Power of a Positive thought on the start of the day...

Go for your own favourite way of prayers to start your day. When you wake up feel gratitude that you are alive to enjoy and experience another beautiful day. I would love to share my regular routine when I woke in a day. All day even I am on tour or any other places, the first thing goes on its way for years and years. The routine allows me to remind the day's activities one by one in my mind. While going through it I shall conduct a step by step process in my mind to achieve the goal or perform the act. This gave me great energy to jump into the new day with a calm and focussed mind. This helps me to concentrate on the daily activities, to strengthen my relations with family, friends and colleagues and even to keep an eye on my daily exercise and a healthy diet. Along with this your day is decided by the supreme power, so leave the rest of the happenings in your mind to the feet of the supreme power. The power of your positive approach with happiness in your mind is the path way to be in tune with the universe. With gratitude to the Almighty for the protection and blessings showered on you, pray for the whole universe to be blessed by happiness, prosperity and harmony.

How Fingers are related with our body and Health

Your fingers are greatly associated with health. You can use your fingers as an index of your health. They speaks the vital clues of your wellbeing. It is a simple method to get relief and stay healthy. Go for a minute self healing procedure in your own fingers.
Thumb is related with heart and lung. Rubbing your thumb for a minute relieves you from palpitation and breathing trouble.
Index finger is associated with colon and stomach. Rubbing your index finger relieves you from constipation and diarrhoea problems.
Middle finger is related to the heart, circulatory system, respiratory system, blood and bowel. Rubbing your middle finger relieves you from nausea and dizziness.
Ring finger is related to emotional attitude. It has a powerful influence on your moods. Rubbing the ring finger while you are in a sad mood can quickly change you calm and relaxed.
Little finger is associated with kidneys, spondylitis and migraine. Rubbing your little finger relieves you from the discomforts.
Sit in a relaxed mood ready for rubbing your fingers related to the disorders. Stretch out the concerned finger and rub it with the other hand with a little force. If you have enough time you can do in both the hands. For quick relief you can do this exercise wherever you are, while travelling, enjoying with friends or in work or in a picnic. The most important point is that while doing this exercise you need to visualize the quick relief or to visualize the strengthening of the associated organs and part of the body.

Bring your colouring in to life....

The colouring activity has a lot of impact in children's learning process. Even it seems to be simple there are so many learning tips for kids. The designs and crayons make our four year old interested and inspired in colouring. He love to colour a whole book page after page to see how they turn out to make his little dream come true. Colouring helps children learn how to focus and concentrate. Colouring is the first proper practice a kid get in holding a pencil. They learn the importance of colours and get an opportunity to explore different combinations to make their picture attractive. Hand and eye coordination improves in young age to stick on to the specified area. They can create a world of imagination with their own drawing style.They gain a sense of pride and achievement in their art building up self confidence and positive personality. It is so easy to incorporate into the child's daily schedule to make them experience creativity.

Keep your life simple and happy....

Our life is in our hands. Nobody can make us happy. It is our own duty to find ways to live healthy and happy. Be social to get rid of ego. Ego makes us feel 'I' where as being in the society makes us feel 'We'. In earlier life we won't feel loneliness. But in later life we will be almost alone. To keep our life simple, get away from 'ego' and get ready to be in a group.
Always be in touch with your friends or family at least over phone to avoid loneliness. Invite your intimate ones to have a friendly and an eye contact chat. Select a good friend have a detailed talk to vent out your worries. Always clear your mind and fill with answers instead of having questions. Feel free to say whatever you do not like in a gentle way. Appreciate all the things you like and love. Make it a point to ask for a thing you need or buy it. Assure you are in good health. Do not forget to have fun. Love yourself to love others and make your life simple and happy.
 

Yoga as a service....

Being a yoga master I love to share and teach yoga and meditation where ever I go. At San Antonio I got an aspirant who want to know about yoga and meditation and learn about it. My twelve day package went well for her. In the package included lessons on breathing, exercises, asanas, meditation and relaxation. Her commitment made her able to win it. She loves to do yoga. The benefits I got was that I consciously did my part of practising asanas and meditations to teach. Teaching and learning is a give and take process. It did good for me as well as for her. That is the great serviceable part of yoga which I value as the best part. Yoga is a divine branch of study.
Yoga is a science that has been practised for thousand of years. Yoga enables to unite body, mind and soul. Yoga helps to focus on how to maintain balance and concentration while increasing your coordination. In yogic tradition flexible spine is the key to you and vitality, because life force (prana) can move easily through a supple spine. Just like a tree which bends down with the wind without breaking. Yoga has been known to balance and maintain the endocrine system as well as normalise the gastrointestinal function. Yoga teaches you to sharpen your bodily consciousness and focus your attention in a meditative way.

Hunters Moon...A Miracle

Based on a message received from friend I would love to add this in my blog. Hunters moon is occurred due to the change of orbit the sun sets and moon rises at the same time with both being opposite to each other at a particular angle or degree moon reflects the sun so bright that it almost feels like another sun. This means there is prolonged periods of light during this time, which is the reason why these moons have traditionally been used by hunters and farmers to complete their work. Hunters moon is traditionally referred to the full moon during the month of October. The effects stay for a couple of days.

Help your kids to be more creative...

Everyone has the capacity to be creative. We can't provide our kids talent, but we can help our kids gain access to a creative outlook.
Allow your kids to take chances even though they make it a mess.
Allow your kids to work as long as they want to finish their dream on their art.
Allow your kid to develop their views on to watch the world.
Provide enough plain papers, crayons and other accessories to bring out their creative mind.
Arrange play dates for your kids to build up their creativity.
Give space to creative arts  in your kid's daily routine.
Here are some drawings of our four year old.



phone

friends 



rainbow



Heart is love

family

Wonder of Creativity in little ones.....

