SOPANAM THE SUPREME LIFE STYLE
Welcome to “Sopanam Nature Living” the most charming life style. When you are here with us, you are most likely forget the rest of the world and ponder into the very nature of mind where the question arise "what is the essence of my life"?! This very question will help you dive deep into the realm of love and fly high into the realm of joy. You will realize your sapience that you are 'homo sapiens' the only surviving hominid today; with the characteristic way of bearing own body, stand still and walk straight, possess a brain volume of 1400 cc characterized by superior intelligence, with language and communication skills- articulate speech and have the ability to make use all complex tools. You will be cognizant of your potency- the power of knowledge, the power of desire and the power of action. After many years of perplexing thoughts, watchful waiting and overwhelming experiences, now we feel powerful and responsible, to share the sapience the wisdom with you all which is the most fundamental secret to well being. We take the responsibility with commitment and patience to power your potential to blossom fully in every area of life!
God has created so many things. Creation of human is the most wonderful. No man has been forgotten in the great scheme of creation to provide a nervous system at the head of which is a 1400 cc brain capable of thinking, planning, visualizing, discriminating and decision making with the ability to comprehend make conscious choice. Quality of life depends on how we use that cerebra-spinal-dynamo to live and let others live. Hope, you would love to spend few hours to understand life the secrets of healthy living and also validate where we stand in this precious valuable life. Hope and wish this would become a life awakening lesson for all of us. We should live our life always being conscious about the essence of it. If we live well with the essence, live for the health of mind body and soul today, we need not worry about tomorrow. We are builders of tomorrow, and we need not pay a fortune-teller to tell us, what is the purpose essence of living?! What will happen tomorrow! Nothing will happen! The inevitable will come! We are here for a unique purpose, good cause far greater than just to eat sleep talk and spend time! We have enough work to do, seeds to sow in. We shall inherit the fruits of today’s sowing!
First of all let us do some homely reasoning on the essence of our life. Without question and beyond doubt we shall establish the fact that the essence of life is 'love'. Life springs from love. Life sustains in love, seeks love, grows in love and the essence is love. Whatever we do in our life is for love & happiness. What is love & happiness? Love is that consciousness strong positive energy, strong positive knowledge and strong positive mind with the feeling of regard, affection and enthusiasm; a lively interest, the feeling of wonderment aroused by energy, not just an emotion as we normally perceive. Love is not a feeling, not a sudden quickening of the heart, not something we fall in and rise of and yet it is all of these and much more! It is the essence the sign of our vibrant life not just the mere existence. Everyone admits that love is wonderful and necessary but very few agrees on just for what and how it is! It is the very basis of our life. We all are born out made up of that substance love. (Love in Tab “Glimpse of Sopanam” Home page).
Practically, let us see what happiness is? How do we know if we are happy? Everyone wants to be happy. Every living being wants happiness, wants to be loved and wants to give love. This is a universal fact. We all yearn to have joy. Most of the people believe that some material objects will bring this happiness- money- perfect spouse- the dream job- a new car- big house etc but in truth the list of what would make you completely happy is never ending. This longing what we expressed as our craving for money, sense pleasure, name, fame, power and position never ends. No matter how much pleasure, money, fame, power we have, we are never satisfied. Each thing will please only for a short while until the novelty wears off and then we yearn for more. Finding lasting satisfaction through them is impossible because joy derived from them is finite. Only infinite joy can satisfy us.
Real Happiness comes out of contentment. Contentment comes from striving, not with possession. This is a law of psychology as well as physics. We should be happy that we are not contented because if we were contented, we should not have anything to overcome, we should have no reason for striving and we fail to enjoy work and labor of attaining. Time and honest labor are necessary for building character, education, knowledge, ability and success in any and all lines. Our life will always be full of challenges, it is better to admit as much with the knowledge that finding lasting satisfaction through finite and external means is impossible and decide to be happy in spite of all.
As long as you think happiness will come from something outside yourself, you will never be happy. Because happiness is not there outside, it is an inner experience, there with in you, YOU are happiness! Happiness is a different order of reality from that of the mind and body from where life springs from. Through all these sense pleasures which are there in the periphery or out side actually we are unconsciously trying to reach our divine self- which resides there in the core. Happiness is a state experienced when we get in touch with that source recede beyond body and mind.
