Tag Archives: Yoga

Muse Brain Sensing Headband Review

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Holistic wellness is something that one person would want to achieve. Though achieving this can be quite tricky, it is impossible. Along with holistic wellness is also the idea that a healthy body would be great to be matched with a healthy brain. Example, if one wants to increase physical fitness efforts to achieving this would include a gym membership, set off   an exercise habit or get a personal trainer to assist you in attaining your goal. For mental and emotional fitness, technology has indeed a solution for giving a work out for the brain. This device is same as a heart rate monitor for your mind. Muse is a techy device that senses brain signals during a focused-attention exercise similar to how a heart rate monitor detects your heart rate during physical exercise. This measurement provides the user valuable feedback that can be used to train your brain on a daily basis and as time goes will result to improved your focus, attention and composure. Learn more about this product through this Muse Brain Sensing Headband Review.

Click here to check product pricing and to read more user reviews.

How does this device work exactly? The main idea on the concept of Muse originated from electroencephalography (EEG) technology, which measures electrical activity of the brain. Typically, an EEG test needs the sensors attached to your head, these sensors are then connected to a computer via wires. The Muse is wireless and connects to your mobile device via Bluetooth.

 What are the great features and the benefits of this brain sensing headband?

An unfortunate thing about adulthood is that stress and anxiety seemed to come along with it like it is part of the package. It is during these times that moments of quiet meditation or even yoga really helps a lot in telling your brain that amidst all the stress, it has to calm down. What the Muse does is that it magnifies your meditation and yoga exercises to a higher level. This device is a nifty tool to boost your wellness by helping you to train your brain through a daily guided training sessions on a minimum 3 minutes a day. It is technologically engineered to work on a attaining lesser stress on your mind, where in, with the exercises done with this device, you get to somehow shut-off your thoughts through a series of focused-attention exercises in partnership with the Calm app. Through this process it is giving you real-time feedback to help you understand how well you are maintaining your focus. Developing this skill will help you reduce anxiety and stress, focus the mind, boost concentration and productivity, and increase your composure during stressful times.

The device itself is adjustable, lightweight and can snug comfortably to your head. It looks just like those wearable mp3 players on the market, except that the band goes across your forehead and has two arms tucking behind your ears just like a pair of glasses. At the back of each arm is a micro USB slot that is used for charging the device. The battery lasts for up to 5 hours after full charging. Muse has a single button that’s flush to one of the earpieces for turning the device on and a thin strip of light illuminates on the earpiece that tells the user the is already active. Along the forehead band is a thin strip with 7 finely calibrated sensors – 2 on the forehead, 2 behind the ears plus 3 reference sensors that detect and measure the activity of your brain.

PROS

  • Lightweight, comfortable to wear and portable
  • Easy to set-up and use
  • Has lower intrinsic noise and great sensor geometry which makes the sensors more responsive
  • Uses clinical grade EEG
  • Helps improve emotional intelligence, productivity, and motivation
  • Great real-time real-time audio and visual feedback plus long-term tracking to monitor progress
  • Lowers stress level and eventually reduces levels of cortisol, your body’s stress hormone
  • Strengthens the area of the brain related to composure and empathy
  • Guided training sessions are designed to build the skill of focused attention which help manage stress

CONS

  • This device is not medically approved, hence those who have serious issues must seek the help of a professional
  • Limited things to do with the device
  • Sometimes it takes a while to get the sensor attached properly but this is only a very minor issue

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Muse: The Brain Sensing Headband

Doing Yoga for a Radiantly Sexy and Healthy Body and Mind

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It was about a two years ago when I started my interest in doing Yoga. It has done so many great things for me hence I would find great pleasure to be able to share my experience of Yoga with you. Quite honestly, I have not been keeping up with it the past few months so I really felt I had the need to do this as a routine once again. I want to motivate myself again by telling myself and sharing to everyone about doing yoga for a radiantly sexy and healthy body and mind.

