Sohum Sutras

Someone asked me today, " What were you thinking". And I said, " Nothing". Because actually I was blank. My friend said, " How is it possible you were not thinking ANYTHING ? The mind always processes something always". But I argued that it is possible to make your mind still, think of nothing, go blank, even a a big crowd, or a party, just go thoughtless. Have you ever experienced that ever? I have and I can- Anytime, Anywhere. Is it not what Yogis call meditation? Of course it comes with practice but also not too much effort has to be involved. And this thinking machine-mind needs to rest too. There is so much information available nowadays that mind is working overtime. Give it some rest, some peace. Learn to meditate. There are many things that can help you achieve this. One of them is also Sattvic living, eating and thinking. In my next blog I will be talking about that.

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat like substance that is found in all tissues. It is also found in animals. Plant foods do not contain cholesterol. Cholesterol is found in all meats and dairy products. After all the bad things that you've heard about cholesterol you will probably be surprised to find out that you need a certain amount of cholesterol. Cholesterol is essential for your cell membranes, nerves, and certain hormones. It also helps your liver to make bile acids which help to digest your food. The bad side is that if cholesterol builds up in your arteries it can cause plaque to form. This can cause a heart attack or stroke. Good Cholesterol- HDL : A high level of HDL seems to protect against heart attack. A lower level seems to indicate a greater risk. The causes for low HDL are being overweight, smoking, and not getting enough exercise. Bad Cholesterol- LDL : LDL- cholesterol can build up in the walls of the arteries that feed the brain and heart. A high LDL-cholesterol...

The Negative Calorie Diet is based on the idea that some foods cause you to burn more calories digesting these foods than the actual calorie content of the food itself. It's true that some foods raise your metabolic rate more than others do. Carbohydrate and protein, for example, contain about four calories per gram. But, the thermic effect of protein is far greater than that of carbohydrate. In other words, some of the energy in each gram of protein is wasted as heat during the process of digestion and metabolism. The thermic effect of nutrients is approximately 2-3 % for fat, 6-8 % for carbohydrates, and 25-30% for proteins. The foods you eat on The Negative Calorie Diet are mainly fruit and vegetables. For breakfast, you might have a bowl of strawberries or an orange. A snack might consist of apples or celery. You can have soup for lunch and dinner, though foods like chicken or fish are allowed after the first few days. The reason that fruit and vegetables help you lose weight i...

Sample Menu 1 Breakfast - 3 oatmeal pancakes with applesauce topping Calcium fortified orange juice Fresh fruit Lunch- Cous Cous Salad with cucumber, peanuts, sesame seeds, almonds, walnuts, pine nuts. or baby spinach with croutons, lettuce, baby carrots with a dash of lemon dressing Dinner - Chinese stir fry over brown rice: tofu chunks, brocolli, pea pods, water chestnuts and chinese cabbage (bok choy) Cantaloupe chunks drizzled with fresh lime juice Snack- Dried figs Sample Menu 2 Breakfast- 1 cup oatmeal with cinnamon and raisins and 1/2 cup fortified soy milk 1 slice toast with 1 tablespoon almond butter 1/2 grapefruit Lunch- Whole wheat pasta or whole wheat pita stuffed with hummus, sliced tomatoes and lettuce carrot sticks Dinner Baked potato/ baked apple Fresh homemade soup of fresh vegetables sprinkled with herbs of your choice Snack Banana soy milk shake

Here are some tips that can help you and your family members turn vegetarian. 1. Order your next Pizza without cheese but with loads of vegetable toppings. 2. Find Vegetarian cookbooks at your local library or bookstore and churn out interesting recipes. 3. International restaurants offer amazing vegetarian cuisine- Italian, Mexican, Lebanese, Indian, Chinese. Do experiment. 4. Look in natural food stores for textured vegetable protein. It is fat free and has a texture like ground beef. It tastes good in tacos etc. 5. Summer barbecues are healthy and fun with vegetables. Marinate thick cubes of zucchini, bell peppers, corn, mushrooms, carrots. These will be colorful, crunchy, tasty and lot more healthy. 6. Add lot of variety in your diet. Vegetarian food does not have to be boring. Try cooking rice with water and apple juice. Add peanuts and cranberries to cous cous salad. 7. When traveling, pack a variety of vegetarian snacks like instant soups, fresh fruits, granola bars, homemade oa...

