Lifetime Habit
Mr. La Forge (Yoga Trainer) suspects that because the mind-body exercises typically are easier to pursue, executives have a better chance of making a lifetime habit of them. To see if his hunch is correct, he launched a five-year study of 110 middle- and upper-level executives in companies in the US. He tracks their exercise habits and see if those incorporating mind-body techniques stick with the program longer.
Devotees say the mind-body exercise regimen has a payoff in the workplace, as well.
Barry Moltz, 36, founder and CEO of CHTech International., a mail-order distributor of computer hardware and software, started doing Yoga a year ago to balance the pressures of growing a business with starting a family. He still works out in a gym and commutes to work on his bicycle, but he also meditates in the half-lotus position for 15 or 20 minutes at night after his two young children have gone to sleep.
He says most of his friends, also in their mid-30s, have jumped on similar mind-body fitness tracks.
"I think the toughest part about running a company is that there are so many demands on your time. When I meditate, it really allows me to relax and focus all my energies in one place," he says. "Now when I am involved in a meeting, I can be immersed in that meeting instead of thinking about 15 other things. And people really respond when you're totally focused on just them."
The pressures of the job say you shouldn't be satisfied where you're today. You can never feel like you've achieved anything because it's very elusive. Yoga and meditation allows you to be happier and more effective in what you are doing now.
(Note: This article is the opinion of the author and may or may not be substantiated by scientific fact.)
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Yoga for Business People #3
Workplace Implications
Mind-body fitness, which derives from Eastern philosophies and religions, improves physical and emotional well-being, and has implications for workplace performance.
The overall benefits of mind-body exercise are documented in an increasing number of scientific studies. They include everything from reducing cardiac risk factors to enhancing mood.
You are under stress, but you have to be in control all day, and after so many years, what happens is that leads to eating misbehaviors, stress hormone production and cardiac risk factors. The good news is you can reverse these risk factors non-pharmacologically and develop some habits for a lifetime that complement conventional diet and exercise.
The kinder, gentler movements typical of yoga improve flexibility, strength and muscle tone and can be more youth-promoting than the wear-and-tear of daily aerobics, weights and running alone.
Especially with the baby boomer generation getting older, they're realizing the need for flexibility, the need for good posture, and the desire for the things that are going to help them look and feel young.
(Note: This article is the opinion of the author and may or may not be substantiated by scientific fact.)
Mind-body fitness, which derives from Eastern philosophies and religions, improves physical and emotional well-being, and has implications for workplace performance.
The overall benefits of mind-body exercise are documented in an increasing number of scientific studies. They include everything from reducing cardiac risk factors to enhancing mood.
You are under stress, but you have to be in control all day, and after so many years, what happens is that leads to eating misbehaviors, stress hormone production and cardiac risk factors. The good news is you can reverse these risk factors non-pharmacologically and develop some habits for a lifetime that complement conventional diet and exercise.
The kinder, gentler movements typical of yoga improve flexibility, strength and muscle tone and can be more youth-promoting than the wear-and-tear of daily aerobics, weights and running alone.
Especially with the baby boomer generation getting older, they're realizing the need for flexibility, the need for good posture, and the desire for the things that are going to help them look and feel young.
(Note: This article is the opinion of the author and may or may not be substantiated by scientific fact.)
Yoga for Business People #2
Mind-Body Connection
A rising number of business people are finding the mind-body connection.
Yoga, meditation, and other Eastern-born exercises are finding a growing audience among harried business people craving inner calm. Classes are offered at health clubs, company fitness centers, corporate retreats and spas.
Ideas that once were left-of-center are finding greater acceptance with the public support. Mind-body executive fitness is a hot topic right now.
Lynn Doody, owner of Zen Fitness wellness programs in Chicago, notes that, whereas in the past most of her clients pursued traditional cardiovascular and weight-training exercise, most now incorporate mind-body applications into the regimen.
There's just a general awareness, and non-conventional health care is a little more available.
No need to convince Mark Frantz. The 40-year-old vice-president at Merrill Lynch & Co. had learned in 15 years of trading commodities to manage stress and anxiety. He ran a few times a week, worked out at the gym, and worked at reducing stress in other conventional ways.
But he still ground his teeth at night, massages were temporary Band-Aids, and even while running he'd tense his muscles. He wanted more. He sought 'a different quality of life'.
What he found was yoga and meditation. At home, on an airplane, or for 10 minutes behind closed doors at work, Mr. Frantz can shut out distractions with deep breathing, yoga poses, imagery and other relaxation techniques.
He still runs, but (yoga and meditation) forces you to focus on what's going on in the moment and to be aware of what your body is telling you. It relaxes you, brings your heart rate and your blood pressure down.
(Note: This article is the opinion of the author and may or may not be substantiated by scientific fact.)
A rising number of business people are finding the mind-body connection.
