CARE FOR YOU"SECRETS OF OLDEST LADY ON THE EARTH"

Susannah Mushatt Jones became the world's oldest person on Wednesday. She has loved bacon for more than a century. Jones is 115 years old, and the meat is the first thing to disappear from her plate every morning. The eggs go next.
Last month, we arrived five minutes late for breakfast in Jones' home, a sunbathed one-bedroom in the Vandalia Houses, a public-housing facility for seniors in the Canarsie neighborhood on the southern edge of Brooklyn, New York. She'd already dispensed with the bacon and was tackling the grits. Jones is blind, and partially deaf, but with steady, fervent hands, she searched her plate for morsels and shoveled them into her mouth.
The routine is the same each day for Jones. When she finishes the grits, she unwraps five sticks of Doublemint gum and tosses the papers on the floor beside her slippers. She likes to chew them all at once because, as her caretaker explained, "they're making them so flimsy now." The oversize armchair engulfs her as she leans back to sleep.
As the oldest person in the world, Jones is one of two verified people remaining who were born in the 1800s. She's one of about 40 supercentenarians, or people who lived past their 110th birthday.
Her age has earned her something of a celebrity status. When we entered her building, other residents spotted our cameras and immediately asked if we were there to see Jones, or "Miss Susie" as she's known among family and friends. A newspaper clipping about Jones hangs in the lobby, and her room is decorated with cards she's received from notable well-wishers over the years, including President Barack Obama (whom she voted for in 2008), former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and children from local schools.
While Jones' feats of longevity aren't entirely unparalleled (a Frenchwoman once lived to be 122, the longest confirmed human lifespan on record), her nearly perfect bill of health has amazed doctors and family for more than a decade. We met with Jones and her niece, Lois Judge, to find out what it takes to be a supercentenarian.

A long way from Lowndes County

Jones doesn't look a day over 100. The Lowndes County, Alabama, native has smooth, soft skin, like peach fuzz. Patches of light brown hair cover her head, while whiskers pepper her chin. Her frame is small — maybe 5 foot, 90 pounds — a far cry from the sturdy woman she was in her youth. Still, the most prominent giveaway of Jones' age is a cloudy left eye. Glaucoma took her sight 15 years ago.
But the moment Cecily Freser, her live-in caretaker of more than 12 years, clears the breakfast plate from her lap, Jones nosedives into a pillow resting on the recliner's arm. She sleeps most of the day, with the radio or a daytime-TV game show playing in the background, though she probably can't hear it. These days, Jones mainly responds to the voices of her family members and friends.
"Sometimes she'll ask a question," Freser said, "and sometimes she'll laugh to herself. She'll say, 'I was thinking about something someone did long, long ago."

Born July 6, 1899, Jones grew up the third oldest of 11 children in the Alabama countryside, about an hour southwest of Montgomery. Her parents worked as sharecroppers. After graduating from high school in 1922 (she's kept the class roster over the years), she was accepted to the Tuskegee Institute's teaching program. However, her family couldn't afford to send her. A year later, she hopped a train to New York City.
Jones found work as a nanny for wealthy white families, and she traveled the country with them, from New Jersey, Vermont, California, and Mexico to Westchester, New York. Some of the children she helped raise have stayed in touch with her family over the years and visited her at the apartment in Brooklyn. Jones never had children of her own, though she was married briefly to a man named Henry Jones, and took great pride in the kin she cared for professionally. She roomed with the families, and on days off, stayed with friends in an apartment at 145th Street in Harlem, New York.
Throughout her life, Jones lived simply: no parties, smoking, or alcohol. Her greatest indulgence was lace lingerie from Bloomingdale's, with which she reportedly startled her doctors when she sported it during an EKG appointment years ago.

Jones had no trouble spending money on her family, however. At Christmas, she gifted pill boxes of pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters to the young ones. She loved to bake cakes for company. And Jones used her salary to send her nieces to college and to provide scholarships for other Alabama students, so they would not be prevented from attending college as she was.
Judge, her niece, still has the cashmere sweater adorned with pearls that Jones sent her while she was away at school. Dressing well provided a crucial source of pride for Jones, who grew up as an African-American woman in the segregated South. She once returned to Alabama for the funeral of a family member. When she stepped off the platform in Calhoun, a predominantly white area, the bystanders gawked at her outfit: a jacket, hat, gloves, and bag on her arm.
"They said, 'Who is this important person getting off the train?' She felt so proud," Judge said, having heard her aunt tell the story over and over. "But of course, who was there to pick her up but someone with a wagon and a mule?"
In 1965, Jones joined the family at Mushatt Farms in Alabama, where they raised cattle and horses, and stayed 10 years. She loved the countryside and would have gladly lived out her 50-plus-year retirement there. But as more relatives migrated north, her growing dependency on them forced her to follow.

