He who has health has hope, and he who has hope has everything.” -Arabian Proverb

1. Move More
Make it a daily challenge to find ways to move your body. Climb stairs if given a choice between that and escalators or elevators. Walk your dog; chase your kids; toss balls with friends, mow the lawn. Anything that moves your limbs is not only a fitness tool, it’s a stress buster. Think ‘move’ in small increments of time. It doesn’t have to be an hour in the gym or a 45-minute aerobic dance class or tai chi or kickboxing. But that’s great when you’re up to it. Meanwhile, move more. Thought for the day: Cha, Cha, Cha…. Then do it!

2. Cut Fat
Avoid the obvious such as fried foods, burgers and other fatty meats (i.e. pork, bacon, ham, salami, ribs and sausage). Dairy products such as cheese, cottage cheese, milk and cream should be eaten in low fat versions. Nuts and sandwich meats, mayonnaise, margarine, butter and sauces should be eaten in limited amounts. Most are available in lower fat versions such as substitute butter, fat free cheeses and mayonnaise. Thought for the day: Lean, mean, fat-burning machine…. Then be one!

3. Quit Smoking
The jury is definitely in on this verdict. Ever since 1960 when the Surgeon General announced that smoking was harmful to your health, Americans have been reducing their use of tobacco products that kill. Just recently, we’ve seen a surge in smoking in adolescents and teens. Could it be the Hollywood influence? It seems the stars in every movie of late smoke cigarettes. Beware. Warn your children of the false romance or ‘tough guy’ stance of Hollywood smokers. Thought for the day: Give up just one cigarette…. the next one.

4. Reduce Stress
Easier said than done, stress busters come in many forms. Some techniques recommended by experts are to think positive thoughts. Spend 30 minutes a day doing something you like. (i.e.,Soak in a hot tub; walk on the beach or in a park; read a good book; visit a friend; play with your dog; listen to soothing music; watch a funny movie. Get a massage, a facial or a haircut. Meditate. Count to ten before losing your temper or getting aggravated. Avoid difficult people when possible. Thought for the day: When seeing red, think pink clouds….then float on them.

5. Protect Yourself from Pollution
If you can’t live in a smog-free environment, at least avoid smoke-filled rooms, high traffic areas, breathing in highway fumes and exercising near busy thoroughfares. Exercise outside when the smog rating is low. Exercise indoors in air conditioning when air quality is good. Plant lots of shrubbery in your yard. It’s a good pollution and dirt from the street deterrent. Thought for the day: ‘Smoke gets in your eyes’…and your mouth, and your nose and your lungs as do pollutants….hum the tune daily.

6. Wear Your Seat Belt
Statistics show that seat belts add to longevity and help alleviate potential injuries in car crashes. Thought for the day: Buckle down and buckle up.

7. Floss Your Teeth
Recent studies make a direct connection between longevity and teeth flossing. Nobody knows exactly why. Perhaps it’s because people who floss tend to be more health conscious than people who don’t? Thought for the day: Floss and be your body’s boss.

8. Avoid Excessive Drinking
While recent studies show a glass of wine or one drink a day (two for men) can help protect against heart disease, more than that can cause other health problems such as liver and kidney disease and cancer. Thought for the day: A jug of wine should last a long time.

9. Keep a Positive Mental Outlook
There’s a definitive connection between living well and healthfully and having a cheerful outlook on life. Thought for the day: You can’t be unhappy when you’re smiling or singing.

10. Choose Your Parents Well
The link between genetics and health is a powerful one. But just because one or both of your parents died young in ill health doesn’t mean you cannot counteract the genetic pool handed you. Thought for the day: Follow these basic tips for healthy living and you can better control your own destiny

I’ve been all internally drama-rama lately and in the midst of a particularly turmoil night over the weekend, I decided on three things I need to do to get myself unstuck. Top of the list? Meditate. It is simply the only thing I know that creates essential airspace between my brain and my mind.

If that sounds weird, what I mean is, it’s like I can scoot back just far enough to observe not just my thoughts but my patterns and dynamics and triggers instead of just being carried down the river willy-nilly. Whoosh. But I also know I’m a resistant little thing. So I made a deal: 10 minutes a day, no more, no less. And do it first thing in the morning. It’s a fabulous trick because I’m too slow to make up excuses in that drowsy half-lucid state. I’m allowed to pee, but not brush my teeth. And then I set my cell phone alarm and sit and breathe.