A surprise gift for mom by a four year

A beautiful craft/art by a little one for his mom back from office.
Our four year old grandchild has a schedule to follow. The interesting fact is the daily schedule was fixed by both mom and the kid. As a grandma I am so fond to look into and enjoy kids activities. Sometimes I will join to check him and get involved in his toy room, activity room or game room. One day at 4pm I was amazed to see the beautiful art created by my grandson. He was in a stage of completion and told me, 'please wait grandma, let me complete this, I shall show you something'.
After five minutes he showed his little art created for his mom with happiness in his eyes imagining how happy will be his mom on receipt of this beautiful art. Yes of course he was right! The moment the mom received the surprise gift, they both went into an ocean of appreciation, recognition and happiness.
A piece of paper, crayons, stickers and some little objects with a little mind is behind the art.
That is the greatness of a little's creative world.
Creativity is the freest form of self expression. The ability to create something from their own thoughts can flourish the child's emotional health. Creative activity helps to accept and celebrate child's uniqueness and diversity and also to know the about his/her thoughts and feelings.
 

A Beautiful task to interview our earlier General Secretary.....

Our organisation is having her 80th birthday in 2017. We had a goal in our mind to interview our earlier presidents and Secretaries who took a great effort to grow our organisation. I got the privilege to interview an earlier General Secretary of our organisation who lives in our state at present. The task was entrusted in last October. Since I was out of country it was informed to hand over the material in Feb 2017. Our own publication is a trimonthly. In all the four issues this year the plan is to go to the down lane memory to show our readers how much effort was there to bring up this organisation to the heights of this stage. Being a member organisation in UNO we are honoured for our activities for women and children.
Some of the points in my mind to interview the great lady are such as
Who was your mentor in social activities?
What was the reason for you to take part in this particular organization?
What were the important achievements in your tenure?
What were your strategies to build up a team spirit?
How did that work?
How did you encouraged creative thinking in your team?
Were you  fully satisfied in  your tenure?
What was the impact in your life being an active worker for the organisation?
How it affect your family?
Do you were able to spend enough time for your family?
Shall you share something about your family?
What were the role of the members in your team?
What was the biggest challenge in your tenure?
What were the benefits as a women being part of the organisation?
What were the social impact in the organisation in your term?
What is your outlook of the organisation in the present moment?
Any message or suggestions to the present office bearers you wish to give?
Finally what are you doing now to stay healthy and happy?
I shall share this with my close associates in our branch. Thank you all. Appreciate your suggestions if any? Shall be back after the interview. Till then bye.

Love is the Universal Cmpassion...

Unconditional Love is the universal compassion. When we start loving others without any expectations, then you are in the path of spirituality. The unconditional love results in good health. The love strengthens each and every cell in our body enabling us to stay healthy both mentally and physically. Health is related to the enthusiasm of the person. How to be enthusiastic to work depends on how enthusiastic you are to be compassionate. It includes your mentality to help someone daily. We all are made for the benefits of others. We are here for others sake. Loving others unconditionally is the bridge that gap from ordinary mind to enlightened mind. The one who is able to exchange the happiness to others can very well be part of spreading universal compassion.

Don't afraid of a bend... Take a turn with faith in God...

Some times we have hard days and time. But remember happy days and good time are ahead. The positive attitude towards sad and difficult times will truly lead you to an amazing life with wonders.
When you lack hope remember you are going to have confidence, so go ahead.
When you feel you are going to fail remember success is waiting for you.
When your friends are gone remember in the new place you are going to have new.
When you are alone in sorrows feel free to call your intimate friend to share it.
 When we lose hope don't think that it is an end in life.
That is life. Ups & downs and downs & ups are in life. What ever we plan, life has its own plans.
God the Almighty is there to protect us from the bend and take us straight to the destination.
Relax and trust in God.

Know the intertwined bond of life to keep the environment green...

The knowledge of the environment helps one to maintain a healthy ecosystem to have a good interaction with living creatures such as humans, animals, birds, trees, plants and other living organisms without disrupting the non living factors also. Now a days the fast developments in the countries are diminishing the barren lands, forests and even cultivable fields. On part of beautification the land surrounding the buildings, houses, apartments, factories and offices are being concreted and tiled. All these factors are affecting the environment/nature which changes the weather and climate drastically. Today the entire ecosystem is negatively affected due to excessive air pollution and global warming.
No living creatures can live entirely on their own. For food animals eat on plants and other animals. Humans depend on plant products and animal products for their food. This is the system that prevails anywhere in the world from a small pond to a vast rain forest. There are a number of physiological, abiotic and biotic conditions combined together to form an environment of the area. This leads to the adaptation of living creatures in the world. This intertwined bond of life is therefore very important to keep the environment intact, natural and green.

'Aham Brahmasmi'...the real human endeavor...

Start the journey to know yourself. That is the beautiful journey within to explore yourself to know your true self to live in peace. Focus on your thoughts, word and deeds for exploring your inner self. This study enables you to look into the hidden areas of ignorance and darkness. Consciously working on it helps to expel the negative areas within which are controlling and supressing you from being happy and kind towards you and others. Now you awake the divinity in you. You can feel the God within you. That is the real human endeavour. Aham Brahmasmi!!! The ultimate in knowing is " 'Om...Asatoma Sathgamaya,
Thamasoma Jyothirgamaya,
Mrithyoma Amrithamgamaya!
 Om Shanti! Shanti!! Shanti!!!'.......... The meaning is,
 O Merciful lord! Kindly lead us,     from falsehood to truth,
                                                          from darkness to light and
                                                          from bondage to freedom.
                                                   O Lord, let there be peace everywhere!                                              

 

May the whole 'universe' enjoy prosperity, happiness and peace...

Pray for the people around you. Not only around us but in the whole universe. When you pray for all and send blessings for them you are blessed by the Almighty. In our meditation there is a session for blessings. We could bless everyone in this part. If you feel envious or if there is anyone who doesn't like, give special blessings to them and you will be amazed to watch, see and experience the change of energy between you and the other. While we pray we are shifting the energy level to experience happiness in life and thus the results. If you can't forgive in person, start forgiving them in your prayers and get 100% positive results. This way of 'Universal prayer' in our routine help us to be surrounded by happy people who makes us happy. Life is truly gifted and life is also too short. So why to live unhappy and why to let others down and to let anyone to bring us down.
 Let this be our daily mantra........
'May the whole universe enjoy prosperity, happiness and peace. Om Shanti! Shanti!! Shanti!!!'
 

Calm mind keeps one healthy....

