Chakrabhedan(circle-interception) - a New Kind of Yogic Exercise

There are many types of Yogasanas or yogic exercises taught by several Masters on yoga. Yogic exercises should be simple so that practitioners of all ages can practise them. The aim of yogic exercises is to supply sufficient warmness or heat to the body so that germs causing disease are killed; deposits in veins and arteries are removed and mind gets concentrated. As gold is purified by burning, so heat generated from yoga removes or kills germs or foreign matter from the body. Further in yogic exercise mind remains within the body and thereby gets concentrated.

My yoga Master Late Munishvar Shiv kumar Shastri has developed an unique yogic exercise called Chakrabhedan(circle-interception). This is very simple but most effective for making the body disease-free and concentrating mind to a great extent. The body has six major Chakras or circles. These are - Muladhar Chakra at anus, Swadhisthan Chakra at genital, Manipur Chakra at naval, Anahat chakra at mid-chest, Vishudha chakra at throat and Ajna chakra in between eyebrows. These are vital Chakras for the body in order to survive.

Besides these six Chakras, there are minor Chakras both in the legs and hands. There Chakras are simply joints in the legs and hands. So in all there are eighteen Chakras in the body. In Chakrabhedan body parts or limbs are moved along fixed directions on the plane of each chakra. While moving limbs mind is fixed on a particular chakra. So not only there is an exercise of the body but there is exercise of mind also. This Chakrabhedan exercise cannot be described in words. Learners may learn it directly from a Master. Once learners learn it they shall find it most effective.

Author Premansu Chand preaches and practices Yoga. He resides at Bhubaneswar, india. To know more about spiritualism and Yoga readers may go through his book 'Quest for truth: the spiritual and yogic way' which may be collected from bn.com or amazon.com. premansu_chand@rediffmail.com

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Top Tips To Saving The Planet

More Ways To Save The Planet

From The Chocolate We Eat To The Product's We Use...

So we have turned down our thermostats, which is great news for the planet, we have begun to say NO to standby, so now we can begin to look at other ways we can improve our lives and help safeguard our planet.

No sandals required, just a new and more positive approach to many of the things we take for granted, like our shopping, cleaning and eating habits and begin to think more about the global picture.

Top Tips To Living A Better Life...

Forget the plastic - Plastic bags are bad...so take your own!

Tell Your Friends - If you have saved money by implementing some easy energy saving tips you should tell at least one friend.

Share - Yes share.. from your many power tools that lie under a pile of dust to the toys that your children have long outgrown. It's not only better for the planet sharing makes you feel good.

If you don't need it...Don't buy it...

Make a difference, opt for buying presents that make the world of difference to others for some really great gift aid ideas try logging onto www.worldvision.org

Don't buy new! invest in antique, antique furniture is often cheaper than you think - it makes a tremendous statement and lasts a lot longer too.

Don't just bin it! reuse, recycle or donate it.

Organisz a clothes swap - Update your wardrobe by sharing - it makes perfect sense!

Tell Your Boss If by turning off your lights you saved X just imagine what we could save, if offices across the globe adopted and implemented these simple energy saving measures into their daily routine.

Switch - A great way to help reduce our global emissions is if we make a stand and switch to buying energy from a green energy supplier.

WALK - Yes walk - walking is not only good for the environment, it can dramatically improve your health! So hang up your keys and walk whenever you can.

Top - Tip When buying fish make sure that it has come from a certifiable source for more information about sustainability and fishing visit the Marine Stewardship Council http://www.msc.org

Shrimp Matters: Look to buy ecologically sound prawn/shrimp! We may all have come to love the sweet taste of it, but intensive shrimp fishing not only destroys many other marine species - shrimp farms have been directly responsible for the destruction of valuable mangroves!

Add a little or a lot of fair trade into your weekly shop.

Did You Know? Fair trade is GOOD for the PLANET and helps to secure the lives and the livelihoods of some of the world's poorest communities. So lend your support and help encourage more to do the same.

Consider - Making fair trade coffee and fair trade tea your drink of choice!

FACT: The Co-op supermarket in the UK was the first retailer to actively support fairtade and now stock over 110 fairtrade products!

BUY: Switch to buying from companies who are socially responsible and who place value on the planet's natural resources.

Did You Know? One in ten products that line the shelves of our supermarkets contain vegetable oils, including Palm Oil - The spread of palm oil plantations has had a devastating effect on the lives and habitat of the Oranutan.

