The Many Ways Of Doing Meditation !!

Dhyan- Blissful Meditative State:Do you remember a time when you were totally absorbed in what you are doing? Hours may have passed yet it seemed like only a moment. Remember what a good feeling it was to be completely absorbed in those moments, how accurate your perception was, how clear your thinking was, and how alive you felt.The simple example...

Dhyan- Blissful Meditative State:

Do you remember a time when you were totally absorbed in what you are doing? Hours may have passed yet it seemed like only a moment. Remember what a good feeling it was to be completely absorbed in those moments, how accurate your perception was, how clear your thinking was, and how alive you felt.

The simple example to illustrate Dhyan (meditation) in action is of a mother cooking for her family. When she devotes her total mental attention, warped in emotional warmth, in the process of cooking, the cooked food is distinctly different then when cooked otherwise.

Principles of Meditation:

There is numerous methods of practicing meditation but select the one that fits your physical health, profession, nature and time available. Follow these principles whenever you meditate:

– Decorate your place of meditation with inspiring pictures of great saints, prophets, great teachers and your God.
– Wash your hands, legs and face before sitting in meditation.
– Early morning between 5 to 7 AM and in the evening between 6 to 8 PM is the best time to meditate.

The Different Types of Meditation:

a) OM Mantra Dhyan

– Sit in a comfortable meditative pose with eyes gently closed.
– Keep your back straight and stretched up with the shoulders relaxed.
– Silently recite Om Mantra, focusing your mind on the rhythmic flow of mantra.
– Practice minimum for 10 minutes daily and slowly increase the time.

b) Jyoti Dhyan

– Sit in a comfortable meditative pose with eyes open.
– Keep a burning candle 4 feet from you with the level of your eyes.
– Initially watch the flame (Jyoti) without focusing too hard.
– After a while start gazing at the Jyoti as long as you can without blinking the eyes.
– After some time close the eyes and mentally watch the flame.
– Visualize the pattern and color of the Jyoti.
– Concentrate on flame for as long as your can hold your concentration.
– Do it daily minimum for 10 to 15 minutes.

Jyoti Dhyan is also one of the parts of “TRATAK SHATKARMA”.

c) Walking Dhyan

When you feel agitated or restless, walk minimum for 10 to 15 minutes down the corridor or at your work place or home or in the park. Try to harmonize your steps with your breathing. The repetitive and rhythmic motion of your legs and arms helps you to enter a meditative state which takes away the anxiety and anger.

d) Image Dhyan

– Place a picture of your God in front of you.
– Sit in a meditative posture concentrate gently on the picture till your eyes become watery.
– Keeping your head still, move your gaze on the various part of the picture like feet, legs, body and the crown of the head.
– Then close your eyes gently and visualize that picture.
– Repeat the same process as many times as you can.

e) Memory Dhyan

– Read two to three pages of a book.
– Then close the book and focus your mind on what you have read.
– Allow the mind to associate, classify, group, combine, and compare.
– If you attend to the subject on hand very carefully you will receive a clear impression.
– If the impression is strong you will have very good memory.

f) Dhyan on Thoughts

– Sit comfortably in any meditative posture.
– Keep your back upright neck and shoulder relaxed.
– Close your eyes gently.
– Concentrate on whatever thought comes to your mind.
– Let these thoughts come and go without trying to hold on to it and be judgemental.
– After some time thoughts will disappear and your mind will become completely quite and calm.
– To get better results starting with 15 to 20 minutes a day is good. Increase as per your comfort.

g). Naad Dhyan

– Sit in your favorite Asana.
– Gently close your eyes with your index and middle fingers and close the ears with your thumbs.
– Try to hear the Anahat sound (mystic sound).
– After practicing for two to three days you will hear various kind of sounds such as flute, thunder storm and humming of a bee etc.
– You will hear sounds in your right ear initially. Occasionally you may hear in your left ear also.
– Try to stick to the sound in one ear as this is an easy way to control the mind.
– Doing this repeatedly will lead to a state where you will not hear any sound.

h) Chakra Dhyan

This is an advance meditative practice in which the concentration is focused on the various energy centers or 7 chakras.
There are 7 chakras in human body and they are described corresponding to different endocrine gland.
(1) Mooladhara – Root Chakra
(2) Swadhisthan – Sacral Chakra
(3) Manipura – Solar Plexus Chakra
(4) Anahata – Heart Chakra
(5) Vishudha – Throat Chakra
(6) Ajna – Third Eye Chakra
(7) Sahasrara- Crown Chakra

– Hold your attention on each Chakra for as long as you pleased.
– Imagine you are breathing in and out from the chakras on which you are holding attention.
– Try this method of Dhyan for 10 to 15 minutes every day.
– Perception of these psychic centers will bring to development of the endocrine glands and corrects unbalanced psychosomatic and metabolic activities.