Yoga, meditation, and other Eastern-born exercises are finding a growing audience among harried business people craving inner calm. Classes are offered at health clubs, company fitness centers, corporate retreats and spas.
Ideas that once were left-of-center are finding greater acceptance with the public support. Mind-body executive fitness is a hot topic right now.
Lynn Doody, owner of Zen Fitness wellness programs in Chicago, notes that, whereas in the past most of her clients pursued traditional cardiovascular and weight-training exercise, most now incorporate mind-body applications into the regimen.
There's just a general awareness, and non-conventional health care is a little more available.
No need to convince Mark Frantz. The 40-year-old vice-president at Merrill Lynch & Co. had learned in 15 years of trading commodities to manage stress and anxiety. He ran a few times a week, worked out at the gym, and worked at reducing stress in other conventional ways.
But he still ground his teeth at night, massages were temporary Band-Aids, and even while running he'd tense his muscles. He wanted more. He sought 'a different quality of life'.
What he found was yoga and meditation. At home, on an airplane, or for 10 minutes behind closed doors at work, Mr. Frantz can shut out distractions with deep breathing, yoga poses, imagery and other relaxation techniques.
He still runs, but (yoga and meditation) forces you to focus on what's going on in the moment and to be aware of what your body is telling you. It relaxes you, brings your heart rate and your blood pressure down.
(Note: This article is the opinion of the author and may or may not be substantiated by scientific fact.)
Yoga for Business People #1
Do Not Get Distracted From your Goal
Suresh Nigam, chairman of MetJet, one of the leading trainers of computer hardware engineers in India, not only practices yoga but preaches it at his 35 centers.
So what is it and how does it work.
At the heart of it is something which translates as the stoppage of mind modification. For example when we hear music we get distracted. We must stay aware and conscious but not get distracted from our goal.
How then does yoga, an ancient, essentially private activity, help in the work environment?
Suresh believes that the collective is an entity just as much as an individual is. If individuals are happy, calm and alert then the collective consciousness is harmonious and dynamic and will produce better results. If people are tense and unhappy it will reflect in their productivity.
At MetJet all managers and employees are sent to the Yoga Institute at Santa Cruz (in Mumbai) which was founded in 1989. There people are shown a path, how to control your mind and not to run after sensual pleasures. You learn not to run away from your responsibilities.
The root cause of these afflictions is ignorance. That leads to a grandiose sense of self-importance and misunderstanding. We love and hate in extremes. By getting up and finding out what is happening, we reduce stress. Once you're aware of what is going on you have won half the battle.
(Note: This article is the opinion of the author and may or may not be substantiated by scientific fact.)
Suresh Nigam, chairman of MetJet, one of the leading trainers of computer hardware engineers in India, not only practices yoga but preaches it at his 35 centers.
So what is it and how does it work.
At the heart of it is something which translates as the stoppage of mind modification. For example when we hear music we get distracted. We must stay aware and conscious but not get distracted from our goal.
How then does yoga, an ancient, essentially private activity, help in the work environment?
Suresh believes that the collective is an entity just as much as an individual is. If individuals are happy, calm and alert then the collective consciousness is harmonious and dynamic and will produce better results. If people are tense and unhappy it will reflect in their productivity.
At MetJet all managers and employees are sent to the Yoga Institute at Santa Cruz (in Mumbai) which was founded in 1989. There people are shown a path, how to control your mind and not to run after sensual pleasures. You learn not to run away from your responsibilities.
The root cause of these afflictions is ignorance. That leads to a grandiose sense of self-importance and misunderstanding. We love and hate in extremes. By getting up and finding out what is happening, we reduce stress. Once you're aware of what is going on you have won half the battle.
(Note: This article is the opinion of the author and may or may not be substantiated by scientific fact.)
Friday, November 23, 2007
The Health Benefits of Golf
Believe it or not, golf is actually good for your health. Even the United States Golf Association thinks so; they also advise that you should walk the golf course and try to avoid - as much as possible - riding golf carts.
Although riding golf carts is the most convenient way to get yourself from one hole to the next, it will actually be good for your body if you walk your legs along the greens. Doing so pumps your heart, circulates the blood all over your body, and is a good and fun way of exercising.
David Fay from the United States Golf Association also thinks that the most pleasurable way to play golf is by walking. Riding carts, he said, should as much as possible be stopped now.
Walking is a good form of exercise. It is the most basic and easy program of getting fit which almost anyone could do. Simply put, walking is good for you.
Although some believe that walking the golf course is a very unhealthy thing to do because of the nature of the game - the start and stop process of golf playing. In actuality though, there have been scientific studies as well as evidence of people actually telling their personal experiences on the positive effects of walking through a game of golf.
In Sweden in particular, there are researchers who discovered that walking through a game of golf equals to about forty to seventy percent of intense workout in an aerobics class. This is assuming that about eighteen holes were played.
