EASY WAY OUT

Though I have been curious about the usefulness and effects of yoga for a long time , ever since awareness was created about it through the media, I never had the willingness to learn or practice it. With increasing hearsay and personal experiences about the benefits of yoga , my mom saw an ad in a local circulation newspaper and asked me to attend Isha yoga classes in my locality.

I too had my last allowed leave of the month to take , so I thought I would have a look at what it is all about.

There was a big crowd for a six pm meet on a working day- which implied the popularity of yoga as well as the prevalence of unhappiness among people ! There was a young male yoga teacher who could hold the audience attention for close to about 80 minutes, (that was a great task, considering my usually poor attention span in the sub- minute region , even while reading for the exams) .Its surprising that he was successful in talking for that much time about taming minds , which I wonder , is ever possible . Most of the mental wandering today was to do with the physical strain-to be precise , my lower limbs that have forgotten sitting cross legged since its been more than a year since I sat that way ! I suppose its going to have an effect of doing 50 sit ups all of a sudden on one fine day!!

If that was not the proverbial last straw on the camel's back, they said one needed to spend three hours a day for a week , with full twelve hours on the intervening Sunday!! I thought fine , I would have to seek some other way to tame my mind!

Just logged on to the net to know more about the Isha yoga , only to find the following piece, which I thought would be the easier alternative to follow!! I thought I might copy and paste that here too so that , anyone stumbling inadvertently on to this blog ( yeah! how else would someone see this!!), could have the benefit of going through it

Tips for Better Life from ISHA YOGA


1. Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day. And while you walk, smile.
2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
3. Sleep for 7 hours.
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
5. Play more games.
6. Read more books than you did in 2007.
7. Make time to practice meditation, yoga, and prayer. They provide us with
daily fuel for our busy lives.
8. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
9. Dream more while you are awake.
10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is
manufactured in plants.
11. Drink plenty of water.
12. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
13. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
14. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her
mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
15. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead
invest your energy in the positive present moment.
16. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are
simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class
but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
17. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
18. Smile and laugh more.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
21. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
22. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
23. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey
is all about. Don't compare your partner with others.
24. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
25. Forgive everyone for everything.
26.. What other people think of you is none of your business.
27. GOD ! heals everything.
28. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
29. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will.
Stay in touch.
30. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
31. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
32. The best is yet to come.
33. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
34. Do the right thing!
35. Call your family often.
36. Your inner most is always happy. So be happy.
37. Each day give something good to others.
38. Don't over do. Keep your limits.
39. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.