Yoga Basic Knowledge and Exercises
Nils Horn
What is Yoga ?
Be a Yogi
The Ten Ethic Principles of Patanjali (Yoga Sutra)
Practice the Five Principles of Health
The Path to Inner Happiness
Overcome Fear, Sadness and Anger
Hatha Yoga
Karma-Yoga (Religion of Love)
Goddess Yoga
Be a Happy Single
Have a Happy Relationship
Have a Happy Family
Have a Happy, Healthy and Spiritual Old Age
Proof of God
Is There a Life After Death?
The Five Basic Spiritual Techniques
Nils´ Life as a Yogi
Get a Darshan (Energy Transfer)
Become a World Savior
The Unity of All Religions
Live in Enlightened Happiness
What is Yoga ?
(Wikipedia) Yoga refers to traditional physical and mental disciplines originating in India. The word is associated with meditative practices in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Major branches of yoga in Hindu philosophy include Raja Yoga (Patanjali, meditation and positiv thinking), Karma Yoga (do good), Jnana Yoga (think about yourself), Bhakti Yoga (pray to God, the Guru or to your inner self), and Hatha Yoga (body exercises and meditation).
The Sanskrit word yoga has many meanings, and is derived from the Sanskrit root "yuj", meaning "to control" (selfdiscipline), "to yoke" (egolessness) or "to unite" (live in a cosmic consciousness). It is also possible that the word yoga derives from "yujir samadhau," which means "contemplation". Someone who practices yoga or follows the yoga philosophy to a high level of attainment is called a yogi or yogini.
A yogi (or yogin) is a term for a male practitioner of various forms of spiritual practice. In Hinduism it refers to an adherent of Yoga. The word is also often used in the Buddhist context to describe Buddhist monks or a householder devoted to meditation. The Shiva Samhita text defines the yogi as someone who knows that the entire cosmos is situated within his own body.
Yogini is the feminine form. Yoginis are known to possess a steadfast mind, which they cultivate through the disciplined pursuit of transcendence. Tantric scholars have described yoginis as independent, outspoken women with graceful spirits. Though the leaders of the modern Yoga-asana & meditation tradition have often been male, the vast majority of modern practitioners are female, including many who have attained mastery through the Yoga of the embodied Shakti mysteries of the life cycle and mothering. In the Hindu tradition, the the mother is first guru (teacher) and in the Yoga tradition, proper respect of Yoginis is a necessary part of the path to liberation. A Yogini is the sacred feminine force: the goddesses of mythology (Lakshmi, Durga, Kali).
Before you opt for a particular style of yoga, you should consider what you're looking for. Do you want strenuous exercises (stretching, muscle building, bodystiling) or relaxation (stress reduction, health, peace)? Sporting challenge you will find with Power Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, Iyengar Yoga and Kundalini Yoga. Relaxation you can find in the normal Hatha Yoga and in the Vini Yoga.
Try out what is good for you. Ultimately, every yoga teacher's haas his personal style. Every yoga teacher has weaknesses and strengths. Learn from any yoga teacher. Find your own way to practice yoga. Take the best for you and accept in any yoga class the things that are personally not effective for you. And above all, always stay on your path of truth and accuracy. Don´t give up your mind on the door to spirituality.
Ideal is a practice time of fifteen minutes. If you do four weeks yoga every day at a certain time, your mind gets accustomed to your daily practice. Then it is easy for you. Yoga becomes for you
a simple way to preserve your health and your inner happiness.
Yoga provides a variety of techniques. He has techniques for the body and the mind. We should practice each yoga exercise so that it works well for us. What hurts us, we omit it. What is good that we do. We can vary all yoga exercises creative. We ask ourselves constantly: "What do I need now and what's good for me? What triggers best my tensions?"
Find your individual rhythm and your individual priorities. Do the breaks at the right moment and in the right track. If you do not want to spend much time for yoga, just do a little break at the end.
Yoga is an ongoing experiment. The way of the effective tension solution is not easy to find. We need to practice yoga with wisdom and inner feeling. A formal practice is not enough. We should first sensing our internal tensions and than find the most effective techniques for solution.
Over the years, you will dissolve a layer of tension after the other until the light awakens in you and lasting happiness appears. On the way to self-realization, you will need many different yoga practices. There are specific techniques for each stage of development.
An important part of daily yoga practice is the motivation. We reflect the benefits of a daily health and relaxation program. We make our daily yoga practice so that it brings us pleasure. An important aid to this is beautiful music. If we do the yoga exercises with beautiful music, they are much easier.
Our daily yoga practice has to be designed so that it meets our personal needs and we feel that it is effective and good for us. We can vary our yoga practice. We always do yoga in cooperation with the two forces endurance and joy. When taking these two forces, we can keep up our yoga path for a lifetime and continue to grow until we live in the light.
---> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga
Do Yoga Walking
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Yoga Walking is enlightenment while walking. This is the ultimate kick! This is health training, stress reduction and inner happiness in one. Yoga Walking is your daily pilgrimage into the light. If you really pilgrimage, the pilgrimage will you turn into a goddess of happiness. Yoga Walking consists of 10 points. Go every day for 30 minutes or at least on weekends for one an hour. Go first rather quickly (power walking) and at the end rather slowly (slow walking). Make all 12 points so that they do you good.
1. When walking stomp your anger into the ground. Let all the pent-up anger out. Think the mantra "Anger, Anger, Anger ..." What annoyed you today? Free yourself!
2. Solve then when walking your sadness. Feel in your sadness inside. What makes you sad today? Think several times the mantra: "I'm sad because ..."
3. Shoulders rotate. Solve the tension in your shoulders and your neck. In what way do you have to move the shoulders so that you achieve a good effect?
4. Spine rotation. Turn yourself when walking several times in the spine to the right and to the left. Also turn the head with.
