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Geoff

New Age Spirituality
Yoga & Meditation
Physical, Spiritual Health Benefits of Yoga (Hatha, Iyengar, Ashtanga), Guided Meditation, Postures, Unity of Mind Body Universe

Control of the mind is said to be the highest Yoga. It is like control of an unruly horse which must be made to obey its rider. (Bhagavata Purana, XI.20)

Yoga is a broad holistic practice which is beneficial to both physical and mental health through yoga poses (asanas), breathing techniques (pranayama) and meditation (dhyana).

Below are some quotes on Yoga by Patanjali and Iyengar and a list of some of the health benefits of yoga. Presently, this page is under construction and I will be adding more information on yoga, meditation and new age spirituality over time. I have been practicing hatha yoga for some years now and just love it. I have just recently discovered Chi Kung (an ancient Chinese martial art). I feel the benefits of both practices upon my life, body and mind. I hope to write more personally about my journey and include more information about these beautiful and important ancient arts.

Sincerely,
Karene

PS - We recently received a nice, intelligent letter about Yoga from someone who appreciated the significance of the Wave Structure of Matter in Space (i.e. Akasa Prana), its relationship to the concept of Yoga (union) and our connection to the universe. We have added it to the bottom of this page.


Yoga / Meditation Quotes: Patanjali and Iyengar

An improvement in posture and breathing is not the sole nor even the primary aim of yoga. Instead, it is either a therapeutic method of freeing the mind from false beliefs, or the insight into ultimate reality, the dharmas, achievable by this method. Yoga is an intrinsic and integrated system consisting of metaphysics, the philosophy of mind, the theory of knowledge, ethics and the philosophy of language. (Patanjali)

Health is a balanced state of bodily elements and of all anatomical and physiological systems, where each part of the body functions at full potential. (Iyengar)

All impressions and reactions are known as 'mental fluctuations' or 'thought-waves', and yoga is the control of thought-waves in the mind. (Patanjali)

Yoga aids many problems currently existing in modern society. At a physical level, it gives relief from countless ailments. The practice of the postures strengthens the body and creates a feeling of well-being. From the psychological viewpoint, Yoga sharpens the intellect and aids concentration. It steadies the emotions and encourages a caring concern for others. Above all, it gives hope. The practice of breathing techniques calms the mind. Its philosophy sets life in perspective. In the realm of the spiritual, Yoga brings awareness and the ability to be still. Through meditation, inner peace is experienced .Thus Yoga is a practical philosophy involving every aspect of a person's being. It teaches the evolution of the individual by the development of self-discipline and self-awareness. (Iyengar)


Health Benefits of Yoga

* Increasing flexibility - yoga has positions that act upon the various joints of the body including those joints that are never really on the ‘radar screen’ let alone exercised.

* Increasing lubrication of the joints, ligaments and tendons - likewise, the well-researched yoga positions exercise the different tendons and ligaments of the body.

* Massaging of ALL organs of the body - Yoga is perhaps the only form of activity which massages all the internal glands and organs of the body in a thorough manner, including those - such as the prostate - that hardly get externally stimulated during our entire lifetime. Yoga acts in a wholesome manner on the various body parts. This stimulation and massage of the organs in turn benefits us by keeping away disease and providing a forewarning at the first possible instance of a likely onset of disease or disorder.

Complete detoxification - By gently stretching muscles and joints as well as massaging the various organs, yoga ensures the optimum blood supply to various parts of the body. This helps in the flushing out of toxins from every nook and cranny as well as providing nourishment up to the last point. This leads to benefits such as delayed ageing, energy and a remarkable zest for life.

* Excellent toning of the muscles – muscles that have become flaccid, weak or slothy are stimulated repeatedly to shed excess flab and flaccidity.

New Age Spirituality: Health Benefits of Yoga
https://www.healthandyoga.com/html/yoga/Benefits.html


A Study of Yoga Breathing

From the website: 'Yoga has often been touted as providing good muscle stretching and relaxation, as well as being beneficial for overall stress management. During forceful muscle contractions of yoga, substantial muscle activity can be demonstrated. In the present investigation, the muscle activity of the right and left rectus abdominis and of the right and left external oblique muscles was examined to assess the level of muscle activity during one type of yoga maneuver: a breathing exercise performed in the seated position. The results showed that while muscle activity during this yoga breathing exercise was comparable to that seen during the performance of abdominal crunches, the longer duration of the breathing exercises increased the total work on the abdominal muscles up to 5 times greater than the work during crunches.'

