The back is an amazingly strong structure, which allows the spine to move in all directions and planes. It is important not just to be free of your back pain, but also to have a strong and flexible back, which keeps you feeling light and healthy.

Here we give you warming-up and strengthening asanas, followed by toning and stretching of the back. Remember to do all the asanas in the order mentioned and at your own pace and level of flexibility.

Instructions and benefits for:

-       Tadasana (Palm tree pose)

-       Marchariasana (Cat Pose)

-       Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)

-       Dhanurasana (Bow Pose)

-       Viprit Naukasana (Inverted Boat Pose)

-       Pawanmuktasana

-       Sharnagat Mudra

(See also: Yoga and Health, Yoga, Yoga and Health, Yoga Systems, Yoga Positions)

Suryanamaskar is the salutation to Sun God which is one of the major sources of prana in this creation. Prana being "The Force" in the universe, that which is responsible for creation, maintenance and transformation in the physical.

The sun's energy vibrates at innumerable frequencies manifesting in the physical as various food/ prana for various living things like trees, leaves, animals, humans etc.

Instructions and benefits for:

-       Surya Pranam Asana

-       Hasta Uthaan Asana

-       Padhasta Asana

-       Ashwa Sanchalan Asana

-       Parvat Asana

-       Ashtanga Namaskar

-       Bhujang Asana

(See also: Suryanamaskar, Yoga, Yoga and Health, Yoga Systems, Yoga Positions)

A tree is a beautiful expression of mother earth's creativity. It has shakti . It restores balance in the environment by its positive force. A tree doesn't have a mind of its own, only the cosmic heart of the universe. It responds to human sentiments.

The pipal tree is sacred to Hindus and Buddhists - the Buddha attained nirvana under this tree. In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna said: "I am as strong as the pipal is among trees." Pipal and tulsi play significant roles in Hindu rituals. The neem tree is the favourite of Durga, and it is grown to ward off evil spirits. The Avdhumra tree is believed to be the abode of Lord Dattatreya, so it is never cut down

(See also: Sacred Nature, Faith and Belief, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Most world leaders, international organisations and so-called peace summits tend to define peace in the shadow of war, as 'a situation where there is no war"between nations.

By doing so they are actually taking a negative view. By viewing the positive element in contrast to the negative, we will end up underrating the former'spotential. By defining light as the 'absence of darkness"or, life as the 'absence of death", we assign greater importance to the powers of darkness and death, or in the case of peace, to war, rather than peace.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Buddhism sees humans neither as a special creation of God, nor does it see them as having been given dominion over 'lesser' species. It says that like all sentient beings, humans also wander in the limited, conditioned realm of samsara, the cycle of rebirths.

It believes that man influences the environment not only through his actions but also through the moral and immoral qualities of his actions - karmic effects catch up with people via their environment.

(See also: Buddhism and Ecology, Faith and Belief, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Contentment is within reach for a person who is compassionate and loving. The greedy, however, remain unsatisfied as they are constantly looking for bigger and better ways to fulfil their desires. At which point will they be satisfied - when they get a bigger house, a better car, higher designation?

To overcome this vicious circle, we need to replace lower thoughts with noble ones. A greedy person pays no attention to the quality of his words and deeds. Always fixing his gaze on the future, trying to figure out how to do this or that, he will spend his whole life planning, calculating, and dreaming. Unable to be in the present and enjoy what is right in front of him, he cannot relish even his food, because while he is eating lunch he is planning his supper.

(See also: Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Meditation Experiences by Sarasvati Buhrman PhD - Part I

Sometime after 350 B.C. a great yogi sage wrote the "Yoga Sutra". This brief translation should wet your appetite. This describes the transformation of mind that will unfold over a course of sadhana (spiritual practice), focusing on the relationship between the mind and the object of meditation.

Read more here: » Meditation: Meditation Experiences According to the Ashtanga Yoga Tradition with Commentary on Patanjali's Yoga Sutra

The mind is like a wheel which revolves endlessly with tremendous velocity. It generates new thoughts with every revolution. This wheel is set in motion by the vibration of psychic Prana or subtle Prana. The practice of Pranayama lessens the velocity of the mind and slows down the wheel gradually. Perfect control of Prana will bring the wheel to a standstill.

From "Easy Steps to Yoga" by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Control of Thought: The Mind and Control of Thought

(See also: Anekantavad and syadvad, Faith and Belief, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Why do children refer to themselves by name rather than in the first person singular? If you were disembodied in one location and reconstructed in another, would you still be yourself?

What about that tune you were humming when you morphed? We may still be a long way from Star Trek, but scientists in Australia have recently managed to teleport a beam of light. 'I' has literally been the bugbear of religion, philosophy and science, across all cultures. Conceptions of the self invariably lead us down slippery slopes of exploration into the nature of identity, and possibly ethnicity.

(See also: The Self, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Success can be external or internal. Externally, it is the measure of a job well done and the accompanying recognition from society. Internally, it is a feeling of achievement, satisfaction and fullness which comes on the completion of a task or the fulfilment of a desire. What is a true measure of success, the outer accolades or the inner joy and peace?

(See also: Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

He was a small, thin boy with a mole on his face. But what he told our seventh standard class many years ago still bothers me. The moral science teacher had given us homework. We had been asked to pen an essay on ‘happiness'. We all thought it was easy. But when we started writing it, we realised our limitations.

Some of us wrote about the happy moments surrounding birthdays; some spoke of the emotional highs on getting a first in class; others remembered kites and whoops of joy. But the small, thin boy saw nothing in the events that excited us. Nothing at all. He was uninterested.

(See also: Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

We tend to pray to God only for our worldly needs, which are much more than our requirements. Krishna says in the Gita, "Four types of devotees worship me: the distressed ones, those seeking knowledge, those seeking wealth and others seeking wisdom. Of all such devotees, the one who seeks wisdom is dearest to me".

Shrishti or creation means projection and expansion coming out of One. That is the evolution of the world. Krishna also says that at the end of a Kalpa, the whole universe - all the souls, whether in the state of birth and death or in moksha, including Brahma - will dissolve within Me.

(See also: Amarnath, Indian Festivals, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

(See also: Sustainable development, Faith and Belief, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

"Health" means more than physical ease; it is also ease of mind, heart and soul, and we take that "health" at mental, emotional and spiritual levels with us when we leave our physical bodies behind. Of course, there are no hard lines between any aspects of our beings. What we think affects our bodies, what we do physically affects how we feel emotionally; it is all inter-related

Read more here: » Extraordinary Health: Maximize Your Sense of Well-being On All Levels

 Instructions on Meditation.

From "Easy Steps to Yoga" by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Meditation: Special Instructions on Meditation

Famous yogins from different ages.

From "Kundalini Yoga" by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Yogins: Famous Yogins - Yoga Addenda

About the mind and how the mind can be controlled.

From "Easy Steps to Yoga" by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Mind Control: Mind, Its Mysteries and Control

The Seven Chakras

Apart from the physical body a human being consists of a spiritual body, and this spiritual body is composed of vibrations of light which are structured in a way so that they create different centres. These centres are each structured in a beautiful pattern, and they are located as follows:

Read more here: » Chakras: The Seven Chakras

The Oneness Festival and The World University of Consciousness is arranged as a joint venture between a team of people in the west, with the headquarters in Sweden, and the Golden Age Foundation in India.

The Golden Age Foundation is a non-profit spiritual Institution. The Institution is born in India and is well known as Kalki Dharma.

Read more here: » Enlightenment: Presentation of The Golden Age Foundation