Wellness for Life

5 ways to laugh away to good health [Hasyasans-Laughter Yoga]

2014-05-22T05:24:00.000-07:00

Hasyasans (Laughter Yoga Poses)

Hasyasan or popularly known as laughter yoga pose is formed by the two words “Hasya” meaning “to laugh” and “asan” meaning “a pose.”

The integrated sense of it is to laugh in different poses. JKYog system of yoga teaches you five types of Hasyasans that will free you from your anxieties, stress, and tensions.

1. Ucha-Attahas Hasyasan [Booming Laughter Yoga Pose]

First pose under JKYog Hasyasan in the Ucha-Attahas Hasyasan or the Booming Laughter Yoga Pose. Here Swami Mukundananda, a world-renowned teacher of Yoga, Meditation and Spirituality is showing us the technique of booming laughter yoga pose.

Procedure

i. Sit in Sukhasan.

ii. Raise your hands up and laugh boomingly.

2. Gur-Gur Hasysan [Chuckle Laughter Yoga Pose]

Second pose under JKYog Hasyasan in the Gur-Gur Hasyasan or the Chuckle Laughter Yoga Pose. This is, basically, a laughter Yoga pose where you laugh with your mouth close.

Procedure

i. Sit in Sukhasan.

ii. Laugh or chuckle with your mouth shut.

3. Dandiya Hasyasan [Stick Dance Laughter Yoga Pose]

Third pose under JKYog Hasyasan is the Dandiya Hasyasan. Dandiya is a traditional Gujarati (Indian) dance where a couple dances with a pair of stick in their hand. In this pose, you will imagine that you are dancing with sticks and move your hand either sides, clap and laugh.

Procedure

i. Sit in Sukhasan.

ii. Tilt either ways, clap your hands, and laugh loudly.

4. Anaram Hasyasan [Vowel Laughter Yoga Pose]

Forth pose under JKYog Hasyasan is the Anaram Hasyasan. Anaram is vowels of Devnagari script. They are pronounced as a, aa, i, ee, u, oo, e, ai, o, au, ri. In this laughter yoga pose, you will laugh and enunciate these vowels. You can use vowels of any other script.

Procedure

i. Sit in Sukhasan.

ii. Raise your hands one by one and laugh enunciating the swar varṇa (vowels) of the Devanāgarī script.

iii. You could also use vowels from the English script—“a, e, i, o, u.”

5. Gud-Gud Hasyasan [Tickle Laughter Yoga Pose]

Fifth pose under JKYog Hasyasan is the Gud-Gud Hasyasan or tickle your partner laughter yoga pose. This is most popular laughing yoga pose. Here you get to tickle your partner and your partner, in return, tickles you back.

Procedure

i. Get another person to pair with you, and sit in Sukhasan facing each other.

ii. Tickle each other and laugh.

Benefits of Hasyasan or Laughter Yoga

Hasyasans make your heart very healthy.

They activate about 75 muscles in different parts of your body, thus resulting in the increase of blood level throughout the whole body.

They release mental and emotional strains and help inducing zeal and vigor.

You feel extremely released, vibrant, and fresh upon practicing the above mentioned of Laughter Poses.

They strengthen your immune system.

It helps growing the intellectual performance and boosting information retention.

Laughter poses significantly help control diabetes by reducing blood sugar levels thus.

These asans are cathartic exercises, which assist the practitioners in venting out their condensed emotions in systematic and organized way. Thus, they help develop positive emotions and reduce the negative ones, thereby ensuring a healthy life.

According to Dr. Otto Warburg, a German scientist and Nobel Laureate, the main cause of our illness is due to the deficiency of oxygen in our body cells. Laughter poses bringadequate oxygen to both—the body and brain; adequate supply of oxygen is the basic factor for keeping a sound health. Thus, these Yogic exercises are equally significant for people suffering from cancer and different chronic respiratory diseases like bronchitis and so on.

Everybody knows that immune system plays a crucial role in the causation and prognosis of cancer; the most probable trigger for the occurrence of cancer is the weak immune system of a person. Laughter poses increase the number of natural killer cells—the main factors of the immune system; thus these Yogic asans assist in both—overcoming andterminating cancer cells.

Contraindications People with the problems like depression, high blood pressure, and heart ailments; and also those who have undergone recent surgical operations of abdominal parts should not attempt any of these Hasyasans.

2014-02-05T04:11:00.001-08:00

What Is Diabetes?

Diabetes Mellitus is a chronic disease that occurs either because of inadequate insulin production, or because of the body's cells improper response to insulin, or both.

Insulin is hormone secreted by the pancreas. The Carbohydrate foods that we eat are broken down into glucose in the blood. Insulin helps the cells to absorb the glucose to produce energy. Not being able to produce insulin or use it effectively leads to raised glucose levels in the blood which is known as hyperglycaemia.

High glucose level for long period are associated with body damage and various organs and tissues failure.

There are mainly three types of diabetes :

Type 1 diabetes is usually caused by an auto-immune reaction where the body’s defence system attacks the cells that produce insulin. People with type 1 diabetes produce very little or no insulin. The disease may affect people of any age, but usually develops in children or young adults. People with this form of diabetes need injections of insulin every day in order to control the levels of glucose in their blood.
Type 2 diabetes accounts for at least 90% of all cases of diabetes. It is characterised by insulin resistance and relative insulin deficiency, either or both of which may be present at the time diabetes is diagnosed. The diagnosis of type 2 diabetes can occur at any age. Type 2 diabetes may remain undetected for many years and the diagnosis is often made when a complication appears or a routine blood or urine glucose test is done. It is often, but not always, associated with overweight or obesity, which itself can cause insulin resistance and lead to high blood glucose levels. People with type 2 diabetes can often initially manage their condition through exercise and diet. However, over time most people will require oral drugs and or insulin. Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes are serious.
Gestational diabetes (GDM) is a form of diabetes consisting of high blood glucose levels during pregnancy. It develops in one in 25 pregnancies worldwide and is associated with complications to both mother and baby. GDM usually disappears after pregnancy but women with GDM and their children are at an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life. Approximately half of women with a history of GDM go on to develop type 2 diabetes within five to ten years after delivery.

