Site about Yoga

Yoga blog - simple keys to harmonious and successful living, health tips and advice, as well as the inspiring philosophy of life and ancient wisdom...

For instance: Relieving Cold & Flu
As hard as you try, you can't always keep the colds and flus of winter from stuffing up your head and slowing down your body. Before you know it, you're wondering if you should attempt your regular yoga practice or give up and go to bed. Here's what I suggest....
Organig Clothes
The next time you throw on your favorite T-shirt, consider this: Approximately one-third of a pound, or 17 teaspoons, of chemicals—many of them known carcinogens—were used to grow the cotton to produce it. Fortunately, designers are now making clothes from eco-friendly materials like organic cotton, hemp, and soy, so you can wear your environmental beliefs on your sleeve.
Kundalini Yoga In Brief, What Does Namaste Mean?, Why Do You Practice?. Here I've got common answers and sometimes fresh decisions, solutions, hints to solve daily problems.

It provides information suits not only advanced yoga practitioners, but also beginners and even children. 9 Things You Should Know About Yoga for Children, Asanas- Specific Benefits of Each Type, Life Without Sex or the Practice of Brahmacharya, Don't Know How to Start? etc. A consistent yoga practice will increase your sense of balance, but it also increases your awareness of imbalances in your body, mind, and lifestyle. Try to understand this essential and holistic lifestyle...

Computer Scrapbooks

When digital cameras were first released on the market, everyone was excited. Finally, here was an easy way to take and store photos. No more would our closets be plagued with boxes and envelopes housing a hodgepodge of unorganized photographs. What we didn't realize was that soon, our computers would be filled with a hodgepodge of unorganized photographs.

The explosion of home computers and the Internet has led to an increased need for people to organize computer scrapbooks. It's easy to accumulate literally thousands of digital pictures, and it's just as easy to get them all mixed up. Try finding a favorite photo as you're scanning through a list of numbers and letters. Creating computer scrapbooks makes it quick and easy to locate the photographs, as soon as you want to see them.

When preparing your computer scrapbooks, the first step should always be renaming your photos. You should use file names that are easy to understand and organize, rather than keeping the default names set by your digital photography software. Anyone who has used a digital camera or camera phone knows just how hard it can be to decipher the file names, let alone selecting the photographs. Proper titles listed in computer scrapbooks make it easy to remember which pictures you have.

One key point to remember is that all of your computer scrapbook files will be sorted in alphabetical order. This can get confusing, particularly if you're naming pictures by date. Rather than call your photos 'January10', 'April21' etc, use the numerical format year, month and then day. Those same files will now be called 20050110Baby and 20050421Baby. In doing so, your computer will display them in the correct date order for you.

After your photo files have been renamed, you need to create folders to store the different types of photo files. Try organizing your computer scrapbooks by subject, theme or occasion. This will allow you to find your photos much easier later on. For example, create a folder called 'Baby Pictures' and save all of your baby photographs in that folder. By setting up and following a naming system, you'll soon have the most well organized computer scrapbooks around.

Whether or not you print your digital photos, always create backups of all your computer scrapbook files. There are many archiving programs that can be used to compress large files, enabling them to be stored on a CD or other removable disk. It is essential that you label your CDs to keep your computer scrapbook backups as organized as the originals. You can write the title on the CD itself, but you should also remember to alter the name of the CD as read by the computer. Most CD writing software automatically prompts you to give the CD a title, but check the instructions before you start the burning process so you, and your computer, will be able to clearly identify the CDs.

Digital cameras make it easy to take and save pictures. Computer scrapbooks make it easy to find the pictures anytime you're ready to take a trip down memory lane or share the digital images with your friends.

Barbara Miller writes for several popular web sites, including http://gemug.com and http://gymif.com

Floating Singapore Scotts Tower

Singapore Scotts Tower is one of the scariest and at the same time good looking buildings in the world that will be built in Singapore in the near future. It was designed by OMA - Office for Metropolitan Architecture - and its numbers are pretty notable:

153 meter tall
68 apartments
20,000m² of built floor area
36-storey residential high-rise

Besides the numbers it is the design that will certainly amaze a lot of people, it gives the sensation that each of the 4 towers are floating on the air, while in the end they are just “connected” to one main central core. Can you imagine the panoramic views that apartment owners will enjoy?

