Yoga for brides-to-be is an article that will help you to get ready for one of the biggest and most important days of your life.
These are a few poses that can help the brides-to-be in getting to the right shape and state of health.

## Some yoga poses for brides-to-be
### Surya Namaskar
Surya namaskar helps in:
- posture improvement
- metabolism
- breath management
- mental calmness
- energy improvement

### Virabhadrasana or Warrior Pose
Virabhadrasana helps in:
- stamina building
- improving endurance
- detoxification
- weight-loss

### Dhanurasana or Bow Pose
Dhanurasana helps you in:
- fat-loss in the abdominal region
- toning the upper half of the body
- improving oxygen supply
- burning fat

[Getting married? Commit to yoga](https://www.sarva.com/blogs/getting-married-commit-to-yoga). Read How

### Eka-pada Sarvangasana
Eka-pada Sarvangasana helps you in:
- facial glow & radiance
- reducing wrinkles
- improving blood flow to the brain
- nourishing body & skin

### Pranayama or correct breathing technique
Pranayama helps you in:
- digestion
- building immunity
- reducing visceral fat
- removing toxins

Good luck for your big day and have a great happiness-filled & blissful life ahead.

General

Yoga for brides-to-be is an article that will help you to get ready for one of the biggest and most important days of your life.

Yoga for brides-to-be

If workouts are cupcakes then challenges are their sprinkles on top. 
Let’s level up the wellness game by being more mindful in May and taking up SARVA’s Mindful May challenge.

The rules of the challenge are simple, learn how to mindfully manage your mental health and nutrition while also improving your physical health. 

## Mindful In May Challenge
SARVA believes in holistic transformation, thus the Mindful May challenge comprises two activities which will help you be more mindful in May. Here are the activities. 

## Mindful May Meditation Challenge
__Challenge :__ Tratak (Gazing). Tratak means to gaze steadily without blinking the eyes. This is one of the premeditative tools which is performed with the eyes. 
Hatha Yoga Pradipika defines it as one of the Shatkarmas.

__Duration for the challenge -__
- Beginner - 30 sec to 1 min
- Intermediate - 2 to 3 mins
- Advance - 5 mins

## How do you do the mindfulness challenge?
For the Mindful May Meditation challenge, you need a dark room to practice candle gazing. The room should be devoid of dirt, insects, and any distracting sounds or smells. It should not be too airy as it is important that the candle flame be steady and not flicker at all. It is preferable that one does not use any type of glasses during practice.

## Steps to follow for the Mindful May Meditation challenge
1. Assume a comfortable sitting position,  spine in a neutral position; the rest of your body should be relaxed.
2. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths to relax your body and mind. Concentrated deep breaths will allow you to empty your mind of any diverting thought.
3. Softly open your eyes and begin to gaze at the tip of the flame.
4. Do not strain your eyes by forcefully keeping them wide open.
5. Try not to blink your eyes or move your eyeballs. However, if it is a must then you may blink or move your gaze. 
6. Continue gazing at the flame for 2-3 minutes with complete awareness. With regular practice, you can increase the timing to 5 minutes.

In the process, if you feel that your eyes are filling with tears, allow them to roll down your cheeks. This signifies the endpoint of practice. Now close your eyes and try to visualize the image of the candle flame in between your eyebrows.
Once the after image begins to fade, open your eyes and again gaze at the flame, especially at the tip of the flame. The ultimate purpose is to lengthen the timing of inner gazing as much as possible.

It is recommended that you wash your face and eyes after tratak.

__Benefits of Mindful May Meditation challenge__
Tratak’s mindful meditation benefits are as follows:

- Candle gazing is a static tratak that works directly on developing concentration.
- It is therapeutic in cases of depression, insomnia, allergies, anxiety(one of the best meditations for anxiety), postural problems, poor concentration, and memory.
- Helps develop stronger willpower. Also, promotes mindfulness and happiness. 
- People with weak eyesight or weak eye muscles can greatly benefit with the regular practice of Tratak.
- It has been found that it helps neutralize tendencies like anger, short temper, suspicion, irritation, and resentment for one month.

