(Informative) some hand yoga

[sherlyk]

...Practice this Mudra's at least 3 to 5 Min...
...every day for lifetime...
...Note: For Illustration, both hands have been put closer..,
...but in practice no need to put your hands closer..!




Hraday Mudra: For Asthma, and
Respiration related diseases



Akash Mudra : For Ear problems


Dhyan Mudra : For Concentration power,
Free from Depression, and for all
Mind related problems




Jal Mudra : This is for Blood purifier
and all skin diseases.

[sherlyk]

Ling Mudra: Headache, Fever etc.


Prithvi Mudra: For peace of mind,
Body active etc.



Surya Mudra: Cholesterol etc.


Vayu Mudra:
For joint pains, stomach problems etc.

[sherlyk]

Pachan Mudra: Do only after taking food.
It is for Digestive system.




Pran mudra: Eye problems, Nervous problems
and it also charge all parts of the body.

[annie]

What is Yoga?

Most people understand yoga as physical exercises comprising bodily twists, bends, stretches and topsy-turvy poses, all together called asana.

Although asana is an important part of yoga, it defines yoga only in a very general sense, and not in the complete sense.

In fact, yoga is a way of life, a culture to live and live happily.

"Yoga is the ultimate tool for evolution. It heals the body, and transforms it, and integrates the mind-body-soul factor. It does not just mean asana. It begins in thought, ideology and philosophy and goes into the physical form. It starts at the subtle, and ends at the gross, making it superior to any other discipline," says holistic health guru, Mickey Mehta.

Yoga is one among the six ancient philosophical schools of thought in India, the other five being Vedanta, Sankhya, Nyaya, Mimansa, and Vaisheshika. It is a fully developed science based on the deep inner study of human body and intense self-experiments and practices of our ancient Rishis.

Our body is nature's marvel, a master design having highly complex machinery with sophisticated monitoring, control and safe guarding systems.

The Rishis in their deep meditation understood the intricate physical, physiological, and the psychological systems of the human body. They devised various yogic disciplines like asana, pranayama, relaxation, meditation and other techniques for enhancing the physical, moral, mental and spiritual well being of mankind as a whole. These techniques, highly scientific, very practical and effective, originated in India many centuries ago, some how got dropped along the way, but now again are becoming popular all over the world as proven methods of holistic health management.

The word yoga comes from the Sanskrit root "Yuj" which means to unite, to merge, to add, and to integrate. In one context, it is unity of man with God, communion with the Universal Spirit.

It is uniting people of different cultures, nationalities, and religions together in universal brotherhood.

It is unity in diversity. Yoga represents integration of all positive life forces.

It is the integration of body, mind and spirit to live a healthy, prosperous, happy and peaceful life.

In another context, yoga has been described as harmony, balance and wisdom in work or skillful living amongst hectic activities.

Bhagavad Gita defines yoga as the skill in work.

Yoga represents moderation, a balanced approach, or a middle way, avoiding extremes. These extremes may be in eating, sleeping, working, drinking, emotional reactions, and overindulgence in other sensory enjoyments. Yoga teaches us how to discriminate these extremes, moderate them, and follow a middle path.

"Yoga is not possible for him, who eats too much; or for him, who does not eat at all; or for him, who sleeps too much; or for him, who is always awake.

Yoga becomes the destroyer of pain for him who is moderate in eating and recreation; who is moderate in exertion in actions; who is moderate in sleep and wakefulness," says Bhagavad-Gita.

"Yoga is not a physical, mental or psychic feat. It is life itself; not the kind of restless life swinging constantly between the two extremes of exhilaration and depression, indulgence and denial, sensuousness and asceticism, but the harmonious flow of the divine will along the wise middle path ….In gluttony there is pain, as also in abstention. Pleasure is invariably followed by pain. Vanity is accompanied by fear or injured pride. The yogi who pursues the middle path is blissfully free from all these," says Swami Venkatesananda.

Since yoga developed in India, it got associated with Hinduism and its philosophy.

However, if you see with an open mind, you will find that yoga is independent of any religious doctrines or dogmas. It never accepted any specific religious, social or political belief system.
It is essentially a science of personal growth, and any person irrespective of his color, creed, sex or religion can practice it.

Yoga does not discriminate any person or belief. It is a way of life, and it's not at all contradictory to what your faith holds for you. On the contrary, yoga may help to strengthen your own belief.

[annie]

Why Yoga?