Ole Scheeren, who is participating in the project and is a partner of OMA, comments:
The design vertically redistributes the floor area in four alternating towers to create a skyscraper in which architectural and urbanistic concerns merge with mechanisms that create added value. The architecture, in this sense, goes beyond form and generates symbiotic qualities.

Bad Cheeseburger!!!

HUDSON, N.H. -- An order of double cheeseburgers turned into an unhappy meal over the weekend at a Hudson McDonald's restaurant.

Hudson police said Thomas Lee Reagan, 45, complained about the quality of the two double cheeseburgers he ordered at about 8 p.m. Saturday at the McDonald's on Derry Road.

"Apparently Mr. Reagan was served a hamburger that was not up to his standards. After he complained to the manager regarding the quality of the food, (the restaurant) refunded his money and, apparently, he wasn't happy with that," said Sgt. Donna Briggs of the Hudson Police Department.

According to court records, Reagan complained about his food being greasy and was refunded $2.16 but Reagan began yelling obscenities, forcing several patrons with young children to leave.

"After initially confronting the store manager, (Reagan) went behind the counter apparently to engage the cook in some verbal confrontation," Briggs said.

When police arrived, they felt that Reagan was intoxicated and tried to get him to leave the McDonald's property, officials said.

"He became belligerent; threw his food on the ground," said Capt. Don Breault of the Hudson Police Department. "The officers wound up charging him with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, at which time, he got in a fight with the officers; threw a punch at one of the officers. They went to the ground, and a second officer at the scene actually used a Taser (gun) on (Reagan)."

Both police officers suffered minor injuries. Reagan had a cut on his head that needed nine stitches to close.

Reagan was charged with criminal trespassing and three counts of simple assault. He was released on $1,000 personal recognizance bail.

Airline Passenger Urinates In Air-Sickness Bag

SALT LAKE CITY -- SkyWest Airlines apologized to a passenger who said he wasn't allowed to use the restroom during a one-hour flight and ended up urinating in an air-sickness bag.

James Whipple said he had two "really big beers" at the Boise, Idaho airport. While on a flight to Salt Lake City on March 7, he drank a soft drink. He then wanted to use the cabin restroom. The captain had declared it off-limits during the short flight because a light wasn't working.

Whipple said he had used the cabin restroom before the plane departed but had to go again and finally reached for the air-sickness bag.

No other passengers noticed Whipple using the bag, but a flight attendant asked him about it and told the captain, who called airport police.

"It was like I had no choice," Whipple told The Salt Lake Tribune, which posted the story on its Web site Friday. "I started to urinate on myself. So, thinking the way I thought, I grabbed one of those vomit bags."

"I didn't think I did anything wrong. I could have relieved myself all over my pants. It was almost like that was what she preferred me to do," he said.

Whipple was questioned and took a taxi home to Sandy, a Salt Lake City suburb.

The airline sent him a letter of apology and a flight voucher, SkyWest spokeswoman Sabrena Suite-Mangum said Friday.

She said SkyWest decided to go ahead with the flight and get the light fixed in Salt Lake City, rather than delaying it or canceling it for repairs.

"For such a short flight, we really felt we were trying to inconvenience the least number of passengers possible by operating that flight," Suite-Mangum said.

Whipple was not happy with the airline's apology.

"I think it's very wrong for them to put a commercial airliner in the air if it's not in complete working order, regardless of whether [the problem] is a lavatory, or a tire, or anything. We are paying customers, and we put our lives in their hands to fly," he told the Salt Lake Tribune.

Stolen Diamond Shows Up in Prison Shower

ORANGE, Calif. Mar 9, 2007 (AP)— A $25,000 diamond was found stuck in a shower drain at the prison housing the man accused of stealing it two years ago. Bret Allen Langford, 39, allegedly asked the owner of a Jewelry Express store to show him a 2-carat colorless diamond in April 2005. Langford then grabbed the diamond and sped away, said sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino.