Keep your mind calm to get away from diseases. Desires are the foundation of creations. But when the desires are getting crowded, there start the agitation of mind. There are a group of people who can't say 'no' to others. It is sometimes highly essential to say 'no' when you have more in your to do list. The more work in your hand means the less rest you get. The less rest will makes you restless. Restlessness results in an agitated  mind. I myself sometimes fall in this category. Now with a few projects in my hand I am pretty busy. On Sunday got a lovely task of telling a devotional story to kids. Thought twice, and then decided to reject the opportunity. Even now with my current activities I am too busy. So it is very important to take of the mind. Agitated mind enhances the chances of getting sick more easily. Learn not to fight to overcome the task to keep agitation away from boundaries. Fighting agitation will cause stress which leads to stress related disorders. I use to chant my favourite mantra to get away from agitation and restlessness releasing the pent up energy.

Impact of Astrology in life....

Astrology is the study of celestial objects, its positions and movements. Horoscopes are based on astrological calculations to find out the aspects and predict the significant events in a person's life. In India astrology is a long established system. Astrology implies in daily life in job matters and marriage. There are courses in India. I was lucky to undergo a certificate course on astrology conducted by 'CARD', Centre for Astrological and Research Development. The impact of astrological knowledge will do a great impact in one's life. There will be ups and downs in one's life. The incidents can be understood from astrological knowledge. Use astrology as a reference guide to be more practical in critical situations based on the positions and movements of the celestial bodies. This way of approach, tends one to get tuned with the situation rather than getting panic. In my life astrological information works like a tonic which helps to build up confidence even in downs to welcome a better tomorrow. It can be used to understand your basic nature in life.
My knowledge of astrology made me more confident and more spiritual with love and compassion in my mind.

Let us support the disabled.....

Last week the salt bottle slipped from my hands while making scrambled egg for my eighteen month old grandson. The baby was also with me. He loves to watch cooking. Then I thought this is not the first time. It is happening now a days most often in the early hours. Here it is winter. So analysed the problem myself and arrived such as due to winter, due to aging and due to carelessness. Now consciously am looking to find the reason. Also we can see when aged, the work, the sight, the hearing and communicating abilities and other activities will get back and slow in seniors. Commonly theses people will get or may get categorised as disabled. Then now the point is that whether are they meant to sit comfortably somewhere with a no activity plan. Are they handicapped. No never. The are they disabled. Yes, but remember disability is associated with aging. Disability is not the end of he world. No one should be set aside being disabled. Let them be one among them with the right supports in the right time. A spectacles, a wheel chair, hearing aids and kindness are more than enough to forget and live a satisfying life along with their disability. Give them hope on what the strengths they still possess rather than reminding them what they lost. Let us all think to help, support and provide the persons with a disability around us, in our family, among our friends and neighbours with compassion, kindness and confidence to live their life happily.

Are you a Victim.....Bye bye Victimhood...

Who are the victims in life? Victims are those fits a filter in their mind and view life through the filter. Those who live on excuses are the filter owners in their mind. They love to blame others for every thing in their life. they favourite words are,' it is not my fault, because of he/she/them it happened or they did that to me.' The main reason of feeling like a victim is the feel of powerless. Being powerless the tendency to blame someone or something else will become their habit believing that they cause the feeling the whole world is working against them. This makes the victims feel like they deserve to suffer this. You are in real prison now. Nobody will be there to release you from your prison. You need to come out with a proper plan to get released from your victimhood.
Stop blaming others for your failure. Consciously find out the role and reasons where you can work out. Be kind to yourself to release yourself. Practice gratitude in your life by learning the lessons in each and every experience you have. Visualize the challenge in front of you and strongly wish and build up self-confidence to come out with success and go for it. Delete all unwanted memories from your mind and be kind to others rather than blaming others. Now it is time to shift your victim mentality to a survivor mentality. When a victim thinks of when to feel good a survivor thinks to feel good all the time even in low and high. Feel you are powerful and you are free to live your own life in a successful way. Bye bye victimhood!

Make more space in mind to live smart....

What to delete? In this cyber world we are in a practice of deleting so many things a day. Why we are deleting them from our smart phone, iPhone, iPad and laptop. Because we need to make our phone always smart. That is the reason, when our phone hangs or works slow we delete all the unwanted files, messages, pictures, data and many more. When the unwanted or the less important things are deleted the system is healthy and smart. This is a great example to keep our own life smart and happy. Delete all the unwanted things and unwanted memories from our life. If we are able to practice it on a daily basis it is well and good. Make it a daily exercise to focus on the unpleasant experience we had on the day, write it down imaginarily and tear it into small bits and deposit in the garbage bin. All the unpleasant things are gone. Now we have extra space in us to enjoy life healthy and happy.
 

Power of Peer group

We are away from our place for the last few months. Really missing the peer group relation. In a lunch party we were surprised to see a few seniors. The moment I saw them, felt just like a kid. We don't know each other. Got introduced and there we started our fun. We were together during snacks, main meal and desert time. Even though winter here, the weather was very pleasant so we managed to have a walk in the neighbourhood after snack time. It was so amazing to enjoy the pleasure with a peer group even we were not knowing before.
This reminded me to fresh up the importance of peer group support in all age groups. We can be really smart when we are in a peer group. It is the place of same feather birds where we are free to express anything. In a peer group, we are creative, innovative, transparent and above all very happy. Peer group support can be utilised as a human resource potential for all the ventures. There will be no interest for conflicts, no hidden targets among members and no space to let down. Greater insight, better tactics, great confidence and above all freedom to express and initiate is the beauty of peer group support.

Nice to learn new cuisine...

healthy snack platter

welcome drinks...fresh lemonade& hibiscus juice

Yesterday we had dinner at our neighbours home. Welcome drinks were hibiscus drink and fresh lemonade. Hibiscus drink was new to me. I was gifted with a packet of dried hibiscus flower to prepare it back home. The snacks were a mix of cucumber and pineapple with spicy salty powder on it. They served the authentic Mexican dish to us. First time we tasted a chicken dish with chocolate as an ingredient.

