Zen And More » Mind Body & Spirit

The Five Tibetan Rites

Bengt — Tue, 19 May 2009 20:23:05 +0000

When browsing through videos from Yoga Today I came across The Five Tibetan Rites (You Tube). At Wikipedia the practice is described like this:

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.

Yoga websites

Yoga Today

Bengt — Sun, 17 May 2009 19:49:44 +0000

Yesterday I was told about Yoga Today, a site with free yoga videos.

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.

When mind attacks body – the nocebo effect

Bengt — Wed, 13 May 2009 20:02:36 +0000

Today at Twitter I got this link, The science of voodoo: When mind attacks body. It’s a really interesting article that goes from placebo (when mind helps the body) to nocebo (when mind attacks body).

The idea that believing you are ill can make you ill may seem far-fetched, yet rigorous trials have established beyond doubt that the converse is true – that the power of suggestion can improve health. This is the well-known placebo effect. Placebos cannot produce miracles, but they do produce measurable physical effects.

The placebo effect has an evil twin: the nocebo effect, in which dummy pills and negative expectations can produce harmful effects. The term “nocebo”, which means “I will harm”, was not coined until the 1960s, and the phenomenon has been far less studied than the placebo effect.

What I find interesting but not surprising is that this is a yin-yang pair, good and bad, in both cases the mind affects the body. The nocebo effect can also explain how voodoo works:

What we do know suggests the impact of nocebo is far-reaching. “Voodoo death, if it exists, may represent an extreme form of the nocebo phenomenon,” says anthropologist Robert Hahn of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, who has studied the nocebo effect.

The article gives an example of a person who was told that he was terminally ill and died within the said timeframe. It was then found out that the diagnosis was wrong, still the person and those surrounding him believed in it and acted/reacted as if it was true. Mind attacked body.

Despite the growing evidence that the nocebo effect is all too real, it is hard in this rational age to accept that people’s beliefs can kill them. After all, most of us would laugh if a strangely attired man leapt about waving a bone and told us we were going to die. But imagine how you would feel if you were told the same thing by a smartly dressed doctor with a wallful of medical degrees and a computerful of your scans and test results.

This issue of New Scientist is out in mid-May, I shall try to get one because I find this connection between mind and body very interesting. I know the good effects from yoga and meditation, this is the darker side of it.

Green fuel

Sat Nam

Bengt — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 08:39:59 +0000

Today my yoga teacher talked about Sat Nam, an interesting topic which makes me understand why she calls her website Truth is your identity.

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.

Yoga websites

Link Medley

Bengt — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 18:41:00 +0000

Zen Habits is one of my favorite blogs. There is 21 Easy Hacks to Simplify Your Life. And there is a guest post by Jonathan about 11 Refreshing Ways to Bring Out the Awesomeness in Life.

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.

Different shades of raw food

Bengt — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 18:06:05 +0000

Tim at A Life Coach’s Blog has an interesting post about The Skinny Of Raw Food. The photos he has selected are reasons enough to go there but it is also a post well worth reading.

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.

Milk and Sugar

Bengt — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 16:56:24 +0000

Yoga and my spiritual development makes me change gradually what I eat. The two things I focus on at present is to eliminate or at least cut down on sugar and dairy. When it comes to sweets I do not like the concept of artificial sweeteners, I avoid them completely.

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.

Wherever you go there you are

Bengt — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:14:32 +0000

A while back I finished a book by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever you go there you are – Mindfulness Mediation in Everyday Life. I love Jon’s low key style. The book which consists of very short chapters, most of them only a few pages long, covers different aspects of mindfulness and meditation. There are also practices in many of the chapters. The easiest way to describe the book is to take part of the introduction:

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.

Mindfulness for Beginners

Bengt — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:53:24 +0000

Mindfulness for Beginners is a set with two CD’s with Jon Kabat-Zinn, each CD lasts around 70 minutes. The first CD is an introduction to mindfulness, awareness and to MBSR, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. The second CD has five guided meditations.

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.

Arriving at your own Door

Bengt — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:35:49 +0000

I am reading Arriving at your own Door – 108 lessons in mindfulness by Jon Kabat-Zinn. The book consists of qoutes (verses) that are compiled from Coming to our senses: Healing ourselves and the world through mindfulness. On the back of the book it says:

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.