Meditation is a practice to calm your mind and attain deep peace and awareness. It is a state of consciousness when your mind is clean and free of any distracting thoughts. You become aware of thing you otherwise ignore like the sound of the bird and your breath. Meditation refers to several practices including techniques to build inner strength, reduce stress and promote relaxation. As per the yoga text, one must pass several stages to reach the true state of meditation. You begin with breath control, physical position and then move on to the advanced stages of contemplation and concentration. There are different type of meditations based on mindfulness, compassion, transcendentalism and yoga. You can select the one you are comfortable with and start practicing it for its numerous benefits. This Step-by-step guide to meditation will help you begin your journey. (ALSO READThis meditation video featuring celebs has gone viral!).

It is important to select an appropriate time for meditation, as it will be your relaxation time. You must choose a time when you will be free and will not be disturbed. While morning is usually considered the perfect time to meditate, feel free to do it in the evening or any other time when you are free.

Do not meditate after you have your food, as you tend to feel sleepy after your meal. You should meditate after around two hours after your meal or empty stomach.

You need a distraction-free place for meditation. The place should be clean and quite. Turn off your mobile phone, television and computer. If you live with your family or with roommates, close the door of your room before you sit down for meditation. You can light incense or aromatic candles for the meditation. You can also dim the light of the room and light a single lamp to help you meditate.

You can use a yoga mat or cushion to sit down on the floor for meditation. Chairs are avoided as you tend to slump back and lose concentration. Also, you can sit cross-legged position for meditation. Keep your back straight and away from the wall.(ALSO READDo these 5 things when you wake up in the morning for a healthy start)

Before you sit down for your meditation session, try to do some basic yoga asanas to warm up your body. This will improve your blood circulation and make you feel lighter.

You need not sit in padmasana if you are not comfortable sitting in that position. You will be able to concentrate better when you are sitting in a comfortable position. Keep you back straight, your body relaxed and concentrate on your breathing. (ALSO READGroup meditation may cure depression, anxiety and stress-related disorders).

Setting a timer will allow you to meditate without worrying about how long you have been meditating. Set the timer and start your meditation. Begin by meditating for three minutes, then gradually increase it to 10 minutes. You can also meditate for a longer duration.

While meditating, keep your mouth closed and breathe through your nose. Relax your jaws and practice inhaling and exhaling through your nose. Tilting your chin downwards will make breathing easier by opening up the chest. Keep your eyes closed to avoid visual distraction.

Focus on your breathing when you meditate. You do not have to analyze how deep you are breathing but be aware of your breathing. You should be present at that moment and experience it. The world fades away when you concentrate on your inhalation and exhalation.(ALSO READ9 Reasons to Master the Art of Meditation).

While practicing meditation, keep a smile on your face. This gentle smile will enhance your experience and you will feel happy.

As you hear the buzzer of your alarm, gently and slowly open your eyes. Take your time and slowly do some stretches before you get up from that mat.

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How to start meditating: Step-by-step guide to meditation - India.com

Meditation ~ Full Moon meditation ~ Novice and Experienced meditators welcome! Santa Barbara Edhat Immerse yourself in the powerful meditative energy of the Full Moon this Saturday night at 8:00 PM . This is a non-denominational event and newcomers to meditation are especially welcome. The meditation program will be led by Santa Barbara native, Tom ...

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Meditation ~ Full Moon meditation ~ Novice and Experienced meditators welcome! - Santa Barbara Edhat

Katy Perry waves to the camera during her 72-hour live stream. Photograph: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

In 2017, there are myriad ways to approach an album rollout. Theres the Kanye way, consisting of a steady drip of promotional singles and a bonkers listening party at Madison Square Garden, after which, of course, you dont actually release the album. Then theres the Beyonc approach, in which said album arrives as a complete surprise usually with an accompanying film causing tectonic plates to shift as scorned lovers the world over revolt. Adele and Frank Ocean, similarly, dropped long-awaited records after extended hiatuses with minimal promotion. Lady Gaga, who once commissioned a Jeff Koons sculpture for the release of Artpop, now opts for more measured rollouts, sporting cowgirl gear for Bud Light-sponsored gigs at speakeasies and pubs ahead of her folksy record Joanne.

What Katy Perry did this weekend was quite different. Perry, whose album Witness was released on Friday, installed 41 cameras in a Los Angeles apartment for a Big Brother-style live stream lasting from Thursday night to Monday afternoon.