There is no road to happiness, happiness is the road, it is our true nature. Truth is that happiness is voyage, not a destination there is no better time to be happy than right now! Anyone who live otherwise, not being conscious about the essence, desire happiness; always wanting to be happy tomorrow is like a person wandering in the desert constantly disappointed by mirages of water and shade. It is just a presentation to the mind in the form of an idea or image, not real, does not exist. We can be contented and happy or we can be discontented and unhappy, we can make our choice and nature will do the rest. Nature smiles on those who are natural and spread happiness in abundance.
A healthy man will always be happy. Our body, our breath, our mind, our feelings have a rhythm of their own. There is a rhythm in the nature, rhythm in the surroundings. When all these rhythms of body, mind, breath, intellect, memory and heart is in harmony; that is happiness. Body is healthy when all these rhythms are in harmony. Know-how of the above is health. (Health in Tab “Health” under Natural Cure). The signs of health and happiness are love, harmony, feeling of wellness, contentment, enthusiasm and high energy.
It is very important to validate once in a while- where do we stand and what we are doing?
In life most of the time we are in pursuit of happiness and we are hopeless in knowing the cause and effect of our life style and habits.Today we oscillate between hotels and hospitals as normal routine. Hotels presents novel varieties of food and doctors discover newer varieties of sickness. When we get exhausted or fall sick, we go to doctors to set us right. Doctors give some routine treatment or pain killers which give us some relief. Still if you (or your doctor) have been baffled by a health condition that defies normal diagnosis or does not respond to routine treatment, then doctor starts putting you through all the machines to study the symptoms or take out samples of blood, tissues or parts and send for higher diagnosis and based on findings they decide to remove the impaired glands organs or tissues from the body. After surgery only they solace saying 'now you are safe' for this many years. Some doctors rarely suggest restrictions like do not dream of fried food, do not look at salt etc.
Recently I have seen a case, doctor suggesting a patient on her discharge after a major surgery to have only non veg food which have no fiber- who bought Kilos of fish for a whole week on their way back home! Ultimately what is happening? If you eat till disease arrives, you have to starve till health returns. This is the right principle. but who cares? The invasions and influx of people addicted to rat race eating what they like and how they like lose their health, smile, harmony and one day we lose our precious life. Is this not what happening in our life or where we stand in life? Have you ever had a thought or become aware any time that health and happiness is our birth-right, not the doctors business? No!
It become a real challenge to maintain good health in today’s world. The replacement of food discipline by food followed by medicines is helping the tribe of doctors to grow in a direction in proportion to the unhealthy practices of living. lack of understanding about oneself and suitable routine, diet and other unwholesome ways of living, stress and mind pollution, no time for relaxation all is now a forgotten concept. Should we not, before it is too late, reverse this mad race and review the basics in life, so as to keep the diseases and doctors away or at least keep the later at a distance?
So what does all this mean? It is worth to take a pause and reflect on our life and take affirmative steps to reinforce us. While it is important to pay attention to reviewing the basics of life it will greatly benefit you to monitor the causes of your setbacks. This humble observation may make the difference between success and failure in your battle against good and worse.
The factors that throw us out of harmony- balance are mainly three.
1. Eating habits
2. Tensions and stress.
3. Environment and aging.
All these factors affect our body and mind altering the natural balance and throw us out of balance. Environment and aging; we may have very less control but stress and food induced effect we have a good control. Let us take stress first.
