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Mental Health Awareness Month: Take A Breath Driver

Breathing is one of those things we all do, yet we rarely think about it; when a system like the respiratory works without us having to think about it or make it happen, it’s called “involuntary.”

The respiratory system has the unique ability to work all on its own without our help, unlike the muscular system, which works voluntarily.

This month is Mental Health Awareness Month and it’s a perfect time to tune in and tap into how powerful our breath actually is.

When we breathe, we get this precious gift called life.

Did you know?

We can survive 21 days without food, seven days without water but can only go one to three minutes without oxygen.

And at the 60-second mark, brain cells are already dying.

Yet after 20 years of teaching yoga to others, there is one thing I have come to find, many do not like to breathe.

 

I would often notice few would appreciate the art of breathing practices (pranayama) in yoga. You could see people start to fidget, become distracted, and even get annoyed at the idea that they weren’t “doing anything” during their yoga class. Yet without the ability to breathe, nothing on the yoga mat would even be possible. With May being mental health awareness month let’s take a few minutes today to focus in on simple strategies you can add to your daily routine today that cost you nothing and take minimal time and effort. 

It’s time you learn to breathe to improve your truck driver’s health!

Breathing is a tool. Those that learn to harness the device and tap into its vast abilities to improve, help and even heal the body get to reap the benefits of increased vitality, health, and happiness. But time and time again, I have observed others choose pills, alcohol, and even violence to manage what we all call stress or our emotions rather than tap into this tool we are all born with and have access to us at any given time. 

Stress can alter just about any system in the body if we allow it to. 

Stress management sign mother trucker yoga blog

Stress can:

  • Raise our blood pressure
  • Increase our heart rate
  • Increase our body temperature
  • Leave us in physical pain
  • Can decrease our immune system
  • Give us stomach discomfort
  • Make it difficult to sleep
  • Can affect your libido 
  • Tense your muscles 
  • Cause weight gain 
  • Burden your nervous system
  • Leave shallow breathing

When is the last time you felt the effects of any of the above and thought you should practice deep breathing? 

When my oldest son was small, and he’d get stressed out, the first thing I would have him do is deep breathing. Three deep breaths, I’d say, and we’d do them together. He’s now nearly a teenager, and I have observed him repeatedly defaulting to deep breathing when he is stressed, angry, frustrated, or can’t sleep. He automatically uses this incredible tool we all walk around with every day but rarely tap use voluntarily. 

The average American breathes with less than 18% of their lung capacity. That’s what I like to call clavicle breathing. It’s no wonder we are a stressed-out, upset, unhealthy out touch society. I say these are the very things I have felt before yoga and learning how to tap into my breathing. And the same things I think when I’m not in my body, using my breathing, and feeling grounded in my skin. 

How do we breathe?

The average person takes about ten breaths per minute; that’s an average of 22,000-24,000 breaths per day. That’s a lot of breathing. And when we breathe, we inhale necessary oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide and toxins that our body wants to remove. When we breathe, our lungs expand and take in air, and our diaphragm lowers and expands as well, taking in oxygen to then be distributed out to the millions of cells throughout our body that need that fresh oxygen to live. 

Dr. James Hoyt, a pulmonologist, says, “Our respiratory muscles don’t have the luxury of being out of shape.” Yet how many people can say with certainty that they use them, work them, build them like their bicep regularly? There is a saying, “use it or lose it,” and it fits here with our breathing. 

 A recent study in the Journal of Neurophysiology may support this, revealing that several brain regions linked to emotion, attention, and body awareness are activated when we pay attention to our breath.

And, also nearly every system in the body is connected to our respiratory system or breathing. 

  • Our metabolism increases when we practice deep breathing.
  • Our autonomic nervous system regulates when we deep breathe.
  • Our digestion can settle and improve when deep breathing.
  • Our muscles relax and get total oxygen, helping them not to cramp.
  • Our lymphatic systems become stimulated, hand and hand, with our immune system, both stimulated when we breathe.
  • Our body is fully oxygenated when we deep breathe.

And one of our deep breathing’s most impressive features is that it stimulates our vegas nerve. 

What is the vagus nerve?

The vagus nerve is the longest of the cranial nerves, extending from the brainstem to the abdomen through multiple organs, including the heart, esophagus, and lungs.

It controls the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), which contains your relaxation response. Most people never breathe deep enough to stimulate this impressive nerve.

We need the vagus nerve to be alive and working because the vagus nerve controls your mood, heart rate, digestion, and immune response. Stimulating your vagus nerve can help to regulate many functions in your body.

Vagus nerve stimulation has been linked to treating epilepsy, improving digestive conditions, reducing inflammation, and managing anxiety disorders.

The journal Frontiers in Neuroscience reported in 2018 that the poor function of the vagus nerve could lead to mood and anxiety disorders. But most importantly, when you stimulate the vagus nerve, you can reduce anxiety, stress, and mood disorders. All of this can happen when you learn to breathe more deeply and more often. 

WAKE UP, PEOPLE! BREATHING IS FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Where does your breathing fall?

Clavicle Breathers: 

Those that breathe only into the upper chest, throat, and shoulders. These breathers often have lifted shoulders and a tense neck. 

Chest Breathers: 

Those that breathe into the center of the chest. 

Abdominal Breathers: 

Those that breathe deep into the belly and feel their lungs and abdomen expand freely. 

We have forgotten our unique ability to help and heal ourselves. When you were a baby, no one had to tell you how to breathe, yet there you were, breathing so deeply that your entire torso was expanding and contracting every breath you took. I have listened and watched my children as infants, and now adolescents get upset and even cry only to default to their breathing to calm them down. It’s in you; you have done it; you have just forgotten how to do it. 

Deep Abdominal Breathing Technique:

This is the perfect technique to try for Mental Health Awareness Month.