Benefits of Meditation:

1. Mental agitation and aggressiveness gets dissolved and helps develop reasoning abilities.
2. Improves mental poise and confidence and enhances your stress tolerance capacities.
3. Improves concentration level enhancing your ability to do tasks more efficiently and skillfully.
4. Helps control anger and improves your temperament.
5. Helps improve interpersonal and organizational skills.
6. Improves analytical and reviewing abilities.
7. Allows easy detachment from materialism and consumerism of modern life.
8. Makes us live in the present moment.
9. Provides preventive and herpetic problems in Cardiac problems, High B.P., Neck back pain,, ulcers, acidity etc.
10. Meditation larger benefits cover most of the diseases which are psychosomatic in nature.

Simple And Effective Ways Of Ayurveda For Hair Loss And Premature Graying !!

Avoid Pitta-aggravating foods like spicy, heavy, and oily foods, as well as tea and coffee. Avoid refined foods, junk food, and alcoholic and carbonated drinks. Increase intake of fresh fruits, green leafy vegetables. Panchakarma like Virechana, Nasya and Shirodhara can prevent gray hair. Shirodhara with Bhringraj Oil or Neeli Oil can help to reduce hair fall.

Ayurveda For Hair Loss And Graying

In Ayurveda, hair fall is referred to as ‘khalitya’ and premature graying of hair is termed as ‘Palitya’. Both khalitya and Palitya are considered as pure paitik (arising out of ‘pitta’) disorders. It means, when you continuously disturb ‘pitta’ (heat in your body), it can gray your hair. So, according to Ayurveda, if you consume pitta enhancing substances, your pittaaggravates and cause gray hair. From ayurvedic point of view, good hair growth is linked to one’s physical and mental health. When one is cheerful, the hair looks lively, alternatively when one is feeling depressed and pessimistic, the hair acquires a fallen and lifeless look.

According to Ayurveda, hair is a byproduct of bone formation and the tissue responsible for building bones is also responsible for the growth of hair. Early hair loss is related to body type and the balance of the mind-body constitution (doshas). Any problem with the hair will always indicate a dosha imbalance as well as a disequilibrium in the activities of your mind. People who have excess Pitta in their body are likely to lose their hair early in life, or have prematurely thin or gray hair. Excess Pitta in the sebaceous gland, at the root of the hair, or folliculitis can also lead to hair loss. Ayurveda recommends specialized home remedies to prevent as well as manage the gray hair all over the body. According to Ayurveda physiology the digestive essence (Rasa element) is responsible for healthy hair both color and structure. Any pathology affecting this leads to white hair. Correction of the causes with Ayurveda therapies and medicines, bring back the normalcy. Ayurveda says that the white hair after the middle age that is 82 is not reversible.

Symptoms

The symptoms are loss of hair whenever one combs the hair and graying of the hair at an early stage of life. Some systemic symptoms of Pitta aggravation might also be present as acid stomach, nausea, excessive sweating, and intolerance to heat.

Causes

Increased intake of fried, sour, spicy, salty, and fermented foods, as well as tea and coffee, aggravate the Pitta Dosha in the body. This Pitta accumulates in the skin of the scalp, leading to hair falling out and graying prematurely. Factors like excessive anger and stress are also responsible for unstable Pitta. Excessive consumption of alcohol and meat also aggravate Pitta.

How To Prevent Gray Hair And Loss Of Hair

Here are some useful ayurveda tips to control hair fall and gray hair. Reduce the stress of hair loss and premature graying of hair by following these effective ayurvedic home remedies.