If you want to achieve good health, turning vegetarian is one great option. Vegetarian foods are satisfying, delicious and healthy. Lets look at few definitions Vegetarian : Avoids meat, fish and poultry. Lacto-ovo vegetarian: Include dairy products and eggs in their diet. Vegans: They are pure vegetarians and eat no meat, fish, poultry, eggs or dairy products. Advantages of turning vegetarian Lower Cholesterol Vegetarian meal is typically low in saturated fat. Since Cholestrol is found only in animal products such as meat, dairy and eggs, vegans consume a cholesterol free diet. Also replacing animal protein with plant protein lowers blood cholesterol levels. Low fat, vegetarian diet has a clear advantage over other diets. Low Blood Pressure: When patients with High blood pressure eliminate meat from their diet, the results are very favorable. Controls Diabetes: Best dietary prescription for controlling diabetes is a diet high in complex carbohydrates which are found ...

High blood pressure is also called hypertension. Because the symptoms may not show up for years, hypertension earned the name the "silent killer. High blood pressure is defined as the pressure of blood against the walls of the blood vessels and arteries. When the heart contracts it pushes blood through your arteries with varying force. There is a difference between high blood pressure (hypertension) and elevated blood pressure caused by working out, stress and tension. When you do different activities your blood pressure may go up, but it returns to normal. If you have hypertension your blood pressure is always above normal. The prevalence of high blood pressure increases with age and is often related to lifestyle habits. If you're overweight and inactive and you smoke, your risk increases. Persistently elevated blood pressure can lead to so many health hazards — an enlarged heart, stroke and kidney damage among them — bringing the pressure down is crucial. Prevention Limit sa...

Everyday we find an excuse for not exercising. But is any excuse a valid excuse, if it compromises your health and can lead to a debilitating sickness in the long run? So we challenged our editor to come up with a 101 reasons to exercise, to counter every conceivable excuse in the book for skipping your daily dose of exercise. Here are a hundred and one reasons why you must exercise, and how they affect every aspect of your health, and your life. There is a definite link between high premature death rates and chronic inactivity. Exercise promotes longevity by reducing the risk of premature mortality. Exercise retards the process of aging, thus preserving vitality and youth. Exercise reduces the risk of developing hypo-kinetic diseases (those associated with lack of movement). It prevents the incidence of and/or helps control such disease processes. Exercise helps prevent or control coronary artery disease and most cardiovascular diseases, as lack of exercise is the number 1 risk facto...

+ Pilates will continue to grow as one of the nation's most popular fitness trends. Based on the century-old teachings of Joseph Pilates, this artful discipline was originally designed to give dancers muscle strength without added bulk. This form of exercise is ideal for individuals seeking to improve strength, posture, flexibility and body awareness. Every Pilates exercise movement requires control of the entire body and focuses on the quality of movement, correct alignment and proper breathing. + More and more fitness classes will focus on core strength workouts. To achieve balance, strength and stability of the core (i.e., the body's center of power), exercise classes that utilize stability balls, medicine balls, core boards, etc., will continue to gain popularity. Having a strong core is essential because the body's core muscles serve as the foundation for all other movement. The muscles of the hips and torso help stabilize the spine and pelvis, and provide the foundati...

