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The following exercises are best done while lying down, so you can practice them before dropping off to sleep.  Step by step, here’s what’s involved.

1. Begin with the arm and forearm to locate and feel tension.
2. Close your hand, making a fist.
3. Tightly clench both fists.  Notice the pull or tension on your wrists, around your elbows, and even up in the shoulders.  This is extreme muscular tension.
4. Open your fists.  Immediately release contraction from the muscles of the hands, forearms, upper arms, and shoulders.  You will feel the tension leave.
5. Close your eyes and think “relax” – breathe slowly and deeply.
6. Now do it all over again, then, do it once more.  In other words, perform the above exercises three times.
7. Next, bend toes and feet downward, then push or stretch downward with the heels.  Notice the pull or tension in your ankles, feet, hips, and thighs, but most particularly in the calves of your legs.  This is muscular tension.
8. Now let go, and the muscular tension disappears.
9. Do the foot exercise three times.
10. The final relaxing exercise is for the muscles of the neck, throat and face.  Close your eyes more tightly than usual.  Shut them as tight as you can.  At the same time press your lips together, and bite hard with your jaws’ strength.  This contracts the muscles of your eyes, forehead, mouth, jaws and neck.  You can easily feel the tension about the head—and even hear it ringing in your ears.
11. Now let go of the tension from your jaws and face.
12. Perform the face and jaw exercises three times.  You may need to practice this last exercise before you can master it.  Among all body muscles, those in the face are among the most difficult to relax.  Check on yourself when you are unable to sleep, and you will often find your eyebrows knit together, your forehead wrinkled up, and muscles around the eyes and jaws tense.

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Don’t Ignore Sore Muscles

Pushing through the pain is part of the workout, but be careful how hard you push. Pain and soreness are two different feelings, so take notice if an exercise causes more than just a muscle complaint. Remember, an injury means taking time out from working out to recover — something that’s more damaging to your commitment than simply quitting early.

Don’t Ignore Discomfort

If an exercise is causing extra discomfort, don’t pretend it’s not there. Take a moment to evaluate if you’re doing the exercise right — or if you’re feeling something more than just muscle strain. A few seconds to make sure you have the technique down right may save you weeks of frustration when you learn that you were doing it all wrong, and save you from a few unnecessarily-sore muscles, too. After all, pain only translates to gain when exercise is done right.

Don’t Lift to the Max

Just because the heavy weights are there doesn’t mean you have to lift them. Even with gradual buildup in weight-training, every session shouldn’t employ the maximum weight you can lift. The technique and motion are as much a part of the process as the weight itself when it comes to toning and shaping your muscles.

Don’t Forget to Stretch

While experts are divided on the benefits of stretching, some of your muscles aren’t. If you have muscles with a tendency to cramp or freeze during your workout, give them the benefit of a few minutes’ stretch time before beginning. Easing those muscles into your workout may help you complete the sessions without stopping to massage a calf — and keep you from extra aches and cramps afterwards.

Don’t Forget Your Water

Hydrating yourself is part of the process, not just a reward at the end of your hard work. Letting yourself long for a drink of water can be an annoying distraction during a workout, instead of a helpful one. Take time in between sessions to cool down your muscles and cool down your mouth with a little water.

Recognizing the signs that your workout isn’t perfect helps you avoid failure in the long-term. Read your body’s signals and help yourself experience the best workout possible each time.

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Do you have eye problems like dry eyes, near sightedness or long sight etc? Are you tired of wearing eye glasses or contact lenses? Do you want your children to have good vision (at least not want them to wear spectacles at a very early age) up to old age? Don’t worry; try the following exercises and natural medicines to keep your vision perfect.

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Eye Exercises

Exercise 1

• Sit properly and keep your posture erect.
• Rotate your eyes left and right slowly for 10 or 15 seconds without turning the head.
• Rub your palms for 5 seconds.
• Now keep your palms on your closed eyes for 10 seconds.

Exercise 2

• Rotate your eyes up and down slowly for 10 seconds without turning the head.
• Repeat the process again i.e. rubbing your palms and keeping them on your closed eyes.

