beyond the division of Yin and Yang

The upper cinnabar field , the energy-centre between the eyebrows, is the place of the true self, the inner guide – our access to the intuitive mind and to universal wisdom. The third eye is known in many cultures as the eye of knowledge and vision, which is able to see past, present and future. In the Chinese alchemical body map, it is the place where Lao zi sites in meditation; the place beyond the division of Yin and Yang, beyond duality – the place of the impartial observer, the true alchemist. It is above the influence of the five elements, which create movement and transformation whichin the physical and energy bodies.In the Indian tradition, it is the Ajna chakra (‘ajna’ means ‘to know and to command’). Its trigger point is between the eyebrows, but its root is deep within the brain at the pineal gland. In the Indian system, this is also seen as the place above duality and the place above the interactions of the five elements. Here the Idea and Pingalanadis, the lunar and solar channels, merge and dissolve into each other. It is the centre of consciousness, which relates to the causal body whioch is above the distinction of gender. It exists outside time and space. It is also above karma.
Situated at the centre between the eyebrows is the knot of Rudra, sometimes called the know of shiva. This is the last knot, which creates a blockage between the brow centre represents complete union with divine consciousness.

Working with the upper dan tian brings mental clarity. It allows us to rise above the demands of the body and the emotions and to see with detachment. Once we access this part of our mind, it can act as our guide, our contact with intutive wisdom.When working with the Brow centre, physical exercise does not seem to be apporopriate, although it is important to ensure that the energy channels flowing through the neck and shoulders are free of obstruction. The following sequence of exercises ensures free-flow of energy into the head, the brain and the sensory orifices. Sit comfortably with the spine straight, or stand in the basic qi gong position.

1.Shoulders: With the hands hanging loosely at the side, jpull the shoulders up towards the ears, the shoulders up towards the ears, then let them go, releasing any tension keep the shoulders straight, not hunching forward, or stretching back, repeat five times. Bring the hands to the shoulders and rotate the arms, brnging the elbows together, then stretching away in as large a circle as possible. Repeat the opposite way.

2.Shoulder message : With the right elbow loosely supported in the palm of the left hand, make a first with the right hand and gently tap the top and back of the left shoulder. Release the first and tap the shoulders with the palm. Make sure that the elbow is well supported and the hand coimpletely relaxed. Repeat for the opposite side.

3.Neck streches: with the hands relaxed in the lap, breathe quietly. Take a breath in and exhaling bring the chin down to the chest, This should be a slow controlled movement, coordinated with the breath. Breathe in and return to the upright position. Breathe out as you allow the head to fall backwads. These movements should always be slow and controlled, allowing the weight of the head to stretch the muscles. Repeat for ten full breaths five complete movements.

4. Relax and take a few breaths. Breathe in and as you exhale, allow the head to fall slowly to the side bringing the ear towqards the shoulder. Do not force. Breathe in as you bring the head back to the central position. Repeat on the other side. A very gentle movement is sufficient to stimulate the meridians and to relax the muscles. Repeat for ten full breaths, five complete movements.

5.Relax again at the centre. Take a deep breath in. Keeping the head vertical, slowly rotate the head around to look over your right shoulder as you exhale. Keep the eyes open wide and look around as far as you can to the back. Make sure that the top of your head remains in the centre, the neck stretches upwards as if being pulled by a rope from the top of the head the chin is pulled slightly in as you breathe in, slowly bring the head back to the centre. Breathe out and move slowly to the left/ Repeat for ten breaths, five complete movements

6.Ears: Rub the hands together, until they are warm and place them over ears. With the thumb and index finger pull the ear lobes then gently squeeze around the rim of the ear. With the hands still loosely over the earl, allow the thumbs to rest in the hollow behind the ears at the base of the skull. Keeping the shoulders relaxed, gently push the thumbs upwards. Relax and repeat breathing out as you stretch the neck.

7.Eyes: sitting in a relaxed position with the wpine straight rub the hands together vigorosuly until they are hot. Place the hands over the eyes, the centre of the palm over the centre of the eyeball. Remain still for two to three minutes with the eyes closed. Repeat three times. With the thumb and forefinger, pinch along the eyebrows from the centre outwards.

