Yoga Psychology for Personal Transformation
February 28, 2010 at 3:38 pm | Posted in Yoga and Psychology | 1 CommentTags: personal transformation
The objective of yoga psychology is not just to stabilize the mind, but to perfect it.
“Yoga psychology deals with the transformation and stabilization of the mind, not as an end in itself, but as means to attain a higher state of consciousness beyond the mind where the purusa, or soul, imbibes in its own pure nature.”
To attain that state, however, the support of the mind is necessary. The mind is called antar-karanam, the internal instrument. Like all instruments, the mind requires tuning or sharpening to function best. To succeed in spiritual life, one must therefore gradually mold the mind to higher forms of cognition.
In terms of transforming the mind, we have already discussed the importance of properly structuring our environment and adhering to moral actions within our day to day lives. To achieve optimum transformation and ultimate transcendence, however, it is of utmost importance to reserve a time and place to exclusively engage with the mind for the purpose of transforming it. Such a prescribed exercise is called sadhana, or spiritual practice. The foundation of sadhana is meditation.
To understand how meditation transforms the mind, one first has to understand its goal — to bring the mind to its pure state. This state can be compared to the original condition of a perfectly tuned instrument where its maximum potential is realized. The mind thus functions best in sattva, the most wholesome state of matter. In other words, in sattva the discriminating ability of the mind is sharpened to the degree where the soul can perfectly distinguish itself from its encasement, the mind and body. In terms of this ability to foster true perception, this optimum state can also be compared to a properly formed and thoroughly cleansed lens.
Spiritual practice is thus the process of cleansing the mirror of the mind of its distortions, called vrttis or thoughts, especially those born of passion and ignorance, which like a distorted lens skew the soul’s vision. Meditation accomplishes this by the practice of undeviating concentration on a single object of focus. By such focus for an uninterrupted and prolonged time, all other fluctuations of the mind, which distort the natural lucidity of sattva, are neglected and thus quelled, especially when that practice is accompanied by vairagya, a rigorous cultivation of dispassion towards those impulses.
Yoga gurus reach for Olympic goal
February 23, 2010 at 3:57 pm | Posted in Yoga and Sport | 1 CommentTags: yoga at Olympics, yoga communities
BIKRAM Choudhury, founder of Bikram Yoga – a popular form of Hatha yoga that sees practitioners doing postures for 90 minutes in a room heated to about 40 deg C – has one big ambition: to turn yoga into an Olympic sport.
He and his wife, Rajashree, both recognised yoga champions from India, set up the International Yoga Asana Championships – a United States-based worldwide competition that got its start in 2003. The competition has now seen seven instalments, and is the first step towards Olympic recognition.
Singaporeans are making a name for themselves in the competition – which is a controversial event, because, to many people, the idea of competition goes against the philosophy and spirit of yoga. Still, such competitions are common in the birthplace of yoga – India.
The philosophy of yoga emphasizes self-acceptance and inner growth. Although yoga does tend to attract people who are limber, the physical poses, or asanas, are only one aspect of the practice; others include chanting, meditation and reading Sanskrit.
But can you believe that there seems to be a serious move to include a new event in the 2012 or 2020 Olympics? In an article on The Wall Street Journal Asia, John Krich writes that India is planning to make a pitch for New Delhi to be the venue of this Olympics — and they want yoga to be included as an event!
Plus don’t forget that you can find yoga communities all over the world.
We live when we practice yoga
February 19, 2010 at 2:14 pm | Posted in Yoga Life | 1 CommentTags: yoga centers, yoga classes, yoga events, yoga services, yoga training
Today I came across this article.
From Analyst to Yoga Teacher:
I need to admit that this is a right decision, just to know what to appreciate — health, doing something that you love and passionate about, and having the support of your family and friends.
As for me, I am working in the office and feel that this is not my job. The life goes on and I spend it on somebody else. I have no time left to practice yoga like professionals. If I decided to stay health and do what I love, and for me this is yoga, than I need to change my life like this brave girl changed.
