Kiran Sawhney

Yes after doing the last fashion post of the year, I am doing the last art of living post of 2010. As we flip the calendar, we need to keep flipping our mind as well. Often, our diaries are full with memories. See that you don’t fill your future dates with past events. Allow the space for creativity to dawn. Celebration of the New Year allows you to be wise. Learn and unlearn from the past, and move on. In the past year, how many days were you in sanyas? How many days were you struggling, being caught in maya? Turn back and remember the whole year. Do not run away from anything. Do not reject anything. Do not go away from anything. At the same time, let your attention be on the self. This is a delicate balance. That balance is yoga. A poor man celebrates the New Year once a year. A rich man celebrates each day. But the richest man celebrates every moment. How rich are you? If you celebrate every moment, you are the Lord of Creation. Review the year while you celebrate. This is your hom...

This is the last fashion post of year 2010. What are your plans for tonight- for the New Year Eve? Do you have any New Year Resolutions? This is what I wore yesterday Sweater: Gucci Boots: Nine West Bag: LV Skirt: It is the skirt that needs a special mention. It is a vintage again. My dad got it for me when I was about 15 year. It is tweed skirt. Since then, every winter, it has been worn at least once. It even went with me to my honeymoon. It has even been passed to my sister and has come back to me again. It had originally come with a very smart jacket. Which, somehow, over the years, got lost. I still ask my mom to find that jacket. As a testimony to my old days, my college friend dished out the picture below, where I am wearing the same skirt with its original jacket. This is my college girls group. We are all now settled in different parts of the world. But still very much in touch. Thanks, to facebook etc. Aahh!! Heading towards 2011 and am transported to 1989. Wish you all a Ver...

Warning! Watch out! This Knowledge Sheet contains explosives! It can explode your head or your heart. If it explodes your heart -- nothing is left! If it explodes your head -- everything is attained! Guruji: How many of you are grateful here? (Everybody raises their hand.) If you are grateful, you don't belong to Me! (Everyone is shocked.) You are not part of the Master. When someone gives you something, you are grateful. That means you feel separate. You are not grateful to yourself. Gratefulness is inevitable. When you go beyond gratefulness, then union happens. No "I," no "you" remains. You are part of the Master. You are just One Being with a thousand heads and a thousand arms, but with one heart. You have got to be grateful on the path, but you have to transcend gratefulness. Better stop being grateful. (Laughter.) When you are grateful then you are the center, you are more important. When you are grateful to God for having received something beautiful, for...

 With the Torso locked in place and the limbs moving freely, the single leg stretch will strengthen the abdominals and the buttocks as well as improve coordination. Check list: Imagine yourself looking down on yourself from the ceiling. Keep your alignment perfect, your box square and your legs in line. Do not rock your body from side to side when switching legs. Pay attention to hand placement, which keeps your legs well aligned. Squeeze your buttocks each time the leg stretches out. Lift your head and shoulders off the mat. Hug one knee in and extend the other leg out to 45 degree. Joseph H. Pilates, the founder of the Pilates exercise method, was born in Germany. As a child he was frail, living with asthma in addition to other childhood conditions. To build his body and grow stronger, he took up several different sports, eventually becoming an accomplished athlete. As a nurse in Great Britain during World War I, he designed exercise methods and equipment for immobilized patient...

It is an extension of  Viparitakarani  and  Sarvangasana.  It is recommended to do this asana after  Sarvangasana.  Hala  in Sanskrit means plough. In this posture the body assumes the appearance of a plough. To attain this posture the legs are lowered behind the head without bending those at the knees till the toes touch the seat. This asana can be done for maximum one minute starting with thirty seconds. Benefits This is the best posture for making the spine flexible. It stretches the spine as no other exercise can, opening up the spinal discs and stretching most of the spinal muscles and ligaments. This makes this posture very beneficial if you suffer from back or neck stiffness or arthritis in these areas. It also prevents these conditions. Since this posture rejuvenates the spine, and because the spinal nerves go to all parts of the body, it helps to rejuvenate the whole body. It benefits the thyroid gland, liver and spleen, stretches and pulls th...

