Utthita Parsvakonasana

English Name: Extended Side Angle Pose

The Sanskrit translation of this: "Utthita" literally means extended, "parsva" means side, and "kona" means angle.* The meaning of this pose is to stretch your upper body (back to heel) by raising your arm and lengthening it.


Awareness: (How you feel)
When I do this pose, it calms my mind of stress and anxiety. My mind is clear & not worrying about the pose too much, and I'm letting my entire body to stretch. I feel more focused after I do this pose as well.


*Yoga.com ("Utthita Parsvakonasana") http://www.yoga.com/ydc/enlighten/enlighten_document.asp?ID=353&section=9&cat=0

Utthita Parsvakonasana Further Explained

Critical Elements: (Describe how to get in and out & the actions and muscles involved)
First, place your feet about 4ft apart (this is for your right side, so have your right foot in front) and swivel your right foot to face forward (90˚)*; be sure to align your right and left heel. While keeping your left leg straight, lower your right leg to a 90˚ angle and keep your right knee in line with your ankle. Your shin should be perpendicular to the floor and your thigh parallel to the ground. Keep your back straight with your shoulders open while lengthening your spine. If you are in balance, raise your left arm straight up to the air and then lie your arm against your ear with your palm facing the floor. Then, lower your right arm to the outside (or inside) of your right foot while keeping your back lengthened (straight)--if you cannot touch the ground, use a block (place the block on the inside or outside of your foot and press your hand against the block).** If you are in balance again, lift your head and gaze at the ceiling. *** After holding this pose for five or so breaths, switch to the left side (which is the same but to the left). This pose uses all the muscles of your body, but it mainly stretches the side of your body, shoulders, spine (latissimus dorsi muscle), groin, waist, ankles, knees, and strengthens thighs. The trapezius, levator scapulae, neck & arm muscles are toned.****

Physical and Therapeutic Benefits: 
Utthita Parsvakonasana keeps your mind focused and develops power. It is also very relaxing and relieves stress. Some physical benefits are increasing your endurance level and helping with lower backaches, cramps, and osteoporosis.*****



*Yoga.com ("Utthita Parsvakonasana") http://www.yoga.com/ydc/enlighten/enlighten_document.asp?ID=353&section=9&cat=0
**Here is what extended side angle with a block looks like:

Link: http://0.tqn.com/d/yoga/1/0/q/6/sideangleblockblog.jpg

***Yoga.about.com ("Extended Side Angle Pose") http://yoga.about.com/od/yogaposes/a/sideangle.htm

****YogaCards.com ("Yoga Positions- Parsvakonasana") http://www.yogacards.com/yoga-postures-2/extended-side-angle.html

*****YogaPostures.com ("Extended Side Angle") http://yogapostures.com/?p=97

Picture With Music

Myself:

Some things I could fix: having my thigh parallel to the ground, chest more open (shoulders out), and a little longer stance.

Professional:

*

*Yogatic.com ("Extended Side Angle Pose") http://www.yogatic.com/yoga-poses/extended-side-angle-pose/


Music:

**

**Youtube.com ("Yoga Sunset...") http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBfF2l738k0 

KChan Yoga BDF 7:30

I am going to use this blog for my Yoga semester project-blog.

Importance of Healthy Eating

The teenage years are the most important time for a person to get nutrients. Rapid growth and change occur during this time, so eating healthy helps with avoiding health problem when you're an adult and "shapes" your future.

Healthy eating is very important in order for one to have energy, sustain a "good" weight, preventing bad eating habits, staying strong, and receiving the right nutrients (see Nutrients post). Not only should you eat the correct foods, but it is important to have good habits when eating.


For "vegeteens" (word coined by us meaning "vegetarian teens"), variety is key. It is important to eat different types of foods--for different meals and the same meal. For example, it isn't considered healthy eating to just eat a Cesar salad for lunch with a small drink. Variety could be as simple as the way your prepare foods, too. You could grill, bake, boil, or stir-fry things instead of using the fast-and-greasy deep fryer.