I imagine myself teaching yoga, and stay healthy and always in positive mood.
Yoga teachers mission is to improve peoples quality of living. Yoga is for those who are looking for something more in their lives. Yoga practice brings you new sense of awareness and allows you to become more conscious of your environment, body and spirits. Yoga is concerned with your total being.
If you have gotten hooked on yoga and have been practicing regularly for a few years, you may feel that you’d like to complete a teacher certification course. Even if you do not plan on teaching, a good training program will deepen your practice and increase your knowledge of anatomy, philosophy, sequencing, and alignment.
Here is largest yoga directory that might help you to find yoga classes worldwide, and yoga trainings, events, yoga centers and other services related to yoga.
How Yoga can help you
February 16, 2010 at 9:59 am | Posted in Yoga Life | 3 CommentsTags: phisical condition, spiritual health, yoga benefits, Yoga Life
Yoga is an ancient Indian practice designed to promote relaxation, health and flexibility. By using a series of poses and breathing techniques, yoga also works on the practitioner’s balance, strength and overall health. It has been shown to reduce blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels, diminish back pain and improve cardiovascular health.
Depending on the type of yoga you do, yoga can be an aerobic, anaerobic or stretching exercise or all three. Essentially, yoga tones and stretches all your joints and muscles. Not only does this unique form of exercise deliver physical benefits, it also reduces stress while promoting relaxation. When it comes to aging well, yoga is one of the best activities you can do.
Yoga is one of the most famous and globally widespread of India’s traditions. It has existed as a system of exercise, breathing, and meditation for over 5,000 years.
The word “Yoga” means “to join or yoke together” – bringing the body and mind together into a harmonious experience. The exercises are designed to apply gentle pressure to the glandular system thereby toning the glands and improving total health. The breathing techniques are based on the principle that the “breath” is the source of life in the body. Meditation calms the mind and body and prepares one to handle stress.
Yoga has increased in popularity in recent years, with an estimated 6 million Americans currently engaging in regular yoga workouts. Part of yoga’s popularity is simply that it provides so many health benefits. Yoga assists a person in becoming more aware of their body: their posture, their alignment and the way they move. Yoga helps people become more relaxed and centered, less prone to stress, more energetic, happier, healthier, and more peaceful.
Most yoga classes consist of performing the asanas (yoga poses) either individually or linked in flows (known as vinyasana). At the end of each yoga class there is a short period of meditation or relaxation in shavasana (the corpse pose) where participants lie on their back in a rest and meditation.
There are several forms of yoga. Generally different forms of yoga produce different benefits. For example, Iyengar yoga is for correct bodily alignment, and often utilizes props (including blocks, straps, or cushions).
Bikram yoga is also known as hot yoga, as it’s performed in a heated room. It generally consists of a set of 26 poses done in a particular order. These are both forms of Hatha yoga and are commonly practiced in the US, as they focus on the use of strengthening and breathing exercises.
What can yoga do for you? Firstly, it is extremely beneficial in the promotion of excellent flexibility, and is also excellent for circulation and development of muscle strength. However, yoga’s benefits extend beyond the physical, by promoting relaxation and calm. One of the basic tenets of yoga is that it helps to balance all areas of a person’s life by improving physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health.
Twelve diet rules
February 13, 2010 at 9:21 am | Posted in Yoga and Medicine | 4 CommentsTags: yoga diet, yoga health, yoga medicine, yoga practice
In the conditions of modern style of life, civilization-imposed habits, and the influence of mass attack of advertisements offering «foodstuffs» unfit for consumption and harmful for health, it is impossible to speak of a natural diet. In exactly the same way, it is not possible to speak of a natural state of human consciousness. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to follow special diet rules that can restore and protect the body’s natural functions and strengthen health.
