When I look around me, I see many people embarking on the journey of yoga. Yoga is a great way to reduce stress, lower blood pressure and stay fit. In the back of mind however, always remains the thought "how come more African Americans do not practice yoga"? In our African American culture many times we confuse yoga with religion, and indeed yoga can be a spiritual experience practiced by some religions, but yoga in and of itself is not a religion. The work yoga comes from the Sankrit meaning to yoke, to unite, to join.
Yoga truly helps the individual to unite the mind, body and spirit together in ways that increase overall mindfulness and well being. When many people think of yoga, they think of India, but actually yoga was practiced in Ancient Egypt, North East Africa as well, it was called Kemetic yoga and was practiced for about 10,000 years. Kemet means black, or black land and was called this because of the early inundation of the Nile River which caused the rich silt to overflow its banks.
According to the Kemetic yoga association: There is universal consciousness that is beyond the scope of the normal realm of consciousness, or individual reality of people. Hence, the practice of yoga is a personality integration method that allows human beings to bind their individual transitory reality with the universal consciousness. The universal consciousness is stable and unchanging, unmoving, therefore, it is the substantial reality while human beings are existing in transitory phenomenon. When this process is accomplished one can say that they have experienced the way things really are or have experienced reality; universal consciousness.
Yoga is the practice of binding individual consciousness with universal consciousness. This individual reality that you are experiencing is actually only a small reflection of your true nature and yoga is the practice of how to achieve the knowledge of one's abiding and immortal aspect.
I enjoy teaching yoga, and sharing it with others. I hope that everyone who reads this post, will at least explore yoga in some detail and allow it to bring peace, clarity and healing. Watch my short yoga video below! Enjoy.
I am sitting here thinking about wellness and our communities. I often get concerned at how people would rather be fixed, instead of just taking preventive measures to maintaining wellness. If we are going to be truly well as a community of people, we must become educated in the Wholistic Path To Wellness. The Barnhart Concise dictionary of etymology defines holistic as the theory that nature produces whole organisms from small units, the term holism and holistic were coined from the Greek word holos meaning whole.
Taking the Wholistic path to our wellness involves looking at our whole self, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. It is important to understand how our thoughts influence our actions and the way that we feel in general. When we began to understand the journey to Wholistic wellness we will experience the freedom that comes from making wellness choices that impact our life and the lives of those around us. As we become educated about proper food choices, the benefits of fresh clean air, the effects of spiritual practice and physical exercise, we will become empowered and through this empowerment we enact change. The day has come for us to take charge and to not stand by helpless as diseases like diabetes, hypertension, cancer and other lifestyle diseases plague our communities.
I remember when my mother was dying, I was not fully educated in ways to help her overcome her illness. I have made a promise to myself and to God that I will share the education that I have gained with others so that they can be prepared in the many battles that we face in life and at least have a fighting chance. One thing that I have learned is that regular herbal detoxification is very important, because it helps to clean out our liver and kidneys and these organs help to filter out the toxins in our body. Toxins are a major cause of disease, as the toxins in our body accumulate in our body we become sluggish and are prone to sickness and disease. In order for us to function properly, we must have clean blood, and detoxifying helps to ensure that this happens.
Medical science tells us that disease can be cured by drugs, when in actuality in most cases what is happening is that you are suppressing the symptoms. Unless you get to the root of a condition (cause and effect) You will most likely suffer from that condition again or a similar condition like it, to truly be healed means not having to rely on an outside substance to maintain homeostasis. To be well is to be free . It is important to take the Wholistic path to wellness and to understand why you are sick in the first place and to trace the cause of the problem and work to eliminate that cause so that the effect will be complete wellness. Always remember these important points (Naturopathy For The 21st Century;Thiel)
1. The body under the normal natural conditions, is a self sustaining organism
2. The theory of health and disease is based on nature itself.
3. The body is governed by definite natural laws with regard to the physical, chemical, biological and physiological basis
4. Ill health, is therefore, as a result of a departure, from healthful living out of harmony with Natures laws.
5. To the degree that man adheres to and applies Natures beneficial laws, to that degree will the body, through its natural inherent powers restore itself to normal.
I hope that something mentioned here will encourage you to take the path to Wholistic Wellness, and to living a life full of vigor and joy that was intended for you from the beginning.
