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The Importance of Drishti

Technology has shortened our attention span.

With every advancement in technology, with the development of smartphones, and the different social media platforms, our attention span has shortened throughout the years. In 2000, the average attention span was 12 seconds. In 2015, it even reduced to 8.25 seconds. Because of the locked-down situation and social isolation during the pandemic, we were bombarded with information from different sources online and this contributed to the increase of anxiety and depression throughout the world. With a short attention span and digital overload, yoga became a popular choice among practitioners to address physical and mental well-being during and post-pandemic.

In Yoga

1.2 Yogas chitta vritti nirodha.

Sage Patanjali defined yoga as the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind. Later on, we are introduced to the vrittis (obstacles or fluctuations) in 1.9. In order for us to let go of these obstacles, the 8 limbs of yoga (ashtanga yoga) are described further in the succeeding padas (chapters).

Drishti is defined as a gazing point to concentrate, and this is described in the Yoga Sutras (3.1-3.3) and is practised in concentration (Dharana), meditation (dhyana) and the peak of samadhi.

In the asanas, Drishti helps us connect our mind, body and spirit (yoga as a union). This also helps us to hold our poses for several breaths. This deepens our practice and creates a wider understanding of how yoga can go beyond asanas. Drishti helps us ground more, to be steady in our tadasana. It allows us to create a higher sense of awareness of our body and space (proprioception).

In pranayama, having a Drishti allows us to stay present. It adds an anchor to the ebb and flow of our breathing. This continues on to the higher limbs of yoga: concentration, meditation and samadhi.

In Mental Health

There was an increase in the number of practitioners seeking the therapeutic benefits of yoga for well-being since the start of the pandemic in 2020.

While yoga is considered a physical activity (asanas) in the Western World, meditation and breathing became a buzzword and more people subscribed to yoga.

The use of Drishti becomes a starting point, in addition to breathing for practitioners to stay present. Drishti uncomplicates yoga for the sceptic and curious because of awareness through the 5 senses.

With concentration, Drishti may clear the mind of those suffering from anxiety and depression. It lessens the pain of the past and the worries of the future, it brings the mind to stay in the present.

In Injury Prevention

Social media has become a boon and a bane in the promotion of yoga. While it is good to see influencers and celebrities promote the benefits of yoga, this also creates the notion of what yoga is and is not.

Most of the influencers show off their bodies and how flexible they are to do advanced yoga poses that can mislead beginners about what yoga is all about.

That is why Drishti may help in educating spectators and beginners. Again, it creates that sense of awareness and even accountability before leaping to doing yoga poses that are times for clout or popularity’s sake.

In Conclusion

Drishti goes beyond what you see. They say, “Where your attention goes, your energy flows,” and so Drishti allows us to channel our Vayu (energy).

As yoga practitioners and teachers, we do not only share the passion for yoga. Yoga can be defined by the eight limbs and even beyond it. If we keep practising with the yogic gaze, we can remove the curtains of obstacles and become observers of ourselves.

By Allan Ray Enriquez
Rehab Yoga Master Trainer & Educator

References:

Briggs, Saga. The Science of Attention: How To Capture And Hold The Attention of Easily Distracted Students. https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/30-tricks-for-capturing-students-attention/ 28 June 2014.

Zauderer, Steven. Average Human Attention Span By Age (Infographic). https://www.crossrivertherapy.com/average-human-attention-span 29 August 2022.

Morgan, Nick, PhD. What’s Happened to Our Attention Spans During the Pandemic? Psychology Today.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/communications-matter/202103/whats-happened-our- attention-spans-during-the-pandemic 15 March 2021.

A Simplified Meaning for Yoga Chitta Vritti Nirodha. https://mindisthemaster.com/meaning-for-yoga-chitta-critti-nirodha/ 30 May 2022.

Bryant, Kathleen. Yoga Basics. Getting To Know The Vrittis. https://www.yogabasics.com/connect/getting-to-know-the-vrittis/ 28 June 2013.

COVID-19 pandemic triggers 25% increase in prevalence of anxiety and depression worldwide. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news/item/02-03-2022-covid-19-pandemic-triggers-25-increase-in-prevalenc e-of-anxiety-and-depression-worldwide 2 March 2022.

International Day of Yoga: yoga’s growing importance to post-COVID-19 wellbeing. United Nations. https://unric.org/en/international-day-of-yoga-yogas-growing-importance-to-post-covid-19-wellbe ing/ 18 June 2020.

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 3.1-3.3. Traditional Yoga and Meditation of the Himalayan Masters.

https://www.swamij.com/yoga-sutras-30103.htm

Toner, Jennilee. Ekhart Yoga. Preventing Yoga Injuries: The Breath, Prana and The Vayus.

https://www.ekhartyoga.com/articles/wellbeing/preventing-yoga-injuries-the-breath-prana-and-th e-vayus

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Your Health Starts from your Kitchen.