Do you see her, like, take a shit? a friend asked me in anticipation. Well, I wasnt entirely sure, though I assumed not. I had tuned in a bit on Friday Perry was doing transcendental meditation but didnt commit until two days later, on Sunday morning, when I woke up, had coffee, went on YouTube, and became a Witness along with thousands of others.

Katy Perry is asleep when I pull up the stream, which is a bit awkward because James Corden has stopped by for a visit and is wandering around aimlessly. Earlier, there was cooking with Gordon Ramsay, yoga with Jesse Tyler Ferguson, astrophysics with Neil deGrasse Tyson, and therapy with Siri Sat Nam Singh, all in 24 hours.

Perry awakes in funky blue pajamas with stars on them that I wish I owned. She greets Corden and they make their way to the kitchen, where an impressive food artist called Dan Blake is making pancakes with Perry and her friends faces on them. She thanks him and takes a bite, and theres one for her puppy, Nugget, too.

Perry says shell show us how she can make herself look like a frog

The event is, well, not exactly Perrys daily goings-on and the fact that its presented as such can get annoying, particularly in moments when all the necessary pre-orchestration makes itself glaringly known (Perrys assistant can be seen carrying around a face sheet, a sort of PR rubric of all the other celebrities who will be stopping by).

Perry and Corden play Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts, a game in which they choose to answer personal, gossipy questions or instead eat something from an artfully prepared tray that contains cow tongue, scorpion, pickled pigs feet, bird saliva, and a 100-year-old egg. Corden opts to take a bite of the cow tongue instead of saying whos the most boring guest hes ever had on his show. He also takes a shot of mayo when asked to choose between Justin Bieber and Harry Styles.

KP is the more candid of the two, probably due to her totally understandable aversion to eating a pigs innards. Corden asks her to list her famous lovers in bed from worst to best, with Diplo coming in last, followed by Orlando Bloom and then John Mayer. Theyre all amazing lovers, Perry says, and I would have sex with all of them when I get out of this place!

An hour in, I realize something: celebrities are as transcendently boring as we are. Perry says her goodbyes to Corden, and a 3D painter called Tracy Lee Stum stops by. In what looks like the houses courtyard, shes done a sort of panoramic piece in honor of Perrys album, the word Witness written across it. Its nice to see artists, whether of the pancake or graffiti sort, get access to a platform like Perrys, and thus far theyve seized the moment.

KP goes up to her bedroom, where an iPad is waiting for her. She goes to a different, FaceTime-y live stream to answer fan questions. The best part, as is always the case with public streams, is reading the comments as they pour in, which range from messages of unconditional devotion to requests for money or advice or sex. It made me vicariously uncomfortable to watch Perry read and sidestep the weird ones, and then I found my patience tested as she nobly spent 10 minutes giving shout-outs to commenters, repeating the phrase Hi (insert name) hundreds of times and then merely hello in different languages.

Perry says shell show us how she can make herself look like a frog. I didnt know what this meant, but I was nonetheless intrigued. Then, with the help of a secret neck muscle, Perry releases from under her chin what looks like a frogs vocal sac. I attempted to do this multiple times to no avail, but a few commenters chime in that they possess this strange, secret neck muscle, too. I figured out I had it when I was six, Perry says, before going off to shower.

With KP temporarily absent, the house starts blasting her new album and were back to the kitchen camera, where some of Perrys visitors are having their faces replicated in pancake form by our old friend Dan Blake. To pass time, the camera has assumed a cryptic, security footage-style view of the kitchen, where people I still dont know are still chatting and still eating pancakes.

Perry commences a remarkably meticulous skincare routine that goes on long enough to get through at least five songs off her new album, which she sings and dances to while applying nasal strips and deodorant and face cream and a few other things I couldnt identify. This, obviously, is not as grating as the fact that Mariah Carey supposedly gave birth and has sex to her own music, but watching entertainers dance to their own songs is not something Ill ever warm to.

It turns out she was readying herself for a makeup tutorial from the YouTuber wunderkind/makeup artist Patrick Starrr, whos now usurped Dan Blake as the best thing about the stream. Starrr tells Perry a bit about his path to YouTube stardom, how he doubted anyone would want to see a brown, plus-size Filipino do make-up, and hilariously briefs her on some niche lingo, specifically the exact cadence in which one should say: Girl, let me tell you. Then comes an uncomfortable moment as Perry talks about her cosmetics line for CoverGirl and its new initiative: to eliminate the stigma around PDA, public displays of (cosmetic) application. Starrr doesnt look impressed.

