Spirituality | Wellness | Happiness

Easy Yoga Poses Simple Yoga Twists I love the great variety of exercises and poses that yoga has to offer. There are complex ones, most of which have reasonable modifications, and there are also simple, easy exercises which are great for beginners, seniors, kids and those looking for more moderate workouts. These easy yoga poses should not be dismissed just because of their simplicity though. They are still very beneficial and, if done on a regular basis, can keep you healthy and fit. Furthermore, they are excellent exercises to use as warmups, either prior to doing more advanced routines, or prior to playing vigorous sports. Today I would like to add to our collection of easy yoga exercises and the one I am illustrating below fits perfectly in this category. It is an exercise that is part of several routines which are recommended for daily maintenance and this exercise is actually used by several different schools of yoga, due to its many benefits. The exercise I am adding today is ca...

Easy Yoga Poses Simple Yoga Twists I love the great variety of exercises and poses that yoga has to offer. There are complex ones, most of which have reasonable modifications, and there are also simple, easy exercises which are great for beginners, seniors, kids and those looking for more moderate workouts. These easy yoga poses should not be dismissed just because of their simplicity though. They are still very beneficial and, if done on a regular basis, can keep you healthy and fit. Furthermore, they are excellent exercises to use as warmups, either prior to doing more advanced routines, or prior to playing vigorous sports. Today I would like to add to our collection of easy yoga exercises and the one I am illustrating below fits perfectly in this category. It is an exercise that is part of several routines which are recommended for daily maintenance and this exercise is actually used by several different schools of yoga, due to its many benefits. The exercise I am adding today is ca...

Easy Yoga Poses Simple Yoga Twists I love the great variety of exercises and poses that yoga has to offer. There are complex ones, most of which have reasonable modifications, and there are also simple, easy exercises which are great for beginners, seniors, kids and those looking for more moderate workouts. These easy yoga poses should not be dismissed just because of their simplicity though. They are still very beneficial and, if done on a regular basis, can keep you healthy and fit. Furthermore, they are excellent exercises to use as warmups, either prior to doing more advanced routines, or prior to playing vigorous sports. Today I would like to add to our collection of easy yoga exercises and the one I am illustrating below fits perfectly in this category. It is an exercise that is part of several routines which are recommended for daily maintenance and this exercise is actually used by several different schools of yoga, due to its many benefits. The exercise I am adding today is ca...

The mind, being everywhere, is non-local, and through the process of attention we localize it. So if we want something to become our life experience, we put our attention on it. If we dont want something to become our life experience, we take our attention away from it. In fact, the whole mechanics of creation is just that: a certain quality of attention of the self to itself. Whatever you put your attention on grows stronger in your life. When people experience pain, they try to avoid it or they want to escape from it. And the more they try to do that, the more their attention is on the idea of pain. The idea of pain gets magnified, and of course that creates more pain. So if you have a headache and you want to get rid of it, then simply be with the headache; be with the pain. Dont analyze, dont interpret, and dont try to judge the pain. Feel the sensation with your full awareness. Put your attention on the sensation, and youll see that it dissipates. Pure consciousness is a ...

I'm an admirer of Zen, albeit from afar. Meaning, I enjoy Zen philosophy, but diving into Zen practice doesn't appeal to me. Zen is unreligious compared to traditional faiths. However there's still too much bowing and scraping before Zen masters for my churchless non-soul. Also, Zen's disciplines seem needlessly rigid, rooted more in habit than in practicality. That said, for a few days I've been trying out a meditation approach in James Austin's new book , "Meditating Selflessly: Practical Neural Zen." Austin, a clinical neurologist, is into the scientific side of Zen. I like the approach. Nice and simple. It gives me a Just This taste of Zen without having to swallow a four-course meal. Give it a try yourself, if you're into meditating. (WIth my iPhone I snapped some photos of images in Austin's book because I liked them, and they help to convey the essence of this mediation approach; my apologies to the illustrator for the off-color and off...

A few days ago, during a dog walk, when insights often spring into my psyche, I was contemplating the fall colors and how the number of years I'll be able to enjoy changing seasons is falling with every passing birthday. I had a brief relapse into a sort of semi-faithfulness, visualizing how nice it would be if life could be everlasting, eternal, without end. But almost instantly a compared to what? echoed in my consciousness, drowning out the anti-death wish fulfillment chatter. Yes, indeed: when we complain about life, not its particulars, but life itself, there's no basis for comparison. So why complain? It's like saying, "Damn it! There should be two suns in the sky; that'd be so much more interesting." Or "I hate how there's only three dimensions of space, length, width, breadth; that's so constricting." Well, that's the way the world is. Deal with it. Likewise, an individual life begins and eventually it ends. No exceptions ever ha...