5. Massage a healing color from head to foot in your body, and think the color name as a mantra. What color do you need now? "Orange, blue, gold, pink ..."
6. Concentrate when walking on the ground. Feel the earth. Think the mantra "Earth" and breathe a minute into your feet.
7. Move one hand and send a person a positive sentence. What do you want to say to him today? Think the phrase several times as a mantra. Send light to the world and think: "May all beings be happy. May the world be happy."
8. Imagine the numbers 1 to 20 in the head, chest, abdomen, legs, feet, and in the ground (beneath the feet). Solve so every day quickly and effectively the tensions in all major areas of the body.
9. Visualize a beautiful sun in the sky and clothe yourself with a golden ray of sunshine. Fill you with light and think many times the word "Light" as a mantra.
10. Stop all thoughts and move five minutes when walking all the stress out of you, until your mind becomes calm. Tarry a while at rest. Let all thoughts come and go as they want.
11. Walk freely. Go the way you feel you want to do. Enjoy it. Observe how your mind becomes slowly positive. You are now back from your pilgrimage into the light. You did an important fact for your physical health and your mental well-being. Keep your happiness. The light will accompany you through your whole day.
12. Never give up. Your sense of life is to be happy, healthy and enlightened. Walk every life into a higher level of light. Become a Goddess, Buddha, Shiva one day. If you are liberated, than liberate all your fellow people. Stay always on your yoga walk through the dimentions of life.
Be a Yogi
You are a yogi or a yogini, if you practise Yoga for health, beauty, strongness, relexation or healing. You are a yogi, if you practise Yoga for inner peace, happiness and enlightenment. You are a yogi, if you are enlightened. Enlightenment means to live in God, in the light, in a cosmic consciousness.
In modern Yoga your religion is free. Yoga teaches the unity of all religions. You can be a yogi and a hindu, a christ, a moslem, a buddhist or an atheist. The most important christian yogis were the Desert Fathers and Mothers. Their enlightened master was the Holy Antonius. Many buddhist live as yogis alone or in an cloister. The most yogis are hindus. In the current time more and more yogis also live in the west.
The three great books of Yoga are the Yoga-Sutra from Patanjali, the Hatha-Yoga-Pradipika from Goraksha and the Bhagawad Gita from Krishna. Therefore the basic yoga-technics are positive thinking (Patanjali), meditation (Patanjali), body work (Goraksha), praying (Krishna) and love all beeings (Krishna).
Important modern Yoga masters are Swami Sivananda [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Sivananda], Anandamayi Ma [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anandamayi_Ma], Sai Baba [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sathya_Sai_Baba], Amritanandamayi (Amma) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amritanandamayi] and Mother Meera [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Meera]. They teach the basic features truth, peace, love, selfdiscipline and happiness.
Very good is to get an initiation from an enlightened master. He or she opens the doors of your enlightenment energie (kundalini-energie). But you have to practise and realize by your own. Enligtenment will appear, when the time is right for you.
Spiritually, humans can be compared to onions. Tension and conflict must be dissolved layer by layer. When one layer is peeled away, the next quickly appears at the surface until the inner core is revealed. At this point, a lasting inner joy is found, and the Yogi or Yogini lives in light (despite the fact there is still much to be done).
---> WikiHow http://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Yogi
Meditate With Your Inner Voice
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The most important thing in Yoga is the inner voice. The inner voice is the voice of your own truth and wisdom. It is your feeling of rightness. You combine your intellect and your feeling. Than you will find the way to yourself. Follow your own wisdom. Find your personal meditation practice. Do meditation like is it good for you.
What do you want from meditation? Happiness, healing, enlightenment? Inform yourself. Read meditation books, visit meditation groups, look for the right meditation teacher for you. Than learn meditation. Find out what is the best way for you to practise. And practice every day.
Be always in good contact with your body and your soul. Feel what they want and need. And give it to them. Follow the five features truth, peace, love, selfdiscipline and happiness. Than you will find your way into the light. Feel the light of God, the energie of peace and love within you. Be happy and be good. That is the essence of yoga philosophy.
We sit in our meditation seat (cross-legged, heel seat, chair) and in our meditation posture (hands on the legs or in the lap). The eyes are open, half open or closed. Feel what you need and find your personal practice. Meditate like is it good for you. Watch the video. Relax in five minutes. The video is in German language, but you can understand when you read the translation.
1. Stop thinking = We stop one to three minutes all thoughts and come to rest. We relax.
2. Light = We send light to the world. We visualize the earth, move a hand and think: "I send light to ... May all people be happy. May the world be happy." We send in particular light to the suffering people. We use our television as a window to the world and wrap all suffering people with light.
3. Model-Yoga = We put the hands together in our lap. We visualize ourselves as a Buddha, Shiva or Goddess. We move our toes a little and think the mantra: "I am a goddess (Buddha, Shiva) of peace. I go the way of peace. I live in peace."
4. Cosmos = We visualize the cosmos around us, a universe full of stars. We make large circles with our arms and think: "I take things the way they are. I let go of my false desires. I live in the unity of the cosmos. I flow positive with my live." What do you want to accept or release today? "I accept .... I let go ..."
5. Master = We rub the palms in front of the heart chakra. We connect us with the enlightened masters and think: "Om all enlightened masters. I ask for guidance and help on my way."
6. Question = You can now ask a question. Think about your life. What are your goals? What is your way of a wise life? Meditate on your question. Listen to the answer inside. What does your inner wisdom say? What answers your inner wisdom? You feel the answer. Let the answer appear in you. Think the answer several times as a mantra.
7. Mantra = We put the hands in our lap. The back is straight and our stomach is relaxed. We bring our mind completely to rest. We think the mantra "Om" in our head, chest, abdomen, legs, feet. We think in the earth and in the entire cosmos: "Om Shanti, Om Peace ... "
8. Stop thinking = We stop a minute every thought. When thoughts come, we always push them away. Then we relax completely. We slacken our body. We sit relaxed there. Peace and harmonie are within us.
