»difficulture« by anatol knotek
sexta-feira, fevereiro 12, 2016
Unexpected Things You Can Learn About Single People in America (10 pics)
The Singles in America Study has recently released its annual report which reveals some surprising facts about singles.
»kooky yoga« by john jerome o'connorto begin this drawing, i...
»kooky yoga« by john jerome o'connor
to begin this drawing, i transcribed several nights’ worth of my sleep talking (recorded with a voice activated recorder) directly onto the paper. i began in the center and rotated the paper with each word. after transcribing the information from the recordings, i outlined and darkened all the non-intersecting segments of the words and letters, creating a black and white pattern. then, i colored the negative spaces between the letters. the outer words attached to this inner mass form a sentence: “assume kooky yoga neatens doughy oviods”. these words were based on 6 nonsense mutterings from my sleep talking recordings. i transcribed them and entered them into my pocket dictionary, which translated the nonsense into actual words. i formed these into a sentence.
10 Quick Yoga Stretches For Neck Pain Relief
Long and stressful hours at the office, lengthy commutes, carpooling, and hoisting our toddlers up and down can be grueling for the mind and body. These are some of the most common stressors that cause chronic neck pain. Management for neck pain is essential in supporting overall spinal health. Yoga is the number one preventative approach to maintaining your body’s total well being. Here are 10 simple yoga stretches to help relieve that stubborn neck pain.
1. Child’s Pose
- Begin in a kneeling position and inhale.
- Exhale and drop your buttocks toward your heals as you stretch your body down and reach your arms forward.
- Rest your arms on the earth, alongside your body with your stomach nestled between thighs and forehead on the mat.
- Remain in child’s pose for 3-5 breaths, feeling your spine begin to lengthen and your buttocks dropping down.
2. Cow to Cat Pose
- Begin in a table-top position; hands with fingers pointed forward aligning under shoulders and knees aligning under hips at hip-width distance.
- Move into cow pose by inhaling; drop your belly toward the mat, lift the chin and chest, with eyes gazing up toward the sky.
- Move into cat pose by exhaling; draw your belly toward the spine with a round back toward the sky.
- Alternate between cow and cat pose 3-5 times.
3. Seated Spinal Twist
- Begin seated with legs extended.
- Cross right foot over outside of left thigh with a bent knee. The right knee is pointed toward the sky.
- Inhale and place the left elbow to the outside of the right knee with the right hand centered to the spine on the floor behind you.
- Exhale and twist right in a gentle movement, moving from your abdomen, keeping both sit-bones on the floor. Remain for 5 breaths.
- Repeat on the other side. Left foot over right thigh, right elbow outside of left knee, hand centered to spine behind on the floor, twist and breathe.
4. Ear to Shoulder Pose
- Begin seated with legs crossed, looking straight ahead with arms down at your side.
- After a deep inhale, exhale and bring your right ear down to your right shoulder without bending your head forward or backward to remain in the same line as your shoulders.
- Inhale and raise your head back to center.
- Exhale and repeat on the other side by drawing your left ear down to the left shoulder.
- Repeat 3 times on both sides.
5. Wide Legged Forward Ben
- Begin in a standing position with feet wide apart.
- Inhale and straighten your spine up before exhaling while you fold forward at the hips.
- Gently drop your head to the earth and gaze behind you.
- Bring your hands to the floor or wherever they can reach, with your elbows pointing behind you.
- Remain in this pose for 3-5 breaths.
6. Rabbit Pose
- Begin in child’s pose.
- Hold on to your heels with your hands, inhale and gently roll from your forehead to the crown of your head, lifting your hips up toward the sky.
- Exhale and slowly lower hips to back to the heels and forehead back to starting position.
- Repeat 3-5 times.
7. Extended Puppy Pose
- Begin in a table top position; hands with fingers pointed forward aligning under shoulders and knees aligning under hips at hip-width distance.
- Inhale as you walk your hands out in front of you, lowering your chest down toward the ground.
- Exhale and keep your hips over your knees and arms shoulder distance apart, while you gently release your forehead to the ground.
- Inhale and inch your finger tips away from your body, draw your shoulder blades together, and reach your hips up toward the sky.
- Exhale and remain in this pose for 3-5 breaths.
8. Fish Pose
- Begin in a laying-down position with legs extended and arms resting alongside your body with palms down.
- Gently raise your sacral area as you bring your hands together beneath your lower spine with thumbs touching and palms flat on the floor.
- Inhale and press your forearms into the earth while lifting your upper back to create an arch.
- Exhale; lift your shoulder blades and upper torso off of the earth, gently tilting your head back so the crown of your head is to the floor.
- Remain in this pose for 3-5 breaths.
9. Legs Up The Wall Pose
- Begin in a laying-down position with legs raised above hips and pressed against the wall.
- Shift your weight from side to side as you inch your buttocks toward the wall.
- Inhale and let your arms rest open at your sides with palms facing up.
- Exhale and let your hip joints and lower back come into contact with the earth.
- Close your eyes and remain in this pose for 5-7 breaths.
10. Corpse Pose with Head and Neck Support
- Place a bolster, folded blanket, or towel on the earth where your head will rest.
- Lie back on the bolster with knees bent.
- Place the bolster under your head and neck.
- Inhale and extend legs one at a time.
- Exhale and allow your body to relax into the earth with arms placed out to the side and palms up.
- Focus on inhaling and lengthening along the earth while you exhale.
- Continue to breathe with eyes closed for 3-10 breaths.
