by Tirtha Acharya | Jan 5, 2022 | art of living
Awareness techniques- The Techniques To Go Deeper Inside
There are many aspects of life, they all come together to make the life of an individual. Let us see the life of a human being up close. Aside from his only physical body, there are more complex things to him. When you take a human being and put him in society, ignoring his physical self, there is his social self, psychological self, spiritual self all collectively make the life of the human being. A human may have a highly fluctuating level of proficiency in either of these fields.
A man with a good social life may not have the adequate amount of spiritual self that he hopes for, or he may not be aware of it. There are two cases either the human is not aware of what he is lacking or what he wants to achieve, or he knows what he wants but does not know how to get off fails to put the required effort on front. Awareness techniques make people aware of such things and set them on the path to achieving what they are seeking in their lives.
What is awareness?
Google dictionary tells awareness is knowledge or perception of a situation or fact. This is the surface definition of awareness. Awareness is much more complicated than just this as it is a matter that changes according to the subject. Saying just awareness is not enough, as awareness, just the term can touch many fields and subjects. One who is aware of the field of engineering may not be aware of the field of medicine.
Now, comparing the awareness of that man. If he is judged on the matter of engineering then he is an aware person, however, if he is judged on the field of medicine then he will be an unaware person. Now the question arises how someone can be an aware person and an unaware person at the same time
Now, let us examine the issue in depth. Did the person change? Did his knowledge change? The only thing that changed was the field. But this changed the overall level of awareness. How did this happen? The Anwer is simply only the omnipotent being that is completely aware or can be pointed to as a completely aware being. However, humans can never reach the point of complete awareness. Yes, with gradual time one can raise the level of awareness, but they will also never reach the point of complete awareness where they know everything about a certain field, situation, or topic.
The ability to attain awareness is a gradual process and it never ends. It is the ability to change one’s thoughts and perceptions according to the latest information provided. If one is unable to change their practices, perception, and way of thinking itself, with the latest information and facts available. Then, can they be called aware people?
The plain answer is no, awareness is to adapt to change and development of the latest information and fact. The aware person must even be able to change their entire belief system when a new fact becomes known or new scientific knowledge gets discovered.
People need to constantly be updated to be aware or have awareness in the relative field. What was a reality ten years ago may not be the reality, now we must be updated to have awareness.
There are various awareness techniques, which can drastically improve the life of the people who try to master them and the way they work. Being aware by using these awareness techniques one can be more conscious and knowledgeable about their actions and behavior. Then they can change or keep them with sincere and careful thoughts. Some awareness techniques are as follows:
Breathing awareness
Breathing is the activity that every human performs. It is so that we even do not have to voluntarily do it, it happens without continuously happening to do so. We are aware that we have various breathing patterns and techniques. This also our body and mind do involuntarily without having us to consciously involved. The body does a wonderful job. However, there are some instances that the involuntary breathing pattern which our body adopts considering the situation may be wrong. Now, here enters breathing as the awareness technique.
In the breathing awareness of awareness technique, we become aware of the types of breathing patterns and the best according to the situations. Like taking a long deep breath from the nose and exhaling from the mouth. This is done before a nervous or uncomfortable situation.
At first one must voluntarily do it from time to time but at some point, the body adapts to it and one can even do it unconsciously. There are also many other techniques and methods of breathing that are beneficial and good for various circumstances. Breathing awareness of awareness techniques teaches us to understand the power of breath and use it for many beneficial purposes and overcoming various shortcomings and circumstances.
Body movement awareness
Body movement is a crucial part of the awareness technique. Our body is a combination of many muscles, organs, parts, and systems. The Collaboratory movements of these systems and parts are what keep us alive. Our movement is the thing that makes our life meaningful. If humans were stuck in one place like the plants what would the world be? And where would humans be? We are gifted the ability of movement by the creator and yes there is an awareness technique for movement also.