8.HeadL: Shake the hands with the wirst loose. Keeping that same loose action , lift the hands above the head, and pat the head with the fingertips, beginning at the centre front and working slowly to the nape of the neck; gradually separate the hands and repeat, moving about an inch further from the centre line each time.

9. With the same loose wrist movement , tap the base of the skull with the fingertips.

10.Qi Sweeping: Place the palms of the hands over the eyes, then stroke the hands backwards, around the head, down the back of the neck across the shoulders and down the front of the body in one long sweeping movement as if you are brushing the body down. Repeat three times and remain sitting quietly for a few movements.

By: sanjoea

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Christian meditation is a way of communicating with God

Christian meditation is a way of communicating with God. Christians can use this meditation to clear their minds of the busy thoughts of the day and concentrate solely on worshipping God and learning the truths of the Bible.

Centuries ago, monks began practicing Christian meditation by reading over verses in the Bible and then thinking about the truths in these verses. Often, they would say the verses to God as a prayer. In this way, the monks learned to speak to God in prayer, and learned how to tell God their own thoughts and concerns. By meditating on Bible verses and praying to God, the monks trained their minds to always think about God. They called this “contemplation”, and it helped them to have a close, loving relationship with God.

By following this method of communicating with God, the monks created what is called the “ladder of prayer”. The rungs of the ladder included reading Bible verses, thinking about the truths in the verses, praying to God, and learning to think about God always.

In the 1900s, two types of Christian meditation were used. Using a mantra, or word that is repeated to help the Christian focus on God, was one type of meditation. An example of a mantra would be the word Maranatha, which is an Aramaic word for “come, Lord”. Christians would also use what is called a Centering Prayer, which uses a sacred word or words to bring the Christian into God's presence. These two types of Christian meditation helped the people using them to take their focus off their own problems and to turn to God to hear what He had to say to them.

A woman named St. Theresa of Avila created five steps to help Christians focus on God when praying. These five steps are known as the five R's.

- The first R is Ready: this is the step in which the Christian realizes that he/she is in the presence of God. To be ready to continue in prayer, the Christian thanks God for the many blessings He gives, and confesses any sins.
- The second R is Read, and includes reading prayers, spiritual books, and the Bible.
- The third R is Reflect. In this step, the Christian focuses on what he/she has just read in order to come closer to God.
- The fourth R is Respond. It is at this step that the Christian speaks with God in an open and honest way about what he/she has been reading and thinking about. It is the most important step, as this is when God can share His wisdom and thoughts with the Christian.
- The fifth and final R is Resolve. This is when the Christian thanks God for what he/she has learned, and closes the time of prayer.

These different types of Christian meditation can all be useful in helping Christians to meet with God, come close to Him, and learn His truths. Christian meditation does not save a person from their sins; it is a tool that can be used by people who are already saved to build a stronger relationship with God.

By: Chelsea Aubin

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Yoga has series of mudras which help a person

We present some brilliant, very effective and simple mudras, which you can practice anytime and anywhere:

• GYAN MUDRA – This is one of the most important mudras. It is widely used in all yogic meditation practices. Join the tip of forefinger to the tip of the thumb. Hold together gently for at least 15-30 minutes.

Advantages

• Increases intelligence and wisdom
• Purifies the mind of the practitioner
• Cures many mental problems
• Makes one joyful
• Cures intoxication and addictive habits

• PURN GYAN MUDRA – This mudra is known as the mudra of Lord Buddha, since it was propagated by him. Sit cross-legged. Keep both hands in 'Gyan Mudra' Posture. Now keep right hand near chest region. Keep left hand near knee region.

Advantages

• Clears the aura in the subtle astral body
• Causes electrical changes in the electromagnetic activity of the brain leading to increased clarity and understanding
• Improves memory to a great extent
• Soothes irritable temperaments
• Improves intelligence and wisdom

• ABHAYA MUDRA - This is normally practiced after Gayatri Mantra recitation. Raise both your hands to the sides of your head. Touch the forefinger to tip of thumb (just as you do in Gyan Mudra). Hold the hand vertically straight by the sides.

