Mastery of Meditation, Kundalini Yoga and Zen

Daily Meditation Practice For February | Find Joy, Peace and Happiness

Anmol Mehta — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:53:27 +0000

Daily Meditation Practice

Meditations for Spiritual Practice

As part of the expansion to the "Yoga Asana for the Month Series", I mentioned we are now also going to include a Daily Meditation for the Month and a Yoga Breathing Exercise for the month. In the article, Daily Yoga Exercise for February, I suggested we all include Cobra Pose into our routine and in this article today, I will suggest a great meditation technique for our daily spiritual work for February.

For those unfamiliar with this "Yoga and Meditation Technique for the Month" series, essentially, the idea is for all of us to include some great exercises and techniques into our daily practice and then to report back our thoughts and feedback regarding them throughout the month. The goal is to learn from each other, develop our ability to do these techniques better and enjoy the benefits that daily practice brings.

Below are all the Yoga exercises we have done together so far and now we will be adding meditations and pranayamas to this list as well.

August: Learn Yoga | Nauk Asana for the Month (Abs)

September: Yoga Pose for Thighs - Frog Pose (Thighs/Butt)

October: Important Hatha Yoga Posture for Healing - Forward Bend (Thighs/Buttocks)

November: Yoga to Work on Your Aura (Aura and Magnetic Field)

December: Kundalini Yoga Exercise for Emotional Health - Cat-Cow (Back and Emotional Balance)

February Yoga: Yoga Cobra Pose for Everyday Practice | Heal Your Back

Daily Meditation for February:

Originally I was thinking of starting out this new dimension with one of the most popular meditations on the planet today, Zen Meditation Technique, but I have instead decided to go with So Hum Mantra Meditation. This is primarily because I have been getting a lot of great feedback regarding this meditation and also, since this meditation is excellent for promoting joy and peace, I thought we could use some more of that during these challenging times .

So the meditation for daily practice for February is going to be So Hum Mantra Meditation. Below are the links you need for this technique and some thoughts on it.

Benefits of Daily Meditation Practice:

Here is the link to the chapter with all the details on So Hum Meditation: SO HUM MANTRA MEDITATION TECHNIQUE. A great deal of scientific research has been done on Mantra Meditations and I have listed some of the highlights of this research in the article Health Benefits of Meditation. In case you need some motivation here are some of the incredible findings…

Significant reduction in anxiety and stress. Verified by changes in brain activity centers.
200% increase in blood flow to the brain region, and significant reduction in blood pressure and cholesterol.
50% less doctor visits. 55% fewer tumors and reduction in infectious diseases as well.
Reduction in Chronic Pain, 75% improvement with Insomnia and Increased Intelligence, Awareness and Concentration.
There are many more benefits listed in that article and also in the article Top 10 Benefits of Meditation, so head on over if you still need more motivation .

So Hum Meditation Video for Daily Practice:

The chapter I linked to above has all the details including a video demonstration of So Hum. For convenience I have included this video below as well. Please note if you ever have problems viewing the meditation videos from the blog, you can view them directly from my YouTube channel. Also, if you want to be notified whenever I publish a new video you can subscribe to my YouTube channel, as I upload all my videos there.

Here is the link to my YouTube channel. Best Yoga and Meditation YouTube Vidoes - AnmolMehtaCom.

Sohum Mantra Meditation for Daily Practice

In the next part of this series I will give the Daily Yoga Breathing Exercise (Pranayama) for February. Stay tuned for that…

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Daily Yoga Exercise for February | Heal that Back

Anmol Mehta — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:30:55 +0000

Daily Yoga Exercises

Everyday Yoga Practice

It’s time to present the daily yoga exercises for February and this month I am going to expand this "Yoga Asana for the Month" concept, and include a Meditation for the month, as well as a Yoga Pranayama (Breathing Exercise) for the month.

We started this new idea in August of last year and below are the yoga exercises we have practiced so far. Essentially, the idea is for all of us to include some great exercises and techniques into our daily practice and then to report back our thoughts and feedback regarding them throughout the month. The goal is to learn from each other, develop our ability to do these techniques better and enjoy the benefits that daily practice brings.

The feedback I have received is that this has been a useful idea so far and minimally what it does is give you some techniques to do in case you have drifted away from a regular practice. So, if you have a thriving daily practice then you can include these techniques into your practice, but if you don’t have an established daily yoga routine, then use these exercises to jump start your practice. In either case, feel free to report back your feedback in the comments section below so we can all learn from each other.

August: Learn Yoga | Nauk Asana for the Month (Abs)

September: Yoga Pose for Thighs - Frog Pose (Thighs/Butt)

October: Important Hatha Yoga Posture for Healing - Forward Bend (Thighs/Buttocks)

November: Yoga to Work on Your Aura (Aura and Magnetic Field)

December: Kundalini Yoga Exercise for Emotional Health - Cat-Cow (Back and Emotional Balance)

Daily Yoga Exercise for February:

I have been trying to pick the best yoga exercises for a wide range of improvements, so that you can get to experience many different types of yoga exercises. These exercises are from the schools of Kundalini Yoga as well as Hatha Yoga and for this month I am going to suggest we all practice Cobra Pose together.

Yoga Cobra Exercise for Daily Practice:

Here is the link to the chapter with all the details about Cobra Pose: Cobra Pose for Healthy Back. Also check out the article on how to do Cobra Pushups, which is a little more advanced: Simple Yoga for Upper Body Training.

Cobra is a great yoga pose and exercise and it is excellent for your arms, shoulder, chest and back muscles. In addition, it is very good for your digestive system and opening up your Heart Center. There are many more important benefits for this pose and you will find them in the article I have linked to above.

Cobra Pose Practice Tips:

There are 2 variations on how you can practice this great pose. You can come into cobra, with straight elbows or bent elbows, and hold the posture, or you can go up and down in cobra pose (cobra push-ups). Both are great ways to tone and develop your body, as well as massage your internal organs and glands. So for this month let us practice Cobra Pose daily and report back any thoughts or comments.

Below are some illustrations of Cobra Exercise to help you do this pose correctly.

Yoga Cobra Exercise for Daily Practice (Straight Elbows)

Yoga Cobra Pose for Daily Practice (Bent Elbows)

In the next part of this series I will give the Meditation Technique and Yoga Breathing Exercise (Pranayama) for daily practice in February. Stay tuned for that…

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What Is Karma and How to Be Free of the Karmic Cycle

Anmol Mehta — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 01:51:16 +0000

What Karma Means

Buddhist Definition of Karma

What exactly is Karma? What does it mean to be free of the Karmic cycle? These are excellent questions and today I will try and shed some light on this important topic. This topic is important really because understanding it deeply, will help you a great deal in living your life correctly and accelerating your spiritual progress.

To help with this complex topic, I am going to provide the thoughts of the great Zen master Shunryu Suzuki, from his A+ book Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. This is not just a Buddhist view of Karma, this is actually a clear view of the Law of Karma. Also, I provide a nice 9 Day Karma Cleansing Challenge which is a great spiritual test to take in the bottom of this article.

Zen Buddhist Master Shunryu Suzuki on What is Karma?

Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind

Pages 100, 102

According to the traditional Buddhist understanding, our human nature is without ego. When we have no idea of ego, we have Buddha’s view of life. Our egoistic ideas are delusion, covering out Buddha Nature. We are always creating and following them, and in repeating this process over and over again, our life becomes completely occupied by ego-centered ideas. This is called karmic life, or karma. The Buddhist life should not be karmic life. The purpose of our practice is to cut off the karmic spinning mind. If you are trying to attain enlightenment, that is a part of karma, you are creating and being driven by karma, and you are wasting your time on the black cushion. According to Bodhidarma’s understanding, practice based on any gaining idea is just a repetition of your karma. Forgetting this point, many later Zen masters have emphasized some stage to be attained by practice.