Body movement awareness of awareness technique teaches us the use of movement for maximum efficiency and making many things possible in life. Body awareness is the process of first being aware of the types of movements your body can perform and find its place in the world and move through the world we live in. The knowledge about walking, running, jumping, turning, twisting, and bending along with other body movements and the consequences of those movements comes under body movement awareness.
People who lack the right body movement awareness tend to be slow and have lethargic movements. They tend to get into accidents while running or falling while walking. Also, body movement awareness is more practical rather than theoretical knowledge. One can be good at body movement without having much more knowledge about body movement awareness. Also, there may be some with massive theoretical knowledge with minimum practical body movement knowledge. The solution is one needs to find the right balance between the theory and practice of body movement awareness of awareness techniques.
Work awareness or action awareness
Work now generally is associated with the job and career one has in their life. However, that is a very narrow generalization of work. If it is not your career or it does not ensure payment to you then no matter the effort, should it or not be considered the work. Work is a broad sense is the action and, in that sense, everybody in the world works. Even someone who is just lying on the floor is working. He is working in getting rest, his body is biologically working, he is taking oxygen and giving carbon dioxide, other biological functions involuntarily done by the body. These are the actions performed by him.
The actions of everyone runs the world. We are not only affected by our actions, but the actions of other people also affect us, and our actions not only affect us but other people of the world also. Action awareness is the awareness technique that makes us aware enough to minimize the negative impact of our actions on other people. This awareness technique but helps to increase the positive impact of our actions in the life of others.
The world is of extraordinarily complex structure billions of peoples, trillions of circumstances created by the actions of those peoples. We as humans will never have enough work awareness of the circumstances of every action created by those vast numbers of people no matter how much we try. Sometimes even the minimum action which one performs subconsciously or unconsciously has a massive impact on the life of others. Especially people with influence and position have that kind of power.
Action awareness of awareness technique makes one enough aware of their actions and who or whom may be impacted by their actions. Then they try their hardest to minimize the negative impact on others.
Time awareness
Time is one of the most precious gifts in human life. It cannot be borrowed, stolen, or given even to the dearest and nearest. The beautiful and ugly part of the time is that it is limited. Why time is beautiful because it is limited, and it is also an answer to why time is ugly also. Time is one of the most valuable things in our life, Time awareness is a very crucial awareness technique.
Our time is especially important to us, however in this busy life we sometimes fail to realize that the time of other people is also important to them, and we must respect that. Time awareness of awareness technique at first makes people realize how valuable their time is and others in this world. It often happens that in youth people misjudge that they will forever have their youth and their time.
The truth is Infront of them, but they do not see that it will someday end. When their time is about to come to an end, they regret the decisions that they have made in their lives. If they had time awareness, they would not have to regret their decisions of the past when it was too late to return.
Time awareness of awareness technique not only makes one realize the value of the time of everyone, but it also gives courage and strength to make the right decisions. Knowing the value of time is not enough one also needs to be able to make the right decisions at the right time. The decision that needed to be made at the critical time some time ago may not have been as efficient if made late. Time awareness gives the consciousness of all those elements and gives the proper vision to make the right decision at the right time.
Spiritual awareness
Humans have physical and spiritual bodies. Many people are not aware of their spiritual body and those who realize the existence of the spiritual body also do not have enough knowledge to be aware of it. Spiritual awareness of awareness technique is the path of peace and the path to healing.
There is a misunderstanding about this awareness technique. Some people have spread the misinterpretation about this awareness technique that it is only for sages and saints. Yes, it is hard to attain the level of the spirituality of the sages as it needs an amazing amount of time and dedication. This may not be possible for ordinary people as they must do many things to run their lives.
However, spirituality is not something that only sages and hermits have to attain. If normal people have attained spirituality of some level, it does not do any harm to them. It will elevate their health, mental state, and all aspects of life, however, it is a topic of wonder why spirituality seems forbidden to ordinary people.
