The goal or destination of Yoga is Yoga itself
May 31, 2010 at 1:19 pm | Posted in Yoga Life | 1 CommentTags: culture, yoga destination, yoga history
Asana classes and asana studios: It is so unfortunate that the word “Yoga” has so often been used in place of the word “asana” or “posture” in recent years. We would not call a brick a “house” even though it is part of the construction. Yet, this is what is often done with Yoga. The first word of Yoga Sutras is “atha” which means “now,” implying a prior preparation. One may do postures for years and finally be ready for Yoga. To call it “Yoga” before that time is a misnomer. If we had “asana classes” and “asana studios” that would be a great service to people. Then the word “Yoga” could be appropriately used for the journey that one begins when truly understanding the history and nature of authentic, traditional Yoga.
Yoga “On” and “Off” the Mat:
Within the past few decades there has been a new invention, that of the yoga “mat”, which is made of some sort of synthetic rubber or plastic material. This has lead to the idea that “yoga” is practiced “on” such a mat. Since the mat is designed to be used for physical postures or asanas, its invention has even further led to the distortion of yoga. Along with the invention of yoga “on the mat”, there has been a subsequent invention of yoga “off the mat” to describe the “other” form of yoga. Google presently reveals 82,300 results for a search of “yoga off the map”. While it is good that people are doing other such practices, the mere fact that “yoga off the mat” has come into vogue implies that the default position of real yoga is “on” some synthetic “mat”. This is just one more example of setting aside the ancient tradition of authentic yoga for the sake of promoting the modern distorted yoga through all of the yoga business channels.
The goal of Yoga is Yoga: The goal or destination of Yoga is Yoga itself, union itself, of the little self and the True Self, a process of awakening to the preexisting union that is called Yoga. While it is not the intent of this article to give a final or conclusive definition of the term Yoga–which can be described in different ways–it has to do with the realization through direct experience of the preexisting union between Atman and Brahman, Jivatman and Paramatman, and Shiva and Shakti, or the realization of Purusha standing alone as separate from Prakriti. The mere fact that one might do a few stretches with the physical body does not in itself mean that one is headed towards that high union referred to as Yoga.
The influence of income on health
May 14, 2010 at 8:19 am | Posted in Yoga and Medicine | Leave a commentTags: cheap and expencive, discount drugs, online drugs, online products, poor medicine, poverty, rich medicine
Does money really matter? Or is it a marker for something else?
Income is related to health in three ways: through the gross national product of countries, the income of individuals, and the income inequalities among rich nations and among geographic areas. A central question is the degree to which these associations reflect a causal association. If so, redistribution of income would improve health.
Despite a pledge to cut the health gap between the richest and poorest, the difference in life expectancy is widening.
Reducing health inequalities and improving public health in the 21st century requires strategic investment in neo-material conditions via more equitable distribution of public and private resources.
Interest in health inequality among countries is growing. The World Health Organization (WHO),2–4 World Bank,5,6 Unicef,7,8 Pan American Health Organization, United Nations Development Programme,9–12 the UK Department of International Development13 and the broader global health community14–16 have made this issue a priority.
On 18 March 2005, the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health was formed and charged with identifying interventions and policies to reduce global health inequalities. However, the formulation of a global policy for closing the gap between industrialized and developing countries is hampered by the lack of a sound knowledge base. At least they made an attempt!
Life expectancy in the richest countries of the world now exceeds the poorest by more than 30 years, figures show. The gap is widening across the world, with Western countries and the growing economies of Latin America and the Far East advancing more rapidly than Africa and the countries of the former Soviet Union.
Over the last few years, opinions have shifted towards an increased concern for the health of the poor and for reduction in health inequalities. The contents of the technical papers demonstrate that a promising start has been made to understanding the extent and nature of the problem. This Critical Reflection contains two suggested initial steps for the action needed to alleviate the problem of health inequalities between the better off and the underprivileged. First, professionals giving high priority to the distinct but related objectives of poverty alleviation, inequality reduction, and equity enhancement should recognize that shared concern for the distributional aspects of health policy is far more important than any socioeconomic differences within the society. Second, health policy goals should be reformulated with greater attention to specific health problems of the poor, and towards reducing the differences between the rich and the poor.
THE KILLER IS EXTREME POVERTY
* Reference
Rich countries refuses to allow their citizens on Medicare to order the same drugs at lower costs from other countries, especially Canada and Europe, despite no evidence that those pharmaceuticals were any less safe than those sold in the United States. You still can order discount drugs online approved by FDA at http://alotofdrugs.com/
Are you able to prolong your life
May 7, 2010 at 11:10 am | Posted in Yoga and Medicine | 6 CommentsTags: aging, live longer, prolong life, prolong your life, stay healthy
“A lot of people think we’re biologically programmed to die, but the truth is that we’re biologically programmed for survival. There is no mechanism inside us that turns on to kill us when a certain period of time has elapsed.
—Dr. Thomas Kirkwood
Aging is inevitable and Yoga can help us to age gracefully. Healthy diet, regular exercise, avoidance of negative thoughts & habits and cultivation of the positive attitude and a healthy lifestyle can help us to age with dignity. Yoga can also help our ‘silver citizens’ retain their mental ability and prevent degenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s and various other aging problems. Swami Gitananda Giri, Yogashri Krishnamacharya, Kannaiah Yogi, Swami Suddananda Bharathi, Yogeshwarji, Yogendraji, Swami Ram Dev and Padma Bhushan BKS Iyengar are but a few of the Yogis who have shown us that its is possible to grow old without losing any of the physical or mental faculties of youth.
When people talk about good health habits they usually have physical things in mind… eating right, exercising and so forth. But good mental habits may have positive effects, too.
