Yoga is a mind–body practice in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) with origins in ancient Indian philosophy. The various styles of yoga that people use for health purposes typically combine physical postures, breathing techniques, and meditation or relaxation. This Backgrounder provides a general overview of yoga and suggests sources for more information.

Yoga in its full form combines physical postures, breathing exercises, meditation, and a distinct philosophy. Yoga is intended to increase relaxation and balance the mind, body, and the spirit.

Early written descriptions of yoga are in Sanskrit, the classical language of India. The word "yoga" comes from the Sanskrit word yuj, which means "yoke or union." It is believed that this describes the union between the mind and the body. The first known text, The Yoga Sutras, was written more than 2,000 years ago, although yoga may have been practiced as early as 5,000 years ago. Yoga was originally developed as a method of discipline and attitudes to help people reach spiritual enlightenment. The Sutras outline eight limbs or foundations of yoga practice that serve as spiritual guidelines.

The Tao Holistic Healing Program (http://www.taoholistichealing.com) is a 10-day intensive training helping people to take control of their health and lives. It has been successful in guiding individuals to relieve symptoms of fibromyalgia, sometimes leading to complete recovery. In the program, unrecognized emotional pain, rooted in the past, are viewed as often being a major contributor to physical pain in the present. The treatment is to feel the physical pain, and then the emotional pain, recognizing the connection between the two. Through this process, participants commonly experience dramatic release of pain from the body. (PRWeb Feb 6, 2008)

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/02/prweb674024.htm

A study published from the Norwegian School of Sports Science shows that kids should play at least 90 minutes a day to help prevent a variety of heart disease risk factors. The study was published in the July 22 issue of The Lancet. As an added benefit, children who are used to physical activity are more likely to continue it in their later years and adulthood. More physical activity can mean not only better lean body mass, and lower fat, but also better bone density and lower risk of dementia.

The method for the study is as follows.

"We did a cross-sectional study of 1732 randomly selected 9-year-old and 15-year-old school children from Denmark, Estonia, and Portugal. Risk factors included in the composite risk factor score (mean of Z scores) were systolic blood pressure, triglyceride, total cholesterol/HDL ratio, insulin resistance, sum of four skinfolds, and aerobic fitness. Individuals with a risk score above 1 SD of the composite variable were defined as being at risk. Physical activity was assessed by accelerometry."

and their findings?

"Odds ratios for having clustered risk for ascending quintiles of physical activity (counts per min; cpm) were 3·29 (95% CI 1·96–5·52), 3·13 (1·87–5·25), 2·51 (1·47–4·26), and 2·03 (1·18–3·50), respectively, compared with the most active quintile. The first to the third quintile of physical activity had a raised risk in all analyses. The mean time spent above 2000 cpm in the fourth quintile was 116 min per day in 9-year-old and 88 min per day in 15-year-old children."

Apparently the study wasn't intended to be read by the children in the study. Sheesh. In short, it means playing is good for kids.

The Lancet has also published an MP3 discussing this study and the importance of childhood exercise. It's certainly more interesting to listen to than the reading of the study.

The American Heart Association has published information on childhood exercise.

It should be noted that video games do not count towards physical exercise and may actually increase some disease risk factors through extended cortisol release in response to the perceived stress induced by the video game.

The Tao Holistic Healing Program (http://www.taoholistichealing.com) is a 10-day intensive training helping people to take control of their health and lives. It has been successful in guiding individuals to relieve symptoms of fibromyalgia, sometimes leading to complete recovery. In the program, unrecognized emotional pain, rooted in the past, are viewed as often being a major contributor to physical pain in the present. The treatment is to feel the physical pain, and then the emotional pain, recognizing the connection between the two. Through this process, participants commonly experience dramatic release of pain from the body. (PRWeb Feb 6, 2008)
Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/02/prweb674024.htm

A healthy glow is used to describe the appearance that seems to radiate from the largest organ of the body: the skin. As an organ, the skin takes a lot of abuse to protect us from the outside world while also serving an important role in keeping the inside world healthy.

In regard to skin health, it is important to look at the role it plays, and how the skin is influenced by three critical factors of physical health: The environment, genetics, and diet.

The skin comes into contact with everything in the outside world as well as by what you put into your body. Chemical exposure can lead to rashes, pimples and other symptoms of poor skin health. The effects of some chemical exposures seem obvious to us. Exposure to poison ivy, chlorine or a strong acid would not be surprising to many people but prolonged exposure to food preservatives, vapor from bug or weed killer or even chemicals found in soaps may produce the same results as cells of the skin are continually bombarded by these toxins. Why some people may quickly show the effects of such exposure and not others can be influenced by the other two factors.

There isn’t much you can do about your genetics. Some people are more sensitive to certain chemicals and some may also have allergies, autoimmune disorders and even abnormal physical structures making up the skin. Being aware of such conditions allows you to take steps to avoid exposure to the elements that cause irritation and also to take extra steps to support good skin health by focusing on the third critical factor of physical health

Diet it is something you have significant control over. Through a combination of planned food intake and appropriate use of food-based nutritional supplements, it is possible to improve skin health by providing the necessary building blocks to support the various structures and functions of the cells. If you find you’re sensitive or allergic to a particular food, study what nutrients it provides to ensure that you do not create gaps in your diet when you eliminate it from your diet. Appropriate use of food-based dietary supplements further helps fill in those gaps and makes it easier to increase the intake of specific nutrients in case something from the other two factors is leaving you with the need for greater nutritional support than can be found through diet alone.

The skin is an incredible organ and the cells from which it is composed are in a constant state of regeneration. The more you are aware of its needs and the more you focus on meeting those needs, the more you’ll be rewarded by your own “healthy glow.”

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced on April 1,
2008, the latest recipients of the Autism Centers of Excellence
(ACE) program. These grants will support studies covering a broad
range of autism research areas, including early brain development
and functioning, social interactions in infants, rare genetic variants
and mutations, associations between autism-related genes and physical
traits, possible environmental risk factors and biomarkers, and
a potential new medication treatment.

The World Health Organization defines health as the following.

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

The correct bibliographic citation for the definition is:

Preamble to the Constitution of the World Health Organization as adopted by the International Health Conference, New York, 19-22

June, 1946; signed on 22 July 1946 by the representatives of 61 States (Official Records of the World Health Organization, no. 2, p.100) and entered into force on 7 April 1948.

The Definition has not been amended since 1948.

A traumatic event is much more likely to result in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adults who experienced trauma in childhood — but certain gene variations raise the risk considerably if the childhood trauma involved physical or sexual abuse, scientists have found. The research was conducted with funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, and others.