Whatever you may fail to guard, guard well your tongue, for flawed speech unfailingly invokes anguish and affliction. - Tirukural - 127
The history of religion consist of shuffling God from one box to the next as faiths rise and fall. - Deepak Chopra
All spiritual traditions identify obstacles on the path toward enlightenment. The Catholic Church, for example, has Seven Deadly Sins. In the Yoga Sutras compiled by the sage Patanjali, nine obstacles are cited:
The lengthening of the breath as a way of channeling, focusing or controlling the energy that constantly flows between our body and mind. - Janet W. Parachin, PhD.
Hindus are the most educated — based on college degrees — among US religious groups, followed by Unitarians Universalists, Jews, and Episcopaleans according to a new study.
They are ahead also of atheists and agnostics. The study by Pew used the four-year college degree as the marker, saying it is generally regarded as the key asset for economic success. Hindus accounted for the largest share of those with college degrees, with 77%. Unitarians, a religious group that says it has no creed and draws inspiration from a range of sacred scriptures came second with 67%. Jews and Anglican church adherent were a joint third at 59%, and Episcopal church rounded off the top five with 56%. The Prince of Wales’s charity is funding yoga, meditation, and “breath-focused stretches” for young prisoners, in a bid to help restore “hope and positivity” behind bars.The Prince’s foundation, which distributes funds to the charities closest to the heir to the throne’s heart, has this year given a grant to a project specifically designed to bring harmony to young offenders through yoga.
The Duchess of Cornwall has previously spoken of the benefits of the exercise, practising it herself, while the Duchess of Sussex- Meghan Markle - is a devotee. The Prince of Wales’ Charitable Foundation’s (PWCF) annual report for 2018 shows that trustees approved a grant to the Prison Phoenix Trust, which “encourages prisoners in the development of their spiritual welfare, through the practices of meditation and yoga, working with silence and the breath”. The report states: “Incarceration can take a severe toll on offenders’ mental health, especially in young people. “The project aims to improve young offenders’ well being and restore hope and positivity towards the future, with a view to reducing the likelihood of reoffending. (source: The Telegraph) I noticed that swearing could also generate unwholesome states of mind. For example, I might have a mildly averse reaction to someone, but if I started cursing about that person I became more intensely negative about them. If I started thinking of someone in the news as a “fucking idiot,” then I lost a connection to their complexity and humanity. If I characterized someone as an asshole, that left little room to find common ground to resolve conflict. If I believed that I had had a “shitty day,” I was less able to see difficulty as a learning opportunity. I concluded that there was a strong and clear relationship between states of mind and cursing. - Sumi Loundon Kim
Humility is a precious quality in all people, but it has a rare richness in the rich.
- Tirukural 125 A study published in the journal Body Image showed that researchers from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health interviewed 46 young adults who practised yoga
at least 30 minutes a week, on average, over the past year to see whether yoga could help people see themselves in a better light. The study found that 83% of participants expressed that yoga has a positive impact on their body image although 28% found that the influence of yoga can also be negative due to people comparing themselves to the physical appearance or performance of others in class. The study also suggested improvements that instructors and studios can implement, including adjusting language to encourage participants to be grateful for their bodies and what they can do, and to make concerted efforts to invite people of all ethnicities, genders, ages, body shapes and sizes to their yoga classes. |
Victor M. Parachin ...is aVedic educator, yoga instructor, Buddhist meditation teacher and author of a dozen books. Buy his books at amazon or your local bookstore. Archives
July 2024
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