GuruGanesha Singh Live Oct. 29th

“Devotional music stalwart GuruGanesha handles the guitar with effortless grace, slipping easily between chordal rhythms and mellifluous leads. A self-confessed Deadhead, he has a near clairvoyant ability to goad and guide the group’s inspired jamming on the music’s open-ended structures.” - Alan di Perna, writer for Yoga Journal, Rolling Stone, Guitar World

Wed, Oct 29, 7:30pm
Endicott Performing Arts Center
102 Washington Ave, Endicott
Tickets: $20.00 advance / $25 door
Online: www.SpiritVoyage.com

www.MyYogaTime.net

The Snatam Kaur Talk Board

If you haven't visited Snatam Kaur's website, I'd like to mention that not only do you get to listen to some beautiful music (flash player at the bottom of her site), but you'll find some new things that enable us to have a greater connection with Snatam. There are currently only a few sections in her "forum" but they are worth participating in and reading. As the description states:

"this forum is for connecting with your spiritual community. This is not meant as a forum to ask Snatam Kaur questions, or to write to the band directly. We pray this serves to make connections in the community. "

The active parts so far are:

Concert Experiences
Have you been to a recent Celebrate Peace Concert? Please share here.

Ra Ma Da Sa Meditation Experiences
This is the meditation Snatam Kaur is doing in her concerts for healing. Please share what's been coming up for you here.

Snatam also has a blog called "Notes From the Road" which shares their experiences on the road and is updated from time to time that is very interesting to read. Hopefully she'll soon be sharing her experience as a mother-to-be!

www.MyYogaTime.net

Snatam Kaur Featured Artist in New Movie

Ocean of Pearls Premiering at The Miami International Film Festival

As a Sikh man with a full beard and turban, AMRIT SINGH is often the target of racial profiling. But when he sees his dreams of becoming Chief of Surgery at a state-of-the-art transplant center dwindle because of his appearance, Amrit goes against a tradition he's maintained his whole life and cuts his hair. Hiding this decision from his girlfriend and family in Toronto is only the start of a series of compromises Amrit finds himself making as he deals with hospital politics and health care injustices. When his compromises result in the death of a patient, Amrit begins to reexamine the value of the religious traditions he'd turned his back on.

It has been a long road of over ten years for director (and physician), Dr. Neelam, who has wanted to make movies for as long as he can remember. His purpose in making this movie was two-fold. One was to bring awareness about Sikhs and Sikhism to the general public. He says “Growing up in Toronto, we went through a lot of discrimination. After 9/11, it got worse. I feel movies are a powerful medium to bring about awareness and hopefully reduce hate crimes.”

The other purpose was for Sikhs themselves. “Even though there are millions of Sikhs worldwide, there are hardly any films that depict us in our proper way. Usually, we are absent in Hollywood films or comic relief characters in Bollywood,” he states passionately. “It’s important for us to be involved in visual media to break down barriers as great African Americans such as Sidney Poitier, Oprah Winfrey, Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Halle Berry have done for their community.” One small way to get “involved”, he states, is to come see the movie and bring a few friends. The test audiences, made up of mainstream Americans, enjoyed the movie so much that over 75% of them said they would recommend it to their friends.

“Ocean of Pearls” is a love story and a spiritual journey of a young Sikh physician, Amrit Singh. He wants to succeed professionally and desperately wants to fit in. But is his religious background holding him back? Hoping for a new start, he embarks on an ambitious pursuit of success, but soon learns that he must first define his own singular identity before he achieves peace. The story carefully weaves in bits of information about Sikhism and the challenges facing Sikhs today without sounding preachy. The same holds true for the problems facing our health system. “Most Americans do not realize that even if you have health insurance and earn good money, an accident or a health crisis can bankrupt you,” emphasized Dr. Neelam.

“Ocean of Pearls” is a story not just for Sikhs as it seeks to answer questions of how one struggles to balance romance, spirituality, ethics and family in today’s complex society.