A long-term study published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine explored possible connections between specific personality traits and mortality.
In the study, more than twenty-three-hundred volunteers took a test that describes personality in five broad categories… agreeableness, openness to experience, extraversion, neuroticism and conscientiousness.
Conscientiousness involves things like self-discipline and resourcefulness.
About two-thirds of the volunteers were men, who were followed more than forty years. Women were tracked twenty-four years.During the study, forty percent of the volunteers died. By cross-referencing death statistics with personality test scores, researchers found several trends. Some personality traits had no effect on survival… agreeableness, extraversion and openness to experience. But there was a payoff for those who scored moderately high for conscientiousness and emotional stability, the opposite of neuroticism. On average, they lived two or three years longer than volunteers who scored moderately low for those traits. People who scored high on general activity, a facet of extraversion, also tended to live a couple more years.
These series of recent studies indicates that emotions, particularly stress, anger, and depression, are important factors with serious and significant implications for health.
Please draw the conclusion that staying focused and coping with stress may help you live longer.
For many of us, there’s lots of room for improvement.
Regards,
Live longer, stay healthy
Chakras or Wheels of Life
May 3, 2010 at 12:27 pm | Posted in Yoga Life | 3 CommentsTags: chakra
We all have eight principal centers of life that connect us from our physical body, to our Infinite-Self. They are called “Chakras,” (pronounced cha-kah-rahs). On a physical level, they actually control and affect our glands, called the endocrine system. On a mental level they affect the way we think, and on a level of consciousness, they can take us into the dirt, or into the heavens and beyond the superstrings of this multi-level universe. Many of us are now opening the doors and discovering, if not experiencing, these connections, which connect us to our True-Self. So let us take a short tour into the world of chakras.
The word chakra means wheel. Chakras are like steering wheels, which steer us through life. If one wheel is out of balance, we may wobble this way or that way out of control. The 1st center is at the base of our spine called the Root Chakra, and the last center is the 8th chakra that surrounds our bodies, it’s called the Aura or Auric Body.
From the base of our spine, the energy of life called Kundalini, where it is stored, rises up our spine to balance all our chakras and connect us to our Inner-Self. When this energy is blocked, our chakras get out of balance and the connections to the elements that make us who we are, get out of balance. From our glands to our health, from how we feel to how we think – it all relates to a balanced or imbalanced chakra. If you read on, I will give you some very important clues about our chakras. I will keep it clear and simple, and leave out all the esoteric stuff about deities, animals, yantras, and names difficult to articulate, as these are all just metaphors.
The Chakras are the seven main energy centers in the body. They are located along the Spine, starting at the base and running upwards to the crown of the head. The Chakras are described as “whirling disks of light”, and each Chakra radiates a specific color and energy. As each Chakra relates to specific spiritual, emotional, psychological and physical issues, the conscious awareness and the balancing of these energy centers lead to well-being.
Lajpat Rai, an eminent Physiologist has conducted extensive study on Chakras and Kundalini Jagran. According to Kundalini Yoga, the potential energy located in the Chakras can be converted into kinetic form either spontaneously or by meditational practices. This phenomenon of conversion of potential energy into kinetic energy has been termed as “Awakening of Kundalini” which leads to self actualization. Kundalini Chakras are claimed to be vortices of energy spinning in circles like transformers. They are said to govern and regulate the flow and dispersion of power (etheric or pranic energy of yoga) in an electrical human infrastructure comprised of an extraordinary circuitry of 72 thousand subtle channels (sukshama prana nadis). Quantitatively, the five chakras on the spine are further claimed to be endowed with the qualities and attributes possessed and manifested by five cosmic elements of earth, water, fire, air and ether respectively. Intensive meditation on the chakras sites at spine and cranium by way of visualization of a given chakra symbolically in terms of a number of petals of a lotus, its colour, sound and other ingredients surcharges the body-mind-consciousness complex at all the five levels. (read more)
Chakra 1: Muladhara Chakra
The first Chakra, Muladhara (root), is located at the base of the spine. Its color is red and its issues are survival, stability, and self-sufficiency.
Chakra 2: Svadhisthana Chakra
The second Chakra, Svadhisthana (sweetness), is located at the lower abdomen (between belly button and pelvic bone). Its color is orange and its issues are sexuality, creativity, relationships and emotions.
Chakra 3: Manipura Chakra
The third Chakra, Manipura (lustrous gem), is located at the solar plexus (between belly button and bottom of rib cage). Its color is yellow and its issues are personal power, self esteem, willfulness and energy.
Chakra 4: Anahata Chakra
The fourth Chakra, Anahata (not struck), is located at the heart (center of the chest). Its color is green and its issues are love, compassion, acceptance, and trust.
Chakra 5: Vishuddha Chakra
The fifth Chakra, Vissudha (purification), is located at the throat. Its color is bright blue and its issues are communication, inspiration, expression, and faith.
Chakra 6: Ajna Chakra
The sixth Chakra, Ajna (to perceive), is located between the eyebrows, just above the bridge of the nose. Its color is indigo blue and its issues are psychic, emotional and mental intelligence, and intuition.
Chakra 7: Sahasrara Chakra
The seventh Chakra, Sahasrara (thousand petaled), is located at the crown (top) of the head. Its color is white or violet and its issues are devotion, inspiration, selflessness, and spiritual understanding.
Taking the Kundalini energy up from the Muladhara Chakra to the Sahasrara Chakra is the main goal of Kundalini Yoga. They use different Yoga Techniques in order to awaken the Kundalini (serpent energy) which is resting in the Muladhara Chakra and make it flow from the base of the spine to the top of the head. Once Kundalini reaches its final destination, the Sahasrara Chakra, you will be in the knowledge space or Chidakasa
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