  1. Sitting tall or lying down comfortably, place one hand on your belly and one hand on your heart/chest. 
  2. Exhale completely through your mouth and hear your breath move out of your body. 
  3. Inhale through your nose move your breath deeply into your lower hand (belly) and feel it expand. Continue to move your breath up to notice your upper hand (chest) rise. 
  4. Exhale slowly move the air out, feeling your belly collapse and your chest lower (in any order). 
  5. Soften your jaw and relax your body, focus on fully emptying your belly when you exhale, and fully expand when you inhale. 
  6. Work yourself up towards a count of four counts on the inhale and eight on the exhale. 
  7. Repeat this for two to five minutes. 
  8. Anytime your mind wanders, bring it back to your breathing. 
  9. Allow yourself to hear your breath each time you inhale and exhale. 

How to do deep abdominal breathing

To improve your truck driver health, continue this practice daily in the morning to wake up, when you are feeling stressed, waiting in traffic (minus the hands-on your body), or before you go to sleep to help you relax. 

You have tools to help you breathe, relax, fall asleep. The real question is, are you using them? 

Take inventory since it’s mental health awareness month, how is your breathing?

Deep Abdominal Breathing Benefits:

 Various deep abdominal breathing forms have been linked to cardiovascular benefits, including increased blood flow and improved blood pressure. Deep breathing is also a helpful tool for relaxation and sleep. Taking deep breaths can also help you manage stress and improve cognitive function like brain fog and lack of focus and concentration.

If every tool you are reaching for is outside of yourself, let me ask you, have you tried the tools you were born with? The tools you were given and are the very tools that make this life possible? The tool I am talking about is your breathing. 

Try This:

For one week, practice deep abdominal breathing at least one time a day. Work to practice it at the same time each day. Set the alarm on your phone or in your calendar and make it a priority. All too often, we say something doesn’t work or help, and we have never really tried it, let alone given it the attention required to see results. 

Trucking yoga can be as simple as paying attention to your breathing. Truck driver health does not need to be complicated. And you benefit from it the most!

After seven days, come back and let us know how you did. What changed, what you noticed or found. Every month can be mental health awareness month, don’t let your mental health slip away.

Now take a deep breath and start living! 

Mother Trucker Yoga LIFESTYLE JUMPSTART App and platform image

Resources:

https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/what_focusing_on_the_breath_does_to_your_brain

https://www.uchealth.org/today/understanding-breathing-and-the-importance-of-taking-a-deep-breath/

https://www.healthline.com/health/facts-about-stress#25.-Past-experiences-can-cause-stress-later-in-life

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.n

https://www.consumerreports.org/mental-health/ways-to-manage-stress/ih.go
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3 Driver Exercises To Do Anywhere As An OTR Trucker

Living as an OTR trucker is not easy. I am not a driver, but do find myself quite a bit over the road and in the air. And living out of a suitcase has its pros and cons and finding time for fitness is definitely one of the cons. 

When it comes to driver exercises, scheduling a trucker workout does not have to be a time suck. And it indeed doesn’t have to be approached as that dreaded after-work activity. It can be fun. And it does play a very positive role in how we feel and even how we sleep.

Figuring out when and how to work out doesn’t have to be complicated, and the first step is to have an open mind. 

As someone who has spent more than half her life in the fitness and wellness arena, it has crossed my mind on more than one occasion: why the number one reason I hear from people as to why they don’t exercise more is that they seem to think “they don’t have time.” 

And it appears that roughly 75% of the American population seems to have trouble finding time to work out.

So to all my truck drivers, I assure you, most of America struggles to find the time, at home or on the road. And I do believe from my own experience working with thousands of students over the last fifteen plus years that making a mind shift is step one in building any new skill.

When it comes to driver exercises, STEP ONE simply opens yourself up to the idea that “yes,” this can be done.

And what if adding in a bit of exercise every day could be as simple as just moving more during the day?

No, not “exercise,” but the intention of moving in those small pockets of time where you are doing nothing.

Because here is the thing, exercise will not change your current outcome. Adding more overall movement to your day will.

So instead of making “exercise” a goal for you. How about we start small.

One simple step at a time and consider our daily schedule and where we can insert a move or extra squat here and there throughout the day. So that by the end of the day, we have increased our overall quota of movement for the body.

3 Simple Driver Exercises You Can Do Today:

Truck Driver Workout #1: Reach High and Squat Low 

Reaching and squatting are two of the three basic movements we all must be able to do to age healthily. These just so happen to be two basic movements that we begin to stop doing after the period of 18 (totally my opinion here).

It just so happens this is about the same time we become an adult and adulting begins to take over our lives. We play less and sit more. We choose convenience over functionality. And quite possibly become a little less mindful of how and why we are doing things.

Dropped something. Squat down to get it. You are standing in line, squat to break up long-standing time, looking under your truck or trailer? Squat to look underneath. There are dozens of ways to add to this movement. You have to choose it.

And as for reaching a bit more. Why not consider a quick stretch in traffic. Or both hands on the truck door and step back a bit to stretch your underarm like a Downward Facing Dog. Chatting with a fellow driver. Reach up overhead, clasp your hand and push your palms to the sky. There are dozens of ways to insert this type of movement where you would otherwise be just “sitting or standing around.” 

mother trucker yoga blog hope zvara squatting

Truck Driver Workout #2: Core Marching 

There are plenty of times you are seated that you are not driving. Waiting to load or unload? Team driving, sitting as co-pilot? Is break time scrolling Facebook?

How is it you can get your heart rate up? Get your cardio in? Get your core muscles revving? This is the second move of our 3 driver exercises any trucker can do.

Based on the facts, truck drivers are among the highest at risk for cardiovascular risks due to their work environment (long-haul trucking) than their neighboring professions.

So the next time, you find yourself just sitting around. Sit up tall. Try not to lean back or round forward. Take your back off the support of the chair behind you and begin to march your legs up and down off the ground. And slowly start to increase the speed of your marching until you are up to a pace you are challenged to hold a conversation at.

Try to do this for one minute, and then notice your heart rate. Try to do these three times with a one-minute rest in-between. The faster you go, the more it’s cardio! But at any pace, you are giving your body a much-needed tune-up!

