07 May
yogahealthfoundationadmin Announcements, Ayurveda, Environment, Meditation, Message, Self Awareness, Vedic Knowledge, Vegetarianism, Yoga

6th Online International Yoga Festival & Health Expo

We are pleased to announce that we are organizing 6th International Yoga Festival & Health Expo virtually. As we know that from last few months the entire world is facing the outspread of Coronavirus, but that would not dampen our spirit. We have successfully hosted 5 festivals in the past, and we are proud and blessed to organize our 6th festival with the same enthusiasm and energy. Our idea is pious and we promote a healthy organic lifestyle for everyone through Yoga, Meditation, Veganism, and Vegetarianism. We feel blessed to support and connect with the global community and strengthen our ties amid dark time. We are happy to invite everyone to our 6th online yoga festival & health expo on 20th June 2020 from 11 am to 2 pm. We will soon share the program highlights and other details.

Have a blessed & soulful day!

09 Jun
yogahealthfoundationadmin Environment, Meditation, Self Awareness

Mindfulness: a Tool for Increasing Happiness and Reducing Stress in Recovery

Mindfulness is the practice of fully immersing yourself in the present moment, without thoughts about the future or the past. It encourages you to direct your attention inwards, and consciously experience the feelings, thoughts and sensations that are happening right now. This is how mindfulness can promote stress relief and acceptance, and pull you away from the destructive thought patterns that may tempt you to use a behaviour or substance to numb discomfort.

Let’s take a closer look at the benefits of practicing mindfulness in recovery, and how being mindful in each moment can translate to more fulfillment, peace and enjoyment in your everyday life.

How Mindfulness Can Soften the Hardships of Recovery

  1. Mindfulness Reduces Emotional Cravings

Addictive behaviours are used as coping mechanisms to numb painful or uncomfortable thoughts and feelings. When faced with these thoughts, cravings can manifest as a protective mechanism— an emotional and mental escape.

Mindfulness encourages you to stay attuned with your present state of being, instead of running, covering or trying to escape these feelings. In essence, mindfulness is the opposite state of addiction. Through the process of awareness, you learn to accept and potentially transform these feelings and allow them to pass, which is the only way to heal and move on from them.

  1. Mindfulness Encourages You to Pause Before You React

You cannot always control what happens to you, but you can learn to control how you respond to life’s circumstances. When you ground yourself in the present moment by being mindful, it’s easier to pause and process a certain situation or feeling in a healthy way. Over time, this can actually change how your brain responds to emotional stress, which results in less anxiety and negative emotion over time.

For example, let’s say that when thoughts arise about the relationship you have with your mother, they instantly trigger you to crave a drink. But when you practice having awareness in the present moment, you’ll notice that you learn to pause before reacting to a specific thought pattern— and instead, become aware of the emotion you’re feeling.

When you allow yourself to feel , sit with, and recognize this emotion— rather than avoid it— the craving has a chance to pass and you can move on with your day. The more you practice this form of mindfulness, the less strong and intense your cravings will become, until they eventually disappear.

  1. Mindfulness Can Help Transcend Pain and Suffering

The desire to retreat from negativity is normal. Nobody wants to remain in a suspended state of suffering. And according to Buddhist views, pain and suffering are an essential part of life.

We have the opportunity to transcend our pain by accepting this truth, and recognizing that our suffering is determined by how we respond to it. Mindfulness brings awareness to the present moment, where we can realize and accept that everything is exactly as it should be: our pain can be used to fulfill our highest potential.

Putting Mindfulness into Action

The wonderful thing about mindfulness is that no specialized equipment or training is required. You can practice it right now. All you need to do is take a quiet moment to connect with your breath. Inhale and exhale to observe all that is going on in your mind and body. Focusing on your breathe anchors you to the present moment, and helps eliminate distractions of the past and future.

What Does Mindfulness Look and Feel Like?

When enjoying your next morning cup of tea, practice wrapping your hands around your mug. Feel the sensation of the hot mug against your fingertips, smell the fragrant leaves and observe the steam rising from your cup. Feel the calming sensations that ripple throughout your body when you take a long sip of your tea.