He goes on to say…

Before Buddha attained enlightenment he made all possible effort for us, and at last he attained a thorough understanding of the various ways. You may think Buddha attained some stage where he was free from karmic life, but it is not so. Many stories were told by Buddha about his experiences after he attained enlightenment. He was not at all different from us. When his country was at war with a powerful neighbor, he told his disciples of his own karma, of how he suffered when he saw that his country was going to be conquered by the neighboring king. If he had been someone who had attained an enlightenment in which there was no karma, there would have been no reason for him to suffer so. And even after he attained enlightenment he continued the same effort we are making. But his view of life was not shaky. His view of life was stable, and he watched everyone’s life, including his life. He watched himself, and he watched others with the same eyes that he watched stones or plants, or anything else. He had a very scientific understanding. That was his way of life after he attained enlightenment.

When we have the traditional spirit to follow the truth as it goes, and practice our way without any egotistic idea, we will attain enlightenment in its true sense. And when we understand this point we will make our best effort in each moment. That is true understanding of Buddhism. So our understanding of Buddhism is not just an intellectual understanding. Our understanding at the same time is its own expression, is the practice itself. Not by reading or contemplation of philosophy, but only through practice, actual practice, can we understand what Buddhism is. Constantly, we should practice zazen, with strong confidence in our true nature, breaking the chain the karmic activity and finding our place in the world of actual practice.

Buddhist Understanding of What Karma Means

The above excerpt offers the best way to view and Karma, Karmic Bondage and Karmic Living. In addition, I wanted to present this excerpt to you as it has other hidden gems in it as well. Let me highlight these points for you below.

1. What is Karma?

Karma is life and action that is led by the ego and for the ego. The more the ego is involved, the more Karma there is. Both as a driving force and in accumulation as fuel (Karma) for future egotistical action. Lets see this cycle at work using the simple pleasure principle.

When you experience some pleasure, that is fine, it is just sensation. But then the mind tends not to leave it at that. It forms an emotional memory and starts to chew on the memory of that experience, giving it more and more strength. Then, it starts to crave that pleasure experience again. This emotion soaked memory then lays the foundation for desires and influences future actions.

So Karma is formed by the mind spinning the pleasurable experience, building emotion soaked memory, which then becomes the seed for ego gratification in the future, leading to more experience and sensation. This then forms more emotion soaked memory, if it is spun around in the mind, and the Karmic cycle continues. Thus we are bound by our Karma, as we already have in us emotion soaked memories, which are the seeds that will then influence our mind to pursue more ego oriented activity. Purging this emotion soaked memory is the emptying of the mind which you hear about in meditation.

As this is a very interesting and important topic and there is a lot of confusion around what Karma is I will go into this in more detail in a future article, but for now I think you should get the gist of what I am saying from the explanation and example above.

2. How to Free Oneself from the Karmic Cycle?

The answer to the question, "How to be free from the Karmic Cycle?", emerges from the understanding above. Do what the Buddha did. Learn to become a detached witness to the comings and goings of your life. Even the Buddha, after enlightenment, had to live out the Karma that was already present in him, but by bearing witness and not getting drawn in, he stopped creating more emotion soaked memory, or more Karmic seeds. Also, by bearing witness, the content of consciousness (emotion soaked memory) starts to reveal itself and gets purged.

In other words, develop the Witnessing Consciousness. Residing in this Witnessing Consciousness or Big Mind, means to not live via the ego oriented, small mind, but to live instead in moment to moment awareness. This awareness is your Buddha Nature. It is the Big Self and the substratum on which the drama of life is being playing out on. Residing in such awareness, is residing in your Buddha Nature and this alone frees you from the cycle of Karma.

Summary and Karma Cleansing Challenge:

So karma boils down to a very simple thing. If you strengthen the ego, give it more importance and are caught in nothing but ego-centric desires, then you are accumulating karma, if on the other hand, you are residing in pure consciousness and witnessing, you are freeing yourself from the entanglements of karma and the dualistic world.

Of course this is not at all easy to accomplish, but it can really be a lot of fun to do if you are up for the challenge. To help you on this journey here is a great 9 Day Karma Cleansing Program. It is difficult to do, but even trying it will give you a great deal of insight into how your ego functions and also, how to live with moment to moment awareness. If doing all of what this challenge requires is too much, just pick a few of the requirements, that too will be of enormous benefit to you.

9 Day Spiritual Test and Karma Cleansing Program

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Most Profound Mantra Chant | Asato Ma Sadgamaya Free MP3 Download

Anmol Mehta — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:56:49 +0000

Asa To Ma Sadgamaya Mantra Chant

Vedic Mantra Chants and MP3s

(Sorry, first the post got sent w/ password protection turned on by mistake. This was just a mistake and the password protection has been removed and I am republishing it again. Also, only a partial summary got sent even on second try. This has also been corrected and you will continue to get the FULL posts as before to your email. Sorry for any inconvenience).

There are 2 mantras that I am extremely fond of; Tvameva Mata mantra, which you will find chanted by Trupti in the following video - Greatest Vedic Mantra to Express Devotion, and the mantra which I am going to present the MP3 for today, Asato Ma Sadgamaya (aka: Asa To Ma Satgamaya). I have enjoyed listening to Asato Ma Sadgamaya ever since the first time I heard it and thankfully it is an integral part of all the prayers and rituals, so I get to hear and enjoy it often .

Below you will find the free MP3 download of this chant, along with the English translation and analysis. Already on the website there are many wonderful mantra chants available, some in MP3 audio format, while others in MP4 video format. You will find all these in the Free Online Mantra MP3 Downloads collection, to which Asato Ma will now also be added or course.

OM Mantra Picture

Asato Ma Sadgamaya Mantra in Sanskrit

Asato Ma Sadgayama
Tamaso Ma Jyotirgamaya
Mrytor Ma Amritamgamaya

Below is the English translation of this wonderful mantra.

Asato Ma Sadgamaya Mantra English Translation

Lead me from Untruth to Truth
Lead me from Darkness to Light
Lead me from Death to Immortality

True Meaning of Asato Ma Mantra

This is a really really great mantra. Despite this mantra being only 3 lines, it is still perhaps one of the most profound Vedic mantras ever. What this chant is asking for is the Highest of the Highest. It is a mantra which is implying that the seeker understands finally that there is no peace or happiness in anything material. That anything material will forever be transient and will forever bring suffering. Understanding this, the seeker chants this mantra and asks only for Truth, Truth and Truth.

Above in the meanings, the implications are as follows. In asking for deliverance from "Asat", the seeker is asking for deliverance from Maya, duality or the dream world. The seeker is saying, I feel this reality is not the Truth, please awaken me to the Absolute Truth (Sat). The seeker is aiming for God Realization.

Similarly, in the second line, the seeker is asking to be delivered form darkness (Tamaso), meaning ignorance, to light (Jyotir), meaning awakening. Again, the seeker, understanding that what is most important in life, is awakening to the Truth, asks for nothing material, but asks for Enlightenment and True Knowledge instead.

In the third line, the seeker is not asking for eternal life or immortality. The seeker is asking for Self Realization. The seeker is asking to be awakened to his Infinite, Timeless, Un-born and Eternal nature. The seeker is requesting to be awakened to his True Nature, to who he truly is, and that awakening to the eternal Self is the freedom from time and death which he is seeking.

If ever you were to meet the Genie in the bottle, I suggest you immediately chant this mantra for your 3 wishes .

Asa To Ma Satgamaya Free MP3 Downloads

Here you will find 2 MP3 download links of this mantra being chanted in Sanskrit. One is by yours truly, and the other is by Trupti.

Please download the MP3 to your computer and enjoy. I know the chants below are awesome , but please do not play the MP3s repeatedly from this link, as due to the very high volume this website receives I keep exceeding my bandwidth allowance, which makes it harder to run the website for free .

To download, RIGHT click the link below choose "Save Link As…" or "Save Target As…" depending on your browser, and it will download the MP3 to your computer.

Asato Ma Sadgamaya Mantra Chanted by Anmol

Asato Ma Mantra Chant Free MP3

Asato Ma Sadgamaya Chanted by Trupti - Coming Soon

Beautiful Video of Asa To Ma Satgamaya Chant

Here are some of the other MP3s already uploaded and available on the website for you all to learn from and enjoy.