1. Eat to live rather than live to eat.
Diet is a means for achieving a goal rather than a goal in itself. Through realizing the High Sense of life and personal life mission, one should consume only useful products that assist in the acquisition of the physical and psychic qualities required for effective actions on the Pathway for achieving the High Goal.
2. Hunger is truth, and appetite is lies.
Appetite is a desire to eat something tasty, whereas hunger is on one side the readiness to eat any food (as, for example, after a long walk in nature or after active physical work). And on another side hunger is also an indicator of exactly what particular food is required by the organism at a particular time (high-calorie or rich in vitamins, sweet or salty, liquid or solid, usual or unusual, for example chalk or salt, etc.).
Appetite is the result of old rakish desires and the absence of the will-humbleness. Food preoccupation or appetite may also be connected with the unconscious striving «to tune out» from stress influences and become distracted by the sensations of eating. A similar situation may cause other desires that are not conditioned to the real needs of the body, such as a desire to have sex, etc. This is usually connected with the psychic overloads of a modern stile of life.
Animals eat only when they are hungry, whereas humans, corrupted by abundance, have long ago become an exception to this rule of nature.
Restraint and self-control in any life situation liberate one from obtrusive desires and allow the body to live with preservation of natural motivations, achieving complete hunger. The state of hunger produces an exact intuition-based knowledge of the quality of food needed by the body. Eating food based on the feeling of hunger quickly eliminates «extra weight», facilitates the cleansing of the body and returns ancient natural health. In this event, food is only taken when it is really needed.
It is necessary to stop eating before one feels the stomach is full. After half-filling the stomach, a quarter of its volume should be left for water and another quarter for free movement of digested food and expanding gases.
The digestion process often consumes large portions of the readily available energy in the body. If one overeats or eats food that is hard to digest, there is often a situation when the quantity of energy received from the food is compared with the quantity of energy spent for its consumption. When this happens, one usually becomes sleepy, lazy and feels the falling of the power still for a long time after having the meal.
Besides overeating is also a «striking» load for the digestive organs and leads to their diseases.
Reduction in the amount of food consumed by people partly resolves the ecological problem of preserving natural resources through conserving their use and allowing them to regenerate.
3. You live as you drink.
Water comprises a substantial part of the human organism. And metabolic processes are largely conditioned by the quality and quantity of water the body takes in. By controlling drinking, it is possible to substantially impact the internal rhythms and the overall condition of the body.
Many people think that drinking large amounts of water leads to putting on weight, and for this reason they try to drink as little water as possible. In fact, people put weight on because along with water they take in excessive amounts of salt, and it is the salt that causes the body to retain water.
But water is the juice of life. And, without sufficient amounts of water, plants, for example, dry up, or, on the contrary, blossom when they have a sufficient amount of water. Of course, humans are not plants, but their metabolism is equally dependent on the required amount of water in the organism.
Besides people also acquire excessive weight by ignoring the balance between consumption and used energy, i. e., balance of the amount of food consumed and the amount of calories burned for active physical and psychic activity.
In countries with a moderate climate, the human organism requires 1.5 — 2 liters of water daily in winter and 2 — 3 liters in summer.
By controlling drink regime one can affect one’s feelings of hunger. And depending on the style of life and life conditions, it is possible to provoke hunger or on the contrary to delay it. So if it becomes clear that the possibility to eat appears at a particular time and later one will not have such chance, but the hunger feeling will scarcely come one can stimulate their hunger by drinking half a glass of water every 15 — 20 minutes. Then, the hunger will come faster. Or, on the contrary, if one is already hungry but there is no possibility to have a meal, it is necessary not to drink any water at all. Or it is possible to drink some herb tea. This will appease the hunger until it is possible to have a meal.
In any event, it is better to drink half a glass of water or herb tea a half an hour before a meal. And after the meal, drinking water or herb tea for washing the mouth and gullet should be restricted to prevent the dissolution of the gastric juices, and the impairment of digestion.
