My Yoga Journey

A person is said to have achieved yoga, the union with Self, when the perfectly disciplined mind gets freedom from all desires, and becomes absorbed in the Self alone.

Bhagwad Gita 6.16-18

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Yoga is the cessation of movements of the mind. Then there is abiding in the seer’s own form.

Patanjali

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Yoga is not a religion. It is a science, science of well-being, science of youthfulness, science ofintegrating body, mind and soul.

Amit Ray

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Yoga practice can make us more sensitive to subtler sensations in the body. Paying attention to and staying with finer sensations within the body is one of the surest ways to steady the wandering mind.

Ravi Ravindra

Experienced some technical issues tonight, so turned to Downtempo Soundscapes. Amazing tunes! #yoga http://songza.com/listen/downtempo-soundscapes-songza/ 

Remember:  Thoughts –> Feelings –> Actions –> Results

Purging feels so good! Let go of what you don’t need or no longer serves you to make way for what truly does. Physically, emotionally & spiritually.

Just like we clear our lungs to take in new air, we need to empty our minds of dull ideas to create brighter lives.

“The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.” - Elisabeth Foley

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” - Dr. Seuss

There comes a point in your life when you realize who really matters, who never did, and who always will.
- Unknown

Your health is the foundation your entire life is built on. When the foundation is weak, everything built upon it collapses. Start building a strong foundation today.

Fear is not real. Fear is a choice

He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.

- Lao Tzu

The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.

– B.B. King

Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.

— Francis of Assisi

“Ordinarily what we think is joy is not joy; at the most it is entertainment. It is just a way to avoid oneself. It is a way to intoxicate oneself; to be drowned in something. Anything that comes from the outside is not, and cannot be, a joy. Anything that depends on something is not, and cannot be, a joy. Joy arises out of your very core. It is absolutely independent of any outer circumstance. It is not an escape from oneself; it is really encountering oneself. Joy arises only when you come home.”
- OSHO

newyorker:

Jolie’s medical decision says again what shouldn’t need re-saying: that a woman’s body is hers, that breasts are for something other than ogling, and that hard choices are made for strong reasons. Her decision to make her choice public is bold and brave and admirable. It is what celebrity is for.

—Rebecca Mead on Angelina Jolie’s decision to make her mastectomy public: 

http://nyr.kr/16xgKDW

New Study Reveals That Yoga Changes Gene Expression
 

Recent research conducted by Harvard Medical School Professor and Body Mind Medical Institute founder Herbert Benson, M.D., has identified that the body’s relaxation state found in yoga alters the physical and emotional response to stress, resulting in a more powerful immune system. Benson has coined this “relaxation response”, which can be induced by regular yoga practice, breathing exercises, and meditation.

“Many studies have shown that mind/body interventions like the relaxation response can reduce stress and enhance wellness in healthy individuals and counteract the adverse clinical effects of stress in conditions like hypertension, anxiety, diabetes, and aging,” said Benson. “Now for the first time we have identified the key physiological hubs through which these benefits might be induced,” he said.

This has always been a theory, but alas it is now measurable. In this new study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers are able to measure bodily changes induces by the relaxation response by examining changes in gene expression.

The study conducted included 26 adults who had claimed to have never practiced anything regularly that would trigger the relaxation response. Study participants willingly had their blood tested before and after a controlled session where they listened to a health information CD for twenty minutes. The researchers then had the participants embark on an eight week relaxation response training course. After the course was conducted, the original blood sample study was conducted again.

Researchers found differences in gene expression in blood samples taken before and after the relaxation response training course. Specific gene changes included change in energy metabolism, insulin, and stress related pathways. “People have been engaging in these relaxation practices for thousands of years, and our finding of this unity of function on a basic-science, genomic level gives greater credibility to what many have called ‘new age medicine’” said Benson in his statement.

Towia Libermann, PhD, director of the BIDMC Genomics Center and the report’s co-senior author, adds, “This is the first comprehensive study of how the mind can affect gene expression, linking what has been looked on as a ‘soft’ science with the ‘hard’ science of genomics. It is also important because of its focus on gene expression in healthy individuals, rather than in disease states.”

Science proved that mind over matter is a real thing. So relax. If you think that yoga is too much, simply try slow, controlled breathing to regulate the heart rate and lower blood pressure. Regular yoga practice can lead to a more controlled temper, resulting in less stress, leading to a healthier body. For breathing techniques, search for Kundalini Yoga classes in your area, and for a more movable practice, try Hatha or Vinyasa. You have nothing to lose except for your genes.

Written By: Kerry Myers

Source: The Guardian Express 

Let food by thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.
Hippocrates

Within you, there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.”

– Hermann Hesse

Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer.”

– William S. Burroughs

Learning to let go should be learned before learning to get. Life should be touched, not strangled. You’ve got to relax, let it happen at times, and at others move forward with it.”

– Ray Bradbury

“When you’re always trying to conform to the norm, you lose your uniqueness, which can be the foundation for your greatness.”

— Dale Archer

The atrocities that have been committed for generations against women in India are finally coming to light. Now let us pray that there will be a shift in how Indians view women and heed the words of one of the nation’s greatest leaders:

“To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man’s injustice to woman. If by strength is meant brute strength, then, indeed, is woman less brute than man. If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man’s superior. Has she not greater intuition, is she not more self-sacrificing, has she not greater powers of endurance, has she not greater courage? Without her, man could not be. If nonviolence is the law of our being, the future is with woman. Who can make a more effective appeal to the heart than woman?” 
― Mahatma Gandhi