Advantages

• Makes your mind fearless
• Gives you a feeling of courage and strength

• DHYAAN MUDRA - Sit cross-legged. Place hands in Gyan Mudra, on your lap. Right palm should rest above left palm in Gyan mudra

Advantages

• Makes you tremendously peaceful and tranquil
• Helps in increasing concentration powers
• Cures depression and other mental ailments
• Practitioner can experience the final state of eternal yogic bliss

• PRITHVI MUDRA - Touch the fore part of third finger (ring finger) to the tip of thumb.

Advantages

• Helps balance the earth element in the body
• Normalizes body equilibrium
• Makes you physically stronger
• Increases tolerance and patience
• Helps practitioners of spiritual meditation

• VARUN MUDRA - Touch the fore part of the smallest finger to the fore part of thumb.

Advantages

• Regular practice balances water element in body
• Improves physical appearance
• Decreases dryness in skin and body

• VAYU MUDRA - Fold the index finger (fore finger) on the base of thumb. Press the forefinger gently on the pad. Keep the other fingers away.

Advantages

• Helps in all nervous ailments
• Improves balance of air element in body
• Helpful in pains and aches
• Recommended for patients of Cerebral Palsy and Parkinson's ailments.

• PRAN MUDRA - Touch fore part of third (ring) finger and tip of fourth (little) finger to fore part of thumb.

Advantages

• Reduces body fatigue and thus energizing the whole body
• Improves eyesight
• Optimizes the circulation of the life current throughout the body

• MRITSANJIVINI MUDRA - Fold the index finger (fore finger) on the base of thumb. Press the forefinger gently on the pad. Touch the fore part of third (biggest) finger and fore part of fourth (ring) finger to the fore part of thumb.

Advantages

• Makes the heart stronger
• Very useful for people with heart ailments
• Helps normalize blood pressure
• Increases self-confidence

• SURYA MUDRA - Touch the third (ring) finger to the base of thumb. Press the thumb gently over this third (ring) finger. Keep the other fingers away.

Advantages

• Decreases Earth element in body
• Cures mental heaviness
• Reduces body fat
• Enhances weight loss

By: Sharon Hopkins -

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Sharon Hopkins, the webmaster for Yogawiz,mentions the importance of yoga and the benefits one can reap by it which has cured serious illnesses. , Yoga has series of mudras which help a person in his physical, mental and spiritual development.

Exploring Your Consciousness

It is necessary to understand something about that consciousness which is your Self, and about the matter which is the envelope of consciousness, but which the Self so often identifies with himself.

The great characteristic of consciousness is change, with a foundation of certainty that it is. The consciousness of existence never changes, but beyond this all is change, and only by the changes does consciousness become Self-consciousness.

Consciousness is an everchanging thing, circling round one idea that never changes--Self-existence. The consciousness itself is not changed by any change of position or place. It only changes its states within itself.

In matter, every change of state is brought about by change of place. A change of consciousness is a change of a state; a change of matter is a change of place. Moreover, every change of state in consciousness is related to vibrations of matter in its vehicle.

When matter is examined, we find three fundamental qualities--rhythm, mobility, stability--sattva, rajas, tamas.
Sattva is rhythm, vibration. It is more than; rajas, or mobility.

It is a regulated movement, a swinging from one side to the other over a definite distance, a length of wave, a vibration.

The question is often put: "How can things in such different categories, as matter and Spirit, affect each other? Can we bridge that great gulf which some say can never be crossed?"

Yes, the Indian has crossed it, or rather, has shown that there is no gulf. To the Indian, matter and Spirit are not only the two phases of the One, but, by a subtle analysis of the relation between consciousness and matter, he sees that in every universe the LOGOS imposes upon matter a certain definite relation of rhythms, every vibration of matter corresponding to a change in consciousness.

There is no change in consciousness, however subtle, that has not appropriated to it a vibration in matter;
there is no vibration in matter, however swift or delicate, which has not correlated to it a certain change in consciousness. That is the first great work of the LOGOS, which the Hindu scriptures trace out in the building of the atom, the Tanmatra, " the measure of That," the measure of consciousness.