Core Marching Mother Trucker Yoga BLog

Truck Driver Workout #3: Pumping Iron

Well, how about, for starters, you take a look in your truck and find anything that has some weight to it, and you can grip hold of it. I would suggest a water jug (doubles for hydration and as a workout tool), a duffel bag filled with clothes, or even a hand-weight with easy storing. Here are 3 driver exercises you can do, pumping iron can be easy and fun and doesn’t require weights at all!

 

While filling up with fuel or on your 30-minute break, consider adding in a few rounds of some bicep curls. Standing tall, try to do 10-20 with each arm. And then get creative and try to move your weight around your body: to the side, high, low, and backward, even add a lunge into the mix—notice which directions are more comfortable and more complicated. More than likely, the easier ones mimic basic movement patterns you are already doing during the day. So challenge yourself to work on those that may require you to focus a bit more. And then ask yourself: “how can I incorporate moves like these into my daily life”?

Mother Trucker Yoga Water Jug Exercises Blog

Every movement matters, and every step counts. These 3 driver exercises are simple, fitness doesn’t have to be complicated and it can be fun. But remember, those movements mean nothing until you put them into action. Forget the gym. And let go of the idea that exercising is you carving a designated 30 minutes out of your day. When you add more movement into your day, it all adds up!

 

Looking for more moves tailored to the lifestyle of a trucker? 

Check out our Mother Trucker Yoga LIFESTYLE JUMPSTART Membership Platform & APP

Mother Trucker Yoga LIFESTYLE JUMPSTART App and platform image

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Truck Driver Fitness: Know the 4 Different Types of Exercise & Benefits

Different Types of Exercises and Its Benefits

Before knowing the types of exercises, the first and significant question here is “What is an Exercise?”

An exercise is the intentional, habitual, and structural movement of the body or a part of the body to maintain or restore the body’s healthy functioning.

Talking about its benefits, we cannot estimate enough of them because they are vast. On a brief note, Exercise improves one’s mental, physical, emotional, and even spiritual well-being.

Whether people participate in light exercises, like taking a walk, or focused energy exercises, for instance, challenging cycling or weight lifting, customary Exercise gives a colossal scope of advantages for the body and brain. And as a truck driver, it is essential that you find time to fit in trucking fitness and get a wide variety of movement styles throughout the day and week. As a trucking fitness company, and more than 20 years of teaching fitness and wellness to people in pain, I get it, long drawn out workouts are difficult to keep up with and leave people quitting before they even begin to see results. That doesn’t have to be your story. 

Truck Driver Fitness: Know the 4 Different Types of Exercise & Benefits mother trucker yoga blog exercise image

Partaking in Exercise of any intensity each day is fundamental for forestalling many illnesses and other health problems.

Here I will explain four different & necessary exercises and their benefits for a healthy functioning body.

 

  1.   Aerobic Exercise
  2.   Strength Exercise
  3.   Stretching Exercise
  4.   Balance Exercise

 

Aerobic Exercise

Aerobic Exercise speeds up your heart rate and breathing rate. These exercises help keep you fit, improve your wellness, and assist you with playing out the physical and mental tasks you need to do each day. Aerobic Exercise intends to improve how the body utilizes oxygen. Most aerobic Exercise happens at a sustainable level of power over long periods.

Aerobic Exercise is the sort that causes you to breathe more deeply or heavily and develops a healthy body. We will generally consider this sort of activity when we hear the word work-out.

It is exceptionally advantageous and will improve your well-being even at a moderate pace or intensity. You can get the advantages of high-impact Exercise from a lively walk or a consistent cycle ride.

Walking, swimming, hiking, biking, dancing, running, jogging, etc. All types of aerobic exercises will boost your heart rate and let the energy flow in your whole body.

 

Benefits

  • Aerobic exercises improve the functioning of your heart and lungs.
  • It boosts up your whole circulatory system function.
  • Stimulate erythropoiesis (red blood cell) formation.
  • Enhances oxygen transportation in tissues
  • Stimulates bone growth
  • Helps in Insomnia
  • Increases one’s stamina

 

Strength Exercise

Strength training, additionally usually alluded to as weight or resistance training, is a type of anaerobic exercise, a kind of actual work that includes the breakdown of glucose (sugar) for energy without oxygen. Strength training plans to assemble and keep up muscle tissue using bodyweight or external obstruction, for example, freeloads or weight machines. Weight training can reinforce significant muscles, like the legs, back, glutes, chest, shoulders, arms, and midsection.

Keep in mind it’s imperative to feel some muscle weariness toward the end of the training to ensure you are working or preparing the muscles viably.

It will probably incorporate bodyweight practices like squats, push-ups, jumps, and activities including resistance from the weight, a band, or a weight machine.

 

Benefits

  • It makes the muscles of the whole body stronger
  • Stimulates Bone Growth
  • Lowers blood sugar level
  • Helps in maintaining weight
  • Improves your posture and balance

 

Stretching Exercise

Stretching characterizes the scope of movement of your joints and the portability of your muscles. Sufficient flexibility is significant for athletic execution, day-to-day function capacity, and injury counteraction.

Stretching is genuinely significant and much neglected when individuals consider working out.

Aging prompts a deficiency of adaptability in the muscles and ligaments. Muscles abbreviate and don’t work as expected. That expands the danger for muscle spasms and torment, muscle harm, strains, joint pain, and injury, and it additionally makes it intense to traverse day-by-day exercises, like bowing down to tie your shoes.

It involves tai chi, yoga, pilates, trucking yoga, fascial training, plyometrics, etc.

 

Benefits

  •  It makes your muscles longer
  •  It makes your muscles stronger
  • Reduces pain intensity from an injury
  • Reduces risk of an injury

 

Balance Exercise

Some activities improve your balance by causing you to develop center fortitude.

To reinforce core muscles and improve strength, consistently remember your regimen’s practices that connect with various muscles. Balance and equilibrium practices frequently include moderate, controlled developments that connect with and fortify center or core muscles, which remember the muscles for your mid-region, back and pelvis. Feeble core muscles may prompt unsteadiness, helpless stance, and diminished athletic execution.

Planks, mini ball exercises, glute bridges, yoga, tai-chi, squats, leg lifts, walking, jogging, etc., are included in balance training exercises.

