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Understanding Health and Fitness


We often speak and hear about health and fitness. In recent times, both these words have become a part of people’s daily lingo. How many of us actually know the meaning of these words? Is it just a fad to talk about health and fitness?

Truth be told, health and fitness have totally different meanings and concepts. Let us try to understand the terms ‘Health and Fitness’.

What is Health?

Health refers to the absence of disease. It indicates that all the systems in the body, be it the Central Nerves System, Cardiovascular System, Respiratory System or any other systems are working perfectly and together. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

What is Fitness?

Fitness refers to the degree of body functioning and ability of the body to handle physical demands. If the body is functioning more effectively and efficiently, it indicates greater or higher level of fitness. Any physical activity strenuous or non-strenuous requires one to have some basic fitness. Climbing stairs also requires a certain level of fitness.

Involving yourself in physical activities can bring about some basic level of fitness. Physical activity is defined as any bodily movement produced by the skeletal muscles that required energy expenditures. Physical exercise is as important as food and sleep.

When we don’t use the organs of our body, our body responds by saying, “Use it or lose it”. Leading a sedentary lifestyle leads to hypokinetic complications. Proper and regular exercise result in amazing physical, mental and emotional benefits.

To take up any physical activity, you need to set a goal as per your requirement and the way your body responds. Ensure that you are not just focusing on fitness but on the health aspect as well before setting a goal.

We hope you found this article insightful. Please share your thoughts in the comments below. For more on health and wellness, delve into Healthy Reads or speak to a GOQii Coach by subscribing for Personalised Health Coaching here.

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Healing Hands: 5 Hand Yoga Mudras To The Rescue

hand yogaEveryone knows about yoga and the benefits it can bring to your life. This ancient form of exercise started in India and has reached far and wide across the world. Since the pandemic, we’re always looking for new ways to be fit and active, given that health has now become a priority. I have a few ways on how we can be more active during the day and that’s Hand Yoga!

The importance of specific hand position is common in spiritual and healing arts tradition. India is home to perhaps the largest collection of such hand gestures. The Sanskrit word Mudra means gesture. These Hand gestures (Mudras) stimulates the flow of vital energy in unique ways, affecting organs, glands and nervous system of the body. Such gestures are mainly used while doing yoga postures (Asanas), Pranayama (breathing practices) and Meditation.

5 Hand Yoga Mudras & Their Benefits

The importance of specific hand position is common in spiritual and healing arts tradition. India is home to perhaps the largest collection of such hand gestures. The Sanskrit word Mudra means gesture. These Hand gestures (Mudras) stimulates the flow of vital energy in unique ways, affecting organs, glands and nervous system of the body. Such gestures are mainly used while doing yoga postures (Asanas), Pranayama (breathing practices) and Meditation.

1. Jnana/Gyan Mudra

hand yoga mudrasIn this Mudra, the thumb and index finger are touching and form a circle. The other three fingers are stretched casually. The palms are facing upwards. This Hand Yoga Mudra is known as the gesture of knowledge and wisdom. The Index Finger symbolizes the ego that is beaten by the universal wisdom, which is represented by thumb.

Benefits: 

  • Stimulates brain functions, the sense of touch and harmonizes the nervous system.
  • Calms the soul gives inner peace, promotes concentration as well as memory and helps in insomnia and depression.

2. Aakash Mudra

To perform this, the thumb and middle finger are brought together. The other fingers are casually stretching. Aakash stands for the element of room or ether.

Benefit:

  • It helps overcome obstacles and blockades related to stress in personal or professional life.
  • It also helps with heart diseases, toothache, a stiff jaw, ear ache and weight regulation, strengthening bones, intuition and awareness are strengthened and feeling and thoughts are cleansed.

3. Shunya Mudra

In this Hand Yoga Mudra, you bend your middle finger until it touches the ball below the thumb. The thumb performs light pressure on the middle finger. The other fingers are stretched. Put your hands, palms facing up, on your thighs. Sunya Means “sky” or “zero”.

Benefits

  • It has a healing effect on the ear area and helps with different issues such as ear aches, ringing in ears.
  • It can help with imbalance, dizziness, travel sickness, sea sickness and nausea brought by movement.
  • It helps in healing throat and nose infections.   

4. Surya Mudra

It is formed by folding the ring finger so that it touches the lower end of the thumb. The thumb pushes the ring finger slightly down and other fingers are casually stretched upwards. Surya Mudra activates the fire  element of the body.

