Articles

Meditation on Silence: As Per Bhagavad Gita

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The message of the Gita is the message of action. It is the action for the betterment of the world. Bhagavad Gita came into the picture when the greatest warrior of the land, Arjun’s was unwilling to perform his duty as a warrior. Bhagavad Gita taught us to be wiser, and to be happier, as a person, wife, … Read more

How to Meditate: 12 Simple Steps

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How to Meditate? There are numerous ways you can meditate. But here I am giving below just twelve simple steps for deep meditation. As you practice meditation, you will move into deeper realities of tranquility and calmness of life. 1.Time for Meditation Ideally speaking, early morning around 4:00 to 6:30 AM is the best time for meditation. However, … Read more

Mudra : Origins, Power and Benefits

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Originally mudras were used by the Hindus for rituals, relaxation and deep meditation. Now mudras are one hundred percent compatible with all religions. All the Hindu Gods and Goddesses have some form  of mudras. Lord Buddha uses gayana mudra.  Mudra is a sanskrit word. In the word “mudra” mud, means “joy” and ra, means “produce.”  Hence, mudra … Read more

Your Health and Yoga Postures

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For a good health; Healthy Nervous system, Healthy Endocrine Glands and Healthy Digestive System is must. Spine and the brain is the key to health. Yoga is for developing Healthy Nervous system, Healthy Endocrine Glands and Healthy Digestive System. These three are very essential prerequisites for vitality and energy. You must follow the basic yoga guidelines.

Healthy Endocrine System

The most vital glands in the human body are the pituitary, pineal, thyroid, adrenal, pancreas and sex glands. The pituitary and pineal glands are situated in the brain, the thyroid is in the neck area, the adrenals and pancreas in the solar plexus area and the sex glands in the pelvic region. The function of these glands is to secrete powerful hormones which control your growth, weight and size. They also determine your metabolism, vitality,  and emotional stability. Since the pituitary and pineal glands are situated in the brain, the headstand has a powerful effect on them.

Thyroid gland problems are very common and often go undiagnosed until the symptoms are very obvious. The shoulder stand is specific for the thyroid gland and will prevent and help cure thyroid gland problems.

The hormones secreted by the sex glands are key for sparkling eyes, smooth skin and a warm personality. The reverse posture stimulates these glands and therefore the production of the hormones.

The adrenal glands produce a variety of hormones such as adrenaline and cortisone that are important in controlling your stress and immunity. The twist posture is a powerful stimulant to the adrenal glands, causing them to release extra energy to boost your vitality level.

The correct functioning of the pancreas is vital to our health. The pancreas, secretes two hormones, called insulin and glucogen, which help to balance the body’s sugar level. If the pancreas is not working properly, diabetes may develop. Diabetes is a serious disease, since complications such as blindness, heart attacks or strokes may occur. To help prevent diabetes, it is recommended that you follow the nutritional principles outlined here, especially by avoiding concentrated sugar foods.

Healthy Nervous System (Brain and Spine)

Nerves from the brain and spine go to every tissue in the body and therefore the health of every tissue in the body depends upon the health of the brain and spine.

Yoga poses like headstand causes an increase in circulation to the brain, which stimulates the brain’s nerve cells. This results in increased vitality and improved brain function (intelligence and memory). Since the nerves from the spine go to all the organs and glands of the body, a healthy spine obviously plays an important role in vitality and rejuvenation. In fact, the spine is more critical to our well-being than the brain, since the brain is well protected by the cranium or skull bone. Where the spinal nerves leave the spine and pass through the intervertebral foramina is a very vulnerable area. If a vertebra is slightly out of place, it may cause the nerve to be ‘pinched’ in the intervertebral foramina. The spinal nerves do not have protection against mechanical insults as the brain does.

The ancient yogis fully understood the vulnerability of the spine and the tendency for slight spinal misalignments to occur. They also knew that if the spine was kept flexible by yoga asanas there would be much less chance of spinal misalignments. Some of the asanas will even correct some minor misalignments.

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Yoga Postures Basic Rules

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The basic guidelines and the rules of yoga postures and asanas are discussed in detail. These rules are very easy to follow. These will help the beginners in doing yoga. If you have high blood pressure, dizziness, serious eye problems or other health problems take your doctor’s opinion before you start yoga practices. Specially, certain … Read more

Laughter is the Best Medicine: The Art of Inner Smile Meditation and Laughter Yoga

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Laughter lightens our burdens. As time progress, we grow older and our luggage increases. Often mind becomes so serious. We almost forget to smile. We forget to love. We forget to share happiness. We become too occupied with the muddy things of the past and habitually our mind is occupied with the thoughts of security of the future. In the olden days seriousness was synonyms with spirituality. But in modern days, seriousness is not only opposite to health but it is also opposite to spirituality.  Now, laughter is the not only the symbol of youth, vitality and growth; it is also the symbol of life and holiness. Laughter is doorway to holiness. Laughter is the most magnificent gift of nature.

