Qi gong training for a healthy physique | Snipsly

Qi gong training for a healthy physique | Snipsly

6 Sure Fire Tricks for Avoiding Holiday Weight Gain

by Sara Novak

Are you eating healthy food?

The season of weight gain has already begun. It all starts with an enormous Thanksgiving feast and culminates with the drunken festivities of New Year's Eve. Come New Year’s Day many of us are awoken to the added bulge surrounding our bellies and thighs.
No matter where you’re prone to gain weight, none of it feels good. It’s an unnecessary setback and constant weight fluctuations are bad for your health.
While I won’t divulge how many years that I’ve gone through this downside of the holiday season, I will say that it’s no longer an issue in my life. Over the years I’ve compiled a list of sure fire ways to avoid the holiday weight gain, no matter who you are.

1. Eat Only When Seated

Holiday grazing is one of the largest sources of weight gain. It’s not necessarily the quality of the food that we eat, it’s the amount. Resolve to never eat while standing up. In the end, this means that you'll avoid snacking and eating between meals.
I just got back from a trip to Indonesia and though I indulged in meals that were larger than I normally would have eaten at home, I lost weight on the trip. At first I was confused until I realized that I didn’t have a single snack while I was there. Eat three meals a day and let that be it, especially during the holidays when meals are larger.

 2. Don’t Eat Anything With a Wrapper

Do your best to avoid foods that come with a wrapper. These are the foods that cause us to gain the most weight. Stick with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and protein. Processed foods are too easy to grab and therefore, cause the most weight gain.
Stay away from chips, prepackaged cookies, candy, processed meats, cheeses, and other fatty dairy choices.

3. Try the Meditation Diet 



Try and remain in balance during the holiday season. This means try to get on a regular meditation schedule. I like to meditate for a bit in the morning and in the evening, that way I can ensure I'm engaged in the present moment during both portions of my day. You don't have to sit for a long period of time, ten minutes is a good start, the key is that you're consistent. Allow this mindfulness to translate to your diet as well.
Meditate on your meals. Notice every aspect of the taste, texture, and smell of your food. And when you're full, stop eating. The same goes for drinking, don't get drunk so that you lose that mindfulness at the party and have a hangover the next day. That's two days of mindfulness shot. Notice how food impacts you. Did the pumpkin pie make you feel good after you ate it? If not, do you really want to feel crappy again?

4. Hone Your Morning Routine

When winter rolls around try and avoid slipping into that place where activity falls by the wayside. Set your workout cloths by the bed so that in the morning you can slip off the bed and put on your outfit. Start the day with a brisk walk or run before you even know what hit you. If you’re not into walking or running, choose an activity that you do like. I have my yoga mat out and ready to go so I roll off my bed and onto my mat to get my day started right.

5. Plan Activities With the Family

Planning activities is an ideal way of controlling weight gain and keeping you sane. Plan outdoor games for the whole family. This way you’re not all sitting around eating and gossiping.
If your family is making you crazy, plan an activity apart. Both my husband and I live far away from our families so we usually plan long visits. To break up the time, we often hit the park with the dogs or go play tennis for a few hours.

6. Choose a Go To Alcohol-Free Beverage

The holidays are often marked with excessive alcohol which can be problematic in already stressful weight gain situations. Keep drinking to a minimum and make sure most of your drinking is done with a meal rather than on a empty stomach. Not only is drinking problematic while it’s happening, it can put you in a bad place the next day.
Instead, have a go-to non-alcoholic drink like club soda with cranberry and lime, watered down juice, or your favorite mocktail planned so that you stay sober.

Like this? Follow me on Facebook and  Twitter  

How To Stay Present During Your Qigong Training

It’s very common during Qigong training for your mind to seem like it has an agenda of its own. And that agenda is to want to focus on everything other than your training.
When this happens try 1 of these 3 tips to stay present.

