African Americans and Yoga

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.

 

 

 

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRvBt-IYoVU

The Importance Of Holistic Exercise

It is 5 am and I would rather just get a little more sleep, but I have come to enjoy the feeling that I get from my morning exercise . Sometimes I do a bit of yoga and then lift some weights, but the important thing that I am doing is taking the time out for personal development which not only affects my body but my mind as well. There is something quite empowering about making the choice to exercise, not because I have to or because I was told to but because I know it is adding wellness to my life. In our society, we tend to think that if you are not a member of a health club or gym then you can not really get a good exercise program going, but this is absolutely untrue. Some of the best workouts I have had was when I just put some music on and let my self go with the flow of the music, this was what I would term a holistic workout.

Taking the time to engage in 20 minutes of yoga is also very good for your mind as well as your body and will also lift your spirit as well. To me, exercise should not only revitalize your body, but stimulate your mind and spirit as well. Holistic exercise in the morning gets your mind and body in balance with each other and serves to prepare you for your day. Once you start this practice you will immediately begin to reap the benefits that holistic exercise will offer. Holistic exercise is light that will guide your day and once you light it, it will not go dim.

The more you practice holistic exercise, the brighter your light, the more energy you will have. Good health will only come when there is communication between each part of our body and mind, in essence when our cells communicate with each other. Holistic exercise promotes harmony of the body and mind. Another important aspect of holistic exercise is that it helps to reduce stress. With regular practice, you will strengthen the nervous system and build up immune response. Are you in need of just a bit more creativity? Holistic exercise will fan those dormant flames of creativity within you and create a spark of excitement and inspiration. Today, take the time for yourself, take just a moment to engage in holistic exercise, dance to some music for 20 minutes, take a walk with some relaxing music on your ipod, meditate, do yoga or tai chi; the point here is to explore holistic exercise in all it's many forms. You can start today, even if you have never done it before. You can start your day with that spark of energy and creativity that you deserve!

Tend to Your Own Temple

We only have one body, and it is very important to take care of it. How often do you clean your car or your home, and how many times do you drive by your neighbors as they carefully are tending to their gardens or working on the house?. The point that I want to make here is that our body deserves as much attention as we give to other things in our life. My natural health philosophy is truly that disease is due to the accumulation of the many toxins in our life.

These toxins affect us physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. If we are not careful about how we treat our bodies and not paying attention to what we put in and on our bodies we will develop dis-ease. You can trade in your car for a new one, you can have someone come in to put in a new lawn if the old one dies, but you can not get a new you. You will not be able to just trade in your body for new one because you did not take care of the one you had. With this in mind, it is imperative that as a people we take responsibility for ourselves.

There is no such thing as a quick fix, drugs and many treatments also come with side effects. There has never been a cure all, because germs and toxins have a way of becoming immune to the many treatments that are on the market today if used for a long period of time. The only way to insure yourself is to take care of yourself from the inside out. Tend to your own temple. Taking the time to tend to your own temple has many benefits as I see it, you will have a greater sense of control when you realize that only you can determine if you are going to be well or sick.

You will feel less stressed when you come into the knowledge that there are many options available to you for handling whatever crisis that comes upon you. One of the ways you can tend to your temple is to detox at least once a month for seven to ten days. This process is very important to the proper functioning of your liver which is responsible for many processes of our body. According to authorities in the field of nutritional therapy, cancer is a likely sign that the liver has been functioning poorly for some time, and the longer toxic waste stays in your system, the more likely it is that poisons are being reabsorbed into your blood stream. The next thing would be to develop a healthy eating plan and stick to it.

You have goals and dreams and your health is an important part in that plan. An important aspect of tending to our temple that many people miss is to properly manage your thought processes. Chronic stress and negative emotions can cause chemical imbalances, hormonal changes, develop fertile ground for disease and it effects every cell in your body; with this in mind, the time is now to develop an maintain a more positive way of thinking. Another neglected aspect of our self is our spiritual self. This is often neglected because many people do not truly understand what this actually means.

Tending to our spiritual self means being connected to the divine, that which connects us to life and creativity and a much higher consciousness. It means going beyond the pettiness of this life and transcending towards a deeper purpose and meaning. Will you tend to your own temple today? Will you do what it takes to plant fertile soil for wellness? Are you willing to take the responsibility for your upkeep or will you just leave it to the handyman (other professionals).

If you do not answer yes to those questions then eventually you will begin to see the early signs of neglect, just as you will see if you neglect your physical house. You can cover up the wear (symptoms) with paint (medication) but eventually what is truly going on underneath the surface (breakdown, erosion) is sure to show through. The best thing to do is preventive maintenance to ensure that everything is working properly inside and underneath so that the outside can shine brightly!

Fateria Johnson M.A. CSMC, CMBFC

The Power Of Relaxation and Leisure

Well everyone, the weather is getting warmer and it is time to really think about taking some leisure time. According to recent studies, despite the many benefits of leisure activities, African Americans do not take advantage of this past time as much as their White counterparts. I remember as a child when my grandfather would load us up in his Bonneville for the Sunday drive. I looked forward to those drives on the open highways and then the anticipation of stopping for a nice cold treat. I also can remember my mother loading us in her car, as we drove from Philadelphia to Virginia, my mom never took the main highway she always traveled the scenic route, oh how I enjoyed looking out my window, enjoying the wonderful view. I still remember those moments and how it would assuage my anxieties

These images are forever etched in my mind, and whenever I want to think of simple times past, I recall those times when we hit the open road, I still love to travel by car to this very day. Taking the time for relaxation and leisure has some very powerful effects on us physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. It allows us to connect and to recharge, to gain perspective of our life, to introspect and to regain focus on what is truly important. According to an article written in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine, leisure time physical activity has a direct impact on our overall health. In information I extracted from a report by the Diabetes Prevention Program, leisure activity, or lack thereof, does have a direct impact on our health.

During physical activity, whole body oxygen consumption may increase by as much as 20 fold, and even greater increase may occur in the working muscles. This is from the American Diabetes Association, they also stated that the possible benefits of physical activity for a person with type 2 diabetes was substantial, and that recent studies strengthen the importance of long term physical activity programs. According to the American Institute Of Stress, contemporary stress tends to be more pervasive,persistent and insidious because it stems primarily from psychological than physical threats. Understanding the importance of relaxation and leisure is crucial, we all need time to unwind, take a load off and just loosen up. That stroll on the beach gives us time to let our creative juices flow and to just be, and it also allows for a time of effective, meaningful communication; and in our very digital society this is very welcoming to me.

The Sunday drive, gives you time to reconnect with nature as you roll down the windows and let the fresh air blow, being free, unencumbered with the cares of life. This reduces stress, because you are more relaxed and it creates a relaxing, calming effect. There will always be things to do, there will always be demands on our time, but there may not always be good health, especially if we do not take the time to give our whole self a chance to regroup and come back to the center of life. By learning to center our self we assist our body in creating homeostasis within itself and this creates an environment for good health to thrive. So, the next time you think about putting off that daycation or vacation think again, your very health could depend on it!

Fateria Johnson M.A. CSMC, CMBFC