It all started with a brand new yoga outfit. You have done it for maybe two, three or even four times! The times that you did it, it felt good. It made you feel energetic and gave you a healthy blush on your cheeks. At the same time you felt more relaxed; for a short while, that rushed feeling was gone. Those were the exact reasons why you started doing this. You were motivated to keep on going, but slowly your routine started to slip, and your motivation disappeared. You went from doing it once a week, to not doing it at all anymore. Such a shame, because it made you feel good. You would love to get back into the saddle. But how do you maintain online yoga at home?

Online yoga at home

Do you recognize yourself in the above? Rest assured, you are not the only one. Research shows that from 83% of people who start doing yoga, only 17% keep on doing it. And that is a shame, because regularly practicing yoga brings many health benefits. Surprisingly enough it seems that there is one specific reason why people start slacking. This reason seems to be the same for everyone. As soon as you know what this reason is, you will never forget about it and will be able to fully enjoy the positive effects of yoga.

What is your motivation?

In the Netherlands, more than 1.6 million people practice yoga, and it’s growing rapidly given the new 1.5 m society. According to NOC*NSF, yoga is currently one of the fastest growing sports. But why are we all choosing for yoga? One of the most common reasons to start is because it reduces stress and makes your body more flexible. But, before you roll out your yoga mat it is essential that you think about your personal motivation. Your motivation is very important if you want to belong to the succes group of 17%. But knowing why you start your online yoga classes is not enough to make you succeed. The trick is in writing it down.

Write it down!

It’s very motivating to know what the reason is for you to start practicing yoga, and the strength is in writing down this reason. You don’t have to write entire books about it, a few lines can already be enough. Specifically writing down why you want to do online yoga at home and how you are going to approach this, ensures that the motivation remains. You can of course write it down in the notes on your phone. But whoever takes a pen and paper to do this, increases the chances of belonging to the group that actually lasts.

Continue to work on it

One of the biggest advantages of the (live) online yoga classes of 100%YOGA is the unique structure of the classes. Next to a variety of classes, ranging from 2 to 60 minutes, all classes are in HD quality, which ensures a sharp image. During classes you can zoom in, which allows you to clearly see how to do a certain yoga pose. Additionally, yoga instructor Esther uses a wireless microphone that’s nearly invisible, but ensures optimal sound quality. The online yoga classes are easy to follow, because of her clear explanations. You can even do it with your eyes closed! Several options are indicated per yoga pose, so that you keep control over the intensity of the class. And lastly, because of Esther’s enthusiasm for yoga it feels very personal and as if you’re in the studio with her.

Would you like to experience how yoga can give you energy? Take a look at these six free online yoga classes at online yoga school 100%YOGA!

It might not be the first thing you think off, but the Dutch beaches are ideal for beach yoga! Not only during the Summer months, but more than three quarters of the year the weather conditions on the Dutch coast are ideal for beach yoga. With more than 60 beach yoga locations in the Netherlands, you’re always sure of a location near you. In this blog, I will share some of my own beach yoga sessions, interesting facts about the Dutch beaches and an overview of the best beach yoga locations in the Netherlands.

Sandcastles

Below are some interesting facts about the Dutch coast:

  • The Dutch coast is 432 kilometres long. Our beaches consist of 82% sand. The remainder mainly consists of human made structures, such as sea walls.
  • To maintain the coastline as much as possible, 12 million cubic meters of sand is moved every year. The sand is brought in from places a few kilometres outside the coast.
  • The beach of Schiermonnikoog has the largest average width (430 meters wide) in the Netherlands. Terschelling comes in second with 270 meters. The Zeeland beaches are the narrowest: for example, Vlissingen beach is only fifteen meters wide.

Sunshine

Many of us know that practicing yoga brings many health benefits, and yoga combined with the Sun has even more! Beach yoga is the way to go for an extra boost of vitamin D. Besides, sunlight has a cholesterol-lowering effect and it improves the oxygen level in the blood, which keeps all body tissue fit and healthy.

Beach yoga locations

There are more than 60 different locations on the Dutch coast where you can follow a beach yoga class. On the website of Buiten-Yoga you can easily find out which beach yoga location is near you.

Stress and anxiety start in your brains, but they have strong effect on your body too. Palpitations, sweating, a rushed feeling: these are all physical experiences we associate with stress or anxiety. But did you know that they can also have a huge effect on your skin? According to research, stress and anxiety can worsen existing skin conditions like acne or psoriasis, or even cause them.

Stressful times

In research done on 101 people that have psoriasis disease, half of the people stated that the disease arose during a stressful time in their lives. About two thirds of the group stated that their symptoms worsened when they felt a higher pressure. 