1. State Of Mind – spending more time entering a Qigong State of Mind can have an enormous benefit on your training. Your practice may have evolved so that you are used to only spending a few minutes on this step. But if you find it hard to stay present during your practice then following this tip will often prove to be the solution.
2. Focus – If the mind wants to focus more on a problem or what to have for lunch for example, then distract it by focusing on what you are doing in your practice.
• Pay attention to the movement of your body, focus in on your breathing and so on. But just be sure not to overdo it!
3. 1 Thought – a continuation of Tip #2, but especially useful when practicing Standing Zen. Because the mind can only really focus on one thing at a time. You can use this to your advantage. You use 1 thought to overcome the 10,000 thoughts. And what is this one thought?
• When you breathe in through your nose, say the word to your self: ‘In” and when you breathe out through your mouth, say the word to yourself: ‘Out’. Then repeat.
  Simple, direct and effective.

The next time the mind is behaving like a naughty monkey during your Qigong training, try out one of these tips to bring it back in line.
 

Did you like what you read here? Share it on Twitter and Facebook

Clean Your Body With Your Qigong Training

Your Qi (vital energy) flows through the energy streams of your body (meridians).

As a result:

1. When your Qi flows harmoniously through the meridians, you will have good health.
2. When your Qi flows harmoniously and vigorously you will have good health and vitality.
3. When your Qi flows harmoniously, vigorously and abundantly you will have good health, vitality and longevity.

The problem is that life in the 21st century is highlighted by a lack of proper rest, too much unhealthy stress, poor diet and burning the candle at both ends.
The leads to blockages of harmonious energy flow in your body and the result is ill health, lack of energy etc.
Qigong is such a powerful tool for health, vitality and longevity because it first removes these blockages, improving health, and then increases energy flow.
Listen carefully now, because this concept of vital energy flow doesn’t just apply to your body, it applies to all areas of your life.
This shouldn’t really come as a surprise.

Qi is the basic building block of the universe

That is, everything is Qi and if it can’t flow, whether it’s through your computer, your office, your house or your body because of blockages – whether they be in the form of old information, clutter or poor lifestyle choices – then the result is always undesirable.
The solution?
You just need to clean up and get rid of the blockages you are aware of  and let your Qigong training help you clear the rest.

written by Marcus Santer

How meditating may help your brain

When you're under pressure from work and family and the emails don't stop coming, it's hard to stop your mind from jumping all over the place.

But scientists are finding that it may be worth it to train your brain to focus on something as simple as your breath, which is part of mindfulness meditation.

A new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the latest in a hot emerging field of research examining how meditation relates to the brain. It shows that people who are experienced meditators show less activity in the brain's default mode network, when the brain is not engaged in focused thought.

The default mode network is associated with introspection and mind wandering. Typically, drifting thoughts tend to focus on negative subjects, creating more stress and anxiety. It has also been linked to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and Alzheimer's disease.

Researchers looked at experienced meditators and trained novices. There were 12 in the "experienced" category, with an average of more than 10,000 hours of mindfulness meditation experience (Malcolm Gladwell's "Outliers" suggests that it takes 10,000 hours to be an expert at something), and 12 healthy volunteers who were novices in meditation.

Each volunteer was instructed to engage in three types of meditation: concentration (attention to the breath), love-kindness (wishing beings well) and choiceless awareness (focus on whatever comes up). Scientists looked at their brain activity during these meditations with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Across all of these types of meditation, the experienced meditators showed less activity in the default mode network than in the novices. The experienced participants also reported less mind wandering than the novices. Interestingly, experienced meditators also showed increased connectivity between certain brain networks during meditation and non-meditation.

"It doesn't matter what they're doing, they have an altered default mode network," said Dr. Judson Brewer, medical director of the Yale University Therapeutic Neuroscience Clinic and lead author of the study. "We were pretty excited about that, because it suggests that these guys are paying attention a lot more."

From this particular study, researchers can't say whether meditating is beneficial to the brain. But, viewed in conjunction with other studies showing the positive effects of mindfulness training for depression, substance abuse, anxiety and pain disorders, it seems to have promise. Also, a 2010 study found that people tend to be more unhappy when  their mind is wandering.

"Putting all those together, we might be able to start get at what the mechanisms of mindfulness are," Brewer said.

But the study does not address the issue of cause: Is meditation changing the brain, or do people who already have these brain patterns get interested in meditation?

