A number of health problems are rooted in mental instability. Frequent bouts of anger and frustration can lead to stress and related problems. One of the most efficient ways of dealing with this instability and stress is meditation.
Vipasana is an ancient meditative technique that promises to allow a person to see the true nature of things. In Buddhist tradition, it literally translates to insight to the true reality of nature namely impermanence, suffering and the realization of non self. It focuses on self observation and the connection between mind and body and aims to eradicate mental impurities.
Vipasana meditation can be broken down into four stages.
Discovering Vitakka and Vicara: The first stage of Vipasana explores the connection between body and mind. This is done by concentrating on inhaling and exhaling and the feeling of air passing over the skin in front of the nose. Vitakka and vicara refer to the concentration and thought required to feel the connection between mind and body.
Disappearance of Vitakka and Vicara: In the second stage, the connection between mind and body is felt effortlessly. Thus, in this stage both vitakka and vicara fade away. This is known as anapana meditation and helps develop control over the mind.
Happiness: When a person reaches the third stage of vipasana, he stops focusing on emotions like pity, sadness, exuberance and only feels happiness. This frees the mind of negativity and hence purifies it.
Equanimity: The fourth and final stage is characterized by mindfulness and leads to clarity. At this stage, a person feels the desire for freedom and understands nature to be ever changing.
Vipasana is taught at a ten day residential program. Here, participants must adhere to a code of discipline that includes absolute silence and abstaining from any form of communication, sexual activity and substance abuse. Participants are taught the basics of the meditation technique and how to practice it but to benefit fully from it, regular meditation is necessary. Advanced vipasana students may attend 20, 30, 45 and 60 day courses to practice vipasana. An introduction to vipasana is also given to children in the form of short 3 day courses.
Ultimately, vipasana enables the practitioner to experience peace and harmony within oneself and with the rest of the world. It frees the mind from craving and hence also helps people abstain from social evils like stealing and killing. Thus, vipasana has the capacity to change minds and character and helps practitioners lead fulfilling, healthy lives. 

Vipasana - See The True Nature Of Things


Here are some well advertised and well-loved foods that most youngsters cherish. These foods cause far more damage in even small quantities. 

Try to avoid these foods now, to prevent from further damage as you grow older.

1) Frosting- The creamy layer that you lick off from the top of a cake is one of the most unhealthy foods ever. It contains trans-fat, which lowers your good cholesterol and can raise heart rate, increase belly fat and lead to heart diseases or diabetes. Plus, frosting has just too much of sugar.

2) Packaged Fruit Juices- ‘But juices are good for you!’ is something that most people say to defend why they drink packaged fruit juices. It is true that juices are great, but the ones that are packaged aren’t any good. Firstly, the ones available in packed forms have a limited amount of real content (look at the concentrate, which is sometimes lesser than 10% of the total packaging). At the same time, most of these are filled with artificial flavours and a lot of sugar. Do yourself a favour and drink only fresh juices.

3) Artificial Sweeteners- Artificial sweeteners can actually cause diabetes and are as harmful as natural sugar. In fact, they are also responsible for a number of allergies, cancers, seizures, weight gain and obesity.

4) Soda Beverages-   They are the worst! There is absolutely no reason why you should be popping out that bottle of soda or fizzy drinks with so much of caffeine every time. These bottles contain 10 packets of sugar, highly synthetic flavors and have absolutely zero nutritional value. In fact, they promote the ugly fat deposits on all the wrong places. High content of phosphoric acid in sodas can lead to heart and kidney problems, muscle loss, and osteoporosis, as well as trigger accelerated aging.

If you have any further questions on issues related to nutrition or diet, ask me by clicking on 'consult'.

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Avoid These 4 Foods to Stay Healthy

Yoga is a great way to get rid of diseases and health conditions from heart problems to sciatica and depression. There exists a body of research suggesting that yoga is the best healing therapy for improving spine alignment and joint health. But on the flip side, research also suggests that yoga can t cure cancers though it can help one deal with chemotherapy.

