Prana Chiropractic's Wellness Corner

In the age of fitness gimmicks and equipment that promise to produce staggering results in 2 minutes or less of use per day, most of us “more” informed people have become weary of the fitness equipment industry.    Yet one simple piece of equipment that has literally stood the test of time and is generally accepted by all health and fitness professionals as being effective, is the stability ball.    The stability ball is also called a yoga, Thera-, exercise, fitness, or Swiss ball and regardless of the name given, it is an air-filled heavy-duty plastic ball that comes is a variety of sizes to better fit individual users.    The stability ball is an inexpensive piece of equipment and because of the fitness benefits that they offer it is a must for all exercises to have in the home and office. Although many people think of the stability ball as a relatively recent invention, they have been around since the early 1900’s.    Originally they wer...

Cinnamon is one of the oldest spices known to man, dating back to 2,700 BC according to both Chinese and Egyptian texts.    Cinnamon is a small tree grown in Asia and South America, and is produced by taking the bark from the tree and drying it.    It is then typically ground into powder for consumption.    There are 4 different varieties of cinnamon, but the most common type found in grocery stores is Cassia cinnamon.    Cinnamon offers a good deal of health benefits including regulation of blood sugar, relieving pain associated with arthritis, improved memory and brain functioning, anti-clotting and blood thinning effects, helping with cold symptoms including a stuffy nose, reducing flatulence and nausea, and can help with painful menstrual cramping.    Cinnamon also contains important nutrients including manganese, iron, calcium and fiber.    The combination of calcium and fiber is particularly important in that it has...

Two of my favorite things in life are working out and music.  So why not combine them and get the best of both worlds!  In all seriousness, listening to music while working out can increase your ability to train and in that way, help to boost results.  If you take a second to think about it, it isn’t really hard to see how music can help you increase the intensity of your workouts.  Throughout history, music has been used to illustrate and illicit emotions and to create moods.  Choosing music that creates the mood for the type of training that you’ll be engaging in is important.  For heavy weight lifting or sprinting workouts, it makes sense to choose a powerful, face-paced type of music.  For yoga or meditation, go with light and expressive instrumental type music.  They even make waterproof MP3 players these days, so you can listen to music while swimming!   http://www.amazon.com/Underwater-A...