Another study on female medical students in Saudi Arabia indicates that stress had a major impact on the increase or worsening of their acne.

While in the medical world, psychology for the mind and dermatology for the skin are seen as two separate parts, they do influence each other. Dermatologist and Professor Francisco Tausk, from the University Medical Center at Rochester, explains how this works.

The physical effect of stress

When you experience a stressful situation, whether you are late for an exam or you are in danger, your body produces chemicals. The chemical that your body produces is norepinephrine, which causes your heart to pound and your muscles to tighten for the fight or flight response. But, these chemicals have a nasty side effect: they also produce molecules that cause inflammation. These inflammations can cause psoriasis or acne.

The cortisol hormone can be a helping hand. It stops the stress reaction and decreases inflammation. However, during stressful situations this hormone is torn down. People that have psoriasis or acne already have a lower cortisol level and cannot produce enough of it to combat the consequences. The inflammation gets worse and your sebaceous glands produce more and more oils. The result? A worsening of the skin condition.

Mood swings

On the other hand, skin problems often cause mood swings. Teens with acne have low self-esteem or are being bullied. Adults with psoriasis are ashamed for their skin and fear that no one dares to touch them. Sometimes it even makes them avoid social gatherings. Beside, some medication for skin problems has a side effect of depressive feelings. This way stress and skin diseases continue to reinforce each other and you end up in a vicious circle.

What can you do?

When you manage to tackle one of these problems you can break the vicious circle you’re in. You can go to a dermatologist to tackle your skin problems, but you can also start with your mind. Professor Tausk often advises his patients to start with mindfulness, yoga or meditation. Below you can find several blogs to help you make a head start:

When your skin problems arise from depression or anxiety, it can help to start with cognitive behavioral therapy. Visit your doctor for a referral.

Meditation has become increasingly popular. Not surprising, considering scientific research shows that meditation has a positive effect on mental health. Briefly described, meditation is an accessible concentration exercise. You can easily learn how to meditate and it is a nice way to filter the constant stream of thoughts, with the result that you feel more comfortable in your own skin. You experience less stress, your immune system works better and the days when your head overflows with thoughts are over.

Advantages of meditation:

  • It will be easier to concentrate and you will be able to work more efficiently: you act from a calm state of mind instead of a state of agitation or frustration.
  • Your stress level will go down, which boosts your immune system.
  • You become less frustrated and can let go of your anger more quickly.
  • You will recognize certain thought patterns,  which allows you to make more conscious choices.

Just do it

Meditating is simply a matter of doing it. The power lies in the repetition and having the discipline to keep on doing it. When you start meditating, set a realistic goal. For example, start by meditating once a week during 5 minutes in the morning or evening. Gradually increase the number of minutes and the amount of times per week . You will notice yourself when the time is right to start increasing the amount of times you meditate.

The initial goal is not to meditate for hours on end, seven days a week.  The goal is to create a  routine, so that meditation becomes as natural as brushing your teeth. By gradually building a routine you can start making meditation a part of your daily schedule.

You can’t go wrong with meditation

The biggest advantage of meditating is that it can’t go wrong! This  also applies to the body position you adopt during meditation. You can sit  cross-legged, with your legs stretched forward if that feels more comfortable, or just upright on a chair. You can even meditate lying down! In short, there are many choices and sometimes this can be confusing. The best advice I can give you: don’t pay too much attention to others, but choose a position that works for YOU! After all, meditation is all about you.

Getting started

To get you started, below are two quick and effective meditations:

Busy Mind | duration 5 minutes

Did you know that on average we have between 40,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day? This converts to 55 thoughts per minute. That is a lot! At times when it feels like your head is flooded with thoughts, this is a nice meditation to find more peace and get the overview back. 

Time To Relax | duration 5 minuten

When we experience stress our breathing changes immediately. We start breathing higher towards the chest. The longer this takes, the longer the feeling of stress remains. The most natural way of breathing is from the stomach , which allows the body to function optimally. This meditation allows you to practice abdominal breathing which ensures a relaxed feeling. 

Are you looking for more background information about meditation? Read all about it in this blog.

In my blog about meditation, I explain how important meditation is to me. Meditating has become my lifestyle and helps me to deal with all kinds of situations. As you can read in my previous article, I use meditation to calm myself and to reflect. But I also meditate when I am angry or when I am sad. Nowadays, I also use meditation to be more positive and to achieve my goals. For the latter I usually use a visualization meditation. In this blog more about achieving your goals by visualizing.

