Tag: life

Categories
Food Lite Blogs Recipes

Recipes for Busy Women on the Go

Micromanaging housework and making healthy meals for family members while juggling a work schedule is nearly impossible without some assistance.

Biswarup Chatterjee, executive chef at Hilton Garden Inn, New Delhi, shared helpful advice and recipes for women on the go who want to maintain a healthy diet while advancing in other areas of their lives.

Try the following recipe to enhance your holistic diet experience:

Aushadhi Concoction

Ingredients:

•             10 gms Ashoka

•             10 gms Shatavari

•             10 gms Ashwagandha

•             10 gms Lodhra

•             10 gms Garcinia

•             01gms Saffron

•             10 gms Lemon grass stem

•             15 gms Turmeric fresh

Method:

•             Take 500 ml of water and soak all the ingredients overnight. Boil everything together for at least 10 minutes and strain it through a muslin cloth. Enjoy hot.

Raggi Idly Burger

Ingredients:

•             500 gms Raggi flour

•             10 gms Yeast

•             1 kg Soya chunks

•             500 gms Grated fresh coconut

•             50 gms Roasted chana dal

•             20 gms Green chilly

•             5 gms Black mustard seeds

•             300 gms Lactose-free cheese

•             200 gms Rocket lettuce

•             200 gms Tomatoes

•             200 gms Chipotle mayonnaise

•             50gms Onions red

•             30 gms Garlic peeled

•             50 gms Cajun spice

•             200 ml Olive oil

•             Salt as per taste

Method:

•             For raggi idly make a batter of raggi and 300 ml of water and yeast. Cover it with a plastic wrap and keep it overnight to ferment. Use an idly mould and steam the idly.

•             Take 100 ml of olive oil in a pan, add onion and garlic and sauté till translucent. Add the soya chunks in that and keep cooking for 10 minutes and add Cajun spice and salt as per taste.

•             Continue cooking till all the water has been absorbed. Run the mixture through a mincer to get it finer and make patties of 150 gms each. Grill the patties in a pan till it gets crisp from outside.

•             For the coconut chutney- Take 50 ml olive oil in a pan add mustard seeds, chana dal & green chillies and sauté it. In a mixer grinder add the mixture and fresh grated coconut and bled it with 50 ml of water.

•             Arrange the burger- Spread the chipotle mayo on the idly and top it up with, tomato slice patty, rocket lettuce & cheddar cheese.

•             Serve the idly burger with freshly grated coconut chutney.

Norwegian Salmon Gravlax & Sous Vide Egg Benedict

Ingredients:

•             500 gms Salmon fillet

•             10nos Organic eggs

•             250 gms Lactose-free butter

•             250 gms Multigrain loaf

•             100 ml Olive oil

•             20 gms Crushed pepper

•             20 gms Dill leaves

•             30 gms Lemon juice

•             500 gms Himalayan pink salt

•             400 gms Sugar

•             Salt as per taste

Method

•             Marinate the salmon with dill leaves and lemon juice. And cover it completely with sugar and Himalayan salt and keep it for 24 hours.

•             Remove the salt and sugar coating and the moisture released from the fillet. Dry it completely using a paper towel. Slice it thinly.

•             Sous vide 5 eggs using sous vide machine and food-grade plastic bags at 70 degrees centigrade for 30 minutes.

•             Make hollandaise sauce using lactose-free butter, lemon juice, and crushed black pepper.

•             Toast the multi-grain bread in olive oil, and top it with sliced salmon, eggs and hollandaise sauce. Use a dill leaf for garnishing.

Hair Bless Granola Bar

Ingredients

•             100 gms Almond

•             100 gms Peanuts skin less

•             100 gms Walnuts

•             250 gms Sunflower seeds

•             50 gms Flax seeds

•             100 gms Rolled oats

•             100 gms Cornflakes

•             100 gms Fruit loops

•             200 ml Floral honey

•             15 gms Cinnamon powder

•             100 gm Brown sugar

•             200 gms Mixed dried berries

Method

•             Crush the sunflower seeds and remove the outer shells, take all the nuts and seeds in a tray and toast it. Crush the mixture roughly and keep it aside.

•             In a pan take honey, sugar and cinnamon powder and cook it until it gets lightly caramelised. Mix everything and roll it into a slab. Bake it at 140 degrees centigrade for 15 minutes and let it cool.