Powerful Gayatri Mantra Download and Free MP3

Lord Shiva’s Mahamritunjay Mantra Free MP3

Serenity Prayer - Beautiful Wa Hey Guru Hymm

Ganesh Mantra for Success

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AnmolMehta.Com News, Staff Updates and Apologies

Anmol Mehta — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:13:43 +0000

AnmolMehta.Com Updates

Meditation Training Program Updates

It’s been quite a start to 2010 so far for the Mastery of Meditation Website and Blog. Many important thresholds and goals have been reached and many more are now in sight. I wanted to give all of you a quick update on these and share a few other thoughts with you.

AnmolMehta.Com Grows 700% During Recession:

I am happy to say that the recession did not dampen the world wide enthusiasm for yoga, meditation and spiritual growth. On the contrary, in these difficult time more than 1.5 Million seekers viewed almost 4 Million pages on AnmolMehta.com, and many of them found the solutions and inspiration there were looking for to solve their problems and uplift their lives.

The growth for this website during the "Great Recession" was over 700% and for this I wanted to thank you all, for without your love, presence and support this would not have been possible.

SO A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU ALL.

Apologies and New Staff for AnmolMehta.Com:

All this traffic is great, but is also means a lot more work to keep up with. So I have recruited 2 very smart women to help me with these tasks - My Mom (Shobha) and My Wife (Trupti) . Both are extremely well qualified in the spiritual sciences. My Mom being one of the most respected spiritual leaders in the community, who has a deep and wide grasp of Vedic teachings, mantras and ceremonies. In fact, she conducts full Vedic marriages here in the Tri-state area. And Trupti, who comes from a deeply spiritual family herself, and is a fully qualified Pre and Pose Natal Yoga Teacher.

Before I go on, I would like to offer my apologies here to those who have reached out to me via email or comments, but have not received a timely reply. This is simply due to the overwhelming volume of such requests and it is here that both Shobha and Trupti are going to be invaluable. You may have already noticed, that Trupti is now helping respond to comments, and Shobha is helping with Customer Relations and the emails I receive.

So keep those comments and emails coming. We do appreciate your participation and we will do all we can to respond and help in a timely manner . Later this year I am planning to create a full forum on the website, which will provide an excellent area to discuss yoga, meditation and other spiritual and personal development topics. Stay tuned…

Changes to Website and Blog:

I know that many of you read and keep up with the blog through the Newsletter (top left corner), Email broadcasts (top right corner) and RSS feeds (right sidebar), and it is really great to have you all as subscribers. All sets of subscribers has been growing daily and there are now 20,000+ newsletter subscriber, 1,500+ e-mail subscribers (who get every post via email) and 7,700+ RSS Feed Subscribers. These subscribers may not have noticed, but those of you who visit the blog may have noticed the design changes taking place.

I am currently in the process of making these changes to the design, layout and software that is running the blog. There are several reasons for this. The first is that I am trying to improve the performance to keep up with all the new traffic that the website is getting. The other changes are to just make the blog better in every way. So please bear with me if you see such changes coming in and out, as I am experimenting with different ideas to improve the blog .

Meditation Teacher’s Training Program Update:

The mission of Mastery of Meditation and Yoga is to help all of you achieve your maximum human potential and to do this meditation is a must. Furthermore, (in case you have not noticed ), I am very passionate and keen to spread the wisdom of meditation to every corner of the world. To help accomplish these goals I created the Mastery of Meditation Teacher’s Training Program.

This program will not just help you uncover your infinite and divine nature, but it will also help to spread the light by creating master meditators and teachers. I am really happy with how the program is progressing and anticipate training about 1,000 meditation teachers this year, hopefully even more. I welcome you to join us on this mission to uplift human consciousness and lead us forward to a new brighter age.

If you would like to join the program (which allows you to decide how much to pay ), please follow the link below…

Click Here For The Meditation Teacher’s Training Program

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Kids Yoga Benefits Making the News

Anmol Mehta — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:58:41 +0000

Kids Yoga Benefits

Yoga Health Benefits for Children

It is said that yoga practice starts as early as when the baby in the womb! That’s correct. Yogis claim that the baby in the womb spontaneously does all the yoga poses, and that this is a part of it’s development. So it really should not surprise us then that once they have become little kids, yoga still comes naturally to them and benefits them in a myriad of ways.

A recent articles in the Latimes and CNN/Health (links below) studied this topic in detail and interviewed many children and their parents to find out just what benefits they were getting through yoga. Below is a quick summary of their findings for you, so that if you are a parent, you will be inspired to get your kids to start yoga as well. It is certainly never too early, as we found out from our Biggest Mistakes in Life Survey .

Yoga Benefits for Children - Highlights From the LATimes Article:

Source - Kids Health Benefits from Yoga

- A preliminary study of pediatric health benefits of yoga, published in 2008, finds motor skills and concentration improvements, on top of better posture and breathing.

- Yoga stretching and body alignment can create a better athlete, said Michigan State University strength coach Mike Vorkapich. Players use back and arm movements to improve strokes and pitches, he said.

- Listening improves too, said Jennifer Hayes, an MSU yoga teacher.

Kids Yoga Benefits - Highlights from the CNN/Health Article:

Source - Yoga Helps Even Little Ones Channel Energy Emotion

- "It’s just incredible," Al-Yasha Williams said, shaking her head in disbelief when her 6-year-old daughter Sole Williams-Brewer walks out of class much more dialed back than when she bounded in. "My daughter has a lot of energy and this has channeled it."

- Marsha Wenig saw the calming effect yoga breathing gave her young students more 20 years ago when she taught in a California school.

For children with a lot of energy or ADHD, yoga proves to be a suitable substitute even for medication.

- "He couldn’t settle himself, he was just very high-strung and bored with everything," she said. "But, wow, yoga opened something in him. Pranayama breathing (slow, steady deep yogic breaths) put him in his space. When things get too tight, rough and crazy, do his own little Eagle pose.

- "I once found him in his bedroom chanting," she said. "It almost seems like we put him on a yoga mat instead of putting him on medication."

Kids Yoga Health Benefits Summary:

So you can clearly see from the above articles, parents and families all over are turning to yoga to help their children find calmness, balance and confidence. In addition, studies are finding yoga poses and exercises to be great for coordination, concentration, motor skills and other important mental and physical skills.

In the article, Yoga for Kids - Guidelines and Benefits, I summarize the many benefits of yoga for you. I also explain how to teach yoga to kids. You will also find a lot of kids yoga exercises, poses, tips and information in the following articles as well: Yoga for Kids - A Comprehensive Guide.

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Did Yoga and Meditation Remain #1 In 2010 Resolution Survery? Results Posted…

Anmol Mehta — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:08:47 +0000

Yoga and Meditation Still #1

Top 2010 New Year’s Resolutions

Here the results of the Top New Year’s Resolutions for 2010 Survey. Also posted below are the results from the same survey taken in 2009. The results are quite similar, with "Spiritual, Yoga and Meditation Practice" holding the #1 spot and getting even more votes and also "Service, Help Others" gaining some steam. Nice trends. I think we will hit 100% for "Spiritual, Yoga and Meditation" in 2012 .

Since more than one answer was allowed, the percentages are calculated against the total number of participants. So 85% means that 85% of those of you who responded to the survey said that "Spiritual, Meditation & Yoga" was a resolution you had made.

To help you realize your resolutions here is one of the most popular articles from 2008 - 10 Keys for Turning Ideas Into Reality. I do recommend reading that article as it was very inspirational to many. In fact, some local businesses in the area actually picked up on this article and used it in their staff meetings to motivate and inspire their employees .