Typical Symptoms of diabetes :

Frequent urination (polyuria),
Feeling increasingly thirsty (polydipsia)
Feeling very hungry (polyphagia) even when You are eating
Blurry vision
Cuts/bruises that are slow to heal
Weight loss - even though you are eating more (type 1)
Tingling, pain, or numbness in the hands/feet (type 2)

Asans and Pranayams that will help in curbing diabetes :

Various asans- Tadasan, Shashankasan, Bhujangasan, Pashchimottanasan, JanuShirasan,Supt Vajrasan, Sarvangasan, Halasan, Gomukhasan, ArdhMatsyendrasan, Matsyasan, Yog Mudrasan, Surya Namaskar and pranayams- Anulom Vilom, Ujjayi, Bhramari, Bhastrika, Shyam Uchcharan, help in curbing diabetes

Destiny

2013-07-03T01:11:00.000-07:00

If there is anything people tend to blame for their spiritual progress-it is destiny. It is one of the topics that the mind is widely used upon. Luck, fortune, fate are the synonyms for destiny.

To think that we are bound by our destiny, which cannot be changed, is the doctrine of fatalism. This is how the “fatalism” is defined:

1. Doctrine of fate: The philosophical doctrine according to which all events are fated to happen, so that human beings cannot change their destinies.

2. Belief in all-powerful fate: The belief that people are powerless against fate.

3. Feeling of powerlessness against fate: An attitude of resignation and passivity that results from the belief that people are helpless against fate.

Let us analyze whether this concept of fatalism is correct or not. First of all, let us understand what destiny is:

“The actions we performed in our past lives become our destiny in this life.” In other words, destiny is not something that has come down from the heavens or a horoscope chart that is revealed to us by astrologers. We have created our destiny ourselves by actions in past births. This means that we performed actions with our free will in past lifetimes.

Now, we shall use the technique of “Reductio ad absurdum” to disprove fatalism. This is a technique where the statement to be disproved is accepted in the premise. It is then shown to lead to a logical inconsistency.

Let us start with the premise that everything is predestined.

- If we are bound by destiny in this life, and cannot perform actions by our own volition, this rule must apply to our past lives as well. It would mean that in past lives too we were bound by destiny, for the rule must be the same in all lives.

- But if in each life we were bound by destiny, then in which life did we perform independent actions that created that destiny?

- And if in no past life we performed actions with our free will, then how was destiny created?

- Again, if we did actions with our free will in any past life, we can do them now as well.

Thus, we see the premise that everything is predestined, leads to a logical absurdity and is disproved. The scriptures say that it is lazy people who blame destiny for their substandard achievements:

“While working, don’t bring destiny into your mind, or it will make you lazy.” If you do, you will start running to astrologers to know what your destiny is, rather than focusing on performing your work properly.

It is a fact that there is an element of destiny in our lives. However, we also possess the freedom to act as we wish in the present. This is called purusharth, or the work we do in the present, by using our freedom of choice. The example is given of a game of cards. The hand that is dealt to a person gets fixed; it cannot be changed. But how one plays with the cards is not fixed. If someone is a good player, he or she may win even with bad cards, while if someone is a bad player, he or she may lose even with good cards.

Similarly, if you were destined to win a jackpot of a million dollars, you will win it. But beyond that it is your self-effort. If you work hard, you could multiply it into ten million dollars, and if you develop profligate habits, you could squander it away in drinking and gambling. That would not be decided by destiny; that would be your own purusharth, or self-effort.

Hyperacidity

2013-06-09T07:20:00.000-07:00

To break down the nutrients and kill the harmful particles engulfed with the food in the stomach, there are some glands which secrete acid. The proportion of acid secretion depends on various conditions like irregular food habits, the type of food taken, vagaries of time and sensual over indulgence etc. Taking too much of fast food, pungent food, sour food, too much of tea, coffee, alcohol, or certain chemical drugs like pain-relieving and anti arthritic drugs cause more secretion of the acid. Regular over secretion of the acid due to the above reasons; the mucous membrane of the stomach which protects the abdominal wall from the acid gets challenged thus causing pain and discomfort. This state is called hyperacidity or Amla Pitta as said in Ayurveda.

Remedies

Avoid acid producing foods like pungent, salty, hot, sour, dry ones and alcohol etc. and mental imbalances like anger, fear etc should be controlled.

Adhere to milk diet for several weeks, and drink warm water. The milk dose should be increased slowly to get digested well.

Don’t over eat; take moderate meals three times a day instead and even excess intake of sweets should be avoided since it helps to secrete.

Take pitta pacifying diet which contains bitter and astringent taste.

The best treatment is to have a glass of milk with two teaspoon of ghee in it. This should be taken either as dinner or after two hours of light dinner. This can also be taken as breakfast.

Avipattika choorna should be taken 3-6 grams with water before or during the meal.

Butter milk and fresh cereals should be avoided.

Coconut water is good in this condition. One spoonful of amla (emblica officinalis/Indian gooseberry), in powder form, should be taken, with lukewarm water, twice a day.

Adapt Natural Way to Live Healthy

2013-05-24T21:53:00.000-07:00

Nature has given us a lot in the form of various plants. The natural food has enough vitamins, minerals and the other nutrients needed for us. Pulses, nuts, seeds, grains, leafy vegetables and other vegetables as well as fruits are sufficient to fulfill our bodily requirements.

To see all these, there is no need to have non-vegetarian items. Even our anal canal has not been designed in that way. Our intestine is 2-3 times more in length when compared to the flesh eating animal. It is since the flesh putrefies very soon.

And the natural environment with open air, greenery all around us, that is really health giving. Morning walk in such places; doing asans, pranayam and meditation in the morning or at the dusk are no less freshening activities instead to hang around the club house or cinema or television.