•             Cut it into a bar shape and serve.

Raspberry Indulgence

Ingredients:

•             500 gms Sugarfree dark chocolates

•             1 L Almond milk

•             100 gms Fresh raspberry

•             250 gms Cream cheese

•             100 gms Icing sugar

•             200 gms Oats

•             150 gms Dry berry powder

Method:

•             Blend all the aforementioned ingredients till it becomes smooth. Garnish with fresh raspberry and icing sugar, and serve it in a glass. The recipe is for a minimum serving of five portions.

ALSO READ-Audible’s ‘Your Mama’s Kitchen’: A Blend of Culture, Memories, and Recipes

Categories
Lifestyle UK News Woman

Katie Queen: Bridging the gap between spiritual and corporate growth as a Life Coach and Spiritual Teacher

Katie Queue wears many hats-Coaching | Mentoring | Methodologies | Spiritual | Philosophy l Music. She is a UK based World-Renowned Spiritual Teacher, Life Coach and People Manager; with 20+ years’ experience championing diversity, equality and personal growth. With an impressive corporate career, complementing a spiritual upbringing, Katie has the personal passion and corporate experience to bridge the gap between spiritual and corporate growth. A feature by columnist Riccha Grrover for Asian Lite International.

Katie harmoniously blends the approaches to support people personally and professionally, making Katie the go-to expert for advice, guidance, and information; having quoted for and been featured in numerous publications, including Marie Claire Magazine, Women in Leadership and many more.

Katie said “I am unique in the way that I troubleshoot and identify the parts of you that inflict pain to varying degrees or at the very least, hold you back. I am a Psychic, who has a Worldwide Clientele who also has Celebrity and non-Celebrity clients. I also have over 20+ years in the Corporate field, so I am able to process and strategise your goals in a tidy and productive fashion. I not only highlight your absolute potential but I am able to see what trajectory you are on and allow you the knowledge to manage your life better.”

She went on to say that “I have predicted Worldwide events such as Covid, Financial crashes, Political terms and more recently the unfolding War efforts that are currently taking place. I work with people to eleviate their current energy field and move them into a much better, wholesome and positive space.  I have received THOUSANDS of Testimonials from a Worldwide audience with my Podcast becoming one of the largest growing aspects of my brand of last year. “

Talking about Tarot she said that “ I work with the cards as a visual representation of what I am feeling and picking up on, but the majority of what I do is through channeling. I connect with your Spirit team and mine to get an overall discussion through Council to decipher any messages they would like to pass on and allow you space and time to ask questions. Often it is hard to sift through the noise of our own brains, so I act as a messenger in that regard. 

Katie makes time to explain  different meanings,

Like clairvoyant: a person who claims to have a supernatural ability to perceive events in the future or beyond normal sensory contact. To Clairaudience: the power or faculty of hearing something not present to the ear but regarded as having objective reality. Finally, Clairsentient: the ability to perceive emotional or psychic energy that is imperceptible to the five standard senses. 

Katie Queue is a Spiritual Teacher and Life Coach and working in the Spiritual field for over 30 years. She was raised in a family with a heavily religious and spiritual backdrop where she learned her skills in tarot, angel cards and mediumship. She has clients all over the world where she guides them on the best path to take and comforts where needed and also works for a number of top worldwide Psychic companies offering the service of psychic medium. 

In her 20’s, Katie decided to carve out an impressive corporate career, focusing on recruitment attraction and direct headhunting for some of the worlds largest companies. She has strategised life plans for clients worldwide, from helping them maximise their career, learn how to be happier, content and more grounded whilst finding the path that is the REAL them. 

By merging the two aspects of human life, Katie has achieved success within the companies she works for but also from a worldwide audience, which has lead to being recognised in a number of different publications including Great Britains best selling Spiritual magazine. 

Katie is also the Founder, Director and Chief Editor of the Katie Queue Magazine; an independent online publication aimed at empowering, supporting and enriching the lives of its readers. Katie offers immense support to her clients and following via numerous services and opportunities, as well as regular blogs, magazine articles and her social media community presence. 

Katie has worked for some of the Top Global Companies in her Corporate Career and voted Top Psychic on many platforms across the Globe. She works with Celebrity and non-Celebrity clientele, helping to heal, release and let go many issues that we hold within us. Katie then helps strategize your life as you on the path to Success.