STRESS
STRESS: is the main cause of all sufferings. American Medical Association says “stress” is the number one proxy killer. The physical and psychological effects of stress on the body can make us sick, accelerates aging, and is deadly. Stress and effects of mind, excitement on the body are more harmful than external pollution. Stress in our lives disconnects us from our precious life and from others. Many of us do not know how to handle these stresses effectively?Let us reason the physical and psychological effects of stress! What is stress? Stress is a state of mind. Stress is a mind/body reaction/response to a situation. Stress occurs when a situation/condition is not acceptable to us. Stress occurs when you want to do/get something but are unable, stress occurs when ego is hurt and stress occurs when you lose something which is important. When you eat too much indiscriminately you are in stress. Stress is mostly due to perception of mind the fear of future and worry of past.How stress affects our body. Our body switches from a “rest and relax” state to a “Fight or flight” mode. When mind perceives threat, it triggers animal instinct (Flight or fight), adrenalin increases to prepare the body stimulating the autonomous nervous system, heart beat increases to supply more food and oxygen, Blood pressure increases, breathing become fast and shallow, metabolic rate increases, stomach readies to prepare more food-acidity increases (cause of ulcer) overloaded excretory system to clear the toxins(Kidney troubles, constipation), imbalanced endocrine glands-the chemical factories of hormone and enzymes, imbalanced emotions- fear, anxiety, anger, depression and finally falls into a panic atmosphere mind perceives threat.Stress simply means perverted love, the obstructed flow of life energy in the body. When the above stress goes unchecked, our reproductive system becomes affected and typically we see women folk having irregular monthly cycles and men being affected with reduced sexual desires and even impotency. Stress also cause sleep disorders, nervousness and irritability and this affects our relationship with others. Stress can also cause weight disorders- with unusual weight gains and losses.Stress simply affects us totally, throwing our body and mind out of balance. After affect of all these causes enervation reduces immunity and make body susceptible to diseases all the time. Stress and mind induced affect on the body are more harmful than external pollution. Stress simply drains our energy. Stress in your lives disconnects you from others and yourselves in many ways. Stress does it without your knowledge, you will not be aware! Because in times of stress, our mind is either in the past or in the future and body remains in the present. In the present we miss the rhythm of breath dissipate energy and accumulate toxins.Stress also affects the way we feel about ourselves. When we observe our mind closely, waves of thoughts constantly bombard us and take us through different emotions. Every emotion there is a corresponding effect on our breath, body and mind. We lose the rhythm and dissipate energy. If you carefully observe, when you are with these emotions, our breath moves in a particular rhythm. Isn’t it? And there are definite sensations in the body, something happens in the system feeling of contraction tightness. Did you not experience this? When you are sad, your rhythm of sadness is different from anger. And there is definite sensation in a very specific part of the body throat, chest and stomach.In the simplest language stress can be described as mental and physical disturbance caused by unpleasant situations or stimuli not under our direct control. The mind reacts with jealousy, envy transpose in to hatred, anger, anxiety, sadness then falls into depression, fear and panic. Since the mind and body are closely interlinked, these emotions adversely affect our physical health. If we cannot manage these emotions from the beginning, we suffer great physical and mental disorders. Unless relieved such tension, produce serious illness, brain continues to operate in higher beta state (15 to 26 cycles of electrical impulses, EEG (Electroencephalogram) bombarded with thoughts. Crisis is Brain haemorrhage, breakdown of blood vessels in brain can cause paralysis, heart attack and even fatal. (Alpha state= 8-14 normal natural level, Theta State= 4-7 Deep meditative level)
FOOD & EATING HABITS
Now let us see the food and eating habits.Man is either the man of himself, or his appetite and sensual pleasures master him. If the former, enjoys health until worn out; if he is inclined to the later, if he is a sensualist controlled by habits and passions, he becomes irritable, grouchy and dies prematurely. Over eating is a common and universal enervating habit, eating too often; eating between meals and checking digestion with drinking water between meals. Perverted appetites are built by over eating; eating rich food until enjoyment is lost for staple or plain foods; eating when sick or uncomfortable; eating at all hours, between meals; eating until uncomfortable; all these drains our energy leading to enervation. Majority of the people have weakness for tasty food and not care for nutritional value of food they are eating. The human body builds up and maintains healthy cells, tissues, glands and organs only with the help of various nutrients. The body cannot perform any of its functions, be it metabolic, hormonal, mental, physical or chemical, without specific nutrients. The Food we eat must serve the nutritional requirements of the body and maintain acid-alkaline balance. The list of nutrients includes oxygen, water, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, minerals, vitamins and roughage. All these nutrients are vitally important and they work together. The absence of any of them will result in disease and eventually in death.We should also analyze the drawbacks, the after effect