journeyofayogaconnoisseur

Saucha. i.e. cleanliness is one of the most important  Niyama a person must follow. Last Saturday I just got back home from my yoga class and walked past the kitchen into my room to drop off my bag. When I came back to make a cup of tea I was aghast at the sight of the total mess my family had made out of it, I had left it spotless this morning and now there was evidence of all the cooking that happened from breakfast to lunch. I told myself, I was too tired and couldn't be bothered to clear it up now after all I need a break! So, I made myself a cup of tea and was about to sit down when my Aunt in law called out "Helloooo". I could feel my stomach churning "Oh No!!". But as it always happens she walked right into the kitchen to find me sitting amidst a messy kitchen with my tea. She is very kind and never said anything about it. But still!! I should've just cleared it up when I had a few minutes rather than waiting to do it another time. सत्

Happy Pongal!! This week I went to see the current thriller Uri: The Surgical Strike directed by debutant Aditya Dhar and produced by Ronnie Screwvala starring Vicky Kaushal, Yami Gautam, Paresh Rawal among the others. Initially, I was skeptical about this as I expected a lot of violence. But, it turned out to be a very touching experience and makes one feel deeply for the lives of soldiers. It is based on real story of how on 8th September 2016 , Uri base camp in the state of Jammu Kashmir was under attack by 4 heavily armed militants. It was also reported as "the deadliest attack on security forces in Kashmir in two decades" . To avenge all the terror attacks, a Surgical strike was conducted by the Indian Army which is explained in this movie. Surgical strike: A surgical strike is a military attack which is intended to damage only a legitimate military target, with no or minimal collateral damage to surrounding structures, vehicles, bu

If you need one book   which explains what Yoga is all about, refer the  Yoga Sutras ,   written  by Sage Patanjali. It consists of  general guidelines for spiritual growth and the sutras are  not just beliefs but are methods that can be tested by each one of us to see for ourselves if we are benefited  as the sutra claims. Yoga is a way of life and by following Ashtanga Yoga step by step you reach this ideal state of mind called Samadhi / kaivalya. Samadhi is a state that is aimed and reached by sages, rishis and people like Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Shankaracharya to name a few. Disclaimer: We, on the other hand, are regular people (Aam Admi) having a regular life which consists of meetings, deadlines, traffic, cleaning, cooking, kids, tax filings, etc and it may not be possible for us to really follow everything that is told here unless we decide to leave our families and go into the forest (which is very scary and I'm not planning to do that anytime soo

Another year has gone by and 2019 is here!!!  I love making resolutions! It makes me look forward to a better me by the end of the year. Of course, some resolutions are continued from last year’s list and the rest are lessons learnt during the year.     My 2019 resolutions are … -           Following a sattvic diet -           Time management -           Minimalist wardrobe and life -           Home Organization -           Gardening 1) To f ollow a sattvic diet : First of all, what is Sattvic diet? According to Wikipedia: A sattvic diet is meant to include foods and eating habits that are "pure, essential, natural, vital, energy-containing, clean, conscious, true, honest, wise". A sattvic diet can also exemplify the religious principle of  Ahimsa , the doctrine of non-violence, or not causing harm to other living things, which is one reason why yogis often follow a vegetarian diet. This is hard!   It is very difficult to