But you can certainly try yoga for these diseases and conditions



Digestive disorders: There are a number of asanas and pranayamas like the child pose or bala asana and kapalbhati pranayama, which can alleviate indigestion, gas and flatulence. These also help in bowel movement. The Boat pose which is done by stretching your legs and arms straight out parallel in front of you and then raising legs so toes are above eye level is very good for stomach disorders and so is the downward dog pose.
Heart disease: Bhujangasana or cobra pose stretches the chest, massaging organs inside, including heart, and allowing more blood flow to it, thus stimulating and strengthening heart muscle. Kapalbhati pranayama is also very good for the heart since it increases the absorption of oxygen in the blood. Yoga is proven to be an excellent heart risk improvement practice according to current research too.
Depression: Anulom vilom pranayama is extremely effective in tackling anxiety and depression. It slows down breathing and is effective against hypertension too when done regularly over a long time. The deep breathing done while doing this pranayama helps slow heart rate and allows the lungs to absorb more oxygen.
Diabetes: Surya namaskar or the twelve sun salutation poses help control diabetes as it promotes the production of insulin. The corpse pose is good too.
Headaches: Migraines and headaches are common problems that can be handled using yoga. Poses like Sirsasana that increase the flow of oxygen to the brain can alleviate migraines easily.
Thyroid disorders: Yoga asanas like shoulder stand, inverted pose, plough pose and the fish pose all help in making the thyroid gland work optimally again. The cobra pose and Ujjayi pranayama also work wonders by re-balancing metabolism and working on the throat reflex pathways to cure thyroid imbalance. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a doctor and ask a free question.
Body pain: More than 50 percent adults will face body pain due to a number of reasons in their lifetime. Simple stretching or yoga stretches can both help in the prevention of body pain. Tadasana is very good for aligning the vertebral column and getting rid of body pain. Surya namaskar stretches are very helpful too.

7 Common Diseases That Yoga Postures Help In Managing It

As people grow older, they age physically as well as mentally. Just as they become more susceptible to conditions such as arthritis, their risk of mental illnesses also increases. It is also important to note that physical ailments influence mental ailments. Thus, arthritis may not only be a problem in itself but may cause mental disorders as well. 

Some of the most common psychological problems that affect the elderly are:

Depression: Depression can affect people of all ages but the elderly have a higher risk of suffering from it. The symptoms and effects of this condition vary from person to person. These include feeling sad constantly, tiredness and lack of energy, lack of self-worth, unexplained weight loss or weight gain, insomnia and reduced appetite. This may be caused as a side effect of certain medications or treatment, as a result of frustrations caused by other physical ailments or just an effect of age.
Memory Problems: As people get older, their memory weakens. Many lose their long-term memory skills. They may also lose their short-term memory. This is not the same as being forgetful. Characteristic symptoms of amnesia include confusion, memory loss, inability to recognize people, etc. Amnesia may be caused by a number of factors including trauma to the head, brain damage or psychological factors such as PTSD.
Dementia: Dementia is characterized by the person s mental inability to function normally. This could be in the form of random mood swings, apathy, confusion, changes in short-term memory or failed sense of direction. Dementia is typically caused by the death of brain cells due to tumors, infections, lack of oxygen, lack of nutrition etc. Parkinson s disease, Huntington s disease, vascular dementia and frontotemporal dementia are all forms of dementia.
Alzheimer s Disease: This is a kind of dementia as well. In such cases, the patient loses memory of where they are and believe themselves to be in another place and time zone. The patient may not be able to rationalize things happening around him and may be unable to recognize their own family members. This is a neurodegenerative disease that involves shrinkage of the brain cells. It may be genetic. Alzheimer s can be treated and managed but it cannot be cured.
Insomnia: Insomnia can be classified as a physical and mental ailment. It is characterized by the inability to sleep well at night. Some of the noticeable symptoms include tossing and turning for hours in bed before going to sleep, waking up frequently at night, waking up earlier than planned and falling asleep during the day. Insomnia in the elderly is typically caused by stress and anxiety. It may also be the result of certain types of medication.

5 Common Psychological Problems That Affect People In Old Age!

Why drastic deficiency of vitamin d is becoming increasingly common among urban Indian youth?

On this women's day, let's understand why young Indians esp. Are women facing this unforeseen deficiency and resultant problems?