Spiritual awareness of the awareness technique is of the most advanced level. It is not something that can be achieved live that. Spiritual awareness is the big river which you cannot bend according to your will, you must give up the power of the current of the river and flow according to the natural path of the river. Spirituality is a unique case; it is the only field where you gain total control by giving up the need to control.
As we are now, we are extremely attached to the earthly belongings that fulfil the desire of the body. However, our true self is our soul, and it also has nature and characteristics like the body. We never think about it as we are too busy for the needs of our bodies. This is where spiritual awareness comes into play, it aids to show the true nature of the soul beyond the needs and desires of the body.
by Tirtha Acharya | Dec 1, 2021 | art of living
Intermittent fasting- Practicing the healthy
Our human body is the magnificent creation in the world. Either we were created by the gods or are the result of the complex evolution of millions of years, one fact is certain that the human mind and the human body is unlike anything in the world. The human mind can create miracles that let them travel to the moon, depths of the ocean, peaks of the mountain. Humans had accomplished many things that if seen logically would have been impossible. This article well focus on Intermittent fasting and its type to live the healthy life.
We have the most magnificent thing in the world and one thing is certain we need to take care of ourselves. The body that is most unique in this world needs the greatest and most amazing care that is possible. There are many ways to care for the body some related to exercise, some related to diet, some related to certain practices and habits. Many amazing things can be done to get the body on the healthy track where it can perform with maximum efficiency and achieve its highest potential. Among the healthy habit and healthy practices of the body is intermittent fasting.
Fasting
Fasting is the process of skipping a meal or any kind of food intake for a specific amount of time. There are many types of fasting and fasting is done for various purposes. To be fair, this standard definition of fasting does not fit into all the types of fasting. However, what may be the type and method of fasting the bottom line is controlling the intake of the meal and food items. Fasting is performed in Hinduism and Buddhism. These two religions practiced fasting for thousands of years.
Fasting may be seen as the simple process of stopping the intake of food. However, it is much more complex than that and is backed by the findings of science and research.
The practice of fasting exists in the animal kingdom also and is much more common than what we imagine. In the hunting and gathering life of the humans, food was not guaranteed every day. Sometimes one must go for days without a proper meal. For this very reason, humans had evolved in the past to be even able to fast for days without a problem. However, due to the introduction of farming them industrialization food is now abundant to many humans. Now some humans even have 3 to 5 meals a day. However, the ability to fast is still with us and sometimes we need to practice it to gain multiple benefits.
Fasting and religion
Fasting in the Hindu community is more associated with God and deities rather than the science and logic behind it. Looking back thousands of years, fasting was created to rip the health benefits and maintain healthy habits. However, in the years, fasting has become more associated with religion and worshipping, covering the science and logic behind the practice of fasting.
There are many festivals and occasions that are associated with fasting in the Hindu community. The days of the weeks are associated with certain deities and people on the weekly basis take the fasting on the same day to get the benefits of fasting and please the deity. In the months of Ashar, every Monday women fast worshipping Mahadev. Also, during the Ekadashi of chaturmasha, the worshippers worship Laxmi and Narayan then take the fast in their name. Among all the fasting occasions, the most famous may be the Teej festivals where the Hindu women take the fasting on this day to get the boon of the long life and prosperity of their husbands along with their family members.
There are many occasions of fasting and the fasting differs along with the rituals. In ekchaki fasting one can eat a meal one time a day, in the Ekadashi fasting, there is the prohibition of eating food rice, and wheat while one can eat fruits and other vegetables, while in the Teej and Chaat fasting people even avoid drinking the water. The fasting of the Teej is the most sacred and difficult fasting of all.
Intermittent fasting
There are many types of fasting as we discussed above. Fasting may be associated with religion however it is also true that fasting is associated with the right way of living and practicing a healthy lifestyle. Based on needs and health benefits fasting has been classified into many types. Some follow the standard definition of fasting while some are so diverse that for the common eye, they can be hardly called fasting. Among those many types, there is intermittent fasting.