One in 7 million

Jones represents a very rare slice of the demographic pie. Supercentenarians occur at a rate of about one in 7 million people. In the US, roughly a dozen of every 4,500 centenarians, or people who reach the age of 100, will live past their 110th birthday.
A surprising majority, like Jones, are in great shape. According to the Boston School of Medicine-New England Centenarian Study, a leading center for longevity research, 69% of supercentenarians show no signs of age-related diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, dementia, and stroke, at age 100 or later. Another study found 41% of supercentenarians require minimal or no assistance in activities of daily life, such as feeding, bathing, and getting in and out of bed.
Jones' daily regimen is simple. Every morning with a glass of water and cranberry juice, she takes a multivitamin and a blood-pressure medication. She sees the doctor just four times a year for "maintenance," Judge said. Along with chewing gum and her breakfasts, Judge said Jones' diet largely consists of fruits. She never complains of pain. To the bewilderment of her physicians and family members, Jones even appears to be "reverse aging." Over the last four years, her hair changed from gray to brown and softened. When she was 96, she grew a tooth — not a wisdom tooth, not an impacted tooth, but a new tooth — in her lower jaw. She's a medical marvel.
For decades, researchers have engaged in a modern-day space race to identify the common thread among supercentenarians that allows them to live so healthily, so long. Jones checks off a few boxes.

The genetic jackpot for long-lasting life

Jones is a woman, and that counts for something. About 90% of supercentenarians are female. The New England Centenarian Study suggests that women may biologically fare better than men when age-related diseases manifest, meaning they hold on longer despite illness.
In her heyday, she never abused alcohol or drugs. Even coffee was too strong for her tastes.
Most important, Jones has good genes. Her niece Judge told us that, according to the US Census, Jones' grandmother lived to be 117.
The research is inconclusive, but it suggests that supercentenarians have ingrained protective mechanisms — basically a complicated web of genes — that help them avoid age-related diseases and delay cognitive and functional decline.
George Church of Harvard Medical School explained it best in an interview with io9's George Dvorsky:

"To appreciate why it's so extremely rare to live to 107 and beyond you need to think about it this way. It may take several genes to help protect a person from various forms of cancer. You can have all of those genes, but still die early of cardiovascular disease. If you have genes that protect you from the many forms of CVD, you may nevertheless still die early from cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, and so on. So a person likely needs numerous protective genes in every major category of disease risk, in order to sidestep these typical longevity landmines."

As researchers scramble to pinpoint the winning DNA combination, Jones sticks with her routine.

Strength in family

According to Judge, Jones partially attributed her longevity to family. She never had children or a husband of her own, but she still had a large family around her to provide comfort, contact, and a support system.
For the past 30 years, Jones has lived in her apartment in the Vandalia Houses. Her nieces and nephews visit every Sunday, and she will call out any one of them who misses a week. Though she can't see them, she recognizes their voices and the ways they interact with her; one likes to tap her on the head, for instance. Judge knows it's possible one of them will live to be 115 years old, although she hopes it's not her.
"I don't think I would have the support that she has," Judge said. "She's had good people with her."
Still, the apartment doesn't feel like home to Jones. "She wants to go back to Alabama, that's her main thing [these days]," Judge said, quoting her aunt's refrain, "'I want to go home, I want to go home.'"
They try to remind her that the family no longer lives at the farm, with seven Mushatts residing nearby. Brooklyn is her home now. Jones will often reply, "'No, this is not what you call home."

Then she goes back to sleep, where her family likes to think she returns to Alabama.

