ஜிம் விட்டிங் தனது வாழ்க்கையை எப்படி யோகா காப்பாற்றியது என்பதைப் பற்றியும், கத்தோலிக்கராக இருந்து இந்துவாக ஆனது பற்றியும் பேட்டியில் விளக்குகிறார்
வாழ்க வளமுடன்.
இருளிலிருந்து ஒளிக்கு!
FINDING MY RELIGION
Yoga saved Jim Whiting's life
David Ian Miller
Monday, July 2, 2007
David Ian Miller
Finding My Religion
Archives
What's It All About?
Jim Whiting credits yoga with saving his life on more than one occasion. His yoga practice got him back into shape, gave him a new and a far more optimistic outlook and may have recently saved him from an early death by drowning.
I spoke with Whiting, who works as a graphic artist in Albany, N.Y., by phone about spiritual aspects of yoga that are often overlooked in the West, his recent boating accident and how he used yoga as a tool to re-engineer his life.
What sparked your interest in yoga?
A few years ago, I was really overweight. I smoked two packs of cigarettes a day, didn't get any exercise and was totally out of shape. And I was going through a divorce. I had reached a point of despair where I didn't really care what happened to me. Finally I decided that I had to make some changes or I was going to end up dead at a pretty young age.
One day, I was at a local Y when I saw a flyer for a yoga and meditation group. I thought, "Hey! Maybe I'll try this. Maybe I'll find something I'm looking for." And, sure enough, I did. I studied with the gentleman who was teaching the class for about 10 years, and we became very good friends. I consider him a mentor.
What surprised you the most about yoga when you started practicing it?
I didn't realize how out of shape I was. I couldn't even touch my toes. There was almost no flexibility in my body. I started studying postures at the local Hindu temple and practicing on my own, and gradually I began to feel better.
Emotionally, going through a divorce, that was a big trial. And I think without my yoga practice, I probably would have been ... well, I was really devastated, but it would have been much more traumatic. I really relied on yoga to get me through the trauma of the divorce and separation.
So if you hadn't found yoga, it might not have ended so well?
Probably not, although I think the way the universe works, I might have found what I was looking for anyway. The Hindus believe that you go through the same process over and over again, throughout each lifetime, until you get it right.
How else has yoga enhanced your life so far?
It keeps me centered and it helps me in my interaction with other people, my outlook on the world and life. When you are going through these emotional crises, you have a tendency to -- your outlook is pretty dark. And yoga helped -- and still helps -- me to keep the spiritual connection alive, looking towards the optimistic side of things.
What is Kripalu yoga?
Basically, it's meditation in motion. The idea is that you concentrate on your breath while performing asanas (postures), and you become centered in your meditation through breath work, breathing through the postures as you do them.
It was developed in India by a man named Swami Kripalu and is based on accessing prana, which is life-force energy, and releasing it. You do a series of postures, and by stretching certain muscles you release energy and any emotions that are bottled up inside. That way the energy can flow.
How difficult is it to master?
Not that difficult. A lot of the classes start out with gentle, easy movement -- the point is to get students moving parts of their bodies they are not used to moving. Most of us only go through the same motions every day, day in and day out. I know that working on a computer I sit at a desk all day, and I carry a lot of tension in my shoulders and my neck. So starting to move those muscles helps me relieve the tensions that are stored in there.
Lots of people do yoga as a form of exercise. But I think many people emphasize the physical regimen and ignore its spiritual components.
Definitely. Here in the West we have just picked up on the exercise part, but it really is a spiritual practice. It's a whole philosophy.
Can you say a little bit more about this?
The word "yoga" refers to the yoking of the self -- controlling the self -- in order to become the best human beings that we possibly can. And that requires a certain amount of spiritual connection to one other. We are all interconnected in some sense, and yoga is a means of staying in touch with that truth.
Through the process of yoga we can begin to remember that we are all part of the source and we are all here to help each other.
What do you mean by "the source"?
Some people call it God. I was talking earlier about prana, the energy that flows through everything. I believe that's the intelligent energy that runs the universe. I think that's what people mean by God or Yahweh or whatever term you want to use.
How do you relate to that source? How do you interact with it?
I find that by meditating and calming my mind, I begin to connect to my inner source of me, an inner light or divinity that is shared by every living thing on the earth. We all have it.
You mentioned that yoga can be used to clear angry emotions and bad experiences from your life, from your body. How does that work?
It's similar to the way acupuncture works. You have energy that's constricting the body, and it needs to be released. So when you bury or suppress anger, for example, it stays in your body and can manifest as a form of illness. The body is an interconnected system. These emotions are not just going to go away. What you're doing with yoga is releasing that energy, much like acupuncture does with a needle in your skin, so that it begins to flow. That way you can work through the emotions, release them from your body.
What is the hardest part of yoga for you?
The hardest thing for most people is the discipline, trying to do it every day. I know that's the hardest part for me.
How do you get over the hump?
Well, after a while you begin to enjoy the benefits of doing it. You have a calmer mind and you feel an internal energy that you hadn't had before. So when you don't do it, you begin to miss that.
Have you always been a spiritual person?
As a kid, I definitely had a spiritual view of things, but I lost some of that as I grew up. Since being introduced to yoga and meditation, I feel as though I've gotten back to that.
Do you follow a specific religion now?
I wouldn't call it a religion. I'd say it's more of a spiritual path that has led in a few different directions. I have studied the Himalayan tradition, and now I'm studying Kripalu, which is very similar. I've also studied a lot of Hinduism and found it to be very integrating, very accepting of other religions. And after being raised Catholic, I found that very refreshing.