It’s the same idea as writing morning pages–taking full advantage of your mind in its least guarded, resistant, fearful state. I do nothing fancy, just keep gently returning to my breath every time I catch myself wandering. And so far, it’s lovely. And I’m re-realizing, essential as popping my vitamins and taking a shower.

Our children have been born in an age where everything is fast and in order to keep up with times they need to keep up their health. This age of technology (computers, television and competitive sports) causes tense exhausted bodies and stressed minds. In this challenging scenario, Yoga may be just what they need for greater health, energy and enlightenment.

Yoga is the right kind of exercise for children as it is gentle, non-competitive and works not only the entire body but also the mind and spirit. Children of all ages and physical abilities can participate.

BENEFITS OF YOGA

(1). It is absolutely safe for your child.

(2). It teaches children about their body in a fun manner. Yoga songs and aasans (stretching exercises) are approachable and fun for kids.

(3). It helps negate the effects of the competitive life (and it’s negative long-term effects) the child is forced to live.

(4). It helps children to relax, concentrate and focus.

(5). It builds stamina, stability and balance.

(6). It helps improve digestion, elimination of toxins and circulation.

(7). It strengthens the musculature of the body, elongates the spine and promotes good posture.

(8). Children who practice yoga have a good posture.

(9). Specific postures help relieve gas and constipation.

(10). It improves breathing habits through pranayam.

(11). It develops speech skills through the use of singing and chanting.

(12). It improves sleeping patterns.

(13). It improves memory and develops effective concentration skills.

Yoga means connecting to God. A child’s mind is pure and body flexible. They’ll absorb everything that is given to them. The earlier your child begins the better he will feel. Let yoga be his guide into the world of good and harmonious living. Give him this gift to keep him healthy and happy - more positive, self confident and sensitively independent. But make sure you look out for a qualified teacher first. A teacher who has the ability to teach the children according to their attention span and abilities and who can teach in a creative, playful manner to help them develop all their potentialities.

Jyoti means light and goodness. This is very influential meditation techniques which need a white candle. The idea is to bring listening warily attentiveness to the chakra energy centers - where they become impartial. By practicing this meditation you will experience very serene and peaceful. You may also improve or construct supernatural vision and possibly see auras.

Necessary Things: white candle (lit), Quiet sitting area, Meditation music

(1). SET UP. Place the candle at a height that is equal to eye level. Place your chair or cushion 3-4 feet away from the candle. Use music without words if you so desire - but it’s not required.

(2). BREATHE. Take 5 deep breaths through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Do this slowly and with your eyes open or closed - whichever you prefer.

(3). BEGIN THE JYOTI MEDITATION AT THE CROWN CENTER Look at and focus on the candle’s flame. Close your eyes. Visualize the flame at your Crown Center 6 inches above your head. Do 5 deep breaths like before - and each time see the candle in your mind’s eye getting brighter and brighter.

(4). MOVE TO THE THIRD EYE AJA BROW CENTER Repeat the sequence in step 3 - take 5 breaths and visualize the flame getting brighter in the brow center each time.

(5). MOVE TO THE THROAT CENTER Repeat the sequence in step 3 - take 5 breaths and visualize the flame getting brighter in the throat center each time.

(6). MOVE TO THE HEART CENTER Repeat the sequence in step 3 - take 5 breaths and visualize the flame getting brighter in the Heart center each time.

(7). MOVE TO THE SOLAR PLEXUS CENTER Repeat the sequence in step 3 - take 5 breaths and visualize the flame getting brighter in the Solar plexus center each time.

(8). MOVE TO THE PELVIS NAVAL CENTER Repeat the sequence in step 3 - take 5 breaths and visualize the flame getting brighter in the Pelvis Naval center each time.

(9). MOVE TO THE BASE ROOT CENTER Repeat the sequence in step 3 - take 5 breaths and visualize the flame getting brighter in the Root or Base center each time.

(10). MOVE BACK TO THE CROWN CENTER Repeat the sequence in step 3 - take 5 breaths and visualize the flame getting brighter in the Crown center each time. This completes the energy circuit.

(11). Chant OM 12 times. Smile and give thanks to yourself for taking time to be centered and balanced.

Stress is nowadays, the single most significant reason for medical problems that we face. In a study done on 46,000 people over six years, it has been exposed that 75% to 90% of all visits to the doctor are stress linked. Most of these problems can be done away with if proper emotional and mental guidance is a part of the lifestyle routines. People do appreciate the value of physical workouts but few realize the consequence of a healthy mind and positive emotions. We are not just what we look like or feel actually, our health is also about what we believe or do not think, or feel.

