More About Tapas - The Third Niyama

Tapas is more than penance. In the military, one earns his or her stripes to attain higher rank. You cannot afford to have a General inherit a position. A command position must be earned, and battle tested, for the safety of all the troops.

Life's daily challenges are a form of Tapas. You can easily make a case that Tapas builds character. Yet, with all of our recorded history, parents and society can learn from this.

If you simply give everything away to children, and the poor, you have taught them nothing. How will they provide for themselves, once they have consumed your donations and gifts? Children, and the poor, must be taught valuable life skills and independence. Otherwise, they are handicapped by "give away" policies - much like animals at a park, waiting for "handouts."

Many young parents, in the West, feel that "Spare the rod, and spoil the child," is an old saying, which does not apply to this time period. The original quote came from Proverbs 13:24, which states, "He that spareth his rod hateth his son; but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes."

Children, and the poor, will respect nothing, if they do not have to earn it. It is easily proven by the lack of appreciation, manners, and respect, we can observe everyday. Discipline in moderation, will enrich all aspects of society.

Getting back to you and the value of Tapas - The true value of Tapas is the character building qualities of emotional, mental, and spiritual health. With those three aspects taken care of, we have better physical health. The habit of daily Tapas will carry over in your physical life by eating and exercising conscientiously.

© Copyright 2007 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, has written many books on the subject of Yoga. He is a co-owner and the Director of Yoga Teacher Training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA. riyoga.com riyoga.com He has been a certified Master Yoga Teacher since 1995. To receive a Free Yoga e-Book: "Yoga in Practice," and a Free Yoga Newsletter, please visit: yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

The Purpose of Yoga - Stress Coping Solutions for Survival

Occasionally, Yoga teachers mention that the people, in the area in which they live, are "too conservative," to see the value or need for Yoga. The very real need for stress management, pain management, self-confidence, happiness, and many more benefits, which Yoga has to offer humankind, is obvious; but we must explain the benefits and purpose of Yoga for the public to completely understand.

Let's look at some of the contributions Yoga has made in the field of stress management over the past 5,000 years. With that said, we know that Yoga is the oldest existing form of stress management. People have always had stress, when gathered into cities, but why do we see higher stress levels in concentrated populations? Why do we see less stress, when we visit the countryside?

One problem is "collective thoughts," which exist in larger communities. An accepted, but flawed, belief can become an "urban legend." For example: Commuter traffic should always run perfectly. Commuter traffic on the highway, on a train, or in a subway, is fast paced; but when there is a delay, you can observe a state of collective anxiety. Negative thoughts race through our heads and "beat us down" physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Being late can cause us to feel like we live in a helpless "rat race." The mind begins to race as we collectively think, "I might be late and my job is on the line." The constant emotional turmoil, created from similar situations, will shorten our lives, unless we find inner solutions for tranquility.

Yoga classes should contain valuable Pranayama, Mantra, and Meditation techniques, for times of stress. Seek out Yoga classes, teachers, and workshops, which teach you coping strategies for stressful situations. The results will improve the quality of your life exponentially.

© Copyright 2007 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, has written many books on the subject of Yoga. He is a co-owner and the Director of Yoga Teacher Training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA. riyoga.com riyoga.com He has been a certified Master Yoga Teacher since 1995. To receive a Free Yoga e-Book: "Yoga in Practice," and a Free Yoga Newsletter, please visit: yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

Teaching Chair Yoga - The Real Need for More Trained Instructors

If you think, for a second, that there are enough Yoga instructors available already - think again. Each geographic area has different needs, but optimum health is needed everywhere.

When looking at the needs of students with Multiple Sclerosis, Arthritis, Parkinson's disease, Ataxia, and students who are recovering from a stroke, this need is only the "tip of the iceberg."

The need for instructors, who can teach Yogic health maintenance, from a chair, goes far deeper than any of us thought ten years ago. Here are just a few reasons why this is a growth opportunity for competent chair Yoga teachers.

