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Pre Natal Yoga – 4 Benefits
January 31, 2009 by Ray Baskerville · Leave a Comment
It occurred to me while in yoga class yesterday, that I have yet to write anything focused on pre-natal yoga or simply doing yoga while pregnant. Throughout the class, I found myself taking mental notes about how one thing or another was happening quite differently than it used to when I was a little… smaller. And also, how many parts of the practice had improved or not changed at all. For example, a lot of the twists just simply aren’t happening – it’s a matter of physics. But, my hips are so much more open than they’ve ever been; sometimes I feel like a human Gumby – no bones, all rubbery bendiness.
Overall, yoga has been a lifesaver throughout this journey, and while I have no real point of comparison as a first-timer, I believe it would’ve been a much different experience – physically and mentally – had I not spent so much time on the mat. This coming from someone who has not escaped debilitating morning sickness, wild mood swings, bouts of coma-like exhaustion or all kinds of new aches and pains. It has hardly been a picture perfect 9 months, but yoga definitely improved the experience in a few specific ways that I find invaluable and have to think may be pretty important to other mamas-to-be as well.
So, what are the benefits of yoga during pregnancy?
Increased flexibility and strength and probably less weight gain
It’s a hot topic for any pregnant person, or even the non-pregnant bystanders: weight gain. For me, it was more about the unknown. What would my body DO pregnant, what would it look like? It’s always been important for me to be in somewhat decent shape. I’m just not happy when I don’t feel good in my body, and my body feels much better when it moves. So, I wanted to stay active, but the issue was that I had far less energy, especially in the beginning, and my most favorite thing – running – felt like absolute torture. But I could do yoga. Some weeks I would practice five to six days, some only one or two, but I kept returning. I am definitely more flexible and have kept a lot of my strength up, but most importantly I feel good (most of the time). Many of the women I’ve met who practiced throughout their pregnancies swear that it helped them stay in shape, but that most importantly for them, it facilitated a quick return to their pre-pregnancy bodies, which sounds pretty good.
Better, deeper breathing and mood regulation
When I first started doing yoga, I remember really struggling through a class, and in the midst of holding a particularly difficult pose, the instructor reminded us to breathe, “because if you’re not breathing, you’re not really doing yoga.” Read the rest of the article here…
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Meditation Leads To Freedom From The Mind
January 30, 2009 by Ray Baskerville · 2 Comments
In beginning meditation, one of the first things we become conscious of is the domination of the mind, and the process of identification with thought. Many people have the idea that the goal of meditation is to stop thinking, and struggle in frustration to do so.
Overcoming the minds tyranny
The process of thought is the mind’s response to stimulation somewhere else in our experience that we are not connected with. The mind is interpretive and doesn’t experience directly. This is important so I’m going to say it again – the mind is interpretive and doesn’t experience directly. If we shift our attention away from the process of thought, to the source in our feeling experience, we automatically have direct connection with what is energizing thought, and thought will simply diminish.
It is possible to begin to experience directly the relationship between the body, feelings and thought. If we go into our body and the feelings – the direct in the moment experience – we break the circuit through which that energy would stimulate the mind into the process of thought. The mind is therefore automatically quietened by our becoming present to the direct experience of feeling in the present moment
When we become conscious that we have identified with (become caught up in) thought, we can observe our physical state. Begin with the eyes and the area around them, and then move outwards to the rest of the face. If thought is occurring there will be tension in the face or body. Simply choose to begin the process of relaxing and letting go the holding, and allow the face and body to soften.
Remain aware of the activity of the mind, and witness the effect of the relaxing of the body on the mind’s activity. Then move deeper into the body and feel what is occurring, again continuing to witness the physical and mental states.
In this way we can begin to experience directly the connection between feeling, body and thought, and see that the way to reduce the activity of the mind is to come into direct experience of what is being felt. This is how to be in the moment, and begin to free ourselves from the tyranny of identification with the mind.
“Living Liberation - Meditation Training, and so much more" "It changed my life"Find out more
YogaFit Launches National Program To Help At-Risk Health Groups
January 29, 2009 by Ray Baskerville · 1 Comment
Press Release:
January 26, 2009 Torrance Ca — YogaFit, arguably the largest training institute of mind/body fitness education in the U.S., this month launched a national community outreach program designed to help at-risk groups and individuals take back control of their health with, what else, yoga.