The power of visualization

Blogger Lisa explains in her article the types of meditation what visualization is: “during a meditation session with visualization, you consciously consider the images in your mind”. By writing and reflecting in my diary every week, I try to reflect on my goals for the coming period. This period can be a day, a week, a month or even a year. That depends on the type of goal. I regularly include these goals in my meditations. By visualizing that I have achieved a goal and how I would feel at that moment, I create a more positive feeling about the goal. This makes the situation in my head more and more realistic. I am also becoming more and more confident about the fact that my goal can really be achieved.

Visualization in real life

Of course you can use visualizations for professional situations as well. Need to do a presentation and you think that is scary? A confrontation with your manager that you have been afraid of for weeks? Visualize this situation and imagine yourself going through the situation effortlessly. In such a way that everyone in the office is impressed and your boss compliments you. I bet that you are more confident when the event is happening. 

Visualization is also suitable for your private life. I am always a bit worried or anxious when I have to raise difficult issues with my partner. My reflex is to imagine the worst scenario. And guess what? If I come up with all the possible negative outcomes, this conversation always ends in an argument. However, if I visualize in advance, a good conversation with mutual understanding, I step into the conversation much more positively. As a result, the conversation always ends better.

Never again all night up 

In our current society we are often awake all night overthinking everything that is bothering us. Imagine you use this time not to worry but to visualize positive things? I am convinced that we can all achieve much more. And is it not more pleasant be awake thinking about all the beautiful things, than about everything that can go wrong?

Love,

Mara

For someone who worries a lot, suffers from negative thoughts or has trouble falling asleep, meditation can help. But also when you are feeling perfectly fine meditation is beneficial, you will feel (more) energetic and your mental resilience will grow. You can find thousands of meditations on the internet: you can visualize, focus on your breathing or meditate while in motion. Finding a type that suits you well can be a bit of a search. Yet it can bring you a lot! We list a few meditation forms for you.

Vipassana Meditation

This form is about observing. Observing your body, your thoughts and your emotions without attaching a value to them. One of the first things you learn when you start using a Headspace module. You soon learn that you can see your thoughts as cars that pass slowly or quickly and all you have to do is look at these cars. Sounds easy, but we tend to run after thoughts or try to stop them. This form of meditation trains you in such a way that your thoughts won’t take a run with you and find peace faster. This type of meditation is good for when you worry a lot. 

Visualisation

We can all visualize, we do it without even noticing. During a meditation session with visualization, you consciously consider the images in your mind. You can recall images of something that has already happened, something that is yet to come or you can, for example, pretend you are on the beach. The sun and the sound of the sea will let you relax. You can also imagine how your day will go. For example, do you have to do presentation which you are nervous for? Try to play this moment in your head with a positive ending, for example enthusiastic reactions from the audience or an overwhelming applause. In the beginning it is difficult to take up this type of meditation alone. There are a lot of guided meditations, they help with stress, anxiety or make sure you fall asleep better. 

Yoga

Yoga is a moving form of meditation and Yoga also has many different forms. During Vinyasa Yoga you focus on your breathing and move from one position to the other based on the rhythm of your breathing. Focusing on your breathing improves your yoga flow and ensures peace of mind. You are constantly on the move, unlike Yin yoga. During Yin yoga you will find peace because you take the time for the different poses. You use the postures to feel what goes on in your body. It is good to do this form of yoga when you have already done something active (Vinyasa yoga or swimming, running). Our Yoga expert Esther shares something new about yoga every month. Don’t know where to start? Follow a video of Esther!

Breathing meditation

You’ve probably heard the phrase “Breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth.” You can do breathing exercises (or meditations) anywhere. It is nice if you have a number that you can do in between, when, for example, you experience stress. Meditating does not have to take hours at all! Just taking 5 minutes for yourself can make a world of difference. For example, try this is: breathe in deeply through your nose as far as you can and then hold your breath for 5 seconds. Then release your breath through your mouth. Repeat this a few times and feel how you react to this. You immediately released some tension!

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is about being in the “now”. We are often lost in thought and think of everything we need to do later. Mindfulness is “living with attention”, focusing on what you are doing now. Imagine you are in your car, you are in a traffic jam and your thoughts begin: what groceries do I need, what is the quickest route to the supermarket, what is a quick recipe so that I am on time at the gym … Mindfulness means that you let go of these thoughts and look at the cars around you, the scenery, listen to the sound of the engine, feel the hills on your way. You perceive everything as it is, without judgement and you do not cling to it. Mindfulness improves focus and performance.

