You sit down at your laptop, ready to do some serious work and get in the zone to smash out a whole bunch of tasks that you need to do. 30 minutes go by, then an hour, you check the time and realize you have not even started on the first task! What happened? Instagram, Facebook opened up and got you scrolling, then Youtube took your focus and 5 videos down the line you forgot what you were searching for in the first place! Does this sound familiar?

I put together this video highlighting 5 simple tips that you can try and implement to stop procrastinating and get focused on your work or whatever task at hand that you have, while sitting on your laptop online.

I hope they are useful, please do give me any feedback if you have tried them or if you have better strategies!

The Tips are:

1. Plant a tree, using an app
2. Put your phones/devices in a different room
3. Close your door
4. Turn the beats up
5. A strategic To Do list

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There aren’t many mentally challenging and physically alluring activities that are as interchanging as yoga and running. Even if many keen runners or yoga practitioners may disagree, yoga and running have more things in common than other exercises. Some may reckon that the two practices can exude and teach two completely diverse things, but they share many things.

The sheer fact that you move the whole body and every single muscle in it to do a certain yoga position follows the same in running, as every muscle is triggered as you run. Read the following eye-opening article to find out more about other magnificent yoga-running connections.

They both exude your mental strength

The mental power you are able to accumulate through one yoga session is powerful enough to help ease your mind from all the troubles that may be worrying you. Running, believe it or not, can do the same. As you go running, you can free your mind, let loose from all the troubles that have been a burden, and embrace the freedom of your goal.

Both yoga and running enable each individual to utterly slow down and practice stillness and calmness. Even if running might be a more energetic workout than yoga, it is the serene mental imprint that remains firmly engraved, that gives each person the mental power they need to push harder in life. 

The synchronized breathing

One of the most essential connections that yoga and running share is breathing. Inhaling oxygen the right way fuels the muscles with endurance and helps prevent cramps. The breathing styles pranayama and vinyasa in yoga demand long, deep and full breath to gain results.

If they were applied in running you would be able to control your pace and run long distances, achieve better performance, and improve your agility. Breathing is like your running gear.

As it is vital to have great running shoes and socks to help your performance and acceleration (click here to learn more and find great running gear), it is just as vital to breathe rhythmically and be synchronized. Thus yoga can help you learn how to breathe adequately when running to improve endurance.

Yoga helps with alignment and keeps you injury-free

Most keen runners have had aches and pains due to lack of right alignment and perhaps agility or due to being inflexible. To stay on the right healthy track, if a runner would practice yoga, they could ease any back, joint, or muscle pain that they might have suffered from. Hence, they would run faster, control the pace, be more agile, and they won’t miss a step as they run or fall off balance in future.

The balance and alignment positions in yoga help ease up any severe pain, but they also teach the runner to be more flexible and stay aligned, firm and steady as they run.

Better stamina and muscle traction

The importance of consistent breathing and getting powerful stamina to endure harsh poses or distances are equally vital in both activities. Therefore, no matter how different yoga and running are from one another, these two things closely bind them.

The yoga poses that meticulously focus on breath, mind and body connections can easily be applied when running which can promote healthy muscle traction. This means that your muscles will be adequately stretched and lightweight giving you the unique opportunity to run more smoothly.

Upscaling the pace and flexibility

If you strive to become a better runner or more flexible with yoga, you might as well tune the two things up. A perfect combination of yoga and running enables you to perfectly tune up your body and muscles. Certain yoga stretches help to promote hip, joint, back and muscle strength like half-monkey pose, horizon lunge or revolved triangle. Flexibility aids both exercises, as long as you do them correctly.  

Doing any form of workout is extremely beneficial for your overall health. However, by incorporating yoga and running, you will get a mindful and all-efficient combo that’s hard to beat.

Photo Credits:

• lucas Favre on Unsplash
• João Ferreira
• Flo Karr
• Carl Barcelo
• Dane Wetton
• madison lavern

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For many people, yoga is a way to keep their body toned and flexible. It’s also great for boosting mental health. In recent years, more and more people have begun discovering the benefits of hot yoga for staying in shape and clearing the mind.

This article takes a look at yoga for weight loss and other physical and mental benefits that you can start taking advantage of today. Keep reading for insight into this ancient form of exercise that will strengthen both the mind and body.

Sweat it out

Here’s the thing about hot yoga: you’re going to sweat. In fact, you’ll probably sweat more than you ever have in your life. 