9. Be optimistic = Go positiv in your day. The light is with you. Be blessed.
---> Relax in five minutes with a guided meditation with beautiful music. Get strength, energy, serenity, peace, positivity, love and optimism. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0P4jZV7lQk
The Ten Ethic Principles of Patanjali (Yoga Sutra)
Patanjali is the father of Indian yoga. He lived in the second century BC. In the Yoga Sutra, he grasped the essence of all yoga knowledge together in a few words. The two main sets of Patanjali are, "Yoga is the calming of the mind. Then the yogi lives in the light."
The way of peace by Patanjali is to calm the mind over the years on the spiritual path more and more, and finally to be able to live in peace of thought. You think only when you need to think. The more one lives in peace, the greater is the inner happiness and the more comprehensive is the light. Patanjali points out that to develop the inner happiness is long term and can in principle be achieved only through persistent exercise.
To soothe the thoughts Patanjali recommends a two-step way. The first stage is the development of positive ethic qualities (the ten yoga principles). Negative qualities lead to entanglement in the outer world and to inner restlessness. Positive qualities effect inner peace and happiness.
The development of positive qualities is the prerequisite for a successful long-term meditation. Without positive qualities in meditation inner peace will break through the chaos of the outside world again and again. Without positive qualities, the inner peace will not permanent to be preserved.
The second stage of the yogic path is to practice meditation. In meditation we quiet our thoughts completely. We stay in inner peace. At some point we develop the ability to combine meditation and outer action. Then we can always stay in peace and happiness, and at the same time we can fullfil our external obligations.
1. Non-violence (ahimsa) = No killing other beings. Be meek. Be peaceful.
2. Truthfulness (Satya) = Live in the truth. Basically, be honest with yourself and others. Also no little lies of convenience. A lie is permissible only in well justified situations, for example, if you save with a lie the life of another human being. A Yogi is silent in doubt . Those who consistently lives in the truth radiate truth. Their fellow men trust them.
3. Righteousness (Asteya) = Not stealing, not cheating. A Yogi is in professional life generally honest. He does not seek unwarranted advantage, but he is looking for fair trade.
4. Wisdom (Brahmacharia) = Live in the spiritual focus (in the light/in God = Brahman). Do not serve the money (outer luck) but the inner happiness (God, Brahman, enlightenment). Be centered in your inner happiness and peace.
5. Simplicity (Aparigraha) = Be moderate in external enjoyment and consumption. A spiritual person lives modestly outwardly and inwardly rich. A Yogi uses his energy not in outer actions, but lives so peaceful that it turns inward and cleanse his body from the inside. One day, he lives permanently in the light (the cosmos energy).
6. Worship of the spiritual goal (Ishvara-Pranidhana) = Thus we do not lose our spiritual path, it is necessary that we remind ourselves again and again to our spiritual goal. We can worship an image (Goddess, Shiva, Patanjali), we can bow before a statue (Buddha, Jesus, Shiva) or speak a mantra (prayer). What is your spiritual goal? Send light to all beings, and wish a happy world.
7. Sacrifice the ego (Shaucha) = Purification / cleaning. The way into the light passes through the crucifixion of the ego. Without a crucifixion there is no enlightenment. True sacrifice is an art. He who sacrifices too much braced themselves internally. Who sacrifices too little, does not solves his tentions. How do you get inner peace today? "I let go of my false desires. I take things as they are. My sacrifice today is ... "
8. Selfdiscipline (Tapas) = A clear goal, a clear life plan and a clear way of practicing. Tapas means to lead a disciplined life. Follow your inner wisdom and you'll win on your spiritual path.
9. Reading (Svadhyaya) = The daily reading (mantra, meditation) keeps us on the spiritual path, cleanses our spirit, connects us with the enlightened masters and makes us to spiritual victors.
10. Contentment (Santosha) = Satisfied with what one has. Which idea will help you to get into the satisfaction with yourself and your life? "My thought of satisfaction is now ..."
Do Computer Yoga
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Take a little break. Don´t work to much. Don´t rest to much. Find your personal balance. Stay healthy and happy. Do every day some spirituel exercises. Do Computer Yoga every day. It is very easy. Relax in a few minutes. Go positiv through your life. God bless you.
1. Move your head and think the mantra "Om" in your head. Turn your head left and right. Forward and backward.
2. Move your shoulders, so that all tensions resolve. What is the best way for you? Move forward, and another way round. Move with your ellbows and think "Om, Om, Om..." And another way round. Om..
3. Move your spine to the right and left side. The head also. Think "Om , Om, Om.. " in your spine.
4. Move your feet on the ground. Say "Om" in your belly, in your legs, in your feet and in the earth. Concentrate on the whole earth and think the mantra "Earth".
5. Massage your body from head to feet. Put your hands over your head together, rub the palms, visualize the sky above you and say the mantra "Heaven". The light comes down and you massage the light into your face, your eyes, your ears, your whole body and think "Light, Light..." Fill yourself with light. Move your feet, fill light into the earth and think, "Light ..."
6. Move your hand and send light so your people, "I send light to ... May all people be happy. May all the world be happy."
7. Rub your palm together, think on the enlightened masters and say, "Om all enlightened masters, please help me on my way." Now you can ask a question. Think about your life. What are your goals? What is your way? Hear the answer within you. Feel the answer inside. What is the answer?
8. Put your hands on your legs or your belly. Make your mind calm and think the mantra "Om" in your head, your thorax, your belly, your legs, feet, in the earth and in the whole cosmos. "Om Om Om Shanti Om Peace Om Peace Om Shanti Om Peace ..."
9. Stop one minute all your thinking. Sit only there. Don´t think.
10. What do you have to take in your life? Take it. What is your positive sentence now? What helps you to go positiv through your day and your life? "My positive sentence is: I am optimistic. I go my way optimistic."