ALSO READ: ‘The Parents I Met’ By Mansi Zaveri: An Anthology of Conversations With Parents of Successful Individuals

Categories
Arts & Culture Lite Blogs

An Artistic Exploration of Life’s Analogies through Installations

Each artwork in the exhibition portrays different aspects of comparison and its impact on our perception. Through curated daily walkthroughs, visitors will have the opportunity to delve into the artist’s interpretation of the three constructs of comparison: similarity, dissimilarity, and peculiarity…reports Asian Lite News

Visual and Installation artist Raihan Vadra is showcasing an immersive exhibition titled ‘Upamana’ that uses installations, visual art, sound and lighting and explores multiple analogies that human beings face through life. The exhibition will open on January 28 and will be on display till February 4 here at Bikaner House.

‘Upamana’ is part of a series of five solo shows, spread over a decade, based on the five schools of logic in Indian philosophy (five Pramanas). Using concepts derived from the same, the immersive shows use installations, visual art, sound and lighting to explore multiple comparisons and analogies that people face throughout life.

Borrowing from Sanskrit words — upa (similarity) + mana (knowledge), the word describes the act of “Knowledge arising from the association of something previously unknown”. This show builds upon themes such as control choice, compulsion, memory and emotion that were explored during the artist’s previous works – Dark Perception (2021) and Anumana (2022).

Each artwork in the exhibition portrays different aspects of comparison and its impact on our perception. Through curated daily walkthroughs, visitors will have the opportunity to delve into the artist’s interpretation of the three constructs of comparison: similarity, dissimilarity, and peculiarity.

The materials used for the works are metal, resin, fibreglass, naturally sourced trees and roots, photographs printed on archival paper, LED strip lighting and vinyl. A soundtrack is specifically created for the show which will go along with a voiceover that will introduce the viewer to each room, creating a holistic experience.

Raihan Vadra’s artistic vision revolves around the idea of embracing one’s uniqueness without the need for comparison. Through his artworks, he aims to convey the message of unlimited possibilities that arise from being true to oneself and being comfortable in one’s skin.

“Everyone faces comparisons in their daily life, whether it’s in the classroom at an early age, in the workspace, from their family or their friends. The show will explore these comparisons as well as the comparisons we make on other people and ourselves,” says Raihan Vadra.

“The comparisons we make define our reality, why is that and should we allow ourselves and others to be defined by these comparisons? Should we instead be questioning our comparisons and therefore our reality?” asks the artist, adding the exhibition aims to explore these aspects to understand what are we without such comparisons.

ALSO READ-‘Belong’ Exhibition by Karishma Swali at India Art Fair

Categories
Lifestyle Lite Blogs

Quality Sleep, Quality Life

Avoid heavy meals, caffeine, and nicotine before bedtime. Stay hydrated during the day, limiting liquids before sleep. Opt for light, sleep-inducing snacks if hungry…reports Asian Lite News

As 2023 transitions to 2024, resolutions emerge. Individuals often make resolutions to exercise more, eat healthier, or learn a new skill. Yet, one crucial aspect of their well-being often slips through the cracks of their commitment – sleep.

In 2024, prioritise self-care, embracing life’s simpler, meaningful facets. Reflect, engage, and commit to self-love through the serene beauty of restful sleep. Hence, a promise to self transcends a mere resolution; it’s a pledge to commit to eight hours of sleep, a warm commitment to nurturing well-being through the enchantment of quality sleep.

Quality sleep positively impacts physical and mental health, productivity, and overall life quality. It’s a universal need, pertinent across age groups. The Sleep Foundation reports that while 90% aspire to enhance sleep, only 48% succeed, with 56% rarely or never crafting sleep-focused resolutions.

Here are a few tips to achieve sleep this year outlined by Anand Nichani, Managing Director, Magniflex India:

Consistent Sleep Schedule: Cultivate a regular bedtime and wake-up routine for a balanced internal clock. A good night’s sleep helps rejuvenate the mind and body

Digital Detox Before Bed: Abstain from electronic devices and TV an hour before bedtime, opting for calming activities like reading or meditation.

Serene Sleep Environment: Invest in quality mattresses and pillows, choose soothing colours, and blackout curtains, and maintain a cool room temperature. A memo from the mattress is pivotal for maintaining good health and posture.

Sleep-Supportive Bedding: Select a mattress aligned with comfort preferences and spinal alignment. Consider breathable sheets and blankets.