Now you're teaching yoga. What sorts of classes are you teaching?
I'm teaching beginner yoga classes as well as a class for more advanced students. I incorporate spirituality into all my classes.
How so?
We do meditation, and I spend time showing them how to connect to the energy flow -- the source. I also read from spiritual writings.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to learn yoga?
I would go to a class. Interacting with people who are looking for the same thing or teachers who have something to offer is much better than reading a book at home.
You mentioned earlier that you were recently in a boating accident.
Yes, and I think yoga saved my life.
How so?
I was out on a boat in the middle of a lake, and the engine died. I had my mother out there and my small nephew and my sister -- no way to call for help because the radio also decided not to work, so I had to swim about four miles to shore.
To me, that was a big deal. I had a terrible fear of drowning when I was a kid. I used to have nightmares about being in a huge ocean, just floating, with nothing around but water everywhere.
So I was out in the middle of the lake, and it was really choppy. At one point, I panicked and felt that I wasn't getting anywhere, and I just started doing my yoga breathing and repeating my mantra, and that got me through it. For a little while there, I thought this might be it, this is where I'd buy the farm.
You're only 47 -- do you think much about dying?
I used to think a lot about death when I first started doing yoga and meditation. My teacher said to me: "Yoga is kind of like dying. You have to give up the position that you are standing in. You have to give it up to create space for something new. It's a process of dying to your old self." For a while, I struggled with that, but now I have more of a fear of not really living than dying.
What do you think happens when you die?
I think that we are energy, and energy can never die. Energy can only transform. We transform from one thing to another.
So you believe in reincarnation. Did that bring you any comfort while you were out there on the lake, or were you just scared?
Most swamis will tell you that they don't really want to come back [reincarnate] and have to do it again. So they try to get it right in this lifetime. It kind of scared me that I would have to go through this whole process again. Sometimes it's painful enough to go through it once.
So everybody got home OK?
Everybody got home OK. I found a fisherman who took me back to my boat and towed it back to shore. He thought I was a crazy decathlon swimmer and couldn't believe I swam across the lake. It's a really big lake.
Did you learn anything from that boating experience that applies to your life?
I've learned you can do difficult things if you put your mind to it. I was out there, I was scared and I just said to myself: "This is not what I want. I don't want to be scared. I don't want to freak out. I can do this." And I calmed down and did it. I think that's a lesson I can apply to almost anything.
Finding My Religion wants to hear from you. Send comments on stories and suggestions for interview subjects to miller@sfgate.com.
Showing posts with label இந்து மதம். Show all posts
Showing posts with label இந்து மதம். Show all posts
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
என் வாழ்க்கையை காப்பாற்றிய யோகா!
என் வாழ்க்கையை காப்பாற்றிய யோகா!
ஜிம் விட்டிங்கின் பேட்டி
FINDING MY RELIGION
Yoga saved Jim Whiting's life
David Ian Miller
Monday, July 2, 2007
David Ian Miller
Finding My Religion
Archives
What's It All About?
Jim Whiting credits yoga with saving his life on more than one occasion. His yoga practice got him back into shape, gave him a new and a far more optimistic outlook and may have recently saved him from an early death by drowning.
I spoke with Whiting, who works as a graphic artist in Albany, N.Y., by phone about spiritual aspects of yoga that are often overlooked in the West, his recent boating accident and how he used yoga as a tool to re-engineer his life.
What sparked your interest in yoga?
A few years ago, I was really overweight. I smoked two packs of cigarettes a day, didn't get any exercise and was totally out of shape. And I was going through a divorce. I had reached a point of despair where I didn't really care what happened to me. Finally I decided that I had to make some changes or I was going to end up dead at a pretty young age.
One day, I was at a local Y when I saw a flyer for a yoga and meditation group. I thought, "Hey! Maybe I'll try this. Maybe I'll find something I'm looking for." And, sure enough, I did. I studied with the gentleman who was teaching the class for about 10 years, and we became very good friends. I consider him a mentor.
What surprised you the most about yoga when you started practicing it?
I didn't realize how out of shape I was. I couldn't even touch my toes. There was almost no flexibility in my body. I started studying postures at the local Hindu temple and practicing on my own, and gradually I began to feel better.
Emotionally, going through a divorce, that was a big trial. And I think without my yoga practice, I probably would have been ... well, I was really devastated, but it would have been much more traumatic. I really relied on yoga to get me through the trauma of the divorce and separation.
So if you hadn't found yoga, it might not have ended so well?
Probably not, although I think the way the universe works, I might have found what I was looking for anyway. The Hindus believe that you go through the same process over and over again, throughout each lifetime, until you get it right.
How else has yoga enhanced your life so far?
It keeps me centered and it helps me in my interaction with other people, my outlook on the world and life. When you are going through these emotional crises, you have a tendency to -- your outlook is pretty dark. And yoga helped -- and still helps -- me to keep the spiritual connection alive, looking towards the optimistic side of things.
What is Kripalu yoga?
Basically, it's meditation in motion. The idea is that you concentrate on your breath while performing asanas (postures), and you become centered in your meditation through breath work, breathing through the postures as you do them.
It was developed in India by a man named Swami Kripalu and is based on accessing prana, which is life-force energy, and releasing it. You do a series of postures, and by stretching certain muscles you release energy and any emotions that are bottled up inside. That way the energy can flow.
How difficult is it to master?