---> Computer Yoga with Yogi Nils. Relax in 8 minutes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIHVV494PZs
Practice the Five Principles of Health
Being ill is not nice. Being healthy is better. The main principles of health are healthy diet, no drugs (alcohol, smoking, drugs, eating too much), regular exercise, adequate rest and positive thinking. We can easily integrate them into our everyday lives when we want it. These five principles of health give us a long, healthy and happy life. If we live by these principles, we can avoid most diseases. If we are sick, we become significantly faster healthy.
1. Eat healthy. A healthy diet consists of fruits, vegetables, cereals, milk, potatoes, pulses, etc. It is advised to eat little or no meat and much raw food (raw fruits and vegetables). Raw food gives the body lots of vitamins and minerals that protect him from disease.
2. Avoid drugs, smoking and alcohol. That causes many diseases and usually shorten your life significantly. Too many sweets (sugar, fat), lots of salt and lots of meat are also unfavorable. Don´t eat too much calories. You live longer, if you eat less (but not too less). Hear to your body. He knows what is good for you. Live wisely and stay healthy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caloric_restriction
3. Do sports. Go walking, jogging, cycling, swimming once or twice a day (one half to one hour), to keep the body strong and healthy. It is also sufficient to train on an exercise bike (bicycle, treadmill) or to do dynamic yoga (creativ hatha yoga) for half an hour a day. Or to go for a walk on the weekend for an hour. It is important, that the body is well warmed through (practice until a slight sweating). It kills disease germs.
4. Relax sufficiently. Stress should always be put away by adequate recovery periods, yoga or meditation. For the inner happiness, it is important to live in the right proportion of personal activity (work) and rest (relaxation).
5. Think positive. Avoid negative thoughts. Keep your mind through conscious control predominantly positive. Positive thoughts lead to positive feelings and positive emotions have a positive effect on your body. Motivate yourself with positive phrases and ideas. Read positive books and have a positive task (hobby).
Warnings
If you want to heal an illness, it might be good to go to a doctor. Yoga is a way to relax and to awaken inner happiness. You can heal some diseases with yoga and meditation, but you must be carefull and listen to your inner voice. Follow the advices of the doctors and the medicin books.
The main path of health and healing are the five principles of health. We should do every day some sport (yoga, walking), eat healthy (lots of fruit, low in calories), avoid harmful substances (alcohol, smoking, drugs, meat), think positive (overcome negative thoughts) and relax (enough sleep, pauses, silence, meditation).
Interview about Correct Nutrition
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Interview with Prof. Dr. Dr. Karin Michels, University Freiburg / Germany (Quotes)
http://www.uniklinik-freiburg.de/onlinemagazin/live/Patiententipp/gesund.html
Is it better to eat cereals or lots of fruits and vegetables?
Professor Karin Michels: Fruit and vegetables are the best thing you can ever eat. Whole grains should be included on a healthy diet. Products made from white flour and sugar should be avoided, they cause diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease.
A hot topic is meat. Can we even eat meat?
Professor Karin Michels: Red meat has no health value. You can easily do without it. Red meat promotes the development of cardiovascular disease and some cancers such as carcinoma of the colon. Vegetarians have a higher life expectancy and less cardiovascular disease. Therefore, red meat should be eaten not every day.
What is the influence of alcohol?
Professor Karin Michels: Alcohol increases the risk for most cancers. Already a glass of wine a day increases the risk of breast cancer by 10 percent to 20 percent.
Milk is regarded as healthy food. Is that true?
Professor Karin Michels: That's not my view. The milk we drink today is not the milk, our grandparents drank a century ago. The production has changed. To increase the efficiency, the cows are almost always pregnant, which is really not normal. The pregnancy hormones are always present in milk. So we drink large amounts of estrogen and progesterone, and these hormones promote the development of many cancers. So I would be very careful with milk consumption. Milk should only be enjoyed in reduced dimensions.
Does the diet affect whether we die of a heart attack?
Professor Karin Michels: Nutrition plays a huge role by cardiovascular disease.
What is a healthy diet?
Professor Karin Michels: Fruit and vegetables come first, along with vegetable oils, whole grains, and fish. What is still very healthy are nuts. Nuts have a excellent composition of high-quality fats and proteins. Other healthy foods are the legumes, which also have a high protein and are high in fiber, and are very often neglected in the diet. If one puts all that, you get to a balanced diet.
The Path to Inner Happiness
Inner tension and inner conflict occur when people prevent themselves from being at peace and from experiencing true happiness at a deeper level. This inner tension and conflict takes energy, destroys any chance for contentment, and lower one’s overall spiritual positivity. A highly tense and conflicted person tends to have negative thoughts. Love for oneself and others is blocked mentally and spiritually.
Inner conflict can mainly be traced to one’s childhood. In a conflicted society, where pressure to perform and competition is a daily reality engrained upon its members, a tendency toward conflict and tension is passed on from parents to their children during their upbringing. Parents live out their worries, doubts, fears, aggressions, addictions, and thus influence the spiritual development of their children. Other childhood sources of learned conflict stem from television. Tension in turn then comes from professional stress, strained relationships, divorce, and more, as these children grow up to face similar challenges as their parents face or once faced.
The good news is, whenever this inner conflict builds up inside, it can also be eliminated. The bad news is this can take quite a while. Whenever tension builds over the course of several years, it will also take years to relieve. It is always worth the effort, however, to take on the challenge of curing oneself of such inner negativity. For example, illness later on in life can be avoided as a life full of peace, energy, and positivity is a healthier one.
The amount of inner peace a person possesses correlates opposingly to the amount of tension in one’s body and spirit. The lower the tension, the more positive the life force present. Every person has the potential to find absolute peace and contentment. Everyone can achieve enlightenment. The only thing standing in the way of this goal is our own tension and negativity. Once these darker feelings subside, our inner positive energy grows.