Cheesy and creamy flan

Main course...chicken mole, corn taco and Spanish rice

In the travel channel, I have watched a show once using chocolate in a curry. I never ever thought once I will get the opportunity to taste such a curry. It was mole. Mole goes with tacos and rice. The tacos was made of corn flour so special of Mexico and the rice cooked in chicken broth. Altogether it was an amazing combination of authentic Mexican cuisine. The desserts were rice pudding with cinnamon and creamy flan. Thank you our dear friend for the honour. Love the way of your presentation of  the dishes and expression of the style cooking.


rice pudding

Is it wise to keep away from conversations....

It is wise to keep quiet when there is an argument. It is suggested to get away from arguments or disagreements. The people who are not commenting, are listed in a category of good people. That means they are ready to sacrifice their emotions, time, space and many more for the win and happiness of others. But the real thing may be or is they are having a weakness to communicate. This is out of the fear of rejection and of becoming more comfortable not saying anything at all.
They always like to follow others and like to say I am ready to go with them. Let them decide I shall follow. Getting older these good people are having more chances to get isolated and lonely.
Suppressing the emotions of any kind will lead one depression. The pressure to hide or suppress their emotions leads them to get away from social life. They lack the communication skills and thus they lack even their life with poor eye contact, crossed hands and stiff postures. Being a poor communicator the individual will not get an opportunity to get involved in any kind of activities. You are simply damaging your soul, mind and body. Suppressing emotions lead you to a panic mode within and hold in the toxins which creates some sort of pain in the body, denies freedom of the brain to work properly and results in serious physical and mental illness.
 

Wise words from a little one....

We are now in USA with our grandson for the last few months. He is going to be five. He is my precious. When I say,'you are my precious,' I can see the happiness in his eyes and his smile. He is so adorable and intelligent. It is time for us, grandparents, to leave. The other grandparents are joining before we leave. So he is going to have them filling the gap. Yesterday he saw a few dollars in my purse. He counted it, and told me. 'You guys are going back and your money is different. You know I have piggy box, can I put all this in my piggy box, please.' I should recollect that he was in India for three weeks in last July. That is why he is aware about the currency. Wow, how cute and how intelligent. Yes he is our precious.

A gift for hard and planned work....

Today I got a message from my friend. It was, 'saw your recipe in Grihalakshmi. Congrats!' I am in USA with my daughter, so not able to see the magazine now. I like to share the process of the publication even though I was out of the country.
In October 2016 H & C books, published my cookery book named 'Grandmas Delight'.

On 14th December got a mail from the sub editor, Grihalakshmi magazine appreciating the book and expressed their idea of taking a recipe to publish in their magazine. The work went on it's way. On 3rd January got another mail from Grihalakshmi requesting a photo of mine. My daughter sent a photo to Grihalakshmi and now it is out. Thank God and thanks to Grihalakshmi, a complete Women's Magazine from Mathrubhumi. A new year gift.
Work hard and suffer more than anyone else is not the slogan for success.
Yes we need to work hard but with a purpose. Work hard is only manual and with short term goal but working hard with a purpose enables us to analyse where we go with a long term goal. That reminds you don't be a busy hard-working person but be a hard-planning person. Take care of self to adjust with the new routine replacing your old habits by building up new,  innovative and creative strategies of hard-planning to move faster. Believe in what you do, believe in what you want, to make your purpose a reality. Focusing on your work with belief in success is the essential key for achievements in life.

Work hard with proper planning to succeed....

Today saw a message in Face book.
 In the concluding session of a training about 'Fundamentals of Sales Profession' the trainer asked a question to the trainees.
Trainer.....You all know about Lord Thirumala Venkateshwara right?
Trainees... unanimously said, 'Yes'.
Trainer..... He is the richest God in the World. Do you know why he is rich? We know different Lord Venkateshwara at different places. We have one at Devagiri, Bengaluru one at     Guwahati and also we have more such Lord Venkateshwara temples around city and different places. But they are not so rich. Only Thirumala Venkateshwara is Rich...Why?
                 Funny answers came from the audience....
Some said, 'it is head office and others are branches.
Other said, 'His marketing is good.'
Trainer replied, no 'All the places God same, they are accounted individually. So why the difference in earnings? Why Thirumala Venkateshwara earns more than any other Venkateshwara?'
  Now reply from the trainees.
Trainer.....As per my opinion, the reason is very simple. Both Gods do the same job. Meeting people and blessing them. But do you know when Thirumala Venkateshwara sleeps...? It is between 12am to 1.59am everyday. And then, he wakes up at 2am. All other Venkateshwara sleep at 9-10pm and wakes up at 6 am. In between afternoon 12.30 to 4pm again they sleep. But, it is only Thirumala Venkateshwara, who works for more than 20 hours....and daily....!!! And that's why he makes lot of money. So, he is rich across the world.
Now the essence is , if you need to be successful in your profession work like Lord Thirumala Venkateshwara. That means with a strong determination of your plans, be committed and devoted in your profession!!!
 

Thoughts are powerful...

Our mind is full of different thoughts. May be happy or unhappy thoughts or may be positive or negative thoughts. Any way nobody is ever free of thoughts from their mind. When somebody ask, what is in your mind, the answer will be nothing. Is that true. No, a lot of thoughts might be there in your mind. That may not at all be any important. But it can also be very powerful to affect your life. We use travel from thoughts to thoughts depending on the situations where we are. Some times sad thoughts, some times craving thoughts and sometimes happy thoughts can rule us. Sad thoughts will make us unhappy where as happy thoughts make us more confident and strong.
Be aware, is the key to get rid of bad and unwanted thoughts. Write down the thoughts coming into your mental picture in a paper. Before bed each day make your mind to get away from the bad thoughts and  tear the paper of bad thoughts into small bits and put it in the trash. It is gone. Again consciously repeat the exercise for the coming few days. You can watch the positive change happening in you. Enjoy positive thoughts and lead a happy life.

An innovative art for seniors to learn....

 After retirement thought of learning a new art form for time pass. Attended a workshop on jewellery making which gives new friends and makes me to join their one week course. The course was so fun and easier for us. The finished product was so pretty, individualized and simple piece of jewellery. The jewellery made was gifted to dear and near ones of different ages with a nice feel and contentment of self made.
Jewellery making is truly a great tool for seniors to help them stay creative. It helps one to get involved and stay active. The final products make them immensely happy and to make new designs.