Langford was arrested shortly after but the diamond was never retrieved. Langford was charged with commercial burglary and after several transfers, eventually ended up at Theo Lacy Branch Jail in Orange where he awaited trial.

This week, an investigator representing Langford told jail officials to search the jailhouse drains if they wanted to find the diamond. Officials discovered the rock wedged in a screen beneath one of the facility's shower stalls and Langford finally told authorities what happened.

Since he stole the diamond, Langford apparently swallowed and regurgitated the rock each time he was transferred. But 14 months ago, just as Langford was about to be searched he threw the diamond into a shower stall and it fell down the drain.

Amormino suspects Langford came forward as part of a bargain he made with prosecutors. Farrah Emami, a spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney's office, would not confirm such a deal.

Langford's trial is set to begin May 7 and the diamond is expected to be a featured piece of evidence.

Then it will be cleaned and returned to the store.

Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com

How To Prepare A Modern Meeting Agenda

The agenda is the key to a successful meeting – it is the roadmap, the guide, the plan. Studies have shown that up to 70% of meetings either have no agenda or have a poor agenda which is not helpful. In this article, you will see that there are some steps which you can take to make sure your agenda will contribute to making your meeting more productive. There are also hidden advantages. If the agenda is well constructed, you will also spend less time in the meeting and more time actually doing the things the meeting determines need to be done!

1. Remember the key – the more detailed the agenda, the more focussed and generally, the shorter the meeting will- be.

2. You cannot expect intelligent decisions if people do not have time to think through the issues before the meeting. Therefore, agendas need to be sent out in advance, not given out at the meeting. People who have genuine desire to reach the best decision, and people who are organised, always have their agendas distributed in time for people to give thought to the issues.

3. Adopt the strict policy that if an item is not on the agenda, it will not be discussed at the meeting. Do not allow items to be raised without notice. Allow only true emergency items to be exempt and allow no other exceptions. Organised people have no difficulty with this. It is only disorganised or "slack" people who object to this because they cannot get their act together. Research shows, that if an item is raised without notice, the meeting will spend time talking about it, but then defer the decision until the next meeting anyway when there is notice given. It just wastes time.

4. Have a "cut-off" time for agenda items and make sure everyone knows the cut-off time and then also "publish" the distribution time for the agenda. So, for example, it would work like this: The minute taker would let everyone know that items for the agenda must be with the minute taker by, say, noon on Wednesday, the agendas will be sent out (by the minute taker) at say, 4.00pm Wednesday (allowing time for the pre-meeting meeting with the chair) and the meeting will be held at 3.00pm Thursday. Everyone would know the timetable for every meeting and then no-one has any excuse not to follow the timetable.

A second example for clarity: Let everyone know the cut-off time for agenda items is, say, noon on the third Thursday. The agenda will be emailed or faxed by close of business that same day, for the meeting on the following Monday.

5. Once you have all of the above in place, then you can eliminate business without notice. This is often called "general business" or "other business". Modern meetings and the most competent chairs of meetings, adopt the practice – "if it isn't on the agenda then it isn't discussed". Everyone has the same opportunity to put anything they want to on the agenda so no-one is disadvantaged.

6. Insert an agenda item immediately after Confirmation of the minutes – "Action Status Report". In this report (which is written, not verbal) you list the current status of every item of action which is outstanding, as well as the completed items assigned at the last meeting. The minute taker would prepare this document immediately before
the meeting.

Example status statements are: Completed, Not yet started, 70% completed, Completion expected in 3 days, Stalled – require resources, Stalled - Awaiting information or responses, Waiting for CEO's signature, etc.

7. Once you have the Action Status Report in place, then you can eliminate Business Arising from the Minutes. Many people think that Business Arising from the minutes is going through every item on the last minutes and asking if there is anything to be said. This is a complete waste of time. Everything which would normally appear in business arising would either be in the Action Status report or will be worthy of an agenda item in its own right.

8. Sort all correspondence into 3 categories – 1 – junk, 2 – For information only, 3 – Decision required and then eliminate correspondence as an item on the agenda.