He who is consciousness imposes on his material the answer to every change in consciousness, and that is an infinite number of vibrations. So that between the Self and his sheaths there is this invariable relation: the change in consciousness and the vibration of matter, and vice versa. That makes it possible for the Self to know the Not-Self.

These correspondences are utilised in Raja Yoga and Hatha Yoga, the Kingly Yoga and the Yoga of Resolve. The Raja Yoga seeks to control the changes in consciousness, and by this control to rule the material vehicles. The Hatha Yoga seeks to control the vibrations of matter, and by this control to evoke the desired changes in consciousness.

The weak point in Hatha Yoga is that action on this line cannot reach beyond the astral plane, and the great strain imposed on the comparatively intractable matter of the physical plane sometimes leads to atrophy of the
very organs, the activity of which is necessary for effecting the changes in consciousness that would be useful.

The Hatha Yogi gains control over the bodily organs with which the waking consciousness no longer concerns itself, having relinquished them to its lower part, the " subconsciousness',

This is often useful as regards the prevention of disease, but serves no higher purpose. When he begins to work on the brain centres connected with ordinary consciousness, and still more when he touches those connected
with the super-consciousness, he enters a dangerous region, and is more likely to paralyse than to evolve.

That relation alone it is which makes matter cognizable; the change in the thinker is answered by a change outside, and his answer to it and the change in it that he makes by his. answer re-arrange again the matter of the body which is his envelope.

Hence the rhythmic changes in matter are rightly called its cognizability. Matter may be known by consciousness, because of this unchanging relation between the two sides of the manifest LOGOS who is one, and the Self becomes aware of changes within himself, and thus of those of the external words to which those changes are related.

By: Peter Lee

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A yoga session is designed for balance.

Yoga exercises strengthen your body and make it more flexible. Yoga also calms your mind and gives you energy. In active sports or strenuous exercises, you use up energy. In yoga classes, students report that they feel tranquil after a class, yet have more energy. Slow and steady motion is the key to going into or coming out of the postures. You hold a yoga pose for several seconds or even minutes and give attention to full, quiet breath. Your yoga instructor will always encourage you to relax as the exercises are being done.

You gently place your body into a yoga posture. Done correctly, there's very little chance of injury or muscle stress. A particular asana is not repeated dozens of times, nor are you ever encouraged to push yourself too much.

A yoga session is designed for balance. You stretch to the right and then to the left. You bend back and then forward. You learn to recognize when one side is stronger or more flexible than the other. Thus harmony and balance are achieved with yoga practice.

People of all ages can practice yoga exercises. They are easily modified to meet your needs and physical condition. Don't be put off by the difficult looking postures you may see in a yoga book. A skilled teacher can adapt most asanas by using chairs, cushions, even a wall or other props. A yoga practice can be tailor-made just for you. If something is really impossible for you to do, just forget it. Never compete with yourself or others. Yoga is a stress-free but powerful way to exercise.

Yoga is good for increasing your flexibility and relieving stress, but it doesn't take the place of aerobic exercise. You should still do regular, aerobic exercise, which increases your cardiovascular fitness, helps you lose weight, and, for people with non-insulin-dependent (type II) diabetes at least, improves blood glucose control.

Proponents of yoga exercise argue that it has a multiplicity of techniques to counter that cause and, unlike drug therapy, attack the cause, not just the symptoms. It offers, they say, a holistic approach to health and fitness. Many professional athletes, looking for the edge have turned to yoga as a supplementary form of training. They have found that yoga aids their state of mental and physical relaxation between training sessions, and their crucial build-up to big meets, where a competition is usually won or lost in the mind.

By: Ann Marier -

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Ann Merier writes articles about the home and family health. Her many article topics include mothers day,diabetes,detox diet,yoga,pilates exercise Beginners Yoga Pilates Exercise

How to add yoga to your busy schedule

Yoga is actually a way of life not just let’s do an hour here and there. Busy People probably need yoga more than others to de-stress and get that feeling of total relaxation. You want to practice yoga everyday and have the benefits of doing regular sessions but you are just too busy. Most of us are lucky if we can fit in a couple of sessions every week. Look for ways to practice yoga as you go through your regular daily routine and you will see the benefits in many situations.