I revisited the Witness stream on Sunday evening if only to see how much longer Perry could keep it up. When I log back on, I find Perry, Margaret Cho, Caitlyn Jenner, Van Jones, Derek Blasberg, Ana Navarro and a few others deep in dinner conversation about politics, race relations, and Twitter followers. The best part of this conversation is the politically conservative Caitlyn Jenners reaction, an unsavory mix of scorn and shock, to Margaret Cho saying shes sick of white people.

Its almost 2 in the morning in New York, Ive got work in just a few hours, and things are getting a bit gratuitous on the Witness live stream, so I call it quits, emerging from the depths of internet tedium with an infinitesimally better understanding of Katy Perry and just how one disguises a 72-hour experiment in self-promotion as candid, plain-spoken fun.

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A weekend with Katy Perry's live stream: meditation, James Corden and a dog called Nugget - The Guardian

"By the definite science of meditation known for millenniums to the yogis and sages of India, and to Jesus, any seeker of God can enlarge the caliber of his consciousness to omniscience to receive within himself the Universal Intelligence of God."

Paramahansa Yogananda

Wisdom, creativity, security, happiness, unconditional love is it really possible to find that which will bring us real and lasting joy?

Experiencing the divinity within our own souls, claiming divine joy as our own joy this is what the Kriya Yoga teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda offer to each of us.

The sacred science of Kriya Yoga consists of advanced techniques of meditation whose devoted practice leads to realization of God and liberation of the soul from all forms of bondage. It is the royal or supreme technique of yoga, divine union. (Read "What Is Yoga, Really?")

The illumined sages of India discovered the spiritual science of Kriya Yoga in the long forgotten past. Lord Krishna extols it in the Bhagavad Gita. The sage Patanjali speaks of it in his Yoga Sutras. Paramahansa Yogananda has stated that this ancient meditation method was also known to Jesus Christ, as well as to disciples such as St. John, St. Paul, and others.

Kriya Yoga was lost for centuries in the dark ages, and reintroduced in modern times by Mahavatar Babaji, whose disciple Lahiri Mahasaya (18281895) was the first to teach it openly in our era. Later, Babaji asked Lahiri Mahasaya's disciple, Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri (18551936), to train Paramahansa Yogananda and send him to the West to give this soul-revealing technique to the world.

Paramahansa Yogananda was chosen by his venerable line of gurus to bring the ancient science of Kriya Yoga to the West, and it was for this purpose that he established Self-Realization Fellowship in 1920.

Formerly available only to a faithful few who renounced the world and lived solitary lives as ascetics, the great ones of India have now made the ancient Kriya science available to all sincere seekers worldwide through the instrumentality of Paramahansa Yogananda and the spiritual organization he established (SRF/YSS).

Yogananda wrote: "In bestowing his blessings on me before I came to America in 1920, Mahavatar Babaji told me that I had been chosen for this sacred mission: 'You are the one I have chosen to spread the message of Kriya Yoga in the West. Long ago I met your guru Yukteswar at a Kumbha Mela; I told him then I would send you to him for training.' Babaji then predicted: 'Kriya Yoga, the scientific technique of God-realization, will ultimately spread in all lands, and aid in harmonizing the nations through man's personal, transcendental perception of the Infinite Father.' "

One of the essential goals of Paramahansa Yogananda's mission was "to reveal the complete harmony and basic oneness of original Christianity as taught by Jesus Christ and original Yoga as taught by Bhagavan Krishna; and to show that these principles of truth are the common scientific foundation of all true religions."

To the public at large, Jesus propounded a simple philosophy of faith, love, and forgiveness. He spoke often in parables, pregnant with timeless morals. But to his close disciples he taught deeper truths, truths that have their correspondence in the deepest metaphysical concepts of the more ancient yoga philosophy.

The full understanding of Jesus' original teachings including the fact that he bestowed on his disciples the esoteric techniques of yoga meditation is revealed in Paramahansa Yogananda's in-depth commentary on the Gospels: The Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of the Christ Within You.