We know the population is aging. The number of people crossing the age of 50 is growing worldwide. Some of us are very mobile, and some of us are not, but Yoga in a chair makes perfect sense because it is a safe form of cross training.

How often have you heard about someone getting hurt during an activity? The truth is - you can be injured while golfing, jogging, skiing, walking, playing tennis, or getting out of bed. However, if you are properly warmed up, you are much less likely to be injured, while participating in your favorite activity.

With all of the cut backs in physical education, and the super-sizing of our youth, Yoga should be a strong consideration in our public schools. The sad fact is - many children cannot run around the block once, because they are too far out of shape, or just plain too big. Yoga in a chair, proper diet, and a regular walking program, has the potential to prevent health problems for obese children.

Negligent health habits have gone past the point of humor. When you watch re-runs of television shows from the 60's, look at the characters that we thought were big. Do you remember Skipper, Hoss, and Schultz? They are just average sized men by today's standards.

As a result of a worldwide obesity epidemic, there is definitely a need for more office Yoga classes, and a chair is the primary prop. Companies and governments are slow to change, but statistics tell the true story: Carrying extra weight, leads to many health problems, and is a health risk factor, which leads to a lack of production.

This scenario results in a tremendous financial drain on companies and governments. Therefore, a fitness program that is a combination of low impact and low friction movement, along with changes in one's lifestyle, is required. As you already know, Yoga in a chair is exactly what is needed.

© Copyright 2008 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, has written many books on the subject of Yoga. He is a co-owner and the Director of Yoga Teacher Training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA - aurawellnesscenter.com aurawellnesscenter.com - He has been a certified Master Yoga Teacher since 1995. To receive a Free Yoga e-Book: "Yoga in Practice," and a Free Yoga Newsletter, please visit: yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

Why Yoga is a Good Revenue Stream for a Martial Arts Studio

It's that time of year again. The martial arts trade magazines have told you to turn your martial arts center into a child day care, summer camp, or a three ring circus. Parents of your young students asked how many field trips their kids were going on, and you found out you were competing with the Boys and Girls club for "rock bottom day care pricing."

Where are you going to get the transportation? Should you get a bus or van? What if there is an auto accident? How many of those demanding parents are just waiting to sue you? How can a martial arts studio compete, on price, with a non-profit organization, which gets government grants?

Maybe your state has very strict day care laws and you don't want to be caught in the middle between demanding parents and state agencies. Will your town zone you differently and classify you as a child day care center?

Maybe you have a summer camp right now, and have vowed never to do it again. Which parents are late in paying their tuition? What is your third party billing agency doing about it?

Have you ever noticed the worst paying parents are usually the same ones who want everything for nothing? Are you starting to feel more like you are being taken advantage of? Do parents really see the value in martial arts, or is it "cheap day care" to most of them?

Let's face it, child day care is not why most skilled Black Belt instructors open a martial arts center, but you need another revenue stream to survive the summer.

There is another way to draw a crowd of adults to class on your slowest night of the week. Leave flyers around the waiting area for parents, and try a Yoga workshop. Some of your regular adult students will see a medicinal value in Yoga classes, too. You could even offer a kids Yoga class.

Ten years ago, Cardio Kickboxing was a big draw in the martial arts studios. Then fitness centers got into the act with super cheap prices. Yoga, like martial arts, is not a cheap activity. With fitness centers closing left and right, the fitness industry knows they have cut their own throats, with cheap prices, and little revenue to show for it.

Yoga is here to stay and will make a nice revenue stream in any martial arts studio - even if you make it an adults only program.