How to add yoga to your daily schedule? You can’t just start doing yoga asana in the middle of the office. You can take other aspects of yoga and use them throughout your day. Practice awareness of your surroundings it easier said then done but once you get the hang of it you will notice that you are more aware of what is happening around you. You will enjoy life more and your senses will bring you closer to everyday occurrences that you may not have noticed before. A walk down the street while practicing awareness will show you the beauty of nature and give you peace and a calmness that will make your day more enjoyable.

By being in tune with your surroundings, you will be in control and that control will be conveyed by the language you use with people. When you are in a business meeting and you are in complete awareness of your environment you will be able to give very helpful input. Know what is happening in your body and be aware of your mental state. Do you need numerous cups of coffee with sugar to get through your day then transform your diet or get more sleep or both.

Another yoga technique to practice is .correct breathing. You can not be alert if you are not breathing properly throughout the day. Every cell in your body needs oxygen to function correctly and be in optimum health, do not deprive yourself of this energy source. Take time to breathe deeply. Take slow, deep breaths that fill your diaphragm with the needed oxygen. Exhale until your lungs are empty, that helps get rid of toxins in your system. When you are breathing correctly, your body will automatically relax. Your neck loosens up and your shoulders relax. Do this simple exercise, inhale deeply as you count slowly to 3-4, hold it for the same count, and then exhale to that count. You will find you have more vigor and after a while, this healthy breathing will be automatic with you.

Everyone can benefit from these simple suggestions. Insert them a fewtimes into your daily routine while sitting at your desk or walking down the street or cooking in the kitchen and you notice the change in your body, mind and spirit.

By: Gem

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Gem is a regular contributor of yoga exercises see more at her yoga blog. yoga-exercises.blogspot.com

Performing yoga with a partner

Yoga is a form of physical and mental exercise that is ever increasing in popularity. There are a wide variety of types of yoga, all designed to balance the mind, body and spirit. The most popular in the western world is hatha yoga, which concentrates on physical poses or asanas, and breathing control or pranayana.

Asanas are individual poses designed to increase your flexibility, strengthen your muscles, and often have the welcome effect of limiting the build up of fat. Each asana focuses on a particular area of the body by increasing blood flow to that area and improving function of certain organs. Each individual requires a specific program of asanas to address their own personal needs.

In addition to the physical benefits of yoga asanas, they can bring psychological rewards. They are designed to promote relaxation, and to reduce stress levels. They teach concentration without tension and calmness of mind.

Although most people think of yoga as a solitary activity, many yoga schools now offer classes for partner yoga. Generally your partner will be someone you already know such as your spouse or friend. Partner yoga can help to deepen your relationship with this person and create new levels of intimacy. However, many people prefer go to partner yoga classes alone and meet up with a new partner each time.

During a partner yoga class a number of asanas are performed. These can involve both people doing the same pose at the same time, the two partners intertwining to create one pose, or one partner supporting the other in their pose. They focus on building trust and sensitivity to your partner's needs.

Most of the asanas used in partner yoga are traditional poses with some adaptations to make them suitable for two people. Performing asanas with a partner can create more of a challenge than performing them alone, as the partners may differ in ability, flexibility, weight, height and experience. A certain amount of creativity and exploration may be necessary to make the asana work.

On the other hand, the support provided by their partner can help people to tackle more complex and demanding asanas. This can enhance the effects of the asana, increasing blood flow and energy into the targeted body area.

Partner yoga has some other advantages over traditional individual yoga in that it promotes fun, laughter and creativity as well as relaxation, concentration and balance. It can be very rewarding to share your yoga experience with another person, particularly if that person is your partner in life as well as yoga.

Depending on the asanas used, partner yoga can be very intimate and loving and is ideal for couple trying to reconnect and regain closeness in their relationship. A partner yoga workshop makes a great romantic gift for a birthday or anniversary, or can just be a fun alternative to the usual night in front of the television.

By: Rebecca Prescott

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If you'd like to find out more about yoga asanas, click here. Rebecca presents online yoga information here.

How do two people become so connected...

How do two people become so connected that they are able to communicate without being in contact physically, speak to each other through telepathy and even feel the same pains?