A good way to go about curing oneself of this life force robbing negativity is to practice several spiritual exercises every day. We have to live in a way that facilitates a gravitation towards the light, instead of the dark. Most people in today’s day and age are on a march in the opposite direction. They live day to day feeling egotistical and stressed out. They live their lives focused on creating more tension and end up burnt out, sick, negative, and depressed.
Tension can reside in the body and the soul. The body and the soul are connected, and in order to relieve ourselves of inner tension, we should practice spiritual exercises for both elements. Inner happiness can manifest on a deeper level only when we cleanse ourselves of this inner tension. As people are very individual, no two have the same sorts of tension and negativity. Everyone should therefore experiment with said exercises to find what is best for him or her to direct one’s path in the appropriate way for him or herself to find inner happiness. True contentment can be found as one of the enlightened. The deeper purpose of life is to reach enlightenment.
---> Yogi Nils sings Tom Dooley http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUg82LhdaKg
The Ten Points of Happiness
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The most important results of today’s happiness rsearch can be summed up in ten points.
1. A Proactive Life is a Happy One
Happy people have positive goals and positive tasks. Proactive people are 15% more satisfied with their lives than more passive people. Happiness researcher Ed Diener explains, “happy people set goals for themselves again and again.”
2. An Active Life is a Happy One
Regular physical activity keeps the body healthy and makes the spirit happy. Daily walks raise the level of happiness 12%. David Niven says, “people who stay fit via sports are healthier, more positive, and more successful.”
3. Doing Good for the World is a Source of Happiness
Those who regularly do good things for others are 24% happier than those who only live for themselves. John A. Schindler wrote, “live as a giving person. Those who give are happier than those who only take. Those who give to others discover the beauty in the world.”
4. Rest and Relaxation Bring Happiness
The central point of a healthy and happy life is to find the balance between rest and activity. Besides, work, physical activity, and time spent with others, we need time to rest and relax. We need to get enough sleep. Scientific research shows that relaxed people think more positively and are happier. Every hour of sleep missed lowers the positivity one can experience during the day.
Where that point of balance between rest and activity lies, must be decided for oneself. Everyone needs to experiment a little to find this correct balance. We have to figure out who much sleep we need and how much relaxation time we need and at what speed we function at our best. We in the western world of „go, go, go“ who wish to stay happy and healthy, must also live extra clever. We need to organize our lives in an intelligent way to facilitate inner happiness and find one’s personal way to inner balance.
5. Positive Thinking
Those who think positively double their chance to realize happiness. Those who wish to be happy should think positively. The positive characteristics of wisdom, love, peace, inner power and joy in life should be set as the central point of one’s life. One should exercise a conscious decision to be positive. Fo example, we can ask ourselves, “ how can I go through the day in a positive way?”
6. Too Much Television Makes You Unhappy
Scientific research states, „ every hour of television lowers the general quality of life by 5%“. TV orients people around superficial things, and the concept of superficial happiness. It raises desire, increases aggression, and creates sorros. Those who would like to grow in terms of happiness, should stop watching TV.
The way to positive TV viewing consists of : a) choose your programs carefully. Avoid negative films. B) Find the correct amount of TV. Children should watch a maximum of one hour per day of television. C) After watching TV, one should practice some form of spiritual exercise (such as yoga, meditation, walking, reading, contemplating the meaning of life).
7. Foster Friendship
Build on your positive circle of friends. Women who talk to others reduce their worries by 55%. Cancer stricken women who met with a group once a week raised their survival chances to twice as high as those who didn’t meet with a group. In the western world, there is a strong tendency towards isolation. There are many single and lonely people. People who have a good circle of friends are happier and not isolated. We should take care of our friendships and practice positive activities with them.
8. Facilitate Joy
Those who can find little elements of joy in their lives can raise their overall happiness by 20%. Nils once felt bad and in order to raise his spirits, he ate a lot of sweets. His spirit brightened more and more. Then he visualized the sweets in his stomach and awakened his kundalini energy. He awakened a strong energy which quickly brought him back into the light. Nils learned to thus connect outer enjoyment with spiritual exercises. One then needs less sweets. Just a bit of outer enjoyment is enough for inner happiness.
9. Humor
Those with a good sense of humor raise their positivity by 33%. We should foster our sense of humor and learn to not take things so seriously. We should learn to laugh at our selves. Those who are able to do so, can live lighter and brighter. It is good to see cheerful films, read funny books, and to visit joyful people.
10. Self-Confidence
Happy people believe in themselves. They believe in their goals, their wisdom, and their power. They see themselves as winners. They know they will prevail in the long term. In a world of doubt, all followers of the way of bliss need inner strength in order to go about their way successfully. The followers of inner happiness need a clear anchor in terms of wisdom, self-discipline, and self-confidence to avoid being brought back by materialism and doubt.
---> Music for the world. Be happy (Guitar, Saxophone) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2_tmVxqH1o
What should I do if I do not find a meaning in life?
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Lady: You have to give meaning to life itself. Pick something that you can really feel a passion.
Monica: Look, think on, and go into the silence. I speak of the silence, deep within you, where you will find the I AM, and this is responsible for your meaning of life. If you have lost the connection to the inner stillness, you lose your sense of life and chase after meaningless things just to fill this gap.
Yogi Nils: The sense of life is to live a good life. It is even better to be happy than to be unhappy. Find your personal path. Look closely at your skills, your life situation and the world around you. Then you know what you have to do. There is a way for everyone to be happy and to live permanently in the embracing love.
The current state of research is that happiness is about 50% of genetically predisposed, to 10% is determined by external circumstances and to 40% of one's own thoughts. People who live healthy, meditate and work on their thoughts (positive thinking), can raise their general level of happiness by 40%. This is exactly my personal experience. Enlightenment means to raise your personal happiness level by 100-1000%. But that is a long way for the most people. However, very worthwhile. That is also my experience.