 

Benefits

  • It makes you feel steadier
  • It helps in preventing falls
  • Help with your visionary and auditory function
  • Good posture
  • Helps in effortlessly carrying out daily activities

 

Here at Mother Trucker Yoga, we believe that it’s the small simple changes that lead to the big results in your life so that you can feel good again. And as your go-to trucking fitness company, we believe that in just minutes a day you can live a great and healthy life.

If you are looking to incorporate more driver fitness into your daily life and are not interested in gym-style workouts that just aren’t sustainable as a driver. If you have tried other programs out there and they just aren’t working for you.

Check out our NEW Mother Trucker Yoga LIFESTYLE JUMPSTART Membership Platform and APP.

Use our code: MTY30 for a FREE 30 days!

Mother Trucker Yoga LIFESTYLE JUMPSTART App and platform image

 

 

 

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Beat Stressful Times With A Good Stretch

We could all do with a more peaceful life, and there are many ways to try to get that. One of the most popular ways is with yoga. 

 

Yoga has been practiced for thousands of years and is something that everybody and everybody can benefit from. 

 

Often our attention is pulled in so many different directions. Our family needs us, work has issues, bills need to be paid, and you still need to think about what to cook for dinner. 

 

It all seems small at the time, but it builds up pretty quickly – until it can feel like it is unmanageable. 

 

Anxiety, stress, and feeling overworked and overwhelmed are no way to live your daily life. And when all of these things start to pile up, it can be too easy to find yourself turning to something to help you cope. 

 

One of the most common reasons people turn to alcohol and then to alcohol rehab is to use alcohol as a coping mechanism. 

take a deep breath mother trucker yoga blog

Why should you consider yoga?

There isn’t just one type of yoga; there are many different types, so there is something for everyone. It works on engaging more than just your body and seeks to engage your emotions and mental well-being. And with Mother Trucker Yoga- trucking yoga, it’s all about mindful movements, stretching, and fitness explicitly made for drivers just like you. 

 

Since yoga has many different types and intensities, you can explore what works. Typically, the right yoga style will leave you feeling calm, rejuvenated, and your body will indeed thank you. And as a driver, trucking yoga focuses on small, simple changes, the easy, quick exercises you can do in just minutes a day.

 

Yoga will focus on your breathing and help you learn how to control it. Careful breathing techniques are great at reducing anxiety and helping you focus on the moment. It is perfect for calming loud thoughts too. Trucking yoga focuses a lot on breathing because your breath is your lifeforce, and learning to control your breathing can alter how you think, feel and move every day.

 

There might be some meditation in your yoga practice, which will help you to highlight negative thoughts, what triggers them, and how you can remove them. 

 

And of course, the most significant part of yoga is the poses. The poses will release tension in your body and increase your core strength and flexibility. There are some easy beginner poses, and then there are those that require more focus and effort. 

 

Health benefits of yoga

Everything that we gain from doing yoga is positive, and it is well known for offering some of the easiest ways to beat down your stress levels. 

 

Improved fitness is one of the things you will get from doing yoga regularly. It helps with range of motion, flexibility, and balance. And when it comes to driver fitness, yoga is one of the best ways to get moving again, no matter your age or body type is. 

 

Stress reduction is the number one benefit of doing yoga. After even one yoga session, you will get a sense of calm and well-being, and the more you do it, the more often you experience those moments. 

 

A complete yoga flow will help you calm your mind, control your breathing and work out tension in the body. And it has been shown to help improve anxiety, migraines, stress, depression, and sleeplessness. 

 

What makes yoga a great choice is that each pose can be modified to work with what your body needs. 

 

Small changes like adding a yoga flow or drinking more water make a huge difference to our bodies and minds; read more: National Drink Water Day – 6 Reasons Science Says You Should Drink Water. 

 

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The Best Resistance Band Travel Guide Set for Fitness On The Go

Resistance Band Travel Set for Fitness On the Go

Many of us know that strength training is essential. Not only can it help us build strength, it can slow muscle deterioration as we get older while increasing muscle mass can also increase metabolism. While you can make some strength through bodyweight-only exercises like squats or lunges, often the key to building a more significant amount of strength is by creating resistance. And as a truck driver gaining access to bulky equipment is not possible. The more items you pack in your truck, the less space you have.

The best resistance bands can give you a serious workout without needing access to a gym or yoga studio. These travel-friendly, simple elastic sleeves can help you build lean muscle and increase overall mobility. They are the perfect fitness package for someone who travels a lot and wants to improve fitness no matter what age.

But many sold are not of high quality and end up tearing or cracking after multiple uses. Make sure you invest in therapeutic grade high-quality bands that can withstand high volume use like the ones in the Mother Trucker Yoga Resistance Band Travel Set.

resistance band travel set mother trucker yoga blog

The Science Behind Resistance Band Travel Set

Let’s look at the science — a study in the Journal of Sports Science & Medicine found that just five weeks of resistance band training significantly improved hamstring and inner thigh flexibility. Resistance bands are also way easier on the joints than dumbbells or kettlebells for those recovering from injury or looking for a lower-impact workout. For truck driver fitness and travelers who are always on the move, obtaining optimal wellness within reach.

Research shows that strength gains from using elastic resistance bands are similar to training with dumbbells or weight machines, benefiting truck drivers, to desk personnel to athletes.

What Can Resistance Bands Do?

Resistance-band training can even increase the stabilizer muscles, often better than free weights.

Getting injured is something a truck driver cannot afford to do because if they aren’t driving, they aren’t making money. The stabilizers are intrinsic muscles that help us reduce the rate of injury. With resistance bands, it’s much more challenging to move quickly through a movement which can also reduce the chance of injury.

Resistance bands can also be used in rehabilitation to help improve a joint, injuries tendon, or muscle and increase mobility in different body areas.

Resistance Band Travel Set Exercise Mother Trucker Yoga Blog

Resistance Band Travel Workout On The Go Benefits

There are many benefits to incorporating resistance band travel set into your day. And the best part is you don’t need a lot of time, and you don’t need to change your outfit. All you need is 5 minutes at a time throughout the day to fit their impressive moves in to begin to see the benefits show up in your life and your body.

