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Friday, March 21, 2008

Yoga Can Get Your Diet on the Right Track

The ancient Indian sages were involved in intensive study and research into the nutritional value of food and one of the upshots of this was that they divided food into three categories which became known as Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamasic.

Tamasic food can be said to be in the lowest category as far as its food value is concerned and it is classed as being without quality prana (life energy).

Rajasic food is stimulating, possesses considerable prana and forms a significant percentage of the average persons diet.

Sattvic food however, is the only category that fulfills the ideal food of the Vedic teachings. It comprises foods that are fresh and natural, and contain a high pranic or life content. Some examples are fresh fruits, nuts and vegetables.

The teachings encourage an adherence, in the main, to the Sattvic foods, balanced by a percentage of the Rajasic class, but an abstinence from foods that are classed as Tamasic; in that have little or no prana.

These ancient principles are still adhered to today and it has been amply demonstrated by contemporary food scientists at the Yogic Umachal hospital in india that the ancient teachings are, in fact, quite valid.

Although modified to some extent, a simple parallel can be seen in the conclusions of western nutritionists who recommend that people:

avoid lowest grade foods; those that are commercially produced using artificial flavorings, colorings and that contain chemical preservatives and additives

eat limited quantities of rich, highly spiced, highly processed and cooked food, as well as butter, cheese, eggs, chocolate, confectionery and other foods containing high levels of processed cane and beet sugar, and

ensure that a high percentage of the diet should consist of fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs, nuts and grains

The important difference is that modern diets still include great quantities of meats of all kinds. These are totally excluded in the Yoga diet for several reasons.

The traditional Yogic rule of nutrition excludes them as being devoid of life energy or pranathey are in fact classed as dead foods

Meats in quantity cause acidity and leave deposits of toxins in the blood that can cause arthritis and other diseases, depending upon the health of the animal whose flesh was consumed, and

Yoga adherents believe firmly that no one who loves animals would wish to kill them and eat them or even to foster their exploitation for human consumption

It is the over-riding altruistic reverence for all life that influences a tradition that precludes killing animals for food. The Yogis diet is therefore vegetarian.

This as well as other Yoga teachings and disciplines are incorporated into personal Sadhana according to the individuals choice and understanding of health and spiritual matters.

Sally Janssen is one of the best known Yoga teachers in australia, and is a former President of the international Yoga teachers Association. She runs an informational website that deals with the very spirit of traditional Yoga. To benefit from her extensive knowledge be sure to visit her site at http://www.classical-yoga.com

Dvd Exercise In Malaysia Yoga

Quit Smoking: Why People Do Bad Things (Even When They Know They Shouldn't)

Do you do Bad Things? Even though you know you shouldn't?

It's not your fault. It really isn't. You know you should stop doing it, but no matter how much you know that, and how much you try, you just can't stop!

Everyone knows how to lose weight. Don't eat fattening foods. exercise. Everyone knows how to give up smoking. Dont light the cigarette. Yet having this knowledge just isn't enough. Sometimes even having the desire isn't enough! Time and again I hear about people who get really close to quitting smoking. They can get all the way down to one or two cigarettes a day, but just can't give up those last two. Many even make it all the way down to zero, but the cravings, oh the cravings! They are wretched, those cravings. Most will go back to smoking within the first few days. They can cut away most of the "stuff" that keeps them glued to the cigarettes, even not be addicted to nicotine anymore(!), but there is just something deep in their core that magnetically pulls them back in, like two lovers who know they are bad for each other but just can't help themselves.

What is this thing? What is at this core?

Let me take a step back for a moment. How many adults do you know who are happy? I mean really, truly happy? Think that question is foolishness? Let me ask you this. How many people do you know who love their work? I'm talkin' jump out of bed in the morning, can't wait to start. Sadly, the percentage is very small. Why is this?

We live in an interesting quick-fix culture. People don't really have to deal with their issues. We've got:

* television
* movies
* shopping
* toys
* and hitting the gym

to distract us and make us feel better. Even more than that, many people's issues are quite buried. Think of dreams that were squashed when we were young. "An artist? You could never make a living at that! You should be a doctor!" People often forget what their dreams once were.