Where are you in this moment? How do you feel right now? What thoughts are arising in you? Be present and stay with this moment, and simply observe how you feel. Remember that you are exactly where you need to be, and nowhere else.

Mindfulness Meditation

You can also practice mindfulness through meditation, which may allow it to become second nature easier in your everyday life. By closing your eyes and focusing your attention on your breath, feel the air flow through you as you inhale and exhale. Allow your mind to slow down, and avoid judging or responding to thoughts as they arise, simply observe them and allow them to pass, imagining they’re like floating clouds in the sky.

This conscious practice, when done for just a few minutes per day, can increase the acceptance and satisfaction in your everyday life.

As you can see, mindfulness is a powerful tool to harness your thoughts and emotions (and how you respond to them) during recovery and any time through your life. By practicing mindfulness and remaining in the present moment as often as possible, you’ll be able to manage your stress levels easier, and heal any emotional trauma that’s been holding you back from living a fulfilling life, and may have been too uncomfortable to face and overcome in the past.

09 Jun
yogahealthfoundationadmin Ayurveda

An Introduction to Ayurveda

by Nirmala Raniga

Ayurveda, a Sanskrit term meaning “science of life,” is a 5,000-year-old healing system founded in India. From the Ayurvedic perspective, we, as human beings, are not merely thinking machines, but rather fields of intelligence, interacting with the information and energy that surrounds us. Through these daily interactions, stress, diet, and other routine parts of life can shift the balance of both body and mind, which can lead to health issues. Fortunately, the wisdom of Ayurveda can help connect us more deeply to our minds and bodies, offering us tools to identify imbalances in our lives and simple ways to help correct them.

According to Ayurveda, we are one or more of three mind-body types, also known as doshas – Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. Each dosha is a combination of the five elements – air, space, water, fire, and earth. The Vata dosha is a combination of air and space; Kapha is earth and water, and Pitta is fire and water. While we are generally a combination of all three doshas, one or more tend to be dominant. (To learn more about doshas, please take this Dosha Quiz.)

Each dosha has different requirements in order to remain healthy and balanced, and we can achieve and maintain such balance through our five senses – taste, touch, hearing, sight, and smell.

Sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent are the six taste categories, and knowing which taste helps or hinders our respective doshas is important. For example, eating sour and salty foods can help Vatas feel their best. However, when Pittas and Kaphas eat too much of those foods, they can feel out of balance. Pittas and Kaphas tend to feel better when they consume bitter and astringent foods, such as kale and lentils, yet those foods in excess do not benefit Vatas. Following a dosha-specific diet does not mean eliminating certain foods that we might enjoy; yet understanding which tastes and foods can be problematic can help us enjoy those foods in moderation.

Touch is also very important for overall wellbeing. When we are babies, touch is an important way we connect with the world and others around us, and it continues to play a vital role throughout our lives. One way we can benefit the mind-body through touch is to practice a self-massage, or Abhyanga, using dosha-specific oils. As with tastes, each dosha benefits from different oils. Sesame and almond oils are recommended for Vatas. Coconut and sunflower oils can help balance Pittas, and safflower oil is good for Kaphas. By spending 15-20 minutes each day massaging the body with warm oils, we can help increase circulation and stamina and decrease signs of aging.

Sound is also very powerful in helping us feel balanced and whole. In our busy, modern world, jarring noises like traffic, cell phones, and televisions create an unhealthy environment. For thousands of years, Ayurveda has provided evidence of the healing quality of not only the sounds of nature, but also that of music.

Each dosha can feel more balanced from different types of music. Vatas do well with classical music, which calms their active minds. Because Kaphas can sometimes feel sluggish, more active music can invigorate them. And Pittas, because of their fire element, can benefit from calming, soothing sounds.

Our lives can be so busy and we are constantly bombarded by a barrage of visual imagery, so we don’t often think about the effects these sights have on our wellbeing. However, what we see greatly impacts that balance of our doshas. For Vatas, mild pastel colors can help cultivate calm, while Pittas feel balanced surrounded by cooler, softer colors. Kaphas do well with bright, bold colors, which help energize them. Because vision is also a key part of how we perceive the food that we eat, a healthy Ayurvedic diet is one that includes a broad spectrum of colors, which also offers greater nutrients.

