Metabolism Myths

Google the word metabolism and you'll find nearly 45 million results on how to "speed up," "ignite," "kick start," and "boost" your body's fat burning capacity. The truth is, there are probably more myths about metabolism than there are about the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot. The reality is your body burns between 2 to 5% fewer calories with each decade after you turn 40, and women tend to put on about a pound a year as a result. Simple tweaks to your daily routine can help you keep up your calorie burn and compensate for the deficit, keeping you from succumbing to age related weight gain. Here are some of the most common Myths.

1.Your body burns more calories digesting ice cold beverages and foods.

True. Before you give yourself an ice cream headache, the small difference in calories won't make a significant dent in your diet. On the bright side, five or six ice cold glasses of water could help you burn about 10 extra calories a day equaling about 1 pound of nearly effortless weight loss each year.
Tip Although the metabolism boosting effects are small, it can't hurt to pour no calorie drinks like water, tea, coffee over ice to maximize your body's calorie burning potential.

2.Drinking the right amount of water can help you burn more calories.

True. All of your body's chemical reactions, including your metabolism, depend on water. If you are dehydrated, you may be burning up to 2% fewer calories. People who drink either eight or twelve 8 ounce glasses of water a day have a higher metabolic rate than those who drink only four.
Tip If your urine is darker than light straw in color, you may not be drinking enough fluid. Try sipping one glass before each meal and snack to stay hydrated.

3.Dieting drops your resting metabolic rate, making it harder to keep weight off.

True. For every pound you lose, your resting metabolism drops by about 2 to 10 calories a day. Lose 10 pounds, and you now have to eat 20 to 100 fewer calories to maintain your trimmer physique, not factoring in exercise. However, you can prevent your metabolic rate from slipping while you get slim. One way is to lose fat but maintain muscle. You can do this by reducing calories and increasing aerobic and weight training exercises. Crash diets that have you eating fewer than 1,000 calories a day, may result in a higher percentage of muscle loss.
Tip Lose weight by cutting 250 calories a day and burning 250 calories per day through exercise. That will help you retain or even gain muscle while you lose a greater percentage of body fat.

4.Hot foods will fire up metabolism.

True. Capsaicin, the bioactive compound that makes Chile peppers exude heat, and can turn up your metabolism a notch and helps to reduce hunger. Eating about 1 tablespoon of chopped red or green Chile peppers is equal to 30 mg of capsaicin which can temporary boost your metabolism 23%. 0.9 g of red pepper was given in capsule form or naturally in tomato juice before each meal. This reduced the total calorie intake by 10 to 16% and continued for 2 days after.
Tip Sprinkle red pepper flakes onto pasta dishes and into chilies and stews. Fresh Chile peppers work well in salsas and add flavor to many other dishes.

5. Eating more protein will rev up your metabolism.

True. Protein provides a metabolic advantage compared with fat or carbohydrates because your body uses more energy to process it. This is known as the Thermic effect of food. You may burn up to twice as many calories digesting protein as carbohydrates. In a typical diet, 14% of calories come from protein. Double that and reduce carbohydrates to make up for the extra calories, and you can burn an additional 150 to 200 calories a day.
Tip To get the best of protein's rewards, strive for between 10 and 20 g at each of your meals. Try an 8 ounce cup of low fat plain yogurt with breakfast (about 13 g), a 1/2 cup serving of hummus with lunch (about 10 g), and a 3 ounce salmon fillet for dinner (about 17 g).

6. Eating a grapefruit before every meal speeds metabolism.

False. Grapefruit won't work miracles for your metabolism, but it can help you lose weight. Half a grapefruit before meals may help to lose about 4 pounds in 12 weeks. The reason: Its fiber and water fill you up on fewer calories, so you eat less at your next meal.
Tip Instead of soup or salad, try a half a grapefruit, or a tangerine before your main course.

7. Lifting weights boosts your metabolism more than a cardio workout.

True. When you strength train using weights, enough to add 3 pounds of muscle, you increase your calorie burn by 6 to 8% meaning that you burn about 100 extra calories every day. Aerobic exercise, on the other hand, doesn't significantly increase your body's lean muscle mass. "
Tip You want to focus on exercises that recruit the largest muscles and use two part movements, because they will help you build more lean mass. These exercises include squats, push ups, and any exercise that combines upper and lower body movements.