of ingesting animal proteins whether in the form of meat or milk. Most diseases of the human body are caused by auto-intoxication or self-poisoning from animal proteins. The flesh of animals increases the burden of the organs of elimination and overloads the system with animal waste matter and poisons. Meat proteins cause putrefaction a state of decay usually accompanied by an offensive odor twice as rapidly as do vegetable proteins. The morbid matter of the dead animal body is foreign and very unfavorable to life or growth of man burdening the excretory organs. The animals which are brought up for food, the processes of fastening growth & fattening them to increase their weight and consequently their market value produce tremendous impact on our life and health. Modern science has developed the method of producing broiler chicken in 27 days in place of two years. Now this system is further developed to make Kentucky fried chicken in 8 days time. This has been made possible through artificial mitosis the cell division process that produces new cells for growth, repair, and the general replacement of older cells fastening the replication and growth process of bio clock cytochrome injecting hormones like Eastrogen-eastradiol-17 beta, Progesterone, testosterone, tenbolone acetate, zeronal and antibiotics like tetracycline, streptomycin, sulfamethazine, chloramphenicol etc. If such chickens are not used in 45 days some sort of fibers will start coming out of its body and would breaks its heart and die in 48 days. Hence all these chicken are killed before this period and carcass will be kept in cold storage for so many months or even years. The impact of using such carcass is legible, in 1960s 18, 19, 20 was the maturing age of boys and girls, in 80s it became 14, in 90s it became 12, 13, in 2000 it became 11, 12 and now it has became 7.5 to 10. We failed to see or totally unaware of the fact that Childhood has vanished, ageing started early, Old age diseases started starting in child hood. Life span diminished to 40, 50 and life filled with disease.Food is a stimulant. Over eating is over stimulating. Added to this excess, we take one or two other stimulants- coffee or tobacco. (Read more about Tea, coffee, alcohol under tab “Self poisoning”). Caffeine the major stimulant absorption occurs in the body very quickly through the stomach and small intestine, and its effects are felt as soon as 10 minutes after consumption. Caffeine does not accumulate in the bloodstream nor is it stored in the body, but it does persist. When the blood is persisted with caffeine the body cells will hesitate to absorb life giving oxygen from the blood causes the oxygen level in the blood remains high which keeps you stimulated for a while. Subsequently the body cells are unable either to convert glucose into energy or repair replicate and grow themselves and weaken or damages.Wholesome foods are beyond the reach of normal people today. These foods are fresh vegetables and fruits. Though they grows in earth, it is a transformation of all the five elements. A plant cannot grow or yield without these elements. Five elements space, oxygen, heat, water, solid and all nutrients are there in the right proportion when we eat natural food. . But we don’t eat fresh natural unrefined lively food. The digestive system injures by eating too much refined food, by frying vegetables so much that they lose most of their nutritional value, by cooking them in harmful oils and by adding too much spices and chilies. Apart from this when the rules of food combination are violated, even good nutritious food may produce toxic materials resulting in decomposition in the digestive tract. (Food combination in tab “Corollary combination” under “Natural Diet”). Hope now you would have got a rough idea how Stress and food induced affects on the body throws us out of harmony, balance and drains our energy. Actually speaking what is that we really need to remain in harmony and balance? Nothing! We need only prana, life force, which is the power behind your respiration, nutrition, excretion and maintenance which is already there in abundance in the nature and flows through our body also. Only thing we should do, is to remain in love and skilled-enough not to obstruct the flow of prana; life energy, harmoniously through all the layers of our existence. Once it is done, you are healthy and happy. Health is established in the self. Health will be the dynamic expression of your life.
PRANA- LIFE FORCE
What is Prana?
The first thing to be aware of is that, Prana is the subtle life force energy needed by the physical and subtle layers of our being. Prana is not breath; it is the power that enables us to breath. Prana is not energy; it is what gives energy the power to be energy. Prana is an auto energizing force. Prana is not seen or unseen, yet it is observable by its actions. It is the prime moving force in our body and in the universe. It is pure consciousness. When energy or consciousness flows through the body there are different sensations, feelings and emotions that one experience.
Prana creates a magnetic field in the form of the universe and plays with it, both to maintain and destroy for further creation. It permeates each individual as well as the universe at all levels. All that vibrates in the universe is prana: heat, light, gravity, magnetism, vigor, power, vitality, life and spirit are all forms of prana. It is the cosmic personality, potent in all beings and non-beings. Actually we are floating in an ocean of energy hence can be awakened very naturally and effortlessly. Every moment we get energy and we lose energy. When the energy we receive is greater than the energy we lose, we feel alert, happy and enthusiastic. Using of nerve energy in excess of normal production causes enervation. Everything that acts on the body, use up energy. For instance, cold and heat requires the expenditure of nerve energy to adjust the body to changes.