The mind has a natural ability to link specific scents with feeling and memories, which makes aromatherapy an effective tool for wellbeing. For instance, floral and fruity scents benefit the Vata dosha; Pittas respond well to cool and sweet smells, and Kaphas enjoy stimulating and spicy aromas.

By using the wisdom of Ayurveda, we can all create more balanced lifestyles, enabling us to find greater enjoyment in each moment and enhance our longevity quality of life.

09 Jun
yogahealthfoundationadmin Meditation

Meditation: The Simple Tool That Can Reduce Depression and Anxiety in Recovery

If you struggle with addiction, you may also experience episodes of depression and anxiety in your recovery. These emotions are a natural part of recovery as you withdraw from substance use and adjust to a new lifestyle and/or environment, which can be challenging.

When you feel depressed, it means you have an attachment to stories or experiences from your past, perhaps when you were active in addiction. This attachment can bring up negative feelings such as guilt or shame. On the other hand, anxiety suggests you’re living in the future, and spending your energy focusing on worries and concerns— perhaps about whether you’ll succeed at creating a new, fulfilling life amidst the challenges and obstacles you’re facing.

When you feel these emotions, you’re separated from who you really are, and the true source of your being. This can cause you to look for peace, direction and fulfillment outside of yourself. But the truth is, joy, fulfillment— and the answers and direction you’re seeking— are always within you.

How Meditation Can Help You Heal From Within During Recovery

To avoid looking outside for answers, or a sense of security and happiness during recovery, it’s essential to train your mind to begin looking within. This involves attaining a higher level of consciousness, which can be done through meditation.

Meditation is best described as the “progressive quieting of the mind until it reaches pure silence”. Meditation takes you to the source of thought, which is the awareness of an unconditioned mind. It’s your very own source of possibilities, correlation, synchronicity, and creativity. This power tends to remains untapped until we get quiet, and let our consciousness bring us back to this place. 


For example, if you’re addicted to a substance or behaviour, you’re operating from a conditioned mind, which repeats the same experience over, and over again until no amount of the substance or activity you’re addicted to will be enough to fulfill your desire. In order to heal addiction, you must recondition your mind and end these patterns. Meditation helps you do exactly that. 

Connecting to the power you hold within your own being can also prevent you from looking to other vices to numb depression or anxiety, such as social media, gambling, television, shopping or drugs and alcohol. In fact, it’s not uncommon for a person in recovery to substitute one addiction for another, in order to ease discomfort. This keeps you in the vicious cycle of addiction, and prevents you from healing. Meditation can help prevent future toxic habits, by creating conscious awareness in the mind, body and spirit.

In fact, there’s a quote that illustrates the process of meditation beautifully: “Prayer is when you talk to source (or the Universe, God, the Divine — whichever word you’d like to use to describe a higher power), and meditation is when source talks to you.

Surprising Benefits of Meditation (Whether or Not You’re in Recovery)

When we meditate and access our unconditioned mind, the benefits can be felt on a physical and psychological level. Many people report the following benefits:

  • Physical health benefits, such as lowered blood pressure, lowered cortisol levels (stress hormones), and decreased LDL cholesterol
  • Reacting less to negative situations and circumstances
  • Improved sleep quality
  • Stronger immunity
  • Feeling calm and grounded in stressful situations (not only limited to recovery, but in traffic or high stress jobs, too)
  • Coming up with creative ideas and visions
  • A stronger sense of connection to themselves and the environment
  • A renewed feeling of hope and faith, and believing in oneself

When it comes to addiction recovery, meditation can also help you make more conscious choices in the face of your challenges. For example, if you find your mind thinking back to resentment of the past or worries about the future, the peaceful state of mind that results from meditation can help build your resiliency to these thoughts as they enter your mind.

Now of course, meditation will not guarantee tough situations won’t arise— but a regular meditation practice can certainly provide you with the tools and abilities to react in a healthier, positive way, and encourage you to “go with the flow”.

Over time, this can help train your mind to detach and give up control. This is an invaluable benefit of meditation, as trying to control outcomes is exactly what blocks the “flow” of positive energy and circumstances, and goes exactly against what you’re trying to achieve.