"Emerging data from our group and others suggests that some things thought to be result of meditation might be cause of meditation," said Dr. Charles Raison, associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Arizona College of Medicine.

If some people are just better at keeping their minds from wandering, that would also be consistent with the Buddhist idea that your capabilities are the result of your Karmic path, so meditation may be better suited to some people than others, Raison said.

Someday, if brain scans become cheap enough, one day there might be a test to see who can benefit most from mindfulness training, Raison said.

In the meantime, scientists should explore these open questions by doing longitudinal studies, Raison said. That would involve assigning some people to meditate and some people to not meditate, and following the groups over time to see whether a change in brain activity patterns is visible.

Post by: Elizabeth Landau - CNN.com  To start with an easy exercise get a FREE report with the most powerful qigong posture in it at: Qi gong exercise

What Is The Real Secret Of Chi Kong ( Qi Gong)?

If you saw the previous post you could wonder: how are things like this possible? What is this Chi (Qi) anyway?

Well, let me tell you an interesting thing about Chi Kong also known as qigong. It has been used for thousands of years with great success in eliminating illnesses, regaining control over our thoughts and feelings and aquiring "super power" - no wonder the Chinese regime was so afraid of the chikong masters that they sent them into prison or even killed them.

Actually the "mechanics" of it is simple. Let me explain: the more energy we have, the more confident, happy self empowered we are. It becomes more and more difficult for outer hypnotic and subliminal programs to have an effect on us - so we won't "follow the herd", won't be consumers only. We start creating the life we want to live.

You might ask how? With the power of our thoughts. Actually everybody creates in their lives with their thoughts and feelings. That's why it is paramount to be on a high energy level to create positive things into your life.

Now imagine when you can achieve the state of no thoughts bombarding you one after the other. Then you chose a thought and it becomes a reality in your physical world. That's the "secret". With chikong practice you can achieve this no thought state as chi kong has an effect on your body, emotions and mind at the same time.

You can start creating th elife you desire today! To learn how claim the FREE  Qi Gong report NOW! Become the master of your life and take your health into your own hand.

National Geographic: Discovering Qi Gong !!

The 12 Benefits Of Chikong

There are a remarkable twelve benefits of Qigong and as follows.

1) Well-being and improved health. Qigong emphasizes the whole body, a true whole system of health. This system has been to cure specific ailments; this is not the primary reason for practice. It is not only about adding years to your life, but adding life to your years.

2) Clear and tranquil mind. When your mind is at peace, the whole universe seems to be at peace. It's about finding a peaceful heart and soul which begins internally. Other people will notice your presence and wish to know more. If you have a tranquil mind, you will make better decisions and have the skill to know when to act and when to be still.

3) Deeper and more restorative sleep. Qigong will help you find the sleep relaxation that is necessary for a quiet sleep.

4) Increased energy, including sexual vitality and fertility. Qigong can give you more energy and restore youthfulness.

5) Comfortable warmth. Qigong is excellent for cold hands and feet. Your circulation improves and the body will generate more internal warmth when it is cold.

6) Clear skin. The skin can become clearer because Qigong helps eliminate the toxins stored in the body.

7) Happier attitude. Practicing correct and moderate Qigong usually creates an optimistic and joyous character. 8) More efficient metabolism. Digestion improves. Hair and Nails will grow more quickly.

9) Greater control over one's body. This entails that aspects of the body that were imbalanced will begin to normalize again. For example breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, and hormone levels will feel more in control.

10) Vibrant eyes. The eyes are the window to the soul and if one is at peace and heart is open, the reflection will be seen by others.

11) Intuition and creativity. Qigong will awaken the brain and being, this will promote the ability to think with the gut and to feel with mind. All this will generate intuition and creativity.

12) Spiritual effects. As you become more advanced in Qigong a variety of spiritual experiences will become more common, such as meaningful coincidences. When the Qi (Chi - energy) is abundant, clear, and flowing, the senses are more in tune with the universe.

Get a  FREE e-book with basic movements by clicking on: Chikong exercises

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6605049

The Essence of Chi Kong (Qigong)

Treat the Body, Treat the Mind

By WILL MEECHAM, MD, MA

This past weekend my wife and I participated in a Qi Gong retreat, which we found quite energizing and healing.

