5 Tips to Reduce Signs of Aging

Tired of looking in the mirror and wondering where the years have gone? Every woman has been there. The good news is that you don't have to stay there - with these tips, you can reduce, reverse, and rectify the most common signs of aging to re-emerge as a better, younger you.

5: Change Your Beauty Regime
If you're on this page, your current routine isn't working, so it's time to change it up. Throw out your old products. Try something different. When was the last time you switched makeup brands? Maybe there's been a breakthrough on anti-aging cream since the last time you went shopping.

4: Embrace Chemicals
The truth about aging is that it's a biological process, and to truly combat it, you need to fight fire with fire. Understand your own hormone levels. Look into age-defying antioxidants found in Vitamins A and C. If you're still on birth control, talk to your doctor what you can do to lessen the effects on your body and skin.

3: Take Care of Your Skin
You should be moisturizing and exfoliating every day. If you have uneven tones or troublesome age spots, don't let them languish; fight them with lotions and creams. Olive oil is good for fine lines. Lemon juice applied directly to your wrinkles can soften the skin and make it appear brighter and younger.

2: Consider Botox
Botox is one of the easiest ways to reduce or even reverse the years that have crept into your face. Its fast, it's convenient - no more than a few pricks with a needle - and it's more affordable than most women realize. You can even do it yourself with a little Botox training!

1: Change Your Lifestyle
This is a preventative measure more than a fix-it, but the easiest way to look young is to simply avoid aging at all. Stay fit with yoga or daily strolls around the park. Adjust your diet to include berries and skin-enhancing vegetables like carrots and spinach. Take care to avoid the most common ways women start to look their age, like too much sun, not enough exercise, and inconsistent beauty regimes. (If you've already gone down this path, this is where Botox training comes in!)

Keep these tips in mind and there's no reason why you can't look ten or even twenty years younger than your birth certificate. With knowledge and dedication, your skin can reflect the zest and life you still have inside - not the wrinkles that accumulated when you were still living it!

Practice yoga in the supervision of qualified Yoga instructors

 

                                        Photograph by: DIBYANGSHU SARKAR , AFP/Getty Images file photo

Today people all over the world have been practicing Yoga to keep themselves Fit and Healthy.  Some people are practicing Yoga without proper knowledge of Yoga Asanas. So Yoga must be practiced in the supervision of qualified instructors or Yoga Gurus to avoid unwanted injuries. Yoga is a powerful medication for curing what ails you, from sore backs to sore wrists and even the occasional achy knee

Best tips to be followed in Yoga Class

Here are some tips for being mannerly on your mat:

On arriving late (or leaving early)

The main thing here is, try not to do either. But, things happen, and the best-laid plans often go awry.

In some private studios, the door will be closed and quite possibly locked, thus taking care of what to do about late-comers. Pounding on the door would not be a viable option here. In gym settings, or in studios where walking in late is possible, be respectful of the meditative yearnings of the rest of the class who showed up on time — open and close the door quietly, tiptoe in, open and lay down your mat as delicately as if you were handling TNT. 

Be as unobtrusive as a pickpocket. And if you must leave early, best to inform the teacher before class starts, and leave with the utmost quietness. Getting up during savasana (final resting pose) is a no-no.

Taking up space

Avoid wedging your mat in where there is insufficient space Your teacher can help rearrange the layout of mats. That way you won't have to incur the wrath (wrath is unyoga-like, yet not uncommon in such situations) of participants who are already deep into their own inner as well as outer space.

Do not tread on others' mats

This should go without saying, but I am saying it anyway because I see it happening all the time. This is tantamount to inviting yourself into someone else's home. Step over anyone's mat that's not your own.

Come to class clean . . .

Body odor is a big distraction. If your routine is to work out vigorously and then come to yoga class, wash off the sweat and use a deodorant. Hand sanitizers should be liberally employed. Offer to share with your neighbors, especially in flu season. If you are ill, stay away from class; others do not need to be exposed any more than is necessary, and you can always practice at home.

. . . but not too clean

Avoid finishing off your aura with perfumes and colognes. Many people are sensitive to fragrances.

Wear appropriate clothing

Yoga is not about fashion statements. Comfort and practicality rule. Please, leave your shirt on. I have on two occasions witnessed practitioners strip during class. I suppose that one may ask permission before doing so in an unusually warm setting.

On doing your own thing

Don't. Even if you have a better practice than the teacher, or anyone else in the room. This kind of thing leads to a free-for-all, which is definitely not conducive to a mind-body-spirit balanced class. If there is a pose that you just have to do, and the teacher is not offering it, wait until the end of class and go do it to your heart's content. Now, if you are pregnant, that is a whole other matter. You do need to modify poses and avoid certain ones as well. 

Breathing too loudly

Uijayi pranayama (ocean-sounding, or victorious breath) is a wonderful practice, even if you have not been invited by the teacher to use it. But it can be distracting to others. Properly performed, it should be audible only as far as the next mat over. And please, no grunting; if the pose is too strenuous, simply back off and pause in prayer or child pose.

Thank your teacher

Simply repeat "namaste" after she says it at the end of class, even if you are a bit unsure of exactly what it means. And perhaps you might take a moment to expand upon the sentiment by saying a bit more about how great the class was, etc. Teachers love feedback.

Clean up

That means wiping off your mat, especially if you are using one that belongs to the facility. Put away your props too — neatly. Be like a Boy Scout and leave the place a little better than you found it.