4. Drink solid food and chew liquid food.
In the digestive process the contact of food with salvia is of great importance. Salvia is an active biochemical substance that is absolutely necessary for complete digestion. To insure saliva secretion during digestion, solid food should be chewed until in turns into a liquid mixture without any remaining pieces of food. At the same time, liquid food (milk, soups, compotes, juices, herb tea, etc.) should not be swallowed instantly. Before swallowing them, make «taster» movements with the tongue and the jaw mixing the food with salvia. Only after this procedure is it possible to swallow liquid food.
Washing the food down does not substitute for the salvia’s digestive function. Fluids dilute digestive fluids and are of no assistance in completing digestion.
5. Enjoy an empty stomach.
One should live in peace. And should not hurry the meals, or strive to eat as much as possible, even if eating a delicacy. Food should remain in the mouth until it is possible to taste its flavor thoroughly. This technique allows the receiving of the maximum taste sensations from a minimum amount of food. Using this technique it is possible to enjoy the taste sensations for a long time and become full after consuming only a third of what would normally be eaten. As repletion of brain centers depends on the number of signals received from the mouth cavity, teeth, and other receptors, rather than from the stomach actually being full. Following this eating technique allows one to avoid overeating, polluting the body and growing fat.
6. Do not try to kill two rabbits with one shot.
What is done without distraction of attention is accomplished with a substantially higher quality than something that is accompanied with «parallel» activity.
One should not integrate a meal with something that distracts attention from it, such as reading, talking, watching TV, etc. When the attention is distracted, the brain centers do not receive sufficient amounts of information signals about the quality and quantity of the food consumed. This leads to voracity, poor-quality chewing, incorrect food combinations and overeating with all the resulting effects.
While eating one should think about the food, about its perfect qualities, its usefulness and the delight it gives. Enjoy it and receive all the positive emotions that eating good food gives. Receiving a meal is an indivisible ritual, a prayer to the Supreme Ideal.
7. Morning begins in the evening.
One should not take any food less than four hours before going to bed, or even better 7 hours before going to bed. This may seem strange for many people, but there are a number of advantages to following this proposition.
Firstly, food is normally digested and moves through the stomach and the intestine only when a man is awake and active or, what is most important, when his body is vertical, as the direction of the gravitation component assists the movement of food in the intestinal tract. If somebody eats before going to bed, then during sleep, when all the life processes are slowed down, the gravitational component, directed perpendicular to the body of a lying man, is of no assistance to the movement of food in the intestine. This leads to stagnation, fermentation, toxication of the body, formation of feces stones on intestinal walls, an increase of the volume of the stomach and the abdomen, worsening the intestinal tract, the development of diseases of the digestion organs, bad sleep and insufficient restoration during the night. And in the morning it is difficult to awaken, it is possible to feel swollen, an unpleasant smell comes from the mouth, as well as other complications.
And secondly, the suggested pre-sleep mealtime is connected with the real digestion rate of particular foods. Carbon-rich foods (vegetables, fruits, grains, etc.) are fully digested and pass through the intestine in about 4 hours. Whereas protein food (meat, beans, nuts, etc.) takes about 7 hours.
In general, the best meal schedule for stimulating powerful metabolism, increasing endurance and physical strength, improving health, and increasing the duration of life is to take food once a day, at a midday time.
Healthy people, who not sick or «maimed» by civilized habits, will not want to eat in the morning after sleep at once. Slight desire to eat should not appear earlier than an hour after waking up, but it is far from the sense of hunger. True hunger really comes into force about 4 hours or more after waking up. The next feeling of hunger rarely appears before it is time to sleep. But the phenomenon that makes people become «food-obsessed» is, as a rule, a reaction to life’s stresses in the modern conditions of life rather than hunger.
8. Do not force yourself.
Violence is as harmful over yourself as it is to other people.
One should never make «abrupt movements» in life. And it is much more useful to alleviate contrasts.
If it is necessary to change the normal diet and exclude particular foods, this should be done gradually to enable the metabolic system to readjust and decrease the «pressure» of the habits.