Thiruvathira Festival in Kerala...

Thiruvathira kali

Ardha-Nareeshwaran

Today is Thiruvathira . Being away from our native town, I missed the celebrations in our place. We, as a group of women, used to celebrate Thiruvathira at the temple auditorium in our place. To remind the day just thought of posting in my blog about Thiruvathira, the important festival of women in Kerala.
Thiruvathira is the birthday of Lord Shiva. It falls in the Malayalam month 'Dhanu'. Dhanu  spreads from mid December to mid January. Thiruvathira also falls on the full moon day. It is believed that on this day, the Goddess Parvathy finally met Lord Shiva after her long penance and Lord Shiva took her as equal partner. Both Shiva and Parvathy present this ideal to devotees in the form of Ardha-Nareeshwara (half female and half male form).
In Kerala, along with Onam and Vishu, Thiruvathira is also important. It is largely a festival of women. Both unmarried and married women fast for good husbands and for blessed married  lives respectively. Rice foods are abstained during the fast. The typical meal during the fast includes cooked broken wheat and the special Thiruvathira dish known as Thiruvathira puzhukku. It is a delicious dish of tubers such as Colocassia, elephant yam, Chinese potato, sweet potato with long beans and raw plantain fruit cooked with a thick paste of freshly grinded coconut. The dessert is arrow root pudding, made of arrow root powder, jaggery, coconut milk and ghee.
Pathirappoochoodal is a popular custom on the day, meaning wearing of flowers at midnight followed by performing Thiruvathirakali at the central courtyard with the picture of Lord Shiva placed in the centre. Flowers, coconut flower bunch, bananas, jaggery, coconut, are offered to the deity on banana leaf. This can be vary a little according to locality.A nilavilakku, traditional lamp made of brass is decorated and lightened. Then the women in a circle around the deity get ready for Thiruvathira kali. The first Thiruvathira after the marriage of a girl is very special and known as Poothiruvathira. The function is conducted at the house of the newly weds and will be grand.
Thiruvathira kali is performed by women on the day of Thiruvathira to the support of Thiruvathira songs telling the stories of lovesick Parvathy, her longing and atonement for Lord Shiva's affection and Shiva's strength and power.  The Thiruvathira kali spreads the message of joy and also illustrates the feelings of a married woman towards her dearest and of the unmarried woman longing for a good husband.
 

Karma is about doing good....

What is Karma? One day I got the question from an aspirant. Karma is about doing good and living a simple and humble life without expecting anything by return. Karma is also about doing well for one's own inner peace and for the wellness of the universe. But karma is misunderstood that somebody else gets a punishment based on their own karma. Also it is a thinking that good life is for those doing good karma and bad life is those for who does bad karma. Karma is not the word to use when life goes in the opposite way or just to get satisfied and say that wait until the karma comes back to the person. Connecting with Karma is more about doing and living a life with love, hope, faith, happiness and gratitude. As per Bhagavad-Gita," Karmacheyyuka nammude dharmam, karmaphalam tharum eeswaran allo" meaning is that 'do your work wholeheartedly for which we will be awarded by the Almighty'. Karma yoga is 'the reaction free devotional work'. It is so clear that leading a life of mindfulness, acting more kinder, more humane and compassionate in the present is the most devoted karma one can do. Karma relates to happiness and bliss. Karma is the positive energy we spent in our life and the goodness we do in favour of others and karma is not at all be considered as the way of taking care of the things in one's life in future for doing bad things.
Doing good for self and others inspires and motivates you to be more and more good in life by your thoughts, words and deeds. Here the person performs the duty selfless. The spirit, soul, mind and destiny gets aligned to live a better life.

Power of Positive thoughts....

It is very critical to maintain a positive attitude through in your life to improve the quality of life. When something that happens in life accept it and react to it to conquer over it. Fix a goal for the day or for your life and fix a schedule with different steps to achieve the goal. Visualize the achievement of the steps to reach your daily goal or life time goal. Climb up the steps of hope with faith and lay down seeds of confidence, reinforce it and act happily. Start your day with a morning ritual to create positive thoughts. Be nice with the people around you to receive back the nice things. Live with gratitude and scribble down your gratitude journal which can trigger positives in your mind. Start your day with a smile to thank for the day we are alive.

There is always good....

Believe in yourself and always find the good. If you are finding excuses in your beautiful life means instead of goodness you are embracing the negativity. The result is that not you are alone in the negativity, your family unit as a whole you are attempting all of them to sail in a negativity boat. Your life trip is not going to be happy but it will be always complaining. You will be unhappy of what you want to do rather than accepting the good things you already have in your life. Believe in the power of encouragement, hope for better and always choose to see good and welcome good in your life. Feel comfortable and relaxed daily enjoying your life. It may be music, exercises, outing, shopping, being with friends with positive attitude, watching humour. Like this practice positivity of your own choice to change your mind-set to achieve your goals in your life and sail in a boat of positivity along with your lovely family.

Build up on positives to stay healthy...

Let us face and challenge negative thoughts with positive. Hate is the companion of negativity. We were born in happiness. It is understood that the 'Bio photo' of a person shows the 120 trillion cells in our body are very happy being together. It shows all the cells are dancing with happiness. Each cells love each other. When we hate somebody the cells get confused and cannot be happy. The cells start hating each other and become unhappy and unhealthy. This results in 'Auto Immune Disease'. Auto immune disease is the reason of the unhappiness of the cells in our body. This situation results in  dis-ease and discomfort in our mind which in long run results in major diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, hypothyroidism, psoriasis and more. We have to be aware, why we are sick. When the cause is treated you will become free from the disease. Be a doctor of yourself to find the basic reason for your disease and work on the points to live a happy life. Cool down the fire , remove the confusion and be in a positive attitude to fight against situation. 

Some tips to make a telephone call with dear and near ones...