In order for meditation to be an effective tool for easing pain and discomfort during recovery, it must be done consistently. After all, it is a practice. We understand that working toward recovery from addiction is challenging work, and usually comes with a lot of stress. Meditation provides the perfect opportunity to release this stress, as well as lingering emotional toxicity.

You can practice meditation with guided meditations on CD’s and YouTube videos (which are free online), or simply sit and “be” while focusing on your breath. Yoga is also considered a moving meditation when you connect your awareness with your breath as you move through different postures. Many local temples and community centers also have meditation classes that are free or inexpensive to attend. 

By practicing meditation each day, you can expect to move towards conscious choice making, a stronger sense of fulfillment and well-being, and adopting the behaviours that will ultimately allow you to experience greater peace, love, creativity, and success.

01 May
yogahealthfoundationadmin Sattology, Vegetarianism, Yoga

Sattology: Are Vegetarianism and Vegan diets helpful for Yoga?

While Yoga is the art of doing work, Diet is an art to maintain a healthy body. The reason why I call diet an art because it is specific to an individual and it requires careful supervision. The balance of a healthy diet is truly achieved by an artful approach depending on a person’s schedule. The inner consciousness of a person is affected by the diet. In that way, diet is also a science. Diet requires a careful selection of ingredients to accentuate life and keep body disease free. Ingredients must match the nutritional needs of an individual’s body. Spices are extremely important in preserving important bodily functions. In the ancient Vedic culture, every meal was also a medicine. Which diet is good for me? Should I be a vegetarian or should I be a vegan? What is vegetarian? What is vegan? These are some of the existential questions that are usually on everyone’s mind.

A carnivore animal’s intestine is much shorter as compared to herbivore animal. Because of small intestines, the non-vegetarian food stays for a shorter duration in the body of a carnivore as compared to herbivore. Human small intestine length is usually 6 meter or 20 ft, while the big intestine is 1.5 m or 5 ft. By design human body is suited for a plant-based diet. Many cultures across the world advise a healthier plant-based diet. In fact, the majority of carbon emissions in the planet are due to the organized meat industry. If just the meat consumption is reduced by 10%, the greenhouse carbon emissions will drop by more than 30%. A plant-based diet is extremely eco-friendly for our planet.

Veganism term was coined by Donald Watson in 1944. The original premise of veganism according to him was to shut all types of meat or products from animals out of kindness. There is a growing movement on veganism across the world. In fact, Tel Aviv is now officially the vegan capital of the world.

Ayurveda, the science of increasing duration of life, advises us to maintain balance. Balanced Body, Mind and a healthy spirit come from long practice and intelligent choices. The balanced body comes from exercise and diet. Balanced mind comes from Yoga and detachment. Balanced spirit comes from meditation. For a healthy body, all foods must be eaten fresh, within 2 hours after they are cooked. Usually, foods lose nutritional value upon being reheated, microwaved or kept frozen. Generally, for a healthy mind, warm foods are the best. Vedic scriptures inform us of three types of diet. Foods are classified into three broad categories – Foods in Sattva Guna (mode of goodness), Foods in Rajas Guna (mode of passion) and Foods in Tamas Guna (mode of ignorance). Foods in Sattva Guna increase life, decrease stress and makes one happy. Foods in Rajas Guna decrease life, increase stress and keeps people angry. While Foods in Tamas Guna decrease life duration most by inviting diseases. Generally, one should eat two major meals a day, one after sunrise and another before sunset. Ayurveda advises us to avoid meals after sunset.

Your diet helps you build a healthy personality. A healthy Sattvic diet brings kindness to your personality. Rajasic food brings stress into your personality. Tamasic food brings disease. Careful selection of diet will assist you to lead a healthy life. I would be keen to know more about your vegetarian or vegan experiences. Happy Eco-friendly diet is good for our planet. We can preserve our planet, by changing our diet. The positive change in climate begins with our diet.

Article By:
Aditya Satsangi is a serial entrepreneur and a writer commentator on politics in the USA. His views have helped strengthen the Indian American community in the USA. He is currently the President of Indian American Chamber of Commerce, Secretary of VHS and runs a Tech Staffing global firm. He is an avid golfer and wouldn’t miss a Tee when invited. Aditya is a regular writer at Sunday Guardian, PGurus, Pioneer and is also publishing his new book on ‘Sattology’, a term he invented.