After all, the temperature in the room is typically one hundred degrees or more, so you will sweat buckets just sitting on the floor not doing anything. So you can imagine the amount you’ll sweat while doing strenuous yoga poses during an hour-long session.

Perspiring at this level is great for helping to flush your body of toxins. Undesirable toxins can build up over a period of time, stored in your body where they can weaken your immune system. Toxins come in many forms, from the foods you consume to the air you breathe. Sweating during hot yoga helps release some of the toxins, which can strengthen your immune system and improve the health of your skin.

Boosts Heart Health

Hot yoga can also be extremely effective at reducing the risk of hypertension. This is especially beneficial when you consider the sedentary nature of contemporary society.

Heart disease is on the rise, for a number of reasons, thus the need for people to participate in activities that improve blood circulation. Spending time in a heated environment can help reduce blood pressure, which in turn has been shown to have a positive impact on reducing the symptoms associated with heart disease.

Great for Your Skin

Your skin is another beneficiary of improved circulation. When you take part in physical activities that increase blood circulation, this also means that more oxygen will come in contact with your skin.

This typically results in a natural glow that is extremely attractive. In fact, many people swear that an hour spent in a hot yoga class makes their skin appear more dewy and luminous even without makeup.

Also, keep in mind that using less makeup is great for your pores, so you’ll look great and be more healthy at the same time. That’s a win-win!

If you’re new to yoga, you might want to consider using yoga wheels in order to get the most from your yoga practice.

Increases Flexibility 

Yoga is all about improving flexibility. Some people are obviously more naturally flexible than others, and yet adding a yoga discipline to your schedule can drastically improve flexibility in almost everyone.

Now consider the fact that the heat experienced with hot yoga helps the body to become even more flexible. In fact, you will be able to increase flexibility while reducing the risk of injury.

This is possible due to the fact that heat enables your muscles to expand and contract to greater limits more easily. Therefore, hot yoga is ideal for anyone looking to increase their range of bodily movements, especially athletes, dancers, and physical trainers.

Keep in mind that your body will continue to loosen up over a period of time, so don’t attempt to overdo it in a single session. Always be cautious of the heat, and take breaks when needed. As you continue your practice, your body will become increasingly flexible, and you’ll experience the benefits more and more as the months go by.

Burns Calories

It’s no secret that burning calories is a major aspect of losing weight. Yet for many people, burning calories can be a challenge. Fortunately, hot yoga is the perfect activity to help burn some extra calories. 

Great for Boosting Mood

The practices of yoga and hot yoga are also extremely beneficial for elevating mood. Not only for the obvious physical aspects, but also because sweating is the ideal way to boost the release of endorphins in the brain.

Endorphins act as your body’s natural pain relievers, helping to leave you feeling open relaxed. This is especially beneficial for anyone feeling stressed or experiencing depression.

Promotes Mindfulness

In recent years, more and more people have experienced the benefits of mindfulness. This is simply the practice of becoming more in touch with your inner world. After all, the mind is a busy place, filled with a million thoughts that cause your body to react in both good and bad ways.

Choosing to practice hot yoga is a great way to learn to become still, and to focus solely on the movements of your body. The simplicity of yoga and the intensity of the heat has a way of making the rest of the world disappear, which can be used as a time of healing for both mind and body.

Reduces Stress

Because of the healing aspects of mindfulness, it acts as a natural way to reduce stress. This can improve both mental and physical health. In fact, it’s truly amazing how quickly your stress can melt away after an hour of hot yoga. You’ll feel like a new person!

Experiencing the Benefits of Hot Yoga

When it comes to living a more healthy lifestyle, the first step is choosing activities that will boost feelings of well-being. This article has shown some of the top benefits of hot yoga, and how this simple practice can help take your everyday experience to the next level. 

Photo credits:

• Stephen Sandian
• Anupam Mahapatra
• Jared Rice
• Dane Wetton on Unsplash

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This is something we all need to watch and learn. Just as Dandapani says in the video below, since our young school days we are always told to focus, and to concentrate on something but we are never taught HOW to focus and not get distracted.

Many people hear about meditation and think it will help them to focus or to be calmer and not so distracted. While it will do all those things we still need to understand how to apply the focus on the meditation itself. If we don’t, the result is that when we start to meditate we find ourselves constantly distracted or even rushing through the meditation because we have our ‘to do’ lists running in our mind all the time and want to get to it asap.