The ability to send to and receive from each other thoughts and feelings comes from a spiritual connection between the two of you. When two people are spiritually close to each other, they are often able to sense what the other is feeling or thinking.

Telepathic communication consists of two directions, sending and receiving.

It depends on intention. Whether you have the intent to sense what the other person is thinking and feeling, or for the other person to pick up certain thoughts and feelings you are sending. It will be harder for others to sense your thoughts if you want to hide yourself from them. You psychically put up a shield to prevent them from seeing your intentions. The same is also true when others do that.

It takes someone of a stronger mind and greater clarity of thinking to penetrate the psychic shields of others to see what they are thinking.

When two people are spiritually close, they trust each other and they have mutual empathy. Empathy is one of the key ingredients of telepathy.

Telepathy which is of the psychic level of the mind tends to operate beyond pure words and linguistics. It takes place in the form of feelings, images and desires. You may be able to receive telepathic communication from another person in the form of pure words. But usually it comes through a feeling, image or desire.

Depending on whether the telepathic message is verbal or nonverbal as well as your dominant mental modality, you might receive the message by instantly knowing it (Paracognition), hearing it from an inner voice in your mind (clairaudience), visualize it (clairvoyance) or feeling it (clairsentience).

In non-local telepathy which is psychic communication out of sight, you might sense an emotion that another person is feeling at that time, or you might think of an image that is related to what that person is experiencing, or you could sense what that person is intending to do. All these happens without you being able to read the body language of the person.

That psychic message that you get doesn't seem to be just a thought that you conjure up in your mind out of pure imagination but it comes with the feeling of clarity and inner certainty which is exactly what intuition is made up of.

All things at the psychic level operates through the power of belief. In order to send or receive telepathy, you first need to have the belief that you can send and receive telepathy, and that it is going to happen.

The methods of telepathy are induction, visualization and will.

First induce the emotion, image or desire that you are sending within yourself first. Allow yourself to be experiencing it at that moment.

Secondly, visualize your emotion, image or desire traveling to that person and he/she picking it up and experiencing it too.

Thirdly, will it to happen and be certain that it has happened the way you intend it to be.

Take note that telepathy never fails. The outcome always follows the laws that influence it which are the beliefs and attitudes of both parties and the spiritual connection between them. What we call failure is merely feedback about what we are doing.

When a message does not seem to get through or it seems distorted, it is simply because of opposing intentions, beliefs, lack of mutual trust. It could even be your own interpretation of the emotions, images and desires that you receive that prevents you from seeing what really is.

Being authentic is one of the keys to sending and receiving clear telepathic messages. The virtue of honesty and truth is a spiritual law of reality.

When you have a good telepathic connection with someone, you can read each others thoughts easily. So sometimes you do not want the other to know something, such as the correct answer to a question. You can use techniques of counter-telepathy.

You can put up a psychic shield by visualizing it and willing that the person can't read your mind. Or if you want to, you could mislead the person by focusing on an opposite thought or the wrong answer instead. He/she would usually pick up the misleading thought and be mislead.

This misleading thought effect also explains why it is so important to watch our thoughts. Sometimes we think certain negative thoughts towards a person when we are momentarily angry or upset. The person may pick these thoughts up and think that is what we really think about him/her when it isn't our true thoughts.

It is alright to think those thoughts for awhile but we must not forget to revert to sending our truer positive thoughts of peace, harmony and well being in between or afterwards, and to send them with equal or greater intensity. Especially to someone we truly love.

Finally, it is also about love. When you really love someone, Universal Mind or God will tell you things about that person, because God is love and love connects you to that person spiritually. That person can also sense certain emotions, images and desires from you through the universal mind.

Telepathic connection works best when we don't try to force it. When we know it works, it works. But when we think it might work, it doesn't work. It is driven more by our subconscious beliefs than by conscious effort. The more we try to force it, the worse we do.

The things you tend to send telepathically are the things that you focus on most often. If you focus more often on positive things, you will send positive emotions, images and desires. If you focus more often on negative things, you will send negative emotions, images and desires.