© Copyright 2007 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, has written many books on the subject of Yoga. He is a co-owner and the Director of Yoga Teacher Training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA. riyoga.com riyoga.com

He has been a certified Master Yoga Teacher since 1995. To receive a Free Yoga e-Book: "Yoga in Practice," and a Free Yoga Newsletter, please visit: yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

The Path Towards Divinity

Our spirits soar when we think of happiness. But like a lightening in the sky, the Goddess of happiness visits us rarely. The greatest obstacle between us and our happiness is not money, circumstances, people around us. The real hindrance is our negative thoughts which haunt us day and night and bring misery to us.

It is not very difficult to eliminate these thoughts that pester us. Develop awareness of the devastating effects of the thoughts and initiate the process of self betterment by investing few minutes of your spare time in the path of Self Improvement. As you pursue the path, you will be able to function at your best and enjoy a different kind of happiness that springs from the self within. It tastes sweeter than honey and the pleasures you get last longer.

The man whose energies (i.e. thoughts) are dissipated lacks peace and cannot achieve significant progress in life. On the other hand, the man who can maintain a state of inner tranquility in all his actions and has acquired mental tenacity (by practice), to fix his attention on any specific problem and can hold the mind to that problem till it is resolved, is superior. Such a person can achieve anything on which he sets his mind. This is one of the important quality of winners and leaders in any field. We can develop this quality by practicing meditation.

Many of us have wrong notions on meditation and presume that it is meant for sages & saints who renounce worldly activities and retire to remote places. In meditation a person temporarily distances himself from distractions, but it is with the specific objective of developing strong intellect and to train the mind. It is also a power tool in coping with stress in everyday life.

The periods of meditation are to be treated as pace-setters for the rest of the day. It is possible to acquire by consistent practice a state of inner poise and tranquility wherein we can open our consciousness to the innermost depth of the soul, which connect the individual self directly with the Divine Principle, governing the world. To learn this art, participation in rituals and external assistance are of little value. Apart from consistent practice, developing the attitude that all our material possessions (car, house, wealth etc.) have been lent to us for a while by God, would give fillip to us in the Path.

Meditation is the highest spiritual practice to revolutionize from within. Invest few minutes of your spare time in meditation and persevere regularly. As you pursue, your inner self will become sharper and stronger.

Practice and Learn the Art of Meditation Here: path2meditation.blogspot.com path2meditation.blogspot.com/

ANIL RAO

Conversations Between The Mind and the Heart

One day...

You walk in the front door of the yoga studio, tired, maybe rushed from work. But your body feels tight, your back is sore. It seems to be taking longer than you thought it would to recover from the surgery you had a few months ago. You know you haven't been sleeping well lately. You had a feeling that the burger you had for lunch was going to sit a little heavy in your stomach. "Maybe the salad would have been better." You know you should go home as there is the laundry piling up and the kids are getting behind in school...but you decide to stay a little while and do a yoga class. You know you will feel better, besides, your doctor recommended it. You know there will be more of you willing to smile when you get home an hour and a half later than usual.

A few weeks later...

Your husband just lost his job. "Hmmm, money is going to be tight for a while".

He hasn't been feeling well lately. Yesterday he was really upset. The doctor said he has hypertension.. "I wonder what that really means. I suppose he will be home more now." You know that it will be more difficult for you to get away as he likes to have you around when he is home. "After all, we hardly see each other". You decide to steal some time and go to another yoga class. Your body just feels tight and there is this pain in your hip that just hasn't gone away since you were training for the half marathon. You know you will be home in an hour and a half...well, add fifteen minutes to that for driving, but you would have to drive anyway. You know you will feel better and then when you go home, you may feel like you can last a bit longer without being pulled under.

You feel better. You decide to go next week. Your husband complained when you got home. "He'll get used to it. He usually complains, but then softens a bit."

A few more weeks go by. "You know, people at work say I am easier to get along with since I started yoga. I just feel like I can go to work with a smile. I really feel like I have more patience. Things don't bother me the way they used to."

