Enhancing Mindfulness

Mindfulness is at the heart of wellness. We can learn the rules of life, develop a strong body, find nourishment for our journeys, and know ourselves, but without mindfulness we flounder (especially under stress) and take the wrong turn ending up wasting our resources. Yoga provides us some very effective tools for enhancing mindfulness. The [...]

Exercise the Heart, Save the Brain

We’ve all experienced that moment where we wonder why we can’t recall a name, or where we put our keys, glasses, phone, etc. Or when you are reminiscing with a friend you’ve known for a long time and you are sharing memories of what exactly happened at that picnic on the Fourth of July 3 [...]

Figuring Out Life

We live in the age of science. Air travel, computers, cell phones—science and technology impacts our lives. Knowledge from medical science has aided our wellness. Science has removed some of the mystery from many illnesses and natural disasters. More people now accept that poor health is a result of germs, viruses and parasites. Natural disasters [...]

Your Full Dimension of Personal Wellness

Our physical body is the vehicle we use to accomplish our goals. The comparison to an automobile is quite apt. Some people drive a fuel-efficient and low-cost car; some drive an “environmentally-friendly” car; some choose a luxury sedan; some drive a truck. The automobile we drive depends on a variety of factors: what we can [...]

Am I Well?

What does wellness mean? How do I know if I am well? We each have our unique sense of wellness. An Olympic athlete has a different expectation of wellness than does an office worker. A mother taking daily care of a young child has a different expectation from a surfer who is chasing the next [...]

Unlocking Inertia

Inertia impedes our ability to make change. Inertia can arise from our physical limitations: our individual strength, flexibility, balance, weight, etc. But the largest influence on inertia comes from our brain. We each have our own schedules, eating habits, sleeping habits, study habits, conversational habits, etc. Recognizing our need to change our nutrition or our [...]

Biology and Chemistry of Breathing

Pranayam is vital to yoga practice. Considering that how we breathe is linked to our overall health, why not use this free gift to maximize our wellness? Some of the most common illnesses in modern societies (high blood pressure and related coronary problems like heart failure and stroke) are related to poor breathing habits. The [...]

Physical Trajectories of Yoga

Follow up from Action Tools for Wellness: RussaYog uses the three tools of: pranayam (mindful breathing); kriyas (mindful movements) and; asans (postures with the body in stillness) to develop our abilities to remain mindful. To further enhance these experiences we use universal mantras. The physical trajectories and sequences in RussaYog® use the concept of puran [...]

Enjoy the Fruits of Your Journeys

Self-Reflection Tool: Just as the negative residue of a journey should be mindfully released, the positive nourishment from the journey should be enjoyed. Enjoyment creates the positive feedback needed so that satisfying journeys can be repeated (in the same or perhaps other forms). In the previous discussion of release we mentioned how constipation can be [...]

Release: Self-Reflection Tools

Following up the thoughts from the “Our Abilities”: Self-Reflection Tools” post from October. Any journey leaves some negative or unwanted residue. After enjoying a delicious feast, we need to remove particles through flossing and brushing our teeth. Later we expel unneeded residue through a bowel movement. Exercise is a healthy way to remove unwanted calories from overindulging. [...]