One should never eliminate the habits instantly with strict will-taboos and suppression (violence). This approach is oriented towards the struggle with the result rather than the cause. Will-driven taboo does not remove the roots of habits (desires), and, on the contrary, feeds and consolidates them. When the will acts against the habit, then (action is equal to counteraction) memory cells store «attributes» of the habit, are fed with the energy of attention and are amplified. This leads to an increase of desire to eat the forbidden product (this is like a river, blocked by a dam, but the source of which still exists). Such a misguided approach will sooner of later lead to an «explosion», and in the overeating of the forbidden product in amounts substantially exceeding the amount which would have been consumed by the person if he had continued to eat it as usual.
Habits are stored in memory. First of all, one should act at the level of controlling the attention.
If the attention returns to the memory cells that store sensitive information about the taste of products for which the habit (or desire) was formed, it should be softly and unobtrusively distracted from these cells and switched to something else, until no memories remain. Without being fed by the energy of attention, the information contained in the memory declines and gradually disappears (the river source drys up). In such a way, it is necessary to gradually replace the existing habits with new ones, containing information that this food is not for you, and that it is not consumable at all, like straw or soil. Such changes in consciousness require some time and active self-training, but this is the true way to success.
9. Cleanliness is a sign of the divine.
Preserving health requires that one support both external and internal purity which substantially depends on the quality of food and water that is consumed, and the natural and special organism cleansing processes.
Any car owner is well aware that the car’s operation depends on the purity of gasoline, oil, and air inside the engine. And, of course, he knows that the engine’s power is directly dependent on the content of foreign particles in the engine’s crankcase, as well as the quality of gasoline. But it is somehow hard to understand for many people that the human organism needs clean fuel, lubrication and regular preventive cleansing in exactly the same way. They smoke, drink alcohol, take drugs, waste vital power through sex, eat products which, judging by their natural criteria, cannot be considered as food at all, etc. They are pressed for time or lazy. They simply lack the time to care for themselves, although they find the time to strive for something which is prestigious (but stupid). But the living organism requires much less than a car, because it is much more efficient, and struggles to correct itself with self-cleansing and self-regeneration mechanisms. And if one ceases interfering with it, no parts will need to be replaced for many years. And if one makes some effort to assist it, however, it will serve one well until old age.
The Tradition of Yoga has accumulated a wealth of experience concerning the cleansing measures used to regenerate, recreate and strengthen the human organism. Many of these are still used by the majority of people engaged in «re-creation» activities throughout the World. From individual enthusiasts to large medical corporations, they all cultivate body cleansing and rehabilitation methods. Presently, there is a large variety of special and popular literature where it is possible to find the answers to many questions about special organism cleansing methods.
With respect to natural self-cleansing of the body, it is necessary to introduce a regular rule to fast 24 to 48 hours weekly. During this period, all digestive organs rest, self-clean and regenerate themselves. It is better to fast on the weekend, when it is possible to avoid stress, and it is possible to control the status of the psyche, i. e., be calm.
For better cleansing and normalizing metabolic processes, fasting may be accompanied with drinking water or herb teas.
In special cases the fasting may be «dry», i. e., without drinking anything.
If the organism is polluted and weak, or if there are already internal organ diseases and metabolic disturbance, this may be corrected by long-term fasting, which may last 3 to 50 days. But this can only be done after prior, detailed theoretical preparation, and under the guidance of specialists.
Speaking of the clarity of food and the clarity of consciousness, one should not ignore not only the purity of foodstuffs, but and the «purity» of the means of getting the food and ways of life support. This determines the clarity of the «subtle» — karmic «cause and effectv» plans of a human being.
10. You are what you eat.
The organism is formed from the elements it receives. And it acquires the qualities of these elements.
Eat only fresh, clean, tasty, live, vitamin-rich, and energy-filled food. It is necessary to forget about what is called «junk food» by experienced western people, forget about all these chips, hamburgers, canned sausages, mayonnaise, etc.