Almost everything that we need we have on this earth planet. But what matters is that we have spoiled our habits. We have the habits of eating fried and fast food, drinking, not so soft, soft drinks. We have forgotten the proverb: early to bed and early to rise. “Late to bed and late to rise”, has been or newly formed dictum.

Applying the natural lifestyle is the only way to gain and preserve a good health. A use of medicine is not the way to health. Medicines only suppress the problem which comes up again in another form. That’s the reason why people get attached to the hospitals once they start it.

Yog as a Universal Religion

2013-05-19T19:03:00.001-07:00

You might consider Yog as a particular religion. However, it is a universal religion for all the sects of people from the world. It preaches guiding principles for healthy and pious living, positive attitudes, study of sacred texts, and communion with the Supreme God. Although some branches of Yog might seem more religious or mystical. Be clear that Yog itself is not any religion.

Yog as a universal religion in itself is open to all cultures and religions. It encourages you to understand and respect all religious and spiritual texts so that you understand yourself and others in positive and deeper ways. Yog is never biased, prejudiced, or exclusive. So, in order to have the opportunity of Yog practice, you need not be a Hindu, a Buddhist, a Muslim, a Christian, or a Jew, but you may be from any of sects. Whichever religion you have been following since your birth, Yog will certainly help you to reveal your spiritual potential.

Yog for All Ailments !

2013-04-22T08:51:00.005-07:00

The word "Yog" has come from the Sanskrit word "yuj," which means "to unite or integrate." Although Yog seems to be physical exercises, it is also a lifestyle practice for training your mind, body, and breath. This helps in connecting you with your spirituality. Yog brings about the union between you (soul) and the Creator (Super soul) in order to offer you enlightenment, viz. God realization or attainment of permanent bliss.

Yog has tons of benefits. It is helpful in mitigating stress, which is perhaps the biggest common enemy of man in today’s world. Without doubt, Children are not exempted from this frightening curse. Provided such a situation, Yog is certainly a very good option for the young and the old to obtain a healthy mind in a healthy body, which is the essence of life itself. Yog can yoke your body, breath, and mind to help you balance the physical, mental, and spiritual elements in day to day life.

Yog is a way of life that helps you attain not only physical comfort and mental balance, but also spiritual elevation. Yogasans have manifold aims. They can be used as a means to prepare students for spiritual practices. Next they help incorporate the body, mind, and spirit. Most essential role of them is the natural healing nature to cure many diseases, which are even taken as incurable. With its regular practice you can gain flexibility, strength, balance, and stamina. For the same reason, many people practice Yog to keep away their anxiety, stress, diseases, and different bodily problems. Of course the regular practice of Yog improves your mental clarity, boosts up your digestions, helps you have a sound sleep, and so on.

Importance of Milk in Diet

2013-01-07T22:36:00.000-08:00

Balanced diet is that common topic which almost everybody has heard of. Our body needs the nutrients like carbohydrates, proteins and fats along with vitamins and minerals.

To provide the carbohydrates there are cereals and for the proteins there are nuts and pulses. In the same way there are oils and dairy items to provide us with fats as well.

Green vegetables, fruits and other veg. items render sufficient minerals and vitamins necessary for our body maintenance.

Another source of proteins is dairy products. These proteins from the dairy products are easily digestible than other proteins from plant sources.

The function of the protein is to handle the wear and tear in the body. Thus to maintain the good proportion of fleshes and other tissues proteins are required in sufficient quantity.

Especially after one falls ill, it requires easily digestible proteins to recover soon since he has to rebuild the tissues in the body. During this period milk and milk products are the most for the vegetarians. Without which it is almost impossible to get well.

There was an instance from Gandhiji himself. He had taken a vow that he will not take milk products. Once he fell ill and could not recover. Doctors recommend him to take milk but he denied due to his vows. One of his doctor friends urged him to take milk with the logic that at the time of vows there might be cows or buffalo’s milk in his mind so the goat’s milk could be taken.

Thought he knew that it was just to save the cover, he took goats milk and got well soon. Since then he accepted the importance milk and included it to the diet.

Gandhiji’s Views on Health

2013-01-07T22:21:00.000-08:00

From the point of view of Naturopathy health means:

Body ease

Free from all diseases

Carries his normal activities without fatigue

Able to walk 10-12 miles a day with ease

Perform ordinary physical labor without getting tired

Can digest ordinary simple food

Mind and senses are at the state of harmony and poise

To have the above qualities of health it is necessary to have knowledge of human body. Only research worker may be able to tell something, only something, about what kind of education was prevalent in previous times.

The human body is composed of five elements what the ancient philosophers believed to have. These are earth, water, vacancy, light and air.

All human activities are carried out by mind aided by ten senses: five senses of action – hands, feet, mouth, anus and the genitals; and five sense of perception – touch through skin, taste through tongue, smell through nose, seeing through the eyes and hearing through the ears. Thinking is the function of the mind and some people have called it the eleventh sense. In health all these senses with mind act in perfect coordination.

The human body is the universe in miniature. That which cannot be found in the body cannot found in the universe. Hence the philosophers formula, that the universe within reflects the universe without. It follows therefore that if our knowledge of our own body could be perfect we would know the universe. But even the very best of the doctors, vaids and hakims have not been able to acquire it. It will be presumptuous for a layman to aspire it. No instrument has been discovered yet to give us any information of our mind.

Scientists have given attractive descriptions of the activities going on within and without the body, but no one can say what sets the wheel going. Who can explain the why and wherefore of death or foretell its time? After infinite reading and writing, after infinite experiences he has come to know how little he knows.

All the part working in harmony is required for smooth function of the machine. Even a disorder in a single part brings it to stop. For instance; if the digestion is out of order, the whole body becomes slack. Therefore, he who takes indigestion and constipation lightly does not know the a-b-c of the rules of health. These two are the root cause of innumerable ailments.