  • 1) They improve the quality of your exercises.
  • 2) They help to focus your control, form, and function.
  • 3) They recruit your stabilizing muscles.
  • 4) They’re fundamental for functional training.
  • 5) A great alternative to machines.
  • 6) they’re lightweight and easy to use for travel fitness.
  • 7) they’re designed for compound exercises.
  • 8) You have control over the angle.
  • 9) They help you feel your muscles working or not working
  • 10) They work your muscles differently than the use of free-weights

Try a workout and see for yourself:

Try Hope Zvara, CEO of Mother Trucker Yoga’s Resistance Band Workouts:

Grab Your Resistance Band Kit and Go!

Please make sure you get your Resistance Band Travel Set from Mother Trucker Yoga, and our truck driver fitness kit is the only one made just for truck drivers, just like you. With high-quality therapeutic grade rubber, you can work out knowing that the band won’t snap back at you. (Click the image below to purchase)

Resistance Band Travel Set Mother Trucker Yoga BLog

Meet Hope Zvara, CEO & Creator of the 25 pages: Trucker & Traveler Resistance Band E-Guide Book

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Driver Exercises: Best 3 Cardio Moves On the Go

As a yoga teacher of nearly 20 years, I understand the importance of balance, and the need for cardio is essential.

As a truck driver finding time to exercise can be challenging, but that doesn’t mean it’s not possible. When it comes to trucking yoga stretching is essential, especially as we age, but we also need to find time to get our heart rate up. Cardio is a great way to take care of your heart health and get your driver fitness on. And with February being Heart Health Awareness Month it is a great time to tune up your driver fitness.

Cardio is a shortened word for cardiovascular (exercise), something most truck drivers don’t get enough of when it comes to truck driver health and driver fitness. There are many benefits to getting your heart rate up and a slight movement in. The below are certainly some of the concerns truck drivers have regarding truck driver health. AHA Journals shared…

Benefits of Regular Exercise on Cardiovascular Risk Factors

  • Increase in exercise tolerance.
  • Reduction in body weight.
  • Reduction in blood pressure.
  • Reduction in bad (LDL and total) cholesterol.
  • Increase in good (HDL) cholesterol.
  • Increase in insulin sensitivity.
I stress to drivers and my Mother Trucker Yoga LIFESTYLE JUMPSTART Platform members to find pockets within their day to add fitness rather than continually separating it from your day.
Mother Trucker Yoga LIFESTYLE JUMPSTART App and platform image

Research is now showing that you don’t need 60 minutes of straight-up cardio exercise to benefit your heart. You may not even need 30 minutes at a time. But you do need something. Mother Trucker Yoga focuses on a variety of fitness and health areas: trucking yoga, driver fitness like resistance, strengthening, toning, core health, and cardio.

My three favorite cardio exercises to do at home and on the go are:

1. Chair Power Run

Place your hands on the mouth of a chair and step back into a plank. Keeping a brisk pace for one minute (or 50 strides) run in place. Work to bring your knees into your chest as best as possible for bonus core work.

Chair Running Hope Zvara Mother Trucker Yoga Easy Cardio Blog

2. Pretend Jump Rope

Stand upright and pretend to hold a jump rope. Begin to gently bounce in a place like you were briskly jumping rope at a level that works for you (your feet don’t even have to lift off the ground if you don’t want them to). Move the pretend rope as quickly as possible. Try to do this for one minute.

Driver Exercises: Best 3 Cardio Moves On the Go walking and jump rope mother trucker yoga blog image

3. A 5 Minute Walk and Talk

We all make and take phone calls, start walking every time you have a phone call.

Do stairs as quickly as you can, almost to the point of being out of breath. Walk outside, walk backward, lunge walk. Get creative. But get up and walk and talk.

 

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All you need to know about the benefits of yoga for travel

Traveling is a life-changing experience. It can be physically and mentally stressful. Such planned experiences can sometimes not go according to plan or loop us into exhaustion. From finding it hard to sleep in unfamiliar places to spending long hours in traffic, finding an activity that grounds you to your core and helps you overcome the adversities that come along with traveling. Here is where trucking yoga comes along. If you want to know more about the benefits of yoga for travel, keep on reading!

Five benefits of yoga for travel you should know

It reminds you to breathe.

Breathing is a vital part of yoga practice. Learn to focus on your breathing- it can make solutions far more accessible. When you focus on your breath during yoga, challenging poses become easier. The same is the case with travel. Difficult situations arise all the time and can knock the wind out of us. In those moments, trucking yoga can help you assess conditions very calmly through deep breaths.

Try this:

  1. Sit tall
  2. Relax your shoulders
  3. Relax your face, jaw, tongue
  4. Close your eyes
  5. Take a deep breath in through your nose and work to fill your belly and lungs as much as you can with fresh new prana (oxygen).
  6. Now slowly work to breathe out through your nose, making that exhale slightly longer than the inhale
  7. Repeat this again two more times.
  8. How do you feel?

It makes you appreciate the present.

If you ask me what yoga teaches, I would say it teaches you to be present in your current state-mindful of what the heck you are doing in your life, your thoughts, your actions in this very moment. You’re supposed to live in the present and find steadiness at the moment and you can’t do that when you are rushing a million miles an hour each day (that’s why we breathe). When you’re traveling, that’s exactly what you need. It can be tough to devote an hour to yoga on the road, but trucking yoga can be quite helpful in these cases. Appreciating what you have in front of you and being grateful for it can make a huge difference in your outlook on life, especially while traveling long distances. 

So what can you do today?

Try this:

  1. Sit tall
  2. Inhale and reach your arms up overhead
  3. Interlace your fingers and press your palms up to the sky
  4. Drop your shoulders and try to be as tall and long as you can
  5. Breathe for five breaths
  6. How do you feel now?
  7. That’s yoga.

It eases muscular tension.

Are you traveling with backpacks? Sitting behind the wheel for a 12-hour road trip? Perhaps you are currently looking at an NYC travel guide that is going to involve a lot of walking? The weight of physically carrying yourself from one destination to the other can create a lot of tension in our muscles and limbs. This could cause further fatigue and injury if the tension is not released. So what is the benefit of yoga for travel in this case?