And it is stupid to use expensive and rarely available, or «prestigious» products also. Using these, one is feeding their self-assurance by being exclusive, rather than «feeding» their body. For the organism there is no use in such food, there is most likely only harm.
Many people in the world have started to understand that it is really prestigious to be healthy and strong, look smart and always feel well.
By controlling the diet, it is possible to consciously affect the formation of the body, the state of the senses, consciousness and the karmic cause-effect ties (Destiny). Numerous naturalists have verified this fact by centuries of practical experience.
11. Do not combine the incompatible.
The digesting of different foods is performed by different biochemical reactions: acid or alkaline. Combining such foods in one meal causes acid-alkaline neutralization and the formation of useless minerals that substantially hamper the digestive process.
To avoid these phenomena it is necessary to consider the combining ability of different foods in one meal. There are numerous special food combination theories developed for these purposes. The food combining compatibility table, composed by A. Sidersky on the basis of works of
Notes:
I — used separately (interval 40 minutes)
II — combinable only are fresh milk with rice.
III — 7 with 3, weight proportion 1 : 3
IV — If there is a sharp necessity to receive a big amount of energy without loading the digestive tract.
V — and with nuts
- Starchy vegetables: potatoes, old carrots, old beets, turnips, etc.
- Grains: corn, wheat grain, flour and products containing it, sprouted grains.
- Non-starchy vegetables: grasses, young root crops, white roots, cabbage, lettuce, radish, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.
- Protein products: beans, nuts, eggs, caviar, etc.
- Fresh berries and fruit.
- Dairy products, other than melted butter.
- Meat and fish (preferably to be gradually excluded from the diet).
- Vegetable oils and melted butter.
- Melons and bananas.
- Chocolate and cocoa (in restricted quantities in conditions just of large energy consumption).
- Dried fruit.
12. Dogma first says: « dogmas are absent».
When determining the diet and schedule, one should consider all of the above prescriptions and rules, but it is important to never forget to stick to the rule of feeling well and be guided by the intuition-driven sense of common sense.
Yoga Diet
February 13, 2010 at 9:06 am | Posted in Yoga and Medicine | 2 CommentsTags: yoga diet, yoga health, yoga practice
Yoga distinguishes three qualities (Gunas) — Tamasic, Rajasic and Sattvic which are incidental to the material World. And all food products subdivide into three relevant groups:
Tamasic: dead, tasteless, non-vitamin, dry, floury, cooled and warmed many times, technically processed, refined, not fresh, fermented, decomposing and foul smelling, synthetic, etc.
Rajasic: arousing desires, salted, sour, bitter, spicy, sickningly sweet, roasted, fat, smoked, canned, etc.
Sattvic: live, rich, full of vitamins, sprouted, fresh, pure, tasty, etc.
Sattvic products exert a «gentle» effect, and cause natural and «soft» taste sensations. Whereas Rajasic food causes a «rough» effect, and its consumption is accompanied by «firm» taste sensations. As to their impact on the sensory system, Sattvic food is accompanied by weak signals, whereas Rajasic food has strong signals. But the human body usually adjusts to regular sensations, and this is accompanied by the sensory system becoming accustomed to the level of signals relevant to one’s regular sensations.
The stronger the sensations, the stronger the dependence on having them is, and the easier it is to develop desires for this sensation. This sensory cycle makes Freedom of Spirit harder to obtain.
When the signal system is transformed and the Sattvic food has been gotten used to, the enjoyment one will have from eating it will not be inferior to the enjoyment of tasting Rajasic products (although yogis do not use the categories of enjoyment). But this transformation results in purifying the energy system, developing sensitivity and reducing the load on the signal system and psyche, which leads the person to become calm, balanced, healthy and happy.
