Altameroy Blog

Since ancient times, the human philosophers have realized the
importance of the mind in governing the human affairs. They knew
that a person’s external circumstances were the result of his
internal thoughts. They were aware that if the person thinks of
riches, he would have riches, while if the thoughts are of
poverty, success and failure would produce the corresponding
effects in the person’s circumstances. Today, modern science has
acknowledged the truth of these findings. Hence, it becomes
crucial for a person to control his mind.

Yoga has specific techniques which deal with the science of mind
control. We will study the nature of the mind as is recognized
by yoga in this chapter. Shankaracharya has defined the mind in
four different ways as per its functions: manas for the job of
resolving and doubting; buddhi for the decision and judgment;
asmita for the consciousness of its individual existence and
chita for remembering the previous experiences. The Mind is a
vast collection of thoughts and traces of past experiences. When
you are born, your mind is the collection of samskaras collected
over the previous births. Those samskaras, whose fruits have
already been enjoyed have been wiped out. But as you grow up,
new samskaras are being added continuously due to various acts
performed by you from birth to death. This translates into the
law of karma which states that the events one faces in his life
are the results of the activities done by him in the past and
his mind at birth contains the samskaras from his previous
births.

Yoga recognizes five factors, basic to the mind of every person.
They are called kleshas because they are the forefathers of
every human misery. They are: avidya which is the false
knowledge or ignorance of one’s true self in relation to the
objects; asmita or ego feeling since in yoga, body and soul are
two different aspects; raga is the liking of pleasurable
experience; dvesha or aversion to pain; abhinivesha or fear of
death. Yoga understands the human behaviour from the perspective
of these five qualities which are assumed to be present in a
person since birth and are considered as the impurities of the
mind. They make a person unstable and agitated. Hence yoga has
given way of dhyana and pranayam to cleanse your mind.

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Everyone wants it. If we have the perfect body, it becomes a
race to keep it. “I can’t gain that weight back.” If we don’t
have it we resent it, some to inconsolable longing. This longing
can verge on an obsession to extreme measures (Al Roker). We
strive for those low body fat numbers 8-10% for men and 15-20%
for women. We count calories or eat low carb for that perfect
thin body. We want all traces of rolls, dimples and squishy,
puffy soft skin gone. All signs of gravity lifted. Our age needs
to be defied. We want tone, taught and lean skin and muscles. We
have to look like models and superstars who are paid thousands a
day to look the way they do. Lithe. long, lean, sinewy, wispy
even drawn. Pay no attention that these stars can afford the
time and trainers to exercise 4 hours a day in the pursuit of
perfection. There’s a plethora of diet books out there. We’re
all studying weight loss. Each new book brags a new solution.
But the diet industry has grown as large and swollen as the
American public’s waistlines. Diets, pills, patches,
concoctions, procedures, prescriptions and remedies to
supposedly ‘cure your condition’. Meanwhile health care costs
are spiraling out of control from high cholesterol, high blood
pressure, diabetes and other diseases exacerbated by being
overweight. We can turn away from it in anger, disgust or
frustration, to give up and get fat (1/4 of America). Or
continue from one diet to the next fad, yoyoing into obesity
(other 1/4 America). What is going on? As life gets easier with
our technological advances and our economic success we become
more sedentary. Is it the increased need for instant
gratification causing the obesity? Or is it mass produced fast
foods with no nutritional value that are just too easy to
acquire? Add to this a sedentary lifestyle. Speaking of instant
gratification, liposuction seems an easy solution. It will suck
the fat away making us look perfectly thin but our blood
chemistry doesn’t change. We’re still overweight inside, ripe
for heart disease and sure to gain the weight back. The weight
then tends to come back in all the wrong places exacerbating the
situation (look out Nicole Smith!) Self-esteem and body weight
are inextricably linked. I have to say that the recognition I
receive (as a woman) for being slim is real. Generally the
thinner I am the more positive the response. My experience
probably reflects others, in that the social recognition for
thin is insidious. Media, society, and culture reinforce these
perspectives. Self-esteem and body weight I conclude are
inextricably linked for most. It will take more than a
rebellious few such as Queen Latifa who’s refreshing attitude
expresses “Thin for who? For what? I like my meals! I’m happy
and successful! And I like being full figured!” Her message
liberates perfectionist thinking. She’s got curves and her body
fat is probably a healthy 25%. The pursuit of the perfect body
then becomes a self esteem issue. If we want recognition we
can’t eat, drink or be merry! We need to always be in control to
uphold these rigid standards. That’s the rub. For naturally fun
loving, giving and sharing folks who want to enjoy life while
being healthy and productive here’s a solution. Lose control!
Queen Latiffa does it by taking off on her motorcycle going from
here to who knows where. Lose yourself in something you love to
do and forget the rest. I call it ‘zoning’ when I lose myself in
my writing, exercising, playing with kids, music, conversation
sometimes even in housecleaning (Beware: this ‘zoning’ thing is
contagious and starts to infiltrate everything you do). Just
lose yourself in the moment, and find the zone within. It builds
self esteem, burns calories and generates bliss at the same
time. What if we all completely forgot about having a perfect
body and refocused on being healthy? We’d lose all the emotional
baggage that comes with perfection. We’d focus instead, on
health and feeling good. We would eat properly and sensibly and
exercise. Lots of vegetables, lean proteins and some whole
grains. Nutrient packed foods, which have negative calories
because they’re work for the body to break them down. It’s the
man made foods that tempt us and make us eat too much because
they just taste so

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