Sole: Attempt to draw your eyes on the positive. Get a diary of happiness. Every day write down three things that you've got (even little things!) - after 2 to 4 weeks you can see that every day was nice too. Meanwhile, I think every night before bed about what made me happy that day.
Max: Learn to say "Thanks"!
Yogi Nils: Inner happiness is developing on the consistent path of truth, wisdom and love. To wish someone bad luck may liberate your soul and feel good for a while. In the long term it creates misery in you. Black Magic is an ego way. Enlightenment (inner happiness, inner healing) is the way of ego solution. This includes a wise use of aggressions. Think about your way to inner happiness.
Overcome Fear, Sadness and Anger
In every life there is pain, loss, illness, loneliness and death. We have no claim to a long life still to be spared by fate. What is your pain today?
1. The problem: Describe briefly your situation and your problem. How exactly is your situation? What is the problem? Where is the center of the problem?
2. The Emotions: What are the feelings it in you? Fear, anger, addiction / desire, grief. What feeling is strongest? Where is the feeling sitting in your body?
3. The thoughts: What thoughts are connected with your feelings? Why are you sad, anxious, angry or longing? Count all your stressful thoughts down. (My thoughts are ...)
4. Thinking: What triggers your problem? What is the way out of your problem? What brings you to love, excitement, fulfillment, fortunately, satisfaction? Think about your problem for so long, until you find a solution. Think about different solutions. Collect all the information you need.
5. Implementation: Follow your positive thoughts. Fulfil your positive life plan. Avoid meaningless brooding. Now is the time to realize powerful. Go your way to victory and be content with you. What is now your positive duty? "My positive sentence is ...."
Overcome Pain and Grief
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The supreme principle of conduct in suffering situations is outwardly behaving properly and at the same time managing the thoughts and feelings as well as possible. Is the difficult situation outside gone, we can heal our emotional wounds.
At certain points of the problem we got inner tensions. This tensions must be resolved again when the external stress situation is over. When we don´t heal ourself after stress situations, they remain permanently in our mind. In the long term they affect our mental well-being. They lead to neurotic behavior and can cause physical illnesses.
If a problem affects you emotionally, it is good to do a helpful ritual. Think first about the problem. Thinking leads to constructive engagement with the problem. You realize that you can do something. You are not a helpless victim. You can live as a winner. You can solve the problem in any way. What is your helpful idea about your problem? "My idea is ..."
Read a few pages in a spiritual book. Think about which book you need now. A spiritual book has a positive energy field. If we spend some time in this energy field, we get a positive spirit. Which book will strengthen your positive energy? Read it!
After reading, take a walk for an hour or do the Shake Meditation 20 minutes. Move all the rage and excitement out of your body. Think a Mantra (a positive sentence) and do a meditation (stop your thinking five minutes). Then think about your problem. Usually you will come to rest mentally in half an hour. Half an hour then go just you like. Then you'll see things clearly. You will be able to have positive ideas.
Make after the walk, the Shake Meditation or the free dance some yoga exercises (creative hatha yoga) and a long meditation in sitting (meditation with the inner voice) or lying down. Hook up a nice music and remain lying down for so long, until your mind completely is at rest.
Arise then again, eat something nice and think about what you need now. Give it yourself. Often it is very helpful to do something creative. We can paint, write, make music and express our feelings on our personal way. We can do something good for our fellow human beings and thus bring us into the energy of love. What is your way of love now?
If the problem is very big, you can do several rounds of reading, walking, doing good, enjoying and meditating. Usually you get then to the point, where peace arises within you. Be very gentle with you and heal emotionally more and more.
If a problem can not be solved in one day, stop after a while your thinking about the problem. Forbid you every further reflection. Avoid harmful rumination, which leads to nothing and only reinforces the internal stress. For large problems, you can take every day a certain time for problem handling.
To solve emotinal problems is a creative process. You must feel exactly what you need now. What is currently the best way to solve your problem, to find inner peace and positivity? People are different and require different strategies.
It is important to avoid self-defeating behaviors, such as tablets, smoke, drink, drugs, alcohol or eating too many sweets. It is better to manage the problem with the techniques of inner happiness. Then we grow spiritually on our problems. We grow inwardly on the problems of life until we will find ever lasting happiness.
Shake Meditation
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The Shake Meditation is a good way to quickly reduce stress and recharge with positive energy. We turn on a beautiful music, stand upright and move dynamically in the knees up and down. We can dance or go on the spot. The Shaking is a fast movement from the knees. The knees shake the body. The movement in the knees is small and fast.
1. Be angry. We shake all the stress of life out of us. We think the mantra, "anger". We transform all stress unto motion and liberate us as this.
2. Be sad. We solve our pent-up grief. We think the sentence: "I am sad because ...". We move all the sadness out of us. What makes you sad today? Think the reason several times as a mantra.
3. Circle the shoulders. We circle our shoulders. We move the shoulders as it is helpful for us. We solve the tension in the shoulders and the neck.
4. Turn the spine. We rotate into the spine left and right. We solve all the tension in the spine. The head also rotates to the sides.
5. Massage your body. We massage our body with a healing color. We are wrapped in a cloud of a healing energy. What healing color is good for you today? Think of the name as a mantra, "Yellow, Orange, Purple ...". Massage the healing color from head to toe in your body.
6. Earth you. We rub the healing color with the right and left foot on the floor. We paint a healing circle around us. When painting with our feet, we feel the earth. We think the name of the color as a mantra.
7. Go on shaking, move one hand and send a person a positive sentence. What do you want to say to this person? We repeat the phrase several times as a mantra. We send the whole world light and think, "May all people be happy. May the world be happy."