Not that difficult. A lot of the classes start out with gentle, easy movement -- the point is to get students moving parts of their bodies they are not used to moving. Most of us only go through the same motions every day, day in and day out. I know that working on a computer I sit at a desk all day, and I carry a lot of tension in my shoulders and my neck. So starting to move those muscles helps me relieve the tensions that are stored in there.
Lots of people do yoga as a form of exercise. But I think many people emphasize the physical regimen and ignore its spiritual components.
Definitely. Here in the West we have just picked up on the exercise part, but it really is a spiritual practice. It's a whole philosophy.
Can you say a little bit more about this?
The word "yoga" refers to the yoking of the self -- controlling the self -- in order to become the best human beings that we possibly can. And that requires a certain amount of spiritual connection to one other. We are all interconnected in some sense, and yoga is a means of staying in touch with that truth.
Through the process of yoga we can begin to remember that we are all part of the source and we are all here to help each other.
What do you mean by "the source"?
Some people call it God. I was talking earlier about prana, the energy that flows through everything. I believe that's the intelligent energy that runs the universe. I think that's what people mean by God or Yahweh or whatever term you want to use.
How do you relate to that source? How do you interact with it?
I find that by meditating and calming my mind, I begin to connect to my inner source of me, an inner light or divinity that is shared by every living thing on the earth. We all have it.
You mentioned that yoga can be used to clear angry emotions and bad experiences from your life, from your body. How does that work?
It's similar to the way acupuncture works. You have energy that's constricting the body, and it needs to be released. So when you bury or suppress anger, for example, it stays in your body and can manifest as a form of illness. The body is an interconnected system. These emotions are not just going to go away. What you're doing with yoga is releasing that energy, much like acupuncture does with a needle in your skin, so that it begins to flow. That way you can work through the emotions, release them from your body.
What is the hardest part of yoga for you?
The hardest thing for most people is the discipline, trying to do it every day. I know that's the hardest part for me.
How do you get over the hump?
Well, after a while you begin to enjoy the benefits of doing it. You have a calmer mind and you feel an internal energy that you hadn't had before. So when you don't do it, you begin to miss that.
Have you always been a spiritual person?
As a kid, I definitely had a spiritual view of things, but I lost some of that as I grew up. Since being introduced to yoga and meditation, I feel as though I've gotten back to that.
Do you follow a specific religion now?
I wouldn't call it a religion. I'd say it's more of a spiritual path that has led in a few different directions. I have studied the Himalayan tradition, and now I'm studying Kripalu, which is very similar. I've also studied a lot of Hinduism and found it to be very integrating, very accepting of other religions. And after being raised Catholic, I found that very refreshing.
Now you're teaching yoga. What sorts of classes are you teaching?
I'm teaching beginner yoga classes as well as a class for more advanced students. I incorporate spirituality into all my classes.
How so?
We do meditation, and I spend time showing them how to connect to the energy flow -- the source. I also read from spiritual writings.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to learn yoga?
I would go to a class. Interacting with people who are looking for the same thing or teachers who have something to offer is much better than reading a book at home.
You mentioned earlier that you were recently in a boating accident.
Yes, and I think yoga saved my life.
How so?
I was out on a boat in the middle of a lake, and the engine died. I had my mother out there and my small nephew and my sister -- no way to call for help because the radio also decided not to work, so I had to swim about four miles to shore.
To me, that was a big deal. I had a terrible fear of drowning when I was a kid. I used to have nightmares about being in a huge ocean, just floating, with nothing around but water everywhere.
So I was out in the middle of the lake, and it was really choppy. At one point, I panicked and felt that I wasn't getting anywhere, and I just started doing my yoga breathing and repeating my mantra, and that got me through it. For a little while there, I thought this might be it, this is where I'd buy the farm.
You're only 47 -- do you think much about dying?
I used to think a lot about death when I first started doing yoga and meditation. My teacher said to me: "Yoga is kind of like dying. You have to give up the position that you are standing in. You have to give it up to create space for something new. It's a process of dying to your old self." For a while, I struggled with that, but now I have more of a fear of not really living than dying.
What do you think happens when you die?
I think that we are energy, and energy can never die. Energy can only transform. We transform from one thing to another.
So you believe in reincarnation. Did that bring you any comfort while you were out there on the lake, or were you just scared?
Most swamis will tell you that they don't really want to come back [reincarnate] and have to do it again. So they try to get it right in this lifetime. It kind of scared me that I would have to go through this whole process again. Sometimes it's painful enough to go through it once.
So everybody got home OK?
Everybody got home OK. I found a fisherman who took me back to my boat and towed it back to shore. He thought I was a crazy decathlon swimmer and couldn't believe I swam across the lake. It's a really big lake.
Did you learn anything from that boating experience that applies to your life?
I've learned you can do difficult things if you put your mind to it. I was out there, I was scared and I just said to myself: "This is not what I want. I don't want to be scared. I don't want to freak out. I can do this." And I calmed down and did it. I think that's a lesson I can apply to almost anything.
Finding My Religion wants to hear from you. Send comments on stories and suggestions for interview subjects to miller@sfgate.com.
ஜிம் விட்டிங்கின் பேட்டி
FINDING MY RELIGION
Yoga saved Jim Whiting's life
David Ian Miller
Monday, July 2, 2007
David Ian Miller
Finding My Religion
Archives
What's It All About?
Jim Whiting credits yoga with saving his life on more than one occasion. His yoga practice got him back into shape, gave him a new and a far more optimistic outlook and may have recently saved him from an early death by drowning.