Correspondence in category 1, (junk) should be disposed of. Correspondence in category 2 (For Information) should be placed in a manila folder or ring binder file and passed around the meeting for people to look at as the meeting progresses. There is no need to list it in the minutes. Correspondence in category 3 (Decision required) should each be listed on the agenda as a separate item – every decision as a separate item - so they can be dealt with at an appropriate time and in an appropriate way.

Outward correspondence has been sent – there is little to be gained by discussing letters which have been sent. Outward correspondence can be listed in the Action Status Report as its own item. It is pointless to confirm or ratify outgoing correspondence – it has been sent!

9. Place a (D) or an (I) next to every agenda item indicating whether it is a decision required item (D) or an information item (I).

10. Do not allow verbal reports without a written summary. Insist that every report is written and preferably no more than one page. That report is then included in the minutes. (It is not the minute takers job to write notes about someone's report – it is up the person giving the report to provide their report for the minute taker to include.) The most effective chairs of meetings do not allow verbal reports unless they are accompanied by a written summary.

The next point is by far the most important. Make sure you adopt this and your meetings will run effectively and efficiently.

11. Finally, and most important, ensure that every agenda item shows clearly what is required from that item being on the agenda – not just a vague topic. Every agenda item needs to be expanded so that every person at the meeting knows clearly exactly what is required at the end of discussion on that item. Fort example, an item may require that a "decision to be made on which software the organisation will buy;" or a second example, "decision required on whether or not to employ an extra admin person;" or a third, "decision required on whether to extend the funding for the Acme Project and if so, by how much". Once you have this in place, then your meetings will run smoothly and be much more focused.

About the Author:
David Julian Price is known by his clients as "Mr Meetings". He trains, coaches and consults with organisations in Australia and throughout the world on every aspect of meetings, particularly taking minutes, chairing meetings, managing and organising meetings to get results, and governance. David is an internationally qualified Corporate Governance Professional. He can be contacted at http://www.davidprice.com or email at david@davidprice.com.

Instant Relaxation Anytime Anywhere

If there was a way of relaxing quickly and easily in any situation would you want to know what it is?

Ancient cultures knew this secret, and followers of Hawaiian Huna used it to access altered states. In more recent times martial artists used it as a way to develop relaxed alertness, and today photo readers use it to relax before reading books at speeds of 25,000 words per minute.

What is the secret? It has to do with how you use your eyes!

Pick a spot on the wall straight ahead and a little above eye level. Now continue to look at that spot with soft focus and after a few moments you will notice that the room seems to become fuzzy as you develop tunnel vision. This tunnel vision goes hand in hand with the worry, stress and anxiety you feel when you get fixated on getting what you want when you are under pressure.

If only you could snap out of that tunnel vision when it clouds your judgment then you could be more relaxed when you choose to be. You can in a moment if you know how to access your peripheral vision.

How to access your peripheral vision:

1. Pick a spot on the wall in front of you, slightly above eye level.

2. Extend your field of vision, little by little, to take in more of what you can see to the left and right. Continue like this until you are aware of what you can see out of the corner of your eyes on either side.

3. Let your awareness go even further. Use your sense of space to guide you all the way around behind you through 360 degrees.

When you stay in peripheral vision for a few minutes, you will notice that your breathing tends to slow down and even become deeper; the muscles of your face may have relaxed; and even the rest of your body may feel heavier and more relaxed.

When you use your peripheral vision your nervous system seems to automatically calm your body, mind and emotions.

4. Return to normal everyday awareness by letting your vision return to normal.

When you are speaking to a group or even to a large audience, accessing your peripheral vision is a valuable skill. It will let you relax immediately while also allowing you to see your entire audience and any small movements, consequently you can be more aware of reactions to your message.

Which do you prefer, tunnel vision with stress or peripheral vision with relaxation? The choice is yours. To have a choice when it matters you need to practice accessing your peripheral vision at will. Then the next time you feel anxious, scared or tense in front of other people you will be able to quickly and easily access your natural state of relaxation.


Peter Murphy is a peak performance expert.
He recently produced a very popular free report that reveals how to
crush procrastination and sustain lasting motivation. Apply now
because it is available for a limited time only at:
http://www.getmotivatedstaymotivated.com/special.htm

BTBY

Popular Posts