When we face emotional stress, adrenalin pours into our blood stream and our muscles get tense, sensing the need for a fast response. For short terms this can cause fatigue and exhaustion, but over long periods, this could be the cause for unceasing ailments.

This link between physical well being and emotional health was thoroughly studied by ancient Indian wise men, who were the fathers of Yogic, Yogic philosophy and even Ayurveda. The idea has reached the western cultures only recently, but Yoga has always been a proponent of healthy mind- healthy body. This be the reason why in Hindu lifestyle, meditation and `Dhyana’ in many forms, is an important part of everybody’s routine, love is one such form. Sitting at a clean place, with one’s thoughts focused lying on a hymn or just an representation of one’s trust…even a blank wall, does a great deal to get one closer to calm for the mind…and what else is the accomplishment of happiness in human life?

Ancient yogis unspoken that every human looks for but one thing in life ….happiness. Each person has a different way of achieving or even understanding it. They understood human psyche enough to know that this mission for happiness is brought on by an experience of pain, or dissatisfaction with the present state of affairs. In most cases, turning away from reality and escaping into a make-believe world of physical pleasure make available temporary relief, and people usually settle for that – a mere shadow of the happiness they came to look for. Yoga shows us the path for a permanent sense of happiness. It is basically teaches that a healthy being is a musically integrated unit of healthy mind, body and spirit. Good health on the whole requires simple food, usual nutrition, exercise, fresh air and a mind at calm with itself and the world. Some like to take it a step further by linking peace to being one with God…but still on a human level, serenity is enough.

Thousands of years ago, Yogis in ancient India knew that nature’s laws are so made that every being should evolve, not only physically, but also emotionally. As we follow this path that nature intended us to take, we make ourselves competent of breaking away from the trap that we make for ourselves – that of pain, then more desires, followed by still more pain. This can be done by largely controlling the mind. Antics similar to hypnotism are really only showmanship for this mind-control…nothing comes even close to the control of the human mind if fully utilized. All that a person needs to do is to be able to separate chaff from the real grain, the dust from the gold in our journey of experiences, and embrace the valuable emotions, while discarding the superfluous ones. We need power of concentration to achieve this, and this power can be had from control over one’s breathing, focusing and not allowing the mind to stray. Human mind has the tendency to dwell on unimportant issues, leaving the important things by the wayside. By controlling our breathing and thus our focusing power, we can control our thoughts, focusing on positive ones and discarding superfluous traps for our emotions. This ensures a much smoother flow of positivity in our system. Coupled with physical exercises, these emotional activities make sure great peace and physical physical condition as well. In Yoga the reward for control over one’s mind and body is greater happiness, a sense of purpose and well being – everybody’s ultimate goal.

But biologically speaking, how does this happen? To understand the mechanics of Yogic control and well being, we require knowing that there are two nervous systems in the body, the sympathetic and the parasympathetic. The first is the nervous impulses that tense our body, readying it for a fight. These raise our blood weight, quicken our breathing, put stress on our heart and make us sweat. This is the nostalgia of our cave dwelling days, when one had to fight or flee for survival, but today our body reacts like this with a looming deadline, a traffic jam or a high powered interview. A prolonged exposure to this side of our nervous system is sure to give us cardiovascular disease, hypertension, ulcers and migraines in the long run.

The parasympathetic nervous system is the cooling down mechanism. It slows down gulp of air rate and directs more blood away from our muscles to our vital organs that give us the superiority of life – stomach, gall bladder, reproductive and resistant systems. When our breathing is regulated, slow and steady, the parasympathetic nervous system takes over, allowing the body the vital blood flow, necessary to help our body heal from the battle scars of daily living.

Stable, regulated breathing, an action when we are aware of, leads us to stay linked and focused on the there moment, not worrying about the past or fretting about the future, but in quiet with today. In the attitude of Yoga, today is of prime significance, everything else is only stressful and living in the moment eases all kinds of stress.

In its eight fold path, Yoga ensures a supple spinal chord and properly functioning endocrine gland. Regular yoga helps to keep the blood free of toxins, the secretions of hormones to be balanced, so that the mind and body are balanced too. Exercise positions, or Asanas stress on deep breathing techniques that unwind the movements and help improve attentiveness of cerebral energy.