Monday, August 30, 2010

A message on 'Attitude'

Attitudes are contagious. Are yours worth catching? ~Dennis and Wendy Mannering


Have you ever noticed that your day is kind of like the first thought that enters your mind when you open your eyes for the day?  Attitude is a simple word that has a huge affect on our lives.  More affect than we know.  Even God cares about our attitude.  Sometimes we spread our attitude and give it to the people we are closest to.  Is it an attitude you want to come back at you?  Now we get back to the old saying, "If you want a smile, then give a smile."  Our attitude controls our work, sleep, play, relationships and everything inbetween.  Attitude is one of the most vital things that keep us alive.  As long as we keep it positive, all will be well.  It's typically the negative emotions that drown us in our own tears. 
Reader beware:  Be Happy!
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search


An attitude is a hypothetical construct that represents an individual's degree of like or dislike for an item. Attitudes are generally positive or negative views of a person, place, thing, or event-- this is often referred to as the attitude object. People can also be conflicted or ambivalent toward an object, meaning that they simultaneously possess both positive and negative attitudes toward the item in question.
Attitudes are judgments. They develop on the ABC model (affect, behavior, and cognition). The affective response is an emotional response that expresses an individual's degree of preference for an entity. The behavioral intention is a verbal indication or typical behavioral tendency of an individual. The cognitive response is a cognitive evaluation of the entity that constitutes an individual's beliefs about the object. Most attitudes are the result of either direct experience or observational learning from the environment.

Another attitude is called Emotion

A mental state that arises spontaneously rather than through conscious effort and is often accompanied by physiological changes; a feeling: the emotions of joy, sorrow, reverence, hate, and love.


A state of mental agitation or disturbance: spoke unsteadily in a voice that betrayed his emotion. See Synonyms at feeling.

The part of the consciousness that involves feeling; sensibility: "The very essence of literature is the war between emotion and intellect" (Isaac Bashevis Singer).

Let's not forget that the little emotions are the great captains of our lives and we obey them without realizing it. ~Vincent Van Gogh, 1889

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Photo Session: 200 hours of Teacher Training

Katie, Kelly and Christina spent the afternoon taking pictures in yoga poses.  We are looking forward to starting a teacher training program.  We hope to launch it next year in 2011.  It is a lot of work trying to put together 200 hours of information.  We will learn more and more about yoga as we put our hopes and dreams together.  We look forward to offering you the best of yoga today, tomorrow and forever.  

Friday, August 27, 2010

Attitude

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.”
Charles R. Swindoll quotes (American Writer and Clergyman, b.1934)

Sunday, August 22, 2010

More on Materialism

Materialism developed, possibly independently, in several geographically separated regions of Eurasia during the Axial Age.




In Ancient Indian philosophy, materialism developed around 600 BC with the works of Ajita Kesakambali, Payasi, Kanada, and the proponents of the Cārvāka school of philosophy. Kanada was one of the early proponents of atomism. The Nyaya-Vaisesika school (600 BC - 100 BC) developed one of the earliest forms of atomism, though their proofs of God and positing that the consciousness was not material made them not to be materialists. The atomic tradition was carried forward by Buddhist atomism and the Jaina school.



Xun Zi developed a Confucian doctrine oriented on realism and materialism in Ancient China. Other notable Chinese materialists of this time include Yang Xiong and Wang Chong.



Ancient Greek philosophers like Anaxagoras, Epicurus and Democritus prefigure later materialists. The poem De Rerum Natura by Lucretius recounts the mechanistic philosophy of Democritus and Epicurus. According to this view, all that exists is matter and void, and all phenomena are the result of different motions and conglomerations of base material particles called "atoms." De Rerum Natura provides mechanistic explanations for phenomena such as erosion, evaporation, wind, and sound. Famous principles like "nothing can come from nothing" and "nothing can touch body but body" first appeared in the works of Lucretius.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Hylomorphism