Meditation Techniques of the Kriya Yoga Path

Paramahansa Yogananda provides a description of Kriya Yoga in his Autobiography of a Yogi. The actual technique is given to students of the Self-Realization Fellowship Lessons after a preliminary period of study and practice of the three preparatory techniques taught by Paramahansa Yogananda.

Taken together as a comprehensive system, these meditation techniques enable the practitioner to achieve the highest benefits and divine goal of the ancient yoga science.

1. Energization Exercises: A series of psychophysical exercises developed by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1916 to prepare the body for meditation. Regular practice promotes mental and physical relaxation and develops dynamic will power. Making use of the breath, life force, and concentrated attention, the technique enables one to draw abundant energy consciously into the body, purifying and strengthening all the body parts systematically in turn. The Energization Exercises, which take aboutfifteen minutes to perform, are one of the most effective means of eliminating stress and nervous tension. Practicing them prior to meditation is a great help in entering a calm, interiorized state of awareness.

2. Hong-Sau Technique of Concentration helps to develop one's latent powers of concentration. Through practice of this technique one learns to withdraw thought and energy from outward distractions so that they may be focused on any goal to be achieved or problem to be solved. Or one may direct that concentrated attention toward realizing the Divine Consciousness within.

3. Aum Technique of Meditation shows one how to use the power of concentration in the highest wayto discover and develop the divine qualities of one's own true Self. This ancient method teaches how to experience the all-pervading Divine Presence as Aum, the Word or Holy Ghost that underlies and sustains all creation. The technique expands the awareness beyond limitations of body and mind to the joyous realization of one's infinite potential.

4. Kriya Yoga Technique Kriya is an advanced Raja Yoga technique of pranayama (life-energy control). Kriya reinforces and revitalizes subtle currents of life energy (prana) in the spine and brain. The ancient seers of India (rishis) perceived the brain and spine as the tree of life. Out of the subtle cerebrospinal centers of life and consciousness (chakras) flow the energies that enliven all the nerves and every organ and tissue of the body. The yogis discovered that by revolving the life current continuously up and down the spine by the special technique of Kriya Yoga, it is possible to greatly accelerate one's spiritual evolution and awareness.

Correct practice of Kriya Yoga enables the normal activities of the heart and lungs and nervous system to slow down naturally, producing deep inner stillness of body and mind and freeing the attention from the usual turbulence of thoughts, emotions, and sensory perceptions. In the clarity of that inner stillness, one comes to experience a deepening interior peace and attunement with one's soul and with God.

How to Learn Kriya Yoga

Paramahansa Yoganandas SRF Lessons for Home Study

The first step is to apply for the Self-Realization Fellowship Lessons. In the first year of Lesson study at home, students learn threebasic techniques of meditation (described above) and Paramahansajis principles of balanced spiritual living. This gradual introduction has a purpose. A mountain climber seeking to scale the Himalayas must first acclimatize and condition himself before ascending the peaks. So the seeker needs this initial period to acclimatize his or her habits and thoughts, condition the mind with concentration and devotion, and practice directing the body's life energy.Then the yogi is prepared to ascend the spinal highway of realization. After one year of preparation and practice, students are eligible to apply for initiation in the technique of Kriya Yoga, and formally establish the time-honored guru-disciple relationship with Paramahansa Yogananda and his lineage of enlightened masters.

If you have not yet enrolled for the Self-Realization Fellowship Lessons, you will find on these pages some initial instructions on how to meditate, which you can use right away to begin experiencing the benefits that meditation brings.

Guru-Disciple Relationship

Kriya Yoga is the diksha (initiation) or spiritual baptism of Self-Realization Fellowship. By receiving Kriya initiation, students enter into the sacred guru-disciple relationship, accepting Paramahansa Yogananda as their guru (spiritual guide).

Learn more about the guru-disciple relationship.

Read More About Kriya Yoga

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The Kriya Yoga Path of Meditation

Norton Healthcare is building a new $38 million freestanding three-story state-of-the-art Norton Cancer InstituteBrownsboro in Louisville (Kentucky, USA) metro area, which plans to have a Meditation Room and will focus on care of whole person.

It will also include white/pink noise and music in key locations, healing garden and bistro. The projected timeline for completion of the 48,591-square-foot facility is October 2018. Kentucky has one of the highest rates of cancer in the nation, according to a Norton Healthcare release.

Hindus have commended the planned inclusion of Meditation Room in this upcoming cancer institute.

Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, called it a step in the positive direction. A Meditation Room would help infuse spirituality into the atmosphere of this major cancer institute and would provide a place for meditation, reflection and prayer for the patients, their families/friends, staff and visitors; Zed hoped.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, said that meditation might be quite helpful in combating stress caused by challenges usually faced by patients, their families/friends and healthcare providers.

Rajan Zed explained that meditation was a condition of profound internal wakefulness; and added that ancient Hindu scripture Taittiriya Upanishad stated: Meditation is Brahman (the supreme being).

Zed further said that Lord Krishna told in Bhagavad-Gita: With mind and senses disciplined through meditation, bonded with the Self within, the seeker achieves tranquility and nirvana, the state of permanent peace and joy in me. Zed noted that Hinduism had been associated with meditation for ages; and there were various aspects of it, including pratyahara, upasana, samadhi, manana, dhyana, dharana.

Rajan Zed stressed that it should be made mandatory for all the new hospitals/healthcare-centers being built across the country to make provision for a Meditation Room.

Award-winning Norton Healthcare, founded 1886 and headquartered in Louisville, includes five large hospitals, 13 Norton Immediate Care Centers and 190 physicians practice locations. Its faith history includes founding organizations and other faith communities: Episcopal Church, United Methodist Church, United Church of Christ, Presbyterian Church and Roman Catholic Church. Russell F. Cox and Donald H. Robinson are President and Trustees Chair respectively.

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Kentucky's new $38 million cancer institute to have Meditation Room - NewsPatrolling (press release) (blog)

Meditation is often described as a way to clear the mind and ease many health concerns, such as high blood pressure, depression, and anxiety. Meditation can also help individuals relax, reduce stress, be content, have inner peace and enjoy life more.

Carolyn Evans, Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT), Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) of Sat Nam Healing in Burlington, teaches a meditation class 6-7 p.m. every Tuesday at The Art of Yoga, 1104 Ave E, in Fort Madison.

Participants learn basic meditation techniques. The class includes gentle yoga stretching for major joints such as hips, shoulders, and the neck. Evans said they also do guided meditation, breathing exercises, body relaxation, and different methods on how to clear the mind.

Meditation is what grounds you. Its what keeps you going, Evans said.

Last Tuesday, Evans taught loving-kindness meditation which is also known as metta, as it is called in the Pali language. It is unconditional, inclusive love, a love with wisdom.

Evans said she does yoga because it reminds her to turn down the volume on her self and her critical mind.

Yoga teaches us to embrace where we are today, Evans said. If you are your own worst critic, I beg you to change that. The relationship you have with yourself is the most important one.

Evans said the group meditation class helps people feel like they are accountable.

Being in a group setting helps you focus a little bit better and helps you feel like youve got the routine down, Evans said.

Anyone, regardless of age, one can drop-in for a $12 fee. Evans said they have mats, blocks, and pillows, but she recommends attendees wear comfortable clothes.

The class will be open for participants until June 27. After June 27, the meditation class will be offered again in Fort Madison in August.

About Evans

Carolyn Evans is from West Burlington. She is a 2006 graduate of West Burlington High School. In her early 20s Evans was working in the service industry as a waitress and bartender when she first started practicing yoga and meditation as a way to ease her mind from being anxious. Evans was attending William Penn University in Oskaloosa to pursue a degree in human sciences, but after practicing yoga Evans was looking for something different. She decided that becoming a health and wellness instructor for the mind, body, and spirit connection was her calling.

I decided to follow my passion doing what I love, Evans said.

Evans attended the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts in Tempe, Ariz. where she completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training course and earned a degree in massage therapy in 2012.

She worked at a variety of gyms and yoga studios in school and around the Phoenix area. In 2013, after learning different styles of yoga and meditation, she decided to bring back what she learned to Iowa. The name of her company, Sat Nam, means divine truth is my name or truth is my name.

Evans said she has been inspired by those at the Dubuque Yoga Festival. There, Evans learned how to make yoga classes accessible for all bodies with Dianne Bondy, who is a body positive movement yoga instructor. Evans said she teaches people to embrace the body that were in.

Evans main goal coming back to the midwest is to offer yoga and meditation classes to help bring together people in community.

I believe in working with your mind and what you can do to have a healthy body, said Evans.

Since October 2016, Evans, has been leading the Saturday morning Yoga in the Park sessions at North Hill Park in Burlington. She also has an introduction course in meditation at the Southeastern Community College Center for Business.

