered by yoga to a person’s mental health is much greater. There are promising results and evidence after intensive research that stand as a testimony for the positive effects of yoga on one’s mental health.

Improvement of the psychological/mental well being

We all have our fair share of experience when it comes to stress. It is a common thing that most of us going through on a daily basis. According to research conducted by BPS – British Psychological Society, yoga is one of the most effective ways to relieve the stress. This is because the practice of yoga involves the streamlining the elements of our mind and body. As a result, our mind is relaxed, and there is a discharge of the tension. According to the Hindu religion which has a very strong connection with Yoga, the breathing exercise is the procedure to let out the negativity.

Yoga helps with anxiety and depression

Since yoga consists of activities such as relaxation, meditation, socializing and exercise there are strong proofs that yoga helps a lot in reducing anxiety and depression. According to the article that was published by Harvard University, there is a positive impact from yoga on anxiety and stress. It is because practicing yoga helps in regulating the stress response system. This also regulates the blood pleasure, keeps the heartbeat rate in control, and improves the respiration. If you are feeling that you are finding it tough to deal with anxiety and depression, don’t opt for some expensive medication. Deal with it by practicing yoga.

 Improvement in concentration and high memory power

There might be some situations where we may find it difficult to concentrate on our work. At the end of the day, we are humans and not machines. It is completely normal to encounter these kinds of situations. You might come across a lot of articles on the internet that will instruct you to do things to address this issue. But if there is one practice which has solid proofs to increase the concentration and memory power, it is yoga. Dharana which is called the practice of concentration is considered to be the ideal way to clear your mind and streamline your thoughts. This helps you to remember things properly which results in higher concentration and better performance.

Reduces the after-effects of traumatic experiences

The psychological issue that people undergo after any traumatic experiences in their life is called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The people who suffer from PSTD have sleepless nights, and even if they sleep, they will constantly have nightmares. Even though mental treatments are available, it does not work for everyone. The research conducted by the American Psychological Association stated that there are good possibilities that yoga might work and give people complete recovery from PSTD.

To tell the truth, I personally find the topic very much irrelevant.  If you are doing something to save our home would you call it contributing? I definitely would not. It is because it is more like a duty than a contribution. This argument of whether it is contribution or duty of an individual to do something to save the environment can go on and on.

There are a lot of things that are happening around us that pollute the environment which we do have control over. But there are a few that we can change because we have complete control over it. Here are some of those.

Stop/reduce eating meat

The research conducted by The Environmental Working Group has concluded that red meat is the reason for ten to forty times of greenhouse emissions. Moreover, the food that used to feed these animals can be used to feed nearly eight hundred million people. So it is high time that you go green and go meatless.

Change your car driving habits

Automobiles are one of the biggest sources of air pollution. They contribute more than forty percent to the entire air pollution. But we have come to a point where we cannot live without using automobiles. Hence try to avoid using them as much as possible. Opt for walking for short distances. Also maintain your vehicles properly so that the exhaust from it is not polluting the environment.

Use of water

Try to minimize the use of water as much as possible. Did you know that on a daily basis we use sixty-five percent of water in bathrooms? So, simple things like having shorter showers and closing the taps properly will make a huge difference.

Reduce the amount of paper use

It is a fact that more than forty percent of the trees that are cut are used for making papers. We all know what happens when large numbers of trees are cut. The most important thing is that there is an imbalance in the ecosystem and the reduction in the number of trees affects the rainfall. Cutting of trees also damages the living habitat for many creatures.

Use refillable water bottles and reusable lunch containers

This is one of the easiest places where you can implement the concept of reusing. Bottles of low quality and throw away packaging do nothing but increase the trash load. If good quality bottles are used, then we can use them again for a long time as they do not get that damaged that easily.

Use your won cloth bag

Whether you are going to buy groceries or going for dress shopping, make sure that you take your own cloth bag. Don’t expect the shop to provide you with their plastic bags. These plastic covers that given in the shops alone can contribute for tons and tons of non-degradable wastes. So carry your own cloth bag and bid goodbye to the plastic bags once in for all.