CARE FOR YOU " BEAUTY TIPS- SUMMER"

CARE FOR YOU  " BEAUTY TIPS BY: SHEHNAAZ HUSSAIN"
Summer time is an auspicious time for Indian weddings due to the auspicious alignment of planets.
The days being longer and the sunny weather provide a perfect backdrop for any outdoor ceremony, but the summer heat can prove to be awkward for brides, and it is in such situations that pioneering beauty experts like Shahnaz Husain emerge as saviours with their popular natural and herbal-based ingredients.
Sharing her expertise, Husain said that for instance, when a bride or bridegroom's make-up is adversely affected by summer sweat, and face a problem of oil secretions from the skin, water-based and powder make-up items are an advantage, rather than creamy-based ones.
In summer, sweat and oil secretions also increase. These are deposited on the skin, making it look greasy and also attract dirt and pollutants. The skin loses its glow and looks dull," she says.
On the appropriate shade for a summer wedding, she said, daytime make-up has to be light, subtle and carefully done, because daylight is harsh and shows up make-up flaws.
"Mix astringent lotion with rose water in equal quantities and keep in the fridge. After cleansing, use the chilled lotion to tone the skin, using cotton wool pads. This is not only refreshing, but helps to close the pores. Wrap an ice cube in a clean cloth and wipe the face with it, just for a few seconds. This helps to close the pores. When you apply powder, press the powder all over the face and neck, with a slightly damp sponge. This helps it to set and last longer," she added.
She further stated, "Applying foundation on the lips before, helps lipstick last longer and water proof mascaras and eye liners will prevent eye make-up from running during the hot and humid season."
She also says that creamy foundation and eye shadow should not be used. Powder shadows and blushers are much better. The cosmetics should have mild fragrances.
On natural ingredients that can be used during the summer, she suggested rose water and rose based skin tonics, because rose is a natural coolant.
Products containing cucumber, papaya, lemon juice, vetiver (khus) can also be used in products, to protect yourselves from the summer heat.

Hussain also that good make-up is the outcome of trial and error, and one should always play up plus points. She also said that brides should have wet tissues to cool, and refresh the skin.

All brides wanting make-up, must choose the right shades of colour cosmetics.

CARE FOR YOU "MEMORY BOOSTER"

Memory is a tricky thing. Why is it hard to recall what you had for lunch yesterday, yet singing the theme song from Gilligan’s Island presents no problem? The reason some things stick and others are forgotten has to do with the brain’s method of assigning importance to information and properly encoding it. But things can get in the way.
As we age, we become more forgetful, and by 45 the average person has a measurable drop in memory ability. Research has also found that it’s while we sleep that memories are consolidated and protected. If you’re running on just a few hours of sleep a night, you’re going to be more forgetful.
While getting more rest is one way to retain information, here are seven more surprising things you can do to boost your memory:

1. Sit Up Straight

Your mom was doing you a favor when she corrected your posture; the way you sit and stand can affect memories. Researchers at San Francisco State University discovered that standing or sitting up straight and tilting your chin upwards makes it easier to recall memories, because it boosts blood and oxygen flow to the brain by up to 40%. Hunched-over downcast posture, however, made it easier to only recall negative memories.
Good posture during walking can also affect your memory. In a study at Witten Herdecke University in Germany, researchers found that patients with a happy walking gait could recall positive memories, while those who walked with slouched shoulders recalled the negative.

2. Close Your Eyes

Eyewitnesses to crimes can more accurately remember details when they close their eyes, according to a recent study at the University of Surrey. Participants could recall both audio and visual details when they were asked to answer questions with their eyes shut.
Eye closure helps because it removes distraction, lead researcher Robert Nash told BBC News. "Closing your eyes might also help people visualize the details of the event they are trying to remember, but keeping your eyes shut can help focus on audio information, too," he says.

3. Avoid Doorways

If you’ve ever left a room to get something and then forgotten what it is you wanted, you experienced the "doorway effect." A study at the University of Notre Dame revealed a phenomenon in which simply walking through a door causes a person to forget.
Researchers believe memories that have a shorter "shelf life" are purged when presented with new thoughts. Walking through a doorway serves as a catalyst for compartmentalizing a thought and ridding the brain of it when you’re no longer in the same environment. This explains why you will often remember what it was when you return to the room where you had the thought.

4. Use An Unusual Font

Reading material in a new font can help you remember it. Psychologists from Princeton University and Indiana University tested students using study materials in two different typefaces: one traditional, such as Arial, and another more unusual choice, such as Monotype Corsiva. Students who had the unfamiliar fonts scored significantly higher on tests.
Unusual fonts cause us to think more deeply about the material, study coauthor Daniel M. Oppenheimer told the New York Times. "Think of it this way, you can’t skim material in a hard-to-read font, so putting text in a hard-to-read font will force you to read more carefully," he says.