Exercise 3

• Rotate your eyes in clockwise direction slowly for 15 seconds without turning the head.
• Repeat the process.

Exercise 4

• Rotate your eyes in anticlockwise direction slowly for 15 seconds without turning the head.
• Repeat the process.

Repeat all the exercises with increased speed of the movement of your eyes.

Natural Medicine for Eyes

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Ingredients

• 30g Indian gooseberry (Amlaki) powder
• 20g Beleric (Bibhitaki)powder
• 10g Black myrobalan (Haritaki) powder
• 5g Liquorice powder
• 5g Long pepper powder (slightly roasted and powdered)
• 70g Candy sugar powder
• 35g Cow ghee (clarified butter)
• 70g Honey

Instead of the first three you can take the powder of triphala (triphala churna).

Method

1. Mix all the powders thoroughly.
2. Add honey and ghee to it.
3. Store it in a glass container.

Dosage

Take a teaspoon of this paste before meals daily twice for adults.

½ teaspoon is enough for children.

If you take this paste for six months your vision will be improved.

Diseases that can be treated with this are:

• Dry eyes
• Short sight
• Long sight
• Burning
• Itching
• Redness
• Glaucoma
• Pains
• Early cataract

Home Remedy for Better Vision

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Ingredients

• Dried Indian gooseberry pieces 5 or 10
• Dried Beleric pieces 5 or 10
• Dried Black myrobalan pieces 5 or 10

Method

1. Wash and soak all these pieces in a cup of water at night.
2. Filter the water in the next day morning.
3. Now pour some water into your hand.
4. Close your eyes and wash with this water.
5. Repeat this until the water is completed.

This can be done as long as you take the natural medicine and, along with the eye exercises. Happy vision!

If you start these exercises at an early stage there is no chance of getting any eye diseases that are mentioned above. Already if you have those diseases these can help in treating them. If you are a senior patient of these diseases then these can control and help in not increasing the severity of diseases. These are not useful for totally blind people.

This article is written from personal experience. Many of my friends tried this and got benefit. Let me know your experiences too!

It’s a scary fact of western culture around the world that we are getting fatter. Skin fold tests, scientific research and fitness data points to this startling fact. With increased fatness on our bodies comes a higher risk of cancer, heart disease and other environmental diseases.

Maintaining a fit body is a combination of proper diet, exercise, getting plenty of sleep, drinking lots of water and living a healthy lifestyle. I am sure it’s no surprise to you, as you sit there hunched over at your computer sipping on a Pepsi, that most of the population is lacking on complete total body fitness. Most people contemplate doing love handle exercises (or any other fitness routine) to get rid of their bulging mid-section but don’t get around to taking action.

So here is a very effective love handle exercises routine which melts fat away, can be completed in 20 minutes, is super effective and can be done anywhere. It is rewarding and has flexibility to take in a variety of exercises to keep your motivation high.

Step 1

• Remember four numbers – 8, 12, 20, 4.
  The instructions are: Complete a short intense burst of exercise for 8 seconds.
• Rest for 12 seconds and repeat this simple cycle of 8 seconds burst and 12 seconds rest for 20 minutes.
• Complete the routine 4 times a week. So 8, 12, 20, 4.

Step 2

The short bursts are best done in 5 minute blocks. Choose between cycling (stationary bike is best), sprinting and various exercises such as push ups, sit-ups, Hindu Squats, Back Bridge or Hindu Push ups. Skipping (jumping rope) is also a superb routine to consider.

So here is how I love to complete this routine.

• 5 minutes of sprinting consisting of 8 seconds burst and 12 seconds rest.
• 5 minutes of push ups and sit-ups (8 seconds burst and 12 seconds rest repeatedly).
• 5 minutes of sprinting again and you guessed it (8 seconds bursts and 12 seconds rest)
• Followed by 5 minutes of push ups and sprinting (8 seconds burst and 12 seconds rest).