The present education system leaves us totally oblivion of our body system. Our knowledge of our own village and our fields shares a similar fate. On the other hand we are taught about the things that have no bearing on our daily life. This knowledge is also required but at first we must know of our body, our house, surroundings, the crops and its history before all.

Yoga and Its Relation with the Environment

2012-12-21T09:04:00.002-08:00

Nature has its own language of silence

As a man is just a part of the ecosystem, he can rarely survive without the backup and profound interrelationship with both the biotic and abiotic factors of the nature. Furthermore, we obtain all our daily needs from our surrounding including recreation, freshness, serenity and inspiration for our thoughts. But contrarily, it is not impossible that our self-interests to be prosperous and wealthy would surely fetch the day of doom at which we would have no options other than repentance and suffer to our worst.

In a situation like this, one could pose a question- Is such only the consequence of our monetary attitude and exploiting inclination? That is not entirely what we all could conclude at all. Another thing is no coherence and harmony between the natural resources and the geometrically booming population. Until and unless the various way outs of the population management are found, all endeavors of safeguarding environment would go in vain. For the solution, every individual from every part of the world should have commitment of doing only eco-friendly activities giving up trifle, mercenary and political interests and behaving all the creatures as their fellow beings in this common spaceship – the Earth.

The beauty of Yoga lies in the entity of nature !

To wrap up, humanity is on the verge of sinking and drowning; not so much by other creatures, but by its greed, shortsightedness and colossal stupidity. If we fail to take decisive action, if we fail to bring about the fundamental changes in our ways of thinking and doing politics, we just sink and drown. Each one should believe, “nothing is impossible to a willing heart.” So with selfless and non-violent motives, both the decision makers and the commoners ought to be united unanimously for changing this Earth into a haven. Let us fixate our mental focus on Rudyard Kipling’s environmental friendly poem – The Dykes- which has mocked at our folly of repetitive blunder time and again.

“Now we can only wait till the day, wait and apportion our shame.

These are the dykes our fathers left, but we would not look to the same.

Time and again were we warned of the dykes, time and again we delayed.

Now, it may fall, we have slain our sons, as our fathers we have betrayed.”

Let’s not do any more blunders of throwing an axe into own legs. Let’s get united and move ahead again to create a greener and cleaner community where all the floras and faunas will have a serene playground for surviving. Why not raise voice for international climate negotiations to collaborate with other nations to minimize GHGs emissions, stop ozone layer depletion and save ourselves and other creatures from several hazards?

Healthy Tips for Diabetes

2012-11-08T07:17:00.000-08:00

Diabetes mellitus, or diabetes, is an illness in which there is an abnormally high level of glucose in the blood. Depending on how high your glucose level is and how long it has been high, you may feel fairly well, or you may be so sick that you require hospitalization. Usually, your doctor will test you for diabetes if you have symptoms such as thirst, frequent urination, weight loss, blurred vision, and fatigue. Here are some tips to control your diabetes in natural and Yogic ways:

Eat food at fixed hours.
Do not overeat.
Never eat immediately after a workout.
If you are on insulin, ensure you take three proper meals with light snacks in between.
Never eat fast; rather masticate and munch your food properly prior to you swallow.
Drink a lot of water that will help flush the toxins off your system.
Make sure the gaps between your meals are short. Avoid fried foods and sweetmeats.
Include fresh vegetable salad in every meal.
Have at least 20 to 25 grams of raw onion daily.
Do at least one hour exercise daily. Yogasans with Pranayams will be better to control your diabetes.
Add wheat bran to your wheat flour (50% wheat flour + 50% wheat bran) as this helps to increase fibre in your diet.

Diet Tips

2012-10-27T21:01:00.001-07:00

Always follow the nutritional awareness for your sound health. Apply these tips and enjoy your promoted well-being.

Eat whole, fresh, unprocessed foods—seasonal, organic, and local, whenever possible.
Eat a diet that is founded on proven nutritional science.
Eat foods that promote perfect digestion and support your gut flora.
Omit the foods you are allergic to or intolerant of.
Eat foods that taste good, and allow your taste buds time to get used to new foods.
Eat in rhythm—three meals or five to six mini-meals scheduled at regular intervals throughout the day.
Eat until you are no more than two-thirds full.
Eat in a relaxed and tranquil state.
Always avoid non-veg. foods as they are bestial foods to stimulate and make you angry, impatient and diseased.
Stay happily hydrated.
Eat foods you cook.

Time Management

2012-10-26T09:01:00.001-07:00

Time is fleeting every moment.

There are many sayings about time. No one can deny its importance in his/her life. God has created this world for a reason and if we closely observe the nature, we would find plenty of things that come on time.
The sun, moon, stars and planets continue their motion in specific orbits and in fixed times. Sun rises from east at fixed time on every day and then sets in the west. Similarly a child is born in this world and dies at its time. If we follow the principles of God we will be successful. The time is the most important factor of all. If we abide by it, we can never be penalized. Take an example of our daily life.

Life and Death are not in anyone's hands. They are things that just happen every time and with everyone. Same is the case with time. Most of the times we take it for granted that there is always plenty of time. Due to this perhaps we indulge in various activities, which are a wholesale waste of time.

The clock is always ticking. The seconds keep on ticking just like busy ants. The ants keep themselves always busy by always hunting for food everywhere. Similarly the seconds always keep

Be time conscious.

on ticking to attain short-term goals of making a minute with 60 ticks. After reaching a milestone of a minute the second's hand of a clock don't take a break, but start afresh for another round of 60 ticks. Then take it minute by minute and inadvertently reach a quarter of an hour, and hour and then a day. They always focus on the smaller targets- that is a minute and the bigger aim of the clock itself gets fulfilled. That's why the minutes hand have to work less, as the seconds hand does most of the running around. The minute hand just has to make 60 movements on a clock dial. The hours hand is the luckiest of the lot. It just moves for 12 times in an hour. But the seconds hand moves for 3600 times around the dial for the same hour!