FACT Almost 90 percent of the forest, home to the Oranutan has been destroyed.

Sweet Success: Buying chocolate with a HIGH cocoa content is BETTER for you and far better for both the cocoa farmer and the environment.

Did You Know: We may all love high fashion, but we have to say NO to companies who still utilize sweatshops. So Check You Labels

BUY: Make sure that the paper you buy is either recycled or of a non-wood source.

Did You Know: To produce just 1 ton of paper requires 2-3 times its weight in timber!

FACT: Half of the paper in use today is for PACKAGING!

Ditch the packaging! join the growing number of consumers across the globe and say no to excess packaging!

Buy local - across the world more and more people are opting to shop locally

Did You Know: Farmers markets are booming - if you have one in your neighborhood support it -

Support: if you live in an area which operates one of the many fruit/vegetable and meat box schemes give it a whirl! say hello to the kitchen and stir up some real food.

For a comprehensive list of farmers markets in America try logging onto: www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets

Don't Forget: Buy whenever and wherever possible loose fruit and vegetables

Say YES to FREE RANGE

Switch to buying FOOD that is in Season & grown whenever and wherever possible locally - say NO to excess food miles!

Love your meat! Whenever you can buy meat from sustainable or organic farms

PAINT: Looking to brighten your home/office? make sure you buy VOC (volatile organic compound) FREE paint

FACT: VOC's emitted from paint are bad for our health

Bin the plastic cup - Get everyone to bring in a proper mug!

FACT: In the UK alone we bin over 3 billion plastic cups a year!

Switch to buying from people you like!

Switch to buying organic cotton - not only is organic a far nicer product - it is far better for the environment.

Check out which companies have already signed up to the carbon down profits up campaign youll be amazed.

Make patio heaters a blast from the past - invest in one of the growing number of real fires or - invest in some brightly coloured blankets - snuggle up and get personal.

Recycle - Couldn't talk green without mentioning one of the biggest things we can do to help safeguard our planet.

Worried about waste? Buy a wormery a great way to get rid of your waste and great for the kids! check out the Green pages for some really great product ideas.

Car Share - As ominous as it sounds car sharing can work, provided of course the people you share with start and or end their journey where you do. Car sharing is also a great way of reducing the volume of school traffic - if you live under a mile away walk the kid's will love it!

Christine Farrell is the founder of http://www.climate-information.com the first web site to put the subject of climate change into a global context. Developed to help everyday people understand the role we play in the bigger picture.

Climate-information.com delivers timely, global information on climate change, deforestation, our diet, water, saving energy and much much more..

Yoga Asanas On Ball

Senior Golf Fitness

It happens to all of us, even though we do not want to admit it. The reality is we all get older. Some of you may already know what I am talking about, and others may have yet to experience the phenomenon of aging. Those of you who are reading this article and are no longer spring chickens get my drift. Even if you are one of the lucky ones, still young, let me fill you in on what happens as the body gets a few miles on it.

Probably the biggest thing that we all dislike when we creep into our thirties and forties is the extra poundage (i.e. weight) we tend to put on. (It is also a lot harder to take off when we get older.) Unfortunately, because our metabolism slows down, we are unable to pound down a burger, fries, and a couple of cokes without the bathroom scale hitting tilt a few days later. In my mind, that probably is the most difficult adjustment we have to make: an adjustment in our nutrition intake as we age.

The second most noticeable difference as we age, especially for the more active individual, is it becomes a little more difficult to get out of bed. The back is a little sore, the knees are a little creaky, and, if you workout, the soreness does not go away as quickly. this is a result of a few things that happen to our bodies when we get older. Number one is we lose a percentage of our muscle mass on a yearly basis. After the age of 25 (dont quote me on the specifics, but I believe) about 1% of your muscle mass is lost per year. Makes sense now why we get a little sorer and getting out of bed is more difficult. We simply do not have as much muscle to do the work.

I could go on and on with the depressing facts of aging, but let us look at just one more before moving on. As you get older you become less flexible. It takes you a lot longer to limber up for any sporting activity: golf, tennis, or a pick up game of basketball. Less flexibility predisposes you to experience more difficulty with certain movements: touching your toes, rotating during a golf swing, or even reaching down to pick something up off the ground. Why does this occur? Our bodies, as a result of wear and tear, become more tight and wound up as we get older.