8. Celery is a "negative calorie food" because digesting it uses up more calories than it provides.

False. The thermic effect of food does cause your body to burn up calories as it processes meals, snacks, and beverages. But this process accounts for anywhere from 0 to 30% of the calories you eat (protein, for example, takes more calories to digest than fat or carbohydrates) A medium size piece of celery has only about 6 calories; and its thermic effect is approximately half a calorie. In reality, negative calorie foods are nothing more than wishful thinking.
Tip Include celery as a low calorie but filling addition to salads, stir fries, and soups. You may not be able to depend on it to magically melt away your trouble spots but it is healthy because it has phthalides, compounds that can help reduce your blood pressure.

9. Tea revs your natural calorie burn.

True. Catechins found in green and oolong teas can boost your body's fat burning fire. Just one large cup of oolong tea may increase calorie burning by up to 10%, a boost that peaked 1 1/2 hours later. Green tea raises metabolism by 4% for 1 1/2 hours. Drinking two to four cups of green or oolong daily may translate into an extra 50 calories burned each day about 5 pounds' worth in a year.
Tip Try a cup of green or oolong tea in place of your morning coffee for a dose of caffeine that will wake up your metabolism as well. Instead of milk or sweetener, add a squeeze of lemon, which may help your body absorb more catechins.

10. PMS cravings are related to the boost in metabolism before your period.

True. If there is a silver lining to PMS, it's that your resting metabolic rate may increase the day after ovulation to the first day of your period. The metabolic boost you get from being "hormonal" can equal as much as 300 calories a day which is why your appetite increases during this phase.
Tip Keep a journal of what you eat the week before and the weeks after your period. Try to maintain your eating pattern over the course of the month so that you can take advantage of this hormone driven calorie burn. If you give in to cravings, make sure that you keep portions in check.

11. If you have limited time, exercise at a higher intensity for a metabolic after burn.

True. When you exercise at very high intensity you experience a post exercise boost in resting metabolic rate that is larger and lasts longer compared with those who work out at a low or moderate level. Up the effort of your workout and you can expect to burn at least 10% of the total calories used during the workout in the hour or so after exercising. So, if you do a combo of walking and jogging for 4 miles (about 400 calories) instead of just walking, you may burn an extra 40 calories in the next few hours.
Tip Infuse your workout with bursts of speed. Gradually work your way up to 2 minute intervals, 3 days a week.

I know you want to get in shape and look great. Whatever your fitness goal…to slim down…gain muscle…tone your arms or flatten your tummy…I’m here to help you accomplish your goals and to improve your fitness level. You will learn how to select and combine your diet with exercise, so that you can be the best you can be.

Coconut Curry Tofu Yum :)

Coconut Curry Tofu

Rated: Submitted By: KATHYCOLLINS Photo By: CVG Prep Time: 25 Minutes Cook Time: 15 Minutes Ready In: 40 Minutes Servings: 6

"This exotic dish is easy to make, and blends the exciting flavors of ginger and chile paste with fresh vegetables in a creamy coconut milk base. "

Ingredients:

2 bunches green onions 1 (14 ounce) can light coconut milk 1/4 cup soy sauce, divided 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger 2 teaspoons chile paste

1 pound firm tofu, cut into 3/4 inch cubes 4 roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped 1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced 4 ounces fresh mushrooms, chopped 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil 4 cups chopped bok choy salt to taste

Directions:

1.	Remove white parts of green onions, and finely chop. Chop greens into 2 inch pieces.
2.	In a large heavy skillet over medium heat, mix coconut milk, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, brown sugar, curry powder, ginger, and chile paste. Bring to a boil.
3.	Stir tofu, tomatoes, yellow pepper, mushrooms, and finely chopped green onions into the skillet. Cover, and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mix in basil and bok choy. Season with salt and remaining soy sauce. Continue cooking 5 minutes, or until vegetables are tender but crisp. Garnish with remaining green onion.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2011 Allrecipes.com

Photoshopping: Altering Images and Our Minds!

