• First Rite: Clockwise spinning: inhale and exhale deeply as you spin.
• Second Rite: Inhale deeply while lifting the head and legs; exhale while lowering the head and legs.
• Third Rite: Inhale as the spine arches back; exhale as the spine returns to an erect position.
• Fourth Rite: Inhale while rising up; hold the breath while in the top position and tense the muscles; exhale while returning to the starting position.
• Fifth Rite: Inhale while raising the body; exhale while lowering the body.

Read more:
Five Tibetan Rites (Wikipedia)
Five Tibetan Rites (Tibetan Yoga and Metidation)
The Five Tibetan Rites

Whether you are a newcomer experiencing your first practice, reawaking your interest in yoga after a lapse in practicing or a seasoned yogi looking for a way to practice between studio sessions, you will love the convenience of our inspiring, refreshing new classes waiting for you on your computer every day.

You can also find Yoga Today at You Tube where there at present is 46 videos, the hour long ones as well as videos around ten minutes long.

I have looked at some of the videos and am impressed.

If you are on Twitter then follow @NetFleck and get updates from Yoga Today.

Wikipedia says this about Sat Nam:

In Sanskrit, “sat” means “truth” and “nam” means “identity”. There are many differing interpretations when you put the two together – some websites have given the following interpretations: “truth is my identity” and “The essence of God is within me”.

Other common interpretations include: “in name there is truth” and “the light shines in you”; light being a metaphor for truth just like in mystical Kabbalistic teachings. The words themselves have a soothing and centering quality due to their monosyllabic nature, similar to sounds made by babies.

The Kundalini Yoga website lists SAT NAM among mantras:

SAT NAM is the Seed Mantra or Bij Mantra and it is the most widely used in the practice of Kundalini Yoga. Sat means the Truth; Nam means to call upon, name or identify with. Sat Nam means Truth is my identity and I call upon the eternal Truth that resides in all of us. Chanting this mantra awakens the Soul, and more simply means “really”. It is pronounced to rhyme with “But Mom!”

Both “truth is my identity” and “The essence of God is within me” are powerful statements.

Mary Jaksch of Goodlife Zen has a guest post at Zen Habits about How to Live Life to the Max with Beginner’s Mind.

At Goodlife Zen is a post about Lifestyle Makeover: How to Simplify Your life in 5 Easy Steps.

Another post about simplify: Living Simply: The Ultimate Guide to Conquering Your Clutter.

As I mention in Milk and Sugar I have started to gradually change what I eat. I am a long way from eating raw food only, I am not even a vegetarian, and I find this comforting:

Raw foodism actually isn’t really about eating raw. No, raw foodism is actually about being conscious about what you’re eating. Just paying attention.

That is where I am, being conscious and paying attention to what I eat and how it makes me feel. What about YOU?

Update January 29, 2009.
Jonathan Mead has an interesting post over at Zen Habits, 10 Reasons Eating Raw is Healthier For You and the Planet.

Zen Habits has a great post about sugar: Beat the Sugar Habit: 3 Steps to Cut Sweets (Mostly) Out of Your Life. There is a list of the bad things with sugar as well as a list of tips on how to beat the sugar habit.

Epic Self raises an interesting question in Dare We Eat Dairy?:

When it comes to nutrition, the milk debate is probably as confusing and controversial as it gets. Is cow’s milk a cancer fighting, PMS subduing, osteoporosis preventing super food? Or is it just another multi-billion dollar industry working with the government to alter dietary guidelines in their favor?

It also says:

Today we tend to look to scientific evidence to tell us what and how much to eat. But, what happened to paying attention to how you personally feel after eating certain products? Tuning into the internal workings of your own body will give you some clues into how to moderate or in some cases eliminate dairy from your diet.

My own experience is that dropping sugar and dairy makes me feel better.

In this book Jon Kabat-Zinn maps out a somple path for cultivating mindfulness in one’s own life. It speaks both to those coming to meditation for the first time and to longtime practitioners, anyone who cares deeply about reclaiming the richness of his or her moments.

Here comes some quotes from the book, texts that hooked me:

Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment and nonjudgementally.

Meditation is not about feeling a certain way. It is about feeling the way you feel.

Non-doing simply means letting things be and allowing them to unfold in their own way.

Meditation means cultivating a non-judging attitude towards what comes up in the mind, come what may.

Being whole and simultaneously part of a larger whole, we can change the world simply by chaing ourselves.

There is no successful escaping from yourself in the long run, only transformation.

And finally this reassuring quote:

You are already perfect.

See also:
Mindfulness with Jon Kabat-Zinn
Mindfulness for Beginners
Arriving at your own Door

The first CD has sessions about:
• The only moment we have
• What is mindfulness
• Awareness, a sixth sense
• Being present in our lives
• Mind and heart
• An ethical foundation
• Non-judgementing, patience, beginner’s mind, trust
• Non-striving, acceptance, letting go
• Thinking and awareness

I think this is a great introduction to mindfulness plus that you get some meditations.

A quiet trust in awareness sometimes requires inspiration and gentle reminders. These 108 insightful verses offer just that. Compiled from Coming to Our Senses these pointers and reminders will provide much needed encouragement for cultivating greater mindfulness in every aspect of daily life.

I like this little book and read a lesson or two almost every day. They are great reminders that help me get better at mindfulness.

I came across Mindfulness with Jon Kabat-Zinn which is terrific. The workshop is an hour long but is well worth that time, it also includes a meditation session. Jon Kabat-Zinn talks about mindfulness and meditation, awareness, non-doing, beginner’s mind, to bring doing and being together, to be fully present.

Jon reminded me of the value of just tuning in to our own breathing as a simple way of bringing as back to here and now. Not with the intention to control our breathing, just to follow it and become more present.

I liked this presentation so much that I have ordered some of his books. Now I am looking forward to “Arriving at Your Own Door: 108 Lessons in Mindfulness”, “Mindfulness for Beginners” (CD) and “Wherever You Go, There You Are”.

See also: The 5-minute Meditator.