Oct 5, 2011

YOGA...an art of healing and staying fit

What is yoga? 

 Yoga started over 5,000 years ago in India. It is a whole body philosophy, involving breathing (pranayama), stretching, postures (asanas) and meditation. These actions create harmony between mind, body and spirit and help clear mind from confusion and distress.

             ' Yogic kriya ' or yoga is a way of staying healthy and preventing illness. If correct yogic breathing techniques are practiced , the postures will stimulate nervous system, make muscles and joints more flexible, and relax your mind and body. The exercises and breathing improve oxygen and blood supply. In turn, this helps circulation and breathing which will promote general good health.

              There are about 80 main postures that can be performed standing, kneeling, sitting or lying on your front or back. There are several different styles of yoga including Hatha yoga, Iyengar yoga and Astanga yoga. Some are quite strenuous, while others are gentler and focus more on meditation and breath work.
           
BACKGROUND

             Yoga is an ancient system of relaxation, exercise and healing with origins in Indian philosophy. Yoga has been described as "the union of mind, body, and spirit," which addresses physical, mental, intellectual, emotional and spiritual dimensions toward an overall harmonious state of being.

The philosophy of yoga is sometimes pictured as a tree with eight branches;

: • Pranayama (breathing exercises)
 • Asana (physical postures)
 • Yama (moral behavior)
 • Niyama (healthy habit)
 • Dharana (concentration)
 • Pratyahara (sense withdrawal)
 • Dhyana (contemplation)
 • Samadhi (higher consciousness)

         There are several other types of yoga, including hatha yoga, karma yoga, bhakti yoga and raja yoga. These types vary in the proportions of the eight branches. In the United States and Europe, hatha yoga is commonly practiced, including pranayama and asana.

       Yoga is often practiced by healthy individuals with the aim to achieve relaxation, fitness and a healthy lifestyle. Yoga may be practiced alone, or with a group.

Oct 3, 2011

Social Media Marketing....a revolution

Today Social Media Marketing (SMM) is a in thing. Its a skill which I believe everyone irrespective of their field should possess. It is different from Internet marketing in a way that Internet Marketing is an umbrella and SMM comes under it. SMM is somewhat we do everyday. Its just that we are not aware of its professional way of execution. Today facebook (fb) has around 800 million users and twitter around 25 million. Everybody log on these sites atleast once everyday, gives updates , friend someone, comments on statements, etc. Lets take an example. Your friend has uploaded a video on youtube and shared its link on twitter and Facebook and also blogged about it. You made a comment on it which is also shown on your other friends home pages and your friends did the same thing. So in this way the video moves from one person to innumerable admirers and spreads virally. These activities are part of SMM. Some more examples are creating a fan page, event page on facebook, Linkedin, etc., Social media attracts individuals of all ages. People express their heart here. It is like a platform to hang out with friends in a virtual world. Now it has also become a vital medium of hiring talent. A lot of companies of all sizes have started looking for right candidates through Social media sites like fb, Linkedin, etc. and vice versa. This trend will only going to get more and more popular with the time. However, having said all this, i would also like to flash on a matter of serious concern which is, the authenticity of people and their identities in the virtual world. There is hardly any medium to gauge it. Its difficult to make out who is on the other side of the screen unless that individual reveals his actual identity.