Yoga Sutra I.36: There is always a light within us that is free from all sorrow and grief, no matter how much we may be experiencing suffering....
In the first chapter of the Yoga Sutra, Patanjali offers several practical solutions for reducing the symptoms that inevitably arise from the various obstacles and challenges in life. Of these, one personal favorite of of Kate Holcombe (Yoga Journal Magazine) is in I.36, with visoka va jyotismati. Here, Patanjali reminds us that whatever is happening in the world around us or to us on the outside, on the inside is a quiet, deep place free from sorrow or suffering. Patanjali describes this sanctuary within as simply a light or shining brightness. It is both universal and nonthreatening, so that even in the darkest moments of our lives, we may be comforted by this image of illumination within that is free from all pain, even if it is just a tiny spark so deep inside us that we sometimes forget it is there.
This light that removes darkness and brings clarity can be a beacon to us, however faint, in the darkest of nights or winters. Through the breath, through meditation, through simple movement, or even just through quiet reflection, we can remind ourselves of this quiet, subtle, yet powerful resource within."
... your light can be whatever you need it to be. It can be like Patanjali visualizes it, a light or shining brightness... or it can be a warm glowing light, or the flickering of the flame of a candle.... But whatever your light looks like, locate it so you know where to go when things are looking dark.
Kami
Monday, August 9, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Do What Is Right - Not What Is Easy
"In a moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing" (Theodore Roosevelt).
"When you do the things you have to do when you have to do them, the day will come when you can do the things you want to do when you want to do them" (Zig Ziglar).
"Very often change of self is needed more than a change of scene" (Christopher Benson, author).
"When you do the things you have to do when you have to do them, the day will come when you can do the things you want to do when you want to do them" (Zig Ziglar).
"Very often change of self is needed more than a change of scene" (Christopher Benson, author).
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Stress does make you fat - and it's not all about food
The Neurologic Link between Stress, Diabetes and Obesity
Many of us know of people who under pressure resort to “stress eating.”
Chocolate, French fries, and potato chips have all been implicated in stress overeating and while I’m sure that most junk foods have also been used for such purposes, I doubt the same could be said for foods like broccoli or blueberries.
The result – chronic stress can lead to habitual stress eating of unhealthy foods, which in turn leads to weight gain and possibly to obesity, diabetes, and a host of other health problems. Many of us have witnessed this unfortunate progression of events, but up until recently, the biomedical research field has been unable to provide the corroborating scientific evidence. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences recently published a paper out of the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel documenting the effects caused by changes to the gene Urocortin-3 (Ucn3). Ucn3 is produced in certain brain cells during times of stress and is known to play a role in regulating the body’s stress response.
Dr. Alon Chen led a team of Weizmann researchers who were able to increase amounts of Ucn3 in certain areas of the brains of mice. The results of these Ucn3 increases were two-fold: anxiety-related behavior increased while at the same time, their metabolism changed. Specifically, the mice burned more sugars and less fatty acids and their metabolic rates increased.
An increase in metabolism is usually considered a good thing for weight loss, but not in this case.
This change in metabolism didn’t necessarily change the amount of food that the mice were ingesting, just their food preferences. Rather than eating a healthy balanced diet, the stress-induced metabolic changes caused them to choose sugary food. Sugars are good if needing quick bursts of energy in order to escape a physical danger, but become a health issue if abused over the long term.
These mice (back to the Weizmann study) also started to show the first stage signs of type 2 diabetes with decreased sensitivity to insulin, increased sugar levels in the blood, and more insulin being produced by their pancreas. The findings link stress to metabolic syndromes, especially diabetes and obesity.
(Research provided by the Weizmann study)
Many of us know of people who under pressure resort to “stress eating.”
Chocolate, French fries, and potato chips have all been implicated in stress overeating and while I’m sure that most junk foods have also been used for such purposes, I doubt the same could be said for foods like broccoli or blueberries.
The result – chronic stress can lead to habitual stress eating of unhealthy foods, which in turn leads to weight gain and possibly to obesity, diabetes, and a host of other health problems. Many of us have witnessed this unfortunate progression of events, but up until recently, the biomedical research field has been unable to provide the corroborating scientific evidence. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences recently published a paper out of the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel documenting the effects caused by changes to the gene Urocortin-3 (Ucn3). Ucn3 is produced in certain brain cells during times of stress and is known to play a role in regulating the body’s stress response.
Dr. Alon Chen led a team of Weizmann researchers who were able to increase amounts of Ucn3 in certain areas of the brains of mice. The results of these Ucn3 increases were two-fold: anxiety-related behavior increased while at the same time, their metabolism changed. Specifically, the mice burned more sugars and less fatty acids and their metabolic rates increased.
An increase in metabolism is usually considered a good thing for weight loss, but not in this case.
This change in metabolism didn’t necessarily change the amount of food that the mice were ingesting, just their food preferences. Rather than eating a healthy balanced diet, the stress-induced metabolic changes caused them to choose sugary food. Sugars are good if needing quick bursts of energy in order to escape a physical danger, but become a health issue if abused over the long term.
These mice (back to the Weizmann study) also started to show the first stage signs of type 2 diabetes with decreased sensitivity to insulin, increased sugar levels in the blood, and more insulin being produced by their pancreas. The findings link stress to metabolic syndromes, especially diabetes and obesity.
(Research provided by the Weizmann study)
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Hope...
Hope works in these ways: it looks for the good in people instead of harping on the worst; it discovers what can be done instead of grumbling about what cannot; it regards problems, large or small, as opportunities; it pushes ahead when it would be easy to quit; it "lights the candle" instead of "cursing the darkness"... (Anonymous).
Things that make you think...
Many of life's failures are people who do not realize how close hey were to success when they gave up. (Thomas Edison).
Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.. .(Henry Ford)
When we have done our best, we should wait the results in peach. (J. Lubbock)
Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.. .(Henry Ford)
When we have done our best, we should wait the results in peach. (J. Lubbock)
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Question EVERY fear thought...
Question any self-doubt you have. Ask yourself...
How do I know this?
Is it true?
Who says so?
Is that my experience, or is it a belief?
If it's fear based on past experiences, ask yourself...
Is that happening NOW?
Is that true NOW?
Who says so?
(taken from The Fear Book, by Cheri Huber)...
How do I know this?
Is it true?
Who says so?
Is that my experience, or is it a belief?
If it's fear based on past experiences, ask yourself...
Is that happening NOW?
Is that true NOW?
Who says so?
(taken from The Fear Book, by Cheri Huber)...
Monday, August 2, 2010
Childhood...
Another way of describing what happens to children is that they're going along completely involved in their experience of the moment, with no illusion of being separate from anything, when somebody yells at them that they've done something wrong. They are jolted out of their natural ease and confidence, and plunged into the awful energy of an adult's anger and fear. Suddenly they're being told that they've done something wrong; they're yanked away from their own experience into a nightmare of confusion. The underlying message is that paying attention to ourselves, to our own world of experience, is wrong, and that to be safe, we must turn our attention to others.
This happens again and again, until we have our own repertoire of voices cautioning us and warning us and threatening us, reinforcing the idea that we cannot be trused with ourselves. "You should have known better!", "What's the matter with you?" "Can't you do anything right?" "What were you thinking?" "This is too hard for you.".. and now we replay those messages to ourselves internally, incessantly undermining our own adequacy.
What we need to transition from the innocent mind and heart of the child to an adult who can function well in the world is someone who knows the ropes, who can tell us how things work, who can guide us lovingly from not knowing through becoming capable and confident with whatever arises. For MOST of us - that is what was missing in our lives...
(This is an excerpt taken from the book: The Fear Book, by Cheri Huber. She has a great line of easy-reads at about $10.00 to $12.00!) This is my most favorite of all of her books!
I do not get paid by endorsing any person or book!
This happens again and again, until we have our own repertoire of voices cautioning us and warning us and threatening us, reinforcing the idea that we cannot be trused with ourselves. "You should have known better!", "What's the matter with you?" "Can't you do anything right?" "What were you thinking?" "This is too hard for you.".. and now we replay those messages to ourselves internally, incessantly undermining our own adequacy.
What we need to transition from the innocent mind and heart of the child to an adult who can function well in the world is someone who knows the ropes, who can tell us how things work, who can guide us lovingly from not knowing through becoming capable and confident with whatever arises. For MOST of us - that is what was missing in our lives...
(This is an excerpt taken from the book: The Fear Book, by Cheri Huber. She has a great line of easy-reads at about $10.00 to $12.00!) This is my most favorite of all of her books!
I do not get paid by endorsing any person or book!
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