Feb24
2011 Written by Beauty Redefined

Photoshopping, digital alteration, image manipulation, blah blah blah. Everyone talks about the fact that so many images of women are “perfected” with the help of technology, but do we really understand how serious this issue is? Like exactly HOW MUCH these photos are manipulated and changed to fit some seriously un-human and unrealistic ideals that we view over and over again? And do we understand that it isn’t just fashion magazine covers that feature photoshopped images? It’s everywhere.

While the vast majority of images of women are being digitally altered, so are our perceptions of normal, healthy, beautiful and attainable.

One of the main strategies used to reinforce and normalize a distorted idea of “average” is media’s representation of women as abnormally thin – either by consistent use of models and actresses that are underweight or close to it, or by making the models and actresses fit their idea of ideal thinness and beauty through digital manipulation. Essentially, “the feminine ideal is tanned, healthy slenderness, with no unsightly bumps, bulges or cellulite, and bodily and facial perfection that results from hours of labor: exercise, makeup and hair care” (Coward, 1985) – and 20 years later, plastic surgery and photoshopping. This unrealistic form is consistently represented across almost all media forms, along with blemish-free, wrinkle-free, and even pore-free skin, thanks to the wonders of digital manipulation as an “industry standard” that is openly endorsed and defended by magazine editors like Lucy Danziger of Self.

Though we hear about photoshopping controversies all the time (a few of which we’ll showcase below), media executives and producers continue to use it to an unbelievable extent and they violently defend it as a perfectly acceptable thing to do. Here’s an interesting (and appalling) case study from Self magazine to showcase this very issue:

Kelly Clarkson before and after Photoshop, Self magazine, Sept. '09

When superstar singer Kelly Clarkson was digitally slimmed down almost beyond recognition on Self’s September 2009 cover, people noticed. Her appearance on “Good Morning America” within just days of the cover shoot proved that her body did not look anything like the very thin one that appeared on the cover. In a shockingly ironic twist, the issue she appeared on was titled “The Body Confidence Issue” and featured an interview inside where she explained how comfortable she felt with her body:

“My happy weight changes,” Clarkson says in the September issue of SELF. “Sometimes I eat more; sometimes I play more. I’ll be different sizes all the time. When people talk about my weight, I’m like, ‘You seem to have a problem with it; I don’t. I’m fine!’ I’ve never felt uncomfortable on the red carpet or anything.”

Rather than apologizing for the seriously unethical and extreme Photoshopping snafu, Self editor Lucy Danziger tried to defend her magazine’s work to the death:

“Yes, of course we do post-production corrections on our images. Photoshopping is an industry standard,” she stated. “Kelly Clarkson exudes confidence, and is a great role model for women of all sizes and stages of their life. She works out and is strong and healthy, and our picture shows her confidence and beauty. She literally glows from within. That is the feeling we’d all want to have. We love this cover and we love Kelly Clarkson.”

Interestingly, Danziger wasn’t satisfied with that statement and felt inspired to take to her personal blog to further rationalize away the Photoshopping hack job:

“Did we alter her appearance? Only to make her look her personal best…But in the sense that Kelly is the picture of confidence, and she truly is, then I think this photo is the truest we have ever put out there on the newsstand.”

It’s hard to believe anyone’s “personal best” is a fake representation of herself. They’ll plaster “body confidence!” all over the magazine and quote Kelly talking about her own real body confidence, but they refuse to show us her actual body.

This is just one example that happened to generate enough media coverage that people were able to find out about the scary distortion of an active, 27-year-old superstar’s body in media. Unfortunately, this case study is pretty representative of thousands more that appear in magazines, on billboards, in advertisements, in stores and everywhere else you can think of every single day. At Beauty Redefined, we’ve termed this phenomenon “the normalization of abnormal.” Since we’ll see millions more images of women in media than we’ll ever see face-to-face, those images form a new standard for not just “beautiful,” but also “average” and “healthy” in our minds. When women compare themselves to a standard of beautiful, average and healthy that simply doesn’t exist in real life, the battle for healthy body image is already lost.

Women’s Health Losses and Media Powerholder Gains

From lost self-esteem, lost money and time spent fixing “flaws” and a well-documented preoccupation with losing weight (National Eating Disorders Association, 2010), the “truth effects” of beauty ideology involve serious loss for women, while the ruling class sees only economic gains. While we know that advertising – especially for fashion or beauty products – depends on people believing they can achieve physical ideals by using certain products or services, do we really understand that ALL media (with very few exceptions) depends on advertising dollars to operate? Because of that, the editorial content or programming has to uphold those same ideals or else advertisers aren’t happy.