I spoke with Whiting, who works as a graphic artist in Albany, N.Y., by phone about spiritual aspects of yoga that are often overlooked in the West, his recent boating accident and how he used yoga as a tool to re-engineer his life.
What sparked your interest in yoga?
A few years ago, I was really overweight. I smoked two packs of cigarettes a day, didn't get any exercise and was totally out of shape. And I was going through a divorce. I had reached a point of despair where I didn't really care what happened to me. Finally I decided that I had to make some changes or I was going to end up dead at a pretty young age.
One day, I was at a local Y when I saw a flyer for a yoga and meditation group. I thought, "Hey! Maybe I'll try this. Maybe I'll find something I'm looking for." And, sure enough, I did. I studied with the gentleman who was teaching the class for about 10 years, and we became very good friends. I consider him a mentor.
What surprised you the most about yoga when you started practicing it?
I didn't realize how out of shape I was. I couldn't even touch my toes. There was almost no flexibility in my body. I started studying postures at the local Hindu temple and practicing on my own, and gradually I began to feel better.
Emotionally, going through a divorce, that was a big trial. And I think without my yoga practice, I probably would have been ... well, I was really devastated, but it would have been much more traumatic. I really relied on yoga to get me through the trauma of the divorce and separation.
So if you hadn't found yoga, it might not have ended so well?
Probably not, although I think the way the universe works, I might have found what I was looking for anyway. The Hindus believe that you go through the same process over and over again, throughout each lifetime, until you get it right.
How else has yoga enhanced your life so far?
It keeps me centered and it helps me in my interaction with other people, my outlook on the world and life. When you are going through these emotional crises, you have a tendency to -- your outlook is pretty dark. And yoga helped -- and still helps -- me to keep the spiritual connection alive, looking towards the optimistic side of things.
What is Kripalu yoga?
Basically, it's meditation in motion. The idea is that you concentrate on your breath while performing asanas (postures), and you become centered in your meditation through breath work, breathing through the postures as you do them.
It was developed in India by a man named Swami Kripalu and is based on accessing prana, which is life-force energy, and releasing it. You do a series of postures, and by stretching certain muscles you release energy and any emotions that are bottled up inside. That way the energy can flow.
How difficult is it to master?
Not that difficult. A lot of the classes start out with gentle, easy movement -- the point is to get students moving parts of their bodies they are not used to moving. Most of us only go through the same motions every day, day in and day out. I know that working on a computer I sit at a desk all day, and I carry a lot of tension in my shoulders and my neck. So starting to move those muscles helps me relieve the tensions that are stored in there.
Lots of people do yoga as a form of exercise. But I think many people emphasize the physical regimen and ignore its spiritual components.
Definitely. Here in the West we have just picked up on the exercise part, but it really is a spiritual practice. It's a whole philosophy.
Can you say a little bit more about this?
The word "yoga" refers to the yoking of the self -- controlling the self -- in order to become the best human beings that we possibly can. And that requires a certain amount of spiritual connection to one other. We are all interconnected in some sense, and yoga is a means of staying in touch with that truth.
Through the process of yoga we can begin to remember that we are all part of the source and we are all here to help each other.
What do you mean by "the source"?
Some people call it God. I was talking earlier about prana, the energy that flows through everything. I believe that's the intelligent energy that runs the universe. I think that's what people mean by God or Yahweh or whatever term you want to use.
How do you relate to that source? How do you interact with it?
I find that by meditating and calming my mind, I begin to connect to my inner source of me, an inner light or divinity that is shared by every living thing on the earth. We all have it.
You mentioned that yoga can be used to clear angry emotions and bad experiences from your life, from your body. How does that work?
It's similar to the way acupuncture works. You have energy that's constricting the body, and it needs to be released. So when you bury or suppress anger, for example, it stays in your body and can manifest as a form of illness. The body is an interconnected system. These emotions are not just going to go away. What you're doing with yoga is releasing that energy, much like acupuncture does with a needle in your skin, so that it begins to flow. That way you can work through the emotions, release them from your body.
What is the hardest part of yoga for you?
The hardest thing for most people is the discipline, trying to do it every day. I know that's the hardest part for me.
How do you get over the hump?
Well, after a while you begin to enjoy the benefits of doing it. You have a calmer mind and you feel an internal energy that you hadn't had before. So when you don't do it, you begin to miss that.
Have you always been a spiritual person?
As a kid, I definitely had a spiritual view of things, but I lost some of that as I grew up. Since being introduced to yoga and meditation, I feel as though I've gotten back to that.
Do you follow a specific religion now?
I wouldn't call it a religion. I'd say it's more of a spiritual path that has led in a few different directions. I have studied the Himalayan tradition, and now I'm studying Kripalu, which is very similar. I've also studied a lot of Hinduism and found it to be very integrating, very accepting of other religions. And after being raised Catholic, I found that very refreshing.
Now you're teaching yoga. What sorts of classes are you teaching?
I'm teaching beginner yoga classes as well as a class for more advanced students. I incorporate spirituality into all my classes.
How so?
We do meditation, and I spend time showing them how to connect to the energy flow -- the source. I also read from spiritual writings.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to learn yoga?
I would go to a class. Interacting with people who are looking for the same thing or teachers who have something to offer is much better than reading a book at home.
You mentioned earlier that you were recently in a boating accident.
Yes, and I think yoga saved my life.
How so?
I was out on a boat in the middle of a lake, and the engine died. I had my mother out there and my small nephew and my sister -- no way to call for help because the radio also decided not to work, so I had to swim about four miles to shore.
