Search Results for: detox

May 26, 2021 By Neha Goyal Leave a Comment

All About Digital Detox: Part 2

You might have understood the basic idea about digital detox in the first part of this article. In this part, I’ll be sharing how you can actually digitally detox! I promise, after reading this, you will definitely want to give it a try.

What Happens To Your Brain and Body During a Detox?

Here are some good things that you can expect during a digital detox:

Spending some time away from your phone that regularly beeps can result in a calmer state of mind.
Staying away from social media can make you more productive and your memory power may improve.
Your mind will be more clear & focused.
You may have lower anxiety & stress levels.
Growing awareness about how you use technology.
Improvement in sleep quality.
Better posture & reduced tech neck.
Improved social life as you connect with people in reality & eye contact will become a thing again.
Better engagement with yourself and the world around you.

Challenges You Might Face

It will be uncomfortable at first as you might feel alone or disconnected.
The thought of quitting the digital detox will fill your mind recurrently, but it will lessen over time.
You may feel you are missing out even if there is nothing to miss out on other than pictures & gossips.
Boredom will try to deter you as you might feel uncomfortable without having something to do.
You might feel unproductive at first.
Other people may directly or indirectly pressure you to quit.
You might find it challenging to go out without a phone.

Easy Steps To Do A Digital Detox

For many of us, quitting gadgets completely is not at all possible. But here are few practical and easy ways you can try to have a taste of digital detox.

First step in your digital detox journey can be observation of your daily digital involvement time. This will reinforce you to make a change and unplug.
Clean your device. Delete old apps and social media accounts.
Have a device free morning. Do not check your phone as soon as you wake up. In fact, keep your phone away during bedtime.
Choose a day in a week when you will stay away from gadgets. On this day, focus more on health, meditation and spend time with family.
Turn off notifications as they distract you constantly. Set a time for checking messages, emails and notifications.
While reading, eating and doing some work when you need to focus, keep your phone out of sight in another room, or turn it on silent or vibration mode.

How Do You Ensure Digital Detox Success?

Consider doing it during vacation or start with weekends if you have a technology focused job.
Commit loudly: Let your family & friends know that you will not be available on social media during a particular period of time & ask for their help & support.
Fill the void: Plan, in advance, some ways to stay distracted and some other activities/ hobbies in hand to keep you busy.
To reduce temptation and easy access, delete social media apps from your phone.
Keep a track of your progress and write down your thoughts & experiences.
Plan for real meetings with your friends and family or simply go for a walk when you feel most tempted to use your gadgets.

Going device free might be a bit uncomfortable at first, but if you can just start doing it, you will find it much more rewarding. So try this detox over the coming weekend and share your feedback in the comments below!

For more tips on improving mental health, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to LIVE sessions by experts on GOQii Play. To get these tips directly from your GOQii Coach, sign up for our personal coaching service now: https://goqiiapp.page.link/wssu

#BeTheForce

May 25, 2021 By Neha Goyal Leave a Comment

All About Digital Detox: Part 1

We all know that a healthy work life balance is not only important for our health & relationships, but it also has a great impact on our productivity & day to day performance. But in the past few years, the inability to separate work from home has massively increased as we are constantly in touch with each other via mobile phones & laptops. During the ongoing pandemic, our gadgets made it easy for us to continue our work from where we are, but with excess usage, it is proving to be detrimental to our physical as well as mental health too. In recent research, it has been found that overuse of gadgets is increasing depression, anxiety & restlessness in people. Now this calls for a break from this tech savvy world through digital detox. Wondering what exactly it is? Let’s find out!

What Is Digital Detox?

Digital detox, in simple terms, is a time frame when you voluntarily stay away from your gadgets like smartphones, laptops & social media. It can be whatever you want it to be. One might try giving up usage of all digital devices at once for a specific time period. In other cases, one might just focus on restricting their use of one type of digital device like their smartphone.

Reasons To Do It

Digital detox can be a way to set limits & reduce following negative outcomes due to heavy usage of devices:

While people often feel that spending time with their devices can be a stress buster after a long and tiring day, the truth is that it can greatly contribute to stress.
Researchers have proved that prolonged use of devices around bed time can interfere with sleep quality & quantity. It can lead to issues like insomnia, anxiety & shorter sleep duration.
Heavy usage of devices can decrease your attention span as they create unwanted distractions.
Constant connectivity with the world around, makes us feel disconnected with ourselves & affects work life balance too.
Comparison of your life with that of others, based on curated glimpses we see on someone’s instagram or facebook post, can make it hard to be content.
Digital connectivity can feed the fear of missing out. It can lead a person to feel that their life is less exciting than others.

