Tag: yoga

The Five Tibetan Rites

The Five Tibetan Rites, also known as as the “Fountain of Youth”, crossed my way again. I found an excellent introduction at An Intro To The 5 Tibetan Rites & How They Can Boost Heart Health. There is both how-to for each rite and a short text about the health benefits.

They are thought to increase mobility and flexibility and help the body stay nimble as we age. Increased energy and feelings of calmness, mental clarity, greater spinal flexibility, better sleep, weight loss, healthier digestion, and improved libido have also been associated with the practice.

In addition to these benefits, research has also emerged suggesting that the flexibility of our spine predicts the flexibility of our arteries. Therefore, a yoga practice centered on spine flexibility, like the Tibetans, may help keep our arteries in a youthful state.

Some useful videos
The Five Tibetan Rites , 5 minutes
Five Tibetan Rites Explanation and Session | Yoga session with Michaël Bijker, 13 minutes
The 5 Tibetan Rites – Raageshwari, 13 minutes

The Five Tibetan Rites

When browsing through videos from Yoga Today I came across The Five Tibetan Rites. At Wikipedia the practice is described like this:

  • First Rite: Clockwise spinning: inhale and exhale deeply as you spin.
  • Second Rite: Inhale deeply while lifting the head and legs; exhale while lowering the head and legs.
  • Third Rite: Inhale as the spine arches back; exhale as the spine returns to an erect position.
  • Fourth Rite: Inhale while rising up; hold the breath while in the top position and tense the muscles; exhale while returning to the starting position.
  • Fifth Rite: Inhale while raising the body; exhale while lowering the body.

Read more:
Five Tibetan Rites (Wikipedia)

This was originally posted at another (now extinct) blog of mine.

Sat Nam

Today my yoga teacher talked about Sat Nam, an interesting topic which makes me understand why she called her website “Truth is your identity”.

Wikipedia said this about Sat Nam:

In Sanskrit, “sat” means “truth” and “nam” means “identity”. There are many differing interpretations when you put the two together – some websites have given the following interpretations: “truth is my identity” and “The essence of God is within me”.

Other common interpretations include: “in name there is truth” and “the light shines in you”; light being a metaphor for truth just like in mystical Kabbalistic teachings. The words themselves have a soothing and centering quality due to their monosyllabic nature, similar to sounds made by babies.

The Kundalini Yoga website lists SAT NAM among mantras:

SAT NAM is the Seed Mantra or Bij Mantra and it is the most widely used in the practice of Kundalini Yoga. Sat means the Truth; Nam means to call upon, name or identify with. Sat Nam means Truth is my identity and I call upon the eternal Truth that resides in all of us. Chanting this mantra awakens the Soul, and more simply means “really”. It is pronounced to rhyme with “But Mom!”

Both “truth is my identity” and “The essence of God is within me” are powerful statements.

This was originally posted at another (now extinct) blog of mine.

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