5. Watch a Funny Sitcom

Laughing for 20 minutes can boost memory. Researchers at Loma Linda University tested two groups of adults, showing one group a 20-minute funny video while the other group waited quietly. Afterwards, participants were given memory tests and those who had laughed scored better.
Stressful situations cause the hormone cortisol to be released, negatively impacting your memory, while laughing increases endorphins, reducing stress, researchers found. Endorphins also lower your blood pressure and boost your mood—a combination that results in better memory.

6. Chew Gum

If you’re going into a long meeting or seminar, you might want to pack some gum. Researchers from Cardiff University in Wales found that the act of chewing gum improves concentration and memory.
In an experiment with two groups—gum chewers and non-gum chewers—participants who didn’t chew gum performed slightly better at the beginning of the task but had declined by the end. "This suggests that chewing gum helps us focus on tasks that require continuous monitoring over a longer amount of time," said Kate Morgan, author of the study.

7. Take Notes By Hand

Instead of taking down details on a computer, go "old school" and use pen and paper instead. Researchers at Princeton University and UCLA found that when students took notes by hand instead of on a laptop, they listened more actively. The act of writing things down helped them identify the important concepts and forced them to organize the material in their mind before writing it down.
CARE FOR YOU

CARE FOR YOU "MERS VIRUS"

CARE FOR YOU "MERS VIRUS"

South Korea confirmed two deaths from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) last week after 25 cases were reported since May 20. More than 680 people have been put into quarantine in South Korea in a bid to stop the virus from spreading.
Experts presume the virus originated from camels, prompting the World Health Organisation (WHO) to warn against contact with the animals and to avoid raw and undercooked camel milk and meat.
China quarantined 64 people after the son of a South Korean MERS patient ignored doctors’ orders and flew from Seoul to Hong Kong, then travelled by bus to the southern city of Huizhou.
With more than 1,000 cases of MERS reported worldwide, SBS spoke to Gary Crameri, a research scientist at CSIRO, to find out more about the virus.

What is MERS, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome?

It’s actually a coronavirus so it’s a virus similar to SARS that emerged out of China in 2003 and caused a huge global outbreak. This virus is similar to SARS but unlike SARS it’s not as transmissible between people so it hasn’t caused the same global outbreak that SARS did at that time.

What are the symptoms of the virus?

It’s a respiratory disease so it’s not unlike severe flu, but it does cause mortality in over 40 per cent of the people who are infected, so it’s a very severe disease.

How do you catch the MERS virus and is it contagious?

It’s certainly contagious. It’s not as contagious as SARS was, thankfully, so that’s meant that we haven’t had the rapid spread. But it certainly will spread from person to person, probably via contact with respiratory secretions, so it requires very close contact, whereas SARS was spread quite easily so this is not quite as contagious as SARS was.

What can people do to prevent catching MERS?

It’s very much still a disease out of the Middle East, mainly out of Saudi Arabia. So for people who are not there it certainly doesn’t pose any threat at all. People who go to those countries, there’s a lot of warnings about the potential areas where it could come from. Camels appear to be a source of the virus. Really, just taking general health precautions in those countries will protect people.

Australia has an estimated feral camel population of about 300,000 & USA has 250,000,Does that make Australians and Americans , at risk of the virus?

We’re actually doing work at the moment to determine whether Australian or US camels are infected with the virus. They certainly have the potential to be – they’re the same species of camels that are through the Middle East. But look, any of the countries that have camels need to take precautions.

The MERS virus has been found in the Middle East and South Korea. Do OTHERS have to be wary of traveling to these places?

Look, certainly to the Middle East. It’s an ongoing outbreak and has been for a long time now. And certainly countries through the Middle East are taking strong actions to try and contain the virus and they’ve been quite successful at that. But there still are sporadic outbreaks going on, it’s still an ongoing problem there. Outside of the Middle East it is incredibly unlikely that anybody would come into contact with anybody who’s infected and this small cluster in Korea is not unlike the other minor events that have occurred in other countries outside the Middle East over the last year and a half.

