Ya Allah Mujhy Maa'af Kar Day !

I'm a man, I can fix that ...

I'm a man, I can fix that ... 

Don't have a spoon?
I can fix that!

Seatbelt broken?
I can fix that!
(Is that a neck brace you have on?)

   New TV too big for the old cabinet?
I can fix that!

No bottle opener?
I can fix that! 

   Room too dark using compact fluorescents?
I can fix that!

Electrical problem?
I can fix that!

Car stereo stolen?
I can fix that! 

    Bookshelf cracking under the weight?
I can fix that!

No ice chest?
I can fix that!

Can't read the ATM screen?
I can fix that!

    Car imported from the wrong country?
I can fix that!

Satellite go out in the rain?
I can fix that!

Electric stove broken & can't heat coffee?
I fixed that.

Wiper motor burned out?
I can fix that!

 

Display rack falling over?
I can fix that!

Desk overloaded?
I can fix that!

Car can't be ordered with the "Woody" option?
I can fix that!

Exhaust pipe dragging?
I can fix that!

Gotta feed the baby AND do the laundry?
I can fix that!

Cables falling behind the desk?
I can fix that!

No skate park in town?
I can fix that!

and - last but not least - - - -
 Out of diapers?
I can fix that!

Yogic Secrets to Holiday Bliss

Yogic Secrets to Holiday Bliss

The practice of yoga gives us valuable tools in managing the stress and anxiety through the holidays. Practicing meditation, pranayama, pratyahara and sakshin allows us to be calm, centered and in control of our normal unconscious reactions to holiday stressors. Meditation allows the mind to be calm, centered and relaxed and is a quick and effective way to reduce feelings of stress and anxiety before, during and after stressful situations. Pranayama is yogic breathing techniques that can be used anytime to calm, energize, harmonize and tranquilize the body. Pratyahara cuts off external distractions and draws the focus of the mind inwards to our bodies’ core. Sakshin is a detached state of consciousness, where we witness life events and have the perspective to choose how to respond to them.

These four techniques can be combined for an effective approach to dealing with any stressful and emotionally or psychologically reactive situation. The key to dealing with holiday stress is to become aware of the events and situations and their corresponding physical, mental and emotional reactions. Once you have identified potential holiday stressors, follow the five steps below to emerge un-stressed, calm and happy.
 
Be Prepared
If possible take a few moments to meditate and center yourself before leaving home or engaging in a stressful situation. Create a calm, compassionate and patient mind space and attitude. Visualize yourself in the situation reacting in a positive yogic way.

Become a Witness
Consciously step back from the situation and become a witness to your external and internal environment. See your life as a car driving down the highway and become the driver of the car, watching everything that is happening outside of the car and being in conscious control of what is happening to the car itself.

Breathe and Feel
Stop or pause any unconscious immediate mental or emotional reactions to the events around you and simply see and feel what is going on. Draw your awareness deeply inside your body and experience and feel what is happening in the present moment. Focus on your breath, breathing slowly, smoothly and deeply into your belly. Feel your body’s physical response to the situation without reacting.

Choose Consciousness
Once you have short-circuited your initial unconscious response to holiday stressors, then make a choice on how to respond to the situation. You may choose to simply not respond and continue being present to everything that is happening in the moment. You may choose to deepen your practicing of meditation, pranayama, pratyahara and sakshin. You may want to choose the opposite of your usual response, instead of becoming irritated and angry, practice patience, compassion and kindness.

Take Time to Recover
After any hectic holiday experiences take some time to recover and rejuvenate your body and spirit. Just a few minutes of pranayama or meditation will eliminate any accumulated tension or stress and help calm the body, mind and spirit.