Ever since my decision to train as a physician acupuncturist, I’ve worked to learn more about bodywork. In addition to my Chinese medicine studies, I’ve dabbled in movement-based healing practices. I’ve done more yoga in the past year than ever before, I’ve tried a few Hindu-derived breathing techniques, and I’ve joined a Feldenkrais class.

Qi Gong is a natural extension of this exploration, and is more relevant to acupuncture since it is based on the same meridian theory. I’ve tried it a few times before, and I’ve also practiced a little bit of Tai Chi, which is a subspecies of Qi Gong.

None of these activities come easily to me. Years ago, first as a graduate student and a little later in medical school, I took yoga and dance classes in alternating sequences. However, neither became regular practices. As I think back on why, it seems likely that my brain demanded too much dominance in my life. I had no problem reading or studying for hours, but even a fifty minute movement class felt like too much effort. And no way was I going to exert myself physically when no one was watching. My life seemed too busy to allow what I imagined an unproductive use of time.

It may be that my subsequent problems with neck arthritis and back pain were partly the result of this resistance. Perhaps if I’d taken flexibility training and movement more seriously, the musculoskeletal problems would not have progressed so far. Who knows, maybe I’d even still be a practicing surgeon.

Those choices reside in the past, and can no longer be changed. But I do have a decision going forward. My current age (52) is a time when most of us still feel relatively robust, although we can’t help but notice the looming shadow of old age. There is thus a motivation that I never felt before. My senior years could be relatively vital, or I could descend into decrepitude. Which direction my body goes depends somewhat on the choices made back in youth, but probably will be determined even more by how I behave from here on out. Do I continue to pursue a fairly sedentary lifestyle punctuated only by a few trips to the gym a week plus dog walking? Or do I commit to a healing movement practice like Qi Gong, and take my body seriously?

When I first began my acupuncture training, I had the plan of applying needles to mental health problems. It never seemed likely I’d make much progress treating severe psychiatric crises, but it seemed quite plausible that those with run-of-the-mill depression and anxiety might find significant relief. I soon learned that people aren’t yet inclined to pursue acupuncture for mental health. Instead, my business does much better when I announce treatment of musculoskeletal problems. But I still believe holistic, body-based healing has an important role to play in the future of psychiatry.

Indeed, more books about integral and alternative mental health approaches get published every year, and most of these treatments are directed at the body at least as much as at the brain. Not only do somatic therapies and especially movement practices help with psychiatric problems, but research also suggests that physical activity reduces the incidence of dementia. Physical stimulation is good for the body and good for the mind.

This past year, the first that saw me seriously pursuing movement for healing, was also a year in which my neck pain declined for the first time in a decade. Not only that, but I’ve enjoyed more stable moods than ever before, and I successfully tapered off the last of the psychiatric medications. The somatic work has strengthened both body and mind.

In Chinese medicine, and Eastern philosophy in general, there is less tendency to see mind and body as separate than there is in the West. Cartesian dualism grew out of Western thought and never propagated to Asia, or at least not until modern times. One effect is that mental illness was never seen as a separate condition in China to the same extent as here. This unification of bodily and mental disorders in Chinese medical culture was abetted by societal stigmatization of blatantly psychiatric conditions, especially under Communist rule. Prison or other punishments often awaited those judged psychiatrically unsound, so emotionally-stressed people in China became far more likely to complain of bodily symptoms such as digestive discomfort rather than pure mental distress.

Chinese doctors know to ask about physical symptoms in addition to emotional ones. Historically, at least, a person with complaints of sadness would never be given a simple psychiatric diagnosis. The doctor would explore somatic issues and ferret out the ways the patient’s body manifested the turmoil. Treatment would be directed at the broad spectrum of dysfunction, and not at some narrowly defined ‘mental’ disorder. We all know that severe emotional issues seldom occur without some bodily counterpart, but in Western psychiatry clinics the physical symptoms get largely ignored. Not so with the practice of Chinese medicine.