Signs That You Might Need It

Feeling anxiety or stress if the phone is not around for a while or when the battery is discharged.
Feeling compelled to check the phone every now & then.
Depression, anxiety or anger after spending time on social media.
Overthinking about likes, comments & shares on social posts.
Feeling afraid of missing out on something if the phone is not checked after every few minutes.
Inability to resist using the phone till late hours.
Trouble concentrating on one thing without having to check the phone.

Does Digital Detox Work?

Many psychologists & mental health experts agree that digital detox can be a helpful approach to technology overuse. However, one time detox might not help you get back into your groove mentally & emotionally. Rather, it is probably one of the most effective tools if it is used as a way to kickstart a healthier relationship with technology.

Now that’s not all about digital detox. To understand how digital detox helps, what happens to your body & brain during a digital detox and challenges you might face as well as easy ways to do a digital detox, watch out for part 2 of this article!

We hope this helps you understand what a digital detox is and why it is necessary. For more on wellness and mental health, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to LIVE sessions by experts on GOQii Play. To get these tips and hacks directly from your GOQii Coach, subscribe to personalized coaching now: https://goqiiapp.page.link/wssu

#BeTheForce

April 14, 2021 By Mubasheera Chaiwala Leave a Comment

Pranayama To Detoxify The Body, Mind And Vital Organs

Pranayama is the yogic practice of breath control. It means the ability to expand our health by controlling the breath. There are various ways and positions to practice yogic breathing.

The combination of pranayama and meditation has positive effects in curing various problems like acidity, stress, anxiety, skin diseases, improved blood circulation, and managing lifestyle disorders such as thyroid, PCOS, controlling blood sugar and blood pressure.

We breathe daily, right? So what is pranayama? Why Pranayama?

Pranayama is slow, deep breathing, in a rhythm. The breathing that we do normally is not in rhythm and is non-harmonic. It is in pranayama that gets our mind and organs in sync. There are various pranayama practices which you can do daily.

1. Kapalbhati Pranayama
This is a famous pranayama practice also known as The Skull Shining Breathing Technique. Kapalbhati has physiological effects on cardiovascular, digestive and nervous systems.

Benefits of Kapalbhati Pranayama:

It Generates heat in the system to help dissolve toxins and waste matter.
Daily practice helps in adding luster to your face and you get glowing skin
Improves digestion and can help alleviate gastrointestinal problems like acidity, indigestion and flatulence.
Improves the function of kidneys and liver as it provides a gentle massage to the organs.
If practiced daily helps in reducing belly fat.
Kapalbhati helps reduce stress in the eyes, thus reduces dark circles around the eyes.
It triggers your abdominal region, so it’s beneficial for diabetic patients.
It improves the blood circulation problem in whole body parts.

2. Anulom Vilom
Also known as Alternate nostril breathing, it has various benefits for the body internally and externally. Oxygen is pure and required by the body for every single process to take place and therefore, it is vital for us to breath right and Anulom Vilom serves the purpose. It is the best way of balancing the Tri Dosas (Tri means “three” and the meaning of dosas is impurities) in our body i.e. Vaat, Pitta and Kaffa. All three are the cause of all diseases. So, it is important to balance them. Our body gets ill when Tri Dosas are not in harmony.

Benefits of Anulom vilom Pranayama

It can provide some relief from mental health problems like Depression, Anxiety, Stress, Tension, etc.
Improves the working of the lungs, beneficial for most respiratory problems like (Bronchitis, Asthma), etc.
Best breathing technique for boosting your memory – makes your brain sharper, increases concentration and gathers focus.
Improves your immune system, so it can cure general issues like cough & cold.
Alternate nostril breathing is an ideal breathing technique for maintaining your heart healthy.

3. Sheetali Pranayama
The meaning of the word “Sheetali” is cooling down. This pranayama practice is a process to cool your body down. It gives the feeling of coldness by decreasing the body temperature, thereby having a positive impact on our nervous system and endocrine glands. Extremely helpful during the summer season.

Benefits of Sheetali Pranayama

It is useful in managing disorders related to tongue, mouth and throat.
It is very beneficial in treating diseases of the spleen.
Helpful in fever by cooling the system down.
Controls and manages high blood pressure.
It purifies the blood.
Improves sleep quality and is best for fighting Insomnia.
It calms the mind, as it is an effective stress buster. Once our mind is calm, we can easily deal with negative emotions like anger and anxiety.
Effective in hyperacidity. Excellent for people who have GERD and face issues with acidity and indigestion.

