Love Your Liver

"Your liver is your vital detoxification organ, and if it becomes overloaded with toxins from the food, drink, or medications you're consuming, you'll have more toxins circulating throughout your body, damaging your organs and glands. Detoxing your liver will help it work more efficiently and help you slim your waistline."

Liver is the one of the most important and second-largest organs of our body. It is also considered one of the most complex organs that perform crucial body functions and is associated with a person's digestion, immunity, metabolism, and nutrition storage.

It is on the right-hand side of our abdomen, just below our diaphragm, behind our ribs. It is the largest internal organ in our body and weighs around 1.25-1.5 kilograms. Our liver is responsible for performing more than 500 functions, that are critical for our wellbeing.

Being one of the important parts of the body, the liver is used for many bodily functions, and be it drink, food, medicine everything passes through it. The liver regulates blood sugar, removes toxic substances from the body, helps blood clot, and controls cholesterol levels.

It also adjusts cholesterol levels, builds proteins and makes bile, which helps you absorb fats, stores sugar for when you really need it and regulates hormone levels. For your liver, that’s all in a day’s work.

“If your liver stopped working, toxins would accumulate, you couldn’t digest your food and medications would never leave your body.”

Fatty deposits can build up in the liver. Over time they can damage the liver and stop it working properly.

People who have an unhealthy diet, live with overweight or obesity, don’t get enough physical activity, or live with type 2 diabetes are more at risk of developing a fatty liver.

Keeping to a healthy weight is an important way to reduce your risk of developing liver disease. For most people, losing weight slowly is the best approach. Making your diet healthier and more balanced and being more physically active both help to lose weight and keep it off.

"Is life worth living? It all depends on the liver."

You only have one liver, so it’s important to know how to look after it.

“Liver disease tends to be a silent killer, and lack of symptoms doesn’t mean the problem isn’t serious,”.

In general watch for these warning signs,

• Urine that’s the color of iced tea
• Yellowing (jaundice) of your eyes
• Stools that look like clay
• Itching that won’t subside with lotion and keeps you up at night
• Ankle swelling
• Abdominal swelling
• Chronic fatigue

Is sugar bad for your liver?

Yes! Experts suggest that bakery products should be completely abandoned from your daily diet chart. First of all, these items are high in sugar and can lead to obesity. Secondly, bakery items can also lead to higher triglyceride levels in the body, due to their fat content, that can lead to various liver diseases. Also, the primary ingredient used in these products is refined white flour (Maida). White flour is hard to digest and also gives rise to fat accumulation in the liver.

Tips To Keep Liver Healthy

-It is healthy to use olive oil.

-It is important to eat garlic, grapefruit, carrot, green leafy vegetables, apples, and walnuts.

-Take lemon, lime juice, and green tea.

-Prefer alternative grains like millet.

-Add cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower.

-It will be good to use turmeric in food.

Drishti Sanchalan for Healthy Eyes

Your eyes are the doorway to your soul. 

Worldwide, the number of people of all ages visually impaired is estimated to be about 285 million, the majority of them attributed to uncorrected refractive errors (43 percent) and cataracts (33 percent). A report published by the American Academy of Ophthalmology predicted that about 49.8 percent of the world’s population would have myopia by the year 2050.

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness".

You want to keep them bright and clear. Proper care and maintaining the hygiene of the eyes becomes imperative for every seeker of a healthy lifespan. Yoga proposes a number of techniques which describe ways of keeping the eyes healthy for as long as one lives. Practice the below-described techniques or eye exercises, whatever moniker we may give them, consistently for a few months for availing the ensuing advantages from the same.

You can also perform Tratak meditation to improve your eyesight. Tratak meditation is a yogic technique that can be done to eliminate the need for spectacles. Sit still in Sukhasna or any comfortable pose. Focus on the flame of a lamp, Sun, Moon or even any object or image.