8. Move around a few minutes as you like. Feel what you need now?
Hatha Yoga
(Wikipedia) Hatha Yoga is a system of Yoga introduced by Yogi Swatmarama, a sage of 15th century India, and compiler of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. In this treatise Swatmarama introduces Hatha Yoga as a way of physical purification that the body practices for higher meditation. The word Hatha is a compound of the words Ha and Tha meaning sun and moon. A Yogi has to join together sun (masculine, active) energy with the moon (feminine, receptive) energy, thus producing balance and enlightenment in an individual.
Hatha Yoga is a strong practice done for healing and purification. Hatha Yoga is what most people in the Western world associate with the word "Yoga" and is most commonly practiced for mental and physical health. The most comprehensive text of Hatha Yoga is the Hatha Yoga Pradipika by Yogi Swatmarama. It includes information about shatkarma (purification), asana (postures), pranayama (subtle breath energy), chakras (centers of energy), kundalini (enlightenment energy), bandhas (energy control), kriyas (purification techniques), nadis (energy channels), and mudras (energy gestures).
Traditionally, Shiva is credited with propounding Hatha Yoga. It is said that on a lonely island he gave the knowledge of Hatha Yoga to Goddess Parvati, but a fish heard the entire discourse. Shiva took mercy on the fish (Matsya) and made him a siddha (Buddha), who came to be known as Matsyendra. Matsyendra taught Hatha Yoga to Chaurangi and to Goraksha. Goraksha gave it to Swatmarama.
Modern schools of Hatha Yoga derive from Krishnamacharya, who taught from 1924 until his death in 1989. Among his students prominent in popularizing Yoga in the West were Pattabhi Jois, famous for the vigorous Ashtanga Yoga, B.K.S. Iyengar who used props, Indra Devi and Krishnamacharya's son T.K.V. Desikachar who developed the Viniyoga style. Another major stream of influence was Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh (1887-1963) and his disciples Swami Vishnu-devananda - founder of International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres; Swami Satyananda - of the Bihar School of Yoga; and Swami Satchidananda - of Integral Yoga.
Swami Shivananda (also written Sivananda) lived from 1897 to 1963 in India. He was one of the greatest Indian saint of modern times. By profession he was a doctor. He taught the yoga of the trinity (Trimurti Yoga), the combination of Hatha Yoga (spiritual exercises), Karma Yoga (work for a happy world) and Master Yoga (daily connection with an enlightened master). He pushed for the cooperation of the religions. But all the yogis should cooperate with each other too.
According to Swami Shivananda, enlightenment occurs via relaxation, practice, and love. When a Yogi or Yogini lives in an area of peace, he or she is already halfway there. The second half is tackled with spiritual practice. In order to pass through the gate to a life in light, all-encompassing love must be at the heart of the seeker of enlightenment. When a Yogi lives for the happiness of others, then the ego can be dissolved. When the ego disappears, the person is in light. Individuals who reach this point relax so deeply into their souls that the energy of happiness awakes from within.
Yogi Nils made his Yoga Teacher Training with the Sivananda Organisation in 1993. For him the spiritual daily schedule is the central technique on the Yoga path to light. This is based on letting go of tension in the body and soul. When we live and practice spiritual exercises for the body and mind everyday, then we will reach enlightenment. The number of hours required on a daily basis to attain a life in the light (in happiness) varies from person to person, and their situation and abilities.
Yogi Nils meditates for six hours and goes for an hour walk twice a day. He practices Yoga for an hour and reads a spiritual book for one hour. He also works towards the happiness of others three to four hours per day. He exercises constantly. He divides these spiritual exercises in a way that enables him to constantly undergo the inner purification process. If we meditate before going to sleep, meditation continues while sleeping. When we work in a state of relaxation, work becomes a type of meditation. Eating, sleeping, working, and even watching TV are Yoga exercises for Nils.
Yogi Nils spiritual techniques are simple. They consist of walking, reading, helping others, and lying in bed. Everyone can do that. The secret here is the right application of the right technique at the right moment. Then the inner tension dissolve and inner happiness appears.
Yogis know when they need which technique. When the body is dull and lacking energy, the Yogi goes for a walk. When he or she feels restless, he or she practices Yoga or meditates. When the spirit seems to rebel against the spiritual way, a book on spiritual topics helps to bring back the conviction towards enlightenment.
A Yogi senses the inner conflict and uses the proper techniques to dissolve the tension. That is usually what the body and soul wants the least at that moment. Wherever the neurotic tendency to feel repelled towards something is usually the way to the light. On the other hand, we need to sometimes give the body and soul what they would like, otherwise tension is built. The way to happiness requires a lot of wisdom and inner sensitivity. Yogi Nils asks his inner voice for spiritual guidance. He asks, “What is right at the moment? What is the way of truth? What do I need today? What do I want today?”
Shiva Meditation
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Shiva is the supreme God in Yoga. We can see him as the symbol of a victorious yogi. Shiva has a cosmic consciousness. He lives above the world of duality. Shiva as cosmic consciousness can occur in many forms. The most famous incarnations of Shiva are the meditator (the practicing yogi), the blessing (the karma yogi), the ego sacrificer (subordinated under the goddess Kali), the dancer (with the life) and the lover (Shiva and Shakti hand in hand or in sexual union).
Shiva is the master of life. He lives his life with the five features of love (earth), joy (air), wisdom (water), strength (fire) and resting (space, cosmos). He lives at the right moment the right property. He sees himself as the winner and becomes a winner. He is programmed in success. At the same time Shiva is always aware that he is a beggar in God, nothing in the size of the cosmos, an egoless wanderer through the life.
1. The Winner = We shake the fists near our head and think: "I am a winner. I reach my goal. ... My goal is...."
2. The Strong = We rub the feet on the ground and visualize the Mount Meru among us, "I'm sitting on the Mount Meru (Himalaya Mountains). I maintain equanimity in pain. I'm going with perseverance my way."