By: Enoch Tan

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Enoch Tan aims to help people achieve greater awareness in living and experiencing life. To evolve human consciousness to higher levels. To change lives and to create possibility. To revolutionize the way we understand the mind and reality. Because that is what governs every area of life and destiny. Learn Secrets most people will never know about the Mind and Reality! Visit Secrets of Mind and Reality now and Get Free Ebooks of Universal Secrets!

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Unlike many forms of exercise, yoga is....

Yoga is fast becoming one of the most popular forms of exercise around, and more and more people are taking it up every day. Here are five good reasons why you should join them now:

1 - It’s a low impact form of exercise.
Unlike jogging or running, yoga doesn’t put a strain on your joints, so it’s ideal for people who cannot tolerate or simply don’t like more stressful forms of exercise. You will still be able to tone up your physique, but you won’t have to push yourself to the limits to get it.

2 – It’s relaxing.
Unlike many forms of exercise, yoga is actually extremely relaxing and enjoyable to do. Many people have said that practising yoga on a regular basis helps them to de-stress after a hard day at work (and it actually stops them from getting so stressed in the first place). It also promotes calmness and helps you to feel more grounded in life; you will feel more at peace with your mind and body.

3 – It can help alleviate physical ailments.
Because of its low impact status, yoga is an ideal activity to try for those people who suffer from physical ailments, such as back ache. It is also thought to help reduce pain, and many doctors are now beginning to recommend yoga as a form of treatment. It can also help with weight loss, and many people believe that those who practise yoga on a regular basis are less likely to suffer from a wide range of ailments in the first place.

4 – It helps to improve your general fitness.
If you’re looking to get fit, yoga might not be the first activity that springs to mind. But it’s actually one of the best all round fitness and wellbeing activities you could choose. Not only does it gradually improve your general fitness levels, it also helps you gain a better posture, promotes better muscle strength, and gives you a greater flexibility. It can also reduce your blood pressure, and leads to a whole host of other long term health benefits. Ultimately, it will give you bags more energy.

5 – It promotes a healthy mental state.
Because yoga is a gentle, low impact, easy to follow activity, it has continually brought great benefits to people that suffer from anxiety, panic attacks, stress, and other mental ailments. Yoga also teaches you better breathing techniques, which stay with you even when you’re not doing it – keeping you calmer throughout your everyday life.

By: missymoo

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Allison Whitehead is the joint owner of www.smoo-multimedia.co.uk which has information on Yoga for Beginners – visit tinyurl.com/kp6v9 for more details.

Why is staying awake while meditating important?

Why is staying awake while meditating important? Falling asleep is certainly relaxing, and can be good for you, but to get the full range of benefits from your meditation you need to have your brainwaves in the alpha and theta ranges. When you are asleep, your brainwaves range from theta to delta. Meditation should be a state of relaxed alertness (primarily alpha brainwaves). Try the following tips to stay awake.

1. Don't lay down. Laying down may be the comfortable way to meditate, but it is also the surest way to have trouble staying awake. Find a comfortable posture for meditating, but not TOO comfortable.

2. Don't meditate where you sleep. A comfy chair may be a great place to meditate - unless its the one you fall asleep in while watching TV. Anyplace where you regularly sleep is likely to trigger a sleep response in your body.

3. Create slight discomfort. If you are too comfortable to stay awake, try turning the thermostat down, sitting in a harder chair, or otherwise creating a minor irritation that will be enough to keep you awake, but not distract you too much.

4. Try meditating in a new place. Using a chair set in the back yard, or doing your meditation in the car at a nice park can be a good way to get out of a rut and wake up your mind.

5. Use an automatic wake-up position. Rest your elbows on the chair arms and have your hands comfortably up in the air. If you begin to sleep, your arms will fall, waking you up. Many meditators have used positions that prevent sleep in this way, without being uncomfortable.

Sleep is good, but meditation is more than relaxation. It should help you develop a sense of peace and relaxed alertness. If meditating has become nothing more than your favorite sleeping aid, start using these tips today to get back on track.

By: Steve Gillman

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Steve Gillman has meditated and studied meditation for over twenty years. Visit his website and subscribe to The Meditation Newsletter at: www.TheMeditationSite.com/newsletter.html