Moksha According To Yogic Philosophies

Moksha is a term used in many Indian religions. Someone who is thought to experience Moksha is absolved of the suffering and constant rebirth (reincarnation) that life brings. Constantly going through life and death is not considered to be a good thing according to many religious Indian people.

In Hinduism, Moksha cannot be obtained until one reaches a state of full self realization. A Hindu is likely to practice at least one form of Yoga. They also realize that God shows up in many different forms and is unlimited. He shows up personally and sometimes impersonally.

Four Yogas will take someone on the path to Moksha:

1. Karma Yoga – Work for the supreme.

2. Jnana Yoga – Realize the supreme.

3. Raja YogaMeditation on the supreme.

4. Bhakti Yoga – Serve the supreme with love and devotion.

Depending on which school of Hindu one decides to follow they will be required to follow one path or another. There are two major schools that are followed nowadays.

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The History Yoga In Early India

Yoga found it’s roots in ancient India. To practice yoga is to focus on enhancing both physical and mental discipline. There are many different schools of yoga; some of which I will briefly describe in this article.

A sage named Patanjali is believed to be the founder of Yoga by many people. He defines yoga as a practice that inhibits changes in the mind. Patanjali’s texts have influenced one of the most followed schools of meditation called Ashtanga Yoga (Eight-Limbed Yoga). Here are the eight limbs:

1. Yama – Devoid of lying, violence, covetousness, sensuality and being possessive.

2. Niyama – content, study, purity, austerity and belief in god.

3. Samadhi – to merge the conscious mind with the object of meditation.

4. Dhyana – Intensely contemplating the nature of meditation.

5. Pranayama – to stop (restrain), breath control.

6. Pratyahara – Remove the senses from external stimuli.

7. Asana – seated meditation.

8. Dharana – Focusing on one object.

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Help Your Kids To Get Fit and Stay That Way

Sports from childhood. Football (soccer) shown...

Children are becoming victims of obesity more and more each year. Obesity carries with it many health risks. Adults should help kids to get fit and stay that way if they are to learn healthy habits for a lifetime of better health. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that children receive an hour of physical activity each day in order to get fit and to stay fit. There are several keys to getting kids to want to do what has to be done to be fit and stay that way. Making physical activity fun is one such key.

Kids will do what is fun and what is interesting to them. If you make physical activity look like something fun, they will do it without complaint. If you tell them it is good for them, they may just balk at doing it. Activities that most kids love to do include dancing, using a mini-trampoline, obstacle courses, and games of competition. During the hot weather months if you can design fitness around some kind of water sport you will have a sure winner on your hands.

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How Much Do You Know About Pilates?

If you want a conditioned body, or want to increase your strength, endurance or coordination than consider Pilates. Athletes and gymnasts use Pilates to build muscles, flexibility and improve circulation. Hollywood uses Pilates to sculpt lean, photogenic bodies.

The founder of Pilates, Joseph Pilates was frail as a child, suffering from asthma. During WWI, he designed exercises to help soldiers who were immobilized to regain muscles and mobility after bed rest. He incorporated the mind-body formats found in yoga and Chinese martial arts. Joseph Pilates believed that movement training could manage pain with non-weight bearing exercises that improved muscle strength without causing harm.

There are two methods used when doing Pilates including mat exercises and various machines that are designed to strengthen the body using resistance. The key to Pilates is making your movements smooth, purposeful and with control. Originally Pilates was designed as a system that utilizes both the mat and equipment. Individuals will achieve the most benefit if they work the entire system. It is important to remember whom the system was first designed for: those who were injured or ill.

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Stress Management Tip: Physical Exercise

Any form of physical exercise can be a great way to reduce stress. By regularly going to a gym, for a run or competing in a team sport, an outlet is created that gives you the opportunity to focus on an enjoyable activity and literally forget about the day to day events that may contribute to stress in your life.

By doing physical exercise the body will inevitably get fitter and stronger. A fit person is less likely to get sick and tired especially during stressful periods. As a person becomes fitter, their self esteem and self worth will naturally increase. This also reduces the likely hood of succumbing to stress and in fact will typically have a better chance of coping with stressful situations.