As a result, I see an awful lot of unhappy, unfulfilled people walking around. They don't know what is bothering them, they just have that gnawing feeling that there must be more. Advertisers pray on this, selling us more and more bottles and gizmos to give us that ever elusive Happiness.

True inner needs? People either:

* think they're impossible to fulfill
* are too scared and resigned to fulfill them
* or are so disassociated from those needs that they don't even know what they would be even if they had to guess!

All those "bad" things -- smoking, overeating, gambling, alcohol, the list goes on and on -- are easy ways to fill the void. Smokers will be able to relate to this one -- if you've just had a fight with your family, what do you do? You go for a smoke. Smoking makes it feel like the problem goes away. (I call this the "smokescreen." Har har!)

I'll let you in on a little secret--the real reason it's so hard to quit is not the nicotine. It's this void-filling. When you quit smoking (or any bad habit), you're suddenly faced with real life. All those stresses and needs that you've been avoiding? There they are, pulling at your coat tails, yelling, "Pay attention to me! Pay attention to me!" If you got in touch with your real inner needs and took baby steps to start fulfilling them, you would actually have little desire for cigarettes. It's true! I see it happen time and again in my Stop Smoking Coaching practice.

How do you do that, you ask? Here are some baby steps that you can start trying out now:

* Next time, instead of taking that quick fix--stop.
* Have a little quiet time and listen to what your insides have been trying to tell you.
* Try journaling -- don't edit your thoughts, just write.
* Some people find meditation and yoga to be great accesses.
* Try deep breathing.
* Go for a quiet, leisurely walk by yourself.
* Personally, I find it easiest to just start noticing where in life I seem to be avoiding things the most, or if I want something more immediate and active, doing a mindmap (a word drawing) to figure out what I'm really thinking.

For each person, the key to figuring out your needs is different. play around with it, don't give up! You'll be glad you did!

Jill Binder is The Stop Smoking Coach with a 90 day program to show people the 8 steps to quitting smoking forever, with a 100% success rate. She is the author of "What's Your Smoking Type?" and has appeared on "Daytime" (TV), "Radioactive women" (Radio), "Good times" (magazine), and "Metro toronto Today" (newspaper).

You can sign up for her newsletter, "YourTurn - Turn Your Weaknesses Into Your Perfect Life" at http://www.StopSmokingCoach.ca

Cl In Yoga

5 Gifts to make Labor and Birth Easier

1. books- Inundate her with positive birth stories. The more she reads about how beautiful and positive labor and birth can be, the less fear she will have, and the better her labor and birth will go. Try:
Ina Mays Guide To Childbirth, by Ina May Gaskin
journey Into Motherhood, by Sheri Menelli
Mothers Intention: How Belief Shapes Birth, by Kim Wildner
The Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth, by Susan McCutcheon-Rosegg

2. A Birth ball- Any exercise ball will do. She can use it during pregnancy to practice good posture, during labor to sit on in the shower, or to lean on for back labor. After the baby is here, she can hold the baby and sit and bounce gently. Babies love it!

3. A Doula-Chip in with some friends to pay for or help pay for her to hire a doula. research shows that a doulas presence facilitates several factors in labor and birth: 25% reduction in length of labor, a 60% reduction in epidural requests, a 30% reduction in analgesia use, a 50% reduction in cesarean rate, a 40% reduction in Pitocin use. Find a doula at www.birthresourcenetwork.org, or www.dona.org, or www.alace.org. or www.beautifulbeginnings.org

4. prenatal Yoga Series or dvd- research has proven that yoga can:
Relieve back pain
Induce relaxation and relieve stress
Increase stamina
Produce healthier babies and mothers
By working on breath control exercises, mothers are better able to use their breath to relax during labor.

Make sure the class is prenatal Yoga. For more information and other links go to www.yogajanda.com

5. Feed her or do chores for her- For those who cant afford to spend a lot, organize friends and/or family to bring food over every night for the first week or two. Make sure she can freeze it. Or assign people to come over and do laundry, or grocery shop, or vacuum. Just make sure no one stays too long. Its easy to tire a new mother.

And And Cl Yoga

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