yoga
...ock (breathing) S it with your spine erect and heartspace open (chest expanded). Hands on your thighs, palms up! Elbows in, close to your sides, but relaxed. Remember to breathe through your nose, long, deep, and slow. First, fill your tummy, like a balloon, as you inhale. Stretch it! Continue inhaling until you have expanded your chest completely, as well. Press the backs of your hands into your thighs for leverage! Now, "sip" in even more air a couple times! STRETCH those lungs! Hold it without "bearing down" or "locking up." As if you are sitll on the inhale cycle. (Not as if you are "blocking" the exhale cycle.) Gradually increase the time you hold it from a few seconds... up to several minutes(!) as you progress in your practice. Then exhale completely. Contracting first your anus, then your "sexual muscles," and finally your diaphragm ("bearing down" intensely). Squeeze it all out! Do this from three to eleven times. Repeat this technique two or three times each hour while at your computer! Chanting, or Mantra Yoga, is more than just the Spiritual act of singing or praying. It is also mental and physical discipline. Besides being devotional, chanting excercises both the Nervous System and the Body. Articulation of the words, Control of the breath, and perfection of the posture, are all essential parts of the practice. The beneficial effects of various specific kinds of self-vibration, cannot be underestimated. Nor can the oxygenation that occurs, be overlooked or under-valued. Chant with your heart open, and mind alert! Chant with gleeful Spirit. Feel the vibration throughout your body. Notice how it transforms your state of being. Om Asato Ma Sad Gamaya Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya Mritior M'amritam link* From ignorance, to Reality, lead me From dullness, to Illumination, lead me From being mortal, to Immortality Why Do Nothing? Far from "doing nothing," relaxation is the key to stimulating the Parasympathetic Nervous System which controls the healing mechanisms in your body. Relaxation is an...