Let me start by saying that Yoga is right living. This definition may appear to be simple, but really it is very significant, for the meaning of right living is very wide. Yoga offers us simple, easy remedies, techniques and methods of health and hygiene to assure physical and mental fitness with a minimum of time, effort and expense. Please bear in mind that Yoga is neither a sect nor an ideology but a practical training of mind and body. It is where I learned a technique for achieving purest form of self-awareness, devoid of all thoughts.

How can Yoga give a radiantly healthy body and mind? Yoga is an ancient discipline designed to bring balance and health to the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of the individual. Yoga is often depicted metaphorically as a tree and comprises eight aspects, or ‘‘limbs:’’ yama (universal ethics), niyama (individual ethics), asana (physical postures), pranayama (breath control), pratyahara (control of the senses), dharana (concentration), dyana (meditation), and samadhi (bliss).

The person that inspired me the most in doing Yoga is Tara Stiles. If you have been doing Yoga, you may have known her as she is very popular. She was named “Yoga Rebel” by the New York Times and has inspired a wide audience around the world with her relatable approaches to yoga, meditation, exercise, awareness, nutrition, and everyday well-being. Tara is the founder and owner of Strala Yoga, widely known for its unpretentious, inclusive, and straightforward approach to yoga and meditation. Jane Fonda named Tara “the new face of fitness” and Vanity Fair declared her the “Coolest Yoga Instructor Ever.” She’s truly amazing on what she does and what she has contributed to many people on Yoga.

Tara authored the following books about Yoga:

 

Here is a couple of step by step Yoga Postures:

Posture: The Salutation Pose

  1. Sit comfortably in the thunderbolt pose.
  2. Kneel up on your knees until your back, buttocks and thighs are aligned.
  3. Extend your left foot forward bending your left knee at about a 90 degree angle.
  4. Place the palms of your hands together at the heart in the anjali-mudra.
  5. Raise your arms straight up keeping the palms together while bending the head backward and looking up.
  6. Slowly bend backward stretching the arms backward and straightening out the right leg. Hold this position for as long as comfortable while breathing gently through the nostrils.
  7. Come back to the thunderbolt pose then reverse the posture by alternating legs.

This posture delivers great benefits for the back, arms, chest, legs and hips. Regular practice will strengthen concentration and improve balance. Perform this posture with a sense of reverence and praise. Take a moment to reside in silence and peace as your hands are held at the heart in the gesture of salutation. Keep the intention of praise in mind as you extend your arms skyward. Feel your entire body-mind-heart extending outward in recognition of the sacredness of life.

 

Posture: The Half Spinal Twist Pose

  1. Sit in any comfortable cross-legged position.
  2. Straighten the legs out in front. Bend the right knee and bring the heel of the right foot close to the left hip.
  3. Inhale and bend the left knee upward and place the left foot flat on the floor to the right of the right leg with the ankle touching the right thigh.
  4. While turning the spine to the left straighten the right arm bringing it around to the outside of the left knee and grasp the left foot with the right hand.
  5. Turn your head as far as possible to the left and bend the left arm behind your back. Keep your spine, neck and head aligned and continue to exert effort at turning to the left.
  6. Repeat the posture the other side by reversing directions 2-6.

The Half Spinal Twist is one of the best Yoga postures for cultivating flexibility and strength in the spine. It soothes stiff necks and upper back tension caused by stress, poor posture, or prolonged periods of sitting in one position. The alternating compression and release of the abdominal region flushes this area with blood and massages the internal organs. Muscles of the stomach and hips are also toned from repeated practice of
the Half Spinal Twist. The posture can be held for as long as you are comfortable. (One repetition consists of performing the posture on each side. Two to three full repetitions should be done at each session.

Doing yoga will give you an increased awareness of your own body and increase your level of comfort, thus improving your self-acceptance and increasing your self-awareness which can then can lead to improved posture and greater self-confidence. I really believe that if people will be able to experience and feel the therapeutic effects and see themselves transforming into healthy living through regular Yoga practice, not only that we will have a radiantly sexy and healthy body and mind but also will have an attitude of compassion towards others and a happier, more joyful, and gratifying life.

Yoga DVDs and starter kits that you might be interested in: