yoga4healthyliving

Laughter yoga

I often tell my students that 'laughter is the best therapy and it doesn't have to cost you a penny'!  Why does laughter made us feel better?  Well, firstly if you are laughing you are smiling and the action of smiling increases the production of those wonderful feel good chemicals - endorphins.  The very same chemicals that make you feel good after vigorous exercise. So being flooded with endorphins will naturally make you feel good.  Secondly your muscles begin to relax, the tension just melts away. 

To find out more about laughter and how it heal you take a look here http://www.yogajournal.com/health/2533

Yoga can Protect the elderly from falls

This was the headline in a national newspaper recently.  Only two months of yoga classes improve muscle strength, balance and flexibility, making falls and fractures less likely.  Women who took part in the exercises, specifically designed for over 65s, also felt more confident and upbeat, the US study found,d  Falls are one of the most common causes of death in the over 75s.  Studies show half of elderly women die within two years of a fall.  Research Dr. Jinsup Song said that women's walking speed, strength balance, flexibility and confidence had all improved by the end of the nine week course.  'This can help elderly women maintain their mobility and independence' he said.

Discovering your Inner Song

In a village in Eastern Africa, when a child is born, they don't count the birthday of the child as the day it comes from its mother's body, nor when it's conceived, but from the day that it was a song in its mother's heart...let me explain.

As soon as the mother and her partner realise they would like to have a child, the mother would go off into the forest and sit under a particular tree and start to listen inwards, she waits and listens until she can hear the song of the child that wants to be born in her heart.  As she begins to become aware of the beginnings of the song, she begins to hum it to herself and as it turns into a song she sings it to herself and returns to the village to teach this song to her partner.  When they come together again in love, they sing this song and invite their child to be conceived.  Later as she become pregnant, she begins to sing this song t to the unborn child in her womb, she also teaches the song to her family so the first moment the child is born, the first sound the child hears is their own unique song.  As the child grows, all the people close to the child in the village learn the song.  If the child falls, whoever picks up the child can sing the song and soothe them.  When the child grows and marries, both songs would be sung, at the wedding.

When the child becomes an old person the song is sung by all the villagers at the funeral for the very last time, and the song dies with the person and is never sung again.

From Yoga of the Ancient Kashmir Tradition - Jay Rossi

Simplicity

The trouble with so many of us is that we underestimate the power of simplicity. We have a tendency it seems to over complicate our lives and forget what's important and what's not. We tend to mistake movement for achievement. We tend to focus on activities instead of results. And as the pace of life continues to race along in the outside world, we forget that we have the power to control our lives regardless of what's going on outside.

- Robert Stuberg