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Amazing Benefits Of Tomatoes (+5 Refreshing Recipes)
Tomatoes are well known and enjoyed around the world, making them one of the most popular and accessible vegetables around. They are extremely versatile and can be served in both savory and sweet dishes. They can be eaten raw or cooked and can be made into soups, juices and even alcoholic beverages, such as the Bloody Mary.
There are many interesting facts about tomatoes. There are around 25,000 varieties of tomatoes and they have a lot of medicinal properties including the ability to reduce cancer risks, improve cardiovascular health, lessen hypertension, regulate blood pressure and reduce inflammation. They can also improve our skin, hair, nails and bones. Tomatoes have so many health benefits because they are rich in minerals and nutrients that are necessary for optimal well being. However, not many people are aware of these facts and it makes tomatoes one of the most underrated foods.
Read on to see how the following properties and benefits of tomatoes surprise you!
1. Tomatoes are good for our heart and circulation
Tomatoes contain a mineral called potassium which is necessary for optimal vein and muscle health. It can help reduce cholesterol and stabilise blood pressure. It also assists kidneys to filter the wastes in blood. Potassium levels in the body can be maintained by eating tomatoes and this will radically reduce the possibility of stroke and heart attack.
The amount of potassium in tomatoes varies, depending on the quality and size of the tomato you pick. To absorb the largest amount of potassium from tomatoes, you should eat them raw. You can either dice tomatoes for salads, slice them up for sandwiches or blend them into a refreshing juice. Keeping tomatoes uncooked and combining them with other fresh ingredients, you do not only enjoy delicious meals but also have sufficient daily potassium intake.
2. Tomatoes make us feel and look good
Tomatoes are packed with antioxidants such as Vitamin C, Vitamin A and beta carotene. These antioxidants help prevent irreparable damage of cells caused by free radicals. The relationship between antioxidants and free radicals is crucial to good health and well being.
Apart from making us feel healthier, tomatoes also make us look more attractive. For example, tomatoes can keep our hair shiny and strong, maintain good eye health and allow our skin to stay glowing. Eat them raw or use them directly on your skin with the flesh side down, as the Florida Tomato Committee recommends. It may cause some redness on our skin at first, but this is not serious and will not last long.
3. Tomatoes boost the health of teeth and bones as we age
The human body contains copious amounts of calcium. Around 1% of calcium is used for the metabolic functions of our veins, muscles and nervous system. The other 99% is stored in our bones and teeth and can be lost dramatically as we age. Calcium is absorbed and removed from bones and teeth at different rates depending on how old we are.
“Bone itself undergoes continuous remodeling, with constant resorption and deposition of calcium into new bone. The balance between bone resorption and deposition changes with age. Bone formation exceeds resorption in periods of growth in children and adolescents, whereas in early and middle adulthood both processes are relatively equal. In aging adults, particularly among postmenopausal women, bone breakdown exceeds formation, resulting in bone loss that increases the risk of osteoporosis over time.” U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, National Institutes of Health
Other than drinking milk, eating tomatoes can help strengthen your bones and teeth as they are a great source of calcium too! The amount of calcium in tomatoes depends on how they are consumed, but this can be easily calculated. It appears that sun-dried tomatoes contain the highest levels of calcium.
4. Tomatoes reduce the risk of cancer
Tomatoes contain a red pigment called Lycopene. Lycopene is found in a lot of red fruits and vegetables and also in some that are not actually red like asparagus and parsley. It occurs naturally in the human body and is found in the liver, blood, adrenal glands, lungs, prostate, colon, and skin. Eating foods like tomatoes that contain Lycopene helps boost the quality and quantity of the pigment in those areas of the body and can assist in the prevention of cell damage that can possibly turn into cancer.
Research has shown that consuming Lycopene-rich tomatoes can help to prevent cancer occurring in prostate, lung and stomach without bringing any adverse effects to the body. To extract the optimum levels of Lycopene from tomatoes, it is best to consume them when they are cooked and combined with a little fat. Tomato soup is unquestionably one of the greatest options you should consider!
5. Tomatoes are a great help to diabetics
Chromium is the mineral found in tomatoes that causes insulin spike and therefore regulates your blood sugar level. It is a beneficial property aiding in the prevention and management of diabetes. When you consume a diet high in carbohydrates, your blood tend to absorb most of the sugar in the diet. Luckily, studies have shown that chromium can reduce the risk of diseases arising from high sugar consumption. Canadian doctor Ben Kim says that chromium in food:
“Helps to regulate your blood sugar level by enhancing the effects of insulin
Helps to prevent cardiovascular disease, including type II diabetes, through its effect on insulin
Helps your body make protein, fats, and cholesterol through its effect on insulin”
He also lists the types of foods that contain chromium, including tomatoes, and the recommended daily intake of chromium for each age group.
6. Tomatoes can repair the damage done by smoking
Tomatoes contain coumaric acid and chlorogenic acid, which can help repair the damage caused by carcinogens in cigarettes. Like many of the other properties found in tomatoes, chlorogenic acid is a powerful antioxidant that can reduce inflammation and prevent cancer.
Try the following 5 recipes to get the best out of tomatoes.
Tomato, Watermelon and Feta Skewers with Mint and Lime
via WTCN
Green Tomato Soup with Lump Crab Meat
via WTCN
via myrecipes.com
Chicken with Sun Dried Tomato Cream Sauce
via damndelicious.net
via food.com
Featured photo credit: Valentyn Volkov via shutterstock.com
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