Benefits

  • It activates metabolism, therefore, suited for people who want to lose body fat/weight and improve their cholesterol levels.
  • It helps heal cold by creating warmth inside the body.
  • It helps in strengthening the eyes and improves eyesight.

5. Jalodar Nashak Mudra

To perform this, the small finger is bent towards the thumb. The thumb pushes the small finger slightly down. The name of this hand gesture (Mudra) is made up of from three words Jal for “water”, Udar for “ stomach”and Nashak for “finish”. The small finger represent the water element.

Benefits: It reduces excess water in the body. Swelling, excessive salivation, watering eyes, runny nose and heavy periods are all reduced.

Apart From these 5 main Hand Yoga Mudras, the other important ones are Dhanyi Mudra – which is a classical mediation gesture where hands lay causally in your lap which gives feeling of contentment and Atmanjali or Namaskar which symbolizes gratefulness or respect which leads to inner balance.

You can try these Hand Yoga Mudras anywhere, at any time. Just relax and be gentle. Activating the energy in your hands will in turn activate the corresponding energy in the rest of your body and evoke a sense of overall vitality. If you are new to yogic practices, then these Hand Yoga Mudras will be a great way to start practicing.

If this article helped you, let us know in the comments below! You can find more articles on yoga here. You can also join our live, interactive sessions on GOQii PRO where you will be guided in real time by an expert. Book a class now from the GOQii App.

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What Alkaline Water Does To Your Body!


A few days back, I was at a store. I came across water filters that claimed they increase energy and regulate the body’s pH level. It tempted me. To add something more healthy to my regimen, I purchased an expensive filter without knowing what I was really buying. Now that I have read up a little on Alkaline Water, I want to share my thoughts on it.

First, let’s understand what Alkaline Water is and how different it is from regular water. Certainly, it boils down to the pH levels. Liquids with a pH closer to 0 are very acidic while liquids with a pH close to 14 are very alkaline. Pure water is neutral and has a pH of 7.0 whereas Alkaline Water has a pH between 7-9.5.

In today’s fast paced world, our gastric acid levels have increased. Due to our dependence on processed foods, artificial additives, refined sugar, increasing stress levels and reduced physical activity, there’s an imbalance in the acid and alkaline environment in our body. So we are moving towards quick fixes like alkaline water.

Advantages Of Alkaline Water

  • The most important health benefit of alkaline water is to fight acid reflux, which is a common health concern these days
  • It makes us feel more energetic as our body is able to absorb it more quickly
  • Healthier gut, as higher pH water protects us from dangerous microorganisms due to its negative oxidation-reduction potential (ORP).
  • Provides antioxidants
  • Protection from contaminated water

Disadvantages Of Alkaline Water

  • Digestive malfunction – drinking alkaline water can cause steep changes in the levels of pH and can hinder the digestion process
  • Can cause a condition called hypochlorhydria, that is the reduced absorption of calcium in our body
  • Presence of too many ions in the body can result in acute dehydration at the cellular level
  • Exert pressure on the kidney to bring the pH level to ideal

Artificial Alkaline Water

Lot of water ionizers are available in the market these days. In essence, what they do is split the water molecules with electricity to create alkaline water. We get them in the form of water filters or filter bottles.

All water found in nature has a pH that perfectly corresponds to the minerals in water. When we drink alkaline water, our body assumes it is receiving alkaline minerals like calcium and magnesium. The problem with ionized water is that the body thinks it is receiving more alkaline minerals than what are actually present in the water.

Before the body is stressed by the artificial alkalinity, the first 30 days might make you feel better due to the presence of antioxidants and hydration. Other side effects can be erratic heart behavior, hypertension, UTI, infections etc.

It is also advised that if we are drinking ionized water or artificially alkaline water, we should measure our bodies pH daily and regulate the consumption accordingly.