What Are Your 2010 New Year’s Resolutions

**Survey Results 2010**
Value	Count	Percent %
Spiritual, Meditation & Yoga	57	85.07%
Health, Fitness & Weight Loss	45	67.16%
Relationship, Family & Friends	39	58.21%
Financial, Money & Career	30	44.78%
Service, Help Others	30	44.78%
Other Personal Development	19	28.36%
Break an Addiction	16	23.88%
No New Year’s Resolution	5	7.46%

What Are Your 2009 New Year’s Resolutions

**Survey Results 2009**
Value	Count	Percent %
Spiritual, Meditation & Yoga	41	80.39%
Health, Fitness & Weight Loss	28	54.90%
Financial, Money & Career	27	52.94%
Relationship, Family & Friends	22	43.14%
Service, Help Others	15	29.41%
Other Personal Development	9	17.65%
Break an Addiction	5	9.80%
No New Year’s Resolution	5	9.80%

More Useful Resources:

Here are some more popular resources to help you accomplish your goals and resolutions.

Free Online Yoga & Meditation Classes

Free Online Guided Meditation E-book

Free Online Yoga Breathing Exercises

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Best Yoga for Weight Loss - Complete with Illustrated Yoga Poses and Exercises

Anmol Mehta — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:47:02 +0000

Best Yoga Exercise for Weight Loss

Lose Weight with Basic Yoga

In this final part of the series on Best Yoga for Weight Loss, I will include part 1, and also complete the Basic Yoga for Weight Loss Set that I had started in part 2, so you will have a complete illustrated guide of yoga poses and exercises to burn fat, lose weight and get fit.

(Part 1 is below)

Can You Lose Weight With Yoga?

You can absolutely lose weight with yoga and there are enormous advantages to using yoga for weight loss over other artificial means and methods. In this 3 part series I am going to first discuss why yoga is good for permanent and safe weight loss, and then, in the second part of the series, I am going to give you a great set of yoga exercises for burning fat and losing weight.

The set in part 2 is going to become part of the free online yoga classes here on Mastery of Meditation and Yoga. The current weight loss program that is already available there, uses the excellent Online Yoga Exercises for Healthy Weight Loss Exercises Set, and this upcoming set will give you more choices and variety in selecting an effective yoga for weight loss program.

The great thing about the set in part 2 is that it is designed for those who are overweight or obese, and thus, can be used by those who are new to yoga or severely out of shape. Don’t think for a moment that this means the exercises are not going to be effective. These yoga exercises are tried and tested techniques for effective weight loss, and are part of various yoga therapy programs around the world. More about this set in part 2 of the series, but for now let me go over why you should choose yoga to help you achieve your weight loss goals.

This list of reasons is really quite long, but let me just point out the top five reasons why you are better off using yoga to help reduce weight, as opposed to being suckered in by all the other quick weight loss gimmicks, pills, gadgets and diets out there.

Top 5 Reasons to Choose Yoga for Weight Loss:

1. Better Overall Health:

Losing weight by doing yoga, also conditions all the internal organs and systems, in addition to getting rid of the excess fat. This means that not only will you lose the weight, but as you continue your practice, you will find yourself getting more and more healthy and fit. In addition, you will enjoy all the profound benefits that yoga bestows, and not just the weight loss aspect.

You can read about these enormous benefits of yoga in the following articles:

Top 10 Health Benefits of Yoga

7 Rapid Benefits of Kundalini Yoga Practice

2. No Bad Side Affects:

Always remember that the body has a blue print of perfect health and always tries to return to this state. You should always try to work with the body, in it’s efforts to return to perfect health. Yoga and Ayurveda (the Indian holistic science of life and longevity) are designed to do just this. On the other hand, when you use chemical, surgical or other such quick fixes, you tend to not work holistically with the body, and even as you are fixing one problem, you tend to create many more. So using Yoga for weight loss is the best way to intelligently and naturally lose the weight and help the body return to optimum health.

For more on this concept, you can read the following article:

The Key to Natural Healing

3. Permanent Weight Loss with Yoga:

Experience of the yoga therapy programs to treat obesity have shown that weight lost from yoga therapy has proven to be permanent. This is certainly not the case when you use chemicals and other gimmicks. The weight lost by those methods tends to return in a hurry once they are discontinued. This is not the case with yoga, as long as you maintain at minimum, a healthy diet as prescribed by Ayurveda.

These diets are almost always a part of the treatment in general, and these diets are such that they can be maintained comfortably throughout one’s life. They are not extreme or unreasonable diets. You can read more about such a diet in the the following article:

Healthy Ayurvedic Diet to Burn Fat and Lose Weight

So when you use yoga for weight loss, the body is gently brought back into alignment and underlying causes for the weight gain, whether they are emotional or bio-chemical, are also resolved. Also, since yoga works with the body to achieve optimum health, the excess weight once shed is no longer regained when the yoga is stopped. I would though recommend continuing the yoga practice if you can, so you can continue to obtain all the other benefits that such practice bestows.

4. Yoga Weight Loss Solution is for Free:

Why pay for a solution, that is going to create bad side affects and not going to work in the long term anyway, when you can have a successful weight loss solution from yoga for FREE. You can no longer make the excuse that yoga classes are expensive, etc, etc, because on this website, they are all free. If you see the online classes page, you will see the thousands of readers who have taken and benefited from these classes. So I don’t see how you can go wrong here. Not only do you succeed in your weight loss goals, but you get all the additional benefits of yoga, and you get it all for free .

5. Extreme Exercise is Not Necessary:

You will see from the upcoming yoga set in part 2 of this series that even gentle yoga exercises done with moderate effort are good enough to put you on track to meet your weight loss goals. So you don’t need to undertake an extreme fitness regiment. Such regiments are generally short lived anyway and can be injurious to the body. Yes, when doing yoga in this sensible way the weight loss is not going be happen overnight, but you can expect to consistently lose about 5 pounds a month safely and naturally, without doing any harm to your body or mind.

So stay tuned for part 2 of this series where I will be detailing for you one of the best yoga sets for losing weight safely and permanently.

(Part 2 and 3 combined for you below)

Yoga for Weight Loss Set

Lose Weight with Effective Yoga Exercises and Poses

In part 1 of this series on Best Yoga for Weight Loss, I answered the question, Can You and How to Lose Weight with Yoga? I hope that article has motivated you to take up yoga to help you achieve your weight loss goals safely and naturally. In this part the series, I am going to start detailing for you the basic, but effective, yoga poses for helping you lose weight and get healthy.

Also, as I mentioned in part 1 there is a great weight loss yoga set already on the website and you can find that set here: Online Yoga Exercises for Healthy Weight Loss. This set has helped many successfully lose weight and you will find their testimonials in the comments section of the article as well. To further inspire you to take up yoga for weight loss, here is one of the latest comments from a reader.

Kelly writes:

I love you!!! haha you have helped me drop the 20 lbs that kept me from being ME!

thankyou!!

Basic Yoga Exercises for Weight Loss Overview:

So, given I already have such a great weight loss set on the site, why create another one? There are 2 reasons for this.

1. New Set is Suitable for Everyone:

Although the Yoga for Healthy Weight Loss set is comprised of fairly simple yoga exercises, they do require some degree of fitness to practice. In other words, if you are badly out of shape you will find that set more challenging to do. For this reason I want to give you the Best Basic Yoga Exercises for Weight Loss set, as this set can be done by even those struggling with obesity and significant excess weight.

In addition, many new moms contact me to help them realize their weight loss goals, and it is important for them to practice gentle yoga exercises as opposed to vigorous ones, until they are fully healed. So this set will give them a nice option to begin working towards getting back in shape as well .

2. Variety Helps Fitness:

Those familiar with health and fitness sciences know that the body get acclimatized to exercise routines, and you tend to get diminishing returns over time. So varying your exercise routines is good for promoting better muscle and overall fitness. This new set will give you that variety. In addition, of course, there are many more excellent sets in the Free Online Yoga Sets E-book, so do check those out as well to add to your routines.

How to Practice Yoga for Weight Loss:

Before I jump into the set please remember it is important to follow the guidelines for yoga that I have put together in the following 2 articles: 10 Important Guidelines for Kundalini Yoga Practice and Essential Beginner’s Guide to Yoga Practice. Also, please read the disclaimer (Ask your doctor, don’t sue me, etc. etc. ).

