Deep Breathing and Acne

To improve the health and appearance of your skin, Yoga teachers of all schools will attest to the value of breathing correctly. There is a part of the Yoga system devoted to breathing - this is called Pranayama and is often defined as breath control. Most Yoga sessions will begin and end with conscious, deep breathing practises and the Yoga routines themselves are co-ordinated with the breath. Yoga and Deep Breathing can help you get rid of acne.

Pranayama is made up of two words - Prana and Ayama. Prana means vital life force or energy. Ayama means expansion or extension. When put together Pranayama means "expansion or extension of the dimension of prana". Taken to its fullest potential, Pranayama offers the method whereby life force can be activated to go beyond the normal limitations and attain a higher state.

However, when employed simply, breath control improves the performance of every cell, all tissues, internal organs and systems. Breathing is the most vital process of the body. It is intimately linked with the functioning of the brain, which controls all aspects of the body including hormone secretion and immune system regulation, both of which are hugely important when dealing with acne. Breathing correctly can detoxify the body by increasing the efficiency of cleansing processes. Breathing itself rids the body of toxins.

WHY DO I NEED TO LEARN TO BREATHE? DON'T I DO IT ALREADY?

We breathe about 15 times per minute, and about 21,500 times per day and although this is mostly an unconscious process, we can bring conscious control to it at any time. Most of us haven't breathed correctly since we were little children when our bodies were flexible and our minds mostly untroubled. With poor posture including sitting in chairs too much, not exercising enough and through even minor injuries, our body's flexibility reduces which in turn reduces our ability to breathe fully. Our minds can also become inflexible, and we shallow-breathe quickly when frustrated and angry or hold our breath when anxious or scared. So depending on the pattern of our thoughts, it is easy to see how our breath can become disrupted thus disrupting the rhythms of the brain which can lead to physical symptoms too.

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO START?

Firstly, it is good to begin by observing exactly how you are breathing right now. Are you breathing through your nose or your mouth? Are you breathing quickly or slowly? Do you think you are breathing deeply or shallowly? Notice what part of your chest is expanding - is it the lower part, or the sides of your ribs, or the top of your lungs? Notice that the air coming in is cool and the air flowing out is warmer.

Just noticing these things will automatically being to slow down your breathing rate and establish a more relaxed and natural rhythm. Begin noticing your breathing many times throughout the day.

But to go even further, the following exercise is very helpful to do every day.

ABDOMINAL BREATHING

Abdominal or deep breathing is the most natural and efficient way to breathe. It is the way we breathed as babies, and you can watch a baby's belly rise and fall when they are sleeping. This is what you are aiming for.
To prepare:

• Do this at a time when you will not be disturbed for at least 10 minutes.
• Be dressed in comfortable, loose clothing if possible.
• Lie on a soft but firm surface, such as a carpeted floor or yoga mat.
• Be in a comfortable temperature setting with no windy drafts or scorching sunlight.

To begin:

• Lie in a comfortable position on your back with arms by your sides and eyes closed.
• Become aware of the breath without trying to control it at all. Let it be natural.
• Continue observing the natural breath for a few minutes, until it feels right to continue on.
• Place your right hand on the tummy, just above the navel (belly button) and your left hand on your heart area.
• All breath should be through the nose - inhaling and exhaling.
• Inhale deep downwards, noticing the diaphragm draw down into the abdomen, expanding it and pushing the navel to its highest point. Expand the abdomen as much as possible, without breathing sideways or expanding the rib cage.
• Breathing out, contract the diaphragm to return to its place up under the ribs and allow the navel to move downwards, compressing towards the spine.
• The right hand should move up each time you breathe in and move down each time you breathe out.
• The left hand should not move at all with the breath.
• There should not be any tension at all in the abdomen, and don't try to force the movement in any way.
• The timing of the in-breath and the out-breath should be slow and even. There should be a little pause at the end of the in-breath and again when the out-breath is complete.
• Continue for about 10 minutes.
• Come up slowly after this exercise and drink 2 glasses of water.

You will notice the benefits of this deep breathing on your mental state very quickly, and an improvement in your skin within 2 - 6 weeks. This improvement continues as you maintain your deep breathing practises.

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How to Cure Acne Naturally With Vitamins, Diet, and Exercise

Anyone who has ever suffered from acne knows the embarrassment of it. When ailed by these frustrating facial marks you become desperate to get rid of them. Causing people to spend a lot of money on expensive products that sometimes can make your acne worse. It doesn't have to be that way. By using all natural products you can cure your acne naturally and without spending a lot of money.