Jerrold S. Petrofsky, PhD, Maria Cuneo, MPT, Russell Dial, MPT, Amy Morris, BS

A Study of Muscle Activity during Yoga Breathing Compared to Abdominal Crunches
https://www.jrnlappliedresearch.com/articles/Vol5Iss3/Petrofsky.pdf


Yoga: Uniting Mind, Matter & Universe
An Inspiring Letter

Hi Geoff,

Congratulations for creating such a fabulous website and on a group of subjects very close to my heart. For too long "Eastern mysticism" and "Western Science" have been compartmentalized and kept separate. Fritjof Capra was one of those who tried an integrated approach. Most don't. Fortunately the wave mechanism is universal and does not recognize boundaries. And we are, or should all be scientists in what we observe around us in nature which includes ourselves. The 'bootstraps theory" recognized that the observed and the observer were connected – and thus it is quite a legitimate activity to observe oneself in the process of union (yoga) with the energy fields of nature (matter and particles being only a manifestation). The way I approach this activity of observation, is through meditation.

When we talk of waves, we also talk of wavelengths. For humans this is 7 hertz. You can see the cycles through an ECG printout however, our waves are not smooth. There is a kick in the curve when the blood pumps from one ventricle to another in our heart. This is what creates the disconnect. But, this kick is regular because our heartbeats occur regularly. During the process of meditation, the mind activity controls and reduces breathing substantially (to a state known as yogic breathing). Following this, our metabolism drops and then so does our heartbeat. When this happens, the strong kick of pumping blood is reduced substantially.

Our own waves, with the kick reduced, starts to take on sinusoid properties. As a sine curve, by the properties of waves, we start moving 'in phase' with the external energy fields of nature (electromagnetic fields etc). As we know from basic physics, this is the requirement for energy transference. So once our waves and the external waves are in phase, we are in synchrony and harmony with nature and external energy rushes into us. We are then physically connected with nature.

Some wonderful things happen after this. Science has always stopped at matter and energy and basic life forms. However, dancing in these vibrating energy fields is also 'intelligence' -- the cosmic consciousness. As the Bhagavad-Gita says, "All knowledge is structured in the consciousness" – meaning of course, universal consciousness. When the external energy flows into us, so does this consciousness and we get up the ladder of awareness (to the limits of potential at formation). The energy inflow has healing properties (life is self healing). Sometimes it brings with it side effects that we call supernatural (because we didn't understand the natural phenomenon in the first place). Sometimes it brings things which we didn't know we actually possessed. I am someone who swears by logic, mathematics, reasoning, but I suddenly, at age 46, started writing poetry in English and established poets acknowledged this and my poetry is now published.

So one has to experiment with oneself and the results can be astounding and always wonderful. The belief in connectivity comes only when you have received a demonstration. I believe that each one of us is capable of doing it. It is an inevitable part of human evolution. Our future evolution (we are in the process of it) is well beyond the physical realm. Also, the universe is complex and non-linear and the appropriate applications of chaos theory and the mathematics of complexity begin to explain things well beyond traditional straitjacketed 'physics'.

Thanks for this great site. It was inevitable that I would find it.
Bhaskar Majumdar

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Hi Bhaskar,
Thanks for a great letter. I agree with most of what you write, we probably differ a bit on the concept of cosmic consciousness - the mind is very complex so I try to stay open / skeptical in this area. But I am most impressed with the clarity and intelligence of your writing. Congratulations.
May we use this letter on our Yoga page that we are currently building? - it is perfect for it!
Karene is into Yoga (she is practicing now). I am lazy and prefer thinking to meditating - but i manage one Yoga class a week. I do agree though - Yoga is great for people, as is meditating upon our unity / interconnection in the universe.
Look forward to your reply, hope that you will stay in touch and help get this knowledge better known to Humanity (help save our planet).
Cosmos,
Geoff

----------------------------

Hi Geoff,
I am honored. Please use it as you wish.

A few thoughts on yoga: Most of the western audience for yoga concentrates on hathayoga or the physical yoga exercises, mostly the stretch exercises. Actually, there are 3 equally important sides to it. 1. Hathayoga 2. Pranayam and, 3. Mind meditation.

During and at the advanced stages of meditation, when sudden energy surges take place in the body after energy inflow, if the spine and the neural system are not prepared and ready for it, then physical damage may occur, as our ancients had realized. The spine and the nervous system receive the initial preparation through hathayoga.

Next, no external physical exercise really takes care of our internal organs. Pranayam or controlled rhythmic breathing exercises our internal organs through movement of the diaphragm. But while this is taking place and oxygen is pumped into the blood, a sense of well being (oxygen generated) and calm is felt. It also takes care of the oxygen in the blood for the time during meditation when the breathing will drop to a very low level. (The Indian army uses this when they do duty in the Himalayas above 15000 feet).