1. Panchkarma Therapy

Panchkarma like Virechana, Nasya and Shirodhara are also very useful for gray hair. Virechan helps balance vitiated Pitta Dosha, so helps to reduce gray hair. Best oil for Nasya is Shadbindu Oil, Neem oil or Yashtimadhu Oil. Shirodhara with Bhringraj Oil, or Neeli Oil can help to reduce hair fall and gray hair. Regular massage hair with Til Oil(prepared with Amla- Indian Gooseberry, Neem and Yashtimadhu- Liquorice) helps prevent hair loss. Applying Ghee (made from cow milk) before sleep on bottom of the feet with bronze vessel, this will help to convert gray hair into black.

2. Diet

• Avoid Pitta-aggravating foods like spicy, heavy, and oily foods, as well as tea and coffee.
• Avoid refined foods, refined sugar, junk food, and alcoholic and carbonated drinks.
• Increase intake of fresh fruits, green leafy vegetables, and vegetable juice prepared from lettuce, carrot, capsicum, and alfalfa.

3. Daily Hair Care

Always, keep in mind hair are an essential part of our body and need special attention and care. Handle your hair gently. Whenever possible, allow your hair to air-dry naturally, Avoid compulsively twisting, rubbing or pulling your hair.

• Cleanliness

  To begin with, everything used for the hair should be clean. Brushes should be of good quality. The whalebone-bristle variety is perhaps the best, as it is not so stiff as to damage the hair, but the bristles are long and stiff enough to brush the scalp apart from the hair. Remember, combs should always be blunt-toothed. Both combs and brushes should be washed twice a week, and kept in a bag, which should be washed frequently. Both the brain and scalp prefer to be kept cool, so whenever washing the hair, it is best to use lukewarm water and a cool water rinse. It helps in toning the scalp and refreshing the nervous system.

• Massage

  Massage of the scalp is perhaps the best method for keeping your hair healthy and preventing hair loss. Though a good massage can be given with blunt-toothed comb, the best way is to massage with hands. The thumbs should be placed at the back of the ears, and the scalp rotated under the fingertips. Ensure that the scalp is also moved, apart from the fingers. Then, deep pressure should be applied with palms pressed firmly against the scalp. This ensures good circulation and an increased blood-supply to the hair-roots. A head massage helps relieve tension, improves circulation, and strengthens the hair roots.

• Shampooing / Cleaning

  The purpose of shampooing is to remove any dirt or impurities from hair making them clean and tidy. Harsh shampoos will just cause the sebaceous gland to overcompensate by producing more oil than necessary. It is advisable to wash your hair daily or alternate days using Amazing Herbal shampoo or any baby shampoo diluted with water. Traditionally, powdered herbs are used to cleanse the hair, which remove dirt without disturbing the natural functioning of the scalp. You can also prepare your own wet shampoo. Take one tablespoonful of grated or powdered ritha and shikakai. Add a handful of herbs (according to the need) and boil in half pint of water. Alternately, you can pour the boiling water over the mixture also. Allow it to cool. Strain and use as you would use your regular shampoo. The foam of the chemical shampoos has little to do with the cleaning effect. They are simple and harsh chemicals which strip the outer protein layer of the hair and dry the scalp, making the use of conditioners necessary.

• Conditioning

  Artificial conditioners do little more than provide an oily film that traps dirt and makes the hair look dull. If one feels the use of conditioners that are essential, one can always prepare an effective conditioner at home: mix sugar or honey, lemon juice and water in the ratio of 2:1:5. Prepare the needed quantity depending upon the length of your hair. After washing the hair, rub this mixture over the entire scalp and the hair thoroughly. Rinse it after about a minute. If you have dry scalp or if the skin keeps peeling off, use a mixture of yasthimadhu (Liquorice/Glyccyrrhiza glabra) roots. After washing the hair, apply this mixture all over the scalp, rubbing and massaging with the fingers. Leave it on for two-three minutes and then rinse once again with water.

• Proper Combing

  You should comb your hair every day with careful gentle 15-20 strokes. Combing the scalp helps keep your hair healthy and can also promote hair growth. It also an effective way to relax. It, which in turn prevents and fights avoidable hair loss, and re-establishes the natural development of healthy hair. Hair should be brushed well for five minutes at night and in the morning, preferably in front of an open window, as air is necessary for healthy air. Brushing should not be so vigorous as to stretch the hair, as it will weaken the hair. Brushing the hair from back to front ventilates the scalp.

4. Take Treatment For Cold

Don’t let kapha accumulate in your head. People who suffer perpetually from cold are more susceptible to get gray hair at an early age. Do not take a persisting common cold lightly. Seek treatment.