Parallel to this, in our life to we never realize that we have lots to do. Between every big task we can always find enough time to fit in a plethora of smaller tasks. If you are waiting for a train at the station, you can always start contemplating on God or Guru mentally or rather listen to sermons or hymns on your mobile or iphones. While traveling in the bus too one can find enough time to at least skim through the previous days notes.

Be like the clock. Always keep on ticking by involving yourself in various things that help increase your skills and purify your mind with positive thoughts. These small knowledge and experience modules will perhaps one day take you to your bigger goal some day. They say "Time and Tide waits for no man". If so, now stop staring at the screen and utilize your time effectively!

Be Vegetarian and Save Your Heart

2012-10-24T22:18:00.000-07:00

As per multifarious studies, the rate of heart complains are high in non-vegetarians than in vegans. Non-vegetarian foods contain high contents of cholesterol which is the main cause of coronary heart diseases. Vegetarian food items are safe in this regard.

Vegetarianism, be vegan, vegetarian diet

The proteins said to be obtained from the animal products can be got by beans and pulses which don’t have cholesterol.

If you know the benefits of vegetarianism and defects of non-veg. items, I am sure you will be vegetarian. Apart from preventing coronary heart diseases, it prevents cancer of colon, constipation, piles, and anal fissures due to its high fiber content.

Provides antioxidants (vitamin A, C, E and other micronutrients) and also, vegetarian food, retards the process of aging and prevents all degenerative diseases.

As they are low in calories they help in reduction of weight which in turn prevents high BP, diabetes and arthritis of the knee and joints. Fiber also prevents absorption of cholesterol from intestines.

Vegetarianism, be vegan, vegetarian diet

Even the expenditure is less for Vegetarian food compared to non-vegetarian ones.

But only diehard vegetarianism is not good, one should be careful to choose the right kind of vegetarian food too. Diehard vegetarians like Jains and Agrawals have high rate of heart problems and diabetes. That’s due to the consumption of ghee and oil in high quantities.

Milk if not skimmed contains high quantity of cholesterol and fats (triglycerides); on the other hand oils don’t contain cholesterol but they are full of fats.

Acute Diseases are not Enemies but Friends

2012-10-09T04:27:00.002-07:00

Gandhiji gave a name ‘Arogya ki Kunji’ to Prakritik Chikitsa. Nowadays there is continuous exploitation in the name of treatment. In the one hand the allopathic treatment system claims to have controlled over the diseases, in the other hand, new types of diseases are mushrooming.

Naturopathy not only cures the diseases but also makes one disease-free forever by the means of reforming his diet, and other healthy habits. We know of the far off things like that of stars, mountains, planets and rivers etc but we are oblivion of the nature and structure of our body and its surroundings.

Our body is made up of five basic elements: sky, air, fire, water and earth. Any disturbance in their proportions results in diseases. Due to our wrong habits there happens to be imbalance in them and the body becomes unable to remove the filth out of the body which is a necessary act for health.

To cop up with the problem, our body tries to remove the garbage, known as toxins, in the form of diseases known as acute diseases. Acute diseases are those which happen suddenly, remain for a short period but hard to endure.

Naturopathy believes in the healing power of the nature. Our body itself cures the diseases when provided suitable environment. Thus the acute diseases are not enemies but they are friends to us and we should help the body to remove the toxins.

We are ruined by the unnatural habit of taking medicine to cure the diseases which is enough to ruin the body itself. That’s why instead of taking recourse to allopathic medicines, we should try to create suitable atmosphere in the body and help to cure the disease by means of the application of the five elements.

Cold Friction

2012-08-18T10:05:00.000-07:00

Naturopathy is the system of treatment based on the theory of Panch Mahabhutas (five basic elements), i.e. our body is made up of five basic elements and also run by them. They are: earth, water, fire, air and sky. The right proportion these elements are required for the proper maintenance of the body and mind. When there is imbalance, it appears as diseases in us. Based on the use of these five elements, copious therapies are there to deal with the ailments. One of them is water therapy which is also known as hydrotherapy.

Even hydrotherapy involves multifarious treatments using water. Here all the three states of water are used for curing diseases. Of them cold friction is one of the best treatment especially for hypertension and fever without rigors.

Requirements:

A hot water bag, a glove made of turkish cloth, a blanket and a bucket of cold water.

Water temperature:

18-23 degree centigrade

Procedure:

The patient is made to lie down on his abdomen on the bed with a hot water bag at his feet. The attendant dips the glove in cold water and applies brisk friction to the patient, starting from the feet and working upwards, part by part, including the front and back. Each part should be rubbed, and covered with blanket. A short, cold shower is given after the treatment.

Contraindications:

It should be avoided in extreme weakness, fever with chills and open skin wounds etc.

Chitta vrittis (Fluctuating States of Mind)

2012-08-07T09:23:00.000-07:00

Stop for a moment and observe your mind. You will find thoughts upon thoughts rising one after another. The mind is always oscillating. Its fluctuation never stops as it continues even in the dream-state. If you go through Patanjalis Yoga Sutras, you will find how he describes the fluctuating states of the mind.

Patanjali divides them into five catagories. They are Pramana (right knowledge), viparyaya (wrong knowledge), vikalpa (imagination), nidra (sleep) smritaya (memory).

Pramana: it’s the right perception of things, i.e. to understand the things as such. In other words to understand the underlying deep reality is right knowledge. This comes either from deduction or from valid testimonies like sacred scriptures.

Viparyaya: it’s the erroneous perception of things caused by avidhya (ignorance). It is due to this avidhya we suppose ourselves as body and run after physical comfort for happiness. This can be removed when there comes right knowledge.

Vikalpa: its that state of mind where there are merely concepts not the real objects. Concepts of virtue, vice, good, bad etc all are vikalpas.

Nidra: it’s the state of deep sleep where there is no object in connection with the mind. The mind without pratyaya, i.e. without any object to get attached to, is nidra. It is the deep sleep where no dream appears.

Smritaya: the faculty of mind which stores the previously experienced things is memory. In another way not letting escape the experienced matters from the mind is memory.