Evans works out of her office at Sat Nam Healing 400 S. Leebrick St. in Burlington.

If unable to attend the Fort Madison classes, Evans has classes in Burlington on Mondays, 12:30-1:30 p.m., and Wednesdays, 12-1 p.m., at Yoga for You, 217 Jefferson St. There is a $12 drop-in fee or a $50 for 5 classes package.

Evans will also have a Yoga Fest from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 15, at the Perkins Park in Burlington.

For more information about classes, workshops and information about Burlington Yoga Fest call (319)-572-3753 or e-mail at satnamcarl@gmail.com you can also checkout Sat Nam website http://www.satnamhealingtherapy.com.

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Burlington instructor brings meditation, yoga to FM - Fort Madison Daily Democrat

Two recent poetry books establish that singular aspect of poetry as a rewarding path for personal reflection. Both happen to be authored by senior Visayans who have of late been prodigious with their poetry in English.

The first is Partly Cloudy: Poems by Simeon Dumdum Jr., released by University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, while the second is Fire If It Were Ice, Ice If It Were Fire by Cesar Ruiz Aquino, published by Ateneo de Naga University Press.

Dumdum Jr. retired from the judiciary three years ago. A resident of Mohon, Talisay City, Cebu, he tends to special bushes, listens to sacred music, and spends the afternoons with his wife Gingging, also a poet, in a coffee shop by the sea, watching the movement of ships in the channel.

His ninth collection comprises 39 poems that unravel insights beyond mere curtsey to a radius of visibility. The introspection is often a response to observable objects, or what equally appear to be mundane around us, such as the weather in general, or the sea.

There where waves perish south of us/ Us and the whitest whitecaps there/ There can we find the when and where/ Where we may cross the crying waves/ Waves that know theyre about to perish/ Perish with tidings from the south/ South farther than we can think of/ Of which theres none but both of us. (By the Sea)

A covert smile conducts the exquisite musicality via metrical rhythm, cadence, end-rhymes and internal ones. Listen: We felt light, seeing there no bluer blue/ That morning and the sky, and too, coeval/ With it, the sea, which had as edge a few/ White egrets, heads held up in pure approval/ Of a day marred by not the least upheaval,/ All of which I took back, for all too quickly/ The sky had turned from clear to partly cloudy. (Seacape with Growing Raincloud)

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Poems such as Treading on Weather, Walking on Water, and The Sea Defines a Small Dogs Love partake of similar lyricism that leaps beyond levity, while pieces that purvey places gravitas (A Song for Paris, Hiroshima, Mamasapano) still arrive at an equipoise of delight. Heres another that claims this summary balance:

The land has claims on my umbilical cord/ Because I am lumad, a native fed/ With my own fathers corn and with his word/ And if they come and force me out of bed/ I shall not leave my home alive or dead/ My soul will silence them amidst their scoffs,/ A finger aimed at their Kalashnikovs. (A Young Manobo Speaks of War)

For his part, Aquinos lyricism may be said to be of the solipsistic sort, with the perennial conceit of love or desire itself becoming the muse, albeit he too recognizes the environment past and present.

God made the mountains/ and the oceans/ the clouds nimbus, cumulus, stratus// to remind me of the distance/ that divided us/ face to face (Title in Progress)

Limbo rock agility has this poet of Dumaguete often taunting the bar closer to the ground, with minimalist verses scoffing at the challenge of saying much with brevity.

The wind in Dauin/ on a dawn like this, I dont/ know if I miss it,/ with it blew a little bit/ say on your hair, imagine. (Love You Just the Way You Are)

Aquinos fifth book of poetry assembles 181 poems that also hop, skip and jump with frolicsome finesse over wide-ranging territory, at the center of which is often a girl or you. Personal circumnavigation suggests that a poet is raised by a global village, as peopled by Robert Graves, Demi Moore, Manuel Arguilla, Pynchon, Brautigan, Sandra Dee, Nastassja Kinski, Keats, Borges, Tom Jones, Quasimodo, Heraclitus, Duchamp, Hafiz, Rumi, Ava Gardner et al.

Word wizardry habitually spins arcs of mischief out of ruminations just as motlrey as the iconography, fantasized or implicitly recast as long-tooth memories gnashing at extrapolation. Jedi metaphors are of a cerebral sepia, as against any mocha type of symbolism.