5. Take Treatment For Sinusitis

Do not neglect sinusitis. It has adverse effect on hair.

6. Good Digestion

Make sure that your digestive system functions well, your liver is healthy and you do not suffer from other gastric troubles. A sluggish liver and other digestive problems promote hair loss and turn the hair gray.

7. Head Massage

Regular care and an ayurvedic massage of the head is essential to revitalize the scalp.

8. Apply Essential Oils

Bhringaraaja referred to as keshraja or ‘king of the hair’ is an excellent rejuvenator. It also promotes hair growth and makes it black and lustrous. It is the best known herb to effectively stop and reverse balding and premature graying. It cools the brain and helps calm the mind from excessive activity, thus promoting sound sleep. Bhringaraaja is taken internally and used externally as Bhringraj oil.

9. Eat Copper Rich Foods

Sometimes gray hair begins to appear due to lack of copper in your diet. Take a multi-vitamin daily as most of them contain copper. Foods that are rich in copper are turnip greens, lima beans, yams, spinach, and most meats. Copper is also found in blackberries, pineapple, pomegranates, almonds and pumpkin seeds.

Yoga To Prevent Hair Loss And Gray Hair

According to yoga, nerve endings below the fingernails are directly connected to the roots of a person’s hair. Rubbing the nails against one another improves the blood circulation in the scalp, which in turn reduces gray hair. Yoga Asana and Kapalbhati is also said to help in arresting the graying process.

1. Prasana Mudra

Method: Keep hand near the chest. Rub the nails of the eight fingers against each other for 5 to 10 minutes for 30 days. The thumbs should be straight.

Benefits: This slows down hair loss, with reduction of gray hair and split ends. It makes hair lustrous and strong.

2. Mandukasana

Mandukasana is very good for premature graying hair and help to stop further graying of hair. It is also useful for some other illness like constipation, diabetes and digestive disorders, effectively reduce weight of thighs, hips and the abdomen. This asana strengthens the lower parts of the loins.

How To Lose Face Fat?

The face and cheeks are not immune from carrying excess fat. Chubby cheeks and double chins endorse that statement. Losing weight from a specific part of the body is technically difficult. You will have to work on your entire body, to tone your face and reduce puffiness. Here are a few tips to reduce face fat.

Tips To Lose Face Fat

Face Yoga/Exercise

Doing facial exercises, or facial yoga, is a natural way to make your face look younger by firming muscles and reducing wrinkles. There are approximately 50 muscles in your face, and exercising them has the added benefit of helping eye strain and releasing neck and facial tension. A few facial exercises you can practice are:

1. Widen your eyes and concentrate on a particular point in front of your face. Hold this for 10 seconds and then relax. Repeat this exercise 4 times.
2. Make a fish face by sucking in your cheeks. Practice this about five times.
3. Fill your mouth with air. Press your lips together and then close your mouth. Next, move the trapped air from one side to another. This will help you get rid of chubby cheeks, if practiced daily for 5 minutes.
4. Take a deep breath and then exhale from the mouth. Do this 4 times.
5. Look upwards and blow air from the mouth, as hard as you can. This will strengthen the jaw line.

Drink Lots Of Water

The one simple trick to losing weight is drinking a lot of water. This will help you get rid of all the toxins in your body. Also, Excess alcohol, sugar, and salt intake are all linked to fuller faces. They can all cause your body’s tissues including those in your face, to hold onto water. Reduce consumption of these face bloaters and increase your intake of water.  When you are dehydrated, your body is more apt to retain any water flowing through it.

Eat Healthy Food

Fill yourself up with some fresh vegetables, fruits, fibrous foods and protein rich foods instead of sugar rich foods and salty foods. Eat your meals at the correct time for good digestion. You could also indulge in healthy snacking having small portions of fruits and vegetables.

Apart from the top 3 you must also remember to sleep well. You could also go in for a facial massage, clay mask, or even change your hairstyle that can make you look slim around the face. If you’ve come across any other tips to lose face fat, leave them in comments below.

Ayurveda - Disclaimer from Blogger !!

I have created this blog to share with everyone the benefit of Ayurveda and Naturopathy which is been forgotten and is getting extinct from your indian culture and heritage.

What ever information and treatment i will be sharing with you all in due course of time does not at all belongs to me, but is been collected and gathered from various online journals of our ancient knowledge of Ayurveda. Thus take due care before following.