So there you have it! Some of the great things to look forward to as you get older (kidding of course). So if youre in your twenties and youre reading this article, enjoy it while it lasts, because the road gets a little more difficult to travel as you get older. But, if youre beyond your twenties, I am sure you can relate to the general results of aging in relation to your golf game. Quite simply, extra pounds decrease your stamina (and may affect your swing plane). Less muscle equals less distance off the tee, and decreased flexibility tends to make the turn in the golf swing much harder to perform. An unfortunate situation, but the good news is that we can slow down the aging process and limit the effects of aging on your golf game.

Slowing Down the Aging Process for the Golf Swing

I have given you a little carrot of information that we can slow down the aging process. How do we do it? It is actually quite simple and only requires a little time out of each day (15-20 minutes) and a little discipline. Sounds pretty easy when you think of all the benefits you stand to gain. What we are going to do is provide you some answers on how to slow down the aging process. Remember we cant stop the aging process, but we can sure slow it down. The benefits of slowing down the aging process are evident when you see guys in their 50s winning tour events. It just takes a little time, some knowledge, and discipline. If you are saying, I dont have the time, let me ask you one question: How would you like to feel 10 years younger right now and hit the ball farther then you did in your twenties? I imagine the answer to both of those questions would be a resounding yes!

Let us start with the first topic that we described when you get older, the additional pounds. Unfortunately, as you age your metabolism slows down. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the word metabolism, think of it as your own internal furnace. It is the rate at which you burn fuel (food is fuel to the human body). When we are younger we tend have faster metabolisms, and as we get older they slow down. (I know it is a bummer.) Well, let me tell you, there are activities to speed that metabolism back up. The way to do it is by performing some fitness activities. If you are active and participate in some type of structured activity your body will burn more fuel and elevate its metabolism during this time. In addition, if these activities are resistance-training activities (i.e. weights, tubing, light dumbbells, body weight), then over time you will build some muscle. The great thing about that is the more muscle you have the higher your metabolism will be all the time (translation: you will burn more fuel all day and night). A secondary benefit of such activities will be greater stamina on the course. So rather than spraying your shots around on the back nine because youre tired, you can have pinpoint accuracy going into the 18th.

Moving on to our second point, the loss of muscle mass as you age, this one is a tough one to swallow. Just think, we actually LOSE muscle as we age. Pretty depressing. The good news is it can be limited or stopped. Before I give you the solution, lets look at how this affects your golf swing. Essentially, in the golf swing you create club head speed. That club head speed is the result of creating rotational power, which we define as torque. To create torque, the muscles of the body have to be flexible, strong, and powerful. Now guess what? If you have less muscle, what do you think is going to happen to your power outputs and club head speed? The answer is they will decrease. No wonder they make senior shafts with a lot of flex. This is the golf manufacturers attempt to deal with this problem. It helps to a point, but we have a better solution. How about putting something in your bag that makes you stronger, improves your power, and gets back that lost distance? Sounds good? Well, it can be done if you implement a golf-specific strength-training program. You can get back that lost muscle mass, get back that power, and improve your driving distance. This is what we call the development of golf strength, and it can be done with a program that takes a total of 15 minutes a day!

Finally, moving on to the flexibility issue, our bodies lose flexibility as we age. Flexibility is a must when it comes to the golf swing. Here is what happens when you do not work on your flexibility. A loss of flexibility in the golf swing limits the ability of the body to perform the correct actions to create the proper swing. Essentially, your body wont allow you to take the club back and through on the correct swing path. This leads to miss hits, slices, hooks, and a whole bunch of other shots that are very unpleasant. So how do we fix this problem or not allow it to become a problem? The answer is to implement a golf-specific flexibility program. This again requires a daily commitment, but the time frame is very little (say 5 minutes a day). So again, ask yourself: Is it worth spending 5 minutes a day on flexibility to have the golf swing you would like? I bet most of you would answer yes.

Well, there you have the pleasures, displeasure, joys, and sorrows of the aging process. We all get older, but there are things we can do to prevent the displeasures and sorrows. If we take a little time every day and perform the proper exercises and activities, we can reduce the effects of aging and have a great swing for as long as we like.

Sean Cochran is one of the most recognized golf fitness instructors in the world today. He travels the PGA Tour regularly with 2004 Masters Champion Phil Mickelson. To learn more about Sean and his golf fitness programs go to http://www.seancochran.com

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