While the rest of the world is busy in their careless actions against the environment, it’s these people who are unfailingly continuing with their efforts to make the world a better place to live in. They lived a life dedicated to one sole purpose – to make the world a better place to live in. They worked tirelessly not for themselves, but for us all so that we could live in a better environment. Who are these noted names that prop up at the slightest mention of the most dedicated environmentalists in the world? Let’s draw some inspiration from them:

Aldo Leopold:

After completing his studies at the Yale University, Also Leopold immediately joined the United States Forest services. His first orders- To kill all the bears and other predators lurking around. While he may have initially followed the orders, something struck a though inside him, and he developed a strategy, a holistic approach towards dealing with these wild beasts. Instead of killing them, he charted out a systematic policy to manage wildlife. He is still remembered as one of the greatest environmentalist, who dedicated his life to the preservation of wildlife.

Julia Hill:

A near-death accident made Julia commit her life towards the environment – and she has been relentlessly pursuing her mission to keep the environment safe and protected from any kind of harm. She is mostly known for residing on a tree for two long years to prevent it from being cut down! That, in a few words, explains her love and passion towards nature and its causes. Not only is the redwood tree (which wasn’t cut down due to Julia’s efforts) but the rest of us too, are grateful to this beautiful lady, who still works for various environmental causes.

Theodore Roosevelt:

The 26th president of the United States was known for his active efforts to protect the environment. During his term as the governor of New York, he completely banned the use of feathers as decorations in clothes or otherwise to preserve some of the dwindling bird species. Further, he continued his good causes when he was elected president of the United States by allocating acres and acres of land to promote conservation of wildlife. His causes of interest also included soil and water conservation, for which he came up with a lot of measures. A number of national parks in the United States wouldn’t be where they are today if it were not for this great man.

Well, yoga isn’t all about being calm and relaxed – there are some quite interesting facts about Yoga too, which will surely get you out of your peaceful trance, making you wonder –”oh, really?!. Without wasting too much time, let’s take you to these facts which even you would love to know about and share among your gang of fellow yogis!

1. There are 19 different types of Yoga and 66 different postures, each benefitting a specific body part.
2. Where did slow breathing originate from? Int he ancient days, the yogis believed that we had a limited number of breaths! That’s why they made most of the so-called ‘limited’ breaths by slowing them down! And that’s why to date deep breathing is an essential part of yoga!
3. The first ever book in the world was written by the Yogis – and it was of course, based on yoga!
4. Owing to its flexibility, Lenovo has named a tablet ‘Yoga’! Way to go, Lenovo!
5. If you’re an afternoon or evening bird, you need to know this – Yoga will benefit you the most when practiced in the morning. As per the ancient Yogis, dawn is the best time as it consists of prana, which translates into ‘life.’
6. The Swastika, an essential symbol of Yoga, was created by the ancient Yogis – not by the Nazis who are mistakenly credited as the ones who came up with the symbol.
7. Only in the United States, around 35 million people practice Yoga – imagine the massive influence Yoga must have had on the rest of the world! Yoga started off slowly, but now it has reached masses rapidly – so much so, the Yoga gear industry too, is thriving in the world – It’s worth almost $16 billion now!
8. The Indian Postal Service released a stamp dedicated to Yoga, commemorating the first International Yoga Day on June 21, 2015! Indians revere Yoga – after all, India is the land where this wonderful therapy was born.
9. Maximum exposure of skin was considered to be essential in yoga – to make sure that along with you, the entire body breathes and benefits from Yogasanas, which is why Naked Yoga is gaining popularity in Europe and the United States.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpt4pLPYcIA
10. Laughter Yoga is one type of Yoga – also commonly known as ‘Hasyayoga’ is practiced in more than 60 countries and is also gaining popularity across the world.
11. BKS Iyengar was the path-breaking pioneer of modern Yoga – both in India as well as across the world.

