Wednesday, March 12, 2008

The Purpose of Yoga - Santosha for Your Health

What is Santosha and how can it help your health? Santosha is a moral observance (Niyama). Santosha literally means contentment or happiness. Yet, this is much more than a Dont worry, be happy guideline.

How often do people consider exercise, or diet, to be major factors, when they consider the state of their physical health? If you listen to any commercial on the radio or television, you will notice they address exercise and diet, almost exclusively. Physicians always mention exercise and diet as part of a preventative health program.

However, stress and happiness, are also major factors in good health. Too much stress can lower your resistance to allergies, pain, disease, and chronic illnesses. stress, anxiety, and anger can shorten your life, just as well as a poor diet and lack of exercise.

A person with a negative frame of mind tends to eat poorly and usually does not bother to exercise. When we are in a sad mental state, acid levels in the body and blood can rise, which may cause joint pain and lower our energy levels. Between poor eating habits, and the rise of acid levels in the body, the body becomes a breeding ground for all sorts of potential medical problems.

In comparison, people who are content, eat healthier and have a higher resistance to disease, as a result. Happiness will help people recover from illnesses much quicker, because they are in a positive frame of mind. With that said, happy people will live longer, simply because they are content.

Copyright 2007 Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, has written many books on the subject of Yoga. He is a co-owner and the Director of yoga Teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA.
http://www.riyoga.com

He has been a certified Master Yoga Teacher since 1995. To receive a Free Yoga e-book: "Yoga in practice," and a Free Yoga Newsletter, please visit:
http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

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The Solar Pool Cover - Extending Your Pool Season

Having a backyard swimming pool can be a very big investment, especially if you decide to have an in ground pool installed. And one of the ways to maximize your return on that investment is by doing whatever you can to extend the swimming season in your part of the country.

For those who live desert or southern climes, of course, swimming weather is more or less a given, no matter the time of year. But for those who experience four distinct seasons, investing in a solar pool cover can mean another month of comfortable water temperatures tacked on the either end of the swimming season. A solar pool cover costs nothing to operate and you will always have a plentiful, renewable source of energy--the sun--keeping your pool water warm.

The traditional method of heating a home swimming pool is to use either a gas powered or electric heating pump, requiring the pool owner to keep replenishing the gas supply or to pay even more on what is probably a significant warm weather electric bill. A solar pool covers, which can add 10 to 15 degrees to water temperatures, is designed and colored to mesh with the overall appearance of your pool.

How Solar Pool Covers Work

A solar pool cover, or blanket, is made of heavy-weight, UV-resistant polyethylene similar to the bubble wrap used as package cushioning, but much more durable. The surface area of the thousands of bubbles on the solar pool cover is large enough to trap and hold a tremendous amount of the suns heat, and transmit the heat to the pools water. Conversely, the solar pool cover acts to insulate the pools water and prevent the heat from escaping.

For the homeowners convenience, a solar pool cover is designed to be free-floating, so its removal does not involve dealing with tie-downs nor anchors. For large swimming pools, however, the sheer weight and size of solar pool covers, and their storage, can be significant issues. So solar pool cover manufacturers now have come up with solar pool cover reels, similar to garden hose reels, which ease the removal of the covers.

The price of a polyethylene solar pool cover will, of course, depend on its size; a 20 x 40 cover can be found on the internet for between $180 and $230. Moveable solar pool cover reels cost around $300, all those for exceptionally large pools will be more.

You can also find more info on Solar Garden Light and Solar Outdoor Lighting. Solarpowerreview.com is a comprehensive resource to know about Solar Pool heating.

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Postures that Promote Mental Health

When youre experiencing symptoms of depression, exercise may be the last thing you want to think about doing; however, it could be one of the most beneficial, particularly if the exercise you choose is yoga.

Well over a hundred million people worldwide are affected by depression, and in the U.S. alone the annual cost of medically treating depression is astronomical. That said, yoga isnt an instant cure or a replacement for the clinical treatment of severe depression. But at the same time, yoga practice may ease some of the symptoms of depression or even clear a path of sight through the gloom. It might also increase feelings of empowerment for sufferers, by showing them a way to treat themselves better.

If youre new to yoga, the hardest thing might be actually making it to the mat; but even if you start with just a few poses a day, you may find that youre soon ready to do more. The slow, deep breathing, the yoga postures and the meditation can each help you to become more in tune with yourself, by strengthening your sense of wholeness and balance in mind, body and spirit.