Mindful Nutrition: Avoid heavy meals, caffeine, and nicotine before bedtime. Stay hydrated during the day, limiting liquids before sleep. Opt for light, sleep-inducing snacks if hungry.

Relaxing Warm Bath: Indulge in a warm bath or shower before bedtime to induce relaxation and faster sleep onset.

In our fast-paced world, sleep often takes a backseat. A beckoning call to regain control over your well-being, commencing with the rejuvenating power of quality sleep—a necessity, not a luxury. Hence, this new year calls for a renewed commitment to yourself – a promise to better yourself. Prioritise self-care and invest in 8 hours of sleep for a year of productivity fuelled by a well-rested mind and good health.

ALSO READ-Stages of sleep: insights for better rest and well-being

Categories
Films Interview Lite Blogs

Manoj Bajpayee on Being a Private Person

Hailing from Bihar, Manoj is an example of how an outsider can make it big in the film industry…reports Asian Lite News

Actor Manoj Bajpayee undoubtedly churns out good films every year but he knows very well how to balance out the limelight by staying low-key with his personal life. In a recent conversation Manoj called himself a private person and also talked about how “shyness is an aspect” of his personality.

“(In childhood) I was stubborn and I was shy… I am still that sort of a person today till I get comfortable and I am able to open up. That shyness is an aspect of me,” he said on the sidelines of the 54th International Film Festival of India in Goa. The ‘Satya’ star also shared that he does not like to talk about himself so much in public.

“When you work you have to talk to people, give interviews…so everyone is not aware about that aspect of yours …everybody thinks that you know it is very easy for me to talk but no it is not. I am giving interviews I take it as a job and I have to do it well. I am a very private person. I don’t like to talk about my life …I don’t like to get out from my home …I don’t like giving interviews. I feel tired talking about myself … I get exhausted. I like to talk about other people, other filmmakers and actors more than myself,” Manoj emphasised.

Hailing from Bihar, Manoj is an example of how an outsider can make it big in the film industry. His current stardom is a result of decades of hard work, underlined by hits, crushing failures and most importantly his never-say-die attitude. Reflecting on his journey in the Indian film industry, he said,” I believe it is a miracle…a boy from a village has spent 30 years in this industry. I have done a lot of work it is nothing short of a miracle.

With a big smile on his face, Manoj described his journey as “extraordinary”. “My story is not an ordinary story it is extraordinary because for a village person to come this far you need blessings from God…you need some kind of miracle to happen because it has not been easy and it is still not easy but people don’t understand they always see the end part of it they don’t see the journey,” Manoj shared. (ANI)

ALSO READ-Lal’s ‘Neru’ Promises a Riveting December Showdown

Categories
Lifestyle Lite Blogs Parenting

Cozy stay-at-home activities for rainy weekends

Opting for an at-home movie night can be a great idea to spend the weekend indoors. Make a list of movies you want to watch with your friends and family, read it out aloud and ask everyone to pick the movie they want to watch…reports Asian Lite News

The monsoon season is the perfect time to spend cozy indoor weekends with friends and family. Catching up with your loved ones and indulging in some fun activities without stepping out is a great bargain, especially when it’s pouring outside! From enjoying games to relaxing self-care sessions, here are 5 ultimate stay-at-home activities to enjoy with your loved ones and make memories together, shared by Dr Nimarta Bindra Parenting and Lifestyle influencer,

Game Night: Thinking of spending time indoors this weekend? What better way than getting together to enjoy some board games? Board games like Monopoly, Game of Life and Cluedo are all-time favourites and have been a source of entertainment for kids and adults alike. Get ready to witness sessions of laughter, fun, teasing and competitive spirit while you bond with your loved ones over board games. Card games like 5 Alive, Guess Who? and Monopoly Deal can enliven your rather dull rainy afternoons with its fast-paced gameplay. Gear up for exciting rounds of immersive playtime with these fun and interactive games.

Movie Night: Opting for an at-home movie night can be a great idea to spend the weekend indoors. Make a list of movies you want to watch with your friends and family, read it out aloud and ask everyone to pick the movie they want to watch. The movie with the most votes wins! You could also have a movie marathon. Arrange for some snacks to go with it and you are all set to have a cozy weekend indoors watching your favourite movies with your favourite people.