Bone is constantly being demolished and rebuilt. If reconstruction lags behind demolition, then bone is lost. Osteoporosis is a disease in which the bones thin and become more porous. The disease generally progresses without pain until a bone fractures. Risk factors for osteoporosis include a small body frame, excessive alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, loss of estrogen, family history of osteoporosis, low dietary calcium intake, and use of some medications such as prednisone and other steroids. Exercise for Osteoporosis For patients who have osteoporosis, exercise is an essential part of treatment. Just as regular workouts build muscle, they also maintain and may even increase bone strength. By strengthening your muscles and bones and improving your balance, exercise can reduce the risk of falls and resulting fractures. Exercise works well with estrogen or other medications that increase bone density and strength. Exercise, medication, and proper diet combat osteoporosis more e...

Remember, the most important step in achieving a better you is knowing the right way to do it. Specifically, a personal trainer will: • Take your blood pressure • Take your pulse rate • Teach you to exercise at the proper heart rate • Counsel with you regarding nutrition • Measure your percentage of body fat • Set up your exercise program. • Motivate you to stay with your program. What is your training/exercise philosophy? A credible trainer should be able to explain a philosophy of exercise training. You don’t need a doctoral dissertation here, only a description of how they help clients reach their goals. How do they train clients? How do they motivate them? Is there an assessment process? Find out as much as you can about how they work with clients to achieve goals. Be an intelligent consumer. Ask for specifics and clarification if you don’t understand something. This person is going to tell you how to exercise, give you lifestyle information and hold very heavy weig...

Exercise lowers the risk of coronary heart disease, cuts bad cholesterol and blood sugar. Read Prevention’s guide to know the safest way. If there is one way (other than the right diet) to make your heart stronger, it’s exercise. If you have a family history, a mild cardiac condition or simply the desire to protect your heart and make it healthier, upload this. There is scientific evidence to prove that exercise is good for patients with heart failure. It not only reduces the symptoms, allowing patients to live more active lives, but also reverses some of the harmful hormonal changes that take place as the body attempts to compensate for a weakened heart. Regular exercise also lowers the risk of coronary heart disease. “People who maintain an active lifestyle have a 45% lower risk of developing heart disease compared to those who lead sedentary lives,” says Dr S C Manchanda, senior consultant cardiologist, Sir Gangaram Hospital, Delhi and Prevention advisor. He reminds us that...

' If you want something you never had, do something you have never done ' ' Don't go the way life takes you, take the life the way you go ' ' You are born to live and not live because you are born ' ' When I find myself fighting against the flow of life, I try to remember that you can have it all, not all at once '

Shin split is the lay-term used to describe symptomatic pain caused by an inflammation of the muscles or tendons of the front of the shin. They can become so bad that the muscles can be damaged, tendons torn, and even splinters of bone pulled free. Shin split is a pain, which runs down the front of your leg and commonly occurs when people overdo it, Shin splints affect your two leg bones: the tibia and the fibula. Shin splints develop when the muscles attached to these bones become inflamed, causing intense pain. Shin splints are caused when the Tibialis anterior muscle, one of the muscles responsible for flexing your foot upwards, is overused during activity. Pain is experienced when this muscle is flexed too much. Here are some other causes of shin splints. • Flat feet, or the turning of the foot outward – which puts strain on the leg muscles – can cause shin splints. • Tight calf muscles, or calf muscles that aren’t ‘warmed up’ before exercising, may be responsible for shin splints...

Shoulders define our stature. They influence our appearance far more than any other body part. Just as broad, well defined but relaxed shoulders are a sign of strength, self-confidence and contribute to your appearance, tight shoulder muscles, on the other hand, will cause discomfort and pain. Because of this, it is very important to train this body part with equal doses of strengthening and stretching exercises. The shoulder is a ball and socket joint. It is the most mobile joint in the body and therefore one of the most in danger of injury, especially dislocation. Because of this, it is important to secure its strength through specific exercises. . Guidelines for exercising the shoulders. • Do not work with momentum; that means, don’t swing. Stand firm & have control of your movement. • Keep your shoulders down, pulled away from ears. • When you contract, you exhale. When you release or relax, you inhale. • Pay attention to how the hands are held during exercise. If you...