It is better to determine the Guna of the product by sensing and sniffing it like animals do before eating, rather than by analyzing it with the mind and knowing «what is what». In this way often it is possible to find that the food which seemed delicious a minute ago is now inedible, «synthetic» or «plastic». Or the food, which according to all canons, corresponds to healthy and nutritious food, was, in fact, polluted from the karmic point of view when it was obtained or processed.
All living beings on the Earth are fed from the energy of the Sun and the obligatory availability of water.
Sunlight feeds the plants. Herbivores eat plants, and carnivores eat herbivores. Carnivores eat other carnivores. There are animals that eat carrion. These processes are all fed by the sun’s energy, but with each transition from one living creature to another substantial qualitative changes are undergone.
The elements of a burning tree disintegrate into elementary components. When this happens, the sun’s energy, which was previously accumulated in the tree, is released in the fire, and the tree turns into ashes, which will no longer burn, since ash no longer contains the relations of sun energy, which have already been released.
In chasing new taste sensations, people have developed numerous recipes, many of which imply multiple thermal processing. But they did not take into account that each thermal impact on food products like their slow combustion (oxidization) with qualitative change and the sun’s energy loss.
With each subsequent warming of cold food, it continues to decompose and «live» products turn into «dead» ones, in terms of the quality of their energy-related activity.
When one living being eats another one, this results in oxidization processes similar to combustion. But, the main point is that the quality of the consumed food and the activity of life energy are changed, that causes a deep change in the state of consciousness of that living creature. Observing the psychic types of a herbivorous elephant and a carnivorous hyena, it is easy to «catch» the difference. Compare their «intellectual», «warm-heart» and «generosity» levels. Of course, such comparison is not absolute, but one can easily «catch» the difference.
Digesting food is like a fire. It is possible to try to make the fire of digestion with heavy billets (eating meat and fish). This takes a lot of time and effort, and the ashes after such a fire will be rough and solid. Whereas, you can easily make a fire of brushwood (eating easily consumed products: grains, fruits, vegetables, and etc.) throwing it into the fire regularly. This will not take much time and effort, the fire is made easily, and burns brightly and warmly. There are almost no ashes after such a fire, and, if something remains, it is easily taken with the wind of digestion.
The outdated diet theory of calorie capacity and the energy value of different products, was misunderstood in western countries for several decades. Whereas, the East never used such a theory in selecting the diet, their primary was on the qualities of the food and to its impact on consciousness, a fruit diet being preferred.
Fruits contains concentrated forms of all the valuable life elements produced by nature. Nature’s intent being to extend life on the Earth in two ways: reproduction from a fruit seed to a living organism, and extending the life of an existing organism through feeding on what was produced.
This is exactly why nature provided for the production of an abundant variety of fruits, i. e., much more than would be required for extending the life of a particular variety. This abundance is produced to provide for the creatures that eat these fruits.
The Tradition of Yoga prefers Sattva Guna in selecting food products and recommends a vegetarian fruit diet: fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, milk, non-refined vegetable oil and honey. Of all animal products, some Yoga schools allow eggs and caviar to be eaten. Others exclude even milk from the diet, ignoring all animal products.
Moreover they eat food raw, «live» or, in exclusive cases, at minimum thermal processing with minimum quantities of salt and sugar.
A Sattvic fruit diet is based on natural nutrition and implies no violence. It facilitates rooting out numerous body and consciousness diseases of the present times, endows a man with strong health, vigor, sensitivity, contentment, balance, deep internal peace and joy.
Speaking impartially, if a man is capable of controlling his senses and eats consciously, he controls the characteristics of his body and consciousness, rather than his sensational satisfaction controlling him. His convictions, moral foundations and life goals require strength, and the qualities of a predatory wolf or a carrion-vulture, then he can eat carrion, making everything on the contrary and he will quickly succeed in attaining these goals.
In the conditions of the present abundance of food, in order to make the diet correspond to this ancient standard, to have robust digestion, to have the organism clean and healthy, and to make the body qualities assist in the development of Yoga practice, one should consciously each oneself always live with hunger.