Tapas - Yogic Will Power

Tapas - Yogic Will Power

The yogic practice of self-discipline is called Tapas and is one of Patanjali’s five niyamas, the personal observances that create the foundation of yoga. Basically, Tapas is doing something you do not want to do or not doing something you want to do and will have a positive effect on one’s life. Tapas should be something simple and small enough to become successful at but should also be difficult and challenging enough to engage the will. When our will conflicts with the desire of our mind an internal “fire” is created which illuminates and burns up our mental and physical impurities. This inner fire can also be used as a source of spiritual energy; the yogis say the sole practice of Tapas can lead to the release of kundalini and attainment of enlightenment.

The practice of Tapas in the Bhagavad-Gita (17:14) is broken down into three realms: body, speech and mind. In the body, the practice of Tapas involves creating purity, chastity, honesty, non-violence and worship. Using speech involves using kind, truthful and beneficial words. Practicing Tapas in our minds involves using gentleness, silence, compassion and self-restraint.

Tapas is practiced as an act of devotion and must be selfless and ego less. Tapas transforms and purifies us and enables the conscious awareness and control over unconscious impulses and poor behavior. Tapas builds will power and personal strength that helps us become more dedicated to our practice of yoga.

Tapas is a tool for transformation and should be approached with an attitude of passion and zeal rather than of self-denial and chastisement. “Genuine Tapas makes us shine like the sun,” says Georg Feuerstein. “Then we can be a source of warmth and strength for others”.

Yoga Rx for Sciatica

Yoga Rx for Sciatica

The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in the body, originating from the sacrum and traveling down the back of the legs to the toes. Compression of the sciatic nerve can cause one sided numbness, tingling or pain in the sacrum, buttock and back of the leg. The nerve can become compressed for several reasons, most commonly from a herniated disk in the lower lumbar spine. Inflammation, stenosis (narrowing of the spinal canal) and tight piriformis muscles (deep muscles in the buttocks) are other common causes of compression. The pain, compression and inflammation of sciatica can be reduced through a gentle yoga practice. Focus on postures that lengthen and align the spine (mountain, puppy dog, bound angle), back bends (bridge, camel, cobra), postures that stretch the piriformis (knee down twist, revolved triangle, prayer twist), abdominal strengthening poses (boat, half boat) and inversions (shoulder stand, down dog). Engage in the postures slowly, carefully and for short durations and avoid any movements or postures that create or intensify the pain. Slow deep yogic breathing will encourage the body to relax as well as decrease inflammation and pain.

Practice good posture and body mechanics throughout your day. Take frequent breaks to breath, stretch and relax. Avoid sitting for long periods and rest on your back with your knees bent.

Remember to always speak with a physician before beginning any type of physical exercise. If the sciatic pain is acute, resting for 1-2 days is recommended before addressing the pain with yoga.

Forward bending poses are contraindicated; side-bending poses are cautioned. Seek medical attention immediately if you experience loss of bladder or bowel control, or increasing weakness or numbness in the legs.

Yoga Rx for Digestive Complaints

Yoga Rx for Digestive Complaints

When the Gastro-intestinal (GI) system becomes unbalanced a myriad of symptoms and diseases can occur and even the mildest symptoms can cause much distress and dismay. A yoga practice combined with diet and lifestyle changes can strengthen and harmonize digestion and elimination to heal and reduce many GI complaints. Yoga is such an effective therapy for digestive complaints due to its ability to activate the parasympathetic nervous system to nourish and activate digestion and elimination. Yoga also has a regulating effect on the enteric nervous system, which independently functions to digest, move and eliminate our food.

Yoga can also be used to balance the digestive fire, called Agni in yoga. If Agni is depleted or low then digestion becomes weak creating symptoms of diarrhea, bloating, gas. If Agni is excessive then there is too much heat in the GI system creating symptoms of constipation, acid reflux, and burning. To stimulate Agni practice an energizing vinyasa with standing yoga postures (especially the warrior poses) and practice Kapalabhati and Ujjayi pranayamas. To reduce Agni, a gentle practice of floor postures (especially supine) is used and Sit Cari and Shitali Pranayamas can be practiced.