Make an elaborate meal together: If feeding your loved ones is your love language, there is no better way to spend the weekend than enjoying catching up over cooking great food. For people who enjoy cooking together, go ahead and cook an elaborate meal together and set the ambience for a delicious cozy indoor weekend with the perfect music to go with it.

Plan your next vacation: Planning a family trip or a friend’s trip can be a great way to spend the weekend together. Invite your folks over for a detailed discussion of your next trip and plan out the places you want to visit and the food you want to try. Planning the itinerary for your travel together leads to moments of fun, and laughter, and gets everyone excited and thrilled. So, go ahead and make a plan to explore new places and delicacies this weekend!

Spa time: Who doesn’t like a relaxing spa session? It is all the more fun when you invite your folks over for a tranquilising spa session at home. Unwind with friends and family over relaxing massages, manicures, and pedicure sessions. Light some aromatherapy candles or oil diffusers to create the perfect lighting for some extra effect and indulge in some much-needed self-care while you unwind and rest together.

ALSO READ-Dining delights in Dubai: A culinary journey through diverse flavors

Categories
Lifestyle Lite Blogs

How to improve work-life balance

“The simple message of this study is that if you want to be an effective leader at work, leave work at work,” said Klodiana Lanaj, a professor in UF’s Warrington College of Business who led the research…reports Asian Lite News

According to a recent study, turning off notifications and ignoring your email at the end of the workday might help you to become a better leader.

Managers who disconnected from their jobs at home felt more refreshed the next day, identified as effective leaders and helped their employees stay on target better than bosses who spent their off hours worrying about work.

Less-experienced leaders were especially prone to becoming ineffective if they spent their time focusing on their jobs at home.

The upshot is that the key to effective leadership in the office might be a better work-life balance. Led by scientists from the University of Florida, the University of Arizona and Florida State University, the new study was published in the Journal of Applied Psychology.

“The simple message of this study is that if you want to be an effective leader at work, leave work at work,” said Klodiana Lanaj, a professor in UF’s Warrington College of Business who led the research.

“This is particularly important for inexperienced leaders, as they seem to benefit the most from recovery experiences when at home. Leaders have challenging jobs as they juggle their own role responsibilities with the needs of their followers, and they need to recover from the demands of the leadership role,” Lanaj said.

The study surveyed managers and their employees at US businesses in 2019 and 2022. The researchers assessed leaders’ ability to disconnect from work when at home the night before and their level of energy and how strongly they identified as a leader in the morning at work. Employees rated their bosses on their ability to lead their teams.

“What we found is that on nights when leaders were able to completely turn off and not think about work, they were more energized the next day, and they felt better connected to their leadership role at work. On those same days, their followers reported that these leaders were more effective in motivating them and in guiding their work,” Lanaj said.

“But on nights when leaders reported that they were thinking about the negative aspects of work, they couldn’t really recuperate their energy by the morning,” she said. “They saw themselves as less leader-like and they weren’t as effective, as rated by their followers.”

So how can leaders – and businesses – promote this kind of work-life balance to build effective leaders?

“My hope is that this study will give managers data to support their decision to be present at home and to disconnect from work,” Lanaj said.

While Lanaj’s study didn’t ask managers how they relaxed at home, other research points to well-known ways to unwind and reset: Exercise, socialize with friends, spend quality time with family, or engage with TV shows, books or hobbies. What helps one person leave work at the office might not help another. The key, Lanaj says, is to find the methods that let you decompress from work as much as possible. And businesses that want the best out of their leaders on the job should help them recharge at home. Reducing after-hours emailing and expectations for on-call work is one way to do that.

Tech fuels a lot of this after-hours work, but also might offer a solution. You can set your phone to disable notifications after a certain hour or leave work devices in a dedicated office.

“You can start small,” Lanaj said. “Say, ‘After this time in the evening, I won’t check my work email.’ See where that takes you.” (ANI)

ALSO READ-Work life balance through spirituality

Categories
Lifestyle Lite Blogs

Work life balance through spirituality

Covid-19 second wave worsens 'shecession'.(photo:IANSLIFE)

Our ego makes us believe that success is happiness. People are trying hard to work, live and achieve pleasure but we can’t achieve happiness rather, we have to learn the art of being happy. This is Spirituality – evolving from achievement to contentment and fulfilment and then finally, to Enlightenment…reports Asian Lite News

What is the true meaning of Life? Life is liberation from ignorance and finding enlightenment, to be able to transcend our mind and the myth we have grown up with. What are we humans working for? We learn and we earn, only for others to burn what we earn. We don’t realize that what we are working for has no meaning. We are working but there is no purpose and before we realize it, our life escapes us.