The concept is to partner with those non-profit groups focusing on various health issues in the U.S. Issues such as obesity, diabetes, cancer, eating disorders among others will be addressed. In addition to free yoga classes, YogaFit will provide educational tools to help these at-risk groups better manage their lifestyle.
"We want to do our part to ensure that every person, regardless of weight, strength, age and fitness level, has a cost-effective and reliable option to improve their health."
~ Beth Shaw, Founder and President of YogaFit
Yoga for Health
Yoga is a mind-body workout that can improve the health, athletic performance and mental acuity of people of all ages and any fitness levels.
"We see a huge need to help fight this terrible struggle that many Americans go through with obesity and other health-related problems," said Beth Shaw, founder and president of YogaFit. "We want to do our part to ensure that every person, regardless of weight, strength, age and fitness level, has a cost-effective and reliable option to improve their health."
The Children’s Institute and YMCA Host First Sessions
YogaFit will host the first free training for The Children’s Institute, Inc. in Torrance, CA at the YMCA. The Children’s Institute works with at-risk children and their families in Los Angeles County.
YogaFit overcomes the mystery of yoga by delivering a style which is accessible, understandable, and doable by individuals at any level of fitness.
The YogaFit style tightens and tones the entire body, enhances balance, improves flexibility and builds core strength by combining traditional fitness training, focused breathing and strength building through yoga poses. The result is a mind-body workout that improves health, athletic performance and mental acuity in people of all ages and fitness levels.
The YogaFit community outreach program will provide free classes to groups in need and offer additional tools such as YogaFit DVDs, books and seminars to educate about the importance of yoga in improving community health.
"Many people turn to YogaFit because we offer all-inclusive programs designed for every type of person," said Shaw. "At a time when the economy is poor, people are losing jobs, obesity is on the rise, and healthcare costs are very high, there is no better way to reduce stress and get fit than yoga."
Organizations Are Encouraged to Participate
Organizations that are interested in helping at-risk groups of people, should contact YogaFit for details. Call Jennie Santos 310-320-0110 ext.232, or email media@yogafit.com
Buddah’s Bones In New Pagoda
January 28, 2009 by Ray Baskerville · 4 Comments
Mumbai is to have Asia’’s largest Pagoda at 325 feet tall. It is intended to be a mass meditation centre and also a major tourist attraction in the years ahead. It will the house of actual bone relics of Gautam Buddha, the founder of Buddhism.
Modelled on the lines of the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon (pictured), the Indian version aspires to pay homage to the Buddha and his teachings. It also stands as a tribute to Myanmar, which has through history cherished Buddhist secularist traditions and thought.
Pagodas are tiered towers with multiple eaves and built to host religious functions. These are common in countries of the Far East such as Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Cambodia, China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam. The modern pagoda structures have been evolved from the ancient Indian Stupa, a tomb-like pillared structure where sacred relics could be kept safe and venerated. The pagoda has been constructed using only stone and limewater. No cement or steel. The sandstone was transported from Jodhpur.
The interior of the dome is a large meditation hall, a seamless expanse designed to accommodate 8,000 meditators. A giant golden wheel or the Dhamma Chakra is set in the centre from the inside. A four-tonne keystone bears Buddha relics. Two small pagodas outside the main one will also serve as meditation centres.
Indian President Pratibha Patil, will formally inaugurate it on February 8, 2009 after 11 years of construction.The land was donated by a Vipassana student. The project has been spearheaded by the Global Vipassana Foundation.
My question is where have the Buddhas bones been until know?
“Living Liberation - Meditation Training, and so much more" "It changed my life"Find out morePaul McCartney In Concert For Meditation Fund
January 27, 2009 by Ray Baskerville · 3 Comments
To fund meditation classes for school children, David Lynch has organized a "Global Benefit" concert in New York on April 14. Paul McCartney is headlining, Donovan, Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam), Sheryl Crow, Paul Horn,and Moby are among the other stars to perform at the Radio City music hall.
The money raised will be for the David Lynch Foundation, with the goal of teaching Transcendental Meditation to 1 million children world wide. Lynch believes that achieving this goal will lead to a dramatic change in the world. In the past year, the Foundation has provided millions of dollars for thousands of students, teachers, and parents to learn to meditate.