Each yoga pose and exercise below has a link to the document with all the details about that technique, so you can read more about it by heading over to that article. These poses and exercises are from across both great schools of yoga, hatha yoga as well as kundalini yoga, and you will find many of them used in the yoga sets and free online yoga classes that are offered here on the blog as well. Also, I will be putting together another free online weight loss class as well, which will incorporate this set.

The way I want you to approach this set is as follows:

If you are very out of shape or obese, just start with the first 2 exercises for the first week. Then move ahead and keep adding the following 2 exercises every week, till you are doing the entire set. For those is better shape you can start with 4 or more exercises, as per your level, and keep adding the ones further down in time.

So if you are obese, do exercises 1 and 2 for week 1; then do exercises 1, 2, 3 and 4 for week 2; then do exercises 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 for week 3 and so on till you are doing the entire set.

Make sure you don’t over strain, and just keep at it consistently. Again, let me remind you this set is comprised of yoga poses that have proven to be excellent for weight loss if done consistently over time.

You should be aiming to lose about 5 pounds per month. This rate is very comfortable for the body and when lost in this gentle and safe manner, you will find that your body weight set point has realigned itself, and that with just a healthy diet you can keep the weight off (see part 1 for more on this). In addition, to the weight loss you will also find yourself much healthier, happier and holier .

Below you find the Best Yoga for Weight Loss Set, complete with illustrations and practice tips.

Best Yoga Set for Weight Loss:

Weight Loss Yoga Exercise #1: Yoga Single Leg Rotations:

The first exercise is from the popular video Core Abdominal Power Yoga Set and are the Single Leg Rotations. The video is below for you as well, but I have also given you exercise details below that. The first place to start a fitness routine is by strengthening the abdominal muscles and building your core strength. This workout for the first week or two will prepare your body nicely for the rest of the weight loss exercises to come.

Core Abdominal Power Yoga Set

Demonstration of the Single Leg Rotations

1. Single Leg Rotations Kundalini Yoga Exercise: (Chakra Padasana)

a. Guided Instructions for Single Leg Rotations:

Lie flat on your back.
Raise your right leg up to about 45 degrees.
Point your feet and toes away from you.
Do 2-10 rotations in 1 direction and then without resting rotate the same leg in the other direction (counter-clockwise).
Repeat with the left leg.

b. Duration: You can build up to 1 minute / leg. You can start with 2-4 rotations per leg, per direction and build up from there.

c. Benefits:

Builds your Navel Center and strengthens and tones your abdominal muscles.
Builds willpower and strength of character.
Loosens and opens up the hips.

d. Practice Tips:

To modify the exercise bend you knees or do fewer rotations at a stretch.
Start with just normal breathing and only incorporate Breath of Fire once you feel ready.
You can also take rest as needed.

Yoga Exercise #2 - Kundalini Yoga Stretch Pose:

In case you thought you were done with the ab work, sorry you need to do another stomach exercise as well to ensure we get your back and core muscles strengthened . So after you do your Single Leg Rotations, take a short break and then do Kundalini Yoga Stretch Pose as described in that article.

Please feel free to use the single leg modification of this exercise as described in the article. Also, you can take multiple breaks in between. Try to complete 1 minute, by taking as many as 4-8 breaks in between as necessary.

Kundalini Yoga Stretch Pose Illustration

Weight Loss Yoga Pose #3 - Bhujanga Asana:

The next exercise that you should move onto is the famous Cobra Pose for Healthy Back. This will start to work on your arms, shoulders and back, as well as other important body systems and internal organs.

Again, take breaks coming in and out of this pose. For the purpose of this set, start with the version where you come into the raised position and hold it for some time. Later as you get more fit, you can do the cobra push-ups, where you go up and down in cobra pose.

Start with 4 rounds of 10-15 seconds each, and build up from there.

Cobra Pose Illustration

Weight Loss Yoga Pose #4 - Locust Pose

Locust pose was recently added to our Online Hatha Yoga Picture Galleries, and just in time too, as it is needed for this set . The Classical Hatha Yoga Pose - Locust Pose article will give you all the details for this excellent posture.

Again, use the single leg variation for beginner’s if you are just starting out and for the purpose of this set try to do 4 rounds, holding each round for 10-15 seconds each. Build up from there.

Locust Pose Illustration

Weight Loss Yoga Exercise #5 - Tree Pose

Hatha Yoga Tree Pose for Balance is the next posture of the set. Here is a new illustration of this pose below, except I would like you to do the variation where you bring your hands above your head, as demonstrated by my son Shivum in the original article. In that variation of the pose, again bring your hands together in Namaste Pose as shown, but now raise them above your head as straight as you can.

Be careful not to lose your balance with doing this posture and if you have trouble with it simply do Palm Tree Pose (Easy Yoga Pose for Stretching and Warming Up - Palm Tree Pose) instead.

You can do up to 1 minute per side, taking breaks in between as required.

Illustration of Palm Tree Yoga Pose

Weight Loss Yoga Pose #6 - Forward Bend - Paschimothan Asana

It is now time to the pose which should be an integral part of every daily yoga practice. This is important Forward Bend. You will find the details in the following article: Best Hatha Yoga Pose for Healing.

It’s important to stretch only as far forward as you can comfortable doing. If you practice this pose consistently you will see your flexibility improve steadily for sure. You can do 2-4 rounds of this pose, holding each time for about 1 minute.

Illustration of the Paschimothan Yoga Asana

Weight Loss Yoga Exercise #7 - Bow Pose

We are getting to slightly tougher poses now in the weight loss set. These poses take more energy to do, but they will really help you burn fat and tone difficult regions of the body. Make sure you use the beginner modifications for them if you are not ready to do the full versions.

In addition, you can start to include Breath of Fire for these exercises as well. Breath of Fire will help increase the benefits of these poses and also, increase heat in the body, open up your energy pathways and help burn up toxins and fat.

The next exercise is Kundalini Yoga Bow Pose. This exercise will work on your thighs, hips and abdomens and is good for weight loss.

You can do 1-2 minutes, taking breaks as required.

Illustration of Yoga Bow Pose

Weight Loss Yoga Posture #8 - Camel Pose

Another excellent pose for targeting the thigh area and the abdominal region is Camel Pose. Again, remember to use Breath of Fire in order to maximize the benefits.

You will find details of this posture in the article, Illustrated Kundalini Yoga Camel Pose for Optimal Health. I have give both illustrations for this pose below, the modified version as well as the full version.

Try to do 1-2 minutes with breaks in between.

Picture of Yoga Camel Pose (Beginner’s Version)

Picture of Yoga Camel Pose (Full Version)

Weight Loss Kundalini Yoga Pose #9 - Yoga Spinal Twists

The next pose will really bring the focus to your abdominal and stomach region and will work to tone all the muscles in this problem area. It is also very good for the back and entire digestive system. Note that for this exercise you are not using Breath of Fire, but instead will inhale as you twist to the left and then exhale as you twist right.

There are 2 good version of Spinal Twists, both will help you with burning calories, fat and toning the abs. Below I give illustrations of the version where the hands are behind the back. You will find the details for this exercise in the article, Lower Back Exercise - Yoga Spinal Twists.

In the second version, which give you better range of motion, the hands are grasping the shoulder, with elbows up and at shoulder level. The second version is described in the following article, where there is also a video demonstration for you. It is called Yoga Twists and is exercise #4 of the great Spinal Warm Series.

1-3 minutes of this exercise with breaks as required will do you wonders.

Picture of Yoga Spinal Twist (Twist Left)

Picture of Yoga Spinal Twist (Twist Right)

Weight Loss Yoga Pose #10 - Yoga Bridge Pose

The last pose in this set is Bridge Pose. It is part of the excellent Beginner’s Morning Yoga Set (exercise #3), and also has a good variation for beginner’s who cannot come into the full posture. This pose is great for your arms, shoulders, back, thighs and hips.

You can come into the pose and hold for as long as comfortable and then take a break when necessary. You can build up to 1-3 minutes. Here is the video which has a demonstration of this pose.

