Yoga-Meditation

The Grandeur of Notre Dame

2008-05-24T04:36:00.001-07:00

The Grandeur of Notre Dame
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Gain Better Health, Diet Tips, Exercise, Female Health, Male Health, Expert Free advice at On Line Tribune

2008-04-22T03:03:00.000-07:00

Gain Better Health, Diet Tips, Exercise, Female Health, Male Health, Expert Free advice at On Line Tribune

Pranayamam is essentially a respiration control

2008-03-31T09:00:00.001-07:00

Letting out air is called "Rechaka"; Taking in air is called "Puraka" and holding air inside is called "Kumbaka"
Pranayamam has high place in all vedic rites and is used as a purificatory process. Sages like yagnavalkya, bhodayana have elaborated the greatness of Pranayamam. Manu says that the practice of pranayamam correctly (as detailed earlier) with Vyahrithis, gayathri and gayathri siras, is itself a tapas (austerityor penance) of high order. It purifies the practitioner and purges him of all sins.
Pranayama is used by natural therapists for curing various ailments. According to them, pranayamam helps to control the five basic elements (Fire, etc.) and thus the Bio-electricity.Keeping together (or making contact) of the thumb and first finger of the left hand with the palm facing skywards is also significant. This is known as "meditation mudra". The palm of hand and tips of fingers have chakras. These are capable of absorbing life energy from surroundings. This also helps in respiratory control during pranayamam. Left hand is also known as "amrita hasta" that is a hand with nectar.
Advantages are Absorb, digest and distribute vital energy all over the body. This results in improved health, blood circulation, digestion and other body activities. This also helps to improve memory,sharpness of intellect, mind control, self confidence and many other benefits.
Preserve the functioning of the physical body.
According to our sages, the chakras not only help to maintain a healthy physical body but also help to mould the mind and character of the person. Activation of some chakras result in development of certain pshychic faculties or special powers.

Breathing Exercises – Pranayama

2008-03-31T08:56:00.001-07:00

Pranayamas are breathing exercises developed by the ancient yogis. They are used to purify the Pranic nadis in the Pranamaya Kosha by controlling, regulating, and channelizing the Prana in the body. Prana is taken in through the air we breathe, and since the breathing exercises increase the amount of air we take in, they also increase our intake of Prana.
In Sanskrit Prana means energy or vital force and yama means control. So, in English this would translate into control of the vital breath. However, there’s much more to Pranayama than just control of the vital force. Pranayama essentially involves three things: regulating the breath, controlling the vital force and chanalizing the Pranas in the right directions.
The principle of in Yoga is that, order to alter a situation we must make changes in the energy that governs it. To bring about positive changes in body and mind we must understand and work upon the energies through which they work. This is done through a set of exercises that entail synchronized breathing. In Yoga the right or solar nadi is considered masculine or solar in nature. The left is feminine or lunar in nature. It is Pitta or fire predominant and increases energy on the right side. The left or the lunar nadi, is Kapha or water predominant, and increases energy on the left side of the body. To maintain harmony in our Pranic or Subtle body, we should have an equal number of breaths from both nostrils. Since this is not always possible through normal breathing, Pranayama helps chanelize them.
It is also for precisely this reason that Yoga also prescribes a sattvic diet, rich in Prana i.e., foods full of the life-force and a mind rooted in moral and ethical values like truth and non-violence. An impure or toxic body and mind cannot remain healthy for long.
But, before we proceed further, there is something else we must understand. You might have noticed the use of the word Pranas in the last line of the first paragraph. Essentially, and little known to the general public, the Prana consists of 5 different Pranas, viz Prana, Apana, Samana, Vyana and Udana, each performing a different function.
They are all contained in a sheath called the Pranamaya Kosha consisting of roughly 3,64,000 nadis or subtle nerve channels that are connected to out other gross and subtle bodies and sheaths. Thus, the one primary Prana is divided into five, basis their movement, direction and function. Further, they can be classified as energies and processes occurring on different levels in our system.

Meditation... Towards a Stress Free Life

2008-03-31T08:51:00.000-07:00

An ordinary person may consider meditation as a worship or prayer. But it is not so. Meditation means awareness. Whatever you do with awareness is meditation. "Watching your breath" is meditation; listening to the birds is meditation. As long as these activities are free from any other distraction to the mind, it is effective meditation.
Meditation is not a technique but a way of life. Meditation means 'a cessation of the thought process' . It describes a state of consciousness, when the mind is free of scattered thoughts and various patterns . The observer (one who is doing meditation) realizes that all the activity of the mind is reduced to one.
A Tibetan Lama was being monitored on a brain scan machine by a scientist wishing to test physiological functions during deep meditation. The scientist said - "Very good Sir. The machine shows that you are able to go very deep in brain relaxation, and that validates your meditation". "No", said the Lama, "This (pointing to his brain) validates the machine!".
These days it is commonly understood to mean some form of spiritual practice where one sits down with eyes closed and empties the mind to attain inner peace, relaxation or even an experience of God. Some people use the term as "my gardening is my meditation" or for jogging or art or music, hence creating confusion or misunderstanding.
The word meditation, is derived from two Latin words : meditari(to think, to dwell upon, to exercise the mind) and mederi (to heal). Its Sanskrit derivation 'medha' means wisdom.
Many years ago meditation was considered something just not meant for modern people, but now it has become very popular with all types of people. Published scientific and medical evidence has proved its benefits, but it still needs to be much understood.
Traditionally, the classical yoga texts, describe that to attain true states of meditation one must go through several stages. After the necessary preparation of personal and social code, physical position, breath control, and relaxation come the more advanced stages of concentration, contemplation, and then ultimately absorption. But that does not mean that one must perfect any one stage before moving onto the next. The Integral yoga approach is simultaneous application of a little of all stages together.
Commonly today, people can mean any one of these stages when they refer to the term meditation. Some schools only teach concentration techniques, some relaxation, and others teach free form contemplative activities like just sitting and awaiting absorption. Some call it meditation without giving credence to yoga for fear of being branded 'eastern'. But yoga is not something eastern or western as it is universal in its approach and application.
With regular practice of a balanced series of techniques, the energy of the body and mind can be liberated and the quality of consciousness can be expanded. This is not a subjective claim but is now being investigated by the scientists and being shown by an empirical fact.