Strength, Flexibility, and Balance

From those of us who can bench press 200 pounds to those of us who can barely bench the bar, from those of us who are contortionists to those of us who can only touch our toes when our knees are at a 90 degree angle, we all know that strength, flexibility, and balance are important factors in preventing injuries from sports, accidents, and everyday life. But, what about when an injury does occur - catching you off guard and sneaking into your body before you can swat it away - what happens then? Can the balance between strength and flexibility you've worked at maintaining help you to heal faster?

Renew your gym and yoga memberships, the answer is yes.

When it comes to muscle strength, the benefits are almost limitless. Not only does greater muscle mass facilitate metabolism and booster immunity, which helps heal injuries, but it also improves oxidative capacity of muscles, rushing the life force of oxygen to the area in need of attention. Additionally, muscular strength supports cardiorespiratory fitness, helping your heart to deliver minerals and nutrients to the point of injury.

From an emotional standpoint, having a body filled with strong muscles can help relieve stress, and produce confidence in your body and its ability to heal itself, both of which are factors in rebounding from an injury at an accelerated rate.

Strength is often viewed as muscle mass and bulk, but true strength is the ability of a muscle to contract when it needs to work and to relax when it doesn't. If your muscles are always working you will soon become fatigued and have no inner strength to deal with the most basic stressors of everyday life.

Inner strength doesn't have all to do with muscle strength; it also has to do with your ability to find your center in gravity: to feel the balance of your skeleton in the matrix of surrounding connective tissue, muscles, and organs. Orienting yourself around your center allows you to move out into the world from this place with ease and grace. From here any exercise you choose to do to build muscular strength will support integration, balance and harmony rather than more tension through the fabric of your being.

Flexibility, not to be overshadowed by muscular strength, also markets itself as a tool for healing. Our body has natural methods of healing stored within, and flexibility plays a vital part in making these methods work to their fullest capacity; flexibility is like adding grease to the wheels. It greatly improves circulation, which rushes nourishing blood to the areas crying out for help. Circulation also rushes antibodies and endorphins to the area of concern.

In addition, flexibility can help develop self-awareness, which helps you to become aware of, and adequately cater to, any injury you may sustain. It also improves both physical and mental relaxation; a person who is relaxed and at ease will heal much quicker than one who is rigid and tense. And, like muscular strength and inner strength, it lessons the accumulation of stressors on the body, which can greatly hinder the healing process.

While they might not prevent all injuries, cultivating strength, flexibility, and balance will help limit the power of your injuries, keeping them from getting worse, as well as aid you in a speedier recovery process.

TWISTED is a medical yoga studio at the Center for Osteopathic Medicine in Boulder, Colorado. Twisted integrates osteopathic medicine, hatha yoga and mindfulness practices to teach optimal balance between physical, mental, and emotional health. It aims to educate and help people to live a healthy life from the inside out. Rehabilitation programs offer a comprehensive treatment regime for the whole being, empowering each person one breath at a time to stimulate the bodys natural healing potential.

Jennifer Jordan is senior editor of for http://www.yogatwisted.com. Specializing in articles that not only teach yoga techniques, but also teach techniques on fulfillment and enrichment, she aims to educate students proudly enrolled in the school of life.

Bikram Yoga And Houston

Why Switch To A Tankless Water Heater?

Whether you are looking for an energy efficient water heating solution for a new house, or looking at repairing or replacing an old hot water storage tank, this is an ideal time to review your options.

Before you rush into fixing your old unit or buying a new hot water storage tank, take a minute to consider switching to a tankless water heater. There are many reasons why tankless water heaters are a sensible solution.

Save on Energy Costs

With rising gas and electricity costs, who wants to heat up a whole tank of water and have it sitting all day, continually cooling and requiring reheating?

A tankless water heater provides heated water on demand. In other words, it heats the water only as and when you need it. Tankless water heaters avoid the energy losses associated with storage tanks that keep hot water on standby. This is because tankless water heaters only use electricity or gas when the hot water is flowing or the tap is turned on.

Using a tankless water heater will typically result in saving 20 - 70% off your energy bill.

Hot Water That Never Runs Out

With tankless water heaters you won't run out of hot water any more, like you do with water storage tanks where you need to wait while the whole tank reheats. Whenever you need more hot water, you have it, instantly!

Environmentally Friendly

More and more people are realizing the importance of caring for our environment. Careless wasting of resources and energy is destroying our planet. Its a waste of energy to heat all the water in a storage tank if you probably wont use most of it.

Rebates & Tax Credits

Some governments and utility companies are now providing incentives to people to change to environmentally-friendly water heating systems.

Some major metro area utility companies are offering rebates for installation of a tankless water heater. You will need to check with your utility company.

And some governments will provide you with an Energy Tax Credit.

So if you are looking for a water solution thats really hot, go tankless.

David Goldsmith is a freelance journalist who would like to see the planet last a little while longer and help you to save on your energy bills. For more information on tankless water heaters, visit http://www.Tankless-Waterheating.com

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