Five Spring Meditations Five Spring Meditations
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Photo by Aaron Burden/Unsplash
Wellbeing

Five Spring Meditations

Julia E. Wahl
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time 4 minutes

Sit in the sun or in the shade; look at the sky or close your eyes. Perhaps do some work in the garden. Allow your mind to contemplate without reservation.

Finding your breath

First, just observe how your body breathes. Is your breath deep or shallow? Fast or slow? Where in your body do you feel your breath the most? Is it around your nose or mouth? Maybe in the chest or abdomen? Consider what’s impeding your breathing. Maybe your clothes are too tight, or maybe you unconsciously hold your breath? Perhaps a certain thought makes you halt your breathing?

If necessary, loosen up

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Mysteries of the Yogis Mysteries of the Yogis
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Ginny Rose Stewart / Unsplash
Wellbeing

Mysteries of the Yogis

A Guide to Fifteen Basic Asanas
Mikołaj Kuplowski

Yoga in Sanskrit means ‘what is appropriate’ and ‘what is systematically and constantly applied’. In this case, the point is what is appropriate to human nature. The conviction has become entrenched that everything related to yogis borders on some kind of mysticism. In fact, the yogis’ exercises and their observance of hygiene principles are based on their comprehensive knowledge of the human body, its anatomy, and the principles by which its organs function. For example, yogis flush the nasal cavity with warm, salty water. This prevents colds and certain infectious diseases, treats runny noses and most importantly, helps proper breathing.

The yogis’ physical exercises are an entire science of maintaining health and longevity – a science that was already formed thousands of years ago. The exercises don’t just include your muscles. The basic focus is on ‘training’ the internal organs, mainly the nervous system, on which your general health depends. The brain and spinal cord contain nerve nodes that direct the basic functions of the human body. Over the millennia, a series of classical exercises, known as asanas, have been developed in India; mastering them allows the activation of the more important nodes, and thus the exercise of control over the body’s physiological operations.

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