"This morning, I just felt like having that green tea that they sell at the yoga studio instead of coffee. Coffee seems to be giving me a headache lately, and I just didn't feel like I needed that extra jolt like I normally do. I think I will go to yoga tonight. I really do feel better when I come out of yoga class."

"I used that centering meditation that we do at the beginning of yoga class today at work. Every few hours I slipped into the lounge and centered my mind for a few minutes. It seems a little strange, but I do feel better when I do it. Oddly, even though I thought I took a lot of time off to do that meditation, I seemed to get so much more done. My boss even noticed that I handled that difficult project with so much ease. I was thinking that I might to teach the centering meditation to the members of my team and we can do it before our next meeting. Maybe we will actually get somewhere with all the decisions we have to make."

A few more weeks go by....

"I notice that I am getting stronger. We were moving some boxes at work, and when we have done that in the past, I would always go home with a back pain."

"Today in yoga class I went up in headstand. I haven't done that since I was a kid. I felt so much joy! I never thought I would do that again."

"I haven't felt like eating those sugar buns in weeks. I just don't feel like eating them anymore. I just don't feel well when I eat that much sugar.

A few more weeks go by...

"You know..., that new car was really more than we were planning on spending. I really would like to renovate the kitchen. I am so tired of that olive-green color. The stove is ok, but if we ever want to sell the house, it would be good to have one of those shiny gas stoves like they have on the street of dreams. I think I will skip yoga tonight to save a bit of money. I can go next week. Besides, I feel tired."

A few more weeks go by...

"Hmmm, it's been a while since I have been to a yoga class... I am just so busy...I have to drive Joey to soccer and now the piano teacher moved so Sara can't take the bus anymore..."

More time passes...

"Oh, my body just feels a little tight. It just takes me so long to wind down at night. Maybe tonight I will try a glass of wine before bed. That should be relaxing."

Several months later, at the market...

You bump into a friend from yoga when you are picking up a few things. "Hey, how are you?" "Oh, I am great. I finally got up in handstand. My shoulders used to be so tight from sitting at the computer all day and much of the night. I thought they would never open up. It has taken this long. Hey, come to think of it, I haven't seen you lately".

"Yea, I just got busy at work and you know, since Michael lost his job he has been a little reluctant to spend money on anything extra...."

Don't let your ego talk you out of growing your Light.

This is my prayer for every student who begins the path of yoga.

Epilogue

"Yoga" is the journey from the world of the ego or the mind, to the world of the heart, the consciousness of the soul in the body. As soon as the ego catches on that something is about to change, it begins to use its energy and its creativity to dissuade us from going in search of our true self. The ego has a difficult time understanding the bigger picture, so resists change and has been known to put up with enormous discomfort, rather than give in to the changes that the spirit is trying to create in our bodies and our lives. The spirit is always trying to guide us towards choices that will take us towards the true healing of our bodies, minds and lives.

The ego will often use very clever and reasonable arguments to rationalize and justify its fears. However, it is only by going into the Light in the heart that we can see through the arguments of the ego and continue the journey to our true self in the heart.

Sandra Storwick is a Certified Purna Yoga teacher. She has been teaching Yoga and Meditation since 1994. For more information about Sandra, see goldlotusyoga.com goldlotusyoga.com. For more information about Purna Yoga meditation, see aadilandmirra.com/?tag=omega-conference aadilandmirra.com/?tag=omega-conference.

Spiritual Awakening

As we proceed further into the 21st century there is even more of a feeling that humanity as a whole is hearing "a calling". Most of the clients in the realm that talk about this describe it as an "awakening" or experiencing an "enlightenment" or a "need for transformation."

For some this process, a spiritual awakening is a gentle process develops as a consequence of many years of seeking, and researching practices having to do with self-development. This is the type of seeker who wants the spiritual awakening and seeks out the guidance of a teacher or to help them prepare themselves emotionally and physically for their spiritual awakening.