People reject the vactination
February 10, 2010 at 1:11 pm | Posted in Yoga and Medicine | 2 CommentsTags: immunization, swine flu, vactination, yoga health, yoga practice
Uk BBC news regarding Swine Flue:
The Department of Health in Northern Ireland still has half a million swine flu vaccines which remain unused.
In mid-January, there were more than 60% of the vaccines left. The health minister had estimated he would need £61m to combat the virus in NI.
But People throughout Europe are rejecting the H1N1 vaccine in mass
Why do People reject the vactination.
A survey published online this week in the BMJ found that just over half of 8500 healthcare workers in Hong Kong said they would not be vaccinated against swine flu because of fears of side effects and doubts about the vaccine’s effectiveness
Evidence from 11 focus groups conducted in Canada before the current pandemic also indicates that parents and healthcare workers may refuse to be vaccinated or to vaccinate their children if they believe that the risks outweigh the benefits And a survey by Israel’s ministry of health similarly found that at least 25% of the population is not willing to be vaccinated against swine flu.
People say that by vaccination you make your immune system stop working.
It seems that we are from both sides invaded by medicine drugs and propaganda.
For those who rejected vaccination there is another program Immunization.
I would say “Those who cares about People”
http://www.who.int/immunization/givs/en/
WHO is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends.
And now what Yoga Science says:
From time immemorial, yoga, through its breathing techniques has been used to improve the immune system. The simplest form of breathing exercise is the Pranayama. It has been found that this single breathing exercise goes a long way in keeping the body fit.
Yoga Asana Championship.
February 9, 2010 at 8:52 am | Posted in Yoga and Sport | 2 CommentsTags: US yoga federation, yoga competition, yoga practice
The U.S. Yoga Federation (www.usayoga.org) announces on 8 of February more than 100 participants who advanced from 25 U.S. regional competitions will come together to determine the U.S. champion for male/female and boys/girls at the 2010 U.S. Yoga Asana Championship.
You can find this news at different news resources. http://www.abc-of-yoga.com/news/201002/usa-yoga-federation-announces-2010-yoga-asana.asp
The Yoga Competition was born in India about 2000 years ago.
Hindu say that “And Yoga Sport is Holy Sport in our Holy land with our Holy Yoga. All the
Yoga Ashrams have Yoga Competition.”
Life is competition and Sri Aurobindo teaches: all of Life is Yoga and Yoga is Competition. Sports is any game where you have competitons and we can teach about emotions because this is yoga. Sports is Health and health is Yoga.
Are you ready for this life competition? Have you already started to practice Yoga?
Yoga calls itself science.
February 4, 2010 at 11:18 am | Posted in Yoga and Medicine | 3 CommentsTags: body, health, medecine, yoga, yoga body, yoga mind, yoga practice, yoga science, yoga soul
Yoga is the most diversified spiritual practice in the world. Crossing over many cultures (including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and the West), Yoga also extends over multiple languages such as Hindi, Tibetan, Bengali, Sanskrit, Tamil, Prakit, Marathi and Pali.
Rather, Yoga has been passed down for thousands of years in a personal way, from teacher to pupil, without institutional support of any kind. It is perhaps a tribute to Patanjali’s brilliance and clarity that, while there are many branches and approaches to Yoga, it has remained an eminently recognizable discipline, with principles and practices that present an integral whole.
By calling itself science, Yoga has within the last years become an integral part of Western society, where it is taught in nearly every clubs, in public schools, in industry, and in many churches. Dressed in Western clothes, Yoga has gained acceptance in medicine, psychology, education, and religion under such euphemisms as ‘centering,’ ‘relaxation therapy,’ ‘self-hypnosis,’ and ‘creative visualization.’ Yoga is designed to lead to the ‘realization’ of one’s true ‘godhood’ through an inward meditative journey that finally locates the ultimate source of everything within the human psyche.
We realize that Yogic tradition continues to proliferate and spread its message of peace to this very day.
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