Weight Loss Ending Yoga Pose #11 - Shav Asana - Corpse Pose

LI have been stressing the importance of this pose for quite some time and it is simply doing corpse pose at the end of your yoga set. So, no matter how many of the above exercises you are doing, you should do Corpse Pose afterwords. The more exercises you do, the more time you need to spend in this pose, allowing the body to assimilate the benefits of the exercises. So if you do the entire set, you should do corpse pose for almost 10 minutes. During this time, relax completely and let the body heal, evolve and reshape itself according to your desires.

Here are the details of how to practice this most important posture. Best Yoga Exercise for Relaxation and Stress Relief.

Best Yoga Exercises for Weight Loss Summary:

This set will become part of the Free Online Yoga and Meditation Classes on the website. In particular it will be part of an entire second program to help you achieve your weight loss goals. Remember to follow the cautions I have laid out in the guideline articles and to check with your doctor prior to starting any new fitness regiment. In addition, remember that safe and healthy weight loss is not achieved overnight, but if you commit yourself to a regular yoga practice, you will surely love the results you get, and best of all, not lose these results easily.

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Related Articles at Mastery of Meditation, Kundalini Yoga and Zen:

3 Unusual Risks of Meditation to Watch Out For

Anmol Mehta — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:28:16 +0000

Risks of Meditation

Meditation Tips

Sure there are at least 10 articles on Mastery of Meditation and Yoga detailing all the wonderful benefits of meditation. Here are 2 of these, Top 10 Profound Benefits of Meditation and Amazing Health Benefits of Meditation. I am also sure there are thousands of such articles all over the internet and that is how it should be, since meditation is the best and most important part of human life. But meditation can also lead to problems in your life and in order to deal with these problems, it is important to be aware of them.

So, in this article I am going to discuss the risks of meditation and give you some tips on how to deal with them. In particular, I am going to focus on 3 affects of meditation which could create problems for you. These dangers of meditating are surprisingly more applicable to the serious meditator, than to the casual dabbler. So if you are just starting out with your practice, here are some potential challenges you will have to learn to deal with.

3 Risks of Meditation:

1. Using Meditation for Escape:

Using meditation to escape from the harsh realities of your life is not the purpose of this practice. Meditation is the profound art which teaches you how to live with great compassion, wisdom and composure IN your life.

By practicing meditation, you are developing into an entirely different type of human being. A human being who is free from the clutches of the ego and endless selfish interests. Such a person is then a force for greater good, and is available to life to use as she sees fit. Hiding in the corner of your house, concentrated on your mantra or breath, is not the objective, no matter how peaceful that is.

So who are the people most in danger of confronting this problem? Let’s discuss that next.

Concentration Meditation Junkies:

This danger is most prevalent amongst those who practice concentration techniques. Don’t get me wrong, concentration based techniques are an important part of the meditative process, as with a "monkey mind" jumping all over the place, you are not going to get much meditation done. But, once you have developed expertise in this type of meditation, you know as well as I do, that it can become a handy form of escape, when life gets too much to handle.

To some degree this too is ok. As getting a break during a difficult time is life, can be refreshing and healthy, but the danger lies in this becoming a pattern or addiction. In other words, as soon as life gets difficult, you run away from the problems, by indulging in your meditation. This is then just like using TV or another form of escape to avoid the challenges in your life. This is not the purpose of meditation.

Again, I want to emphasize that developing concentration is an important part of meditation, it is a prerequisite to real meditation, but be careful in letting it became a form of escape from life.

2. Misusing Meditative Powers:

Meditation is known to bestow a great many blessings onto the practitioner over time. Some of what one obtains from long term meditation are various psychic powers or abilities. In addition, to these paranormal powers, the meditator certainly also evolves in various other ways, growing both in character and persona. The risk here lies is the misuse of these of powers and abilities.

I have written about how to approach psychic powers previously and emphasized that their use should be only for spiritual growth or truly helping others. You can read the following 2 articles for more on this topic, The Right Way to Acquire Psychic Powers and Free Psychic and Clairvoyant Development Tools. But, the other "enhancements" one gets from meditation should also be wisely used.

Meditation certainly makes a person charismatic and attractive. It also gives the person great power and magnetism. There are other character enhancements as well and what is important is that the meditator does not use these blessings for selfish and wrong reasons.

So, be on the lookout for this as well. Don’t get tempted into doing the wrong thing. Don’t fall into the trap of becoming a master manipulator or one who influences the weak or vulnerable for personal gain and pleasure. We have all read about various Gurus, Priests and Swamis who have abused their influence and powers in this way. Lets not fall into their category .

3. Becoming Robotic:

Witness, witness, witness. Stay in the moment. Listen. Power of the now. Watch your thoughts. Observe. Be aware. Stay alert. If you have read this blog or wandered around the spiritual landscape for any length of time, I am sure this advice has been impressed upon you. This is good, because in witnessing lies the answer, but there is a consequence to all this witnessing and thought/feeling watching, and that is it can make you detached and apathetic.

This is a very real danger of endlessly standing apart and bearing witness to that which is taking place. Not getting drawn in, means that not being emotional and not getting attached. This can then lead to becoming robotic and cold. Fortunately, the path eventually leads to love, compassion and joy, but there will be phases when you will feel and appear quite dry and machine like.

So, be aware that such phases will come and that it is not something bad. It is just part of the process as well. As I have mentioned in the past, a balanced person is a very rare occurrence, so be patient in your practice and just allow your spiritual work to work on you. In time you will have evolved into a true masterpiece, which life will then hold up for all to marvel at.

Summary:

The last thing I want to do of course, is dissuade you from meditating. Meditation is the answer to all human suffering, but I do want you to be aware of the risks that come with meditation practice, so that you are more prepared to handle these situations when they arrive. So use the tips and suggestions above to help yourself navigate though these problems that meditation tends to create.

If you are new to meditation and want to learn this profound art, here are some good starting points.

How to Meditate

Learn to Meditate | Beginner’s Meditation Class

If you are looking to make meditation a greater part of your life and are interested in uplifting the world, then I suggest joining the Mastery of Meditation Meditation Certification Program. Here is the link to that.

Meditation Teacher’s Training and Certification Program

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Related Articles at Mastery of Meditation, Kundalini Yoga and Zen:

Basic Yoga Poses for Weight Loss - Part 2

Anmol Mehta — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:41:55 +0000

Basic Yoga for Weight Loss

Lose Weight with Effective Yoga Exercises

Kelly writes:

I love you!!! haha you have helped me drop the 20 lbs that kept me from being ME!

thankyou!!

Basic Yoga Exercises for Weight Loss Overview:

So, given I already have such a great weight loss set on the site, why create another one? There are 2 reasons for this.

1. New Set is Suitable for Everyone:

2. Variety Helps Fitness:

How to Practice Yoga for Weight Loss:

Each yoga pose and exercise below has a link to the document with all the details about that technique, so you can read more about it by heading over to that article. These poses and exercises are from across both great schools of yoga, hatha yoga as well as kundalini yoga, and you will find many of them used in the yoga sets and free online yoga classes that are offered here on the blog as well. Also, I will be putting together another free online weight loss class as well, which will incorporate this set.

The way I want you to approach this set is as follows:

So if you are obese, do exercises 1 and 2 for week 1; then do exercises 1, 2, 3 and 4 for week 2; then do exercises 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 for week 3 and so on till you are doing the entire set.

In this part of the series I am going to give you the first 4 exercises of the basic yoga poses for weight loss set, then I will complete the set and series in part 3. Below, are the details for these exercises.

