Tag Archive for: Anxiety

How Do I Combat Extreme Fatigue During My Period?

First and foremost,  having a period are a struggle for girls and ladies out there. It is important for me to say this, plain and clear, before I share advice I have found through research or experience. Okay, now that we have cleared the air, let us begin.

If you want to fight fatigue, you have got to eat. Eat several meals all day long instead of three big meals. This keeps your energy at a constant level. If you allow your body to go without nourishment for too long, you may end up crashing and feeling exhausted. Get plenty of protein each day as well by adding a serving to each meal. It can be found in foods like chicken and fish, which will work to boost your energy and keep you feeling alert all day.

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Next, you do not just have to eat enough, you have to drink enough. Drink water, that is. “Drink water instead of soda and juices, which contain a lot of sugar. Water will keep you hydrated, which can prevent feelings of fatigue caused by dehydration.

This reminds me to mention something else, too, in relation to drinking, Avoid caffeine and alcohol while menstruating. These substances can make it difficult for you to sleep soundly all night, which can leave you feeling exhausted the next day. Relying on caffeine for a perk up will only make you awake for a short amount of time and will result in a crash that leaves you even more tired later. Talk about crashing and burning after drinking caffeinated drinks! I crash really badly after drinking caffeinated drinks in general, so I avoid them in my daily life.

Wisegeek.com shares the importance of including iron in your daily intake, especially when you are on your period. An iron deficiency can make an individual feel tired and worn out, and with added blood loss thisfatigue can become even worse. Iron supplements or an increase in the amount of iron in the diet can help keep levels of this vital nutrient high. Adding a B6 vitamin every day can also help, as well as making sure there is a sufficient amount of calcium in the diet. Together, these three key supplements can help reduce fatigue as well as other symptoms such as joint pain and muscle aches.

Before I forget, it is crucial that you get some exercise. According to livestrong.com, “Get some exercise each day. It can be something as light as a 30-minute walk. The important thing is to get up and get moving, which will give you an energy boost and allow you to rest more fully in the evening.

5 Ways Yoga Improves Work Productivity

Happy, healthy employees are more focused and productive, which should come as no surprise. But it’s taken the corporate world a long time to figure this out. Research shows that the average company spends approximately $14,000 annually for each employee on medically-related productivity costs.

However, companies who offer yoga and other wellness programs to employees reduce this rate drastically, lowering their health insurance premiums and improving their profitability. Yoga provides many benefits to employees, all of which add up to more focused and productive workers.

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Alleviates Physical Ailments

Who can focus on work tasks when they are constantly thinking about and dealing with chronic aches, pains, and stiffness? Yoga relieves the symptoms of common to those who sit at a desk all day, including carpal tunnel, shoulder stiffness, neck strain and daily headaches. Eliminating these body stressors frees up the mind so employees can concentrate on their job duties.

Increases Energy/Reduces Fatigue

Sitting for hours on end creates stress in the body by slowing blood circulation, among other things. In fact, one study demonstrated that sitting for five or more hours a day not only greatly reduces productivity, but negatively impacts the health of the individual to the tune of smoking a pack of cigarettes. This has clear implications for employers—both short-term as well as long-term. Companies who offer employees yoga classes on site can make a huge difference in the lives of their employees, while at the same time, profiting from it.

Relieves Stress

Mental and emotional stress from a job affects employees daily; this stress builds up and causes chronic health issues that employers end up paying for via health insurance premiums. Companies may not be able to provide less stressful jobs, depending on their industry, but they can provide yoga classes that elevate stress so that it doesn’t build up, leading employees to need to take more time off due to illness and injury. Consider one statistic: It’s estimated that 90% of all doctors’ visits are stress related. That says it all.

Improves Concentration & Focus

Spending hours each day fighting fires and deadlines is enough to make even the most peaceful person feel scattered and overwhelmed. By implementing yoga meditations and breathing exercises, employees can more readily enjoy an uncluttered mind, which leads to better decision making, fewer basic mistakes, and more creative thinking.

Increases Positivity/Morale

We are all more friendly and helpful when we feel physically, emotionally and mentally healthy. This holds true in the workplace as well. Employees work together more congenially and energetically when they feel balanced and supported through wellness programs that include yoga. This high morale impacts employee interactions with one another, but also with clients.

5 Top Yoga Apps to Use at the Office

Not everyone is fortunate enough to work for a corporation that offers free yoga classes for their employees on-site. But that doesn’t mean you can’t do yoga at work.

These top 5 apps make it a breeze to take yoga with you wherever you go…including the office.

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Simply Yoga

This app is great for beginners who want to ease into a practice without others around. Expert instructors demonstrate a variety of over 30 poses, while the preset routines offer users a choice of 20, 40 or 60 minutes. Plus, it’s easy to follow along since this app provides audio that guides you through each step of a pose. The basic app is free, but you can get it even more great stuff with the premium upgrade option.

Daily Yoga

This app focuses on making yoga a part of your daily routine by offering lots of options for the beginner to the advanced practitioner. It also allows you to set goals for yourself, such as learning to meditate or toning your body. If you are looking to improve your overall fitness, you can also take advantage of the other options available with the app, like Pilates. They add new workouts each month, and you can customize your own program and even track different aspects of your fitness like calories burned. The basic app is free, but you can get it even more great stuff with the premium upgrade option.

Universal Breathing—Pranayama

One aspect of yoga is using the breath to steady the mind or pranayama. This app offers courses to help you practice breathing to lift your mood, boost energy, reduce stress and anxiety. The app courses guide you with animations and music to assist in reaching your peak mental health. The cost for this app is $4.99

Pocket Yoga

This app offers users both audio and video instructions as you move through each pose, including pranayama exercises. They have 27 different programs so that you can choose the level of difficulty that’s right for you, and if you are unsure about proper alignment for a pose, you can view their 200 illustrated poses to ensure you are getting the full benefit of your practice. The app automatically tracks your practice, which makes it a breeze to track your progress. This app costs $2.99.

Yoga.com Studio

This well-designed and popular app offers a wide array of programs (37 in total) and gives you the next-best yoga experience than a class—HD videos that show each pose. They provide nearly 400 postures and breathing exercises in their library and 3D muscle images to gain a fuller understanding of how each pose builds and works your body. This app is free for Android and $3.99 for iPhone.