Same model, differing degrees of Photoshopping on REAL printed ads, Oct. 2009. Ralph Lauren responded: "After further investigation, we have learned that we are responsible for the poor imaging and retouching that resulted in a very distorted image of a woman's body. We have addressed the problem and going forward will take every precaution to ensure that the caliber of our artwork represents our brand appropriately."

One telling example from the ‘90s (found in Naomi Wolf’s “The Beauty Myth”) explains how a prominent women’s magazine featured gray-haired models in a fashion spread (unheard of even today, right?). It was a success until one of their biggest advertisers, Clairol hair color company, pulled their entire campaign as a protest against the spread. The magazine, which depended on those advertising dollars, was forced to never again feature gray-haired women in a positive light. The same holds true for media today. Pay attention to what kind of companies are advertising in your favorite magazines or during your favorite TV shows. There’s a very good chance they are selling beauty products, weight loss products or other appearance-related services, which means the female characters featured positively (like in relationships or pursued by men, complimented, not the butt of jokes, etc.) will likely resemble the idealized women in the advertising.

From media outlets like Self, Redbook, Ann Taylor and GQ (illustrated below) that go to great lengths to make unrealistic and unattainable beauty ideals look normal and within reach, to the diet and weight loss industry raking in an estimated $61 billion on Americans’ quest for thinness in 2010 (Marketdata Enterprises, 2009), those with financial interests at stake in our beliefs about women’s bodies are thriving unlike ever before. Simultaneously, women and families are losing. Losing self-esteem. Losing time and money spent on items, services and products meant to fix our never-ending list of “flaws.” Losing real understandings of healthy, average and attainable. Sometimes even losing weight they didn’t need to lose in order to measure up (or down) to photoshopped ideals we see every day as “normal.”

Former high fashion model, Crystal Renn, battled a deadly eating disorder for many years before deciding to switch to "plus size" modeling for health purposes. Photographer and Fashion for Passion founder Nicholas Routzen said that Crystal looked thinner because the photos were “…taken from a higher angle with a wider lens,” but that“I shaped her … I did nothing that I wouldn’t do to anyone. I’m paid to make women look beautiful.”

While representations of women’s bodies across the media spectrum have shrunk dramatically in the last three decades, rates of eating disorders have skyrocketed – tripling for college-age women from the late ‘80s to 1993 and rising since then to 4% suffering with bulimia (National Eating Disorder Association, 2010). Perhaps even more startling is the 119 percent increase in the number of children under age 12 hospitalized due to an eating disorder between 1999 and 2006, the vast majority of whom were girls (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2010). Though the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2000) reports that “no exact cause of eating disorders have yet been found,” they do admit that some characteristics have been shown to influence the development of the illnesses, which include low self-esteem, fear of becoming fat and being in an environment where weight and thinness were emphasized – all of which are shown to be related to media depictions of idealized bodies, which is all but inescapable. Scholars have proposed that eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia are due, in part, to an extreme commitment to attaining the cultural body ideal as portrayed in media.

Photoshopping has taken these unreal ideals to a scary new level.

Henry Farid, a Dartmouth professor of computer science who specializes in digital forensics and photo manipulation, agrees. “The more and more we use this editing, the higher and higher the bar goes. They’re creating things that are physically impossible,” he told ABC News in August 2009. “We’re seeing really radical digital plastic surgery. It’s moving towards the Barbie doll model of what a woman should look like — big breasts, tiny waist, ridiculously long legs, elongated neck. All the body fat is removed, all the wrinkles are removed, the skin is smoothed out.”

What we see in media, and what we may be internalizing as normal or beautiful, is anything but normal or beautiful. It’s fake. It’s a profit-driven idea of normal and beautiful that women will spend their lives trying to achieve and men will spend their lives trying to find. But until we all learn to recognize and reject these harmful messages about what it means to look like a woman, we all lose. And I don’t want to lose.

Check out our gallery of photoshopping phoniness and then share this truth!