Few Interesting Facts About Our Body’s pH

  • Our body regulates blood pH in a very narrow range because all the enzymes are designed to work at pH 7.4. If the pH varies too much it will not be able to function
  • We cannot change the pH of our blood but our diet does affect the pH of our urine. Normally urine is at pH 6, which is acidic but normal and shows our kidney is working fine
  • The pH of the stomach acid or gastric acid is 1.5 – 3.5 which is required for the proper digestion of our food . Alkaline ions might cancel the acid and neutralize it
  • It is the job of the lungs, liver and kidney to maintain a normal pH of our body
  • The most common minerals found in water are calcium, potassium, copper, manganese, magnesium and iron. According to World Health Organisation(WHO), water contributes to 1-20% of the dietary intake of some trace minerals

How to Make Your Body Alkaline Naturally

  • Start your day with a glass of lemon water
  • Add a tsp of natural baking soda to water and drink it the first thing in the morning.  It helps neutralise stomach acids and provides relief from indigestion in adults
  • Add some cucumber slices to water to make it alkaline
  • Store water in a copper vessel and drink it in the morning
  • Drink cumin water or cumin tea. Cumin water generally stimulates the secretion of digestive enzymes and accelerates the digestion process, thus helping you fight gut issues
  • Vegetable juice will not only make your body alkaline but add various nutrients to your diet too
  • Start your day with a glass of water with 1-2 tbsp of Aloe Vera juice added to it. Aloe Vera juice alkalizes the body, balancing overly acidic dietary habits
  • Drink natural coconut water. The pH acidic level in the body turns alkaline when you drink coconut water and that’s why it’s good for acidity
  • Add more fruits and vegetables in your diet. According to the Institute of medicine 20% of water comes from food sources

Naturally occurring alkaline water is undoubtedly good for health but what we get in the present times is water that is artificially made alkaline. If our goal is to be healthy, why would we drink or eat anything artificial?

If you found this article helpful, let us know in the comments below. To explore more, click here. You can also get this information directly from a GOQii Coach. All you need to do is subscribe for Personalised Health Coaching here.

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Healthy Habits to Reduce Stress

stress reduction

Ever felt like you don’t have the time to eat, exercise, or interact with friends and family? Have deadlines and responsibilities chained you down in more ways than one? Do you spend most of your time at work with little activity? Are all these situations creating a stressful environment and draining you of your energy and mental health?

If your answer to the above was a yes, it is time you addressed these issues. Coping with expectations at work and at home can be taxing. While these are important, remember that nothing is worth it when it comes at the expense of your health.

The simplest way to reduce stress is to keep your mind at ease and your body healthy with simple lifestyle changes and time management. Letting go of bad habits and introducing a few healthy tweaks can help you rekindle your relationship with your mind and body!

Here are a few changes you can make to reduce stress:

  • Always start your day with breathing exercises or meditation which can keep you calm. You can practice the different forms of Pranayama or some basic stretches that reduce stress and keep you energized throughout the day.
  • Spend some time to plan your tasks for the day. This will keep you more organized and prevent any last-minute rushes that could lead to stress.
  • Avoid gadgets as much as you can. Use them only for work or as and when needed. Relying too much on your gadgets can cut you off from the real world. Overindulgence in gadgets is known to cause depression as well. Limit your usage timings or fix a particular time for them. Avoid them at least for an hour or two before sleep. 
  • Set alarms for water intake: Dehydration affects the level of cortisol in your body. Cortisol is a stress hormone that not only affects your mind but your body as well. Maintaining water levels in your body can help you reduce stress.
  • Walk whenever possible: If your workplace is at a walking distance, then walk or cycle rather than using a vehicle. You can even walk while taking calls, after lunch or take a few short walks in between work. Walking releases endorphins which elevate your mood, it also improves your heart rate. Remember to choose stairs as opposed to escalators or elevators as it is the best and easiest form of exercise!
  • Take a break: Spend some time with family, relatives and friends. Having a healthy social life is important to form deeper connections and make life more meaningful.
  • Plan a trip or a vacation with your close ones. In fact, you can even go solo! A change in environment and meeting new people will help you exchange thoughts and ideas, boost your creativity and help you be more positive.
  • Eat fruits everyday: Different fruits provide different nutrients that help reduce stress. For instance, Bananas have Tryptophan, Avocados have Vitamin B, Sweet Potatoes have Potassium and Magnesium, all of which help in bringing stress levels down.
  • Indulge in hobbies irrespective of how busy you are. Hobbies help you relax. Whether it is a sport, listening to or practicing music, traveling or painting, set some time aside to do the things you love and your life will be enriched!

Remember the old saying, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”? It’s true! Take some time out for yourself. If you’re only working and aren’t playing then are you really living? Your work targets can be achieved, your relationships with your friends and family can be sustained but only if you are healthy. Make physical and mental health a priority!

Want to know more about managing stress? Check out Healthy Reads or ask a GOQii Coach by subscribing for personalized health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

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