This is a brilliantly effective routine for cardio fitness and burning fat to its absolute maximum. The power of interval training has been well documented and by using this simple program four times a week can be much more effective than longer periods of jogging.

Step 3

This routine works brilliantly and immediately when you stick to four times a week. Now four times a week need of only 20 minutes is achievable for you surely! It can be done at lunch times, before work, after work, in fact anytime at all and done anywhere.

The key is not to stop in between 5 minute installments. Keep going to get maximum gain. For those starting an intense routine such as this, check with your doctor first. Consider slowing down to half pace instead of full on bursts if you must.

Step 4

Keep a written plan and diary of your activity
Fitness routines fail for lots of people due to lack of planning, motivation and follow through. What stops us? Here are the key steps in overcoming inertia and follow through.

1. Write down exactly what you want from your fitness activity specifically and clearly. This is your Vision. Example: I want to weigh 140 pounds in 90 days time (31 March 2008).
2. Write down for the week ahead exactly when you will do your exercise routine. Tell me exactly and specifically when.. This is your plan.
3. Have someone hold you accountable to push you through the doubtful de-motivated times. Spouses or significant others are great at this.

Love handle exercises and interval training are scientifically proven to dramatically help weigh loss, increase flexibility, give variety and can be completed anywhere. I believe this makes this routine versatile and enjoyable to do. Enjoy.

1. When cold and stressed: I put warm/fairly hot water in a bowl big enough to soak my feet. I add a little lavender essential oil (or oil of choice) and massage between toes, soak and enjoy and top up with hot water if it gets cool. (If you have the luxury of a “foot-bath”-make sure you use it at least once a week.)

2. Using the ball-tips of my fingers, (not my nails) I massage my whole scalp, particularly the base of my scalp at the top of my neck, and also my temples. Two or three minutes is good.
3. Standing in the place in my home where the air is the freshest (out on my balcony facing the trees), this is best if I am able to be out in the fresh air, weather permitting, and, smiling as wide as I can make myself, I draw in air through my nose, into my chest and stomach until full, take in a little extra if possible, then exhale through my mouth, until all air is gone, then huff out further. I repeat this about 5 or 6 times and then laugh aloud at myself.
4. Using felt-pen(s), color(s) of choice, I draw a picture about my stress on a blank white piece of paper, (or doodle it, scrawl it, make lines and circles) then crunch the paper into a ball and either burn it, shred it, throw it in the trash (or I title it, date it and keep for a while.)
5. Write down as many things as I can in a few minutes, about my stress, for which I can be thankful: for example: “I sprained my ankle when I fell, but I did not break my leg, arm, or neck.”
6. Write for a few minutes about some simple blessings/good things in my life. Write a few lines, a short poem.
7. I think back over the stresses of the day and imagine what a comedian would do with it all – I see if I can find something in those awful stresses to laugh about. Lighten the stress, happiness and joy is my choice. Laughter is medicine for the spirit.
8. Thinking about the biggest stresses of the day and imagining them to be in the backs of my hands, I stand in an open doorway and press the backs of my hands out and into the door frame. I am pressing my stresses out the backs of my hands, I keep pressing for two or three minutes. Then I release my hands and turn 90 degrees and let my arms relax and rise, imagining my stresses floating away. This exercise may be followed directly by the next one.
9. Sitting in a comfortable chair, I close my eyes, and using tips of my fingers, I very gently stroke the back of one hand, then the other, left, right, left, and so on. Very soothing.
10. I like to spend time stroking my two little dogs and playing in the yard with them. When it is raining I have a “string bone” I toss around inside for them to fetch. Every few minutes each day with animals is de-stressing.
11. When I have stress and care that weighs me down, I trust in the Bible Verse, “Casting all your care on God, for He cares for you.” I give my weighty cares to God. He is stronger than I and able to take the burdens for me. The hard thing is to leave them with God and not to pick them up again. So, the “casting” is like “throwing” it so that it is out of my reach. The stress is then gone; it is no longer my burden. I like that. I need to do that “casting of cares, or stresses”, often!