Vital Eye Exercises:

• Blink your eyes often – Lesser than adequate blinking causes an irritated or dry eye.
• Rotate your eyes – left, right, up and down; clock wise and then anti-clock wise.
• Splash cold water regularly onto your eyes.
• Rub your hand till the palms are warm and cover your eyes with them.
• Try to catch the sunrise – seeing the rising sun is therapeutic to the eyes.
• Practice ‘Jala Neti’ – an ancient Indian yoga technique, meaning ‘Water Cleansing’. Jala Neti is usually performed first thing in the morning or sometimes at the end of the day, if you work or live in a dusty/polluted environment.
• Follow the ‘20-20-20 rule’ for resting your eyes – that is, looking away twenty feet, for twenty seconds, every twenty minutes. Set an alarm to help you remember.

Massage your eyes as it relieves tension or stress by stimulating blood flow to the targeted areas. Begin by massaging your upper eye lids for ten seconds and then massage your lower eyelids. While massaging the lower lids, ensure to massage across the lacrimal bone, located near the inner eye.
And finally, express your gratitude by thanking God for the beautiful gift of sight he blessed us with!

TRY THESE 9 DRISHTIS

Wondering where to gaze when you’re practicing Drishti? The Ashtanga Yoga system identifies nine directions or focal points.

1. Nasagram drishti—tip of the nose

2. Ajna chakra or bhrumadhya drishti—between the eyebrows

3. Nabhi chakra drishti—navel

4. Hastagram drishti—hand

5. Padayoragram drishti—toes

6. Parshva drishti—far to the right

7. Parshva drishti—far to the left

8. Angushthamadhyam drishti—thumbs

9. Urdhva or Antara drishti—up to the sky

Wherever the hand goes, the eyes follow
Wherever the eyes go, the mind follows
When the mind is engaged, expression results
Where there is expression, there is beauty.

 

Chant Simple Sounds for #HEALING

Chanting

Chanting has been used in all cultures for thousands of years to uplift the spirit and activate certain archetypal energies within the self.

Choose a simple repetitive chant, one that you can learn easily so you’re not always trying to remember it. It can be from any tradition but it should be one you feel comfortable with.

Chant A-U-M

Take a deep breath in

As you exhale, in the same breath chant Aaaa-Uuu-Mmm

Feel the “Aaaa” sound in your belly, “Uuu” in your chest area, and “Mmm” in your head

Breathe in again and continue at your own pace for 2-3 minutes

Chanting the Chakra Sounds

• Muladhara. Root chakra. Chant “Lam.” Element: earth. Energy: safe, grounded. Action: I am.
• Svadhisthana. Sacral chakra. Chant “Vam”. Element: water. Energy: in the flow. Action: I feel.
• Manipura. Solar Plexus chakra. Chant “Ram”. Element: fire. Energy: self-mastery. Action: I do.
• Anahata. Heart chakra. Chant “Yam”. Element: air. Energy: love, the drum that needs no drummer. Action: I love.
• Vishuddha. Throat chakra. Chant “Ham”. Element: ether. Energy: creativity, expression, purification. Action: I speak.
• Ajna. Third eye chakra. Chant “Aum”. Element: transcendent. Energy: mind. Action: I see.
• Sahsrara. Crown chakra. Chant: instead of chanting, we just listen. Element: nothing, everything, and all that is between and beyond that. Action: I know.

There are special mantras that can be used for healing, but these are best learned from an experienced teacher. However, there are many simple sounds you can use, which are quite effective. These sounds can be chanted silently or aloud, in non-focused activity, or sitting quietly. Chant them and direct the vibration to the area of imbalance.

1. The vowels are what are known as non-local sounds, meaning they will localize and harmonize wherever you direct them:

1)   Aaaa

2)    Eeeee

3)    Eye

4)    Oooo

5)    Uuuuuu

2. Sounds containing consonants generally localize in a specific area, such as the following:

       i.            Mmm – sinuses

     ii.            Nnn – ears

  iii.            Imm – eyes

   iv.            Lmm – nose

      v.            Paam – stomach

   vi.            Kaa Gaa Gha – throat

 vii.            Yaa Yu Yai – jaw

viii.            Haa – diaphragm

   ix.            Mam – reproductive organs

     x.            Maa – heart

   xi.            Sssss – lungs and large intestine

xii.            Shhh – liver and small intestine

xiii.            Who – spleen and gall bladder?

xiv.            Wooo – kidneys and bladder

How can we become like Lord Krishna?