In Spirituality, we develop a purpose. We find out, ‘Who am I and why am I here?’ Spirituality is the science of the spirit. It makes us realize that life has a purpose and while it must be lived with optimism, work must be done following the ‘ABC Principle’ – A – Accept life without protest as it is the result of our Prarabdha Karma or past actions. B – do our best in whatever we do. In that way, our Agami Karma or present actions are positive. Then C – surrender in Consciousness, in thoughtlessness where thoughts come one after another and don’t disturb our peace. Therefore, when work is done as Karma Yoga and when we start working as a Divine Instrument, our life becomes Divine. This is Spirituality. Spirituality is realizing the simple truth that I am not this body, mind, and ego but the Divine Soul. As long as we live by our ego, then our Mind and Ego, ME will create Karma – good or bad – and we will return to this earth in a rebirth.

If we want to balance work and life through spirituality, the only way to do that is to remove the ‘balance’ itself. There is no need to balance but we need to devote and dedicate our life to SIP – the Supreme Immortal Power we call God. Yes, we have to do our work. Yes, we have to live our life but we have to live it with Spiritual Realization. We must live life with the Enlightenment of the Truth that ‘nothing is mine, I come alone and I go alone and nobody is mine.’

Our ego makes us believe that success is happiness. People are trying hard to work, live and achieve pleasure but we can’t achieve happiness rather, we have to learn the art of being happy. This is Spirituality – evolving from achievement to contentment and fulfilment and then finally, to Enlightenment.

Spirituality leads to Liberation from the triple suffering of the body, mind, and ego that can be experienced as the pain of the body, misery of the mind, and agony of the ego. A Spiritual person need not balance life and work. Our work becomes our life and our life gets dedicated to working as a Divine Instrument. This is being Spiritually enlightened. This is evolving beyond body, mind, and ego and living as a Divine Soul.

Hence, Spiritual life is where work and life blend in the Realization that I am the Divine spirit, I am the Soul. SOUL is a Spark Of Unique Life. When we realize that we are the Soul, life becomes a celebration and work becomes a matter of complete surrender to the Supreme Divine and one starts living as an instrument of the Supreme Power that we call God. As a Divine Instrument, we seek nothing because we know that desires are the cause of disappointments and misery. We transcend the Mind and Ego, ME, and we live in a state of Consciousness. Spirituality is thus realizing that this world is a show, we are actors, we come and we go!

Balancing work and life through spirituality

We must transcend Karma. Normally, people work and live trying to create good Karma but they don’t realize the simple truth that creating good Karma also means that they have to return to the earth to reap the rewards of their Karma and undergo the suffering of the world. Spirituality liberates us from Karma because we can’t be free from the action but can be free in action. When whatever we do, is not done by us but the Divine did through us, we experience oneness with the Divine. We don’t own Karma anymore. We don’t perform any action. Everything is done by the Divine and we become Karma Yogi. We are always connected with the Divine through Karma Yoga. When we live as a Karma Yogi, our life ceases to have a separate identity because we transcend our ME, the Mind, and Ego. We become nothing and thus we become everything. When the wave becomes an ocean, then there is no difference between the wave and the ocean.

With Spirituality, when we become one with the Divine, then there is no need to balance work and life. When we balance, we are going in two opposite directions but when we blend, we live as a Divine Soul. We move towards the ultimate destination of Realization of the Truth, Liberation from all suffering, and ultimately, Unification with the Divine. Work and life then become only a matter of Purification and Illumination.

Are we going to continue to exist just like that till we die or are we going to find out, ‘Who am I and why am I here?’ We need to be liberated from ignorance and become enlightened with the truth. This is our life’s ultimate goal – to realize that we are the Divine Soul. Only then, will we be able to blend our life and work and live as a Spiritual Soul.

(AiR – Atman in Ravi, is a Spiritual leader and Founder of AiR Institute of Realization and AiRCenter of Enlightenment)

ALSO READ-A change from routine work life

Categories
Food Lite Blogs

Healthy eating habits for a wonderful life journey

Eat Dinner before 8 pm: Eating anything heavy after the sunset is not recommended as per our circadian rhythm and hence, you should try to have your last meal of the day before 8 pm…reports Asian Lite News

There is no escaping the fact that there are no shortcuts to healthy eating, which is the only way to achieve holistic and sustainable well-being.