The benefits of yoga dont end there. Regular, slow and gentle practice can help reduce stress, contributing to a more peaceful state of mind and positive outlook. You might see the results in better mood control, improved concentration and energy levels, as well as in your general sense of well-being.

Theres science behind the positive effects of yoga, as well. Practicing yoga can stimulate the nervous system and circulation, raising the levels of hormones that make us feel good and decreasing those that cause us to feel stressed. Yoga practice can also be beneficial to the immune system and can help flush toxins from the body.

If youre interested in trying yoga to soothe feelings of depression, you might want to join a class at a nearby yoga studio, fitness club or community center. A good certified instructor should be able to provide you with tips and poses that are particularly good for easing depression, but you can also turn to videos or the Internet for sites addressing this more specific use of the practice.

For a more in-depth examination of the relationship between yoga and mental health, you might want to read Yoga for Depression: A Compassionate Guide to Relieve Suffering through Yoga, by yoga instructor and mentor Amy Weinstraub.

Brodi Saatpha has been practicing Yoga for many years, and one day hopes to attain true enlightenment. When she is not teaching others how to discover inner peace, she writes for yoga-insight.com a website educating people about home yoga workouts, comfortable yoga clothes, yoga retreats and more.

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Xbox 360 - Why is Microsoft So Slow to Release More?

The microsoft Xbox 360 is by far one of the most talked about video gaming systems of all time. With all of its capabilities and advanced technology it has lived up to all the hype. Or has it?

It's hard to tell how great the xbox 360 is because only a limited amount of people have been able to get their hands on one due to Microsoft's limited release. In late November of 2005 Microsoft shipped its first batch of xbox 360s and then made no comment of when they would release more. The majority of people see no reason why microsoft would due this. With so many people anxious to buy one, why wouldn't microsoft keeping releasing more?

There are a couple of good reasons for the limited release. The main reason is that it creates scarcity, which then creates an enormous buzz. If consumers knew that microsoft was going to keep releasing more and more xbox 360s they would have felt no reason to buy one right away. However, since everyone knew that there would be a limited release you had people lining up outside stores days in advance just for a chance to get one. Of course this led to an incredible buzz that surrounded the xbox 360. Every news station, newspaper and online media outlet was running huge stories about the xbox 360. Due to all of the news coverage, one would have to be living in a cave to not know what the xbox 360 is.

The second reason is simple supply and demand. The low supply of the Xbox 360 matched with the incredibly high demand resulted in the ability to charge higher prices. microsoft priced the xbox 360 at $399. For most people this is a large investment but since everyone was worried that they may have to wait months to buy one they acted like $399 was a bargain. For weeks after the xbox 360 was released people were buying systems off of ebay for over $1000! That is the power of low supply and high demand.

No one really knows for sure when the next batch of microsoft Xbox 360s will be released. However, everyone knows that they better buy one fast when they are released because of what happened in November of 2005. It seems that Microsoft's release schedule has created just the market they were looking for.

Stay up to date on all the Xbox 360 news at http://www.xbox-360-news.com

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Xbox 360 Fix

Were you playing a great game of halo, only to have your Xbox 360 crash on you right in the middle of game play!? Well I've had this happen to me, and it was one of the most frustrating things! If you're a hardcore gamer and you're reading this article, most likely you are all too familiar with this.

microsoft offers to fix your xbox 360 if you ship it to them, but if your console is no longer under warranty, guess who'll be paying for it!? Personally, I couldn't think of a worse thing then to send my xbox 360 away for many weeks or even months! That's valuable gaming time I'm missing, not to mention that there have been many cases where an owner gets his/her system back, only to find that the console STILL crashes! That's just not acceptable.

Luckily, there are actually a few things you can do to that may help to fix your console:

The first thing you can do is to make sure that your xbox 360 has space to breathe. What I mean by this is to make sure that your console is far away from any heat vents or heaters that may increase the temperature of the system. Also, make sure there is nothing blocking the air intake vents on the console. The console already runs very hot to the touch, so making sure that it is well ventilated will help to cool it down, and many times can fix the problems people have with their systems crashing.

Another thing you can try is to grab a small fan or even something like a hair dryer that has a cold setting, and aim it at the vents on the side of the xbox 360. This can not only help to cool the console, but also remove any dust that surrounds the important computer chips inside.

If neither of these things work, there are actually step-by-step, easy to follow guides all about xbox 360 fixes.

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