Some products people have had great success with reducing and even eliminating acne is tea Tree Oil, Aloe Vera, Vitamin A, and Zinc. Although some of these products contain certain chemicals for preservation, it is advisable to consult your doctor if pregnant or nursing before using. It is extremely important to drink at least four pints of water a day when you suffer from acne. Water is beneficial in flushing impurities out of your body and keeping pores clean. Adding leafy green vegetables and fresh fruit to your daily diet will help to improve your complexion as well.

Making a mask out of certain foods and applying to your face a couple times a week can help also clear up acne. One mixture that has had great success; rose water, honey and real tomato pulp applied to your inflicted skin for at least 20 minutes every other day. This mask helps to neutralize your skin's natural PH Balance. Another popular mask is; a nightly cream of banana, glycerine, and lemon juice. Let it stay on your area of acne for at least 15 minutes four times a week.

Exercise also plays a huge roll in the health of your skin and your overall body health. By getting at least 30 minutes of regular aerobic exercise 3 to 4 times a week you can greatly reduce your acne. Exercising causes you to sweat and sweating helps flush unwanted toxins from your body. Regular exercise also keeps your body's natural balance in check. If your enable to do rigorous exercise yoga is a good option. Yoga helps the mind, body and soul.

It is important when inflicted by acne to remember you don't have to spend a lot of money or time on clearing your acne up. It's best if you go with natural products to avoid any excess problems that can occur with some of the over the counter products. You'll find it less frustrating and more rewarding by using natural products.

Julian Hooks is the founder of AcneSolutionsExist.com [http://acnesolutionsexist.com]. A site filled with tons of articles, eBooks, and information on conventional acne treatments as well as natural acne remedies.
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The Big Flare Up About Anger and Acne

If you're like ninety percent of acne sufferers out there, then you'll probably have noticed that when there's a big occasion, a big test, a date, a wedding or anything that you're excited about, for some reason your acne flares up. Sods law right? Actually it's more than just an annoying coincidence. Which leads us to yet another thing we should be aware of in the fight against acne: anxiety, stress and anger.

When it comes to anxiety and stress there are two types, mental and physical. We've all experienced mental stress at some point for any number of reasons, but what about physical stress? Things like an overly demanding exercise schedule without proper rest, lack of sleep, and even smoking are all examples of physical stress on your body. Oh, and of course a big test, a date, a wedding, etc. Everybody's different, so it could be entirely different reasons, but the important point here is that stress, anxiety and anger do affect acne.

But how? The short answer (without over-complicating things) is that stress and anxiety cause an inflammatory response in the body. We've all seen how someone can become red faced when they are angry, stressed or embarrassed (anxious). Just because someone suffers from acne doesn't mean that every blocked pore becomes inflamed, in fact there could be countless blocked pores that are completely un-noticeable, however when you add the bodys natural inflammatory response it is far more likely that these pores will become inflamed, causing the walls of the pores to break, which allows bacteria to influx and multiply, hence an acne flare up.

Now for a slightly more technical reason (in simple terms though, we don't want science, we want results).

The adrenal gland produces male hormones called androgens, and when we experience stress, anger or excitement our adrenal gland goes into overdrive. Now, to be fair to nature, the body evolved to release these hormones when we were in danger (think sabre tooth tigers) and our skincare was probably the last thing on our minds, but unfortunately these androgens can lead to more acne. Also, the adrenal gland in women produces a far higher percentage of their androgens than in men, so stress does seem to affect acne more in women than men (sorry ladies).

So how do we help this? There are innumerable ways, and it really depends what works for you, but here are some suggestions. Anger is released by four points of the body, the hands, the feet, the teeth and the voice. Often, after a loud disagreement or physical battle between two people the combatants will become lovers or good friends. The bad emotions are gone. Obviously, we're not suggesting you seek a confrontation of some kind, not only is that bad advice, but also the confrontation itself will release all those nasty androgens. What we need is a way to release these repressed feelings through those four channels. The obvious answer would be sport. Baseball, football, even hitting a bucket of golf balls on a driving range with no target in mind are all ways that help. There have been cases where a persons acne has cleared up just by chopping wood.

Also, yoga and breathing exercises can have an amazing effect on your skin. Yoga is particularly good, because it relieves both mental and physical stress. In fact, the benefits go far beyond stress and anxiety relief, so why not try some local yoga classes or purchase a yoga program to practice at home. There are countless techniques out there for releasing stress, anxiety and anger, so if you feel that it is affecting your acne then why not try one of them?

Looking to find out more? Then visit http://acnedietsecrets.com for stacks of advice on the causes and treatment of acne, including diet advice, forgotten treatments and natural remedies.

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