3. The Egoless = We make large circles with our hands around us, visualize the cosmos full of stars and think, "I live in the great system of the cosmos. I let go of my own will. I take things the way they are."
4. The Hatha-Yogi = We visualize within ourselves the Kundalini Serpent, twist in the spine, move our toes and think: "I am a Hatha Yogi. I walk the path of Hatha Yoga. I save myself with my spiritual exercises."
5. The Karma-Yogi = We move our hand, send all beings light and think, "I am a Karma Yogi. I help all beings. I send light to...". Shiva means "The Good". He sees himself in all his fellow beings. He wants all his friends to be happy. He works for the goal of a happy world.
6. Master Yoga = We rub the palms before our heart chakra, visualize the sky above us and think, "Om all enlightened masters. I ask for guidance and help on my way."
7. Shiva Picture = Concentrate on a picture or a statue of Shiva. Move one hand and take the energy from Shiva. Think several times the mantra "Om Namah Shivaya" (I connect myself with Shiva) or "Shivo Ham" (I am Shiva) and feel how the energy of Shiva flows with the mantra in you.
8. Meditation = We put our hands in the lap, move your toes and think the mantra "Om Shanti" (inner peace) in the belly, "Om Shanti, Om Shanti, Om ..." Then we stop a minute every thought. We spend some time relaxing in meditation and then come back. We are a positiv dancer with the live.
Do Creative Hatha-Yoga
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In the western world we have relaxation yoga, power yoga, stretch yoga, meditation yoga and different kinds of spiritual yoga. Creative Hatha-Yoga works with all technics. Most western yoga-teacher learn first a special yoga way and than they practise creative yoga. His main point is to follow your own wisdom. Feel what you need und find your personal yoga practice. Do Yoga like is it good for you.
You first have to think about what you need. What do you want from yoga? Health, flexibility, beauty, happiness, healing, enlightenment? Than you inform yourself. Read yoga books, visit yoga groups, look for the right yoga teacher for you. Than learn yoga. Than find out what is the best way for you to practise yoga. And than do yoga until you reach your goal.
Be always in good contact with your body and your soul. Feel what they want and need. And give it to them. Follow the five features truth, peace, love, selfdiscipline and happiness. Than you will find your way into the light. Feel the light of God, the energie of peace and love within you. In modern yoga you can have the religion or no religion you want. But be happy and be good. That is the essence of yoga philosophy.
Watch the video. Relax in five minutes. The video is in german language, but you can understand when you read the translation.
1. Standing = Hello dear friends, now I will show you yoga. We start with the shaking. We walk on tiptoe on the spot and shake the body. We turn around. We massage light in the whole body and think the mantra "Light, Light, Light ... "
2. Prone = We slowly bow forward. We lay on the ground. We base our head on the hands. We highlight the knees slightly and swing the feet back and forth. We count in the kidneys the numbers 1 to 20 "1,2,3,4,5 ..."
3. Relaxation = We lay with our head on the hands and relax. We rotate the basin far to the left and right, back and forth. We focus on the spine.
4. Feet Moving = We move the feet and toes slightly. We circle the feet over the ground. We feel the feet. Relax.
5. Heel seat (Vajrasana) = We come up and kneel down on the heels. We turn in the spine to the right. The head is also turning. We turn to the left. The head is also turning. We massage the body from top to bottom. We rub all the stress and tension out.
6. Prevention (earth rubbing) = We rub the ground with our hands and think the mantra "Earth". We draw with our hands a circle of light around us. We sit in the circle of light. What color has the circle of light? Yellow, orange, blue, green, gold, silver? Or just the beautiful color of the floor?
7. Supine position (cycling) = We turn around and lay on our backs. We move with the feet a bike ride. We lay our hands on the belly, lift the head, the legs turn to the right and left. The head always shows in the opposite direction.
8. Shoulder stand (Sarvangasana) = We go into the candle. The feet points to the sky. We base with our hands up at the back. We go on riding a bike with our feet, see the light around us, thinking the mantra "Light" and turn our head slightly to the left and right.
9. Legged (Sukhasana) = We gently roll down from the candle into our meditation seat. We put the palms together in front of the heart chakra. We think the mantra "Om" in the belly, in the ground and move the toes, "Om, Om, Om .." We move one hand and send all beings on earth light. We think, "May all beings be happy. May the world be happy."
10. Supine (Shavasana) = We put on the back and relax. We lay our hands on the belly. We move the feet and toes. We think "Om" in the body, legs and feet, "Om, Om, Om .." We send all people over the world our "Om". We feel the cosmos. We feel one with our world. Everything is fine the way it is. We do not have to be perfect. We rest until we feel well. Then we slowly come back. We stretch and loll us. We are back and go positive through our day.
---> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofsYHKQomCw
Karma-Yoga (Religion of Love)
(Wikipedia) Karma Yoga or the "discipline of action" is based on the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Sanskrit scripture of Hinduism. Karma Yoga is an intrinsic part of many types of yoga. The word Karma is derived from the Sanskrit Kri, meaning 'to do'. Karma Yoga is the path of union (cosmic consciousness) through action. Karma Yoga is described as a way of acting, thinking and willing by which one orients oneself toward realization by acting in accordance with one's duty (dharma) without consideration of personal self-centered desires.
Live in the rest (existence-unity-bliss) and act with love for the happiness of all beings. Follow the three principles of peace, wisdom and love. For some people it is important to live in the outer peace, to achieve the inner peace. Basically, the inner peace is the result of a calm mind. A calm mind we get when we focus in wisdom (Spirituality, God, Yoga) and work continually on our negative qualities, addictions, fears and aggressions.
Everyone should find his personal balance of rest and action. Those who live in the inner balance, save their energy, their physical and mental health. Our mind grows into the light, if we strengthen not only the calmness, but also the positivity and the love in us. We should replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts. We should constantly practice positive thinking, positive speaking and positive doing.
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