In another study by a cardiologist named Edward Palank, golfers who walked were found to be in a better state of health because the level of bad cholesterol in their body decreased. Meanwhile, the level of their good cholesterol was steady. Those golfers who settled to ride their way across the golf course on golf carts, however, did not show these same positive health results.
Also, according to Golf Science International, four hours of golf playing was found to be comparable to attending a forty five minute fitness class.
Another golf association, specifically the Northern Ohio Golf Association, stated that when a golfer walks across a course, it is roughly equivalent to walking for three to four miles. This included walking around hills, over greens and tees.
Not convinced yet? Maybe you should try doing the following activities and see, as well as feel, the difference for yourself.
During a round of golf, try to walk along alternating holes so that by the end of your round of golf you should be able to have walked through a total of nine holes.
If you're feeling not up to it yet as fully as you should, that is okay. Maybe you could try walking on a set of nines while you can ride the other set.
If you have a golf partner and he or she insists that you ride along with him or her, make sure that you only ride on the path of the cart. You can then walk down to the fairway towards your ball and then your partner could bring the golf cart up.
Are you convinced yet? If not, try to look at it this way. If your health is not good enough for you to settle to walk those legs and pump that good old heart of yours, then at least take pity and be considerate of the damage that golf carts do to fairways.
Believe it or not, golf carts do create damage around sand traps and around the greens. Even if carts are not supposed to ride along these areas, sometimes though, depending on who is behind the golf cart’s wheel, they still at times do.
For the sake of the greens, go walk! Because of advances in technology, there are now grasses that are able to grow on areas that they originally are not supposed to grow on at all. As a result of this, golf courses look as amazing as they were before. Unfortunately, these same golf courses are as subject to a lot of wear and tear as well.
Driving a golf cart along these beautiful greens subjects them to unnecessary damage. So now that you know, it would not hurt you to consider walking along, across, over, or through those greens now would it?
Source : Hobby Articles
(Note: This article is the opinion of the author and may or may not be substantiated by scientific fact.)
Although riding golf carts is the most convenient way to get yourself from one hole to the next, it will actually be good for your body if you walk your legs along the greens. Doing so pumps your heart, circulates the blood all over your body, and is a good and fun way of exercising.
David Fay from the United States Golf Association also thinks that the most pleasurable way to play golf is by walking. Riding carts, he said, should as much as possible be stopped now.
Walking is a good form of exercise. It is the most basic and easy program of getting fit which almost anyone could do. Simply put, walking is good for you.
Although some believe that walking the golf course is a very unhealthy thing to do because of the nature of the game - the start and stop process of golf playing. In actuality though, there have been scientific studies as well as evidence of people actually telling their personal experiences on the positive effects of walking through a game of golf.
In Sweden in particular, there are researchers who discovered that walking through a game of golf equals to about forty to seventy percent of intense workout in an aerobics class. This is assuming that about eighteen holes were played.
In another study by a cardiologist named Edward Palank, golfers who walked were found to be in a better state of health because the level of bad cholesterol in their body decreased. Meanwhile, the level of their good cholesterol was steady. Those golfers who settled to ride their way across the golf course on golf carts, however, did not show these same positive health results.
Also, according to Golf Science International, four hours of golf playing was found to be comparable to attending a forty five minute fitness class.
Another golf association, specifically the Northern Ohio Golf Association, stated that when a golfer walks across a course, it is roughly equivalent to walking for three to four miles. This included walking around hills, over greens and tees.
Not convinced yet? Maybe you should try doing the following activities and see, as well as feel, the difference for yourself.
During a round of golf, try to walk along alternating holes so that by the end of your round of golf you should be able to have walked through a total of nine holes.
If you're feeling not up to it yet as fully as you should, that is okay. Maybe you could try walking on a set of nines while you can ride the other set.
If you have a golf partner and he or she insists that you ride along with him or her, make sure that you only ride on the path of the cart. You can then walk down to the fairway towards your ball and then your partner could bring the golf cart up.
Are you convinced yet? If not, try to look at it this way. If your health is not good enough for you to settle to walk those legs and pump that good old heart of yours, then at least take pity and be considerate of the damage that golf carts do to fairways.
Believe it or not, golf carts do create damage around sand traps and around the greens. Even if carts are not supposed to ride along these areas, sometimes though, depending on who is behind the golf cart’s wheel, they still at times do.
For the sake of the greens, go walk! Because of advances in technology, there are now grasses that are able to grow on areas that they originally are not supposed to grow on at all. As a result of this, golf courses look as amazing as they were before. Unfortunately, these same golf courses are as subject to a lot of wear and tear as well.
Driving a golf cart along these beautiful greens subjects them to unnecessary damage. So now that you know, it would not hurt you to consider walking along, across, over, or through those greens now would it?
Source : Hobby Articles
(Note: This article is the opinion of the author and may or may not be substantiated by scientific fact.)
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