There is another breathing practice similar to Sheetali, known as Sheetkari pranayama.

Both are similar, the only difference is the way of breathing. In Sheetali, we breathe in by folding the tongue and breathe out from the nose. In Sheetkari, we inhale through the teeth and exhale from the nose.

Benefits of Sheetkari Pranayama

Effective against dental problems like bad breath, bleeding gums and pyorrhea.
Balances body temperature.
Calms the mind, reduces emotional excitation and mental tension.
Can help you manage depression, anxiety and panic attacks.

As a yoga instructor, I get these questions a lot of time: What is the best time to do pranayama? Generally, morning is the best time for a breathing exercise as it helps us activate our organs. Plus, on an empty stomach, we achieve optimum benefits. To know why morning yoga is beneficial, you can have a look at my previous article: https://goqii.com/blog/benefits-of-practicing-morning-yoga-at-home.

We hope this article helps you! For more on yoga, check out Healthy Reads or practice these techniques with our experts on GOQii Play. Do leave your thoughts in the comments below!

#BeTheForce

October 6, 2020 By Mubasheera Chaiwala Leave a Comment

5 Yoga Poses To Detoxify Your Liver

The liver is the only organ in the human body that can regenerate itself! The liver’s primary function is detoxification. The other organs like intestines, kidneys and lungs work together with the liver to ensure that toxins are transformed into less harmful substances and excreted from the body via urine, stools, sweat or breath. A regular cleansing of these organs is essential to make sure they function smoothly. So, how do you detoxify your liver? It’s simple! You can detoxify your liver by correcting your lifestyle! That’s where yoga comes into the picture.

How Can Yoga Help Detoxify Your Liver?

There are a few asanas that stimulate the digestive system and massage the internal organs such as the liver. They make the abdominal muscles stronger and elastic. They are also effective in the proper removal of waste materials. It’s always good to incorporate some form of a twist into your yoga practice. Twists detoxify and rehydrate your spinal column while releasing any tension from bad posture. With proper alignment, twist variations can also reduce back pain and improve digestion. Include these twist variations in your yoga routine to stimulate your liver, which in turn will help it function better along with other digestive organs and muscles.

1. Paschimottanasana

Sit up with the legs stretched out straight in front of you on the floor.
Keep the spine erect and toes flexed towards you.
Slowly raise both the arms straight above your head and stretch up.
Slowly breathe out and bend forward from the hip joint, chin moving toward the toes keeping the spine erect.
Place your hands on your legs, wherever they reach, without putting much effort.

2. Ardha Chakrasana
Ardha Chakrasana can be done in different variations. Both the bending asanas have varied benefits.

First take the tadasana position, raising your hands while you’re inhaling.
Now, place your both hands on the backside of your hips.
Breathe in and try to slowly backbend your upper body

3. Bhujangasana

Lie down on a mat in a prone position. Keep your feet together.
Now, place your hands on the floor at the level of your chest,
Next, raise your upper body, Extend through and deepen your stretch to create a graceful arc in your back.

4. Shashankasana
Shashankasana is one of the postures which is very easy to perform. There are some variations of shashankasana. One can do as per their comfort.

Sit comfortably in Vajrasana and keep your palms on your thighs.
Inhale and raise your hand straight upwards and stretch.
Now exhale and bend forward.
Touch your nose or chin to the ground.
Keep your arms stretched and palms on the ground.

5. Anulom Vilom
I know this is not an asana , but a Pranayama practice. I am including this because of the benefits this breathing practice has on our body internally and externally. Oxygen is pure and required by the body for every single process to take place and therefore it is vital for us to breath right and lom vilom serves the purpose, also it is my favourite !

Close the right nostril with the right thumb. Inhale slowly through the left nostril.
Remove your thumb from your right nostril, as you remove your thumb from your right nostril just exhale.
When you exhale use your middle finger to close your left nostril then inhale with your right nostril and remove the thumb from the right nostril then exhale. Repeat this process .

There are many other poses which have varied benefits. These are a few which are simple and can be performed at home. It is advisable to perform the practice as per one’s body’s capacity and avoid going beyond or forcing the body. Do consult your doctor before you begin any yoga practice.

We hope these yoga poses to detoxify your liver help you! Do leave your thoughts in the comments below. For more on yoga, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to LIVE yoga sessions by experts on GOQii Play.

#BeTheForce