This miracle has ever escaped us./ In an unambitious picture, girl/ perfectly replicates the stillness/ of the trees and objects behind her/ that seem to just momentarily/ keep still, for a pose, but are ready/ any moment to resume the whirl,/ the motion of everything thats there. (On a Chance Photograph)

For a reader, both collections offer mediation and meditation. Latin provenance cites, respectively, mediatus, or placed in the middle, and meditat or contemplated, from the verb meditari that suggests measure. Why, as sloganeered last summer at the Writers Village on Camp Lookout, Etymology, come home!

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Poetry as meditation - Philippine Star

A new Pilates studio in Brentwood, early morning yoga at a Santa Monica bar, a day-long retreat in downtown Los Angeles and thousands of people meditating in a local park: Put these on your schedule this week.

This weekend June 10 and 11 -- is the official opening of the new Club Pilates in Brentwood, the latest for the national chain. The 1,000-square-foot spot offers about 45 classes a week, each 50 minutes, spanning eight formats for all levels.

"80% of the classes are classical Pilates reformer," said club general manager Kelly Stoker. "The rest use the Bosu ball, gliders and barre method. There are only 12 reformers in each class, so everyone gets individual attention."

He lost 85 pounds in four months and kept it off

Monthly membership ranges from $109 for four lessons to $224 for unlimited classes based on a three-month commitment, which Stoker says "is the amount of time needed to understand how Pilates can change your body." A 30-minute trial lesson is free. New members who sign up during the opening event get 20% off the first three months.

Info: 11677 San Vicente Blvd., Los Angeles. ClubPilates.com

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Summer Sun Yoga is an hour-long class every Sunday morning til the end of the summer on the terrace at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows in Santa Monica.

"It's yoga with a view, and a nice refresher for anyone who might have stayed out late the night before," said Chelsea Kruse, the mind-body manager at Exhale Spa, which is running the class. Also on offer: a yoga class that happens two Sundays a month at the chic nightlife spot the Bungalow.

Info: Summer Sun Yoga takes places 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. every Sunday through the end of September. Bungalow Yoga takes place 8:45 to 9:45 a.m. on June 11 and June 25, and twice-monthly through the end September. $27 per class. New customers get two for the price of one. 101 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica. ExhaleSpa.com

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June 10 is Global Wellness Day and reason enough for the spa at the Ritz-Carlton in downtown Los Angeles to hold its Wellness Retreat. The June 11 event starts with a 90-minute classic Hatha Flow yoga and meditation session, and fresh-pressed juice.

"An herbalist will demonstrate how to make herbal remedies using herbs from our rooftop garden," said Kory Keith, director of the spa at the hotel. "Guests can make tinctures and scrubs to take home." The day, which also includes a bento box lunch, ends with a 50-minute massage or facial from a curated list.

Info: From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, June 11, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, 900 W. Olympic Blvd. $295 per person. Reservations: (213) 743-8800. ritzcarlton.com

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Los Angeles entrepreneur and former music industry executive Adrian Vallera is a regular on the music/yoga festival circuit, but knows that such events are not always practical -- or affordable -- to get to.

"This is open to anyone," said Vallera, founder of the company Disclosurefest, and organizer of the June 17 Mass Meditation Initiative in downtown Los Angeles.

The day-long, family-friendly free event is designed "to help activate people on the cusp" of better living, said Vallera -- whether that is changing their diet or exploring yoga and meditation. "We're here to cheer that on," he said. Visitors can try out a series of yoga classes from Vinyasa Flow to Kundalini, as well as tai chi and sound baths, or attend workshops in plant-based cooking, using essential oils, astrology and Ayurveda. Vegan food vendors will be on site.

Info: From 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. June 17. A mass meditation is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Los Angeles State Historic Park, 1245 N. Spring St., downtown Los Angeles. Event is free, register for tickets at disclosurefest.com

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Try yoga with a view, or join a mass meditation at downtown LA's newest park - Los Angeles Times

He has been referred to as a mystic, a psychic, a healer, a spiritual guru and many other titles, but Shri Aasaanji pays no attention to any of it.

As far as hes concerned, hes just a human being an ordinary one.

Those are titles that are of no relevance to me. Ive no extra power or magic ability.

All I want to do is create a peaceful world with the knowledge I have acquired.

People seldom spend time on wellbeing and awareness. In fact, living a simple life has become extraordinary in todays world! he says.