Basic Yoga Set for Weight Loss:

Weight Loss Yoga Exercise #1: Yoga Single Leg Rotations:

Core Abdominal Power Yoga Set

Demonstration of the Single Leg Rotations

1. Single Leg Rotations Kundalini Yoga Exercise: (Chakra Padasana)

a. Guided Instructions for Single Leg Rotations:

Lie flat on your back.
Raise your right leg up to about 45 degrees.
Point your feet and toes away from you.
Begin the Breath of Fire Breathing Exercise and keeping your leg straight rotate it in a big circle clockwise. Make the circle as big as you can without touching the floor.
Do 2-10 rotations in 1 direction and then without resting rotate the same leg in the other direction (counter-clockwise).
Repeat with the left leg.

b. Duration: You can build up to 1 minute / leg. You can start with 2-4 rotations per leg, per direction and build up from there.

c. Benefits:

Builds your Navel Center and strengthens and tones your abdominal muscles.
Builds willpower and strength of character.
Loosens and opens up the hips.

d. Practice Tips:

To modify the exercise bend you knees or do fewer rotations at a stretch.
Start with just normal breathing and only incorporate Breath of Fire once you feel ready.
You can also take rest as needed.

Basic Yoga Exercise #2 - Kundalini Yoga Stretch Pose:

Kundalini Yoga Stretch Pose Illustration

Weight Loss Yoga Pose #3 - Bhujanga Asana:

Start with 4 rounds of 10-15 seconds each, and build up from there.

Cobra Pose Illustration

Weight Loss Basic Yoga Pose #4 - Locust Pose

Again, use the single leg variation for beginner’s if you are just starting out and for the purpose of this set try to do 4 rounds, holding each round for 10-15 seconds each. Build up from there.

Coming up in Part 3 of Best Yoga for Weight Loss Series:

In part 3 of this series I will complete the Basic Yoga Poses for Weight Loss set and put everything together for you, so you can employ this wonderful science to help you achieve your weight loss goals.

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Related Articles at Mastery of Meditation, Kundalini Yoga and Zen:

Can You and How to Lose Weight with Yoga? - Part 1

Anmol Mehta — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:55:52 +0000

Can You Lose Weight with Yoga?

How to Lose Weight with Yoga?

You can absolutely lose weight with yoga and there are enormous advantages to using yoga for weight loss over other artificial means and methods. In this 2 part series I am going to first discuss why yoga is good for permanent and safe weight loss, and then, in the second part of the series, I am going to give you a great set of yoga exercises for burning fat and losing weight.

Top 5 Reasons to Choose Yoga for Weight Loss:

1. Better Overall Health:

You can read about these enormous benefits of yoga in the following articles:

Top 10 Health Benefits of Yoga

7 Rapid Benefits of Kundalini Yoga Practice

2. No Bad Side Affects:

For more on this concept, you can read the following article:

The Key to Natural Healing

3. Permanent Weight Loss with Yoga:

Healthy Ayurvedic Diet to Burn Fat and Lose Weight

4. Yoga Weight Loss Solution is for Free:

5. Extreme Exercise is Not Necessary:

So stay tuned for part 2 of this series where I will be detailing for you one of the best yoga sets for losing weight safely and permanently.

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Related Articles at Mastery of Meditation, Kundalini Yoga and Zen:

Self Help Lessons | Don’t Make these Big Mistakes in Your Life

Anmol Mehta — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:32:25 +0000

Self Help

Life Lessons to Help Yourself

One of the most popular survey’s on Mastery of Meditation and Yoga is Your Biggest Mistakes in Life survey. Life is really not long enough to make and recover from every possible mistake, so it is very important to learn, not just from your own mistakes, but also, to learn from the mistakes of others. For this reason, I think this survey is one of the most important ones we have running, and for those really interested in true Self Help, it is priceless.

So, I would like to update you with the results of this ongoing survey, as now more than 160 responses have been processed. This means we can help ourselves by learn from the experience of these 160 people and help avoid making the same mistakes that they regret making. This survey really helps us learn some very important life lessons.

Please note, that since multiple answers were allowed for each participant, the percentages will not add up to 100%, but instead reflect the ratio of that response to the total number of participants.

Survey Results of Biggest Mistakes in Life

**Biggest Mistakes in Life Results**
Value	Count	Percent %
Delayed your spiritual practice	66	42.04%
Did not follow your passion	63	40.13%
Made bad financial decisions	55	35.03%
Took too few chances	55	35.03%
Chose wrong life partner	47	29.94%
Did not take care of your health	47	29.94%
Other	36	22.93%

Lessons Learned to Help Yourself:

Still number 1 on the list is "Delayed Your Spiritual Practice." So just don’t procrastinate anymore! This is the biggest mistake people have made in life, and I cannot emphasize enough the importance of avoiding this mistake if you have the chance. Start your practice today. Do not wait for things to be perfect. Do not wait for the perfect time, place, guru, etc. Just start, as best as you can, everything else will fall into place.

Once you start your practice, other self help issues will start to resolve themselves. The insight you will gain from a strong spiritual practice will help you understand relationships better. It will help you uncover your real passions. It will give you the heart and courage to take the necessary risks. And of course, it will improve your health DRAMATICALLY. Nothing is better for your health and longevity than a good yoga and meditation practice. So what are you waiting for? Jump in and let the adventure begin.

Here are some popular self-help articles that explore each of these topics in greater detail. Find the ones in the category that you feel you need some work on and follow through. Good ideas are just ideas. You must implement these ideas in order to grow personally and spiritually. Make a reasonable commitment and follow through on it. Your muscles of willpower will grow, as will your intuitive abilities and courage. Then you will find yourself able to align your life with your passions, and that is the key to living a meaningful and joyous life.

How to Improve Your Health and Longevity:

Please take a look at the free online classes and the articles on Ayurveda

Free Online Yoga & Meditation Classes

Ayurveda Category

Improving and Understanding Relationships and Love:

The True Purpose of Relationship

Relationship Issues for the Spiritually Inclined

Special Technique for Fun and Healthy Relationships

Final Word on Self Help Lessons:

An important final word I do want to make, is that another purpose of this survey is to ensure you make thoughtful decisions and don’t rush into commitments that are then hard to get out of. Of course, all challenges are learning opportunities for us, so technically there are no "mistakes" in life, but it is also up to us to live intelligently and try to do our very best always. The results are, of course, always in the Lord’s hands.

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Related Articles at Mastery of Meditation, Kundalini Yoga and Zen:

Inviting God Consciousness In | Ong Namo Mantra MP3

Anmol Mehta — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 13:22:38 +0000

God Consciousness

Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo Mantra

We cannot be reminded enough that everything is God Consciousness. Everything is God. Upon this substratum then, the game of life is played out. The problem with forgetting the substratum, forgetting God, forgetting the One Consciousness, is that then everything leads to attachment and misery. There are many ways in which the great Masters have tried to impart this wisdom to us, many ways in which they have tried to stress the importance of this upon us, but unfortunately we get caught up in the drama of our little lives, and forget God.

J. Krishnamurti on God Consciousness:

In the article, J. Krishnamurti on the Flowering of Goodness, Krishnamurti puts the importance of God a little differently by saying, "In consciousness there is the good and the bad; the bad is increasing; it is increasing because the good has become static, the good is not flowering." And he goes on to explain that "bad", is anything that gives importance to the ego, and that this flowering of Goodness is the practice of Awareness. This practice of awareness is another way of saying remember God Consciousness, remember you are the Great Witnessing, you are the Great Silence, Infinite, Endless and Timeless, and when you loose this Witnessing Consciousness, you are lost in the world of the ego, mind and dualism.

Shunryu Suzuki on God Consciousness:

Another unlikely master to speak about the importance of God and God Consciousness is Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki. Yes, a Zen master supposedly from a religion, Buddhism, which does not acknowledge God, explaining that remembering God at all times, is the key to freedom and non-attachment. In the article, Zen Teachings on God and How to Get His Help, Master Suzuki explains that as soon as we start to take credit and emphasize our egos, forgetting that everything comes from God, we are lost. The key, he points out, is to remember that you and everything else emerges from the great One Consciousness, the great Void, and that if you forget this and think you are creating/doing and not the great Consciousness, then you will find yourself attached and suffering. So, always remember God first, always remember that everything is coming from there, then you will not get yourself caught in the trap of the ego.