What we need to do is to rather focus on focusing. It is just like any other habit process, if you want to form a good habit, start small and be conscious about it all the time. So what this means is to ensure that whatever task you are doing, apply your entire focus on it. It will be tough at first, but the more you do it, the better you will become at it until it is second nature. For example, if you are sweeping the floor of a room, focus on doing just that and completing it, rather than sweeping for two minutes then checking your phone, then stirring the pot, then sweeping some more and then making a phone call. Make sense?

Photos by:

• Chase Clark 
• Cédric Klei
• Masaaki Komori on Unsplash

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Many people hear about meditation and often are unsure of how to start with it. A lot of times people can be sceptical as they think it’s something which goes deep into your mind and can possibly alter your sub conscious in some way which they are afraid of.

Meditation simply put, is defined as:

“to spend time in quiet thought for religious purposes or relaxation.”

Or in a little more detail:

“To think deeply or focus one’s mind for a period of time, in silence or with the aid of chanting, for religious or spiritual purposes or as a method of relaxation.”

In essence meditation is a means to focus and calm ones mind, which is especially useful and helpful in todays society where we have information and tasks thrown at us from all angles allowing little time for ourselves. It is not something to be feared but rather something to be embraced and can be a powerful tool in relieving stress and allowing us to regain control of our minds and lives.

As humans we like to take something simple and complicate it which can happen with meditation when it really does not have to be complex.

Here are a few tips and ways to get started with it in the hopes of clearing up any confusion about the practice:

1. Keep it short

You don’t have to sit for hours and hours meditating, you can simply start off with 10 minutes a day in the morning or evening. It will most likely be quite difficult to start off with say an hour initially anyway, and you will really struggle with focusing. So start small, get used to it and then slowly increase the period over time. You can even then do 2 sessions of ten minutes each day.

2. Schedule it in and prioritise it

Try to schedule it at the same time everyday so you don’t miss it. Make it a part of your day or you may just let it slide and not get to it.

3. Keep it consistent

Try to do the same amount of time every day and if you plan to increase, increase at a constant pace over time rather than sporadically.

4. Sit comfortably for you

You don’t have to sit on the ground with your legs crossed with your hands on your knees; you most certainly can, but you can just as well sit up right in a good chair with your feet flat on the ground and your hands in your lap. Or even lying down in bed with your hands by your side before going to sleep.

5. Silence is golden, but so is calming music

You can do it in complete silence or play some instrumental meditation music which can help put your mind at ease and produce a calming effect. There are so many available, just choose one which you like and which relaxes you.

You can download some deep zen mediation music here.

6. Get a bit of help

Most people struggle to focus on their own, so a very good way to get into it is to play a meditation with someone leading it. Where they talk you through it and explain what to focus on and when. You are more likely to zone in and focus on what he/she is saying rather than trying to focus on your own thoughts for the full duration of it.

7. Try not to ‘clear’ your mind

We’re human and our brain always wants to think of all sorts of things, so rather try not to ‘clear’ your mind and think of ‘nothing,’ as is the common perception of meditating, but rather see all those thoughts passing by and you are just watching them go by as opposed to diving into one specific thought.

8. Focus on your breathing

Focus on your breathing. Your breaths are the one thing that will help you to be calm and focus. Even if you have all sorts of other thoughts in your mind try to focus on your breathing and feel the how the air goes into your chest and then out. Feel that filling and exhaling sensation.

Occasionally count your breaths, 1 in and out, 2 in and out, up to ten. Then start back at one. You can do this a few times.

For some this is better than just counting endlessly upwards as it can then become routine and you lose the focus.

• An extra tip is to practice a stretching routine or even a yoga sequence which will force you to focus on your breathing throughout the routine. For it, all you need is good, comfortable yoga mat and if you are unfamiliar with yoga or yoga poses, there are plenty of books available or even easier just search on YouTube, KinoYoga or YogaByCandace are favourites.

9. Choose a mantra

Sometimes choosing a mantra and repeating this over and over is good to train your mind into believing something and focusing your energy on something positive. For instance saying, “I am worthy of”… success for example.

10. Be calm and mindfully aware

When you finish don’t get up and jump into the next thing you have to do immediately. Sit for one a 2 minutes with your eyes open and just appreciate what you have and be grateful for where you are and what you have.