The actors include Omid Abtahi, Navi Rawat, Ron Canada, Ajay Mehta, Heather McComb and Brenda Strong. The music is beautifully composed by Pinar Toprak, Karsh Kale and features vocals by Snatam Kaur Khalsa.

www.MyYogaTime.net

Studies show yoga has multiple benefits

Reuters | Wednesday, 02 January 2008


Yoga induces a feeling of well-being in healthy people, and can reverse the clinical and biochemical changes associated with metabolic syndrome, according to results of studies from Sweden and India.

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of heart disease risk factors such as high blood pressure, obesity and high blood sugar.

Dr RP Agrawal, of the SP Medical College, Bikaner, India, and colleagues evaluated the beneficial effects of yoga and meditation in 101 adults with features of metabolic syndrome.

In the study, 55 adults received three months of regular yoga including standard postures and Raja Yoga, a form of transcendental meditation daily, while the remaining received standard care.

Waist circumference, blood pressure, blood sugar, and triglycerides were significantly lower, and "good" HDL cholesterol levels were higher in the yoga group as compared to controls, Agrawal's team reports in the journal Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice.

In the second study, published online December 19 in BioMed Central Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Dr Anette Kjellgren from the University of Karlstad, Sweden and colleagues evaluated the beneficial effects of yoga-like breathing exercises on healthy volunteers.

Fifty-five adults were advised to practice "Sudarshan Kriya," which involves cycles of slow normal and rapid breathing exercises. The exercises were practiced for an hour daily, six days a week for six weeks, while 48 controls were advised to relax in an armchair for 15 minutes daily.

At the end of the study period, feelings of anxiety, stress and depression were significantly lower and levels of optimism significantly higher in the yoga group compared to the control group, Kjellgren and colleagues report.

Yoga induces a "relaxation response" associated with reduced nervous system activity and a feeling of well-being probably due to an increase in antioxidants and lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol, they suggest.

Yoga not only helps in prevention of lifestyle diseases, but can also be "a powerful adjunct therapy when these diseases arise," co-investigator Dr Faahri Saatiglou, from the University of Oslo, told Reuters Health. "We do not emphasise this point enough in our Western health care."

www.MyYogaTime.net

Yoga Relaxes Body and Heart

Two studies by Indian and Swedish researchers respectively have brought to light the health benefits of yoga; according to their findings yoga has the ability to reverse the clinical and biochemical changes associated with metabolic syndrome and relax the body as a whole.

The first study conducted by Dr. R.P. Agrawal and colleagues at the SP Medical College, Bikaner was focused on assessing the benefits gained from yoga and meditation by patients with metabolic syndrome. The condition is a cluster of heart disease risk factors such as high blood pressure, obesity, and high blood sugar. 101 adults with metabolic syndrome were covered by the researchers.

Split into two groups, 55 patients were put on a daily regimen of regular yoga including standard postures and Raja Yoga (a form of transcendental meditation) for three months while the remaining participants were placed under standard care. The researchers kept tabs on various health factors of participants in both groups through out the study period.

At the end of the three months, the researchers found that the yoga group had significantly lower waist circumference, blood pressure, blood sugar and triglycerides, and higher levels of “good” HDL cholesterol compared to the control group.

In the other study, Swedish researchers led by Dr. Anette Kjellgren at the University of Karlstad, evaluated the benefits gained by healthy volunteers from yoga-like breathing exercises. They advised 55 adult volunteers to practice “Sudarshan Kriya,” a form of yoga which involves cycles of slow, normal and rapid breathing exercises for an hour daily. They did this for six days a week for six weeks. 48 other volunteers were placed in a control group and asked to relax in an armchair for 15 minutes daily.

After six weeks, the researchers found that the yoga group volunteers reported significantly lower feelings of anxiety, stress and depression while feeling highly optimistic compared to the control group volunteers.

According to the researchers, yoga most probably reduces nervous system activity, increases antioxidants and lowers levels of the stress hormone cortisol, all of which create a feeling of relaxation and well-being.

Yoga not only helps in prevention of lifestyle diseases, but can also be “a powerful adjunct therapy when these diseases arise,” co-investigator Dr. Faahri Saatiglou, from the University of Oslo, said. “We do not emphasize this point enough in our Western health care.”

Findings of the Indian study have been reported in the journal Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice while the Swedish study has been published online in BioMed Central Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

www.MyYogaTime.net