Intermittent fasting is the unique eating pattern between fasting and eating which cycles between those two actions. The practice of intermittent fasting has become the trend of the modern world. People are increasingly are adopting the practice of intermittent fasting. It is also sometimes said as an intermittent energy restriction.
What happens in Intermittent fasting is that there are few unique eating patterns at certain time differences and one practices it. There are quite a few of those patterns and one can adopt them as they like. The question here is which to pick if you are a beginner. Some of the fasting patterns have a long gap between the eating and the fasting cycle so the beginner needs to avoid the type with the long cycle in intermittent fasting. If one has a link with someone who specializes in intermittent fasting then it is the best case as they can give the best type judging your current level and ability.
Types of intermittent fasting:
16-8 intermittent fasting
16-8 is a popular type of intermittent fasting. What happens in this type of intermittent fasting is that you make the routine on which hours of the day you can eat. Here on the 16 hours of the day you fast completely or partly depending on your ability while on the 8 hours of the day you can have meals and healthy diets as you desire.
In this intermittent fasting, one can make the schedule as he or she likes. The rule is simple in the 8-hour window one can eat after that for the next 16 hours eating is prohibited. For example, if you have the last meal of the 8-hour window at 7 pm then you can only have the next meal at 11 am the next day. The best schedule one can have is to have the last meal late in the evening and use nighttime as the 16-hour fasting period. This is best as many do not need food at night time. However, this may be difficult for those who have the habit of having heavy breakfast in the morning.
5:2 intermittent fasting
This type of intermittent fasting is also known as the fast diet. This fasting becomes popular after the involvement of the British journalist Michael Mosley. What happens in this intermittent fasting is your fast according to the days of the week. As the name itself suggests 5:2, the fasting ratio is 5 and 2. The 5 days of the week are normal and one has the normal diet as they used to have before practicing fasting or as they need. However, on the two days of the week, they practice fasting. It is not like to completely avoid the food it is more like restricting the diet. The rule of fasting day of 5:2 intermittent fasting is women can have up to 500 calories and men can have up to 5:2 intermittent fasting.
In 5:2 intermittent fasting, one can choose the day as they like. The day can be simultaneous if they desired so. However, two days continuously can make a body weak if you are a beginner. So, if you are a beginner then choose the days far apart from each other as the gap days make it easy to practice it.
Alternate day fasting
Alternate day fasting or intermittent fasting is a very advanced type of fasting. So, if you are a beginner who is entering into the world of fasting then alternate day intermittent fasting is not for you. As the name itself suggests alternate day fasting where one fasts every alternate day. One day is normal where you have the diet that you used to have before starting fasting, then after the day, you fast. Then the next day is when you can again have the normal diet then the next day you again must fast. This goes and goes on forever. Due to this, it is considered a very high level of fasting and not everyone can do it as it is very difficult.
In alternate day intermittent fasting there are also some rules where one can limit the calorie intake per day in the fasting days. It is for the best as to completely fast on alternate days can sometimes be very difficult even for the people who had practiced fasting for a long time. There are some versions of this fasting method, this also mainly depends upon who is the teacher and where from you are learning this method. Some allow their students to have daily 500 to 300 calories on the day of the fasting. Saying all this also it is dangerous to practice this type of fasting for beginners.
Warrior diet intermittent fasting
This is also an advanced form of fasting which many peoples may not be able to perform. In a warrior diet, intermittent fasting one eats small meals with low calories like fruits vegetables in small amounts in the day. Then at the night, they can have a huge meal. This fast becomes hard if one has very hard during day time as much energy is needed for physical work.
Eat stop eat or 24 hours intermittent fasting
It is also a very unique type of intermittent fasting. In this type of fasting, one fast for 24 hours straight without having any meal. This fasting is done once or twice a week by the one who practices it. For example, if you eat your meal at morning 8 am sharp and start the eat stop intermittent fasting then, you will have to skip the meal for net 24 hours. You can now again eat food the next day at 8 am. It is not necessary that your last meal before the fasting must be in the morning.