Ann Taylor's online photoshopping ad disaster, August 2010

This scary display of digital manipulation in action was caught on popular clothing store Ann Taylor’s website in August 2010, when the women behind the feminist website Jezebel discovered the “before” image (on the left, obviously) being displayed while the scary skinny ”after” the image loaded. The already stunning model’s hips and thighs were shrunk to dangerously thin proportions, but her waist simply looks ridiculous.

After Jezebel reported the glitch (and thank goodness for that!), Ann Taylor fixed it and sent an apology their way, saying, “We want to support and celebrate the natural beauty of women, and we apologize if, in the process of retouching, that was lost. We agree, we may have been overzealous on some retouching but [going] forward we’ll make sure to feature more real, beautiful images.” Unfortunately, Ann Taylor is a notorious repeat offender.

Faith Hill retouched to oblivion on the July 2007 cover of Redbook

Right arm? Suddenly appeared on the cover. Left arm? Cut down by at least 1/3 of its original size. Wrinkles, normal complexion or any other signs of life on her face? Erased. Back? Sliced out almost entirely. Enough said.

Kate Winslet slimmed beyond recognition on the Jan. '03 GQ cover

Acclaimed actress Kate Winslet is notoriously beautiful and curvaceous, so it’s not surprising men’s magazine GQ would want to include her on their cover. What IS surprising is that they removed her curves entirely, leaving stick-thin legs and a rightfully upset actress.

She told Britain’s GMTV, “I don’t want people to think I was a hypocrite and had suddenly gone and lost 30 pounds, which is something I would never do, and more importantly, I don’t want to look like that! … They made my legs look quite a bit thinner. They also made me look about 6 feet tall, which I’m not – I’m 5 foot, 6 inches.”

The photoshopping phoniness continues:

Jessica Alba photoshopped dramatically in Dec. 2008 advertising for Campari. Kourtney Kardashian, just 7 days after having her baby, is featured on the cover of January 2010's OK Magazine. It looks as though she dropped her baby weight in one week!

Even Sandra Bullock's arm is not her own in this Photoshop fail! As you can see, digital manipulation is NOT limited to magazines Actress Mena Suvari (as well as any other female featured in print and much of broadcast media) is retouched here to get rid of any signs of life like pores, bumps, or other "blemishes!"

Katie Couric can't even escape photo retouching's grasp! Here, in promotion of her new anchor and managing editor post at CBS Evening News, she is slimmed down by at least one third

America Ferrara on the cover of Glamour, Sept. 2007. Sources claim her head was cut and pasted onto another woman's body for the shoot.

Kourtney Kardashian, just 7 days after having her baby, is featured on the cover of January 2010's OK Magazine. It looks as though she dropped her baby weight in one week!

For a glimpse of reality, go HERE for pictures of 10 real women with their real weights and sizes — in all their beautiful, unaltered glory!

Yoga, benefits

Yoga has been practiced for more than 5,000 years, and currently, close to 11 million Americans are enjoying its health benefits. Yoga can hardly be called a trend.

Most Westernized yoga classes focus on learning physical poses, which are called asanas. They also usually include some form of breathing technique and possibly a meditation technique as well. Some yoga classes are designed purely for relaxation. But there are styles of yoga that teach you how to move your body in new ways. Choosing one of these styles offers the greatest health benefits by enabling you to develop your flexibility, strength, and balance.

Yoga benefits: Flexibility

When some people think of yoga, they imagine having to stretch like a gymnast. That makes them worry that they're too old, unfit, or "tight" to do yoga. The truth is you're never too old to improve flexibility.

The series of yoga poses called asanas work by safely stretching your muscles. This releases the lactic acid that builds up with muscle use and causes stiffness, tension, pain, and fatigue. In addition, yoga increases the range of motion in joints. It may also increase lubrication in the joints. The outcome is a sense of ease and fluidity throughout your body.

Yoga stretches not only your muscles but all of the soft tissues of your body. That includes ligaments, tendons, and the fascia sheath that surrounds your muscles. And no matter your level of yoga, you most likely will see benefits in a very short period of time. In one study, participants had up to 35% improvement in flexibility after only eight weeks of yoga. The greatest gains were in shoulder and trunk flexibility.

Yoga benefits: Strength

Some styles of yoga, such as ashtanga and power yoga, are more vigorous than others. Practicing one of these styles will help you improve muscle tone.