Psychologist, Nobel laureate (in economics), and happiness researcher Daniel Kahneman describes a interesting thought experiment in his fascinating TEDvideo , "The riddle of experience vs. memory." It seems to point to something really important about life, spirituality, meaning, well-being, and all that. I just can't quite figure out what it is -- which probably is a result of me being immersed in the riddle of experience vs. memory, as all of us are. That is, I got an intuitive flash when I heard Kahneman talk about the thought experiment, but when I reflect upon it, as I am now, I'm focusing on a different side of me, the one that remembers intuitive flashes and tries to make sense of them. Kahneman distinguishes the "experiencing self" and the "remembering self." Here's how Winifred Gallagher spoke of these selves (I'm quoting from an earlier blog post of mine on this subject.) First, there's a gap between your real life and the s...

The true self contains the light that no darkness can attack. Daily affirmations are steps out of pain toward a higher reality. We can become living memorials to tragedy by restoring the power of life. You are that life, you are that power. Let us see if we can find the spark that will make the spiritual flame spring up. Meditation is the practice of going inward to access awareness that is deeper than thought. Meditation isnt just a time for peace and quiet, although both are needed. You are returning to your source. Make it your habit to find time alone, preferably once in the morning and once in the evening, in which you can close your eyes and go inside. There are many forms of meditation. A simple but effective one is meditation on the heart. Sit quietly for a moment, placing your attention on your heart, at the center of your chest under the breastbone. When you are settled, repeat the word peace silently, and see its influence radiating out from your body in all direct...

Natural Cure for Anxiety Anxiety and Depression Cured with Yoga and Meditation A few months ago, I shared with you the remarkable story of Ray, who using natural treatments and yoga was able to recover from a very dire prognosis of Brain Cancer. You can read that article here, Yoga and Cancer, A True Cancer Recovery Story . Today, I would like to share with you another inspirational and uplifting story. This one is about a persons fight against depression and severe anxiety, and how yoga and meditation were instrumental in helping her recover and regain her life. There are several articles on the website regarding natural cures for anxiety and treatments for depression. There are also articles, which discuss recent studies validating the power of yoga and meditation to naturally cure these disorders, but sometimes a personal story of success is even more powerful than scientific proof. The story below is that of Ashleys, who suffered a nervous breakdown a year ago. This was followed by...

Even though your impulses may never cross the line into violence, ordinary impulses intensify in the shadow, where you cant see them. Whenever you hear yourself sounding resentful or angry without provocation, whenever you find yourself on the verge of tears for no reason, whenever you cannot explain why you suddenly made a rash decision, you are actually feeling the effects of energy covertly building up in the shadow. The shadow has grown used to being repressed; therefore, to access this region of the mind doesnt happen easily. Nor is direct assault effective. The shadow knows how to resist; it can slam the door and hide its dark energy even deeper. People assume that the dark side of human nature has unstoppable power; Satan has been elevated into the equivalent of a negative God. But when it is broken down, evil turns out to be a distorted response to everyday situations. Evil is born in the gap between body and mind. There is no powerful ruler of the kingdom of evil. Satan ...

Suzanne Frazier will be heading the Inner Landscapes Art Workshop at the Suzanne Frazier's Art Studio on the 5th of November. Frazier will use a personal exploration into what is an "inner landscape" to look at compositional elements and experience a meditative approach to art making. So what is an "inner landscape"? An "inner landscape" is whatever is important to you in your exploration of your spiritual journey, personal relationships or relationship with yourself. During this art workshop, there are no limitations to what an "inner landscape" can reveal. Your personal inner landscape may exist beyond words. Using a contemplative approach to art making provides a way to connect with yourself and express your feelings about your inner landscape.There is a great deal of freedom and joy in creating a drawing of what is important to you and to look at your life experience in a non-linear, non-verbal and spontaneous way. As you begin to draw wi...

Just like I thought after reading only four of the nineteen debates between spiritually-minded new age sage Deepak Chopra and scientifically-minded physicist Leonard Mlodinow in their book , "War of the Worldviews," I finished the final chapter feeling that science emerged the decisive victor. Understand: I've got a lot of sympathy for mysticism, meditation, and unconventional ways of viewing the cosmos. I don't believe that science has all the answers, because I don't believe that anybody does. But I've always liked my "spirituality" (a term that doesn't mean to me what it used to, yet which I continue to use out of habit) to be based on something more than blind faith. And that's what Chopra mostly offers on his side of the debate. Reading this highly interesting book lowered my respect for Deepak Chopra quite a bit. I don't know whether Chopra has gotten more preachy and irrational over the years, or whether I've become less acce...

True Meaning of Diwali What Dewali Is Today is Diwali and along with wishing each and every one of you a very Happy and Healthy Diwali, I also want to share some of my thoughts on what is the esoteric meaning behind this glorious occasion. For those who dont know, what Diwali is, it is the day when Lord Rama returned to his kingdom Ayodhya after 14 in exile and after defeating the demon king Ravana. It is celebrated with a great deal of enthusiasm in India and the reason its also called the Festival of Lights, is that on this day diyas (small clay lamps) are lit in abundance to greet the return of Rama. This great story of Rama and Ravana is called the Ramayana. Along with the Mahabharata, which hosts the Bhagavad Gita and Teachings of Sri Krishna , this is the other great epic tale of the Indian culture. When I was young, my favorite book and prized possession was a copy of the Ramayana. Of course the primary reason for this being my favorite book was due to the great tales of valor a...