Millennials who make for around two-thirds of the Indian consumer market are also known for unhealthy eating habits and this explains the high percentage of Gen Y contending with lifestyle diseases. However, lately, millennials are becoming aware of healthy eating habits for good health and well-being. So if you too belong to Gen Y and are taking the first step toward a wholesome life then the following healthy eating habits can help you to perfect your journey to health:

* Make a Schedule and Stick to it: Making a schedule and then sticking to it religiously will help you to discipline your own eating habits. To perfect the habit, take a diary and write everything that goes into your tummy. In addition, keep a close track of the intake of calories. And count how much you need and how much you spend. This calculation will help you keep tweaking your intake and spending and accordingly, adjust your eating habits. Within 21 days, you will find a considerable change in your eating habits and if you feel, don’t hesitate to take the help of a professional nutritionist in the journey.

* Evaluate requirements and never skip meals: Depending upon the activity and profession, the nutritional requirements vary from person to person. Your body’s needs in terms of macro and micronutrients are unique and hence you must first evaluate your requirement and then make a plan for it. Also, it’s important for the millennials never to skip the meal, and even there is no harm in snacking in between to calm your hunger pangs. Rather than opting for fried foods, popped chips, dark chocolates, and energy bars make for a healthy and filling snacking option.

* Choose intelligently and say no to Junk: Millennials are part of the specific lifestyle and work culture and hence, eating out comes naturally to this chunk of the population. The option is not best from the health perspective but still, you can choose intelligently on those party nights or weekend trips to save your health plans to go haywire. One of the smartest things you can do is to avoid junk food and rather opt for healthier options available on the menu. Consuming Colas and alcohol should also be off your list as both these things can severely hamper your health in the long term.

* Choose Food Over Supplements: Today convenience and nutrition are the challenge for most millennials. To stay healthy, it is important to read the label carefully to know what has gone into the making of the product. Also evaluate the nutritional information, especially the content of fat, sugar, and carbs before buying. “Make sure that products you’re consuming are free from added sugar and unnatural substances,” says Apoorva Gururaj, Co-founder, Foodio.fit. Sugar leads to many lifestyle diseases, hence best to avoid it. Another important healthy eating habit is to keep up the intake of your liquid to the optimum. Water not only maintains our body’s temperature but also helps in flushing out the toxins from our system. Hence avoid sugar-sweetened beverages too.

* Consider Plant-Based Options: Plant-based diets are increasingly becoming popular and for a good reason. Vegan products pack all essential nutrients and are quite easy to digest for our system. In fact, vegan products are now recommended to get rid of many lifestyle diseases including high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart problems among others. Vipen Jain, Founder, of Fitspire reveals that the craze of vegan supplements is on the rise among athletes, bodybuilders, and fitness freaks. These plant-based supplements don’t cause any bloating and help in the fast and quick recovery of muscles.

* Eat Dinner before 8 pm: Eating anything heavy after the sunset is not recommended as per our circadian rhythm and hence, you should try to have your last meal of the day before 8 pm. If you can’t eat before 8 then it’s better to take a light dinner with the preferred option being the green salad or a cup of milk. Also, make sure to walk at least 10-15 minutes after dinner to help the body digest the food properly.

Eating healthy is not rocket science. However, it requires careful planning and dogged determination, especially when it comes to implementing the schedule and sticking to the fundamental principles of health and nutrition. The good thing is that you need not follow fad diets nor do you require some fancy ideas for good health. Just stick to basic, fundamentals rules, closely monitor the unique requirements of your body and you’ll be sure to achieve your health goals in an effortless manner.

ALSO READ-How does diet play a role in body odour?

Categories
Lifestyle Lite Blogs

Yoga for super immunity

According to yoga and psychology, other than the physical body, we have a conscious, subconscious and unconscious mind. A health problem can start from any of these three…writes BIJOYLAXMI HOTA

For yoga therapy to be fully effective, the initial treatment should be done away from home in a yogashram. At home, it may not be possible to relax deeply, and tension slows down the healing. Also, at home, the conditions that created the health problems in the first place, are still there and may counter yogas effects. The peaceful atmosphere of an ashram automatically relaxes the inmates.