To me, that was a big deal. I had a terrible fear of drowning when I was a kid. I used to have nightmares about being in a huge ocean, just floating, with nothing around but water everywhere.
So I was out in the middle of the lake, and it was really choppy. At one point, I panicked and felt that I wasn't getting anywhere, and I just started doing my yoga breathing and repeating my mantra, and that got me through it. For a little while there, I thought this might be it, this is where I'd buy the farm.
You're only 47 -- do you think much about dying?
I used to think a lot about death when I first started doing yoga and meditation. My teacher said to me: "Yoga is kind of like dying. You have to give up the position that you are standing in. You have to give it up to create space for something new. It's a process of dying to your old self." For a while, I struggled with that, but now I have more of a fear of not really living than dying.
What do you think happens when you die?
I think that we are energy, and energy can never die. Energy can only transform. We transform from one thing to another.
So you believe in reincarnation. Did that bring you any comfort while you were out there on the lake, or were you just scared?
Most swamis will tell you that they don't really want to come back [reincarnate] and have to do it again. So they try to get it right in this lifetime. It kind of scared me that I would have to go through this whole process again. Sometimes it's painful enough to go through it once.
So everybody got home OK?
Everybody got home OK. I found a fisherman who took me back to my boat and towed it back to shore. He thought I was a crazy decathlon swimmer and couldn't believe I swam across the lake. It's a really big lake.
Did you learn anything from that boating experience that applies to your life?
I've learned you can do difficult things if you put your mind to it. I was out there, I was scared and I just said to myself: "This is not what I want. I don't want to be scared. I don't want to freak out. I can do this." And I calmed down and did it. I think that's a lesson I can apply to almost anything.
Finding My Religion wants to hear from you. Send comments on stories and suggestions for interview subjects to miller@sfgate.com.
Friday, June 29, 2007
ஆஸ்திரேலியாவில் இந்துமதத்தை பின்பற்றுபவர்களின் எண்ணிக்கை இருமடங்காகியிருக்கிறது என்று சென்ஸஸ் கூறுகிறது.
கிறிஸ்துவ மதத்தைபின்பற்றுபவர்களின் எண்ணிக்கை 71 சதவீதத்திலிருந்து 64 சதவீதமாக குறைந்துள்ளது. ஒரு மதத்தையும் பின்பற்றாதவர்களின் சதவீதம் 19 சதவீதமாக ஆகியிருக்கிறது.
Hindu followers doubled Down Under
27 Jun, 2007 l 1020 hrs ISTlPTI
MELBOURNE: The number of followers of Hinduism in Australia has doubled since 1996 and now they comprise 0.7 per cent of the total population, a latest census data said.
The latest data from the 2006 census, released on Wednesday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), confirmed this and revealed that the followers of Buddhism have also doubled to more than two per cent of the population. Islam followers accounted for 1.7 per cent and Judaism 0.4 per cent.
Christianity, however, remained the dominant religion. It grew slightly, from 12.6 million followers to 12.7 million but fell as a proportion of the population from 71 per cent to 64 per cent.
Almost 19 per cent of Australians said they had no religion.
According to the survey data, for every 100 women in Australia, there are 97 men.
Marriage is still the norm for couples, although married couples now account for a lower share of the population than they did in 1996 - down from 53.3 per cent to 49.6 per cent.
The survey conducted on 19,855,289 locals on August 8 last year also revealed that Australians are earning more, Hinduism is growing and women do more chores than men.
கிறிஸ்துவ மதத்தைபின்பற்றுபவர்களின் எண்ணிக்கை 71 சதவீதத்திலிருந்து 64 சதவீதமாக குறைந்துள்ளது. ஒரு மதத்தையும் பின்பற்றாதவர்களின் சதவீதம் 19 சதவீதமாக ஆகியிருக்கிறது.
Hindu followers doubled Down Under
27 Jun, 2007 l 1020 hrs ISTlPTI
MELBOURNE: The number of followers of Hinduism in Australia has doubled since 1996 and now they comprise 0.7 per cent of the total population, a latest census data said.
The latest data from the 2006 census, released on Wednesday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), confirmed this and revealed that the followers of Buddhism have also doubled to more than two per cent of the population. Islam followers accounted for 1.7 per cent and Judaism 0.4 per cent.
Christianity, however, remained the dominant religion. It grew slightly, from 12.6 million followers to 12.7 million but fell as a proportion of the population from 71 per cent to 64 per cent.
Almost 19 per cent of Australians said they had no religion.
According to the survey data, for every 100 women in Australia, there are 97 men.
Marriage is still the norm for couples, although married couples now account for a lower share of the population than they did in 1996 - down from 53.3 per cent to 49.6 per cent.
The survey conducted on 19,855,289 locals on August 8 last year also revealed that Australians are earning more, Hinduism is growing and women do more chores than men.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
சியாட்டல்: மன அழுத்தத்துக்கு நல்ல மருந்து யோகா
மன அழுத்தத்துக்கு depression நல்ல மருந்து யோகா என்று ஆராய்ச்சியாளர்கள் கூறுகிறார்கள்.
Living Well: Researcher documents the benefits of yoga in lifting depression
By BOB CONDOR
SPECIAL TO THE P-I
Like many of us who aspire to practice yoga, Dr. Chris Streeter is what she calls "variable."
"Sometimes I am doing it five times a week and other times maybe once a month," said Streeter, a neurologist and psychiatrist at the Boston University School of Medicine.