However, I have noticed that no matter how trained an individual nobody is ever ready for what Eastern religions call the awakening of the Kundalini energy. The sad truth is most spiritual awakenings are quite rude: what some of us call a "wake up call." True enlightenment is usually preceded by some kind of life loss or tragedy that kick starts the awakening of consciousness. A common catalyst is intense physical or emotional distress. As people confront the limits of their endurance and come face to face with death or loss, they will often move into altered or transcendental states of consciousness as they ask God or a higher power for help. Natural disasters, near-death experiences or life transitions such as midlife crisis, addiction or separation can be blessings in disguise that lead to a blossoming of spiritual awareness.

It is thought that practices such as yoga, bioenergetics, polarity work or breathwork can cause a natural awakening of Kundalini energy. Kundalini is the Hindu word for the sacred, transformative energy that awakens consciousness. According to Eastern esoteric literature, this energy is coiled, like a snake at the base of the spine and when stimulated it streams or coils up through the body's energy centers (chakras).

The awakening of the kundalini is almost always associated with a spiritual crisis. Typically the person may feel overwhelmed, bewildered, disassociated, frightened vulnerable, fragmented, fearful, confused, disoriented and overcome by too much information. This can be the first sign that you are about to be blessed with a spiritual awakening, although many may feel it more like a "curse'.

Some of the symptoms you might experience during a spiritual awakening are:

Involuntary jerking movements of the body including vibrations, spasm, shaking and contractions:

As the Kundalini energy moves from the base of the spine and up through the body, it clears deeply held blockages and while this is happening the person may experience emotions and memories from injuries and traumas suffered in the past. The Hindus call this "pranic" movement.

Unusual Breathing or Physical Movements:

Some people find themselves performing hand gestures and body postures that are unusual but can later be identified as mudras or yoga related postures. They may also develop an unusual relationship to sound and tones and want to vocalize these sounds with their breath. These are called Yogic symptoms.

As the Kundalini moves up through the body, some experience a form of "spring" cleansing as the strong spiritual energy moves through the body releases toxins. Headaches, heart pain, stomachaches and nervous disorders can be part of the kundalini moving up your spine. A very common symptom is oversensitivity to any kind of sensory input and the desire to be alone to heal.

Confusion and Emotional Imbalance:

As the Kundalini energy moves up from the spine, people find themselves possessed by inexplicable mood swings, anxiety, grief, guilt and depression. On the flip side, they may sometimes experience moments of sexual promiscuity, unexplained orgasms, lack of sexual desire and states of disassociation or bliss. Most spiritual awakening challenge the ego to let go of primal drives and subconscious blocks so that you are more aware and living in the moment

An Increase in ESP and Intuition:

Dreams of past lives or strange symbols are common during a spiritual awakening as are unusual visual and auditory sensations include hearing voices, seeing auras or strange lights. Some may smell scents. Smelling sandalwood or roses for no apparent reason is common. An out of body experience or two may also occur where you appear to see yourself from the ceiling, or feel bigger or smaller than your physical body.

Mystical and Psychic States of Consciousness:

During a spiritual awakening, the psychic abilities are often accelerated and the person may suddenly develop such talents as precognition, telepathy, and the ability to see auras or healing abilities.

The awakening of the Kundalini is not a goal but heralds the beginning of the process called transformation of consciousness. Spiritual emergence often includes expanded perceptual abilities, increased energy, creative expression and a devotion to being of service for the greater good of all.

Although a spiritual awakening may be uncomfortable and typically last from several months to several years, at the end there is a promised land where the individual develops a serenity and sense of deep peace that they have never known before.

Samantha Steven's articles have been published in many high-standing newspapers and she has published several books. If you wish to buy Samantha's books about metaphysics click here insomniacpress.com/author.php?id=110 insomniacpress.com/author.php?id=110 You can meet Samantha Stevens at psychicrealm.com psychicrealm.com where she works as a professional psychic. You can also read more of her articles at newagenotebook.com newagenotebook.com