Salute to Your Inner Sun

Do you know the significance of Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation)?

Today, Surya Namaskar is sometimes reduced to just a set of preparatory warm-up exercise in a yoga practice. The original understanding of this practice and benefits had been lost because many teachers are not interested in the sacred sentiments of this beautiful practice. I had the fortune of meeting a living enlightened master who revived the body language of yoga according to Patanjali, the father of Yoga. My own practice of Surya Namaskar had been completely transformed when it was practiced with bija mantra, slow breathing, chakra awareness and above all, in deep gratitude and devotion. Let me share it with my readers.

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Respect Food as God

The food we consume forms an intimate relationship with our health and well-being. Besides giving us the necessary nourishment and energy for this physical body, it also adds juice to life in terms of senses pleasure.

As the human society evolves, our eating habit also changes in the course of time. For example, the influx of food choices was powered by the trend of consumerism where, as consumers we are now spoilt with choices. In a mall or food court (especially in Singapore – a foodie heaven where food is a national obsession), we can find endless list of food offered by different countries, different manufacturers, different cultures, different chefs, different restaurants and hotels etc.

To cater to the modern busy householders’ lifestyle in reducing cooking time, there is the new invention of convenient food such as fast food, processed food and pre-packed food.  We forget that convenient food is not for LIFE, it is anti-life. Then there is a proliferation of advertisement and promotion by food manufacturers to constantly tease our senses, hence keeping our subconscious mind continuously pre-occupied with food as one can notice every other TV commercial or billboard is about food.  Our diet has become an income source for them, no wonder they have a huge vested interest to continuously create a desire in us so that we keep consuming!

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Awaken Your Conscious Energy

Do you constantly feel tired and low in energy? Have you wonder why some people seem to have a tireless supply of energy to do what they want in their life?

As human beings, basically we have 3 layers of energy, namely – the physical layer, the mental layer and the conscious layer.

The first layer relates to the physical energy which is available to all of us in a form of day-to-day work i.e. for 8 hours this physical layer of energy will be alive for us to perform our job.  After that, we start to feel exhausted and the body-mind will require rest and rejuvenation.

The second layer relates to our mind. During situations of emergency or survival, this layer of reserved energy will be expressed. For e.g. when one is being chased by a wild animal such as a bear or lion, it is in such situation that an extraordinary energy will be expressed in us to help us in the ‘fight’ or ‘flight response.  This is because our body needs extra energy to execute the required action in a form of  more support of chemicals in our body such as certain hormones like adrenaline to be released into the bloodstream. At the same time, the supply of oxygen and glucose to the brain and muscles has to be increased. It is important to note that the stress hormones like adrenaline suppress the immune system which makes us more prone to falling ill.  If one works in a very stressful environment where stress has become a part of every moment in life, the natural effect of stress is that the immune system gets suppressed, the stress hormones which are meant to be released only once a while become a continuous happening in the body. As such, one’s immune system is constantly suppressed over a prolonged period without bringing it back to homeostasis. This creates too much heat in our body and every cell burns with that fear emotion.

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