The most common digestive disorder is irritable bowl syndrome (IBS) effecting 30 percent of the world’s population. Yoga’s general ability to regulate and balance the digestive system is helpful for IBS and all digestive complaints, but yoga can also be used to address specific symptoms.

To relieve constipation, practice postures that compress the abdomen such as prone (belly down) postures, forward folds and twists. Use similar poses to reduce excessive gas, adding hip opening poses if the condition is chronic. Inversions, backbends and hip opening postures help alleviate diarrhea. For abdominal bloating and distention use twists and hip openers. To relieve cramps, practice backbends, side bends and hip openers to open and stretch the abdomen. For stomachache and indigestion practice prone postures, forward folds, twists and hip openers. If nausea or acid reflux is present avoid inversions and postures that compress the abdomen and practice grounding, lunging and squatting poses.

If IBS or digestive symptoms become aggravated with stress, then use the calming practices of meditation, dirga and nadi sodhana pranayamas, and add an extended shavasana pose to your yoga practice.

Remember to always speak with a physician before beginning any type of physical exercise. Seek medical attention immediately if you experience bleeding, fever, weight loss, and/or persistent severe pain.

Using Yoga for Weight Loss

Using Yoga for Weight Loss

Within yoga’s ability to create total well-being, lies its ability to reduce excess weight through burning calories, boosting metabolism and encouraging a healthy lifestyle. Yoga is not a quick fix, but can be an excellent long-term holistic approach to loosing excess weight – and keeping it off. Not only that, yoga creates many other positive changes: improves self-esteem, increases mental focus, reduces stress, promotes flexibility and increases strength and balance. Metabolism is the chemical processes that create energy in the body that are regulated by the endocrine system, especially the thyroid. Yoga has a powerful stimulating and strengthening effect on the endocrine organs and thus can boost metabolism to burn more calories. The twisting and compressing of the yoga postures massage the internal endocrine organs regulating their function and improving local circulation. But even with yoga’s effect on metabolism, the age-old weight loss formula of reducing calorie intake and increasing calorie output is still important to follow.

Twisting poses, back bends, forward bends and inversions are used to stimulate the endocrine system and boost metabolism. If the weight gain is due to a hormonal imbalance poses that affect the thyroid in the neck will be helpful: camel, shoulder stand, rabbit, plow, and bridge. Practicing the Sun Salutations will be especially helpful in boosting the body's metabolism as will moving quickly (vinyasa) between any series of poses. Do not attempt a fast paced vinyasa until you have achieved a basic understanding of the poses. Being significantly overweight may cause difficulty in forward folding poses and inversions, you may want to avoid or minimize these at first.

The standing poses, especially the warrior and lunging poses are used to strengthen and tone the muscles, build endurance, warm the body and increase caloric output. The standing poses are empowering and grounding, and regularly practicing them increases self-confidence and self-esteem. Use Kapalabhati and Ujjayi Pranayama to help warm and energize the body and further boost metabolism. Practice Kapalabhati before or after your yoga practice, and use Ujjayi with vinyasa and holding yoga poses.

Incorporating a yogic diet and lifestyle will create a holistic weight loss program and positive long-term change. A yogic diet is high in fiber, whole grains, legumes and vegetables; and low in fat, animal protein and processed foods. A yogic lifestyle encourages awareness and consciousness, compassion, self-knowledge, and the practice of the principles of right conduct and lifestyle of the yamas and niyamas. Yama, respect for others, includes nonviolence, truth, honesty, moderation, and noncovetousness. Niyama, positive self-action, includes purity, contentment, discipline, self-study, and devotion.
 
Yoga is a process and should be approached as such. Focus on slowly increasing your commitment to the yogic practices outlined above and enjoy the gradual changes that appear. Ideally practice yoga 6 times per week or alternate your yoga practice with other forms of movement taking one day off per week for rest.