What is Naturopathy?

2012-07-28T10:08:00.001-07:00

Naturopathy is a holistic method of healing which recognises the ability of the body to overcome disease. It is a system of medicine founded on the most time-tested medical principle: the healing power of nature. The goal of naturopathy is to restore the body's natural functioning through the use of natural substances and treatments that enhance its innate healing abilities.

Naturopathy is an art and science of healthy living and drugless system of healing based on well founded philosophy. It has its own concept of health and disease and also principles of treatment. Prakritik Chikitsa, Nature Cure, Pancha Tattva Chikitsa and Nature Therapy are different names of Naturopathy.

It aims to attain sound health by dealing with the topics like, how we should live? What we should eat? And how our daily routine should be? The methods of nature cure not only helps us in attaining freedom from diseases but with the help of their regular, sustained flow positive and vigorous health can be acquired.

Naturopathy holds the belief that our body is made up of five basic elements and any imbalance in the body function are the results of our wrong life style. Due to the sedentary life styles, our systems become unable to expel the unwanted matters (known as morbid matter or toxins in Naturopathy) out of the body. The accumulation of these toxins implies diseases.

In naturopathy diseases are the dis-ease state of the body which is removed by means of the five elements (ether, water, fire air and space) of which our body is made. There are different therapies based on them, i.e. fasting (space element), mud therapy (ether element), hydro therapy (water element), massage therapy and chromo therapy (fire elements) and various breathing exercises also known as air therapy (air elements).

Your Health and Pancha Karma

2012-07-07T20:09:00.000-07:00

Pancha Karma for eliminating toxins from the body.

Ayurveda offers unique therapeutic measures that heal mild and chronic diseases. Even diseases that are believed to be incurable by modern medicine have been healed. Stories abound of people being carried into Pancha karma centers, and a few weeks later, walking out on their own two feet, healthy and rejuvenated. Ayurveda is not based on magic; rather, it is based on understanding medical principles and the six stages of illness.

The most deeply seated toxins that cause disease are heavy and sticky, lodging in the deepest tissue layers. Pancha Karm permanently eliminates these toxins from the body, allowing healing and restoration of the tissues, channels, digestion, and mental functions. Six therapies are divided into two categories:

1) Toning or nourishing (Brimhana or santarpana), and

2) Reducing or detoxifying (langhana or apartarpana)—those that cause lightness.

Brimhana tones because it uses therapies that promote earth and water elements, while langhana lightens by using ether, air, and fire elements to reduce. Illness is relieved as doshas become balanced through these therapies.

The six major therapeutic categories are either toning or reducing in nature.

1. Reducing (langhana or lightening) the body, making it light.

2. Nourishing (Brimhana or expanding) the body by adding corpulence.

3. Drying (Rukshana) or producing roughness in the body.

4. Oleation (snehana) or applying oil to the body creates softness, fluidity, and moistness.

5. Sudation (svedhana) or sweating, removes stiffness, heaviness, and coldness.

6. Astringent (stambhana) balances the flow (slow or fast) of bodily fluids (e.g., diarrhea, bleeding, etc.), and prevents mobility.

The therapeutic measures involved for each category primarily include herbs, foods, internal and external application of oils; fasting, and exercise.

Do you believe in God? Don’t believe.

2012-06-26T09:27:00.000-07:00

Buddha with his disciples

Once, Buddha was with his disciples. A stranger came and asked, “Is there God?” Buddha replied, ‘No.’ He went away. After a while there was another man to ask, “Isn’t there God?” He answered, “Yes, there is”. Buddha’s reply surprised his disciples. So after the man took his way, they asked Buddha to clear their doubts. He smiled and said that both were holding their own beliefs. One held the belief that there was God and the next with the belief that there was no God. And with beliefs people will never enquiry. Now doubts have arisen in their mind so they will start enquiry and may do some progress.

Beliefs are those concepts that they are like a baseless pitcher which is of no use. Use of that culminates only in sufferings, misery and hardships. Beliefs escape proofs. So they are unproven facts. It’s not that beliefs are always wrong conceptions. But as they are not tested we cannot rely on them.

Main problem with the beliefs is that when there is belief, the one with belief, does not want to test it. He supposes that whatever he believes is ok. So no need to be examined or experimented. It’s the trick that mind plays which can be revealed when it is asked to give proofs.


The Lord

People who believe and those who don’t believe both are in the same category. Both don’t want to come to experiment. In a way not believing is also a belief. Suppose someone believes in God that there is God. So he does not enquiry if there is God or not in reality. In the same way those who don’t believe in God also have a belief that the God is not there. And they also don’t like to go to experiment.

In this case those minds with doubts may come into use. But only bearing doubts and not trying to come out of it leads nowhere else than to futility.

There is one more disadvantage of belief that even if you move forward to experiment, your belief may intercept the Sadhana. Since your mind will superimpose the beliefs onto the realization and you may get distracted. Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj declares that everybody should come and experiment to know about the God. Only believing and not believing will not do any good.

Life Changing Quotes

2012-06-22T10:39:00.000-07:00

Swami Mukundananda writing the life changing quotes....

