The Daily Mind
Daily Steps To Mindful Living
Whether you have just started doing yoga, are looking to advance into certain postures, or just want to meditate more regularly, having yoga blocks at hand can be very helpful and enriching in your asana and meditation practice.
But what exactly are yoga blocks for? There are actually a number of ways to use them. Here’s how you can use your yoga blocks:
[Read more…] about What are Yoga Blocks For?Taking activated charcoal has a plethora of benefits. Because of its potent detoxification properties, it helps flush toxins, heavy metals, and other unwanted substances out of the body. In other words, it helps cleanse your gut, reset your internal organs, and boost your immune system.
There are several ways you can incorporate activated charcoal in your daily life. Read on, below.
If you feel that your digestion is off, activated charcoal may help soothe pain associated with mild indigestion.
It’s available in ready-to-drink capsules but can also be taken in powder form. Try mixing a teaspoon of activated charcoal powder in your water or even breakfast smoothie.
For yellowing teeth, try using toothpaste infused with activated charcoal. Much like toxins in your body, it binds onto and effectively remove plaque, food debris, and other surface stains. As a result, you get visibly whiter and cleaner looking teeth.
Activated charcoal also helps restore the natural pH balance in your mouth, thereby preventing cavities and bad breath.
There are many skincare products and clay masks infused with activated charcoal, although you can easily DIY it at home. For oily or acne-prone skin, it helps decongest sebum-clogged pores, slough away dead skin cells, and eliminate harmful bacteria.
Incorporating activated charcoal in your skincare routine can help give you visibly radiant, even-toned skin and a smoother complexion.
Tap water may contain harmful chemicals and toxins. Using an activated charcoal water filter can help purify the water in your home, making it safe to drink.
Studies also show that activated charcoal filters removes some fluoride in water. Avoiding fluoride may lead to better immune functioning and improved internal organ health.
As with all other supplements, do consult with your physician or healthcare professional as to how much and how often you should take activated charcoal. Moreover, always listen to your body and see if this is something you do need in your daily life.
If there are essential oils that help put you to sleep, then there certainly are essential oils that help you stay energized, invigorated, and inspired! If you’re wondering what essential oils are good for energy, read our list below.
For a clean, crisp, and uplifting aroma, try a few drops of lemon essential oil in your diffuser.Lemon is also known for its anti-aging properties, so infusing it in your skincare products should add a brightening effect in your favorite serums and moisturizers. Not only will you feel more energized—you’ll look more energized too!
Bloating, indigestion, and an imbalanced gut can all contribute to feelings of slowness and sluggishness. Peppermint can help calm, soothe, and treat digestive issues. As soon as you get out of bed in the morning, mix a few drops of peppermint with a glass of water or your favorite beverage. It should help kick off your day!
If you’ve ever sprinkled a bit of ginger in your homecooked dishes, you’d know that it instantly add a strong and spicy flavor and a lot of heat. Much like turmeric, ginger helps boost circulation and reduce inflammation, making it effective in alleviating muscle and joint pain, and also giving you more physical energy.
This sweet, tangy oil is known for its mood-boosting effects. It’s teeming with flavonoids, which have been shown to decrease symptoms of anxiety and depression. Studies also report that the strong, sweet-smelling scent of grapefruit also helps clear up brain frog and promote focus—making it the ideal companion for busy and stressful workdays.
Everybody loves a sprinkle of cinnamon on pastries and desserts, but this sweet, delicious spice has a whole list of added benefits. Cinnamon essential oil stimulates metabolism, boosts concentration, and even strengthens your immune system. For your daily pick-me-up, try infusing cinnamon with a carrier oil and applying it onto your temples.
Yoga has an entire alphabet of benefits. Not only does it help you build strength and flexibility, but it also helps aid digestion and metabolism, support healthy elimination, and boost internal organ health.
Below are 4 yoga steps for better digestion.
[Read more…] about 5 Yoga Steps for Better DigestionBy now, you may have heard of turmeric. It’s a well-known superfood, known for its spicy, potent flavor and bright golden color. It can be taken as a tea, or infused into savory dishes. You can even turn it into the delicious, sweet-spicy beverage called golden milk.
[Read more…] about Does Turmeric Help With Allergies – and Other Questions AnsweredIf you’re new to your yoga practice, you might have heard your instructor call out a sun salutation and then suddenly gone through a chain of invigorating, revitalizing, and especially challenging postures. It’s completely normal for the whole sequence to feel confusing, especially if you’re a beginner—but rest assured it will get easier and more familiar with dedicated practice.
If you’re a seasoned practitioner, though, your sun salute may already feel like home. But still, you might wonder where this iconic sequence originated from and what exactly it does to your body. Below, we break down your surya namaskar for you!
A sun salutation—or surya namaskar—is a seamless chain of poses or asanas. It builds internal heat and energy in the body, and is typically practiced in synchronization with the breath. It has a meditative quality to it, and promotes focus and concentration across the sequence.
According to Yoga Journal, this sequence is argued to be at least 2,500 years old (or possibly older) and was once practiced as a ritual performed at dawn. The ancient yogis believed that “each of us replicates the world at large,” and that we each embody nature.
The sun, in particular, represents our subtle heart. This is why each sun salutation begins and ends with a hands in prayer against the heart—the heart is the seat of wisdom.
That said, a sun salutation should be performed with love, devotion, adoration, and acknowledgment of our emotions. It is a flow that attunes us to our “inner sun.”
There are different variations of the sun salute. Below is Surya Namaskar A, which you can find in any Vinyasa Flow class.
Stand tall at the top of your mat. Ground down through your feet, engage the quadriceps, and squeeze the inner thighs. Draw the tailbone down and lift the lower belly up. Relax the shoulders away from your ears. Energize your fingertips down, as you lengthen the crown of the head up to the sky. Feel yourself grounded to the earth, yet connected to the sky.
Still standing in Tadasana, inhale and lift your arms up towards the sky. Keep the ribcage hugging in and the shoulders drawing away from the ears. Spread the fingertips as you lengthen the spine and the arms up.
As you exhale, dive down and fold forward. Bend the knees, as you take both palms down flat on the mat. Shift your weight to the balls of your feet. Keep your spine long and press the belly towards the thighs. Reach the crown of the head down to the floor.
Ground down onto the palms and push with the arms. Inhale, step one leg back followed by the other until you come into your high plank. Reach the heels of the feet back behind you. Squeeze the glutes and the inner thighs. Hug the belly and the ribs in. Continue to push with the arms.
Squeeze the inner thighs and the glutes, hug the triceps into your ribs, as you exhale and shift forward and lower all the way down with control. You may modify this by taking your knees down onto the mat.
Inhale, press the palms onto the mat and straighten the arms. Lift your thighs off the mat, reach the heart forward and open up the chest. This backbend is also known as upward facing dog.
From upward facing dog, tuck the toes underneath you. Push down with the hands and engage the arms, as you lift the hips up and exhale to come into downward facing dog.
Press the heels of your feet down to the earth. Push your hamstrings behind you and squeeze the inner thighs. Press the hips up towards the sky. Bring the chest closer to the thighs as you create an inverted V shape with your body. Hug the ribcage in. Broaden across the upper back as you mindfully push with both arms.
From downward facing dog, complete the sequence by looking forward and stepping one foot forward followed by the other. You will find yourself briefly in your uttanasana or forward fold.
Then, press down through the feet and inhale to reach the arms up towards the sky. Exhale and seal your palms together with gratitude. Release your hands back down on either side of your hips. You will find yourself in tadasana once again.