Finally, after the preparatory steps, one moves into a meditative state and let nature take its course.

There are many types of meditation. The ones that are difficult (and make you want to give up) are based on methods which make you 'concentrate' on something. These techniques are appropriate for people who have a lot of time on hand and those who live less active stress free lives (like monks and sages meditating on the high Himalayas). For the rest of us, stressed out humanity who shuttle between job, family and various other activities, the mind darts around endlessly (as they say – the mind is like a monkey). We tend to intellectualize and find meaning behind everything. So we need to trick the mind. This is done by using sound waves (mantras) which vibrate within us but the words have no meaning. So, it stops us from thinking. This is the first stage of transcendental meditation. The mind moves in a wave cycle. It thinks of many things and then comes back to the mantra. Then it goes back to many thoughts and then reverts to the mantra. It does this cycle after cycle but with every cycle the time that it stays with the mantra increases till a time comes when you are not on the mantra, not on other thoughts, but have transcended to be touched by, what I call the 'super-consciousness'. During this process we have penetrated through the Freudian 'waking', 'dreaming', 'sleeping' and 'subconscious' states of the mind and moved deeper into the super-conscious, even if it is for a few minutes. It is in this final stage that energy transference takes place, but the mind is fully aware of the surroundings, sounds and actions taking place. It is as if we have literally plugged-on to external energy fields.

People reach this state in various ways. A golfer may reach these heights through his golf ball and return a 10 under and get very surprised at himself. A football team suddenly gel and play with grace and beauty they never dreamed of. Most scientists and inventors 'discover' knowledge or that final critical link, when they are this state. The knowledge has always been there – they simply plugged in. In fact more than one scientist or inventor can simultaneously discover things sitting at different parts of the world. (Penetrating long waves?). Good poetry is never taught, it flows into a poet at this state. Most creative activity takes place in this state.

The medium need not be sound waves (mantra) only. It can be light and thoughts of scenes and visualization. One of my great spiritual experiences was when I went down into Australia's Great Barrier Reef – off Cairns and Green Island, or the underground caves and lakes of the Jaiita Grotto in Lebanon. I keep visualizing these during my meditation sessions. (On the lighter side, I think the Beatles anticipated this –"I like to be, under the sea, in an octopus's garden in the shade").

Now, I've got to get to work. Yeah, I work on Sundays. Lovely chatting with you. Bye for now.
Regards to Karene. Take care.
Bhaskar




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Meditating on our Connection to the Universe: New Age Spirituality, Yoga & Meditation

Help Humanity

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
(Mohandas Gandhi)

Albert Einstein"When forced to summarize the general theory of relativity in one sentence: Time and space and gravitation have no separate existence from matter. ... Physical objects are not in space, but these objects are spatially extended. In this way the concept 'empty space' loses its meaning. ... The particle can only appear as a limited region in space in which the field strength or the energy density are particularly high. ...
The free, unhampered exchange of ideas and scientific conclusions is necessary for the sound development of science, as it is in all spheres of cultural life. ... We must not conceal from ourselves that no improvement in the present depressing situation is possible without a severe struggle; for the handful of those who are really determined to do something is minute in comparison with the mass of the lukewarm and the misguided. ...
Humanity is going to need a substantially new way of thinking if it is to survive!" (Albert Einstein)


Biography: Geoffrey Haselhurst, Philosopher of Science, Theoretical Physics, Metaphysics, Evolution. Our world is in great trouble due to human behaviour founded on myths and customs that are causing the destruction of Nature and climate change. We can now deduce the most simple science theory of reality - the wave structure of matter in space. By understanding how we and everything around us are interconnected in Space we can then deduce solutions to the fundamental problems of human knowledge in physics, philosophy, metaphysics, theology, education, health, evolution and ecology, politics and society.

This is the profound new way of thinking that Einstein realised, that we exist as spatially extended structures of the universe - the discrete and separate body an illusion. This simply confirms the intuitions of the ancient philosophers and mystics.

Given the current censorship in physics / philosophy of science journals (based on the standard model of particle physics / big bang cosmology) the internet is the best hope for getting new knowledge known to the world. But that depends on you, the people who care about science and society, realise the importance of truth and reality.

It is Easy to Help!

Just click on the Social Network links below, or copy a nice image or quote you like and share it. We have a wonderful collection of knowledge from the greatest minds in human history, so people will appreciate your contributions. In doing this you will help a new generation of scientists see that there is a simple sensible explanation of physical reality - the source of truth and wisdom, the only cure for the madness of man! Thanks! Geoff Haselhurst (Updated September, 2018)

A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it. (Max Planck, 1920)

  
  
    
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