Listen carefully to telephone calls. Even if we are not seeing each other, even if we are not having eye contact we can very well understand the body language through the voice and the way we answer. It is great to know the way to speak while in phone and to maintain healthy relations. It is also great to know to keep in touch with dear and near ones.
The caller is having the opportunity to ask the first question. But in close relations we often get the over freedom of the person on the other end to know the news from the caller. Be patient, listen to the caller and then spread the conversation to your area of interest if time provides.
When a subject is presented by the caller, be patient to hear the whole thing with out going for comparisons you had in your life with the same problem. That will build up irritation to the other person because he wants to share his problem at the moment, that is why he made the call.
Never ever try to distract the caller who is so close to you. There are a lot of people who doesn't have time to spare for others. They live in a 'yes' or 'no' world. They want to disconnect the phone quickly. So they will highlight their duty at home disconnecting the caller. To me I should remind that it is an unknowingly cruel thing by the receiver. So also youngsters are taking the privilege not to call their near ones such as parents, grandparents, uncles and aunties. They used to say they were very busy. Usually they say that there was a missed call from mom, let me call her. That is not the way to connect with mom. If you are kind at heart, you cannot forget to call your near ones on a time based schedule. Because they don't want to disturb you in your busy life, they are waiting you to call. If you saw their missed call means they are at stress and pain. It is our duty to make our dear and near ones happy. The compassion and kindness in our phone calls can make it healthy and maintain healthy relations.

A hand written Thank you card a real gift and great treasure...

I got a great opportunity to teach yoga to our neighbour. I thank the Almighty for having such a lovely experience. As a part of serving humankind I whole heartedly accepted the new offer even though I was too busy with my cute grandsons and my writings. The first and foremost thing was I was able to do my yoga for teaching my beautiful friend. I prepared a schedule for yoga in which breathing, exercises to all the body parts, asanas in sitting, standing and lying postures, meditation and relaxation. My student was saw keen in learning the new art and she succeeded in doing it. Thank you my dear for your studious mind-set and positive attitude to learn the most amazing self healing programme in one's life. Yesterday was the last day of our programme we had a winding up session refreshing her favourite postures. We together fixed a schedule incorporating all the basics and steps to follow on a daily basis. In the interactive session, I was totally amazed to know how she took it seriously to learn Yoga and meditation. All the very best to you my dear and stay blessed.
The words and lines written in the thank you card received from Iustina is highly inspiring and motivating to keep up my service throughout my life to make a difference in the people and in the world.

Jana Gana Mana, National Anthem of India.

'Jana Gana Mana' the national anthem of India is the poem composed by Rabindranath Tagore in Bengali language. The poem was translated Hindi and Urdu by Abid Ali. The poem has five stanzas and the performing time takes approximately 52 seconds to sing the song. The song was adopted by the Constituent Assembly as the National Anthem of India on 24th January 1950. The song speaks the true essence and freedom struggle in India. It shows India as the richest cultural country in the world. It also reveals the path and struggle of our freedom fighters fought to make our nation free from the British. 'Unity in Diversity' is the great message in Jana Gana Mana to ensure the togetherness of people  in all religions with an equal bond of love and friendship. While singing, in respect for the national anthem Jana Gana Mana the citizens stand up in respect irrespective of place, mood and surroundings.

Signifiance of a hand wirtten Thank you note....

Today I got a lovely hand written thank you note from my yoga student on the completion of the course. I was so excited to pen and read that in front of her to show my gratitude. The simple and beautifully hand written card was more than what it seemed. It was a real treasure in the sealed cover. I was truly uplifted by the heartily and lovely words she wrote and the experience we had together. I was amazed to know about myself through her writings. I felt the warmth special care towards me in the note.
 Now a days the art of writing thank you cards are lost. The lasting value of the hand written note can't deleted since it is in our hands. It has a great personality and I can be share the beautiful and lovely words written with my friends back in our social organisation revealing the truth how much we can be part of the community where we are. In this advanced era there are a lot of excuses for not going for a hand written thank you. People are having their iPhone, iPad and computer with them to do the job more easier. No need to find the materials required and no separate time to take to do the work.
Hand written thank you notes are so special to express your love, kindness and appreciation unlike the digital thank-you. Hand written notes are from the heart.The digital one is not at all personal and not weighty. The personal care, warmth and elegancy reflected in the handwritten notes are really great.

Voluteering and Health

Volunteering is a social approach to health and happiness especially in seniors. Volunteering leads them to positive outcomes such as escaping from dependency and loneliness enhancing strong links with the community. Volunteering is a great activity that tends to improve social support. It has a significant positive association with life satisfaction. Formal volunteering has direct impact on wellness, physical health and longevity. Those who are involved in multiple volunteer roles in their life journey are more likely to have positive attitude, healthy life styles, better education, anti-aging benefits, loving family and a strong social bond. Volunteering builds a solid support to keep you healthy and protects you to get ready to overcome challenges in your life. People need people is the essence of volunteering. Helping others kindles happiness.

Volunteering boosts Health

Doing service through volunteering makes you feel good and helps you transcend the small self in favour of higher self. The greater the compassion one have at heart enables them to extend their hands to serve others. When you reach out to help someone then your purpose and mission of life is fulfilled. Service strengthens mind with happiness and contentment. Count on the blessings in your life rather than your dreams. Your joy will be multiplied from giving things out rather than hoarding them. The more you serve the more you gain. We are being lifted through serving the community. The care and compassion we give through service are reflected back to us in a stronger way. The immunity in those with a helping mind enhances and the production of serotonin makes not only the server but also the recipient happy. When we help others, no doubt we are helping ourselves.

Significance of wearing Bindi....

In our culture girls and women wear bindi on our forehead. Bindi is a bright red colour applied on the eyebrow centre. The word bindi arrived from the Sanskrit term bindu that means a dot or a point. Bindu is considered as the point at which the creation begins and may become unity. In Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism bindi is associated with the 'Ajna Chakra', the centre for wisdom and intuition. The bindi helps and triggers the point to retain energy and boost concentration. The Ajna Chakra is associated with pineal gland that produces melatonin which regulates sleep and waking up. Activating Ajna balances the higher and lower selves and guide he inner self. The traditional bindi represents and activates the centre of wisdom. In olden times both men and women wear bindi to worship one's intellect to ensure purity in their words, thoughts, deeds and habits to have an nice character. The importance of wearing bindi is to build a strong individual in a strong family of a strong community. Concentrating on Ajna Chakra leads one to self realization.
Later along with improvisations and style bindi was manufacture in several shapes and designs and it has been ornamental. Even though the significance is so important in our culture especially in traditional functions.