You can make any meal of the day your last meal before the fasting, there is no rule which says that you need to start the fast at a specific time. If you complete 24 hours fasting from the last meal you had then you eat stop eat intermittent fasting is complete. This fasting is averagely done once a week or twice if you are doing extreme fasting. More than twice a week of eat stop eat intermittent fasting is not suggested as it may deplete the vital energy that the body needs to run efficiently.
Advantages of intermittent fasting
- Intermittent fasting got the popularity after it was found that it helped to lose weight. This got more attention as more and more people are facing the problem of being overweight.
- Intermittent fasting help to reset the digestive system of the body. Sometimes due to unhealthy food schedule hampers the right and efficient processing of the digestive system of the body. Intermittent fasting occasionally resets the digestive system and helps the body to move on the right track.
- Unbalanced cholesterol is a huge problem in today’s world. This problem is even higher among the individual who is overweight and the people who are past their prime age. Intermittent fasting also helps to balance the cholesterol amount in the body.
- People due to tension and stress are unable to have the proper good night’s sleep. Sleep is very vital in maintaining a normal and healthy life as it is the thing that replenishes the energy in the body and gives it proper resting and recovering time. Intermittent fasting helps the body to get a better night’s sleep.
- People get through a lot to maintain their blood pressure. Disturbed blood pressure even can be life-threatening and severely hitting the organs. Intermittent fasting also aids in maintaining the right blood pressure.
by Tirtha Acharya | Apr 10, 2021 | art of living
Unconditional Love -Way to be happy
Unconditional Love is the term most of us may have in our life, but what does it mean? People may have their own definitions according to their situations. The most prominent meaning of loving unconditionally is to care for someone’s well-being without expecting anything in return. Some say that unconditional love is unlimited love or love without limited or bounds. However, saying that is not completely wrong also but is in a sense incomplete definition.
To have an unconditional love one must care for someone without a hidden motive with a free will. Whenever we say love mostly, we imagine a sense of affection between partners of two genders. However, loving unconditionally stretches far beyond that it can be between parents and children, friends or even people of same gender. Unconditional love is not some criteria or form which you can say I have this and that so its unconditional love. It is a type of affection and a wonderful feeling.
let’s talk about time period also of loving unconditionally. If you have a very warm feeling for an individual for a certain period of time, then also it is not unconditional love. It should be forever, as long as one lives that’s why it is called unconditional love. This affection towards someone does not make you weak or unhappy but frees you and gives you happiness.
Unlike string attached relations, hidden intentions, materialistic affection unconditional love is your way towards your happiness.
1) It embraces acceptance
Let’s see everyone, everyone is trying to be their best selves everyday but nobody is perfect and can never be. Sometimes people even their good intentions become the victim of bad circumstances. When such situation appears, acceptances through unconditional loves glue the individual more tightly instead of breaking them apart. Accepting what they are and how they are is the core of unconditional care/love and key to your happiness.
2) Beyond Materialism
Getting lost in the materialism and never seeing the individual behind it is one of the major flaws of today’s world. Let’s be honest materialism can be overwhelming sometimes. However, if you have unconditional love to an individual, you can see them beyond materialism, even beyond their body. When that happens, you can see them in their real essence the nature of their soul.
3) It feels warm and secure
Relation between couples or even friends should be a safe and secure place, where one should not compete for affection. If there is unconditional love one does not need to feel insecure, fear the rejection or even compete for affection. It has place for your affection, warmth, sense of belonging and no place for your insecurities, loneliness, and rejection. Unconditional love provide happiness, warm and secure place for you.