In related experiments, in some cases, it was observed that the relayed messages were received up to three days before they were sent. The startling implication is that the fixed boundaries of space-time are only conveniences of the mind, not absolutes. We could easily be living in a three-dimensional movie projected by our minds. In truth we are the three-dimensional movie. It is not separate from us but mingled with our mind-stuff, so that the only way to see it without being fooled is to see the seer. Know me as the field and as the knower of the field. The poet Tagore sensed exactly what it was like to accept his own cosmic status: The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures. It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the Earth in numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers. If the field is all there is, then the inconceivable impulse driving the un...

Every day you have isolated feelings that are like single cells; put them all together and you have your emotional body. Your emotional body is, first of all, a living history of all the things you like and dislike, as well as your fears, hopes, desires, and so on.There are other bodies, also invisible, that add to your uniqueness. There is the body of knowledge that has been growing with you since birthcall this your mental body. Knowledge is subtler than emotions, since it is made up of abstract concepts. Even subtler are all the reasons you have for living, your deep beliefs about existence and the nature of lifeall stored within your causal body, that part of you that allows you to understand existence. Here reside the deepest seeds of memory and desire. Identityyour feeling of being Iflows from your awareness of these bodies. The I that you identify with is created first by your beliefs and reason for living (causal body), which gave rise to ideas (mental body) and feelings (...

Are you feeling overcommitted? Run down? Dissatisfied with life? Are you ready and willing to break the patterns that cause you stress? Join Dawn James for a unique, informative and interactive workshop to learn the Laws of Vibration and how to use them to raise your vibration mentally, physically and emotionally - while creating more peace, harmony and joy in your life. Ancient teachings and scientific studies show that we have the ability to increase the rate of electric flow (vibration) within our physical and subtle bodies, and that there is a direct correlation between raising our vibratory rate and our health and well-being. When one learns how to raise their vibration - they can transcend stress, fear, pain and other lower vibrations! Participants will learn: - 4 laws of vibration - the 6 main factors that suppress vibration and how to counteract them - how to develop one's Divine inner wisdom - breathing techniques for increasing vital life force energy - natural methods an...

I've argued before that religious beliefs have no place in politics. (See here , here , and here .) This isn't the same as saying that religious people can't be politically active. Heck, if that were the case the vast majority of American citizens would be apolitical. I just feel that when it comes to policy-making, elected officials should offer up good reasons for why they want to do X rather than Y. Then those who disagree with that choice can engage in a rational debate rather than being met with a faith-based "just because ." Pastor Robert Jeffress has a different point of view. And even though I find most of his arguments in " Why a candidate's faith matters " unconvincing, I have to give Jeffress credit for being a straightforward, honest, engaging advocate for his Christian religion. (Jeffress has taken heat for calling Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's Mormon faith a "cult," which of course it is -- along with e...

To find your shadow energy, you have to be dedicated to a journey of descent. Think of this journey as going back to retrieve parts of your life that have been abandoned because you felt so ashamed or guilty about them. The anger that erupts from the shadow is attached to past events that were never resolved. Now those events are over and gone, but their emotional residue isnt. Shame, guilt, and fear cannot be accessed by thinking. The shadow isnt a region of thoughts and words. Even when you have a flash of memory and recall such emotions, you are using a part of the higher brainthe cortexthat cannot touch the shadow. The journey of descent begins only when you find the doorway to the lower brain, where experience is sorted out not according to reason but according to intense feelings. No matter how free you feel from shadow energies, they exist inside you. If they didnt, you would be in a state of total freedom, joy, and unboundedness. You would be in unity, the state of inno...

Over the years, as I've become less and less religious, my take on "spirituality" has become similarly pared down. I used to believe that a being a spiritual person had something to do with rising above or beyond this world into some ethereal realm. Now, I consider that being fully present is most, if not all, of what it means to be spiritual -- which removes supernatural connotations from this word and places it firmly in this world, not the next. The older and more churchless I get (the two qualities being closely tied together in me) the more frequently a strong intuitive feeling bursts into my awareness that whatever I'm experiencing at this moment, I'd damn well better appreciate it, because it's never coming my way again. Like how religious grace is described, this feeling arrives unbidden. However, it seems more like a recognition of what always is there, but dimly perceived, than a mystery newly revealed. After all, what could be more obvious than th...

Best Yoga Newsletters Best Meditation Newsletters Mastery of Meditation and Yoga is soon going to be 5 years old and over this time I have shared a lot of yoga and meditation information, not just on the website, but also via my Mastery of Meditation and Yoga Newsletter. The number of subscribers to the newsletter now exceeds 85,000 and I appreciate all of you who have signed up and are part of our online community. If you have not signed up yet, you may do so at the top left corner of the website, and for doing so you will also get my Amazing Insights E-book for free . Given that I have shared so much information via the newsletters, I thought it would be useful to also publish the best of these newsletters on the website, so that those of you who signed up more recently or those who read the blog via their RSS feed or by visiting can also enjoy and benefit from the knowledge shared therein. So below is one of the more popular newsletters I sent. It is the February 2010 edition and i...