Subject: Ardhnarishver There is concept of Ardhnarishver – God is neither male nor female. Divine is half male and half female. Everyone is like that. Nobody is full male or full female. There are genes of both mother and father within each one of us.   Q: Is it possible to become like a child again and to rekindle that positive vibration around us? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is possible. The secret lies in our own breath. Through breathing exercises, certain breathing techniques and some practice of meditation, we can rekindle positive vibrations within and around us. Are you aware that sometimes for no reasons you feel like talking to some people and, sometimes for no reason you want to avoid some people? I am sure everyone has this experience! We convey more through our presence than through our words. If we are uptight, angry or stressed, then we become repulsive. Now, the question is how do these negative vibrations come in our aura? We are storing all these negative things that...

Can you see God as a child? You have always thought of God as a father, up in the heavens somewhere. Can you see God as a child? Sri Sri: God is the very core of your existence. You are pregnant with God. You have to take care of your pregnancy and deliver the child into the world. Most people do not even deliver. One who delivers can also grant wishes. God is your child. He/She clings onto to you like a baby till you grow old and die. God keeps crying for nourishment. God clings onto the devotee. He/She needs you to nourish Him/Her in the world. Sadhana, Satsang and Seva are the nourishment. You always think of God as a father. Then you want to demand and take from God. But when you see God as a child, you have no demands. Belma says: You cannot pray to a child; you can only pray to your father. Sri Sri: Why do you want to pray? Why do you want to ask? A good father knows what to give. Belma: What about surrender? Sri Sri: Your surrender to a child is more authentic as i...

Hold your torso solidly in one position. Avoid any twisting motion. Support your back with your hands firmly. Use the top leg as a counterweight to the pedaling leg. This top leg should remain aligned almost perpendicular to the floor. Pedal each leg as low as possible, bending it only at the deepest point in the stretch. Flow continuously as though you were actually pedaling a bicycle. Draw the navel in and up to avoid arching the back. Focus on making each pedal as long as possible. Quick, shortened movements will diminish the benefits of the exercise. Head remains on the mat. Neck and shoulders are relaxed. Who can benefit from a Pilates workout? Anyone and everyone! Pilates strengthens the more important part of your body -- the core. 

This is the area that helps you stand, move and balance properly. It is also the area most prone to injury, mainly back problems. 

Back problems can leave you unable to carry out even simple routine tasks, like sitting, standing for long, etc. It i...

This exercise challenges your balance, flexibility and strength. Focus on maintaining a constant shape as you rock. If at first you cannot roll completely up, walk your hands up higher toward the calves.  Checkpoints: Imagine rolling your spine against the floor in the same way that a wheel rolls smoothly back and forth. Keep the naval scooped in. Keep the arms straight.  Avoid whipping up. Roll up smoothly with strength and control. The exercises are slow and controlled, with a lot of body and mind concentration, thereby utilizing the muscles to their maximum capacity. 

How is it different from regular abdominal, back and hip exercises? The Pilates method utilizes the whole body instead of isolating a muscle and working it. This increases the level of resistance, making Pilates more intense than regular exercises. 

Pilates exercises help the body much more in daily activities, since Pilates is a form of functional training. How does Pilates compare to...

This targets the obliques or the diagonal muscles of the waist and trunk. Somewhat reminiscent of old style bicycle done in the gym, the criss cross is executed slowly and smoothly with exacting detail. Imagine a magnetic force lifting your upper body directly up toward your knee. Checkpoints: As you twist, avoid rolling from side to side.  Elbows held wide. Hands layered behind the head. One knee bent at exact 90 degree. Other leg straight. and about 10 inches lifted from floor. Twist from waist. Maintain your "box". Hips and shoulders are square. Focus on lengthening one side of the waist as you contract the other.

I get ample number of queries from people inquiring about Pilates. Most of them pronounce it wrong in the very first place. Firstly, for heaven’s sake, it is not Pee lates. Pilates is pronounced: puh-lah-teez. What is Pilates? The next question that is thrown at me is- what is Pilates. Now how do I simply explain it? Well, it is a form of exercise. In simple terms, Pilates is a form of exercise that targets the core of the body, i.e. the abdomen, back and hips while using the entire body. It also increases flexibility and improves posture. The exercises are done lying down on the mat, and involve a series of controlled movements of the arm and leg that strengthens the abs, hips and back. 

What sort of exercises does it involve? Let me try and explain a few in my upcoming blogposts.

Yes, I do have a bee in my bonnet. What? Later....

Tum itna jo muskura rahe ho Kya gham hai jisko chupa rahe ho.

My sister really thinks I am an infant. That is why she gifted me with these mittens and matching (her favorite color- mauve), stole. It is so preettyy. 

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