And, like many of us, Streeter would like to practice yoga more consistently. It flat-out makes her feel better and stronger. But let's cut Streeter some slack. Along with her physician duties at a major urban teaching hospital -- and two medical specialties to balance -- Streeter last month published a groundbreaking study showing that yoga works to ease depression and anxiety. The paper appeared in the May issue of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.
"I'm quite sure this is the first study that's shown there is a measurable change in a major (brain) neurotransmitter with a behavioral intervention such as yoga," Streeter said. "What's really fabulous is this is hard science that is able to clearly document neurochemical changes in the brain."
In other words, no yoga bashing allowed. What Streeter and her colleagues discovered is that brain scans of yoga participants showed a significant boost in levels of the brain neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric, or GABA, immediately after a one-hour yoga session. Low GABA is associated with mild to moderate depression and anxiety, along with irritability some women experience during a menstrual cycle.
Streeter has been monitoring yoga in the research literature for a while now. She noted that a number of studies indicated that yoga can reduce anxiety and that regular yoga can decrease seizures in epilepsy patients. She knew that epilepsy drugs are designed to increase GABA, so she "put two and two together."
Eight yoga participants were recruited and 11 people were in the control group. The yoga participants were longtime practitioners who Streeter defined as "at least twice per week for at least four months." Everyone underwent a base-line scan, then the yoga participants performed a 60-minute session while the control group read magazines or novels but nothing directly aimed at lifting spirit or mood.
Everyone was rescanned immediately after the yoga or reading hours. GABA levels were up 27 percent, on average, among the yoga participants. Control group members showed no change.
"One thing is important to emphasize," Streeter said. "Don't use these study results to chuck your medications (for depression or anxiety). Always work with your doctor if you want to change or reduce your medications."
Importantly, Streeter took "all comers" in terms of yoga disciplines. Hatha, ashtanga, bikram, vinyasa and kripalu were all represented. Not restricting the type of yoga means the results are more applicable to our lives, where some of us might like the gentler hatha form or the "power yoga" connected with ashtanga.
Streeter explained there are three basic parts to yoga and its potential benefits: the asanas or postures, the breathing or prana exercises, and meditation.
"We picked the postures and the breathing exercises because they are common (across the disciplines) and observable," Streeter said. "My research assistant is a yoga practitioner, too. One or both of us observed the yoga sessions. The yoga practitioners were doing the basics, such as a sun salutation and spinal twists."
Some of Streeter's medical colleagues criticized the study for not including an exercise group other than the yoga volunteers. They pointed to the large number of studies connecting aerobic exercise to decreases in depression and anxiety symptoms.
For her part, Streeter is not arguing against running or getting on the stair climber. She is more about offering up yoga as valid brain booster. The hard science of the study is undeniable.
Streeter learned earlier this month that the federal government's National Institutes of Health gave a high score to her research grant proposal for a larger yoga-GABA study beginning this fall. She will learn by September if the funding comes through.
"It will be a much bigger study," she said. "We will use yoga-naive people to gauge how a regular practice can change GABA levels. It will also include more ability to gauge the positive effects of yoga over time."
Let's call May an uplifting month for yoga advocates. In a separate published study, researchers at the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, India, found that yoga postures and breathing exercises can help reduce the frequency and intensity of migraine headaches. The news, reported in the journal Headache, followed 72 migraine-troubled adults who were randomly assigned to take part in a yoga therapy program or a headache education group.
After five months of gentle yoga postures and breathing techniques, the yoga participants report fewer attacks and, no small thing to migraine sufferers, much less intense pain.
All of which strengthens the case for the mind-body -- and head -- connection between yoga and better health.
Bob Condor writes about health and quality of life every Monday. You can send him ideas or questions at bobcondor@aol.com.
Living Well: Researcher documents the benefits of yoga in lifting depression
By BOB CONDOR
SPECIAL TO THE P-I
Like many of us who aspire to practice yoga, Dr. Chris Streeter is what she calls "variable."
"Sometimes I am doing it five times a week and other times maybe once a month," said Streeter, a neurologist and psychiatrist at the Boston University School of Medicine.
And, like many of us, Streeter would like to practice yoga more consistently. It flat-out makes her feel better and stronger. But let's cut Streeter some slack. Along with her physician duties at a major urban teaching hospital -- and two medical specialties to balance -- Streeter last month published a groundbreaking study showing that yoga works to ease depression and anxiety. The paper appeared in the May issue of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.
"I'm quite sure this is the first study that's shown there is a measurable change in a major (brain) neurotransmitter with a behavioral intervention such as yoga," Streeter said. "What's really fabulous is this is hard science that is able to clearly document neurochemical changes in the brain."
In other words, no yoga bashing allowed. What Streeter and her colleagues discovered is that brain scans of yoga participants showed a significant boost in levels of the brain neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric, or GABA, immediately after a one-hour yoga session. Low GABA is associated with mild to moderate depression and anxiety, along with irritability some women experience during a menstrual cycle.
Streeter has been monitoring yoga in the research literature for a while now. She noted that a number of studies indicated that yoga can reduce anxiety and that regular yoga can decrease seizures in epilepsy patients. She knew that epilepsy drugs are designed to increase GABA, so she "put two and two together."
Eight yoga participants were recruited and 11 people were in the control group. The yoga participants were longtime practitioners who Streeter defined as "at least twice per week for at least four months." Everyone underwent a base-line scan, then the yoga participants performed a 60-minute session while the control group read magazines or novels but nothing directly aimed at lifting spirit or mood.
Everyone was rescanned immediately after the yoga or reading hours. GABA levels were up 27 percent, on average, among the yoga participants. Control group members showed no change.