Stretching can alleviate the stress in your body, and what better way to stretch than a few minutes of yoga? If you establish a yoga habit, your muscle tissues will thank you for the extra strength in them! Poses such as (half) downward-facing dog, and figure-four stretch will help reduce stress and tension in your tissues. And don’t forget to ease your muscles with STIFF Mother Trucker Pain Relief Cream thereafter. 

All you need to know about the benefits of yoga for travel downdog and figure 4 pose mother trucker yoga blog hope Zvara

For step by step instructions on these poses and more check out Mother Trucker Yoga LIFESTYLE JUMPSTART Membership Platform & APP

It can be practiced everywhere.

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Grab your copy!

There are many yoga studios you can drop into, books on the subject that could guide you through the poses, as well as formal classes where you could learn to stretch your body. But the best part of doing yoga is that it doesn’t require any more than your body and some space to stretch. This makes it your travel best friend.

Yoga improves blood circulation.

So far, you know how well stretching does for your body but did you know it also improves your body circulation? Sitting behind the wheel for hours can increase the need to have better circulation in the legs and arms to avoid fatigue and body ache. Yoga would solve those problems for you, so honestly, there are no more excuses to avoid trucking yoga any longer.

You can do this. 

Travelling can be fun when not coupled with unwanted fatigue, muscle tension, and stress. Yoga is what can keep those issues at bay for you, and it never takes too much space or time to practice the art of steadiness. So what is stopping you from including trucking yoga in your travel itineraries, especially with all these benefits of yoga for travel?

Traveling with tools can make any trip more manageable, don’t forget to check out Mother Trucker Yoga LIFESTYLE JUMPSTART Membership Platform & APP available on all devices!

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Truck Driver Health: February Heart Health Awareness Month

This month is Heart Health Awareness Month, and we want every driver out there to be healthy. And to help with that, here are some strategies to consider to improve your truck driver’s health for life!

The human heart is a powerful thing. It’s a vital organ we cannot see but can feel. And unlike other organs in the body, our heart is one of our body’s most central parts. It is the mecca center for our emotional well-being and is often associated with social, mental, and emotional “heartache” or “happy heart” experiences in life. Our heart is central to all we do, feel, and experience. What you eat, how you behave, what you drink, how well you sleep, genetics (but let’s not just go and blame them), and how much you move all play into heart health. There are a wide variety of truck driver health issues and heart disease is one of them. 

Today we will discuss the signs of heart issues and preventive measures you can start taking today to take back your health.

 

But our heart is more than that; our heart is a vital organ responsible for keeping us alive. It pumps oxygen and nutrient-rich blood throughout your body to sustain life. An organ no more significant than our fist beats (expands and contracts) 100,000 times per day, pumping five or six quarts of blood each minute, or about 2,000 gallons per day. THAT’S CRAZY! 

 

Did you know about 2,200 Americans die each day from cardiovascular diseases? That’s about one every 40 seconds. And when not taken care of properly, we are putting our bodies at risk for a slew of complications. 

 

When it comes to truck driver health issues, drivers are especially at risk for heart disease. In a study posted by the CDC, 26% of truck drivers said they had hypertension versus the 24% totaling the rest of the US working population. It is not uncommon to read about a story of a truck driver who went to bed in his truck and didn’t wake up the following day and climb out. Heart attacks are often the primary cause of this all too familiar scenario.

 

There are many reasons why being a driver is so hard on the heart, the stress of driving, the long hours, lack of (cardiovascular) activity, unhealthy diet, and a high sodium diet. But other factors may include diabetes, smoking, alcohol consumption, chronic dehydration, and bad cholesterol, which impact heart health. Truck driver health is not just you go going to the doctor to get your card, it’s about what you do each day you are out on the road. We need you and we need you to be a health driver.

 

Self-care on any level can often be the difference between living a healthy life and not. But even more importantly, waking up the following day or not. Do not be ignorant of this growing health concern. If you choose to live an unhealthy lifestyle, you choose health complications to be in your future you may not have truck driver health issues now, but many times, those issues are only waiting to rise to the surface.

Being a truck driver does not give you a free pass to extended care about your health. I have had the honor of working with thousands of truck drivers over the last four years, and most of them have come to realize that they can have both: a healthy lifestyle and trucking. It’s a choice, and you, my friend, get to choose. 

 

Know the Signs to improve truck driver health: 

When it comes to truck driver health, you are alone much of the time, which means self-responsibility is critical when you are at risk of a heart attack. You need to know the signs. Just like you need to know how to change a tire on your truck, replace a windshield wiper, or back up. You may be able to ask for help 99% of the time, and maybe you never have yet to rely on those “what if” skills. But for the time you do, why not be ready. 

5 Signs to Pay Attention to for Truck Driver Health and Heart Health Awareness

  • Dull ache chest pains are not to be confused with indigestion, which is often more abrupt and acidic.
  • Rapid heartbeat, it’s essential to know your situation, are there other reasons that could be causing this right now)
  • Pain in the arm and heart sends signals to surrounding nerves to alarm the body owner that something isn’t right. 
  • Jaw and or neck pain, which blood clots can often cause. It’s important to rule out things like clenching oral issues like cavities.
  • Others include irregular heartbeat, shortness of breath, tiredness, even depression or anxiety due to the sudden hormonal changes in your body. 

 

Trucking can be a lonely profession; the next time you are at a truck stop and strike up a conversation, be kind, ask how their day is going and how they have been feeling, encourage them to take care of themselves. You never know when a kind word of encouragement from a stranger is just what the doctor ordered. By understanding the signs, you could save your life or even the life of a fellow driver. 

 

February is Heart Health Awareness Month, and it’s the perfect time for you to lace up your shoes, grab hold of the steering wheel, and change lanes towards better health. It’s never too late. 