God comes not where reign timidity, hatred and fear.
A young plant should always be protected against goats and cows and the mischief of little urchins, by means of a fence. But when it becomes a big tree, a flock of goats or a herd of cows can freely find shelter under its spreading boughs and fill their stomachs with their leaves. So when your faith is yet in its infancy, you should protect it from the evil influences of bad company. But when you grow strong in faith, no worldliness or evil inclination will dare approach your holy presence; and many who are wicked will become godly through their holy contact with you.
In a potter's shop there are vessels of different shapes and forms — pots, jars, dishes, plates, etc., — but all are made of the same clay. So God is one, but He is worshiped in different ages and climes under different names and aspects.
One can ascend the top of a house by means of a ladder or a bamboo or a staircase or a rope; so too, diverse are the ways of approaching God, and each religion in the world shows one of the ways.
He who has faith has all, and he who lacks faith lacks all.
As one thinks, so does one become.
Unless one always speaks the truth, one cannot find God Who is the soul of truth.
It is very pleasant to scratch an itching ring-worm, but the sensation one gets afterwards is very painful and intolerable. In the same way the pleasures of this world are very attractive in the beginning, but their consequences are terrible to contemplate and hard to endure.
To drink pure water from a shallow pond one should gently take the water from the surface without disturbing the pond in the least. If it is disturbed, the sediments rise up and make the whole water muddy. If you desire to be pure, have firm faith, and slowly go on with your devotional practices, without wasting your energy in useless scriptural discussions and arguments. Your little brain will otherwise be muddled.
Sunlight is one and the same wherever it falls; but only a bright surface like that of water, or of a mirror reflects it fully. So is the light Divine. It falls equally and impartially on all hearts, but the pure and pious hearts of holy men receive and reflect that light well.

Atomic Sayings

2012-06-22T10:28:00.000-07:00

Swami Mukundananda

More are the names of God and infinite are the forms through which He may be approached. In whatever name and form you worship Him, through them you will realize Him.
One should not think, 'My religion alone is the right path and other religions are false.' God can be realized by means of all paths. It is enough to have sincere yearning for God. Infinite are the paths and infinite are the opinions.
You see many stars in the sky at night, but not when the sun rises. Can you therefore say that there are no stars in the heavens during the day? Because you cannot find God in the days of your ignorance, say not that there is no God.
Little children play with dolls in the outer room just as they like, without any care of fear or restraint; but as soon as their mother comes in, they throw aside their dolls and run to her crying, "Mamma, mamma." You too, are now playing in this material world, infatuated with the dolls of wealth, honor, fame, etc., If however, you once see your Divine Mother, you will not afterwards find pleasure in all these. Throwing them all aside, you will run to her.
As the cloud covers the sun, so Maya hides God. When the cloud moves away, the sun is seen again, when Maya is removed, God becomes manifest.

Swamiji in pleasant mood

The sun can give heat and light to the whole world, but he cannot do so when the clouds shut out his rays. Similarly as long as egotism veils the heart, God cannot shine upon it.
Rain-water never stands on high ground, but runs down to the lowest level. So also the mercy of God remains in the hearts of the lowly, but drains off from those of the vain and the proud.
If you feel proud, let it be in the thought that you are the servant of God, the son of God. Great men have the nature of a child. They are always a child before Him; so they are free from pride. All their strength is of God and not their own. It belongs to Him and comes from Him.
To explain God after merely reading the scriptures is like explaining to a person the city of Benares after seeing it only in a map.
Common men talk 'bagfuls' of religion but do not practice even a 'grain' of it. The wise man speaks a little, even though his whole life is religion expressed in action.
The nearer you come to God, the less you are disposed to questioning and reasoning. When you actually attain Him, when you behold Him as the reality, then all noise, all disputations, come to an end.
Sugar and sand may be mixed together, but the ant rejects the sand and carries away the grains of sugar. So the holy and pious men successfully sift the good from the bad.
The spiritually minded belong to a caste of their own, beyond all social conventions.
A boat may stay in water, but water should not stay in boat. A spiritual aspirant may live in the world, but the world should not live within him.
Forgiveness is the true nature of the ascetic.

Bottom of The Lake – Our True Self

2012-06-21T03:00:00.000-07:00

Our true self is like the bottom of the lake.

We cannot see the bottom of the lake, because its surface is either covered with ripples or is muddy. It is only possible when the ripples have subsided and the surface is clean, for us to catch a glimpse of the bottom. If the water is muddy, the bottom will not be seen; if the water is agitated all the time, the bottom will not be seen. If the water is clear, and there are no waves, we shall see the bottom. That bottom of the lake is our own true Self; the lake is the Chitta, and the waves are the Vritti. Again, this mind is in three states; one darkness, which is called Tamas, just as in brutes and idiots; it only acts to injure others.

Mind is of three modes.

No other idea comes into that state of mind. Then there is the active state of mind, Rajas, whose chief motives are power and enjoyment. “I will be powerful and rule others.” Then, at last, when the waves cease, and the water of the lake becomes clear, there is the state called Sattva, serenity, calmness. It is not inactive, but rather intensely active. It is the greatest manifestation of power to be calm. It is easy to be active. Let the reins go, and the horses will drag you down.

Anyone can do that, but he who can stop the plunging horses is the strong man. Which requires the greater strength, letting go, or restraining? The calm man is not the man who is dull. You must not mistake Sattva for dullness, or laziness. The calm man is the one who has restraint of these waves. Activity is the manifestation of the lower strength, calmness of the superior strength. This Chitta is always trying to get back to its natural pure state, but the organs draw it out. To restrain it, and to check this outward tendency, and to start it on the return journey to that essence of intelligence is the first step in Yoga, because only in this way can the Chitta get into its proper course.

Mind in calm state is like the unmoving lake.

Although this Chitta is in every animal, from the lowest to the highest, it is only in the human form that we find intellect, and until the mind-stuff can take the form of intellect it is not possible for it to return through all these steps, and liberate the soul. Immediate salvation is impossible for the cow and the dog, although they have mind, because their Chitta cannot as yet take that form which we call intellect. Chitta manifests itself in all these different forms - scattering, darkening, weakening, and concentrating. These are the four states in which the mind-stuff manifests itself. First a scattered form, is activity. Its tendency is to manifest in the form of pleasure or of pain. Then the dull form is darkness, the only tendency of which is to injure others.