The Chennai, India-based founder of the AtmaYoga Foundation is an exponent of healing and meditation, and uses scientific approaches to help people regain their lost health, wealth, success and happiness with minimal effort.

It all begins with the mind.

Aasaanjis interest in the science of the mind started at 13 when he was practising martial arts, and like any teenager, derived pleasure from overpowering his opponents.

Conquering your enemies can lead you to feeling powerful, but it doesnt give you the calmness inside. I started fearing and doubting, so I asked my teacher how to meditate. He said: Think and do nothing.

It took me a while to understand, but I eventually did. Only overcoming yourself can make you peaceful, recalls Aasaanji, who radiates a comforting aura and glow about him.

Meditation opened a new world. Not only did it improve his martial arts prowess, it also led to better health and less common colds and infections.

Noticing the benefits, he continues to meditate daily.

In meditation, it is important not to analyse. Its something we all have to learn, he says.

Aasaanji, who is almost 40, graduated with a degree in engineering, but he never intended to become an engineer.

It was a natural progression as almost everyone in his family is an engineer.

My family is very disciplined and religious, but status was not important. They treated everyone equally.

Theyd go to the temple, but I didnt like going to the temple and we were always in conflict.

The discipline got to me at times. Theyd insist I wake up early in the morning whereas I wanted to sleep in, so for three years, I went away to live in an ashram surrounded by forests.

Thats where Aasaanji learnt about siddha (a system of traditional medicine originating in ancient Tamilakam in South India) and ayurvedic medicine.

He incorporated some of this knowledge into his life and discovered his life improving in all aspects.

In 2007, after his sisters death, Aasaanji put together all that he had learnt and practised, and decided it was time to share his knowledge with the world.

He created Prana-Vritti and Atma-Dhyana.

Aasaanji (seated) sharing his knowledge with participants at one of his workshops. Photo: Shri Aasaanji

These are powerful energy and unique meditation techniques to activate inner transformation and self-healing for total wellbeing.

With these mind-tuning non-religious methods, he claims one can attain a blissful state and experience total transformation in all aspects of life.

Nobody was born to suffer. Your external world is a reflection of your inner world, so you have to change your inner self.

Its your duty to give yourself good health and happiness no one can do it for you.

Only you can change your life and set yourself free from all the sufferings and limitations.

I believe humans have the capability to change the world. My job is to provide you with the tools, says Aasaanji, who will be in Kuala Lumpur to conduct a workshop next weekend.

A favourite past time of Aasaanji is mingling with old people, blind folks and the mentally challenged.

Youll see him on the sidewalks in Chennai and at special homes for the differently-abled.

Its spiritually enlightening when I spend time with them.

For me, pain is joy. It may sound contradictory, but we all cannot avoid pain for it is real, but we can avoid suffering, as it is imaginary.

If you can change this to create a better future, why not?

Dont you want to have a good time all the time? he asks.

He also has an affinity towards animals and shares an incident from when he was 17.

Our dog had delivered some puppies and one died. The mother took her living little ones to another place, leaving the dead one aside.

Ants came to feed on it, and when I saw it, I was so distraught. I took the cold body and cleaned up the ants.

Then the puppy started moving!

I dont know how it happened, but my sister thought I had magical powers! he shares, laughing.

The back-from-the-dead puppy grew to live a long life.

Aasaanji has taught his method to more than 10,000 people and has conducted more than 2,000 workshops worldwide.

He says all that is required is about 25 minutes of minimal dedication a day.

I call it a panacea for humanity. You choose the experience you want to have.

Students (of this method) should flourish and prosper in what theyre doing without harming themselves or others.

Without meditation, the mind will give in to non-essential, negative, self-destructive thoughts.

With meditation, you should only have positive thoughts.

Anger and fear generally arises from people who are not happy.

He stresses that only you can heal yourself.

We all choose the experience we want to have.

We cannot determine how long well live, but we can decide how healthy and happy we want to be.

This is what I call the science of transformation, says Aasaanji, putting his hands in prayer position as he takes his leave.

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Want to unlock your hidden potential? Just meditate on it - Star2.com

The National

A meditation chamber you can keep in your living room The National Yoga classes and meditation tapes are all very well, should you be able to find one that aligns with your exact specifications. But imagine if there were a space, open to you at any time of day, that not only provided colour and sound therapy, but also ... and more »

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A meditation chamber you can keep in your living room - The National