‘We’ in the sense of separate individualities can never become fully like Shri Krishna, who is infinitely beyond us. But we can become more and more like Shri Krishna by attuning our consciousness to Him. This will cause us to naturally imbibe some of his qualities.

On top of that, fill your awareness with Krishna as much as you can, in the ways that feel right to you. Repeat His name(s) in your mind, sometimes also out loud. Worship Him with real devotion, however that devotion can best express itself. Surrender to His feet and cling to them as your anchor. The more that Shri Krishna is lively and joyful in your consciousness, the more like Him you will become.

Lord Krishna is like a huge ocean and the souls being parts and parcels of Him can be considered as a drop of water of that ocean. Qualitatively we can be like Him, just like in terms of quality a drop of ocean has same characteristics that of the huge Ocean. But quantitatively we can NEVER be like him because in front of huge Ocean a drop of water is negligible.

Who is Krishna?

Krishna describes who He is in Bhagavad Gita.

He is the origin and dissolution of everything both material and spiritual, and the origin of all living beings. He is the basis of the brahman and the personification of eternal Time.

He is the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable om, the sound in ether and ability in man. He is the original fragrance of the earth, the heat in fire, the life of all that lives, the penances of all ascetics.

He is the creator of intelligence, knowledge, freedom from doubt and delusion, forgiveness, truthfulness, control of the senses, control of the mind, happiness and distress, birth, death, fear, fearlessness, nonviolence, equanimity, satisfaction, austerity, charity, fame and infamy.

He is the possessor of infinite beauty, knowledge, wealth, fame, strength and renunciation. He is the cause of all causes, the first progenitor, one without a second, He is not subject to decay, is without a beginning, His form is endless.

He is the transcendental entity of ever-blissful cognitive rasa, the absolute substantive principle being the ultimate entity who supports all existence. He is the origin and maintainer of the external potency that embodies the threefold mundane qualities, sattva, rajas, and tamas which makes all universal manifestations possible.

He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, son of Mother Yashoda and Nanda Maharaja, brother of Balarama, beloved of Radharani, friend of Shridama. He has inconceivable innumerable attributes, and his pure devotees see Him in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love.

He is God with a capital G, and the origin of all other gods who exist only within the material world. He is obtainable by pure unalloyed devotion and possesses the form of a beautiful youth.

Here are some excerpts from the Bhagavad Gita, and how you can use them to resolve your own uncertainties, doubts, fears and confusions.

1.   Think with a calm mind. Lord Krishna said: ...

2.   Give up on results. ...

3.   Treat everyone equally. ...

4.   Don't give in to stress. ...

5.   Be ready for change. ...

6.   Act with conviction. ...

7. Set high standards. 

There are lot of things to learn from Sri Krishna ‘s life and teaching. Our goal is to be perfect. Practicing even one of the many points, can bring us closer to perfection. He has no duty to perform nor he has to gain anything (because he already has everything) yet he does things, just to set an example. Here are a few points:

1.   Be Unselfish towards all.

2.   Be detached. Do not crave for results. Be devoted to your work.

3.   Make your friends/people you meet outgrow their weaknesses.

4.   Stick to a philosophy in your life and adhere to it always. That's your dharma.

5.   Maintain every relationship with heart not head.

Learn essence of holy incidents, not incident!

Both Lord Rama & Lord Krishna were same, acted differently according to situations. This corresponds to us also. One cannot be same every time. One needs to act according to situation!

Always remember in life: Every situation demands you!

Becoming like Lord is a demonic mentality demonstrated by demons in past like Ravana and Hiranyakashyap but all was futile.

What to speak about you nobody in this world can become like Krishna because he is God, and we are controlled by material laws while he is controller of material laws.

we can’t even control our age, our death, birth and diseases which functions according to material nature while he is controller of material nature.

He never punishes anybody; we get reactions for our own sins and we blame God because you are putting problems in my life

So just try to be a good devotee of Lord rather than trying to become like him you we more blissful and happier than.

So, our love and devotion should be selfless, without expecting anything from lord. When you will have this love, Lord Krishna will himself give his divine love to you!

No one can truly become like someone else. It is best to admire Krishna and to honor him in our treatment of others.