You are not only what you eat, but what you Digest & Absorb as well”, therefore eating wisely for holistic health should be an utmost priority.

The kitchen, which is the most essential part of our living, it’s here where all our food gets prepared and makes our Annamaya Kosha/Physical Body healthy and helps it grow. But do you know how it can badly affect your health if the person responsible for all your food making is unaware of a few mind-blowing facts? Yes, you heard it right, just because of one person in the kitchen, the whole family can either live happy & healthy or suffer from various diseases & illnesses. As we know due to the modern fast pacing lifestyle we don’t have time to eat right and even if we think that we are eating healthy doesn’t really mean it is.

Let’s see a few facts:-

1- Refined Flours: We are using refined flour/white flour (wheat) in our kitchen thinking we are eating healthy which is responsible for gut disorders and leads to Celiac diseases. Using wheat is completely healthy if you are getting it done by yourself in the mills but who has time nowadays, therefore leaving this packed wheat flour is a good reason to stay healthy. Replace White Flour (Wheat) with other grains like; Bajra, Jawar, Makkai, Madwa etc will be a good start to gut health as they are rich in fibre.

2- Sugar: Using sugar, which is the most common reason for obesity and diabetes nowadays due to its high glycemic index, though sugar is not the only reason for these disorders its usage in almost all sweet products which we consume including tea and coffee makes it top in the list apart from dense caloric foods and overeating. Therefore replacing sugar with Jaggery or powdered jaggery is the best option, as they help in regulating blood sugar levels and improve digestion.

3- Salt: White Salt in the kitchen is the poison for body and many lifestyle diseases like High BP, Hypertension and Heart-related issues, though it has only one reason of consumption nowadays due to Iodine mixed in it, in the majority it’s not good to consume, therefore use it as less as possible and replace maximum use of salt with Rock salt, Sendha Salt (Pink Salt).

4- Refine Oils: Refine oil is not Oil itself, Using Refine Oil in the kitchen is the most common reason of all joint-related disorders in the modern population. Therefore replace it with Mustard oil, Til oil, Coconut oil, and Ghee/clarified butter (if it’s pure) according to availability in your geographic location. Also, avoid using Sunflower oil and Soy oil from the market, they are good oils if they are pure but nowadays due to increased demands they are getting mixed with palm oil, which is very unhealthy for the body thus leading to various diseases.

5- Animal Products & Dairy: Using Animal Products is the number one reason of all major diseases in the world in modern days due to their processing and over-production. We all know that dairy and meat are the key part of the food pyramid for balanced nutrition requirements, however, due to the increase in demand, their products have gone multiple folds leaving millions of animals suffering and struggling for their lives due to chemical usage on them on regular basis, the same chemical you are consuming after preparing in the kitchen. So leaving dairy will be a good choice to stay happy and healthy in all aspects; be it physical, mental, emotional or spiritual.

6- Pressure Cooker: Using a Pressure cooker to cook food is the cruellest thing you can do with food nutrients. A pressure cooker as its name suggests creates pressure on the food partials and instead of cooking them slowly and gradually it breaks them apart thus killing all the nutrients from the food. Now you know why you don’t get energy even after having so-called healthy food because you are having dead food which has no nutritional value left in it. Therefore replace the pressure cooker with clay pots or copper utensils and cook them openly, best it can be done in sunlight.

7- Late Dinners: Eating after Sun Set is the major cause of metabolic disorders, our body functions according to nature, therefore when the sun rises the metabolism starts to rise and we should have good meals (fruits, whole food, nuts etc.) depending on our caloric demands according to lifestyle and when the sun sets we should avoid eating as the digestive fire goes down leads to indigestion of the food if food left undigested in the stomach for longer. period then it starts turning into the toxin and the same toxin creates all the diseases in the body, which we know by various names.

8- Acidic vs Alkaline food: Eating more acidic foods than alkaline foods are also responsible for many lifestyle disorders and stomach problems. Avoid having fried food, too salty, too sugary, and too much protein and dairy and animal products. Include 70–80% Alkaline food in your all meals like; fruits, salads, vegetables, whole grains etc to neutralise your blood ph levels.