Sincerity and Seriousness:

Stress

Sincerity means genuineness and earnestness in our purpose.  We should be sincere in our purpose but that does not mean we have to be serious on every thing. As we become serious our muscles become tight. Our flexibility reduces.   It creates several blockages in our blood flow system. We can reduce our seriousness and by that we can reduce our muscle tensions. There are hundreds of ways to reduce seriousness.  Think of the moon, think of the Sun, think of the planet Jupiter and asteroids; they are dancing and laughing. But you and I are worried about the collisions. It may come any time; there are quantum possibilities. We are always worried about those quantum possibilities. Remove those thoughts of negative possibilities from life. Seriousness is a disease; get out of that.

Seven Great Spiritual Habits

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Overcoming spiritual bad habits is a challenge but daily practice of good habits can overcome them. We all know about these seven great  spiritual habits to enhance our spirituality. Nothing is new about these, but we have forgotten all of them. This is to remind you of them. I am writing these points so that they should be firmly grounded in our mind. This is to improve the habits of mind.

Habit 1: Stay Active and Alive All the Day

Stay active throughout the day. This is one of the most important spiritual habits. As you are growing older, you need to increase your hormonal balance. Hormonal balance is the first thing of modern spirituality. Om meditation is a easiest way for hormonal balance. If your health is perfect, your spirit will be perfect and in perfect spirit you can realize the depth of your higher spirit. Insulin is one of the most important hormone to keep under balance for real spiritual progress. The first step to improve your insulin sensitivity is to participate in some sort of physical activity periodically throughout the day. It is not necessary that you have to go to gym regularly and perform vigorous exercises but you can easily do your home works like cooking, going to market, buying something new and fresh, walking on the footpath. Shopping malls are now a days are the best place for doing spiritual activities like mindfulness meditation.  Spirituality means something related to higher spirit. In this new era of spiritual freedom, you need to drop the old ideas of spirituality.

Active Walking
Active Walking

Habit 2: Drink Enough Water

Normally, we need to drink at least 1.5 litres of water daily to stop us getting dehydrated. This works out to be about ten x 150ml or 8 x 200ml glasses of water. You can drink more if you can. “God’s spirit hovered over the water.” (Genesis 1:2). About 60 percent of our body weight is water. We can not ignore water in our body. For spirituality, we can go to the churches and temples. But unfortunately we have forgotten the water, the living spirit in our body.

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Daily Hindu Meditation: According to Bhagavad Gita

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Meditation is meant for integrating and bringing fulfillment in our day to day life activities. It is to clean the mental toxins.  It has nothing to do with philosophy. Philosophy came later into the meditation for different purpose, mainly to attract mind oriented people. However, Bhagavad Gita meditation is much more real and much more practical.  Bhagavad Gita meditation deepens our understanding for skillful actions and for wise choices in life. Bhagavad Gita taught us to be wiser, and to be happier, as a better person, a better spouse, family man, parent, child, sibling, colleague, neighbor and world citizen.

Body Preparation:

According to the Bhagavad Gita the knowledge of the field (body) and the knower of the field (the consciousness) is the true knowledge.

“This body, Kaunteya, is called the field;
this one who knows  the nature of the field,
is known as the knower of the field.
And also this knower of this field is the knower of all fields, 
knowledge of this field and the knower of the field, is the true knowledge. “

– Bhagavad Gita [13.1-3]

When you want to meditate, first, wash your feet. This is the first step of all Hindu meditations.  In meditation your body must feel fresh, comfortable, relaxed and clean. Taking a shower or even washing your face, hands and feet will give you a fresher feeling. In the morning, your body must feel comfortable for meditation. You can empty the bladder and bowels first and then prepare for meditation. Bhagavad Gita [6.11] said “Having established a firm seat, let him firmly hold his body, head, and neck erect and still, gazing at the tip of the nose above the lips, without looking around,  thinking of pure Love.”

“The supreme Spirit in this body is also known as the observer, allower, supporter, experiencer, the great Lord and the supreme soul.
Whoever thus knows Spirit and nature of the body together with the qualities,
even in any stage of existence, she is not born again.”

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Mindfulness Meditation

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Mindfulness means deep awareness. Concentration and mindfulness works together. If there is no concentration there cannot be any mindfulness. Mindfulness re-establish the neural connections.  The details of Buddhist mindfulness meditation is discussed in Satipatthana Sutta. Combination of concentration techniques like; Transcendental Meditation(TM) and mindfulness meditation like vipassana meditation or   Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) generates the best result. Because concentration … Read more

Mantra Meditation

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Mantra meditation is the most direct way to experience the divinity within. It brings inner calmness and deep relaxation. The mantra is existed in your subconscious mind in a latent form. Purpose of mantra meditation is to awaken that latent energy. Spiritual transformation using mantra is an ancient effective tool for peace, happiness and overall health. The silent repetition of the seed mantras in your meditation creates a vibration that helps you to experience the space between your thoughts and that creates a state of “restful awareness”.