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Wellness represents a state of acceptance or satisfaction with our present state of being, resulting from a balance of mind, body and spirit and manifested in a positive state of well-being. Balance is a very important concept in wellness, and the link between wellness to inner peace also cannot be ignored. Only by being at peace within and without can you attain true wellness through a balance of mind, body and spirit. Our online research on wellness found that there are not many websites with good wellness information. The focus on wellness also differs from site to site and most focus on corporate wellness programs or health and wellness in the workplace. Here at PIH we only focus the individual and so you will find that our focus differs from others. For physical well-being, exercise and diet, please refer to our Health & Fitness category. If you have a specific weight loss goal, please visit our Weight Loss category. Here at PIH we specifically focus on activities that help you achieve the balance of mind, body and spirit that we emphasised on earlier. We believe that what is important is the peace that we feel within us that makes us a balanced person – that calm feeling you get when lying on the beach with the sound of the waves crashing on the sand, the cool sea breeze blowing across your face and the birds flying in the sky. It is the state of mind where we become totally relaxed without any thoughts, prejudice, opinions, questioning, doubting, debating, deliberating or analyzing. It is the harmonious connection with the “inner person” within that provides the calm and peace, the lifting of the weight off the shoulders, the lightening of the heart. In the modern world, stress plays such a major part in our working and studying lives that many of us are blighted by impaired psychological, mental and physical health. This makes us imbalanced which directly affects our well-being. But one of the following methods will help you attain this balance: Yoga, pilates, meditation
1. We like the depiction of wellness using the wellness wheel. The wheel illustrates the importance of balancing the physical, social, spiritual and psychological states. Here at PIH we focus on the physical and psychological aspects of wellness. For more on social wellness, click here. For more on spiritual wellness, click here 2. For comprehensive resources on wellness toolkits, newsletters and a library, click here 3. If you are interested in attending a conference on wellness, the 2009 National Wellness Conference would be a good event to go to. Programming this year includes over 15 intensive certificate trainings, 7 days of “best practices” programming. People are determining what matters most, and happiness and quality of life are crawling up the priority ladder. In an environment where things might not be completely in your control, your happiness quotient is. Is there a way of living and thinking that can lead to increased happiness, but also a longer, healthier life? YOGA Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit root yuj which means “to unite” or “to control”. It is an ancient Hindu philosophical system for the control of the mind, body, and spirit without distraction through control of breathing and body movements. The practice of yoga has actually been in existence for thousands of years and is a physical discipline that utilises the body and breathing to develop and increase self-awareness and improve mental clarity and peace of mind. It is also used for relaxation and meditation.
1. Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness
There are great reviews on this hatha yoga book. It teaches focus on the body’s “lines of energy” in each posture, to sense your limits, to learn to stay well within them when you choose to, and to push these limits when necessary. It has detailed posture descriptions and is a good book for both beginners and practitioners. 2. Light on Yoga: The Bible of Modern Yoga
The author Iyengar has been called the greatest living teacher on the planet. This is an instructive book that properly illustrates the techniques that is easy to follow, and a useful comprehensive schedule that helps beginners to develop their routine. The benefits of yoga: 1. Helps to achieve inner peace and a state of well-being. Besides being at peace with yourself, yoga helps to increase energy levels and creates a positive, happy feeling. 2. Stress release and relief: helps to elevate you to a higher level of spiritual consciousness that is relaxing to the body. The exercises ease tired, strained and tight muscles 3. Detoxification of body toxins: helps improve blood circulation in the body, improves digestion and removes toxins in the body through sweat 4. Anti-ageing: A great natural way to combat the sands of time 5. Improves general health: Improvement in blood circulation, aids transmission and absorption of nutrients, combats illness such as arthritis through breathing exercises that binds the muscles and strengthen the joints 6. Improves fitness: The strengthening exercises help to burn fat, develop lean muscle mass and increase stamina and endurance 7. Improve flexibility: The various yoga poses (some of the advanced ones are really challenging) help your body develop a level of flexibility that you never thought possible 8. Improves concentration: This can be attained through the meditative exercises that improve focus
1. Serving all types of yoga, meditation, massage and wellness – www.yoga.com 2. For yoga poses, click here 3. Featuring interesting and innovative streaming yoga video and audio exercise material, The Yoga Learning Center is the original "Online Yoga Studio.” 4. Interesting range of information, news, pictures and an interesting yoga travel services section, click here 5. More on yoga safety at www.a2zyoga.com
1. An innovator of technically excellent yoga products like mats and props, click here. They also have bags, clothing, accessories and other items 2. A wide range of choices also exist on Amazon’s yoga section.