Hylomorphism is the theory (originating with Aristotle (322 BC)) that all things are a combination of matter and form. Aristotle was one of the first ancient writers to approach the subject of life in a scientific way. Biology was one of his main interests, and there is extensive biological material in his extant writings. According to him, all things in the material universe have both matter and form. The form of a living thing is its soul (Greek 'psyche', Latin 'anima'). There are three kinds of souls: the 'vegetative soul' of plants, which causes them to grow and decay and nourish themselves, but does not cause motion and sensation; the 'animal soul' which causes animals to move and feel; and the rational soul which is the source of consciousness and reasoning which (Aristotle believed) is found only in man.[9] Each higher soul has all the attributes of the lower one. Aristotle believed that while matter can exist without form, form cannot exist without matter, and therefore the soul cannot exist without the body.[10]




Consistent with this account is a teleological explanation of life. A teleological explanation accounts for phenomena in terms of their purpose or goal-directedness. Thus, the whiteness of the polar bear's coat is explained by its purpose of camouflage. The direction of causality is the other way round from materialistic science, which explains the consequence in terms of a prior cause. Modern biologists now reject this functional view in terms of a material and causal one: biological features are to be explained not by looking forward to future optimal results, but by looking backwards to the past evolutionary history of a species, which led to the natural selection of the features in question.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Materialism

Some of the earliest theories of life were materialist, holding that all that exists is matter, and that all life is merely a complex form or arrangement of matter. Empedocles (430 B.C.) argued that every thing in the universe is made up of a combination of four eternal 'elements' or 'roots of all': earth, water, air, and fire. All change is explained by the arrangement and rearrangement of these four elements. The various forms of life are caused by an appropriate mixture of elements. For example, growth in plants is explained by the natural downward movement of earth and the natural upward movement of fire.[6]




Democritus (460 B.C.), the disciple of Leucippus, thought that the essential characteristic of life is having a soul (psychê). In common with other ancient writers, he used the term to mean the principle of living things that causes them to function as a living thing. He thought the soul was composed of fire atoms, because of the apparent connection between life and heat, and because fire moves.[7] He also suggested that humans originally lived like animals, gradually developing communities to help one another, originating language, and developing crafts and agriculture.[8]



In the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century, mechanistic ideas were revived by philosophers like Descartes

The Definition of Life (literally)

Life (cf. biota) is a characteristic that distinguishes objects that have signaling and self-sustaining processes (biology) from those that do not,[1][2] either because such functions have ceased (death), or else because they lack such functions and are classified as inanimate.[3]




In biology, the science of living organisms, life is the condition which distinguishes active organisms from inorganic matter.[4] Living organisms undergo metabolism, maintain homeostasis, possess a capacity to grow, respond to stimuli, reproduce and, through natural selection, adapt to their environment in successive generations. More complex living organisms can communicate through various means.[1][5] A diverse array of living organisms (life forms) can be found in the biosphere on Earth, and the properties common to these organisms—plants, animals, fungi, protists, archaea, and bacteria—are a carbon- and water-based cellular form with complex organization and heritable genetic information.



In philosophy and religion, the conception of life and its nature varies. Both offer interpretations as to how life relates to existence and consciousness, and both touch on many related issues, including life stance, purpose, conception of a god or gods, a soul or an afterlife.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Yoga, Massage Therapy & Me

Yoga started in 1999 for me.  I came from a running, lifting weights and sorry to say aerobics background.  I asked my sister for a yoga DVD for Christmas and she sent me Pilates.  I was okay with that but I still wanted yoga.  So I bought myself a Yoga Journal magazine assuming I would find what I was looking for.  I found a DVD to buy so I did buy it.  I started praciting with it and thought, "How could this possibly keep me fit?"  Well, by the end of the DVD I was wondering how I could possibly ever practice yoga.  I kept it up for several years and tryed to get my friends to practice.  All they wanted me to do was teach yoga.  Oh boy!  I didn't want to get myself in that mess!
At the same time, I also was unhappy as a Radiographer.  My friends were also happy with helping me out with that solution.  Become a Massage Therapist!!!  I was real happy to rule that out also.
After several months of dissapoinment and discouragement I moved on.  I took a yoga teacher training in the summer and started my massage classes in the fall.  Two years later I had a massage and yoga business started through the encouragement of my friends.  What they saw in me, I will never know but I am glas they saw what they did.
I am now a 200 Yoga Alliance registerd teacher working toward my 500 hours.  I am also working on become certified in Craniosacral Therapy and Thai Massage.  I have a full blown successful pracitice and I can only thank my friends!
My life has changed and so has my attitude toward life.  That is, most days ;o)

