Women’s Health Blog

WARRIOR III POSE: Start in the Mountain Pose with the heels slightly apart, big toes touching, legs straight, chest lifted, pelvis in a neutral position. Placing hands on hips, step back with your right foot so just your right toes touch the floor, all of your body weight on your left foot.

Keep your right leg extended in a straight line as you start to lean forward from your hips. Balance the length of your body, from your right heel to your fingertips, over your left leg until your torso is parallel to the floor. Keep your weight evenly distributed through inner and outer heel, with hips level. Begin with 5 breath cycles and progress to 15.

Lift your torso up and return to the Mountain Pose; repeat on the other side.

PLANK POSE, SIDE-PLANK POSE
Begin on your hands and knees, hands directly under shoulders, knees under hips. Move feet back until the legs are straight and you’re balancing on your toes, feet together. Keep the shoulders pulled back and down, arms straight. This is the Plank Pose.

Squeezing the ankles together, roll onto the outer edge of the left foot, keeping feet stacked, legs straight. Lift the right hand toward ceiling then look up at it. Let your abs support your body without clamping and crunching. Then lower right hand to floor, rolling down toward the right, and return to the Plank Pose. Repeat on other side. Hold each pose for 5 breath cycles.

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It is incredible what yoga does for skiing. People can ski all day long and much better.

Conditioning before hitting the slopes can increase the safety and enjoyment of the sport. Most ski injuries occur early in the day when muscles are tight and enthusiasm is high, and late in the day when muscles are weakened and technique is poor.

A simple yoga exercise called the awkward pose, can increase your strength, balance and concentration which will make the ski season more rewarding.

It consists of three variations which are done sequentially.

To begin, stand with the feet apart, about shoulder width, an even distance (approximately six inches) between your heels and toes. Extend the arms out in front of you parallel to the floor with the shoulders pressed down and away from the head. Keep the upper body strong and firm in this position.

Bend your knees and shift the weight back into the heels, pushing the buttocks out behind you. When the top of the thighs are parallel to the floor and arms, hold your pose. The feet should be held parallel and the knees should only be shoulder width apart.

One good way to think of getting into this pose is to imagine that you are sitting in an invisible chair leaning back to bring the spine and shoulders against the back of the chair. The arm muscles are contracted, the abdomen is held tight and your breathing should be normal. Hold the pose for 20 seconds. Stand up.

The second part of this series is similar to the first. Keep the upper body the same as before and stand straight up onto the balls of the feet, standing as high as possible with the arches pressed forward. To keep the ankles strong and straight, press down with each big toe. Now, bend the knees again keeping the spine straight and stop when the quadriceps are parallel to the floor. Hold this pose for 20 seconds. Stand up. You will find this second pose a bit more difficult.

Third, assume the same basic pose with upper body firm and strong. Again, slowly bend the knees and this time sit all the way down lightly onto the heels. Now press the knees together and hold the body still. The quadriceps are again level with the floor and the spine is straight. Hold again for 20 seconds. Stand up out of the pose slowly, bring the heels down and relax. Don’t forget to do a second set of all three poses.

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1. THE COBRA Do this in easy stages. Lie down, face prone, legs tightly together and stretched back, forehead on the floor. Put your hands, palm down, just under your shoulders. Inhale and raise your head, pressing your neck back, now use your hands to push your trunk up until you are bending in a beautiful arc from your lower spine to the back of your neck. You need go no further than this. However, if you are supple enough, you can now straighten your arms completely, bend the legs at the knees and drop your head back to touch your feet. Even if your head goes nowhere near your feet, drop it back as far as possible and hold the posture with deep breathing. Come out of the posture very slowly, returning to the face prone posture. Relax with your head to one side. Repeat.

2. THE BOW This is also an extreme version of the simple bow. It is surprising how many children can do it immediately. Take it, once again, in easy stages. Lie face prone on your mat. If you are very slim have a nice thick, padded mat for this one. Inhale and bend your knees up. Stretch back with your arms and catch hold of your ankles, keeping fingers and thumbs all together on the outside. Inhale and at the same time raise your head and chest, pulling at your ankles and lifting knees and thighs off the floor. Breathe normally, trying to kick up your legs higher and lifting your head up. You are now bent like a bow, balancing the weight of your body on your abdomen. You can stop right here but if you can still stretch further, then slide your hands down your legs, lift them higher, keep the knees together and pull back as much as you can. Hold for a few normal deep breaths, then relax back to the face-prone position, head to one side.

3. THE SHOOTING BOW In Sanskrit this is known as Akarna Dhanurasana and one leg is drawn up like a shooting bow. Sit with both legs stretched out in front and back straight. Reach forward with both hands and clasp your feet, catching the right foot with the left hand and the left foot with the right hand. Inhale, bend the left knee and pull the foot across the body, close to your chest, pointing the elbow up and twisting the body slightly to the right. The left hand stays firm and tight, holding the right foot. Hold posture with normal breathing, release slowly, and relax. Repeat on other side. In the beginning it is enough to hold the bent left leg with the right hand. When this is easy, stretch down and hold the left foot with the right hand. Continue to pull on the left foot, lifting it higher on each exhalation.

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Every medication, supplement or weight loss aid has some side effects. These can vary greatly according to the person taking them, but there are some for the general population to be aware of. Certain conditions, illnesses or ailments can complicate these or bring them on, so its imperative to know of the side effects of Resveratrol, no matter how seemingly insignificant.

Keep in mind, however that, these were reported by only a few users of Resveratrol and does not necessarily apply to everyone. There could be many different factors that came into play when they received a reaction ranging from their genetic makeup to an under or over dosage. Though its classified by the FDA as a non-toxic compound, being aware of what could possibly happen when taking this supplement will keep you prepared. And, though this may seem common sense to some, if you should get any of these side effects, it is advised to discontinue use and contact a physician.

The side effects are as follows:

*Stomach cramping. This is usually brought on through low quality doses of Resveratrol which contain high concentrations of emodin. Emodin is a phenolic compound obtained normally from rhubarb and cascara buckthorn plants and is generally used as a laxative.

*Diarrhea. This is self explanitory pertaining to the first side effect. Emodin causes the stomach cramping and thus diarrhea. But again, this is only from low quality supplements.

*Joint pain. It has been reported that the joint pains were reminisce of arthritis signs and symptoms. Stiffening of joints, particularly around the wrists and ankles.

*Feelings of numbness on the extremities, particularly the fingers and toes *Becoming sensitive to temperature changes *Discolored urine.

*Insomnia.

*Blood pressure rising right after taking a dose of the supplement.

It will be said again. These arent life threatening side effects, and are even known to disappear after a few days. And as mentioned above, most of these side effects were due to taking a low quality dose of Resveratrol. With a good quality compound, the likelihood of getting any of these side effects is very slim. Also note that these reports are purely from the users, and have not been reviewed by scientists yet. With this in mind, there might be something of a placebo effect, where the user is entirely convinced what theyre feeling is real, though in reality is might not be.

There are many ways to avoid the negative effects of Resveratrol. The first, and most important, is making sure when you order or buy, that youre getting a high quality. There are many places that sell generic or low quality supplements and you can easily be deceived.

Common dosage is between 50mg-250mg a day. It varies with each person, but more or less can lead to an under- or over dosage which can bring on side effects. This dosage optimizes the benefits without the adverse side effects.

With these ideas in mind, you should have no problem with taking the Resveratrol supplement. If you follow dosage instructions and keep to a routine, you should be feeling the effects and benefits of Resveratrol within just days!

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