15 Mar
yogahealthfoundationadmin Sattology

Sattology – History of Yoga

History of Yoga is as old as history itself. To say that Yoga existed from the beginning of creation, is to express the truth based on the earliest writing ever known to mankind. The literal meaning of Yoga is ‘to reconnect’ akin to Religion, which also means ‘to reconnect’. The word Yoga was described in written form in many Vedic literatures but became popular because of its reference in vedic upanishads. The eighteen chapters of Gitopanishad explain all types of Yoga and also the lord of Yoga, Yogeshwar or Hari or Krishna or Vishnu. The word Yoga is intrinsically connected with the source of Vedic literatures. Any activity or action when it is connected with Yogeshwar is also called yoga. So a simple act of walking for Yogeshwar is also called Yoga. Developing knowledge to know Yogeshwar is called Jnana Yoga. Empirical study to rediscover Yogeshwar is also called Sankhya Yoga. Any type of devotional or practical activity connected to Yogeshwar either deliberately or accidentally is technically considered as Yoga. Karma yoga, Buddhi Yoga, Vairagya Yoga are called yoga because of their connection with Yogeshwar. The philosophy of Yoga along with the practice gives the practitioner a lifelong mission to fulfill. Yoga when followed both in practice and philosophy gives the practitioner an experience that transcends body, mind and spiritual fulfillment. Mental and physical ailments definitely have a cure in yoga.

Here are three major broad groupings of Yoga practice
1. Hatha (हठ) Yoga
2. Pranayama, and Vyayayam
3. Bhakti

The act of Physical poses along with relevant mudra and mantra is called Hatha yoga. Hatha Yoga helps one resolve body posture issues interconnected with spine and respiratory organs. Normal Breathing is recommended with every asana of hatha Yoga. Asana is a regulated body posture for a particular exercise. Each asana is the position of tranquility for a particular organ of the body. Surya Namaskar is a circular pattern of hatha yoga poses for optimum spine health and breathing processes. In hatha yoga there is an asana or pose for every single organ of the body. That’s scientifically organized to assist the practitioner to build a healthy body, healthy diet, healthy mind and a happy soul.

Pranayama is also described very clearly in Vedic gitopanishad to help one control their mind and ultimately bodily functions. In Pranayam, one needs to focus on breathing along with physical concentration in between the eyebrows. This process is extremely beneficial to remove mental stress. However, Yoga is never complete without the mental connection to Hari. Bhakti is the third and highest limb of Yoga. You can call it as a perfection of all forms of Yoga. Bhakti means devotion to Vishnu. Bhakti involves hatha yoga, pranayama and mantra chants. This is very well explained in Vedic gitopanishad (6.47). Nowadays, there has been attempt by some ill-informed and unintelligent people to disconnect Yoga from vedic heritage or Indian heritage. That attempt has failed because without the vedic knowledge, Yoga itself is incomplete.

Historically speaking, Yoga is the origin of dance, martial arts and Vedic philosophy. In addition, Vedas describe in detail that Yoga is the art of doing work. Yoga way of working is the best Management and Work philosophy which has not yet been discovered by the western world. That will be the next frontier of work philosophy which has all the chances to beating all other work and HR theories.

The entire gamut of Yoga is so huge that it surpasses one’s entire existence. Yoga is everything and yet it depends on the practitioner to discover it. The beauty of yoga is the process of self-discovery along with the world discovery through the lenses of the practitioner. A lifetime is less, to become a perfect Yogi. As Krishna advises Arjuna in Vedas, Be a Yogi. If you are a Yogi, you are the best friend of Krishna who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead of all Yogis. For all Yogis, Namaste.

Aditya SATSANGI
https://www.nymblsoft.com/

14 Mar
yogahealthfoundationadmin Self Awareness, Yoga

Finding Deep Connection Through Yoga

With the increase of cellphone use and social media by means of communicating, we as a generation are becoming more and more disconnected. There is group chats where there was once group hangs, mindless scrolling where there was once literature, video games where there was once walks in the park, and virtual reality where there was once reality. This blurred relationship with our true selves and with the world and the people around us can make for a lonely existence. Through practice, discipline and mindfulness, Yoga can help us find that lost connection that we so desperately seek.