"One thing is important to emphasize," Streeter said. "Don't use these study results to chuck your medications (for depression or anxiety). Always work with your doctor if you want to change or reduce your medications."
Importantly, Streeter took "all comers" in terms of yoga disciplines. Hatha, ashtanga, bikram, vinyasa and kripalu were all represented. Not restricting the type of yoga means the results are more applicable to our lives, where some of us might like the gentler hatha form or the "power yoga" connected with ashtanga.
Streeter explained there are three basic parts to yoga and its potential benefits: the asanas or postures, the breathing or prana exercises, and meditation.
"We picked the postures and the breathing exercises because they are common (across the disciplines) and observable," Streeter said. "My research assistant is a yoga practitioner, too. One or both of us observed the yoga sessions. The yoga practitioners were doing the basics, such as a sun salutation and spinal twists."
Some of Streeter's medical colleagues criticized the study for not including an exercise group other than the yoga volunteers. They pointed to the large number of studies connecting aerobic exercise to decreases in depression and anxiety symptoms.
For her part, Streeter is not arguing against running or getting on the stair climber. She is more about offering up yoga as valid brain booster. The hard science of the study is undeniable.
Streeter learned earlier this month that the federal government's National Institutes of Health gave a high score to her research grant proposal for a larger yoga-GABA study beginning this fall. She will learn by September if the funding comes through.
"It will be a much bigger study," she said. "We will use yoga-naive people to gauge how a regular practice can change GABA levels. It will also include more ability to gauge the positive effects of yoga over time."
Let's call May an uplifting month for yoga advocates. In a separate published study, researchers at the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, India, found that yoga postures and breathing exercises can help reduce the frequency and intensity of migraine headaches. The news, reported in the journal Headache, followed 72 migraine-troubled adults who were randomly assigned to take part in a yoga therapy program or a headache education group.
After five months of gentle yoga postures and breathing techniques, the yoga participants report fewer attacks and, no small thing to migraine sufferers, much less intense pain.
All of which strengthens the case for the mind-body -- and head -- connection between yoga and better health.
Bob Condor writes about health and quality of life every Monday. You can send him ideas or questions at bobcondor@aol.com.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
இந்துமதம் மட்டுமே உலகத்தில் உண்டு
நான் ஏன் கத்தோலிக்கன் அல்ல என்பதை கூற வந்த கீபர் அவர்கள் கூறுவது இது
"
இந்துமதம் மட்டுமே உலகத்தில் உண்டு. ஏனெனில் அது எல்லா மதங்களையும் உள்ளடக்கியது."
செய்தியும் இணைப்பும்
Kiefer creates the twin towers of Piccadilly
By Louise Jury, Arts Correspondent
Published: 26 January 2007
They soar unsteadily into the cold January air against the Palladian splendour of the Royal Academy, two rough, unstable-looking towers crafted by the internationally acclaimed artist, Anselm Kiefer.
In the world of post-9/11, it seems almost impossible not to consider the 50ft (15m) high structures as symbols of the disaster that struck New York.
But Kiefer, 61, who has spent nearly 40 years exploring what it is to be human against the context of his own upbringing in post-war Germany, dismisses the analogy.
"I'm a political man, I'm in the world, I read newspapers and I'm very interested, but I don't do political art," he said. "9/11 is just one event."
In fact, these towers are only the latest in a series the artist has constructed, with the first built in the grounds of his studio and home in the south of France long before the events of 2001.
The new versions are called Jericho, a biblical reference in keeping with the diverse religious, literary and philosophical references in his work, and were commissioned for the courtyard of the Royal Academy, on Piccadilly, where Kiefer is an honorary academician.
Cast in concrete by a company in Guildford, Surrey, the rough walls are interspersed with lead sheets in books - another motif in his work - with a ship akin to a Noah's ark parked on the top of one tower as if stranded on Mount Ararat. "It's illogical," the artist said this week, with evident delight.
They are not necessarily rendered more comprehensible by taking in the rest of his new exhibition, which opens on the other side of Piccadilly in the White Cube Mason's Yard gallery today.
The show takes its title, Aperiatur Terra, from a quotation in the Book of Isaiah which translates as "let the earth be opened" - and continues "and bud forth a saviour and let justice spring up at the same time".
There is a sequence of large paintings inspired by photographs of fields in Germany and a work called Palm Sunday, featuring a large palm tree from Morocco and 18 paintings exploring the pivotal day in the Christian calendar when Christ entered Jerusalem at the beginning of the week that ends in his crucifixion.
"On the one hand, it's victory and triumph, but on the other it's also death," he said. Such dualities appear to have obsessed Anselm Kiefer since he was born in the small southern German town of Donaueschingen in 1945. "Our house was bombed the day I was born. For me, ruins are not a bad thing. They're a good beginning," he said.
But, growing up in a country in horrified denial of its wartime history, he became one of the first German artists to confront and challenge its recent past.
He began his career with performances in which he mimicked the Nazi salute in a bid to force his fellow countrymen to acknowledge the Third Reich.
He then went on to study under another influential German artist, Joseph Beuys, in Düsseldorf and has since carved out a career as an influential and deeply philosophical artist.
Kiefer, who has lived in a 35-hectare estate in Barjac, Provence, since 1991, has explored Teutonic mythology, history, alchemy, Greco-Roman mythology, ancient gnosticism and Kabbalistic mysticism in his art. His works abound with references to everything from Plato to Velimir Khlebnikov, the Russian Futurist poet.