Hundreds of scientific studies have been conducted on the benefits of the Transcendental Meditation program at more than 200 independent universities and research institutions worldwide in the past 35 years, and the National Institutes of Health has awarded over $20 million to research the prevention-oriented health benefits of the TM program. Findings have been published in leading, peer-reviewed scientific journals, including The American Journal of Cardiology and the American Heart Association’s Hypertension and Stroke.
Published research on the Transcendental Meditation program in educational settings has shown a wide range of practical benefits for both students and teachers. Benefits for students include decreased stress and stress-related disorders, reduced substance abuse, increased intelligence, increased learning ability, improved memory, improved academic performance, and improved standardized test scores. Benefits for teachers include decreased stress and stress-related disorders, decreased anxiety, reduced substance abuse, increased creativity, improved job satisfaction, improved interpersonal relationships, and reduced health care utilization and costs.
Lynch himself has been practising TM fo rover 30 years. He says Someday, hopefully very soon, “diving within” as a preparation for learning and as a tool for developing the creative potential of the mind will be a standard part of every school’s curriculum. The stresses of today’s world are taking an enormous toll on our children right now. There are hundreds of schools, with thousands of students, who are eager to relieve this stress and bring out the full potential of every student by providing this Consciousness-Based education today.
Find out more about the concert and the Foundations work at http://www.davidlynchfoundation.org/
“Living Liberation - Meditation Training, and so much more" "It changed my life"Find out moreIs Yoga Sport?
January 26, 2009 by Ray Baskerville · Leave a Comment
The annual yoga world championships is coming up in February. Around the world people are competing in 20 national championship competitions for a place in the final in LA with the American champions.
We are of course talking about Bikram Yoga
Here’s how it works, competitors must perform a three-minute sequence, of five compulsory postures followed by two freestyle "advanced" postures before a panel of judges. Contestants are awarded marks out of 10 for their technique, including movement, performance and gracefulness.
Obviously those entering this competition must train for it with some serious dedication. Most of them, like Bikram himself, want yoga to become and Olympic sport.
Personally I find the whole idea of this ridiculous. It seems to me to yoga has already drifted very far from its roots as a spiritual science, towards being merely an exercise and fitness practice. In yoga isn’t stretching I said that if yoga was just about strength and flexibility then gymnasts and ballerinas, would be yogis and yoginis. Mr Bikram and his followers seem to think they are. What do you think?
“Living Liberation - Meditation Training, and so much more" "It changed my life"Find out more
The 10 Best Yoga Poses For Runners
January 24, 2009 by Ray Baskerville · 3 Comments
These 10 poses from Montreal-based personal trainer and yoga and ChiRunning instructor Hyongok Cho Kent target specific muscles like the hamstrings and calves. The result? Your muscles, ligaments and tendons rebound faster so there’s less chance of injury, less soreness, and speedier recovery. The poses also simultaneously strengthen muscles in the core, back, and arms to improve posture, helping you to run more efficiently. Talk about a run for your money. Spend 15 to 20 minutes on these poses after a run when muscles are warm, or practice them on your off days. Even better: Take at least one weekly yoga class for a deep, total-body stretch.
For a complete home yoga training for runners I recommend runners yoga, take a look.
“Living Liberation - Meditation Training, and so much more" "It changed my life"Find out moreJapa Mantra Meditation
January 23, 2009 by Ray Baskerville · Leave a Comment
Japa mantra meditation, is a simple and effective technique that can be used both as a meditation practice, and in daily life. It focuses on calms the mind, while also creating subtle vibrations of a spiritual nature.
Japa is the Sanskrit name given to the repetition of a mantra. The use of mantra is a spiritual practice is not limited to the traditions of the East. Catholic and Orthodox Christianity for example both utilize the repetition of mantra.
As meditation practice, Japa is usually done with the use of a mala. A mala is a necklace of beads used for counting the mantra as it is spoken or thought. Commonly a mala has 108 beads and a larger head bead, sometimes called the Guru bead. Upon reaching this bead, the mala is turned in the hand and the count begins back again, the head bead isn’t passed. You can find a great collection of malas at the Y catalog store.
This use of a mala, gives another dimension to the focus and attention of the mind while the mantra is being repeated. This focusing on the attention is one of the objectives of the practice. The mind likes to have something to do, the mantra meditation gives it something to do. The discipline and attention is to keep the mind focused on only that one thing.