Master Suzuki goes on to explain, that because we forget God, forget the Source Consciousness, the substratum from which everything springs, we don’t have It’s help in our life. So in order to get God, Infinity to help, you need to remember it is as the Source of All. Then you are protected, guided and inspired by It. Then you are helped by It, as It is an integral part of your every action.

How to Invite God Consciousness In:

In Kundalini Yoga there is a mantra that is used to help with this remembering, and that is the Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo mantra, the Adi Mantra. It is the mantra used for "Tuning In", and in the following 2 articles, How to Teach a Yoga Class and AUM Mantra Video for Starting a Yoga Class, I pointed out that all yoga should begin with an acknowledgment of God. In Kundalini Yoga practice, this is the mantra that is used for that purpose.

Here is the translation and meaning of Ong Namo, Guru Dev Namo.

Ong - Ong is God manifested. It is an invitation to the un-manifested God Consciousness (OM) to enter manifestation. With OM (AUM) we ascend into infinity, with ONG we ask Infinity to descend onto us.
Namo - I bow to you humbly.
Guru Dev - Your divine consciousness, your inner wisdom or inner teacher.
Namo - I bow to you humbly.

Ong Namo, Guru Dev Namo, is typically recited 3 times before the start of class, and by chanting it we are remembering God as the Source of everything, and asking the help of God Consciousness in the form of protection, guidance and inspiration. I have also pointed out the importance of Awareness, or maintaining God Consciousness when practicing yoga, and maintaining this awareness is the key to preventing the ego from taking over any activity and deriving importance from it. You can read about this very important aspect of yoga in the following article, Essential Beginner’s Guide to Yoga Practice.

How to Chant Ong Namo Guru Dev Mantra:

Sit up with your eyes closed and back straight.
Have your hands in prayer pose, with the thumb tips pressing against the sternum.
Turn your eyes up so you are looking through the center of forehead, the Third Eye Center.
Inhale deeply and with great reverence chant the mantra three times as demonstrated below in the MP3, taking a long deep breath in between each chant.

Free MP3 Download of Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo Mantra:

Below you will find a free demo and MP3 of Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo. To download the mantra, simply right click and save to your computer.

Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo Free MP3 Download

Remember the most important thing in life, is to live with moment to moment Awareness, then goodness will flower and God will grace your entire existence.

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Easy Yoga Pose Excellent for Stretching and Warming Up

Anmol Mehta — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 19:15:51 +0000

Easy Yoga Posture

Simple Yoga for Stretching

During my Kundalini Yoga teacher’s training course, we were required to take yoga classes from different types of yoga, as well as yoga classes taught by other teachers. One such class was a Hatha Yoga Class, with an excellent teacher. During this class, one of the poses we practiced was a very simple and easy looking pose, designed to stretch the entire body. Sure it was an easy yoga pose, but boy did this simple posture end up giving us a great sweat and workout. Today’s yoga pose is a variation of this very pose and I am sure you too will learn how to use this simple exercise as a great full body stretch. The pose is called the Palm Tree Pose in Hatha Yoga and the variation we practiced was called Mountain Pose.

One of the first rules of of doing yoga is to make sure you do easy poses first and then after you are nicely warmed up move onto more difficult poses and sets. Palm Tree Pose is perfect for the warm-up section of your practice. Since it is a very simple exercise, it is also very safe to do, and in addition, it helps to stretch the entire body nicely, thus preparing it for the tougher yoga that is to come. For more guidelines on doing yoga properly please refer to the following to articles:

Beginner’s Guide to Yoga Practice

Guidelines for Kundalini Yoga Practice

I noticed recently that although we have many yoga poses in our Free Online Hatha Yoga Book, our Standing Poses Section needs to be beefed up a little. Palm Tree pose will contribute nicely towards this section and I will be adding some more standing poses in the near future as well. In general, the standing yoga postures tend to be easier and simpler than poses from the other categories. Palm Tree pose will also be added to our Online Kundalini Yoga Exercises e-book.

Below you will find an illustration of this posture, along with practice details, benefits and other related information.

Easy Yoga Pose - Palm Tree Pose

Illustration of Palm Tree Pose

Palm Tree Pose - Easy Yoga Pose:

A. How to Do Palm Tree Pose:

Stand straight up with feet about shoulder width apart.
Keep your eyes open and focus on a point in front of you to help you keep your balance. Advanced practitioners can also look upwards.
Interlace your finger, stretch your arms up and have your palms facing UP.
Now slowly slowly rise up onto your toes and STRETCH UPWARDS.
Breathe normally and hold this pose for the duration of the exercise. Keep STRETCHING. The key to getting the most out of this pose, is to keep stretching upwards. This aspect makes the pose very effective.
This pose has a few variations to this exercise and below I give 2 good ones.
Variation 1: After you reach up, bend to the left and hold, then come back to center. Then bend to the right and hold. Repeat stretching gently from side to side for the remainder of the exercise. This is called Swaying Palm Tree, and is also a nice easy way to stretch and warm-up.
Variation 2: In the version I referred to above, called Mountain Pose, you don’t interlace your fingers. Instead keep the palm wide open, facing forward with the fingers all stretched and pointing upwards. Then STRETCH upwards, consciously stretching every joint and reaching towards the sky. In this pose, you can also stretch left and right if you like.

B. Duration for Palm Tree Pose: 15 seconds - 3 minutes.

C. Benefits of Palm Tree Pose:

Great easy stretch for the entire body.
Helps stretch and strengthen up the joints.
Helps stretch the ligaments as well.
Stretches the side abdominal muscles and back as well.
Good for your back and spine.
Good way to feel refreshed and rejuvenated.
Helps build balance and mental focus.

D. Practice Tips and Cautions for Palm Tree Pose:

This is a nice easy pose which almost everyone can practice without any problems.
If you really stretch well, you will be able to break a sweat even while doing such a simple pose.

Here are some more simple and easy yoga poses to help you develop your practice.

Basic Yoga Poses | Beginner’s Yoga Poses

Basic Yoga Poses for Balance

Basic Yoga Poses for Balance - Tree Pose - Part 2

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Survey: What are Your Top 2010 New Year Resolutions?

Anmol Mehta — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 17:01:13 +0000

2010 New Year Resolutions

Top New Years Resolutions

When we entered 2009, we ran this fun survey and I thought it would be interesting to run it again this year and see how we are changing if at all. Below is the exact same survey as I ran last year, so lets run it again and then I will publish the results and compare them to last year. I think this will be pretty interesting, and I also want to see how these results change as we approach the new age (2012) and beyond.

Please do participate in the survey, all answers are of course anonymous. If you receive my posts via email or read them via RSS Feed, you may need to visit the website for the survey to work correctly and to submit your responses. Thank You.

Survey from Last Year For This Year:

Mastery of Meditation & Yoga now has a worldwide audience and readers span all continents and come from all corners of our beautiful planet. What is interesting about humanity is that regardless of where we live and what culture we belong to, we all share very similar problems, difficulties, desires and goals. This is actually a wonderful fact to contemplate and meditate on, as doing so would lead you to understand the concept of sharing a common human mind and would open the door to compassion and sensitivity, as you realize that basically we are one people.

One of my favorite articles, The Secret to Compassion, explores this idea in further detail.

In this survey, I am interested in finding out what are the most important personal issues and goals on our minds today, and I think looking closely at our new year’s resolutions would help shed some light on this. So let’s explore a little into our desires and see what it is that humans all over the world are setting their mind to accomplish in 2009.

One additional note, is that recently I wrote an article, Effective Visualization Technique to Manifest Your Desires and for those who have made new year’s resolutions, this technique can be very handy to learn and employ.

In the survey below you can submit what your new year’s resolutions are. If you have any that I have not listed, please free to share those with us in the comments section below.

1. What are your New Year’s resolutions? If you have more than one response that applies, you can check off multiple responses and then submit your results.

	Health, Fitness & Weight Loss
	Spiritual, Meditation & Yoga
	Financial, Money & Career
	Relationship, Family & Friends
	Break an Addiction
	Service, Help Others
	Other Personal Development
	No New Year’s Resolution

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