But even less vigorous styles of yoga, such as Iyengar yoga, which focuses on less movement and more precise alignment in poses, can provide strength and endurance benefits.

Many of the poses, such as Downward Dog, Upward Dog, and Plank pose, build upper-body strength. This becomes crucial as people age. The standing poses, especially if you hold them for several long breaths, build strength in your hamstrings, quadriceps, and abdominal muscles. Poses that strengthen the lower back include Upward Dog and Chair pose. When practiced correctly, nearly all poses build core strength in the deep abdominal muscles.

Yoga benefits: Posture

With increased flexibility and strength comes better posture. Most standing and sitting poses develop core strength. That's because you're counting on your deep abdominals to support and maintain each pose. With a stronger core, you're more likely to sit and stand "tall." Another benefit of yoga is the increased body awareness. This heightened awareness tells you more quickly when you're slouching or slumping so you can adjust your posture.

Yoga benefits: Breathing

Because of the deep, mindful breathing that yoga involves, lung capacity often improves. This in turn can improve sports performance and endurance. But yoga typically isn't focused on aerobic fitness the way running or cycling are. Taking an intense power yoga class that gets you breathing hard in a heated room, however, can provide an aerobic benefit.

Most forms of yoga emphasize deepening and lengthening your breath. This stimulates the relaxation response -- the opposite of the fight-or-flight adrenaline boost of the stress response.

Yoga benefits: Less stress, more calm

Even beginners tend to feel less stressed and more relaxed after their first class. Some yoga styles use specific meditation techniques to quiet the constant "mind chatter" that often underlies stress. Other yoga styles depend on deep breathing techniques to focus your mind on the breath. When this happens, your mind becomes calm.

Among yoga's anti-stress benefits are a host of biochemical responses. For example, there is a decrease in catecholamines, the hormones produced by the adrenal glands in response to stress. Lowering levels of hormone neurotransmitters -- dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine -- creates a feeling of calm. Some research points to a boost in the hormone oxytocin. This is the so-called "trust" and "bonding" hormone that's associated with feeling relaxed and connected to others. That may be why so many romances start in the yoga studio.

Yoga benefits: Concentration and mood

Harder to pin down and research scientifically, concentration and the ability to focus mentally are common benefits you'll hear yoga students talk about. The same is true with mood. Nearly every yoga student will tell you they feel happier and more contented after class. Recently, researchers have begun exploring the effects of yoga on depression, a benefit that may result from yoga's boosting oxygen levels to the brain. Yoga is even being studied as an adjunct therapy to relieve symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Yoga benefits: Heart benefits

Perhaps one of the most studied areas of the health benefits of yoga is its effect on heart disease. Yoga has long been known to lower blood pressure and slow the heart rate. A slower heart rate can benefit people with hypertension, heart disease, and stroke. Yoga was a key component to the heart disease program designed by Dean Ornish, MD. This was the first program to partly reverse heart disease through lifestyle and diet rather than surgery. On a biochemical level, studies point to a possible anti-oxidant effect of yoga. And yoga has been associated with decreased cholesterol and triglyceride levels as well as a boost in immune system function.

Yoga benefits: Effects on other medical conditions

As yoga has become more popular in the West, medical researchers have begun studying the benefits of therapeutic yoga. This is also called integrative yoga therapy or IYT. It's used as an adjunct treatment for specific medical conditions, from clinical depression to heart disease. Yoga benefits other chronic medical conditions, relieving symptoms of asthma, back pain, and arthritis. Most worldwide clinical studies are happening outside of the United States. But even the NIH has funded clinical trials on yoga and its health benefits for insomnia and multiple sclerosis.

Other benefits of yoga

Some studies have suggested that yoga may have a positive effect on learning and memory. Other researchers have been studying whether yoga can slow the aging process, increase a person's sense of self-acceptance, or improve energy levels.

Some potential benefits of yoga may be hard to study scientifically. For instance, yoga has been said to increase spiritual awareness. Nevertheless, there is an abundance of anecdotal claims for what yoga can do. Go to any yoga studio and listen to students after class. Some will even tell you that yoga can help improve marriages and relationships at work.

The only way to be certain of all that yoga can do for you is to try it for yourself and see.