Good habits are also considered important for healthy eating. For example, skipping breakfast or any other meals regularly would not be beneficial to your health. Also, food choices (kinda like above) develops good habits. You can't have a wizard zap you into eating healthy:

For teens, eating healthy can prevent diseases for the future. For example, teenage girls should get enough iron and calcium to prevent anemia and osteoporosis (not that these are specific to females, but teen girls not receiving enough are more prone to them).


-Karen :D

Background Vegetarian Info

Vegetarians are usually defined as people who do not eat meat, or sometimes no animal products at all. However, there are many different types of vegetarians. This blog is for an Ovo-lacto teen vegetarian, which is the most common. Ovo-Lacto vegetarians must find other ways to give their body the protein meat has, but they still get the nutritional benefits of eggs and dairy products.

There are many different reasons an average teenager might choose to become a vegetarian.

• Health reasons: 1. Vegetarians usually have less weight problems and live longer. 2. Eating excessive meat can lead to cancer and other diseases. 3. Most food poisoning cases are from meat, and slaughterhouses and meat packaging facilities are not usually very sanitary. Etc....
• Ethical reasons: 1. Animal rights, the way animals are treated. 2. They might think eating meat is wrong. Etc....
• Environmental reasons: 1. Meat production destroys rain forests and produces a lot of methane (a greenhouse gas). 2. Half the water in the US is used to raise livestock. Etc....
• Political reasons: 1. If resources from raising meat were Used for feeding people, there could be enough food for everyone in the world. Etc....
• Religious reasons: 1. Some religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, and 7th day Adventists) encourage eating vegetarian. Etc....
• psychological reasons: 1. Some people just don't like the taste of meat, or find it unappealing. Etc....

Types of vegetarians:

• Semi-vegetarians/flextarians: Semi-vegetarians/flextarians usually avoid eating meat red or white meat, but eat fowl or fish.
• Pescatarians: Pescatarians do not eat red or white meat, but eat fish.
• Ovo-lacto vegetarians: The most common type of vegetarian is the Ovo-Lacto vegetarian. They do not eat any type of meat, but do eat eggs and dairy products.
• Ovo vegetarians: no meat or dairy, but do eat eggs.
• Lacto vegetarians: no meat or eggs, but do eat dairy.
• Vegans: Vegans do not eat any animal products, including meat, dairy, eggs, honey, etc….
• Raw/Living foodists: Raw/living foodists eat only raw food to get the enzymes that are destroyed while cooking.
• Fruitarians: Fruitarians only eat fruit, and fruit-like vegetables. Ex: tomatoes, cucumbers, etc…

Because most vegetarian diets lack meat, teens who choose to follow a vegetarian lifestyle are faced with the everyday challenge of coming up with protein-rich foods to eat. Vegetarians can get protein through dried beans, nuts, seeds, dairy products, grains, algae, soybeans, vegetables, fruits, eggs, and many other foods.

Bibliography:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/289097-what-types-of-foods-contain-trans-fat/

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/trans-fat/CL00032

http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4728406_sugar-affect-human-body.html

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sodium/NU00284

Determining the Recommended Daily Caloric Intake

There are many factors that influence the total amount of recommended daily caloric intake--activity level, gender, height, weight, age, and size. 

A method that can be used to determine caloric intake:
First you have to determine your activity level; a low activity level means that you don't exercise or walk to places like school. Moderate activity levels would be exercising three to five times per week, while those with high activity levels exercise daily for 30 minutes or more.
In order to find a sufficient amount of calories to eat, multiply (the teen's) weight by either: 12 for low, 14 for moderate, or 20 for high. 
*Weight may not be the best way to determine intake though




It is usually suggested for a male to have eat more calories than a female. This is because male bodies have a quicker metabolism, and males are relatively bigger in size & weight. Most older teenagers (15-18) would also need to have a higher amount of caloric intake due to the fact that their bodies are more mature. 

Even though this helps to determine the average caloric intake a teenager should eat, a vegetarian needs more calories to make up for all the nutrients missing because of the exclusion of meat. Most vegetarians are smaller than an average teen because they don't eat all the protein that everyone else eats. (However, just because a vegetarian doesn't intake protein from meat, that doesn't mean that plant-based foods won't give enough of the needed quota.)