To include the body is the wiser practice, and one we must encourage here in the West. Although I’ve just begun my clinical work as a holistic practitioner, I’ve already seen many patients whose emotional symptoms march in lockstep with physical discomfort. With successful treatment, both psychiatric and somatic distress diminish. Treat the body, treat the mind.

Which brings me back to Qi Gong. Although I believe acupuncture has much to offer those with mental health problems, it remains a therapy administered by experts. So much better to learn to treat oneself. That is the very nature of Qi Gong and many other movement practices, wherein a primary benefit is self-empowerment. Acquiring physical techniques to boost energy and mood teaches us to take control of our bodily and mental health, and to accept responsibility for our own recovery. Personally, I find this far more satisfying than walking out of a clinic with a prescription for pills. The fact that movement helps much more reliably and safely than medication is also worth considering.

“Treat the body, treat the mind,” calls into question the fundamental assumption of psychiatry: that the mind resides as a separate entity, which suffers its own disorders independent from the body. The success of movement in alleviating emotional conflict validates the idea that human personalities arise from unified bodymind systems rather than minds that are brain-generated but otherwise disembodied, as tacitly believed in the West.

In my opinion, the most important step one can take to alleviate mental distress is to take up something like Qi Gong, Yoga, Feldenkrais, dance, or almost any other movement tradition. Simple aerobic exercise helps, but practices where the heart is drawn into the mix work even better. The mind feels healthier when the body gets moved and the soul feels honored.

Get a FREE e-book with the basic movements at: chikong

Crackers from juice pulps!

This recipe is great for people who juice a lot and don't know what to do with the pulp!

recipe from  Marie-Claire Hermans

INGREDIENTS

• The pulp of your daily juices
• 1-2 C grind flax seeds
• 1 C grind nuts to your choice
• Herbs and seasonings which fit to the taste of the pulp
• Sea salt to taste
• Some pure water or original juice, depending on how much pulp you have

INSTRUCTIONS

• If you like your crackers with a “clean” color, don’t mix the pulp of the different juices you made but separate them
• If you don’t mind mixing, stir the pulps until well mixed
• Grind the nuts you like in your crackers and throw the flour in the bowl with the pulp
• Add the herbs and seasonings you think will fit with the taste of the crackers, spicy, Mediterranean or sweet…
• Taste, taste, taste and adjust until you say “Mmmm!
• Grind your flax seeds and mix everything very well
• Now add the water or juice you need to have an easy consistency to spread out on your tray
• Spread the batter on a teflex sheet or parchment paper and make squares so you can break them easily when ready
• Place the tray in your dehydrator
• If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can use an oven on the lowest temperature, not higher than 118°F or 42°C . Leave the door a little bit open so the water can evaporate and your crackers will be crunchy
• If you put your tray in around 5 or 6 pm, you can still flip it over after 4 to 5 hours
• Let it dehydrate until the next morning and they will be perfect for breakfast
• Try out what you like. This basic principle works for every pulp and you will have fun creating your own recipes. Enjoy your creations!

Have a Healthy Immune System!

http://chikongmadeeasy.com

Cashew Humus

What you need:
1 packet of cashew
1 small courgette
half lemon juiced
some himalayan salt

Put water on the cashew and let it soak for the night. Next day just blend everything together. You can put it on bread or use it as a dip. It's tasty and very healthy.

Enjoy :)

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients
* 5 or 6 large sweet potatoes, peeled
* 1 stick butter
* 1/2 tsp. sea salt
* 1/4 tsp. black pepper (optional)
* 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup (more or less, to taste)

Directions
1. Peel potatoes and cut into quarters. Simmer in a large 3-4 quart pot of water with 2 tsp. salt added to water.
2. After 20 minutes or so, test potatoes with a fork to see if they are fully tender.
3. When cooked, drain water and return sweet potatoes to pan over still-warm burner (leave burner off or on very low heat).
4. Add butter to bottom of pan and stir until melted. Using a potato masher, mash the sweet potatoes with the butter, adding salt and pepper, to taste. Add honey to sweeten, stirring thoroughly.
5. Do not over sweeten the potatoes; the honey should be barely perceptible but it should enhance the natural sweetness of the potatoes.

Read more recipes at: http://goldendietsolution.info/