Questions makes one more confident...

Risks in life are the good exercises we get to grow and develop. Risks arise questions to solve the problem or to overcome the situation. Questions make us to workout for finding the right answers. If there are no questions then we are not having a chance to work. Questions make us more and more emotionally strong and more and more confident in life. Answering questions makes one to build up self-confidence and self-esteem. Go for new things everyday to work on it to sharpen your brain. It is easy to get away from new things. But instead of getting away go for it to be creative, innovative and to boost up self confidence.

Embrace Life and move forward.....

There are grieves in one's life. The intensity of the grief based on unexpected tragedy will shook the person as trapped in a storm or cyclone. It makes one numb and is too hard to believe the loss happened in life is real. The reality slowly occupies the situation. It can create sadness, fear, anxiety, stress, insecure feeling and much more which cannot be negotiated at any cost. It will last forever in one's life. The bereavement should be accepted. But the intensity of acceptance varies from person to person. Here opens the way to move forward in life. Your life is in front of you, you must live your own life. Embrace your life and get ready to move forward by having faith in 'Almighty'. The pain will be in the heart and of course it must be felt but try your best to manage it go on. Let it come and go. Don't allow to paralyse your life and your close one's life. Coping with the great loss,  understanding the reality happened in life and the life of yours in your hand, will awake you and remind you to be kind to yourself to continue your life journey. 

Yoga and Women....

The essence of 'Yoga' is the oneness of body, mind and soul. Women are least bothered about their health. The priority of women are their own family. They sacrifice their own time for the wellness of the family. To be wise it is understood that women have to be in good health and they should be happy to lead their own family to happiness. The merit of yoga is, it is absolutely in the control of one. No appointment needed, no fees required, no extra expense needed and no extra space required for dumping the equipment for yoga. I learned yoga in my early thirties and still continuing it in my life and spreading the message of yoga through  blogs, books, consulting, sharing and teaching. Yoga is part of my life and is doing great. Absolutely yoga is in one's own hand. A positive mind is the prime component for yoga. If you have a strong desire to include yoga daily in your life it will easily be part of your life. Yoga help women to find, physical, emotional and spiritual balance. Yoga takes one to inward journey and connect with your inner radiance and reveal who you are and what is your mission in life? Yoga offers calmness and serenity. Yoga can be practised by all ages. Yoga is rejuvenating and restoring. Yoga makes women wiser and more intuitive. Supporting yoga in the community is very important to help other women. Yoga can bring miracle in life. Don't hesitate, step into a yoga class and experience the wonders to appreciate yourself.

Yoga as a lifestyle....

Yoga is not a religion. It is a healthy lifestyle. I thank 'God' for being a yoga master. Salutations to my Guru, Maharaj Vethathiri Maharishi. After learning yoga from our local centre I got an opportunity to attend the master course conducted by our Guru. Three decades back I participated in a master course of Simplified Kundalini Yoga (SKY) at the 'Temple of Consciousness', Aliyar, near Pollachi, Tamil Nadu and succeeded to become a master in yoga. Yoga is the success key for a healthy, happy and harmonious life. My aim when I became a master in yoga was to do service to the mankind, especially to women. The attitude of serving made me to be attached with yoga, to do yoga, write on yoga, share the merits of yoga in daily life and to conduct classes in social organisations of women and children. Thanks to my students and clients for keeping me fit. A few minutes of yoga and meditation recharges the body and mind with positive energy within to harvest positivity in activities. Yoga gives enough stretching in our body which is essential for active and energetic life. Good health and peaceful mind are the highlights of yoga. Yoga balances body, mind and soul enabling to attain perfect equilibrium. A peaceful person can only build up harmony. The harmony makes life joyful and contented through self awareness and better intuition.
Yoga is universal, yoga is the need of the hour and yoga is safe without any side effects. In my life, there is no room for boredom, I am busy doing yoga, teaching yoga, preaching yoga and writing on yoga.

Resolution for 2017....Make it a habit through continous practice.

Nice resolution for 2017.
Eat half, walk double, laugh triple and love without measure.
We all like to get trim, so the easiest way is to eat half by restricting to two meals a day.
We want a healthy physique, so love walking to have a great physique, to breathe fresh air, to say hi to neighbours and to enjoy nature.
Laugh triple to live long, to live happily and to make others around us more happy and healthy.
Love is the most strong emotion within us. Use it liberally to love ourselves, to love our family, our friends, our colleagues and the universe.
Let us live long in peace, being more strong, more healthy and more happy.
Don't let the resolution get aborted on the way. Strong will and a burning desire with disciplined workout and commitment is the success keys to achieve your resolutions through out the year. Make it your routine and practice till it becomes your habits. Nothing is impossible. Let us prove that to the world.

Learn to be true to yourself and be courageous....

Once you are confident and courageous then you are in the right track in life.
All you need is to have a will and a mind to go with your will. Try hard to achieve, be bold to go forward, believe that it is possible and have faith in your attempts.
This doesn't mean we have to be the wisest, the smartest, the intelligent, the fastest or the bravest.
It is the patience and confidence we need. Take the opportunity in front of you as an examination and face it courageously.

Rainbow colours and Life centres...

The seven centres in our body has a corresponding colour of that of a rainbow. VIBGYOR is the colour of rainbow. 'Vibgyor' is the easy way we learned to remember the colours of the rainbow in our childhood. Today I gave this technique to my yoga student to remember the colour of life centres in our body. The colour of the chakras is associated with the present emotions one have. When the chakras are balanced the colour is clear, otherwise it can be faded or even too bright. It is in the hands of an individual to visualize and meditate on the chakras to balance it to lead a healthy and happy life. The root chakra located in the tail bone end is red which indicates strength, sacral chakra located below the navel is orange which indicates purity, solar plexus chakra located above the navel is yellow which indicates happiness, heart chakra is green which indicates love, throat chakra is blue which indicates peace, the third eye chakra is indigo which indicates wisdom and the crown chakra is violet, the colour of spirituality which indicates bliss. This information is great to know in cleansing the chakras to balance and heal it.

Wise Women are strong enough....