PILATES Pilates is a physical fitness system or method based on aerobics and Yoga postures of Surya Namskara, and was developed by Joseph Pilates. It uses the mind to control the muscles (mind over body), focusing on the core muscles which help keep the body balanced and which are essential to providing support for the spine to help improve or maintain posture. The benefits of pilates: 1. Awareness: It’s the personal awareness of your body that you gain that will become so important in your life. It raises your personal awareness of your body posture, the way you sit, the way you stand, the way you sit at your office desk slouched in your chair the whole day, etc 2. Control: The more you discover how to have control of your body, the more in control you will feel of yourself 3. Shape-shifting: A stronger back, flexible abdominal muscles and a “stronger core” will help improve posture and encourage a straighter gait. This also helps to improve agility, economy of motion, and promote graceful movement 4. Pain relief and prevention: Helps to relief or prevent back pain through building strength and flexibility 5. Gentle but demanding: Considerably safe as exercises are often is a sitting or reclining position, the low impact and non weight-bearing exercises still gives the body a good workout 6. Stress relief: Helps to reduce stress and relief tension in the body and muscles 7. Increased energy levels: Achieved through deep stretching and improved blood circulation
1. Your Health: A Corrective System of Exercising that Revolutionizes the Entire Field of Physical Education
If you are interested to learn more about pilates, what better way than to read the books written by the founder. They focus on the philosophies, principles and theories. 2. Pilates' Return to Life Through Contrology
This one has details of the exercises, poses and instructions of the original 34 exercises that he taught to his students and is based on the concept of a balanced body and mind called Contrology. 3. The Pilates Body: The Ultimate At-Home Guide to Strengthening, Lengthening, and Toning Your Body--Without Machines
Good extensively reviewed book for working out at home while developing core muscle stability without going to the gym. The book is well organised for various beginner, intermediate and advanced levels with helpful graphics and also has modified exercises for beginners to follow 4. Pilates for Weight Loss
This is perfect if you specifically want to shed some pounds. 12 workouts of different lengths and goals in short intensive time periods, starting from 10 minutes onwards.
1. Comprehensive range of choices from DVDs, socks, mats, fitness bands and workout equipment on Amazon’s yoga section.
2. Good range of handcrafted, foldable and stackable equipment at Peak Pilates MEDITATION Stress is becoming a major part to many of us in our lives. Whether it’s studying for exams, managing a demanding boss’s expectations or working long hours, life is stressful enough. The advancements in technology have also blurred the boundaries between work and personal life, adding more stress to an already exhilaratingly fast paced environment. Many of us also have parental roles at home, or have to take care of elderly parents – so even when we are supposedly "relaxing in the comforts of our own home", stress is pervasive and does not let up. Research shows that many people today struggle to seek inner peace, serenity and calmness in life – and the rising need to "get away from it all". That explains the rise in niche "relaxation" industries like day spas, spa retreats, beauty salons and massage centres. But meditation provides a good alternative to expensive treatments. Although it sounds like a mysterious big word, meditating is actually a more simple process than most imagine. The main act of focusing on our breathing and clearing our minds of all thoughts, prejudice, opinions, questioning, doubting, debating, deliberating or analyzing, brings a soothing feeling of calm. We at PIH have always stressed that it takes consistent hard work to achieve goals, and meditation is no different – a commitment to meditate daily or regularly allows you to attain that moment of peace, where your mind becomes void of thought. Meditation is also good because it makes you give up personal time, space and attention for yourself. It allows you to continually re-discover yourself and your inner emotions, to love yourself and feel inside yourself. Jose Silva offers a free audio and eBook training that offers you peace and happiness. The website also offers the Silva UltraMind System Home Study Course.
Have you ever just thought of somebody and the phone rings and it’s the same person? Or perhaps you say something at exactly the same time as a friend says it or thinks it! This is your own natural ESP at work. Now you can easily develop your own ESP and learn to project your mind and detect information to help you make better decisions about health, relationships, business, personal development, and even your purpose in life. Find Your Purpose in Life. Have you ever felt like there was something more you should be doing with your life? Maybe you felt that there is a hidden talent just ready to burst into success. Or a special mission, a soul purpose, you are ready to achieve? Wouldn’t it be nice to have guidance from higher intelligence as to how to achieve all this? That’s what Jose Silva’s UltraMind ESP System is all about. There are also seminars you can attend. In just two days of powerful training you can develop your mind’s latent abilities to sense information, heal, manifest coincidences and influence the world around you. This is accomplished through a series of relaxing mind training exercises under the guidance of your certified UltraMind trainer. The secret is learning to function at the Alpha Level, understanding the Laws that Govern our Mind, and Learning Silva’s specific finely-tuned techniques for channelling your mind’s ability.
1. An interesting read and point of view on meditation, Learning Meditation 2. A good read on what Meditation is by The Meditation Society of America 3. More information on a comprehensive range of meditation techniques 4. A huge library of meditation resources Free ebooks
More resources Browse through wide range of products in our PIH InfoMart or search for relevant books in our PIH Bookshop.
You can also find more resources and information in our "Additional Resources" page.
* Disclaimer: This section only provides a point of view and information. It does not represent or constitute professional advice on exercise, diet, fitness, health or wellness – if you are looking for these please seek alternative professional help through our professional resources provided herein, or through other means. We cannot be held accountable in any way for any consequences arising from taking the advice provided here. |