CARE FPOR YOU "WEIGHT LOSE AND SEEDS"

 CARE FOR YOU "WEIGHT  LOSE & SEEDS"                                                          

As easy as putting it on is, losing weight is an equally difficult thing to do. Not only do you need to work out rigorously, but you also have to watch your diet in order to lose those extra pounds. Moreover, you need to have a strong will power and commitment towards you goal. Well in such a situation, having a few cheat tricks is what we all always love, right? That is why; we have brought for you a tasty and healthy trick to lose weight. Confused? Well, we are talking about some amazing seeds extracted out of flowers, fruits and veggies, which are as good as or even better than nuts, and are extremely helpful for losing weight. So, without further ado, here goes the list.

#1. Flax seeds

                                                                                                                   
Being good sources of fibre, iron and protein, they have a capacity to fill you up quite quickly, and hence, they help you eat in moderation. They are great sources of omega-3 fatty acids that not only regulate your body’s insulin levels, but also help to burn fat. The phytoestrogens present in them help to avoid hormonal imbalances in the body, which otherwise promote weight gain.

#2. Sunflower seeds

A great snacking option to be picked up and eaten anytime, sunflower seeds are full of amazing benefits for your body. They contain vitamin B, which helps a lot in burning calories. Rich in vitamin E, they are natural antioxidants that fight toxins in your body and prevent inflammation. Sunflower seeds are also an excellent source of magnesium that keeps your anxiety levels intact, thereby preventing the excess release of the weight gain promoting hormone, cortisol, in your body. But remember, you will get these benefits only when you eat them raw, and not roasted.

#3. Hemp seeds

Hemp seeds are great mood enhancers that help you avoid indulging in mindless eating. They are full of proteins and omega-3 fatty acids, which are helpful in burning your body fat. Magnesium and iron present in hemp seeds keep you highly energised, thereby helping you to burn a few extra calories. Also, these seeds help to control body inflammation.

#4. Chia seeds

Chia seeds offer a large amount of nutrients with very few calories. They are full of iron, omega-3 fatty acids, potassium and magnesium. Also, because of the high-fibre content in them, chia seeds have the capacity of absorbing large amount of water. Hence, they become a gel-like substance and expand in your stomach once you eat them. And, this is how chia seeds make you feel full for longer duration, thereby reducing your food intake. However, lower food intake does not mean that your stamina goes down as the highly nutritious chia seeds keep you super-energised.

#5. Sesame seeds

They are the same seeds that you see on the top of your burger buns and other multigrain breads. They are excellent sources of fibre, vitamins (especially E), magnesium, zinc and calcium, all the minerals that maintain a great body metabolism. The fibre also helps you to have a better and stronger digestive system. What’s more? They are tasty and add a wonderful flavour to whatever you add them into.

#6. Pumpkin seeds

Pumpkin seeds have the highest amount of zinc in them, which promotes burning of fat, muscle formation and a balanced blood sugar level. These rich in protein seeds also maintain a good digestive system. Pumpkin seeds help to neutralise acidity in body by promoting alkalinity. Moreover, calcium and magnesium present in them let you beat body bloating.

#7. Quinoa seeds

This seed looks like a grain and hence, is often mistaken for being one. Quinoa seeds are rich in amino acids, magnesium, proteins, fibre, zinc and some healthy fats. While they contain a slightly higher amount of carbohydrates as compared to the other seeds, most of them are used for energy, and hence are not worrisome. In short, these power-packed seeds have all the goodness that your body and mind needs!

Care For You "Yoga"

Care For You " YOGA"

What Physical Health Benefits Does Yoga Bring?

Practicing yoga can be a great exercise as it provides many physical health benefits. Some of the physical benefits of yoga are improving flexibility, increasing strength, preventing aches and injuries, and improving muscle tone. Stretching your body that is tight in different ways can increase flexibility and bring about a greater range of motion to the joints and muscles. In time, you will increase flexibility in your hips, shoulders, back, and hamstrings.

There are also a lot of poses in which you are required to support the entire weight of your body. Some of the poses are Vrikshasana (Tree Pose) and Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog Pose). In some poses you will need to slowly move in and out of them, which will increase strength. As you get stronger, your muscle tone will also improve. By increasing strength and flexibility, some of the causes of back pain can be prevented. Yoga also helps in improving alignment and can help prevent other types of pain. Additionally, most individuals breathing patterns tend to be very shallow. Yoga breathing exercises known as Pranayama focus on the breath and shows us how to use our lungs more efficiently. Some kinds of breathing exercises can help relax the central nervous system and also clear the nasal passages.