Courtesy:  Copyright © 2011, Reuters

B.K.S.Iyengar is a living legend

Yogacharya B.K.S.Iyengar (Guruji) is a living legend who has taught yoga in a unique way to all his students. B. K. S. Iyengar introduced Iyengar Yoga, a form of Hatha Yoga known for its use of props, such as belts, blocks, and blankets, as aids in performing asanas (postures). Iyengar Yoga is firmly on the traditional eight limbs of yoga as expounded by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras, which includes yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi.

Yoga for Fitness

Yoga is all the rage for its combined physical and mental benefits, as well as the fact that so many of us look downright sexy in those groovy yoga pants and bare, recently pedicure feet.

Hatha Yoga is the most commonly practiced form, and it's ideal for beginners, focusing as it does on slow stretching and simple poses. Like all fitness trends, more intense forms of Yoga are the ones you hearing people talking about—Iyangar, Vinyasa, Tantric and Hot Yoga are in vogue with the same people who were all about Pilates a couple of years ago. If you're looking to increase your strength, balance and flexibility in a calm atmosphere, look for a generic, beginners' Yoga class instead of going with one of the trendier forms: you'll find it satisfying and you'll be less likely to suffer strains.

Some Yoga classes focus on spiritual work with a lessened emphasis on fitness. There may be meditation and chanting. Yoga at the gym or health club will probably be fitness oriented, but if you study at an ashram or another place dedicated to Yoga, you may find the classes more comprehensive.

If you're looking for a more challenging workout and want to shake things up a bit, you may want to try Iyangar Yoga, which can be fluid and fast paced. Iyangar is not for the out-of-shape: you'd be surprised at the muscles you can pull if you just jump into an already-moving Iyangar class. While Hatha Yoga doesn't generally use props, Iyangar uses some of the same bands and bricks as Pilates.

There are as many types of Yoga as there are people who teach it. Hot Yoga is especially popular because it's fun to do Yoga in a 95 degree room full of sweating students. Okay, that doesn't sound like fun, but people love it because it combines a Yoga workout full of stretching and bending with a room heated to bring waxy flexibility to even fairly stiff muscles and joints. Hot Yoga isn't for everyone—if you have health issues like heart trouble, if you're pregnant or out of shape, you shouldn't attempt Hot Yoga. But if you're in good health and especially if you live in the cold North and want a warm winter workout, Hot Yoga is the way to go.

There are various ways of becoming certified to teach Yoga, so before you join a class, find out about the instructor's educational background. You want a teacher who's been doing Yoga for a long time, and it never hurts if that person also has a degree in something like exercise physiology. Yoga is a specialist sport: your gym shouldn't be training Yoga instructors in 3 or even 6 months: Yoga takes years. And once you've ascertained that your instructor does indeed know her or his stuff, you will still want to look for the hallmarks of a good instructor. Instructors should be happy to answer questions, should provide demonstrations and feedback during class, and should never push you into doing things you aren't ready for. Because Yoga is about stretching and gaining flexibility, people who are in a hurry to get fit may feel impatient. That impatience can lead to injury if you stretch too far, bounce in your stretching or attempt poses that hurt. Don't expect to be able to do it all at first: over time, you'll get stronger and will be able to hold poses longer and take on new challenges in the form of more extreme poses.

Restorative Yoga

The word yoga comes from Sanskrit, the scriptural language of ancient India, and means "to yoke" or "to unite." Dating back to the Indus Valley civilization of 2000 to 4000 B.C.E., yoga practices are designed to help the individual feel whole. Ancient yoga texts present teachings that include the physical, mental, and spiritual dimensions of the practitioner. The physical aspects of yoga--poses (asana) and breathing techniques (pranayama) are the most popular in the West.

Restorative Yoga poses help relieve the effects of chronic stress in several ways.

1. The use of props as described in this book provides a completely supportive environment for total relaxation.

2. Each restorative sequence is designed to move the spine in all directions. These movements illustrate the age-old wisdom of yoga that teaches well-being is enhanced by a healthy spine. Some of the restorative poses are backbends, while others are forward bends. Additional poses gently twist the column both left and right.

3. A well-sequenced restorative practice also includes an inverted pose, which reverses the effects of gravity. This can be as simple as putting the legs on a bolster or pillow, but the effects are quite dramatic. Because we stand or sit most of the day, blood and lymph fluid accumulate in the lower extremities. By changing the relationship of the legs to gravity, fluids are returned to the upper body and heart function is enhanced.

Psychobiologist and yoga teacher Roger Cole, Ph.D., consultant to the University of California, San Diego, in sleep research and biological rhythms, has done preliminary research on the effects of inverted poses. He found that they dramatically alter hormone levels, thus reducing brain arousal, blood pressure, and fluid retention. He attributes these benefits to a slowing of the heart rate and dilation of the blood vessels in the upper body that comes from reversing the effects of gravity.

Fourth, restorative yoga alternately stimulates and soothes the organs. For example, by closing the abdomen with a forward bend and then opening it with a backbend, the abdominal organs are squeezed, forcing the blood out, and then opened, so that fresh blood returns to soak the organs. With this movement of blood comes the enhanced exchange of oxygen and waste products across the cell membrane.

Finally, yoga teaches that the body is permeated with energy. Prana, the masculine energy, resides above the diaphragm, moves upward, and controls respiration and heart rate. Apana, the feminine energy, resides below the diaphragm, moves downward, and controls the function of the abdominal organs. Restorative yoga balances these two aspects of energy so that the practitioner is neither over stimulated nor depleted.

Yoga for Fitness, Wellness, Mental health