Author Archives: Pattie Hughes

About Pattie Hughes

Pattie Hughes is a freelance writer and mother of four young children. She and her husband have been married since 1992. Pattie holds a degree in Elementary Education from Florida Atlantic University. Just before her third child was born, the family relocated to Pennsylvania to be near family. She stopped teaching and began writing. This gives her the opportunity to work from home and be with her children. She enjoys spending time with her family, doing crafts, playing outside at the park or just hanging out together.

Yoga Asana for High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure is a serious problem that affects one in three adults in the United States, according to the American Heart Association. Yoga offers a wide range of physical and preventive benefits for many health conditions, including high blood pressure. Several studies have shown that yoga can help to lower blood pressure, including studies at the Mayo Clinic and international studies. Stress has been shown to contribute to high blood pressure. For this reason, the American Heart Association recommends stress management techniques to reduce stress and helps prevent high blood pressure. Yoga offers a natural method of stress relief … Continue reading →

How Yoga Helps Fertility

The number of couples affected by infertility continues to grow. In addition to infertility treatments with a specialist, couples are turning to natural methods to increase their chances of healthy conception. Your yoga practice offers several benefits to boost your fertility and improve your likelihood of getting pregnant. Yoga brings the mind, body and spirit into balance and offers a wide range of physical and emotional benefits when you are dealing with infertility. Yoga helps to improve circulation and blood flow throughout the body, including the pelvis. This improved circulation and blood flow can help ease menstrual problems and oxygenate … Continue reading →

Book Review: Yoga and Optimum Health After 40

Yoga offers abundant physical, mental and spiritual benefits at all phases of life. As we age, yoga helps us age gracefully and maintain health, wellness, flexibility, balance and general physical and emotional wellness. Yoga and Optimum Health After 40 by Yvonne Seltzer is written for the over 40 crowd and is a good read for people new to yoga and those already practicing yoga. The book addresses the benefits of yoga for a wide range of conditions that increase after age 40, as well as general anti-aging benefits of yoga and how yoga and a healthy lifestyle can promote healthy … Continue reading →

Sleep Better Tonight With Yoga

Sleep trouble are common and affect most people at some point in their lives. Often, the mind is racing or tension in the body contributes to difficulty falling asleep or trouble staying asleep. Yoga can help you relax, unwind, let go of stress, and drift off to a peaceful night’s sleep. There are certain yoga poses that can help improve sleep. When you have finished getting ready for bed, you can prepare your mind and body for a restful night of sleep with yoga. The following poses are a few to try, if you have trouble falling asleep tonight. Twists, … Continue reading →

CD Review: Stop Smoking and Breathe

Yoga offers a natural way to help you quit smoking and has been shown to be effective for breaking the addiction to nicotine. The asana, breathing and stress relief benefits help to calm the mind and body, as the nicotine leaves the system and yoga and meditation can help you quit for good. If you want to use your yoga practice to help quit smoking, there are books, audio books and CDs that are designed specifically to help people quit smoking. There are several programs on the market that can help you use yoga breathing and meditation to break the … Continue reading →

How Yoga Benefits Blood Pressure

High blood pressure is a condition that poses serious risks, which is why it is also known as the silent killer. Most people turn immediately to drugs when they learn they have high blood pressure. However, there are natural ways to prevent high blood pressure and reduce blood pressure, including yoga. The medical community is beginning to embrace the idea that diet, lifestyle, stress reduction and exercise play an important role in maintaining health. For thousands of years before there was blood pressure medicines, people were keeping blood pressure under control with yoga. There are several yoga postures that are … Continue reading →

What is Yoga Fit?

There are many different types of yoga that range from highly spiritual to fitness based yoga classes that focus mainly on the physical benefits of yoga. The choice of a yoga class is highly personal and depends on the needs and goals of the individual. Yoga Fit is yoga specifically designed for the fitness industry. Yoga fit was developed by a yoga teacher in Los Angeles in the mid 1990s and classes can be found in gyms and fitness centers around the country. Yoga Fit is yoga that is adapted to the health club environment. Do not expect the soft … Continue reading →

Paddleboard Yoga

Yoga is always evolving and new styles, techniques and trends are always emerging. One of the hottest trends right now is paddleboard yoga. You can now find places offering the opportunity to practice yoga on a stand up paddleboard across the country from Key West, Florida to San Diego, California and many places in between. Paddleboard yoga combines stand up paddle boarding and your yoga practice. Paddle board yoga is challenging because you need to remain balanced on the board in the water, while moving into various yoga poses. This form of yoga provides a good core workout and a … Continue reading →

Yoga Types: Critical Alignment Yoga

Critical Alignment Yoga has a strong focus on precise alignment in every asana. This type of yoga was founded by Gert van Leeuwen, who developed the Critical Alignment technique, which engages deeper muscles that surround the spine and joints of the body. A basic principal of Critical Alignment Yoga is that with proper alignment, your body can move freely without tension. The movements in the body are linked together like chains to build the asana with the correct alignment. Throughout daily activities, we tend to spend quite a bit of time hunched forward. Often, the surface movement muscles become tight … Continue reading →

Safety Tips for Your Yoga Practice

Yoga is an ancient practice that offers significant physical, health, mental and spiritual benefits. While yoga is safe and effective for improving strength, flexibility, balance and overall health and wellness, there can be a risk of injury if an asana is not performed properly or you push your body too far. There are some tips to help you avoid injuries in your yoga practice, whether you take classes at a yoga studio or practice at home. Taking the time to learn the poses and follow some basic safety tips can help you prevent injuries that can derail your practice. Many … Continue reading →