“Don’t hate, meditate”

Experiment and learn

There are a lot of Apps, videos on YouTube and meditations on Spotify to get you started:

Apps to meditate:

  • InsightTimer: various meditation teachers, meditation music and sounds all in 1 app. Easy to use in English and Dutch. For example, search for stress, anxiety or sleep for specific meditations.
  • Headspace: probably heard of it;)! The modules of Headspace let you get acquainted with meditation in a nice way, good for beginners.

Nice playlists on Spotify:

  • NiceDay Binaural Beats: This playlist is full of music that allows you to fully relax.
  • Yoga feels: not just instrumental but nice tunes to relax with or to get your own yoga flow

Yoga from your own home

 

Which form will you try? Or do you already have a favorite? 

 

Stress is a natural reaction of your body on possible danger. Your body produces the hormones cortisol and adrenaline to get alert. Stressing can be healthy, but most people experience too much stress. No less than one on four people suffer from permanent stress (Bodyworlds, 2017). This negatively affects your health. In this article we explain how to deal with it in a healthy way.

What do we stress about?

Most people experience tension because of work problems. For example because of a high workload or not getting along with coworkers. Another problem is separating work life and private life, for instance by checking your email on holidays. Problems at work can also cause annoyance at home, almost half of the working population scream at their partner or kids because of work related problems (Happify, 2017).

How realistic is it?

Approximately 85% of the stuff we worry about never actually happens. 80% of the stuff that does happen, appears to be a lot less terrible than initially thought. In other words: it isn’t about what happens to us, it’s our response to what happens. Be conscious of your worries and put it into perspective. Will it still be important a year from now?

Worrying doesn’t take away tomorrows problems, it takes away today’s peace. 

Meditation

Meditation used to have a corny stigma, but that’s about to change. That’s a good thing, because meditation is a good way to calm down and reduce stress. Proper breathing helps you deal consciously with your stress. Try this exercise when you experience stress: sit in a comfortable position. Breathe in and out three times. Breathe in for 6 seconds through your  mouth, breath out for 6 seconds through your nose. Be aware of your surroundings: list four things you see, three things you feel, two things you hear and one thing you smell. Then breathe in and breath out another three times.

Coping with stress

Is meditation not your thing? That’s ok, there are other ways to reduce stress. For example exercising reduces the production of stress hormones and stimulates the production of hormones which make you feel happy. Laughing will also help, it releases tension in your body and reduces the reaction on stress. Are you at work and you want to reduce stress discretely? Listening to music will reduce stress too.

NiceDay: Do you suffer from stress? Then plan an activity in your Daily Planner and start exercising at a stressful moment. Then describe in your diary how you feel after exercise.

Mindfulness is a state of mind that is characterized by the awareness of someone’s physical experiences, feelings and thoughts, without having an automatic reaction and having an opinion right away. To work towards mindfulness you can do training, meditation and other attention exercises. Mindfulness is getting more popular, but how did it actually come into being? You can read more about the history of mindfulness in this article!

Buddhistic origin
Mindfulness is a term that originates from Anglo-Saxon language, whose origins lie in Buddhism. Buddha (560 yr BC) has dedicated his life to investigating the causes of suffering in the world, and especially why suffering persists. He has devised ways to reduce suffering and free people from it. According to him, suffering is caused by ourselves, we are inclined to attach ourselves to pleasant experiences and to turn ourselves against unpleasant experiences. An attitude of friendly attention and attention is the way to suffer no longe and to have peace with ourselves and the situation, even when the situation is uncomfortable.

The founding father Jon
The American Jon Kabat-Zinn was the first to get the concept of mindfulness out of his Buddhist context and developed an eight-week training course, namely mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) training. In Dutch this is also called the attention training. As the name says, the development or improvement of attention is central. Jon worked at the University of Massachusetts academic hospital. It struck him that people who could not be treated anymore because of their terminal illness, had to face an agony. People with a terminal illness were often told that they had to ‘deal’ with their illness, but nobody could tell them how.

Jon Kabat-Zinn is a molecular biologist and he also has a lot of experience with meditation and yoga. With the knowledge of both areas he developed a training with the aim to provide patients with means to improve their quality of life.

Jon takes over
In 1979 Jon Kabat-Zinn opened the ‘Stress Reduction Clinic’ at the hospital of his university, which was later called ‘the Center for Mindfulness’. The training sessions proved to be successful: many patients appeared to benefit from the training and the effectiveness was confirmed by scientific research.

More and more therapists came to Massachusetts for an education. Thousands of people have now followed the training. To this day, Jon is giving seminars, workshops and lectures about mindfulness worldwide.