9- Fridge: Fridge is the most demanding piece of equipment in our modern lifestyle. People nowadays don’t have time to cook fresh meals or maybe don’t want to repeat things daily, thus they store the bulk of food in the fridge to use for the next few days, thinking food will be fresh inside the fridge, however, the fact is, fridge really doesn’t help in preserving food from spoiling but what it does is suppresses the smell of it and makes it look fresh. The moment you take out that food it starts to spoil faster at room temperature and fastest if you heat it, thus this spoiled food having no nutritional value won’t get digested properly and will create Gas, acidity, bloating and foul smell after eating. Also since it doesn’t have any real value left, what your body absorbs is toxins and the same toxins values show in your health (lethargy, fatigue, weakness, dullness, stomach & mental disorders etc). Therefore always have freshly cooked food as suggested in the previous steps. (HEALTH IS WEALTH)

10- Cooking Positive: Last but not the least, preparing food is a spiritual process, therefore, it should be done with a kind heart, with compassion and love. Everything in the universe works with energies, therefore the person who is cooking food should be happy, and have love and compassion while preparing food for their loved ones. If there is hatred, anger, or fight during food preparation then the whole energy of the food turns negative therefore doesn’t really matter if you have followed all the previous steps carefully but didn’t cook the food with positive energy then your food will just fill your belly, not the soul. The divine inside is left hungry and just needs positivity.

Hope you liked the Article, please try to follow each step as much as possible for healthy living and share your feedback and opinions.

#StayCancerFree #StayDiseaseFree #LiveHealthy #StayHappy Best Regards

Gaurav Negi – Rehab Yoga Director

Enquire about our Yoga and Ayurveda courses for holistic health @ +91–9560-296-183 or Contact@rehabyoga.in

“Your body is a temple, keep it pure and clean for the soul to reside in”

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Life in a Pot!

We Humans may be moving and travelling around the world freely but we are just like a plant in the big Pot called Mother Earth.

It nurtures us, feeds us, protects us, shelters us, and saves us but if we don’t take care of it then its nature has its own way of creating balance to let life go smoothly on this biggest Pot of Life.

Our life is as delicate as a plant in the Pot, which knows nothing beyond its own life and can’t move to the other Pot even if there is a space unless the gardener wishes to move it there.

Similarly in our life, until God/Supreme Divine wishes to move us somewhere else, we can’t move a bit.

We can just blossom in our Pot where we belong, we can live happily or sad, we can cherish each moment or keep cribbing about everything in life.

Yes, there will be storms and other natural disasters in our life time-to-time, but until they come to us can we live happily with consciousness?

Remember a gardener never let his plants die in extreme conditions but he also doesn’t keep shifting plants inside the home every day, that’s life, God also protects us whenever needed, especially to those who are near and dear to him.

Everyone is equal to the Divine, but those who have faith in HIM are always protected from any extreme conditions in life.

We should always show gratitude towards nature, God is in everyone, thus, we should respect each and every being and protect their right of living on this big Pot equally.

Nature is such a beautiful gift available to us, we should share this luxury with everyone at each moment in life.

Therefore pray every day, Be thankful for everything, Be kind, and Be grateful.

Doesn’t matter if you will get liberation from this Pot or will keep dying and growing every season, what is important is, how you lived your life before that final breath went away and never came back.

You won’t take this Pot and plant body with you but you will certainly take those memories which you had accumulated during your journey in the Pot, so make sure those are beautiful ones to relive again.

“Liberation is just a moment of Self Realization”

Gaurav Negi – Rehab Yoga Director

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My experience in teaching Yoga to kids

I would like to share my experiences when got to teach yoga to kids In a summer camp.

Teaching yoga to kids is a little challenging as sustaining their attention involved is a bit difficult. Even if you have experience in teaching adults it’s very different when you apply the same to kids.

The first thing done was to approach their parents to whom I could describe the benefits of yoga asanas, only then do they understand how important it’s for their kids.

Now to prepare myself for how the class syllabus should be, I had to adjust my plan accordingly with kid-friendly games and postures designed relating to nature. All the movements connected to birds, animals, trees, mountains etc which made it easy for them to understand and relate and remember.

My class always started with a long breathing exercise relating their tummy with a balloon inflating and deflating as and when inhaling and exhaling, so they found it funny. Each day I tried preparing the same things differently to keep their interest and develop new skills that push them forward. I found that repetition of postures is very important to develop a sense of mastery. They actually tend to copy movements that they see you doing and can’t follow the cueing. Also, kids find it more interesting to do yoga asanas either outside in nature or on a carpeted floor where I could introduce and entertain them with games involving postures.

As teachers, we have to prepare our minds and let go of our expectations about what it means to be a good yoga student, need to understand that every kid is different and especially when they are of different age groups. Kids tend to perform well when they are appreciated and encouraged and given attention.

I included some games like passing the parcel wherein when the music stops, the one with the parcel opens up and takes a chit which states a posture to show. Another was a statue game, where the kids dance to the music and each time the music is put off, were asked to show some random posture.

Kids enjoy dynamic movements so I tried arranging patterns of flow of postures and repeated it 3 to 5 times after which they get tired and at the end, they were ready for savasana-guided meditation.

The class was for 15 days and was fun-filled and I could also get recharged along with them. Initially, I had thought that kids might feel bored, but when the class was designed with fun-filling activities, the environment changed.

On the final day of the class, I prepared small audio for them to perform.

Sajitha Ajith – Rehab Yoga Master Trainer & Educator