As you may have assumed, yoga offers a plethora of health benefits that when practiced right, can better the overall quality of your life. But most people are not aware of said benefits and this article is focused on educating people about how yoga can bring a good influence in your life.

1.    Muscle strength

People usually assume that having muscles only go to increase how well a person looks when in reality, it can protect us from a lot such as back pain and arthritis in later stages of our lives. Not only do you gain muscle strength, but the muscles that you develop will also be flexible. This is in stark contrast with building muscles at the gym where flexibility is compromised in order to make room for strength.

2.    Cartilage and joints

While practicing yoga, each of your joints, as well as cartilages, are made to work which can prevent dangerous diseases such as degenerative arthritis. This is mainly due to the fact that your cartilage moves around in areas that they usually do not go which increases flexibility. When the cartilages are moved, it gets a fresh supply of nutrients after the ones that were previously being used is squeezed out.

3.    Posture correction

Since your back has the responsibility to hold the weight of your head, it is important that your head is perfectly balanced on top of your spine. This is the reason why it is important to stay erect since the muscles that support your back do not have to strain a lot. Having a poor posture isn’t going to ruin your back alone; your neck, as well as your joints, will experience a considerable amount of problems.

4.    Bone health

If you lift weights regularly, you do not have to worry about bone decaying diseases such as osteoporosis and yoga has plenty of exercises and postures where you have to lift your own body weight. These postures and exercises can also help increase bone density as well as control stress which can, in turn, help your bones through the reduction of a particular stress hormone called cortisol.

1. Loosen up The Body – 

 

Yoga rehearsed correctly can be as relieving as an embrace or a back rub with regards to lessening pressure and loosening up the physical body. Certain stances have a profoundly quieting impact in a general framework, especially forward twists and reversals. I have to single out Balasana (Child’s Pose) here as a result of its brilliant capacity to mitigate the adrenal organs and make inner and outside quiet. Restorative and Yin are incredible styles for rehearsing the specialty of letting go as is Shavasana/unwinding toward the finish of a yoga class.

 

2. Loosen up The Mind – 

 

Figuring out how to concentrate the mind on one thing at any given moment may appear the most troublesome thing on the planet, however, with training, it ends up simpler. Reflection is an unfathomably incredible asset for unwinding and backing off the mind just like any breath mindfulness. Regardless of whether you’re holding stances, coursing through arrangements, or in a situated contemplation present, everything starts to center and back off when you take your attention to the breath. After some time and with rehashed practice, you begin to grow new propensities towards an increasingly loosened up inward state.

 

 

3. Build up a Connection Between The Mind And Body. – 

 

At the point when the brain and body are associated, there’s, for the most part, a more prominent feeling of agreement and straightforwardness in our lives. The body sends vital signs when something is cockeyed, which occurs so regularly when we are feeling the squeeze. Being able to react is subsequently extremely essential for our prosperity. Yoga instructs us to be delicate to every development and to tune in to our bodies. The training urges us to exist right now and to live in a progressively careful, cognizant and associated way.

 

4. See How Your Mind Works – 

 

Yoga can enable us to create attention to how our interesting personality functions and that mindfulness can enable us to live in an increasingly cognizant manner. By creating mindfulness over our mind designs in light of pressure, we offer ourselves the chance to be less influenced by them and to pick another reaction intentionally. I am quiet, everything is great.

 

5. Discharge Emotional Energy – 

 

Negative feelings like dread, outrage, and blame can cause pressure, primarily if they are not communicated. A development of anything makes weight. Enthusiastic weight regularly gets discharged in a foul way, for example, yelling at your accomplice, snapping at a work associate or getting irrationally started up for a little issue at work. We discharge enthusiastic vitality truly successfully all through our yoga practice, regardless of whether you’re not mindful of it. Stances that discharge the hips and shoulders are especially compelling as this is the place we ordinarily store all our passionate strain.

If you own a piece of land or even a house, you’ll find yourself taking care of it as much as you can. If there are repairs that you need to take care of or you need to clean it, you will do it as soon as you can.