Healing will be enhanced if the yogashram is in the mountains, surrounded by greenery. At such a place, not only will the relaxation and oxygenation of the body tissues be better, the concentration of prana will be the maximum. It has been seen that 300 cubic feet of the mountain air contains 5,000 units of prana against 50 units of this energy in a city office. Sea shore and riverbanks are the next best alternative.

Furthermore, at home, one cannot spare much time for yogic practices. Mostly, people spend about an hour on yoga, and that too doing only Hatha Yoga, i.e. asanas, pranayamas and occasional satkarma. But Hatha Yoga does not comprise the entire practice of yoga; it is just a part of this system. Hatha Yoga is meant to rectify faults only in the gross physical body. But we are much more than just a body.

According to yoga and psychology, other than the physical body, we have a conscious, subconscious and unconscious mind. A health problem can start from any of these three. However, it manifests on the physical body as that is the only aspect that can be seen. Therefore, unless the root cause is corrected, the resultant ailment cannot be cured.

Freeing the mind of a deep-rooted fault may not be achieved through one yoga. The ancient yogis realized that and developed other yogas, mainly Bhakti Yoga (the yoga of devotion), Raja Yoga (the yoga of concentration and meditation), Karma Yoga (yoga of action, where one does physical labour without expecting any material gains) and Gyana Yoga (the yoga of enquiry) to do that. Therefore, it is necessary to practise them all, at least in the beginning. People without any ailments also benefit from them as it clears their psyche of all unwanted past impressions that could lead to a disease later.

According to Swami Satyananda Saraswati, it is necessary to practise all the four yogas. He says that if one does not practise “Karma Yoga, you will experience frustration and disappointments and the consequent reactions in life; if you do not practice Bhakti Yoga, passions will rise high; if you do not practice Raja Yoga, your mind will be jumping like a drunken monkey; if you do not practice Gyana Yoga you won’t know why you are practicing all these things; and if you do not practice Hatha Yoga, you may not be able to practice any of them”.

In the yogashram, the entire day is filled with various other yogas besides the four main ones. They are: Nada Yoga, Mantra Yoga and Tantra Yoga, etc. Each yoga caters to one aspect of the human character and together they take care of the complete personality making the practitioner feel uniquely calm, elated, healed and invigorated. It is as if one gets a fresh body and mind. Everybody should experience the ashram life to realize how wonderful the effect of real yoga. The feeling cannot be described in words. One has to experience it to believe it.

The ancient wise of India knew the value of the combined yoga and made rules such that people practised them from childhood. At the tender age of seven or eight, every child was sent to a gurukul, i.e. the abode of a guru. There, while learning their future professional skills, the children were made to do yoga. For Gyana Yoga, they studied scriptures; for Raja Yoga, they meditated and practised asanas and pranayamas; for Bhakti Yoga, they performed religious rituals such as yagnyas and for Karma Yoga, it was hard physical labour.

Whether one was a prince or a pauper, he was made to do various chores such as gardening, chopping wood, drawing water from wells, tending to cattle, etc. All these yogas, along with the strict disciplined life, went a long way in building their health and character.

According to the vedas, the vedic man’s lifespan was at least a hundred years, and they spent the second half of their life alone in the forest, catering to their own various needs. Such a lifestyle indicates the physical and mental strength of people of ancient times. It is a far cry from the contemporary times, when after a certain age, we cannot do without drugs, hospitals, doctors, nurses and attendants.

Ideally, all yogas should be done every day, although in shorter versions. But if that is not be possible, one should go to the yogashram periodically. Those who do that find it helpful in remaining in the best of their health and face the challenges of life with equanimity. According to my Guruji, it is like recharging one’s inner battery to withstand the vagaries of living in complex society.

Rules of Yoga

* Yoga should be practised on an empty stomach. Food can be taken 10 minutes after the completion of the routine.

* Use a folded blanket or rug for yoga practice. No soft spongy mattress or mat should be used as they do not provide the needed support to your back.

* Face the east. Even when you lie down, your head should be towards that direction.

* Wear loose cotton clothes. Tight or synthetic ones restrict proper oxygenation of the system.

* Avoid plastic neti pot and non-stick pan to heat the water.

* No microwave for any heating. The vitamins may remain intact, but the prana will be gone.

(Excerpted from ‘Yoga For Super Immunity’ by Bijoylaxmi Hota with the permission of Rupa Publications)

ALSO READ-Yoga for humanity