But although raised a Catholic, he no longer follows the faith. "I don't believe in this Catholic dogma. I see a stream of spirituality. The only religion in this world is Hinduism because Hinduism allows all religions."
Tim Marlow, White Cube's director of exhibitions, said: "I know of few artists, if any, who are as interested in and as well-versed in human history. That is what he has immersed himself in since he was an adolescent."
There was no doubt Kiefer was influenced by the shadow of Nazi Germany, but Mr Marlow said he also saw "the bigger picture - the cyclical nature of history, the inevitable decline and fall - he really does have the grand sweep".
Aperiatur Terra is at White Cube until 17 March and will then travel to the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney. The Royal Academy commission will stay in situ until the spring.
Kiefer is thrilled at the impact of Jericho amid the classical grandeur of the courtyard, not least because the authorities in France have been loath to allow similar constructions in public.
"I was very surprised when I arrived because I didn't know whether it would work," he said. "But there's an immediate dialogue with the buildings. [The towers are] the Royal Academy in 200 years' time."
Kiefer's last exhibition in London was at White Cube Hoxton in 2005 when he built a pavilion similar to those that populate the landscape at Barjac. Andrew Hall, an Americancollector, bought the pavilion and the 30 paintings inside.
"
இந்துமதம் மட்டுமே உலகத்தில் உண்டு. ஏனெனில் அது எல்லா மதங்களையும் உள்ளடக்கியது."
செய்தியும் இணைப்பும்
Kiefer creates the twin towers of Piccadilly
By Louise Jury, Arts Correspondent
Published: 26 January 2007
They soar unsteadily into the cold January air against the Palladian splendour of the Royal Academy, two rough, unstable-looking towers crafted by the internationally acclaimed artist, Anselm Kiefer.
In the world of post-9/11, it seems almost impossible not to consider the 50ft (15m) high structures as symbols of the disaster that struck New York.
But Kiefer, 61, who has spent nearly 40 years exploring what it is to be human against the context of his own upbringing in post-war Germany, dismisses the analogy.
"I'm a political man, I'm in the world, I read newspapers and I'm very interested, but I don't do political art," he said. "9/11 is just one event."
In fact, these towers are only the latest in a series the artist has constructed, with the first built in the grounds of his studio and home in the south of France long before the events of 2001.
The new versions are called Jericho, a biblical reference in keeping with the diverse religious, literary and philosophical references in his work, and were commissioned for the courtyard of the Royal Academy, on Piccadilly, where Kiefer is an honorary academician.
Cast in concrete by a company in Guildford, Surrey, the rough walls are interspersed with lead sheets in books - another motif in his work - with a ship akin to a Noah's ark parked on the top of one tower as if stranded on Mount Ararat. "It's illogical," the artist said this week, with evident delight.
They are not necessarily rendered more comprehensible by taking in the rest of his new exhibition, which opens on the other side of Piccadilly in the White Cube Mason's Yard gallery today.
The show takes its title, Aperiatur Terra, from a quotation in the Book of Isaiah which translates as "let the earth be opened" - and continues "and bud forth a saviour and let justice spring up at the same time".
There is a sequence of large paintings inspired by photographs of fields in Germany and a work called Palm Sunday, featuring a large palm tree from Morocco and 18 paintings exploring the pivotal day in the Christian calendar when Christ entered Jerusalem at the beginning of the week that ends in his crucifixion.
"On the one hand, it's victory and triumph, but on the other it's also death," he said. Such dualities appear to have obsessed Anselm Kiefer since he was born in the small southern German town of Donaueschingen in 1945. "Our house was bombed the day I was born. For me, ruins are not a bad thing. They're a good beginning," he said.
But, growing up in a country in horrified denial of its wartime history, he became one of the first German artists to confront and challenge its recent past.
He began his career with performances in which he mimicked the Nazi salute in a bid to force his fellow countrymen to acknowledge the Third Reich.
He then went on to study under another influential German artist, Joseph Beuys, in Düsseldorf and has since carved out a career as an influential and deeply philosophical artist.
Kiefer, who has lived in a 35-hectare estate in Barjac, Provence, since 1991, has explored Teutonic mythology, history, alchemy, Greco-Roman mythology, ancient gnosticism and Kabbalistic mysticism in his art. His works abound with references to everything from Plato to Velimir Khlebnikov, the Russian Futurist poet.
But although raised a Catholic, he no longer follows the faith. "I don't believe in this Catholic dogma. I see a stream of spirituality. The only religion in this world is Hinduism because Hinduism allows all religions."
Tim Marlow, White Cube's director of exhibitions, said: "I know of few artists, if any, who are as interested in and as well-versed in human history. That is what he has immersed himself in since he was an adolescent."
There was no doubt Kiefer was influenced by the shadow of Nazi Germany, but Mr Marlow said he also saw "the bigger picture - the cyclical nature of history, the inevitable decline and fall - he really does have the grand sweep".
Aperiatur Terra is at White Cube until 17 March and will then travel to the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney. The Royal Academy commission will stay in situ until the spring.
Kiefer is thrilled at the impact of Jericho amid the classical grandeur of the courtyard, not least because the authorities in France have been loath to allow similar constructions in public.
"I was very surprised when I arrived because I didn't know whether it would work," he said. "But there's an immediate dialogue with the buildings. [The towers are] the Royal Academy in 200 years' time."
Kiefer's last exhibition in London was at White Cube Hoxton in 2005 when he built a pavilion similar to those that populate the landscape at Barjac. Andrew Hall, an Americancollector, bought the pavilion and the 30 paintings inside.
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