There is a saying women are gossipers. I don't believe in it. It the super power a woman that she has the power of talking and she is not at all bored if talking for hours and hours, days and days to the same person or the same group.
The important fact is that don't get interested in talking about people and interfere in their matters which is none of our business, than it will fall in the category of gossiping. So let us change the belief of the mankind and do some thing different to make a difference in the world.
There are a lot of subjects around us to make a discussion from demonetizing to launching on the mars. So go discussing on national and international affairs without insulting persons. Discussion can be on dreams, desires, fears, strengths, ideas, life, space, art, film, food, memories and plans. These discussions help women to talk boldly and be part in the main stream of the society. Let us make the society to say 'women are strong enough like men in their thoughts and they work hard in their life'.

A balanced Lunch idea...

Lunch is one of the main meal in a day to fuel the body for the rest of the day. The healthy lunch should contain whole grains for the starch portion to get hearty satisfaction from the fiber part of the grains. Vegetables including greens should be included in the lunch to add color and flavor in the food. The rich antioxidants in vegetables are highly essential to enhance the immunity of the body. The diet with a portion of brown rice, colorful veggies and meat is a good source protein, vitamins, minerals and fiber to include in a balanced diet.

Feel how vast is the nature, through photography....

 Photography is a wonderful stress reliever. Photography documents our life journey. Photography inspires imagination. Photography opens a world of possibilities for the photographer. I love to take pictures of nature where ever I go. The images are beautiful. The pictures makes me engaged and creative in using in my blogs. Photographs are the easiest way of  keeping precious memories of life which are easily forgotten. Photography is not to take photos of special occasions it is an art to take pictures of daily life. Photography is a natural self-esteem booster.

The beauty of nature around the photographer is spoken by the pictures captured. This set of photographs reveals mother earth, history of the beautiful place, the structure in a nursery with rein deer, the dormancy state of trees in winter, the significance of shadows, the blue sky and peeping of the sun on a right winter day showing that how very vast are nature when compared to the smallness of the photographer.

Smile even if you have to fake it....

I want to be clean in my kitchen always. My husband doesn't care. One day he asked for a cup of water in the kitchen. While handing over he spilled it. But he was least bothered, said a sorry with a beautiful smile. I didn't care his smile, I was so sad and shouted, look, you made a mess here. I have to do more work now, like that I started telling a lot of things. Again he smiled at me and told, Oh my dear, why you are spending lot of energy and becoming sad. Take the tissue roll in front of you, go ahead and wipe the floor, that is a good exercise and e happy you had an extra work out today. By seeing his loving face I understood that I am the only person who stands against my happiness and peace.
Smile can easily lessen the chaos in daily life. Smiling at any thing even if it is fake can change our whole day. When we see a person smiling the brain activity of not only the person smiling but the person who returns the smile will also get boosted. If you make other people smile even if it is fake you are changing the way they see the things and they see you. The smile is a great way to make others feel less stress or happy. More smiling means less worrying.  

Watch what you eat....

Stay healthy watching what you eat. Recently I met a friend after seven years. She looks like fifteen year younger than I met her last. I asked her what's the secret of staying young and healthy? Are you on a diet? Suddenly her answer, now my policy is ' to watch what I eat.'
You are what you eat. Ignore all the junk and unhealthy food. Good food are the signature to stay healthy, feel well and be fit. Go for freshly prepared local and seasonal food. Our son is a doctor and I always remember his suggestion and idea of enjoying food. 'We can eat what we want, we should not ignore any food if we like it, but the important thing is in our finger tips, go for limited volume we need based on our physical activities and our physical state. Food truly controls our health. Work on your diet to balance your physique. Include lots of fresh vegetables in your diet along with protein and required carbohydrates. Fresh vegetables and fruits are rich in vitamins and minerals. Food boosts health and vitality. Eat more better by exploring and discovering the right combinations of food for you. Choose the diet with plenty of veggies and fruits that will drop pounds, sharpen your brain and extend your life. 

The Power and fun of Potlucks...

Prawn and Fish curry

The dishes were prepared for a potluck lunch and dinner on Christmas. It was for a Christmas gathering of our dinner group for lunch and for the get together dinner of best friends group. Potluck idea is great to offer a helping hand by all the guests especially in big gatherings. In our groups the dish will be assigned earlier to avoid overlapping. We prefer homemade food to be shared. The traditional rule is that each dish be large enough to be shared among a good portion of anticipated guests. The dishes may range from appetizers to deserts. In our monthly dinner group we are having a proper themed dinner which makes us explore on new areas of culinary. Once the members in the group hosts completely, than the rotation starts again. It is a total fun in different homes to have the dinner groups with games and quiz related to the theme selected. I love to be part in the potluck.
For lunch we were assigned with prawn and for dinner it was fish curry.
The prawn were prepared in coconut oil with mild chilli and tomato sauce to get the beautiful colour along with onion, garlic and ginger. The garnishing of half cooked cherry tomatoes and final touch with scallions were the high light to make the dish attracting.
The fish was cooked in coconut milk using the fish masala and kokum( Garcinia indica).

Trees in the start of winter at Gruene....

It is nice to see the trees in winter. Trees go through a process called dormancy to keep them alive during winter. Dormancy helps to slow down everything within the plant. Metabolism, energy consumption and growth are controlled by the dormancy process. The first step the trees lose their leaves. they don't make food in winter, so have no use for masses of leaves.

Lifes Path is not at all straight.....

The best part in our life's path is the wonders and surprises we experience. It is destined by the God where to go, where to be, where to live, what to hear, what to say, what to do and what to eat. All are disciplined in our life. It is a full time beautiful job that rest on us to achieve perfection in this beautiful life. Do not allow anyone to determine our destiny but be the master on ones own destiny. The obstacles in our path is the guideline to find the correct path. Be proactive and take control of life for new lessons of better skills and successes. We are always surrounded with the unconditional love of the Almighty. So don't e submissive to life, take the charge of your life and be the true you to live your life. The path ahead us is always reachable, always possible for those who are not lost in the path. Trust in the Almighty and go ahead. Life path is not having any personal boundary, it can be changed. Life is energy, the beauty of life belongs to all, is shared by all, reaches all and blesses all.