For military personnel returning from combat – and their families-- getting help for PTSD not only just got easier, it got more cost-effective. According to July 12, 2010 articles, it is no longer necessary to pinpoint what specific event(s) caused the PTSD for US veterans to receive federal benefits.

As a yoga teacher since 2003, I have personally experienced the calming and balancing of emotions/nervous system that takes place from an ongoing yoga practice. However, yogawarriors.com is one source that is leading the effort to make the yoga practice specifically target and be as impactful as possible to help with PTSD. And, yoga teachers and other health professionals are learning how best to interact effectively with the military via teleconference classes, and more.

Yoga helps not only veterans, but also their spouses and families, who so often suffer the ripple-out effects of a highly skilled, intelligent significant other, who, due to effects of PTSD, may shut down emotionally, be hypervigilant, and often is experiencing severe insomnia, which in and of itself can cause irritability, anger and low tolerance. Yoga and yoga nidra are two inexpensive "tools" that can be used to cope.

Physiic.com, offering web-based, live yoga classes, offers a brilliant approach for time-strapped military personnel coming back from combat and trying to find work in tough times, as well as trying to ease back into lives as spouses, parents and yet also deal with the scars and residual effects of service. Additionally, yoga nidra cds specifially targeted for PTSD are available and can be used at home at night -- or whenever one has free time.

Trisha Barry, RYT 200, LMBT NC #2785

www.inhalepeace.com

By Stephanie Penrose; Whirl Magazine

Stephanie Penrose demonstrates a side plank.

If you’ve ever walked through the doors of our office you’ve most likely been wowed by the WHIRL Girls — I know I was when I came here a little over a year ago as an eager intern! Now, I’m one of them.

There are a lot of qualities I have come to admire in my coworkers, but the one I respect the most is how seriously they take their health. I’m not just talking about diet and exercising; these women practice what they preach in the pages of our magazine (especially in our upcoming health and wellness issue!). The WHIRL Girls are committed runners, dedicated yogis, diverse exercisers, and resolute locavores. You can find them stylishly speeding through Pittsburgh on bikes or burning up the calories next to you in the gym.

As a runner, I’ve kept fit throughout the last decade by pounding the pavement, but lately I’ve been inspired by my coworkers to shake up my workout routine and try something completely different. My first exercise experiment: yoga.

"Six years ago I had a seizure out of nowhere. They took me to the hospital and found I had a brain tumor," says Ponko, a former gymnast. "It's alive now, not benign, but my body is getting healthier. I needed yoga desperately in my life at that point, I needed it in the spiritual sense. But I couldn't afford to take classes, so I got certified to teach, and I could take classes for free.

"I was sick and tired of feeling sorry for myself, so I decided to make myself heal. I knew that yoga would lead me on the path to healing. By combining yoga with holistic medicine, I have changed my life."

Ponko started practicing and teaching yoga in 2002, and in 2006 opened her first studio--Yoga Flow--in Murrysville. A second studio followed in Aspinwall in 2007. And now, Ponko is opening her third location, in Shadyside--and more importantly, her tumor has stopped growing and her seizures have stopped as well.

"The brain tumor and seizures were a blessing," says Ponko.

Article Health And Fitness | The American Heart Association Diet Plan

The American Heart Association Diet Plan

By: Bret Bradshaw

The American Heart Association Diet Plan has made it easy for you by including logos on the food packages you buy at the store.  The logo is a red heart with a white check mark on it. Choose the foods with that logo on it.

Here are the basic principles of this diet plan;

The question should be, "Who is PIlates?"  Joseph Pilates was born in Germany in 1880, a sickly child who wanted to be strong and healthy.  A family doctor gave him an old anatomy book which he memorized.  He then studied both Eastern and Western forms of exercise including Yoga, Zen, and ancient Greek and Roman regimens.  As a teenager he was strong enough to become an accomplished skin diver, gymnast, and boxer.  During World War I, Pilates was assigned to the Isle of Man as a nurse, and he began devising rehabilitation equipment for solders by taking the springs from the beds and rigging exercise apparatus.