What Are The Mental Health Benefits Of Bikram Yoga?

Bikram yoga also called hot yoga is a popular technique that along with the physical provides many mental health benefits also. Bikram yoga is different from other forms of yoga as the postures are performed in a room that is heated to 105 degrees Fahrenheit and with a humidity factor of 40 percent. The Bikram yoga classes go on for 90 minutes and consist of a set of 26 postures and two breathing exercises. The breathing exercises help in providing relaxation to the mind and in improving the functioning of the nervous, circulatory, and respiratory systems. Bikram yoga also helps improve well-being by reducing stress and anxiety.

As the practice of Bikram yoga helps in improving the functioning of the body, you will feel much healthier with enhanced energy levels. In addition to increased well-being, it can also bring about an improvement of the appearance of the skin. Bikram yoga can also provide you with an effective cardiovascular workout and your endurance will be increased with each practice. Practicing Bikram yoga consistently can help in increasing your metabolic rate, which can bring about weight loss and toning of the entire body. The improvement of the physical body can also give you a better self image and increase confidence.

Submitted by G M on July 5, 2011 at 06:27

Pilates Or Yoga Which One Benefits You More And How?
Depending on your goals of fitness, you can choose either Pilates or yoga or make use of both of them as part of your exercise program. While there are differences between Pilates and yoga, they can complement one another quite effectively and they are both workouts that are low impact and can be practiced at home or in a class room. While Pilates concentrates on conditioning the whole body, yoga is considered a lifestyle and not just an exercise regime. Yoga also includes the spiritual aspect, and therefore, if you want to improve your physical as well as spiritual self, you will benefit more with yoga. Pilates concentrates on improving the body’s core strength and in elongating the spine. This kind of exercise helps you develop proper posture and enhances strength. Yoga concentrates mainly on the union of spirit, mind and body.

It is recommended that you start off with yoga or Pilates under that guidance of a qualified instructor. This will reduce the chances of you injuring yourself. You should also follow certain tips to reduce the chances of injury. Make sure that you perform the exercises within your limitations and gradually increase your boundaries.
Yoga And Its Benefits

There are a lot of benefits that you can get from yoga. The practice of yoga not only helps in improving the body’s physical aspects, but also helps with the spiritual and mental aspects. Performing yoga on a regular basis is a great way to bring relief from stress and achieve a sense of well-being. This is because the practice of yoga helps in encouraging relaxation and in bringing down the cortisone levels in the body. Yoga also helps in easing aches and pains in the body, and individuals with serious diseases have claimed to have less pain after practicing breathing exercises and yoga postures.

Even the styles of yoga that are gentle help in bringing down the heart rate and increasing overall endurance. This is a very useful benefit of yoga, and it helps increase the intake of oxygen during the exercises. You can also benefit with improved concentration, greater reaction time, and enhanced memory skills and coordination. However, one of the main reasons why people practice yoga is for inner peace. This is one of yoga’s most important benefits and also one that can be easily attained. However, for you to achieve these benefits, it is essential that you maintain regular practice and follow a proper diet.