Some people say that the word or words you use as the mantra are not important, as long as they have some positive meaning for you. The science of mantra, is one that is largely lost in a real and living way. However the power and importance of the vibration of words and their effect upon us, is becoming understood again through the work of Masuro Emoto. Basically each word has a unique vibration and that vibration has an effect. Therefore the word or words used will resonate their vibration within the user as they are spoken or thought.
The most powerful mantra is one given to us by a fully realized, or perfect Master. This can be a form of initiation with the Master, as they whisper the mantra in your ear, they imbue it with their consciousness. The mantra then is a means of connecting with the consciousness of the Master and regardless of the actual mantra can be a means of devotion.
The quality that the repetition is done with also has a significant effect. The mantra can be repeated mechanically which may focus the mind and have a certain benefit. When the mantra it is repeated with feeling the effect is greatly heightened. This effect reaches its pinnacle when the mantra is repeated the feeling of love.
Reaching this quality of love in the practice of japa its probably easiest when the mantra is of a particular deity or god. For example Om Namah Shivayah. For such mantras, the repetition becomes a communion with the beloved and invites the consciousness of the chosen aspect of the divine into the devotee. Like any form of spiritual practice there is the development of a deeply intimate and personal relationship. It is true the development of this intimacy with that any mantra will eventually reach feelings of love.
Ideally the repetition of mantra ultimately leads to silence. In practice, this may come from a period of chanting the mantra aloud, followed by repetition is a barely audible whisper, leading into silent repetition, ultimately leading into silence. If silence does not arise it is not an indication that something is being done wrong, it is not something that can be created or forced artificially. As with all spiritual practice patience, discipline and dedication lead to the subtler rewards.
With time as we begin to experience these subtler levels of mantra meditation we will find that willpower is no longer necessary to remember and repeat the mantra. Instead, the mantra rises and repeats itself and the practice is more one of paying attention to this process. When this happens the speed and feeling also become spontaneous. We will probably also naturally drop counting as the mantra repeats.
By this time a mala, as well as all the other aspects that we formulated as part of the ritual practicing japa may seem unnecessary. They do however still have a role. Over time they have become the familiar conditions associated with entering meditation. So while it may no longer be necessary to counter is the mantra is repeated, it may be the simple act of picking up the mile that initiates connection with this deeper inner state.
We may also find that by now a part of our mind is constantly repeating the mantra, and are we are not aware of it all the time. Certain simple repetitious actions, walking for example, will connect us with this ongoing repetition of the mantra in our minds. This is obviously made easier when in the past we have made these connections consciously. The action of chewing while eating is another good place to establish this connection.
Another aspect of this shift to subtler dimensions of mantra meditation is that instead of repeating the mantra we feel as if we are listening to it. It is from this place of listening that the mantra will lead us into silence.
If you have any questions on Japa, mantra meditation please feel free to ask.
“Living Liberation - Meditation Training, and so much more" "It changed my life"Find out moreEnlightenment According To Puppetji
January 21, 2009 by Ray Baskerville · Leave a Comment
If you are interested in, or practicing spirituality, then enlightenment is something you will, if you haven’t already, give some attention to. To ensure we don’t get too serious about it here at lifedivine, it’s time for another little gem from Puppetji. His words of wisdum on enlightenment….enjoy!
“Living Liberation - Meditation Training, and so much more" "It changed my life"Find out more
Karma & The Evolution Of Consciousness
January 20, 2009 by Ray Baskerville · Leave a Comment
Karma, held within us as unresolved, unhealed or incomplete past, manifests as external reflections through the law of sympathetic attraction. The degree of intensity of the internal energy of the karma and it’s layers of emotional and mental energy will exactly be reflected by the intensity of energy that manifests as our life circumstances. When we are ‘present’ to our triggered response to the reflections of our karma, we allow the held energy to move and therefor transform. When we aren’t present to it and run our defense and denial scripts/stratergies we perpetuate denial and deepen separation
Each time we don’t allow any movement of the triggered feelings, we not only increase denial of what is held, but we also increase the intensity of the external reflection necessary to vibrate what we are holding. We bury things still deeper, so we need a stronger force to reach them. And if we continue in the pattern of denial, then an external circumstance will eventually come that will be so
