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Beginning a Yoga Practice for Sedentary Lifestyles

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Physical activity is one of the most important actions in which any person can take part. There are many reasons to practice Yoga, but one would be to decrease the chance of an untimely death. That said, living a lifestyle that is mainly sedentary can have disastrous consequences. Whether this lifestyle is led by choice (being a notorious couch potato) or by necessity (logging long hours at a desk job), it is important to incorporate physical activity back into your life; and Hatha Yoga is the perfect way to do this.

A long term sedentary lifestyle causes damage to the body, by weakening muscles and decreasing flexibility. A radical upsurge of activity, however, can cause injury. Since Yoga posturing is a low impact activity, it is a wise choice as a tool to gradually ease into an active lifestyle.

Your hip flexors have been caused a lot of trauma, due to all that sitting around, so it is important to stretch them daily to avoid lower back pain. The Warrior I pose, or Virabhadrasana, is a great hip flexor stretch. While performing this exercise, it is important you ensure your body is in proper alignment – with your heel perfectly in line with your knee, and your hips are aligned in a forward position.

The reclining hero pose, or Virasana, is also an excellent stretch for your hips, and can be practiced every day. Downward Dog is a great pose to promote healthy blood flow. Sun Salutations are also very beneficial because they increase the body’s activity greatly and speeds up the metabolism. To start with, go through each pose gradually and mindfully. Do not worry about making up for past mistakes. Set your own pace to create a healthier lifestyle.

A lack of self-discipline may have been what created your sedentary lifestyle, but self-discipline is what is needed to end it. Make it a habit to practice Sun Salutations as soon as you wake up, for a healthy greeting to your day. It is crucial to carve out time for physical activity and do it – no matter what. If it’s hard for you to give up your TV, practice Yoga in front of it! Find little spaces of time to do poses, and slowly increase that amount each day, until your sedentary habits are replaced.

Turning a sedentary lifestyle around is crucial to your health and your future. Imagine how accomplished you will feel when you achieve this goal, and use that as your driving force. The self-discipline you gain, while practicing Yoga, can assist you in other aspects of life, as can the many other benefits of practicing Yoga.

© Copyright 2011 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

Night Photography Tips – The Basics

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Night Photography TipsTaking photos at low light situations can be tricky. It is important to understand the features of your camera and the basics of photography to get the best results.Here are some useful tips for night photography

Slow down the shutter speed. This allows more light in but anything slower than 1/60 second and you will need a tripod to avoid camera shake. This technique is good for taking photos of landscapes or city traffic. However it may not be that useful if you are photographing people who are constantly moving. If you are photographing moving people, keep the shutter speed above 1/60 and use flash instead.

Lower the F Stop value, this will allow you to shoot in low light without a flash. Keep in mind low F Stop values make it more difficult to focus on your subject. Once again if you have a flash with you, you don’t need to use low F stop values.

Bump up your ISO. If you have a high quality camera eg Canon 5D Mark 3, these new cameras have great low light performance. Even at a high ISO, there is not as much digital noise as you’d expect. I usually bump up my ISO around 1000-1600 if needed. Keep in mind, if you bump up your ISO too much your image will be very noisy and grainy which is not very desirable.

Use Flash! Gotta love the flash. I tend to use a diffuser with the flash eg Gary Fong Lightsphere and I never point the flash at the subject. I always have the flash pointing on the ceiling or bouncing it off a wall or something. Pointing the flash away from your subject is also another good technique, it gives you just enough soft light to photograph your subject without blinding them. My recommendation is the Canon Speedlite 600 Ex-Rt. I have 2 of these units, they are pretty amazing, compact and portable. Great for wedding gigs and studio work. Using flash will give you so much more flexibility when shooting at night. You don’t have to go extremes on your camera settings when you are using flash.

Use off camera Flash. Having your flash off the camera will generally give better lighting and gives you more flexibility in controlling your lighting. If you have umbrellas, softboxes or reflectors these light modifiers will give you even better lighting. Have a play around and see what you come up with.

Managing Former Peers (A Cheat Sheet for Busy Managers)

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Managing former peers is probably your most immediate challenge if you’ve just been promoted. Below we suggest five key steps to managing peers.”Congratulations… you’ve got that promotion you wanted so badly. Now go fire your best friend.”5 Steps to Managing Former Peers
Decide if you actually want the job of managing peers
Reach out to all stakeholders
Establish one on ones with your new direct reports
Strike the balance between over and under managing peers
Be a professional
Decide if You Actually Want the Job of Managing Former PeersJust because you are offered a promotion, doesn’t mean you necessarily have to take it. You need to think through whether you want the added burden of managing peers. Some things to keep in mind:
Your peer relationships will change whether you want them to or not. Don’t be naïve enough to think they won’t.
You can’t control others’ attitudes and/ behavior. Even if you are ready to make the new relationship work, that doesn’t mean others will be as willing.
If your personal relationships at work are really important to you, you may want to decline your new role of managing peers.
Reach Out to StakeholdersFor anyone in a new position of leadership, it is crucial to reach out to important stakeholders. It is especially important when managing former peers. You should speak with your new direct reports, your boss, and other people you interface with often. Here are some thoughts as to what to ask them:
What would you focus on if you were me?
What can be done better?
What would you suggest is the top priority?
Be systematic and thorough – even when it becomes onerous and time consumingEstablish One on One Meetings With New Direct ReportsWhen managing peers, it is important to establish structured and regular one on one meetings with these people. Well-executed one on one meetings will ultimately save you time, and make managing peers easier. These meetings provide an opportunity to:
Set expectations
Reinforce and reward desired behaviors and performance
Communicate and clarify roles and goals
Update status on action plans.
Best of all, regular one on one meetings significantly reduce the number of “drive-bys” or drop-in meetings when managing peers.Strike the Balance When Managing Former PeersDo not come on too strong and micromanage your new situation. BUT… you are no longer “one of the girls”, either. If you experience any significant challenge to your authority, you need to deal with it directly and quickly. Also make sure you delegate appropriate when managing peers. If you hoard all the work yourself, you will ultimately fail.Be ProfessionalProfessionalism is paramount when managing peers. In order to do so effectively, you need to detach yourself from your personality, and rather view yourself as the new manager of the group or department. Here are some guidelines for maintaining professionalism when managing peers.
Stay focused on facts
Maintain confidences
Tow the company line. You are management’s representative in your work group. You undermine your own credibility, and are not doing your job if you don’t properly represent management views.
You need to refrain from company gossip and going out for cocktails with you direct reports should be done with extreme caution.
Don’t play favorites
3 Things to Remember About Managing Former Peers:
Figure out if you really do want the opportunity. Most often you do have the opportunity to say “no”.
Your friendships will change. It won’t be the same once you are the boss.
Communicate several times. Everyone in a new leadership role should look to over-communicate by a factor of ten.