Trucking Health: February Heart Association Awareness Month mother trucker yoga blog

Tips for Preventative Heart Health Care During Heart Health Awareness Month 

 

  1. Quit smoking. Yes, easier said than done, but as a recovering addict, I suggest starting slow. How about one less cigarette per day? Or how about swapping out a cigarette for a hemp one? There are dozens of programs and nicotine replacements to try out. The most important thing is is “try,” you won’t know until you try.
  2. Exercise. Yes, get up and get moving do a little trucking yoga, or get in a truck driver workout. Simple practices like walking build up heart health and help you burn more calories, get you breathing more profound, and as a truck driver, you have the advantage of getting outside and walking. Sure it might be a parking lot, but at least you are walking! A 200-pound man can burn right around 90 calories from just 30 minutes of a moderate to brisk-paced walk.
  3. Get more sleep. Quality sleep is crucial for our entire body to function optimally. Things like a quality mattress, a sleep mask, making sure you are warm enough and have the right amount of blankets on hand, even headphones to listen to relaxing music can make a mobile environment parked in a truck idling parking lot a bit more tranquil, and your heart will say thank you.
  4. Manage your stress. What can you do starting today to de-stress your life? Now don’t say quit your job, although that might help. What else can you take care of in your life to help curb your stress level? When you stop and take a step back, you can often see the accumulation of little things that create that stress bubble lingering in your life. How about limiting social media? When you feel down, depressed, lonely, or angry, call a friend who will listen and help steer you back to a healthy mindset. Drink a glass of water, smile; it’s hard to be angry or unhappy when you smile (it’s true our brain wants to be happy when we smile). 
  5. Eat healthily. You are surrounded by fast-food restaurants and limited healthy food options. But that doesn’t mean you can’t eat healthily; it just means you have to put in a little extra effort. Try stocking up on nuts, seeds, fruit, and veggies like carrot sticks or celery; they travel well and give you that crunch you crave without the added calories and heart-threatening ingredients. Could you buy a grilled chicken sandwich instead of a fried one? Can you skip the fries and as for a side salad rather? Many fast-food restaurants will customize an order, but they won’t offer it; you have to ask first. No one is asking you to be perfect, and no one is requesting you never eat fast food again, but is there a healthier option available-pick that. 

Truck Driver Health: February Heart Association Awareness Month Mother Trucker Yoga Blog - signs

What you can do today to improve truck driver health issues like heart health:

Your health is in your hands—one of the most empowering things we can do as humans to take back our health. You may have been making poor heart health choices up to this point, and it’s time to make a shift. You can do this, here at Mother Trucker Yoga® we believe that it’s the small simple changes that lead to the big results so you can feel good again™. Don’t wait until it’s too late, take action, and what better time than during heart health awareness month. 

Join the movement and join other drivers just like you who want to improve their health one step at a time.

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Easy Ways To Be More Confident On The Road

Driving as a career path can be an appealing prospect, especially in our current day and age. There is a great need for more drivers in our current economy, and for those that are drivers, they have made a career out of it. 

You don’t just have to drive an eighteen-wheeler. Many truckers, taxi drivers, bus drivers, and other professionals make a living with it.

To excel in these roles, you’ll need to be confident on the road. That’s relatively easy for people who’ve been driving for years. 

If you plan on making a living driving, you’ll need to know how to be more confident on the road. As a relatively new driver, however, that could not be easy. Confidence is the root of most of your success in a driving career, and most talk about the skills you need as a critical driver. But without confidence, those won’t be put to their best use. Driver wellness programs and CDL schools would be a great place to focus on confidence and create it.

Have you ever taken a class on confidence? What if that would have given you the tools to stay in the driver’s seat for the long haul? 

There are a few specific ways that you can do this.

Easy Ways To Be More Confident On The Road mother trucker yoga blog post

How To Be More Confident On The Road Without many efforts

Know Your Route

A significant reason that people can worry or not be confident when driving is that they don’t know how to get where they want to. Planning this out in advance can be recommended. Planning is a learned behavior, if you are a person constantly reacting to life rather than taking action in life, this may not be natural, but that doesn’t mean impossible. 

Truck drivers need to adapt constantly, and although your plan can change instantly, having a baseline plan can help keep confidence strong.

This is also a more minor worry than you’d think with modern technology. You can use various apps to guide you to where you need to go. What apps are your favorite for driver navigation?

There are dozens of options:

  • Google Maps.
  • Waze.
  • Trucker Path.
  • CoPilot GPS/CoPilot Mobile Navigation.
  • SmartTruckRoute.
  • DAT
  • PTV Navigator.
  • inRoute.

And there are many more.

These shouldn’t be distracting, as they’re designed specifically for drivers. You’ll not only find the best route to take, but you wouldn’t need to spend much time figuring it out. Not every driver and app has its positives and negatives, so talk to other drivers and see what they think. A driver wellness program would be a great place to talk about lifestyle planning, including trip planning and guiding drivers towards a better way to respond when things don’t go well.

You could also use a few other apps to make your driving experience more manageable.

 

Make Sure You’re Covered

One of the most significant reasons people are nervous drivers is because they’re worried about accidents. That’s natural and relatively common. 

In many cases, these accidents are relatively minor, but it can mean big dollars when a commercial vehicle is involved.

It’s worth having a car accident lawyer to help you with anything that comes up. As unlikely as accidents happen, having a professional there to help you can be vital. Talk to your company or driver wellness program coordinator if the company you work for has one, and if you want to talk to them about scenarios to ease your nerves, it might be worth it. 

The same can also be said for insurance. Having both of these will ensure that there shouldn’t be anything for you to worry about. Don’t hesitate to talk with your insurance agent and ask the hard questions. If you are a part of a driver wellness program, tell your insurance agent, you could qualify for lower rates and build your confidence at the same time.

Practice, Practice, Practice

You’ve likely heard that practice makes perfect before. That’s typically when it comes to developing a skill, such as learning the guitar.

It’s also true with driving. The more you do it, the better you’ll be. That’s why beginners have to take so many lessons before they’re legally able to drive.

If you’re not a confident driver, then it’s worth spending time practicing. There’ll likely be a few places near you where you can do so.

Alternatively, you could practice in your local area regularly. Doing this on any route you’ll typically have to take can be recommended.