 

This is because your home protects you and you need to look after it in return. Now, multiply the scope of until you reach the size of the earth and you’ll get a vague idea about what environmentalism stands for.

 

When it comes to environmentalism, the survival of the planet is put to the fore so that the survival of the planet as well as the life on it is ensured. A key element of environmentalism is the identification of problems and finding solutions.

 

Let us look at some of the problems that Earth is facing at the moment.

 

1.    Pollution

 

Everything that is manufactured or produced creates a form of waste that needs to be disposed of as efficiently as possible. This is mainly due to the fact that the large variety of materials present which includes plastic takes time to degrade and hence, they lie around without many people taking them for recycling. This damages the environment in a significant manner since the wastes also include harmful gasses as well as liquids.

 

2.    Depletable resources

 

The amount of resources that Earth has is finite, but people use it as though it’s never ending. Not only that, but the world also faces a crisis when it comes to distribution of said resources geographically, making some areas rich with resources such as water and other areas devoid of any resources whatsoever. The amount of materials that we have now have also decreased, with some only estimated to last for a few decades.

 

3.    Life on earth

 

Apart from human beings, there are countless other species that live on Earth that humans have forgotten about. The amount of thoughts that humans collectively share when it comes to other species on earth is almost negligible; with the exception of pets. Buildings, highways and other infrastructure are usually built on the land or habitat where said animals live, thereby driving them away from their own houses. Animals are also raised inslaughterhouses where they are only bred in order to turn them into food.

It is a known fact that we put all the effort to maintain the place that we dwell in. We clean it, make repairs if necessary, make sure that the garden is perfect and indulge in a lot of other things to keep the house in the best way possible. We do it because it is our home, and we live in it.

Isn’t it the same for our planet? Earth is more like our home, and we are not taking any steps to take care of it or prevent it from the harm that is caused. We use all its resources, pollute it, use all the other living organisms like animals, plants, and microorganisms. We really don’t care about anything and the consequences that we will face in the future.

Environmentalism is the thought process of giving the Earth the care that it deserves to ensure the survival of life on this planet. The concept of Environmentalism deals with more of recognizing the issues faced by the environment and coming up with the solution for them.

Problems faced by the planet

Earth is one enormous place with a diameter of almost 13000 Km. It is acceptable that you are not aware of what is happening in every corner of the earth. Leave the things happening in some place on the earth; we are not even aware that the normal things that we indulge in are affecting the planet and the environment.  Just simple math will give a clear picture. The total population of the earth is 7.5 billion. Imagine if everyone is burning a plastic cover. Now think of the amount of carbon that we have added to the atmosphere.

Resources

Many might think what we did with the resources? Well, the common man might not have done anything directly. But indirectly we are using the resources of the earth in one way or the other. Simple things like overuse of water are also considered as the resource exploitation. If this is the case for the common man, then think about the heavy industries that are entirely dependent on them?

Energy Supply

The energy crisis is one of the major problems that many countries are facing. Even though we are gradually shifting to reviewable sources, we still have a long way to go. Our main sources of energy are atomic energy and fossil fuels. Both of them are very harmful to the environment and human health. Fossil fuels are on the verge of being extinct because of over-exploitation.

Waste pollution

Before the 20th century, this was not even an issue. People used to convert the waste into a composite.  But now we have undergone a drastic change; now there are these huge sites where all the wastes are being dumped. Some don’t even care of separating the degradable and non-degradable wastes. Even though people are well educated in matters like reusing and recycling, they really don’t seem to practice them in real life.

The solutions

The first step for any solution is recognizing the problem. Understanding the concepts of environment and ecosystem will help us have a clear picture of the issues. The solution comes not just by knowing, it comes, only when ideas are implemented in actions.

Things can be handled better if we have a better idea of the environmental laws, how technology can be used to preserve nature, how conservation can be done, how to educate the future generation, how to raise the voice against the injustice against the environment and how to support environmental activists.