At One With Nature

 Before society put us indoors and in clothes, nature was our home. The cold of the raindrops on our nose and the feel of the grass on our backs – this was our truest form of existence. All too often now we see the nature that surrounds us as separate objects rather than part of our being, forgetting that we are with it and not just in it. In yoga there are many poses that force us to stay grounded by mindfully grounding our backs to the earth below us. There are poses that force us to reach towards the sky and feel that it is not so distant, and others that force us to balance and allow us to become rooted deeply into the earth like a tree. By teaching us how to stop, be still, and listen, yoga helps us to reconnect with nature and become friends with the earth.

At One With Each Other

 One of the secrets to a happy and healthy life is the formation of real friendships and deep relationships with others. These types of relationships can only be formed through in-person contact and without the barrier of cellphones and social media. Simply by uplifting our mood and changing our perspective, yoga can motivate us to get out in the real world and form these valuable relationships by practicing our passion and sharing our beliefs and aspirations with like-minded individuals. Whether you practice alone or in a group setting, yoga can help break down the barriers of the digital age and facilitate more intimate connections with others.

At One With Our True Selves

The most important relationship we can have is the one with ourselves. Modern life and the establishment of a home, a family, and a career will inevitably divert our energy in a million different directions, and often our connection to our true self suffers as a result. We forget that we are there, behind the illusion of separateness and the physical body, and we become less whole. Yoga incorporates mindfulness, meditation, deep breathing, and strong poses all of which help us center our consciousness inward towards our true self instead of outward toward worldly distractions. This can help us rediscover our deepest passions and desires, and once we recognise who we are and what we want we can begin to serve our true purpose, with joy and gratitude, as our true selves.

The ultimate goal of yoga is to awaken the human self and to guide us along the path of a higher, universal consciousness. By connecting with nature, each other, and ourselves, we can break away from the disconnect of the digital age and achieve this ultimate goal, which will allow us live together in peaceful bliss and true harmony.

14 Mar
yogahealthfoundationadmin Environment

“A Plant-Based Diet – The best choice we can make for our planet, our economy, our animals, and ourselves”

For as long as we can remember, modern medicine and university research told us that a diet rich in meat and dairy would give us healthy bones, muscle mass, and an overall stronger and more energetic version of ourselves. As this research has deepened and knowledge evolved, with time we have learned that in fact a lot of the problems we once thought to be solved by meat and dairy are actually caused by it. Unfortunately these problems extend much further than us and our health, and in reality this excessive consumption of animal products and by-products that dominates our society today causes economical, environmental, and moral problems too. Now is a better time than ever to educate ourselves on these issues and begin our journey towards a plant-based diet.

Our Health

It’s true that our health should be our priority, and that what we put into our bodies is a direct reflection of our health. Unfortunately the animal produce that we are bombarded with in grocery stores today is not what it used to be. More often than not the meat we consume is pumped with antibiotics and growth hormones, and when we eat meat, we eat these additives too. The nasty stuff does not get lost somewhere in transit, it sits in our digestive system where it is not welcome, causing all sorts of health problems. It has come into light in recent years that with a reduction in meat consumption comes a significant reduction in the risk of heart disease, high cholesterol, and obesity. It’s simple – everything we once thought about the benefits of consuming meat and dairy products is a myth. The real superpowers are not in the produce from the animals we walk alongside, but in the produce from the earth we walk on.

Our Planet

With climate change, population increase and excessive waste pollution unfolding in the way that they are, we cannot ignore the health of this planet we call home. The foods we choose to consume over the coming decades will directly and dramatically impact the planet and its available resources. With more people to feed comes higher demand, and a diet that resolves around animal products will see the inevitable exhaustion of food resources. It is also estimated that animal agriculture alone will produce more greenhouse gases than the entire transportation industry combined. It is said that the average vegetarian or vegan has half the carbon footprint than the average meat eater, reminding us that although we are only one person, we have the ability to make a difference. Steadily reducing or completely eliminating our meat and dairy consumption can have huge implications on climate change and the planet we leave behind for our heirs.