Submitted by S C on July 5, 2011 at 05:12

The physical benefits of yoga far outweigh the consequences of any types of exercises or workouts. Yoga is helpful in getting rid of the stiffness on the body by improving flexibility through the movements of the various asanas specific to muscles and joints. Due to daily practice and performance, an individual will be able to gain flexibility in every part of the body and renewed vigor. Some yogasanas require the body to make slow movements through poses which helps to increase endurance and strength of the individual. In addition to strength and flexibility, the muscles are further toned and results are evident in long lean and shapely muscles. Most importantly, yoga is extremely useful and instrumental in warding off various kinds of disorders at a number of aches and pains. Most people who suffer from back pain, pain in the shoulders, crick in the neck, headaches and overall body pain find much relief in the various movements of yoga. Another vital constituent in the practice of yoga is the emphasis of breathing aka Pranayama. Most people have shallow breath patterns, which are the primary cause of most disorders. Pranayama aims to correct, modulate and heighten the practice of breathing in order to achieve maximum results. Through the practice of Pranayama one learns to focus the attention on the breathing pattern and to use the lungs in a more beneficial manner that will prove advantageous for the entire body. Certain types of breathing techniques and Pranayama helps to clear the nostrils and the nasal passages, and even go so far in soothing the central nervous system in order to benefit the body and mind.
A daily practice of yoga also helps in bringing about an increased awareness of one's own body. By being aware of the breathing pattern and particular movements involved in yoga, the posture can be improved and confidence can be boosted in the individual. The most useful benefit of yoga is the treatment of the mind and body and bringing together in perfect harmony through the alignment of asanas and correction of breathing patterns.
Regular performance of yogasanas, in combination with Pranayama and meditation can help to control and feet various ailments such as diabetes, hypertension, and disorders related to the digestive system, constant fatigue, respiratory disorders and breathing troubles, varicose veins and heart issues. According to recent studies done on the effects of yoga, results have shown that those who indulge in attaining practice of yogasanas and Pranayama are able to consciously control their autonomic or in voluntary functionalities such as heartbeat and blood pressure.

Care For You "LED v/s CFL

Care For You LED v/s CFL

 All through our website, we have mentioned the benefits of fluorescent lights and especially those of T5 tube lights. Although we have given some details about LED lights, but have not promoted it extensively, and therefore we recently got a question from one of our reader: “How you would compare LED tube lights versus the T5 ones. Would you still recommend using T5 as compared to LED?” This made us think that we may have shown some bias towards fluorescent lights. With this article we would like to highlight the value of both the kinds of lighting and specify our position between the two.

The greener option

LED is the greenest option available in all forms of lighting. And that is because:

• It does not contain any mercury, which is harmful for environment unlike the fluorescent bulbs and lights.
• It lasts much longer (about 10-20 years) and thus their disposal is less of a concern.

Fluorescent lights on the other hand contain mercury that is harmful for environment and their disposal is a concern. And this is a problem with both CFLs and fluorescent tubelights.

Life of the light

Most fluorescent bulbs/tubes may not last more than 3-4 years (10000-15000 hrs of usage). But LEDs last much longer (upto 25000-50000 hrs of usage). And as with all light bulbs, the life of the luminaire will depend on the quality. All lights emit heat and the better the heat sink, the better the life. A good fluorescent light may last up to 4 years but can also die before that based on the environment and the quality of heat sink (for details check our article: Life and performance of CFLs and Fluorescent Tube lights depends on ambient or room temperature). Similarly life of LED will depend on the quality of its heat sink and the internal circuitry. Just like cheap CFLs, cheaper LEDs may not last long and thus buying a branded LED can be a better approach.

Lumen s or brightness of the light

LEDs are always marketed as lighting options that give more brightness per watt of electricity. The claim is true if LEDs are used for spotlighting. LEDs are unidirectional source of light and thus they are excellent for spot lighting. LED luminaries that are available for general-purpose lighting have inbuilt reflectors that spread the light in all directions. And the use of reflectors causes decrease in brightness per watt. This results in their efficiency come down to as low as that of fluorescent lights. So if you compare a T5 tubelight with a LED light that gives light at 120 degrees angle (we mention angle because LEDs are unidirectional and they are marked for an angle based on the reflectors used), the amount of light that LED tube will give per watt will be similar to that of T5 tube light.

Thus from an energy saving perspective, both T5 and LED tube lights will have the same impact. The LED will provide energy saving benefit if it is used for spot lighting.

Costs

It’s commonly known that LED luminaries are expensive. They cost at least 3-4 times more than T5 fluorescent lights. However their life is also much longer as compared to fluorescent lights.

	Costs	Payback	Life	Efficiency
T-8 LED Tube light	Rs 1600-2000	3-4 years	10-15 years	About 110-120 lumens per watt
T-5 Fluorescent Tube light	Rs 500	6 months to 1 year	3-4 years	110 lumens per watt
Regular Fluorescent T-8 Tube light	Rs 100		3-4 years	60-80 lumens per watt (lower for one with electromagnetic ballast)

The table above is based on our research of costs of various types of tube lights. The LEDs are expensive but they last long and thus provide energy saving for longer periods. Their payback period (or cost recovery due to savings in electricity bills) is slightly longer just because of the upfront capital costs. Please note that the payback here is in comparison to regular T-8 lights.