With time, you’ll be much more confident than you are now.

How To Be More Confident On The Road: Wrapping Up

Figuring out how to be more confident on the road can be overwhelming. You could have multiple worries in your mind and find yourself struggling with leaving those stressors at home. Try to relax and breathe and take it one day at a time. 

Getting past this doesn’t have to be difficult, however. Each of the above steps can be more than helpful. And if you aren’t yet, consider practicing meditation or trucking yoga to help build confidence and reduce stress. 

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You are not alone. The longer you’re driving, the more confident you’ll be. Surround yourself with other seasoned drivers and never be afraid to ask questions and share concerns.

Keeping safe will be a priority, regardless of how confident you are.

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7 Ways to Supplement Your Yoga with Increased Mental Function

You may be practicing yoga solo or alongside us here on our membership platform- Mother Trucker Yoga LIFESTYLE JUMPSTART Platform and APP and you are noticing physical and mental benefits. Trucking yoga is an easy way to add a little yoga to your life, even if you don’t own a yoga mat. And for drivers, when you combine a stressful day and physical exercise, you can find yourself fatigued or mentally tired at times. But we don’t want you to ditch the yoga or movements because your brain is drained, instead, let’s boost your brain with the following strategies. 

A poor diet, not getting enough vitamins and minerals, or poor sleep are significant contributors to brain drain. Fortunately, you can supplement your yoga with increased mental function with some simple changes to your life. Supplements, physical and mental workouts, and changing your diet can significantly impact your brain health. As a result, you will have increased focus, reduced tiredness, and an ability to boost both your creative and logical sides.

Supplement Brain Boosters

While exercising, you can use a lot of supplements. Vitamins and minerals are great for your health, of course. They make your muscles stronger, your bones more robust, and give you more energy. But you can also get brain tablets. Nootropics are unique formulas like Unlocked Supplement Co. (click here for more info). Vitamins and minerals work the same way, but brain-boosting recipes work differently. They’re tablets that improve your logic and memory. Improved logic and memory help you stay alert and responsive when driving or doing your job.

7 Ways to Supplement Your Yoga with Increased Mental Function Mother Trucker Yoga blog post

Easy Brain Workouts

You probably already work out somewhat. Maybe a little, perhaps a lot. You can also keep your mind active by doing puzzles such as Sudoku and crosswords.- Who doesn’t love those? You can consider anything that requires concentration or creativity as a brain workout. Activities like the above are wonderful ways to stimulate the brain and beat brain fog and mental fatigue, two things that plague truck driver health.

Some examples of activities that require you to use both sides of your brain are exercise reps, learning an instrument, or playing games. However, logic and creativity don’t always go hand in hand, especially in today’s world. And when you make it a priority to give your brain a workout both sides of your brain benefit from better neuron health.

In trucking yoga, we focus on movements that require you to cross the midline as those are easy movements to help stimulate your brain chemistry.

Two examples are cross-crawl workouts and windmills where you take your opposite arm to the opposite leg. 

Body Movement for Brain Health

If you exercise or do yoga regularly, you already help your brain. The brain releases serotonin when you move quickly and use your muscles. So you know that you’re doing things right when you have serotonin in your brain. When you’re done with a project, for instance, serotonin helps you feel good. It also allows you to feel less stressed by reducing cortisol. So you’ll have a healthier hormonal balance. Having too much cortisol is concerning because it increases feelings of depression, anxiety, and self-doubt. So natural serotonin (not from drugs or alcohol) always helps.

Eating the Right Brain Food

For your brain to stay healthy, you need a healthy diet. Your body can benefit from a variety of foods that help it exercise. Fruits and berries are loaded with antioxidants, caffeine is motivational (in small doses and healthy sources), and protein repairs muscles.

You may already eat these foods if you eat a healthy diet and good sources are fish and seeds high in Omega-3, dark chocolate, and certain berries. These help maintain cell structure, serotonin, and age-related brain issues like memory loss and lowered concentration. Chemicals in leafy greens such as broccoli and fresh spices also help.

Today take a look at your diet and take inventory, does your fuel match up? Truck driver health is critical to the health and success of the trucking industry.

A Good Night’s Sleep

You probably know how vital sleeping well is, whether you exercise or not. A new bed or mattress can be a significant expense, though. If you want to save money on your bed and mattress, there are a few things you can do. First, try buying a memory foam mattress topper. These work exceptionally well. In addition, try not to let your bedroom get too hot, or you’ll be restless. And finally, make your sleeping area quiet and dark so your brain can function well. These will help your brain go through the sleep stages. It needs to be considered refreshing, including much-needed REM sleep.

Increase Calcium Intake

Calcium maintains the proper communication between your brain and the body, which controls muscle contractions. Plus, it’s good for your brain too. Your brain and body are always talking to each other with neuron activity. Axons need it to transmit electrical impulses so synapses can work. As a result, the brain forms neuronal synaptic pathways. Calcium deficiency causes extreme tiredness, insomnia, confusion, and memory loss. But you can quickly get more calcium from milk and cheese, dark greens, and fish with bones you can eat, such as sardines.

Cut Out Alcohol

Alcohol is a socially accepted drug consumed by millions of people each day. However, it is a known contributor to increasing brain fog. Brain fog is a tiredness-related issue that reduces concentration and neuron activity. Quitting alcohol altogether helps minimize brain fog. But doing so can be challenging. Many people across the globe use alcohol to manage their feelings, but what ends up happening is they simply mask or numb them. Trucking yoga can help any person create space, breathe and improve mental function. Regardless of how much you drink, alcohol often leaves the user drained, in a mental fog, physically drained, and emotionally low. When it comes to truck driver health, alcohol also dehydrates your body, which results in headaches, lethargy, and trouble concentrating, something truck drivers should pay attention to. In addition, alcohol even reacts with many medications, making the symptoms worse or even dangerous in some cases.

No matter where you are in life or in your yoga journey, any one of the above seven could help you improve your mental health and truck driver health. Here at Mother Trucker Yoga, we believe it’s about the small simple changes that lead to the big results so you can feel good again™.

 

 

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