Our Economy 

When meat-related diseases are on the increase as we have found they are, healthcare costs rise significantly as a result.  Health problems have a ripple effect when it comes to the global economy, and it is estimated that when we take into account medical bills and lost working days, a change in diet towards plant-based may contribute to saving $700 million on a global scale. This goes for our planet too – repairing damage from climate change is not cheap and is already taking a toll on global economic resources whether we choose to admit it or not. Now is the time to put an end to the vicious cycle before the economical damage is irreparable. We can contribute by pouring our economic resources and our support into plant-based companies, therefore fuelling a growing revolution that benefits instead of harms.

Our Morals

While there are an endless amount of economical, environmental and health benefits of cutting down on meat consumption, there are still masses of vegans and vegetarians out there with one fundamental goal – to save the animals. Over 95% of the meat that we find in our local grocery stores comes from factory farms, where animals are mass-produced in cruel and inhumane conditions. While the demand for meat-based produce is high, so is the demand for these killing fields. Even outside of these factory farms where animals are free-run and grass-fed, the end result is still the exploitation of innocent animals for meat and dairy products that we simply do not need. By choosing compassion, we contribute towards saving the animals that were never ours in the first place.

We cannot deny the devastating effects of meat and dairy consumption, and we cannot remain ignorant in the belief that we are too small to implement positive change. Whether we are omnivores simply reducing our meat intake, vegetarians who have cut it out completely, or vegans who strictly refrain from using or consuming any animal products or by-products, we can all take part in this revolution. Together, we can promote a world with healthy inhabitants that is environmentally sustainable, economically secure, and cruelty free.

14 Mar
yogahealthfoundationadmin Meditation, Self Awareness

How Millennials can Find Peace and Serenity through Ancient Yoga Practices

Yoga is one of the most ancient traditions that we are aware of, yet it remains widely popular today. People all over the world continue to incorporate yoga into their lifestyles by studying, practicing and teaching it daily. It seems that the tradition has become even more prominent in recent years, often feeling like a new trend rather than one that was born in Northern India thousands of years ago. This is evident in Vancouver where you will find it almost impossible to get through a day without spotting someone carrying a yoga mat or walking by an outdoor yoga class. The reason that this practice has not dwindled with age and become lost in ancient history is because of its undeniable ability to positively transform lives by touching our minds, bodies and spirits.

Mind

In the age of information overload, we often lose ourselves amidst the chaos. Clarity is power in today’s hectic world, and yoga teaches our mind to focus our attention in the right direction. Through deep breathing and meditation, yoga allows us to reconnect with ourselves and our bodies. During this process we learn how to take charge of our thoughts and to access inner peace. Calming the mind in this way relieves stress and reduces overthinking, and this can lead to an overall improvement in our mental health. A trouble-free and quiet mind can also induce creativity, allowing us to serve our own purpose instead of somebody else’s.

Body

An obvious yet extremely important benefit of yoga is the physical strength that it builds. Practicing yoga weekly will tone and strengthen the muscles, improving our body’s physical appearance but more importantly its resilience. Deep stretching will relieve our body of tension while challenging poses will push us beyond our limits, resulting in muscles that are both stronger and more relaxed. Through this practice we can also achieve better posture, balance and flexibility.

Spirit

Creating harmony within ourselves will result in a happier experience of our outside worlds. Yoga allows us to be more present, and the ability to live in the moment can lead to a higher consciousness. With this higher consciousness comes increased awareness, allowing us to focus on the beauty by which we are surrounded. We gain a strong sense of connection to this beauty, and without the illusion of separation we are guided in becoming more sentient beings. When we achieve this state, we are capable of sharing immense love and kindness with all beings and all of nature.

The 21st century is one within which many have become lost in a fog of worldly-chaos and excessive consumerism. On the other hand, it is the century that has found us waking up and redefining happiness. There is somewhat of a barrier between the two, and the link that will connect them is yoga. This is the very mission of the International Yoga Festival which comes to Vancouver for the third time in June 2019 – To connect us to our predecessors from whom we can learn. To bring unity to Vancouver by connecting one and all. And to help the community bridge the gap between health and happiness.

“Our mission for this festival is to inspire and connect our communities to live creative, healthy, vibrant and stress free active lives through the practice of yoga and mediation.”

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