Competitive forms of exercise can also help reduce stress. Normally, competitive sport will require participants to regularly train, set goals and work in a team. They are also required to learn how to cope with stressful moments during a game as well deal with both victory and defeat. Such activities emulate real life situations and therefore will help you to deal with the challenges that life may bring you.

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Stress Management Tip: The Power of Prayer

Prayer is a direct way of way of communicating and conversing with God. Prayer is a spiritual exercise that helps strengthen your own spirit as well your connection to God. The more you pray the more intimate your relationship with God becomes. It involves more than just asking for help. You can discuss the happenings of your day; you can give thanks to him for all his divine blessings; you can ask him to share his blessings with your family and the whole world; you can even use it as a way to listen to God.

The use of prayer can be a great form of stress relief. However it requires that you believe in God and that you have faith that he knows what is best for you and most importantly that he will look after you. By praying to God for help, especially during stressful periods, during your darkest hours, you can rest assured that God is listening to you and will help. No matter how hopeless your situation may be, have belief that miracles can and do happen. This ultimately gives you hope and the strength to carry on in your time of need.

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Yoga Beginner – Getting It Right

When it comes to promoting relaxation and reducing stress, nothing beats yoga. Unfortunately this isn’t the case for everyone. Most people who quit yoga think they fail because they are unable to get the positions and technique right. In fact, the reason they fail is that they put too much importance on getting the positions and technique right.

I do not profess to be a master of yoga. In fact, I am a beginner, with very little skill. However I have taught drumming for many years, and the pitfalls are similar. Here is my advice for yoga beginners.

Week 1 – Enjoy the activity:

Grab a beginner yoga video and set up your mat in a place that you can be comfortable and alone (there’s no room for self-consciousness in this step). Go through the exercises, but act as though you are a six year old having fun, rather than an adult worrying about technique. Try all of the positions, don’t worry if there are some you can’t perform right away, modify as necessary.

Week 2 – Examine the sensations:

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Breathe Easily During Exercise Blend

Before exercising, spray this recipe into the air and breathe deeply to help soothe breathing passages.

* Lemon 50 drops
* Lavender 50 drops
* Eucalyptus 30 drops
* Clove 20 drops
* Pure Water 4 fluid ounces (120 ml)

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Originally posted 2007-03-17 15:13:03. We hope you have enjoyed this Post From the Past!


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Tummy Tightening and Weight Loss

With all the diet fads and quick weight loss claims out there, how do you know who and what to trust for a successful weight loss plan?

The truth is, there are so many different voices of reason out there that no one weight loss solution is suitable for everyone. If you are serious about wanting to lose weight successfully without falling victim to yo-yo dieting, a reliable rule of thumb is: when in doubt, go organic. This means no miracle pills, no secret formulas, no magical weight loss belts, but rather pure organic exercise, healthy eating and nutrition. It may not sound as easy as a miracle pill but it is definitely more reliable. One great way to get a little exercise and work at slimming your bulge is to focus on tummy tightening.

Tummy Tightening the organic way…

The good news about tummy tightening is that you can pretty much get started anytime, anywhere. Here’s a couple organic tummy tightening exercises that you can perform either at a gym, in your living room or in the open space of your back yard:

1. The crunch

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Yoga Breathing Exercises For Stress

Harmony is something that is quite elusive in these modern times. I needn’t explain this statement to anyone who is juggling family, work, commuting, etc., while trying to fit in financial planning, exercise, a modicum of recreation, and who knows what else, only to have a health crisis, or some other “deal with me now’ situation occur without warning.

Add to this recipe the stimulants prescribed by Dr. Technology, a helpful yet sometimes overzealous and seductive caregiver, and the world does indeed seem to be spinning out of control, or at least at a faster whirl on its axis.

Yoga, learned properly and incorporated into one’s life as a daily practice, transforms. Some who are reading this may know this from experience; others may have dabbled in a class or two and found it helpful at the time, but may never have learned moment to moment use to relieve stress and anxiety.

An intrinsic part of yoga, in fact inseparable from its proper practice, is pranayama, the control of the breath. The breath, and how deeply or shallowly, slowly or rapidly we engage in this prerequisite for staying alive, is intimately connected to how we feel. It reflects our emotional, mental, and physical states in every moment. Changing the breath, consciously, can alter these states.

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