MyLifeYoga

Have you thought of doing yoga but cannot get yourself on the yoga mat? Then this article is for you! Or if you know somebody in this position please read this and forward it:

1. I don’t have time

Yoga may be the number one return for investment of your time. If you do yoga for just 1 hour per day, every week, then you are investing 365 hours in a year. What do you get in return? Better quality of life, improved health, and a clearer mind. And on top all this, your life will be extended by many years. Considering that 1-year has 8760 hours that is not a bad return on investment! Why would you not take a deal like that?

2. I don’t have time now!

“Well it’s all fine and good, and I understand the part about life elongation. But I don’t have time now!” Some say. There are many in this position with little or no room to do anything extra as every minute of their time is used up. For people in such situations we recommend starting small. You can start with a small 20-minute sequence and practice it daily at home. The surprising thing is that yoga will create time for you. How? With a clearer mind, you will work more efficiently, make fewer mistakes, and have better charge of your emotions.

3. I am not flexible

This is like saying “I don’t want to learn French because I don’t know how to speak French!” Flexibility will be the end result of your practice, and you will get there slowly. If you are already flexible that is fine, but flexibility is not a pre-requisite for doing yoga. There are variations for most poses and you can use props for some poses. So if you are not flexible then you want to take advantage of yoga to stretch unused muscles, flex those tendons and ligaments, and breathe new life into your joints!
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Rita Pierson, a teacher for 40 years, once heard a colleague say, “They don’t pay me to like the kids.” Her response: “Kids don’t learn from people they don’t like.” In this rousing talk Rita underlines the importance of building relationships with kids. She says that the need is first to understand and then teach. What kids need most in their life is a champion and mentor who never gives up on them and who insists that they become the best they can be.

This talk is important not just for teachers but also for parents, guardians, and grandparents. It’s easy to give up on a difficult child, but we must replace frustration with patience, and judgment with understanding. A mentor who does not give up on a child can turn a life around and take a trajectory that was going in the direction of crime and gangs and turn it towards being a productive member of our society.

This is a great message to pass onwards and spread. Please share and like to do so.

You may also like: Svetaketu’s Challenge

A recent study published in the “Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences” has shown that chronic stress can have a profound impact even at the cellular level. The study found that chronic stress effects activity within the cell that has to do with Telomeres.

What are Telomeres? These are protein complexes that form the “caps” of a strand of DNA. Sometimes these are thought of as a “tail” of the DNA except that it is present on both ends. Telomeres play a vital part in the process of aging. Each time a cell divides a portion of the Telomere is lost and the “tail” gets shortened a bit. The Telomere in the child cell is slightly shorter than the parent cell from which it formed. This means that after certain number of divisions the entire length of the “tail” is consumed and the cell can no longer divide, and it dies.

This indicates that the process of aging and the length of Telomere are directly related. As we age the length of Telomere in our cells get shorter. Another thing to know: there is an enzyme called Telomerase that replenishes and repairs the Telomeres and slows down the aging process.

What this paper has found that chronic stress has a direct impact on the aging process at the cell level. It shows that those who reported the highest level of chronic stress had cell Telomeres shortened in an accelerated manner. This was seen as equivalent to ten years of additional aging in those with high levels of chronic stress.
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