The word "yoga" often brings to mind a classroom of students attired in exercise clothing attempting to stretch their bodies into different postures. A more traditional yoga class will even include instruction in breathing techniques, concentration, meditation, and positive thinking. In the media today, yoga is often associated with health benefits such as stress reduction, lower blood pressure, and an overall decrease in illness and hospitalization rates. This is the Western idea of yoga. If we look to the Eastern approach, where yoga is a part of the great Hindu and Buddhist traditions, we find that yoga is all of these things but much, much more as well.

Read more here: » Yoga: Serve, Love, Meditate, Realize - The Inner Teachings of Yoga

Read more here: » Naked yoga: Encyclopedia - Naked yoga

Sannyasa: A person in the fourth ashrama, or stage of life when one lives as a wandering hermit, owning nothing save the clothes one is wearing and a small wooden bowl for food.

(See also: Sannyasa, Yoga, Yoga Dictionary)

The realization of oneness in all existences, manifested and unmanifested, is the goal of human life.

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

Read more here: » Oneness: The realization of Oneness

The Cutting Of Frenum Lingui

28. A knower of the Atman, having drawn out the tongue from the root of the palate, should in accordance with the advice of his Guru, clear the impurities of the tongue for seven days.

From "Kundalini Yoga" by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad: The Cutting Of Frenum Lingui

Thich Nhat Hanh taught the power of mindfulness and the importance of being present and fully engaged in each moment and in each act. He told a friend that there are two ways to wash the dishes: The first is to wash the dishes in order to have clean dishes and the second is to wash the dishes in order to wash the dishes.

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

Vasanta Panchami

This is an important bathing day. All Hindus observe it. It is also known as Magh Sukla Panchami as it falls in the month of Magh (January-February). This is the festival that marks the first day of spring.

From Hindu Fasts & Festivals by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Vasanta Panchami: Festivals in Hinduism -Vasanta Panchami

The following exercises are for changing the flow from Ida to Pingala. Select any one of the methods that suits you best. For changing the flow from Pingala to Ida, just do the same exercise on the opposite side.

Read more here: » Nadis: How To Change The Flow In Nadis

Sahaja Yoga: The Living Tradition of Sahaj Marg

The Raja Yoga system known as "Sahaj Marg" is still relatively obscure in the West, even among Yoga aficionados. This is largely due to the fact that Sahaj Marg has been a low-key, word-of-mouth practice. Works by the lineage of Sahaj Marg Masters, published under the auspices of the Shri Ram Chandra Mission (SRCM), are difficult to locate, and beyond the abhyasis or practitioners of Sahaj Marg, few are aware that SRCM centers have been established worldwide since the Mission was founded in India fifty years ago.

Read more here: » Sahaja Yoga: The Living Tradition of Sahaj Marg

Svara Sadhana, practice of breath, is the revealer of Satya, Brahman and bestower of the Supreme Knowledge and Bliss. Perform calm acts during the flow of Ida and harsh acts during the flow of Pingala. Do acts resulting in the attainment of psychic powers, Yoga, meditation, etc., during the flow of the Sushumna. If the breath rises by Ida (moon) at sunrise and flows throughout the day, and Pingala (sun) rises at sunset and flows throughout the night it confers considerable good results.

Read more here: » Nadis: Svara Sadhana

In India, the day begins with worship. People pray, bow and meditate. Members of the Jain community all over India bathe, put on new clothes and walk barefoot to their local temple. They embark on their daily pilgrimage with no possessions and with high aspirations. Some of them carry a cloth mask which they wear when inside the temple. From the moment they walk into the temple, all worldly concerns are set aside to facilitate meditation. Their focus is on the Tirthankaras , the teachers who conquered their own vices to teach the world about compassion and salvation through example. The recitation of the Namokar Mahamantra encourages them to salute the achievements of all divine souls who attained salvation.

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

The institution of Haj in Islam is quite extraordinary. Haj is the fifth among the five pillars of Islam. The other four are Kalimah, Namaz, Zakat and Roza. The word Haj means 'resolve' and in religious terms it refers to the resolve to visit a holy place. Believers from all over congregate at the holy city of Mecca and perform the rituals prescribed by Islam.

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

Sahaja Yoga and the Religions of the World

The texts below show references to the Kundalini, Self Realization, their association with the cool breeze felt emanating from the top of the head and from the palms, and predictions referring to the coming of Shri Mataji and Sahaja Yoga in these modern times.

Read more here: » Sahaja Yoga: Sahaja Yoga and the Religions of the World - Prophecies

Most people use only a fraction of their lung capacity for breathing. They breathe shallowly, barely expanding the ribcage. Their shoulders are hunched, they have painful tension in the upper part of the back and neck, and they suffer from lack of oxygen. They should learn the full Yogic breathing.

Read more here: » Yoga Positions: Proper Breathing - Yoga Position

When the saint-poet Kabir said " Dhai akshar prem ka padhe jo pandit hoye " - "One who knows how to love is the only wise one among all educated", he was referring to the love for God.

Mortal love being inconsistent and transient, it is shortlived. However, love for the Divine can be everlasting for God alone accepts us unconditionally, with all our weaknesses and sins. We call this love bhakti.

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

Religion has nothing to do with the practice of goodness, according to Sri Narayana Guru.

Narayana Guru preached the recondite message of the Vedas and Upanishads in a lucid, uncomplicated style. He advocated a formless, non-dual metaphysics and would advise seekers to meditate by sitting in front of a looking-glass.

According to Hindu belief, the Atman - which is evolved from the Supreme - resides in every living being. It was the latent divinity in man that the Guru wished to awaken by his exhortation.

(See also: Sri Narayana Guru, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

"Why are we here?" asked a boy of his mother. "Why, to help others, of course," she replied. "And what are the others here for?" asked the boy. The mother had no answer.

The others, especially the needy, are there so that we can extend to them a helping hand. One day, as William Gladstone was preparing a speech he was to deliver in parliament, he was called to visit a dying boy. When he returned to the writing of his speech, he said: "That speech may fail or not; but in helping that boy I have tasted exquisite joy."

(See also: Life and Death, Life and Beyond, Death and Dying, Body Mind and Soul)

Our God-given abilities are a treasure that is meant for ourselves as well as for the entire world. This wealth should never be misused and made into a burden for us and for others.

The greatest tragedy in life is not death; it is to let our great potential, talents, and capabilities go underutilised. When we use the wealth obtained from nature, it diminishes; but when we use the wealth of our inner gifts, it increases.

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

Over 4,000 years ago God asked Abraham to build the Kabah (house of worship) at Mecca and to call upon all people to make the pilgrimage to the House of God. Thus, it came to be obligatory for every Muslim to go for Haj at least once, provided good health and financial position permitted it.

Over two million believers from all over the world gather every year in Mecca to perform this pious duty. The rites of Haj take about one week to complete, but the devout spend as many days as possible so that they may become spiritually enriched by the sacred atmosphere. All the acts and sites of Haj convey a spiritual message.

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

In the Jagannath Puri festival the king works as a sweeper, cleaning the pathway ahead of the chariot, denoting that no labour is insignificant if done for a higher cause. People from all communities get together to draw the chariots with great enthusiasm, upholding the spirit of celebration and exalting the concept of dignity of labour.

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