4) Healer
Materialistic love and unhealthy relations only take from. The more this relationship extends the more you lose. Let use honest there is no such thing that costs you your mental, physical, psychological, and spiritual wellbeing. While string attaches relations only take and take, loving unconditionally only gives and gives. It is not necessary that you have every luxury in the world, however unconditional Love gives the feeling that you have. It has the power to heal your mind and spirit.
When we discuss loving unconditionally, we think that it is between two or more individuals and it is true also. However, there is one and most important thing about unconditional love and happiness, that does not stretch to more than one individual. The core and the most important thing about self-love and happiness begin through you. To extend your love to others first you must have the habit to love others unconditionally. Love yourself despite everything, feel yourself worthy, be happy, accept yourself as you are, know the real you. At first have unconditional love and faith towards yourself and extend it to others.
by Tirtha Acharya | Dec 2, 2020 | art of living
Program of Art of living in Nepal | The Way of Art of Right living
Introduction
The art of living in the global name in the field of yoga and meditation. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar founded the organization in early 1981 A.D with the effort to uplift humanity and help people in the educational and humanitarian sectors. The organization is involved in the stress-management that is plaguing people for ages and various other service-oriented initiatives. The organization has successfully taken its wings to more than 156 countries and have helped more than 370 million peoples worldwide. The art of living has its centers in Nepal too. In the name of Art of Living Nepal, the NGO is offering various humanitarian services.
Programs offered by the Art of Living Nepal
The art of living in Nepal runs with moral support from the Sri Sri Ravishankar. His philosophies guide all the centers located in the nooks and corners of Nepal through the various programs offered by the Art of Living Nepal. It includes stress-management programs through self-realization and practicing breathing techniques like Swadarsan Kriya, other forms of yoga, and meditation. The stress-management program has offered assistance to hundred-thousands of people in Nepal to relieve stress, anxiety, depression, and other various forms of mental illness.
The Art of Living Nepal is successfully running various movements to spread peace to Nepalese communities through numerous plans and projects like conflict resolution, disaster relief, women empowerment, rehabilitation of the prisoners, education for all campaign, and sustainable environment campaigns.
Memberships
Art of Living Nepal and the Art of Living India are the members of some of the top-notch organization including CONGO(Conference of NGOs in Consultative Status with ECOSOC of the United Nations), Geneva and New York
International Alliance against Hunger
UN Mental Health Committee and UN Committee on Aging, New York
International Union for Health Promotion and Education, Paris
NGO Forum for Health, Geneva
Art of Living Nepal helps you to get out of the misery
Practicing the art of living yoga helps you to get off the miseries that plague you inside out. The core cause of being unhappy or being restless is the lack of a positive attitude in your life. The art of living helps you to cultivate a positive attitude and upspring the happiness from inside which gets reflected in your life. The stress that plagues you, the anxiety that bogs you down starts to deplete by practicing the Art of Living Yoga. Equanimity springs up in your life after you practice this course of right living.
Art of Living Nepal helps you to cultivate new skills
Yoga helps to cultivate skills that someone does not possess. Sanskrit skill is called Yogyata. By practicing Yoga, Yogyata increases. The more you practice yoga the life becomes easier and you feel less misery therefore you can divert your spare time to learning new skills and practice them to hone your skills.
Art of living yoga takes you towards perfection
The yoga that the art of living offers takes you towards perfection. The nature of a human being is to march towards perfection. The aim of moving higher comes into reality when we move towards the positive paths. The less the wavering the mind becomes the more we march towards the positive paths that bring peace, joy, and happiness, and most importantly the perfection in life.
Nepal yoga home—a suitable place to learn Art of Living in Nepal
Many Nepali gurus help you to learn the art of right living in Nepal. The teachings offered by them help you to learn different meditation techniques, yoga asana that can mold your life in a positive direction. Nepal Yoga home is the perfect yoga home to learn the art of living in Nepal. Nepali authentic gurus help you to learn the art of right living in the easiest way possible. Through their teaching, you could enjoy the bliss of nature, fill your life with peace, love, and happiness, and cultivate new skills.