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In life we all have goals and dreams, or just objectives and things we want to accomplish and do. Some of these are big and require a lot of our time and effort, and in order to achieve them we have to be focused and consciously set our minds, and bodies on the right course in order to succeed at these tasks which we have set in front of ourselves.

The same is true when it comes to our physiques and losing fat or gaining muscle. From the very start you have to make a conscious decision and identify what your goal or objective is. I want to lose x kg of fat or I want to gain x kg of muscle for example. You then need to set out and make it part of your everyday life, ensuring that each decision you make is moving you one step closer to your goal.

It is this conscious and consistent effort every single day which will allow you to succeed.

“FOCUS!” ~ Dwayne The Rock Johnson

No doubt, it is easier said than done. But one thing in life which has been proven time and time again, is that the easiest things or the easiest paths never stimulate growth, experience and wisdom. So if you are going through a tough time, remind yourself that at the end of it you will come out stronger and better than before. And that is what it is all about. Bettering yourself. Growth, and exceeding what you thought you were capable of.

“Tough times don’t last. Tough people do.”

To do this though, you need to also train your mind and ensure you have the proper mindset and attitude throughout your journey. Too many people start something very hastily without really giving it much thought and end up giving up or losing interest far too soon. You need to be focused every step of the way. What needs to be emphasised is that this mindset does not happen over night. On the contrary, it can take years, but in order for you to truly maximise it, it needs to become a habit.  It has to be ‘exercised’ every single day. After all, practice makes perfect and this is no different. Just like athletes train their bodies to be better at their sporting discipline, so to your mind needs to be trained. Discipline and self control, for example, have to be practiced in order for you to get better at them.

Your focus has to extend to everything you do. When you go to the gym or when you workout you have to be focused on what you are doing. Make a mental note when you start. Get zoned in by listening to music or whatever it takes for you. Do not just go through the motions.

“Never mistake activity for productivity.”

If you walk into any commercial gym these days and just take a look around, undoubtedly you will see many guys trying to push extremely heavy weights around. Most times their range of movement is so small or they are doing whatever it takes to lift the weight, swinging in every possible way. The word “form” or “good form” which everyone seems to talk about does not exist any more when they grab those heavy weights. When it comes to training a muscle, your movement should be focused and controlled to some degree to really target the muscle. To sculpt a muscle you need to isolate and work that specific muscle. This is where that age old phenomenon comes into play, “the mind muscle connection.”

To truly focus on the exercise and muscle you are working you need to feel and use the muscle, and make a connection with it through your mind.

A great starting point and one of the best ways to really train yourself to connect both your mind and muscle, is to do an exercise in a very slow and controlled manner. For this to really be effective the exercise should not be a fairly large compound one like dead lifts. It should be a bit more isolated such as seated Bicep curls or Tricep push downs.

If we take bicep curls, what you need to do is focus on all three phases of the exercise. Firstly the eccentric phase (curling the weight up); it should take you about 5 to 6 seconds, then the hold and squeeze at the top for about 2 seconds and then lastly the concentric phase (lowering the weight); should also last about 5 to 6 seconds.

Another great way is to practice posing. Everyone who starts to see results or starts gaining some muscle, no matter how humble, loves to flex their muscles and check themselves and their progress, out in the mirror every now and again. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but why not use it to your advantage. In between your sets and exercises (or after, if you are too self conscious) focus on isolating and flexing the muscle you are working on. Try to hold the ‘flex’ or pose for a few seconds. This will help to train your mind into flexing the specific muscle and thus translates into more focus on the muscle when performing an exercise.

Once you have mastered that, then you can start practising flexing a combination of muscles all at once. Trust me it’s harder and a lot more tiring than you think. Watch bodybuilders pose on stage and see how they flex and contract each muscle to get an idea of some of the poses that can help. Probably the most difficult one is the Lat spread, to really force your Lats to spread out. But if you can’t do it right away, don’t be discouraged, it will come with practice.

Another way to exercise your patience, mind control and focus is by doing something like yoga or stretching. It relieves stress and tension and forces you to become more aware of your breathing especially when you have to hold certain poses or stretches for a period of time. It is also a great ‘therapy session’ in a sense and allows you to focus your thoughts and exercise self composure.

What it all boils down to, is allowing your mind to be focused on the activity that you are currently pursuing without being distracted and letting your thoughts wander. Concentrate on the current moment and task at hand and give it everything you have. Forget about what will happen tomorrow or what happened yesterday, but focus on the now.

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