Scientific development, during the last few decades has drastically changed the entire spectrum of our life.

Thanks to consumer technology, we have every gadget in the home to make our life comfortable. We live in luxury, air-conditioned skyscrapers from where a car on the ground looks like a tiny toy. Our sleek, luxury cars run at more than 100 kilometers an hour, and supersonic jets take us nonstop from one corner of the world to the other, in less than 15 hours. Cell phones have changed the way we communicate. We do business, and chat with friends on Internet at the other corner of the world. Man has conquered space, landed on the moon, and the day is not far off when he will set his feet on other planets. Everyday new discoveries in medical sciences take place, and numerous wonder drugs are advertised that promise to prolong life, and make it more comfortable.

All this and much more that we have today is wonderful indeed. But are we happy? No.

On the contrary, we are the unhappiest lot, in spite of having everything at our disposal. Obsessed with a culture based on consumerism, comfort and convenience, we are running a rat race to acquire ever more things, forgetting the basic purpose of life, which is to seek everlasting happiness.

To cope up with modern living, we have to be more informed, knowledgeable, fast, competitive, aggressive, challenging and resourceful. In the process, day by day our life is getting more and more distressed, restless and devoid of pleasure, peace and happiness.

Civilized we may be, but we are not happy.

The greed for more and more has made us selfish, hardened our hearts, and corrupted our morality. We need pills to go to sleep, laxatives to move our bowels, and tranquillizers to make life bearable. But we are living!

Life is not just living, but living in joy, living happily.

What should we do to attain that peace and happiness, which is the core desire of everyone? Damn our progress - tear our books, put our scientists in jail, burn our factories, and go back to jungles and caves, from where we started? No. It is impossible, even not desirable.


Before we find ways to attain happiness, we must understand what happiness is?

Happiness is a state of being in perfect harmony of body, mind and spirit, called holistic health.

Holistic health is a combination of 3 Hs - Hands, Head and Heart. The hands refer to the physical or the bodily health; head, the mental health; and the heart, refers to the spiritual health.
Yoga, undoubtedly, is the most practical, effective, and appropriate discipline, which can guarantee us this holistic health and happiness, amid all the turmoil of modern life. No other discipline of exercise, philosophy, medicine or health-care can achieve that.

[annie]

Yoga keeps us healthy and happy in a number of ways:

· It lowers high blood pressure, and raises the same if it is low.

· Yoga takes care of obesity, diabetes, arthritis, kidney disorders, sexual dysfunction, asthma, common cough and cold, and several other serious ailments.

· Yoga can relieve you from stress, anxiety and insomnia.

· Yoga increases our awareness. It is important to be aware of how we sit on a chair or floor, how we sleep, how we get up from the bed, how we walk, how we carry a bag or briefcase, how we talk and behave. Yoga makes us aware of what we should eat and what not.

· With yoga, our mind becomes more alert and clear. We will have more physical, mental and spiritual energy.

· Our inter-personal relationships, dealings with people will improve.

· Our perspective of life changes, we begin to look at problems differently, and every thing does not seem a big issue, even if it is.

· We become calmer, regardless of circumstances.

· Yoga sharpens our inner faculties so that we can discriminate what is right for us, and what is not.

· With yoga, we learn discipline, our life transforms, and we start getting the joy of living.

Yoga is not only twisting or bending different limbs here and there, as many people may think. It is a fully developed science of happy and long living that is based on deep inner study of human body, intense self-experiments, and practices of ancient Indian rishis.

Unlike other exercise regimes - cycling, swimming, gymnastics, athletics, jogging and others, yoga works not only on our skeletal muscles or bones, but goes deep into our glands, nerves and nadis.

The stretches, twists and bends of bodily postures, asanas; muscular locks, bandhas; attitudinal gestures, mudras; controlled breathing, pranayama; relaxation; and meditation greatly influence the various systems of our body. These yogic practices give us strength, vigor, stamina, flexibility, positive thoughts, and emotions that make our life happy and peaceful.

These are not mere tall claims and empty promises of what yoga can do for us. We can reap the numerous benefits of yoga with regular practice and faith.

Let us learn through yoga, how to reap these benefits. A caution here! Mere reading of theory and philosophy on yoga does not help. We need to practice it regularly. In the words of Swami Sivananda, the founder of Divine Life Society, Rishikesh, India, `an ounce of practice is better than a ton of theory'.

Proper yoga practice is a mirror of life itself, you can get out of it, what you put into it.