Friday, August 13, 2010

Om Mantra Poem

Waves flow through me
bringing flowers into bloom
in sunlight and gentle rain,
warming the damp earth,
filling the pockets of darkness
until they turn inside out
and seeds fall,
germinate, send shoots to the stars
which burst in showers of gold,
set the night sky aglow,
then drift into butterflies
waltzing with petals,
billowing in summer breezes,
rest in ferns by the wandering stream,
murmuring among stones
ancient sounds
that have always been,
always will be.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Yoga Mantra's defined

TASYA VACHAKAH PRANAVAH
Aum is the word denoting God.
OM SHANTI, OM SHANTI, OM SHANTI…
Let us meditate on the splendour of the God Savitr (Sun), Who will illuminate our understanding.

OM ASATOMA SADGAMAYA
TAMASOMA JYOTRIGAMAYA
MRITHYORMA AMRUTAMGAMAYA
OM SHANTI, OM SHANTI, OM SHANTI…
Lead us from darkness to light
From ignorance to truth
And from death to eternity
Let peace prevail everywhere.

VEDIC MANTRAS (SHANTI MANTRA) OM SAHANA VAVATU SAHANA BHUNATTU
SAHA VIRYAMKARAWAVAHAI
TEJASVINAVADITAMASTU
MA VIDVISHAVAHAI

OM SHANTI, OM SHANTI, OM SHANTI...

MANTRA MEANING

Together may we be protected
Together may we be nourished
Together may we work with great energy
May our journey together be brilliant and effective
May there be no bad feelings between us

Peace, Peace, Peace…

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Joy and Happiness

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts: therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature.
-Marcus Aurelius
Happiness is like a cat, If you try to coax it or call it, it will avoid you; it will never come. But if you pay not attention to it and go about your business, you'll find it rubbing against your legs and jumping into your lap.
-William John Bennett
Because gratification of a desire leads to the temporary stilling of the mind and the experience of the peaceful, joyful Self, it's no wonder that we get hooked on thinking that happiness comes from the satisfaction of desires. This is the meaning of the old adage, Joy is not in things, it is in us.
-Joan Borysenko

Monday, August 9, 2010

10 reasons to stay fit as you age

1. It increases bone density and limits osteoporosis.
2. It helps you stay independent.
3. It increases metabolism.
4. It reduces your risk for falls.
5. It makes you more flexible.
6. It's a reason to be sociable.
7. It improves your mood.
8, 9 and 10. It helps your entire body.
It improves the way your lungs work, helps prevent and control diabetes and is good for your heart. "There is not a single system in the body that is not positively affected by exercise," Dr. Bryant says. All of the body's systems deteriorate with age. "We used to think that was a function of aging," he says. "But as much as 50 percent of it can be attributed to a lack of physical activity. Exercise will alter that. It will slow the breakdown. In some cases it can even reverse it." Being active will help you live well.
4 types of exercise:
Endurance, strength, balance and stretching.
Yoga will do at least 3 of the four but if you do power yoga, it will do all four. Visit www.simplepleasure.biz for your chance to become fit!

"To feel 'fit as a fiddle', you must tone down your middle."
Author Unknown

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Facing troubled times

If you compared your troubles, or challenges, with those of others, you would surely find that there are those whose troubles make yours look like minor inconveniences.
Catherine Pulsifer, from Cheer
I would not leave you in your times of trouble. We never could have come this far. I took the good times, I'll take the bad times, I'll take you just the way you are.
Billy Joel

Amen.....Give thanks....