Yoga to Preserve Youth and Beauty

From the Jacket:

Yoga to Preserve Youth and Beauty contains Yogic, Vedic, Ayurvedic and traditional methods to have a well-toned, well-proportional trim body, flawless glowing skin, shiny bright eyes, healthy bouncy hair and most importantly inner composure - factors essential to remain beautiful, youthful and peace for life.

About the Author:

The author, Bijoylaxmi Hota, is a yogic therapist of repute with almost two and a half decades of experience. She has successfully treated various ailments ranging from asthma, arthritis, backache to tumour and cancer.

Bijoylaxmi Hota conducts yoga workshops within and outside India, has penned articles, written books, produced television programmes on the subject. She has also scripted dance recitals on yoga and kundalini Tantra.

INTRODUCTION I remember the first time. I saw my guru Paramahamsa Swami Sri Satyananda Sarawati. He was giving a spiritual discourse in my home town. What struck me first about him was his amazing appearance. Even at sixty, his body was so muscular and so well toned! His skin was literally glowing; and it seemed incredibly smooth, like a baby's. He was so impressive and handsome that my ten-year-old daughter lost her heart to him. And, when I wanted to leave after the discourse was over, she wouldn't budge! She was ready to follow him to the end of the world.

The exterior is but the reflection of the various aspects of the interior- a fact which mankind has never fully appreciated. Since antiquity they have chased the dream to be beautiful and to remain youthful forever. They have tried every conceivable means to fulfill their wish. If Cleopatra bathed in milk and Noorjehan in rose water; today's generation is injecting neuro-toxins into the body, snipping away portions of the skin and sucking out kilos of fats. Adipose tissues have become the source of anxiety and stress all over the world. A fortune is spent by thousands of people on beauty products like lotions and potions which focus only on the exterior.

The cause of a beauty problem may lie at any level in the multileveled personality of a human being. Dark circles around the eyes could be due to constipation or lack of sleep; hair loss could be because of tension or hormonal imbalance; an emotional problem may lead to compulsive eating disorder resulting in weight again, and a psychological problem may erupt out as rashes. In such cases, external treatment may help temporarily but cannot be a permanent cure. Only when the root cause of the problem is removed, does it naturally disappear. And yoga is one of the systems that have the means to deal with each level of personality effectively.

To mention a few cases- a young grossly overweight girl, who was not losing even an ounce, in spite of an extremely low-calorie diet came to me for treatment. I taught her a relaxation technique and made her do Guru Shankha Prakshyalan- a cleaning Kriya.She lost twelve kilos in fifteen days and has stayed that way since.

Another case is that of a Czech lady who too had an overweight problem, but for a different reason. She was munching the whole day long. No matter how much she tried to curb her urge for food, she was not able to do so. I told her to make a resolution during yogic relaxation and not to eat out of turn. After 10- 15 days I overheard her advising her friend in the class to practise the same method of losing weight. She proudly announced that with the resolution during yogic relaxation she had overcome her own problem. Let me also mention the flip side of this story. Despite my instructing her to use only positive words for her resolve, she had framed a negative sentence- 'I will not eat so much'. The result was - whenever she thought of food, she got cramps in her stomach! Luckily, I overheard that too, and told her how to rectify it.

The third case that comes to my mind is that of a growing girl with hair all over her body. I concentrated on her glandular system, and taught her the relevant asanas, pranayama and meditation. I also advised her to talk to her body after meditation (technique described in the last chapter). When I saw her after a few years it was quite apparent that it had worked!

But, yoga was never devised to beautify the body. All that it aims is to maintain perfect health to help the practitioner progress in his or her spiritual path with ease. In the process it normalises the glandular functions, purifies the blood, trims the body, tones up the system, increases energy or prana relaxes the mind, clears the psyche and drives away negativity. The result is a supple body, good health and the radiance of a good person.

As degeneration sets in with ill health it is easily arrested with perfect physical, mental and psychological health. At the same time, certain yogic techniques promote tissue regeneration. And thus the ageing process of the body is considerably slowed down.

Yoga's effectiveness in preserving tissue health is so great that it can case of the great Yogi Paramahamsa Sri Yogananda. The yogi took mahasamadhi, or willed demise, on the March 7, 1952 in Los Angeles. His body was kept under observation in a local mortuary. To the profound astonishment of all, the body did not decay at all. It remained fresh and odorless even after twenty days, when his coffin was finally closed.

Achieving such a feat as that of the Paramahamsa may or may not be possible for an ordinary person but, yoga, proper diet and observation of certain health rules go a long way in preserving the practitioner's health, youth and beauty for a long time. Most yoga practitioners bear the proof of this.

Yoga is a vast system with various techniques which besides being confusing make it impossible to practise them all everyday. This book, Yoga to Preserve Youth and Beauty will help you identify your problem areas and choose the relevant yogic techniques. Also included are some traditional rituals and practices of ancient India which too contribute to good health and beauty. Frame your own routine and follow it with sincerity - the result will be for you to see.

CONTENTS

Introduction	8
Trimmers	14
Spot Slimmers	24
Obesity Caused by Other Factors	36
Toners	44
Glandular Glamour	52
The Ultimate Anti-Agers	60
Radiance Enhancer	74
The Sparkler	82
Beauty Creator	90
Age Retarder	98
Tissue Repairer	104
The Illuminator	112
Mantras and Tidbits	122

Sample Pages