__Disclaimer:__
Be careful of the following points while performing the Mindful May Meditation challenge.

- One suffering from hypertension should perform Shavasana before performing Tratak. 
- Do not rub your eyes immediately after tratak. 
- Do not read or watch any form of screen immediately after tratak.
- Do not repeat tratak more than thrice in one sitting.

## Mindful in May: No Sugar Challenge

Wondering how to mindfully manage your diet? Take a 3 day no sugar challenge.

Sugar is naturally present in many food items such as vegetables, fruits, dairy products, etc which then gets broken down into glucose and provides energy to the body.

Whereas there are few food items like packaged breakfast cereals, ice cream, cookies, cakes, candy, soda, jaggery, methai, sweetened coffee/tea, etc. where sugar is added during the preparation.  

So is sugar bad? It is not a Nutrient! It can be consumed in limited quantities occasionally but not EVERYDAY.

Sugar is 8 times as addictive as hard drugs. This is the reason why while having a small piece of chocolate, people end up having more than that small piece.

Try to cut down and eventually quit adding sugar to our diet. No Honey, No Jaggery, No sugar [white/brown], not even in your tea and coffee. 

Join SARVA in the Mindful May Meditation challenge by following the meditation routine and being mindful of your diet and nutrition. 


Here are some tough goals we’ve set for our champion yogis for the month of May. Pick a day of your choice and ask your coach to help you complete the challenge, Mindful May challenge.


Mindful May Meditation Challenge 2022

25 forms of yoga

The modern Indian lifestyle with its numerous responsibilities of family and work, many of us take their own health for granted. It is important to learn the fundamentals of nutrition and importance of eating balanced diet. If we don't take care of our food/diet today it will affect our future.

What you are eating is not for “Today” in fact its for “tomorrow". Every bite you take fights or fuels the disease.

One must follow a healthy, sustainable diet which will help in inculcating good food habits and weight loss will be one of the outcomes of this.

## Lifestyle changes for better living:
1.	You must incorporate 1 portion of carbohydrate + 1 portion of Protein + 1 portion of Vegetables in your Lunch every day.
2.	Every meal must have 1 portion of protein in it [Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner]
3.	Incorporate 2 mid meals in your day. One between your breakfast and Lunch and another between Lunch and dinner.
4.	Your food plate should have food items which are – Colourful, As per season, Traditional combination, Balanced, Locally easily available, Less processed, As per climate and freshly cooked.
5.	Please incorporate seasonal fruits and vegetable in your diet. They are very rich source of micro nutrients and helps in boosting immunity.
6.	There has to be at least 2-3 hours gap between your last meal and bedtime.
7.	You should get good sound sleep for 6-8 hours. 
8.	Meditate every day at least 10-15 mins.
9.	Eat mindfully. Make sure you are not distracted and eating with all senses.
10.	Do not forget to add at least 1-2 fruits in your daily routine.
11.	You must do at least 1 hour of physical activity every alternate day OR at least 30 minutes every day.
12.	Plan your meals a week prior. We never plan to fail. This will ensure consumption of healthy and wholesome meal.
13.	Keep yourself well hydrated. Drink at least 3.5 - 4 litters of water throughout the day.
14.	Keep a gap of 10 min between your meal and tea. This will make sure that caffeine from tea/ coffee will not interfere with nutrient absorption.
15.	Avoid canned, processed food items and go for freshly made food from the kitchen.
16.	 Engage yourself in some hobby/ activity. This will help in managing your stress levels.

We need to take care of our Food along with Sleep, Stress, Water and Physical activity to have healthy sustainable lifestyle.


Nutrition

It is important to learn the fundamentals of nutrition and importance of eating balanced diet.