Vitamin d is unique because it can be made in the skin from exposure to sunlight. We get a really good amount of sunny days as opposed to many western and northern countries where vitamin d deficiency is ought to be common.

It is surprising that vitamin d deficiency is such a common problem in India nowadays that it finds prevalence among 70-100 percent of the general population in the country. More than 80.63 percent of 73 lakh Indian youth suffer from the deficiency of vitamin d. What's more shocking is that it can lead to a variety of health issues ranging from osteoporosis to diabetes. Without vitamin d, only 10-15% of dietary calcium and about 60% of phosphorus are absorbed - which would certainly lead to weaker bones. Vitamin d sufficiency enhances calcium and phosphorus absorption by 30-40% and 80%, respectively.

Vitamin d exists in two forms - vitamin d2 and d3. Uv rays from the sun hit the skin, and vitamin d3 is naturally synthesized, so it is the most 'natural' form. However, our bodies do not make vitamin d2, and most oil-rich fish such as salmon, mackerel, and herring and eggs contain vitamin d3.

Here are a few reasons why deficiency of vitamin d is becoming increasingly common among urban Indian youth.

1. Being always indoors

Our youth is never out in the sun because they are too occupied with their laptops or video games. Their lifestyle is such that it does not allow them to spend some good time out in the sun, which is a major source of vitamin d for the body. Technological advancement and cut-throat competition have made the youth forget the sun as a source of a healthy dose of vitamin d.

2. No milk, no fish

A lot of Indian youth follow a strictly vegetarian dietary regimen and they avoid milk very commonly. Vitamin d is found in foods like fish, egg yolks, fish liver oils etc. And not consuming them is a major reason why youth face vitamin d deficiency.

In fact certain, distinct symptoms can help you know if you're suffering from vitamin d deficiency or not.

You need to keep an eye out for these:

- excessive sweating without indulging in physical activities or being exposed to high temperatures

- sudden bouts of weakness for no apparent reason

- brittle bones that break easily

- chronic pain in your brains

- feeling of depression

If you would like to consult with me privately, please click on 'consult'.
Related Tip: Do You Need Vitamin Supplements?

Why Drastic Deficiency of Vitamin D is Becoming Increasingly Common Among Urban Indian Youth?

Most people are highly bothered about being overweight, but nobody is bothered about underweight risks. The real fact is that both overweight and underweight conditions are extreme kinds of health conditions, and both are very much risky and can create innumerable health complications.

Being underweight is not only common among kids, but sometimes adults also become the victims of the same. Therefore, if you want to get complete freedom from the risks that are associated with being underweight, then you have to rely on homeopathic treatment.

Some of the homeopathic medicines for weight gain are:
If you think that only healthy eating is the only solution to improve your weight, then you are wrong. Rather you have to choose an option that can remove the trouble directly from within. In this case, you can discuss with your homeopathic doctor for possible medicines and ways which not only help you in increasing your weight, but your overall health condition can also be improved to a great extent.

1. Ignatia: Different kinds of eating disorders, especially bulimia and anorexia causing underweight troubles can be completely eliminated by this specific drug from the homeopathy world. Fear of increased weight can be removed, and you can lead a healthy lifestyle with the usage of this remedy in a consistent manner. On the other hand, emotional health can also be effectively stimulated so that you can think positive all the time. Excessive appetite suppression can be eliminated by Ignatia, and this is the reason it is now getting the highest recommendation for gaining of weight.

2. Lycopodium: Both adolescents and children who are suffering from underweight troubles for a long time are often recommended to use this homeopathic medicine for getting speedy results. Digestive health can be improved, and food habits can be corrected so that you can have sufficient food amounts, which are required for maintaining your health condition.

3. Alfalfa tonic: This homeopathic tonic has got innumerable benefits and this is why doctors are prescribing the same to underweight patients. Weight can be gained and appetite can be improved. Patients having balmia, nervous indigestion and malnutrition can be efficiently treated by means of this tonic, but in this case the tonic needs to be taken on a regular basis.

4. Sepia: Normal appetite can be easily restored by this medicine and thus you can have a balanced weight. Sometimes, hormonal imbalance causes appetite loss and this kind of unhealthy condition can be regulated by this medicine.

Homeopathic Remedies for Weight Gain Naturally

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