Sun Ray Therapy

2012-06-10T22:06:00.000-07:00

Sun is easily accessible to all. Through the sun rays many ailments could be cured. This is an amazing system of cure in Ayurveda. It is famous not only in India but all over the world. In ancient Rome this system was very popular and it was called Heliotherapy and Chromo therapy. The capital of Italy, Rome is a very ancient city. The foundation of the city was laid by the god Romulus who lives in the mountain of Peleta. It is on his name that the city gets its title Rome. According to famous physician of Rome, Dr. Tilani in ancient Rome there was no physician for almost 600 years. The reason was that there was no need of a physician. The ancient people of Rome used sun rays, exercises and fresh air and water to keep themselves hale and hearty. In those days Rome was a very powerful kingdom

Sun rays have many colors which make the air pure and destroy the microbes present in the atmosphere and the water. This goes on naturally and all by itself. The ancient Rishis used to worship the sun and realized that sun rays could help one regain lost health. Through the sun rays even chronic and old ailments could be cured permanently.

In the most ancient of texts, Vedas, there are verses dedicated to the sun. Worship of the sun was very popular in those days. The Gayatri Mantra that appears in the Vedas is a prayer to the sun god. In this mantra a worshipper prays to sun to bestow intelligence. The mantra is also called Savita mantra that means mantra of sun.

Benefits from the sun ray therapy

The place where the sun rays fall, no germs can emerge.

The sun rays are free from side effects. By the use of sun rays in fact the body could be made active and healthy and one could enjoy the life to full.

The heat from the sun increases perspiration and removes all ailments. It also enhances body power and enthusiasm. It removes all imbalances of the three humours namely vaat, pitt and kaf. It also cures leprosy, fever, pain and weakness. Through sun ray therapy a person could attain victory over all diseases and become long lived. One can increase energy in the body and live to an age of hundred.

From the sun rays one gets vital life energy called prana and also heat; both of which make the body healthy and long lived. The sun rays are also instrumental in producing the ozone gas which protects the earth from harmful ultraviolet rays. Ozone increases the body power and makes the blood pure. It also makes the heart strong and bones powerful.

Sun bath is advised for skin infections, chronic skin diseases like eczema and psoriasis, bronchitis, asthma, indigestion, musculoskeletal pain, arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Sun bath should be taken bare skin early in the morning for half an hour.

The Need of a Guru

2012-06-10T10:21:00.000-07:00

Swami Mukundananda

Every soul is destined to be perfect, and every being, in the end, will attain the state of perfection. Whatever we are now is the result of our acts and thoughts in the past; and whatever we shall be in the future will be the result of what we think end do now. But this, the shaping of our own destinies, does not preclude our receiving help from outside; nay, in the vast majority of cases such help is absolutely necessary. When it comes, the higher powers and possibilities of the soul are quickened, spiritual life is awakened, growth is animated, and man becomes holy and perfect in the end.

This quickening impulse cannot be derived from books. The soul can only receive impulses from another soul, and from nothing else. We may study books all our lives, we may become very intellectual, but in the end we find that we have not developed at all spiritually. It is not true that a high order of intellectual development always goes hand in hand with a proportionate development of the spiritual side in Man.

In studying books we are sometimes deluded into thinking that thereby we are being spiritually helped; but if we analyse the effect of the study of books on ourselves, we shall find that at the utmost it is only our intellect that derives profit from such studies, and not our inner spirit. This inadequacy of books to quicken spiritual growth is the reason why, although almost every one of us can speak most wonderfully on spiritual matters, when it comes to action and the living of a truly spiritual life, we find ourselves so awfully deficient. To quicken the spirit, the impulse must come from another soul.

The person from whose soul such impulse comes is called the Guru — the teacher; and the person to whose soul the impulse is conveyed is called the Shishya — the student. To convey such an impulse to any soul, in the first place, the soul from which it proceeds must possess the power of transmitting it, as it were, to another; and in the second place, the soul to which it is transmitted must be fit to receive it. The seed must be a living seed, and the field must be ready ploughed; and when both these conditions are fulfilled, a wonderful growth of genuine religion takes place. "

The true preacher of religion has to be of wonderful capabilities, and clever shall his hearer be" — ; and when both of these are really wonderful and extraordinary, then will a splendid spiritual awakening result, and not otherwise. Such alone are the real teachers, and such alone are also the real students, the real aspirants. All others are only playing with spirituality. They have just a little curiosity awakened, just a little intellectual aspiration kindled in them, but are merely standing on the outward fringe of the horizon of religion.

There is no doubt some value even in that, as it may in course of time result in the awakening of a real thirst for religion; and it is a mysterious law of nature that as soon as the field is ready, the seed must and does come; as soon as the soul earnestly desires to have religion, the transmitter of the religious force must and does appear to help that soul. When the power that attracts the light of religion in the receiving soul is full and strong, the power which answers to that attraction and sends in light does come as a matter of course.

Swami Mukundananda

There are, however, certain great dangers in the way. There is, for instance, the danger to the receiving soul of its mistaking momentary emotions for real religious yearning. We may study that in ourselves. Many a time in our lives, somebody dies whom we loved; we receive a blow; we feel that the world is slipping between our fingers, that we want something surer and higher, and that we must become religious. In a few days that wave of feeling has passed away, and we are left stranded just where we were before.

We are all of us often mistaking such impulses for real thirst after religion; but as long as these momentary emotions are thus mistaken, that continuous, real craving of the soul for religion will not come, and we shall not find the true transmitter of spirituality into our nature. So whenever we are tempted to complain of our search after the truth that we desire so much, proving vain, instead of so complaining, our first duty ought to be to look into our own souls and find whether the craving in the heart is real. Then in the vast majority of cases it would be discovered that we were not fit for receiving the truth, that there was no real thirst for spirituality.

There are still greater dangers in regard to the transmitter, the Guru. There are many who, though immersed in ignorance, yet, in the pride of their hearts, fancy they know everything, and not only do not stop there, but offer to take others on their shoulders; and thus the blind leading the blind, both fall into the ditch. — "Fools dwelling in darkness, wise in their own conceit, and puffed up with vain knowledge, go round and round staggering to and fro, like blind men led by the blind." — (Katha Up., I. ii. 5). The world is full of these. Everyone wants to be a teacher, every beggar wants to make a gift of a million dollars! Just as these beggars are ridiculous, so are these teachers.