Prana act as physical energy; as functions of various organs of the body, act as mental energy; where the mind gathers information and as intellectual energy; where information is examine and filtered. It also acts as sexual energy, spiritual energy and cosmic energy. It is the prime mover of all activity. It is the best wealth of life. In the bodily level secretions are necessary for preparing the building-up material to take the place of worn-out tissue. The worn-out tissue must be removed, eliminated from the blood as fast as it is formed, or it accumulates, and as it is toxic, the system will be poisoned. This elimination of waste products of tissue building is just as necessary as building-up process. And these two functions depend on each other and as both depend on the proper amount of nerve energy to do their work well.
The upward and downward flow of energy keeps on happening very naturally and spontaneously in mental level all the time. If mind is well everything else feels well. Emotionally; when we are happy in the present moment; we experience enthusiasm then creativity blossoms there is generosity and contentment, calmness, efficiency, effectiveness which in turn give rise to love. Love takes us to gratitude, which helps to bring awareness and wisdom and ultimately leading us to bliss and joy. When there is no joy in our life, then we fall a step below and experience anger. From anger springs hatred and aversion. This further leads to a sense of fear. Fear as it grows give rise to jealousy and envy which in turn give rise to lust feverishness and obsession. Lust and obsession brings us into the trap of inertia and negativity. It is when the energy we lose is greater than the energy we receive we feel dull, lazy and the whole negativity comes. We lose our precious life. Are we not losing our precious time, this moment, the moments of love? Surely we need to find ways to maintain our life force. First find in what way the nerve energy is wasted, and we should stop it. Stop all nerve leaks. Stop all enervating influences. Once the nerve energy is restored nature attends all the needs, improves your awareness, makes you conscious about the essence of life, makes you strong to manage your emotions; dealing with situations and people. Learn how to handle!
Therefore all the people who would like to enjoy life and health to the full need to understand in what way they may be weighed out drop by drop in using nerve energy and live conservatively careful and sensible there by enjoying the greatest mental and physical efficiency and also for the longest life. So noticing what causes these ebbs and flows of energy within us, allows us to make conscious choices in our life from an energetic perspective, which is a totally different way fostered way of living!
REGULATING THE LIFE FORCE
Life force simply means Nerve energy. Now the resolution is how we get nerve energy and how we lose nerve energy. Or how this energy is being generated in our body? What are the sources of energy? And what depletes our energy? (What depletes energy, you may read in “Prevention online” Home page). Energy source depends mainly on blending Breath & Knowledge through the following:
1. Balance in Activity & Rest, Sleeping & Waking, Not letting sleep take over,
2. Balanced Food- Balance in eating & fasting, Eating fresh food,
3. Knowledge- Proper blending of Innocence & Intelligence (A journey from intellect to intuition),
4. Calm the mind- Singing, chanting and dancing with reverence,
5. Respiration- Act of breathing in & out- Secret of life & Metabolism,
6. Emotional peaks- Pranayams, Kriya and Meditation,
7. Silence- The purpose of words and actions is to create silence,
8. Cold Water- Baths, Drinks and other applications.
The most obvious is sleep. Every night we go to sleep and we wake up energized and rejuvenated because, during sleep the mind body and breath come together into one rhythm eliminating the stress of the body. How do we feel if we do not have a good night’s rest? The next day we are not ourselves. We may feel irritable and dull. When we oversleep again we tend to feel dull. There needs to be a proper balance of rest and activity, waking and sleeping.
Next is food. Food is an essential source of energy if we have the right quantity, quality at the right time. Over eating and less eating drains your energy. There needs to be a proper balance of eating and fasting.
Knowledge is another source of energy that most of the people are unaware of. Knowledge is the psychological result of perception, learning and reasoning. Actually there are three ways of attaining knowledge. According to Science the knowledge can be gained through one of the two ways only- “Perception and Inference”. But knowledge will be complete when attained through Perception, inference and innocence.
Calm Mind: Our mind is always jumpy in nature, vacillates between past and future, rarely stay in the moment draining huge amount of energy. The calmer our mind is, the more energetic we are. Have you noticed when the mind is filled with the negative thoughts such as worry or fear, we become drained and tired, the Energy goes down. And when the mind is more positive, filled with thoughts of love, enthusiasm and happiness, we feel more energetic. Keeping the mind happy make the work effortless. This is the skill for producing energy.
Respiration- Breath is the next and best source of energy. Breath is so powerful and obvious. We often take it for granted ignoring the power of it. Breath is the secret of our life. We get major portion of energy from breathing. We release major portion of toxins, impurities from our body through breath. Good knowledge of three stages of respiration.
Emotional peaks- Emotional restlessness drains high amount of energy where any amount of knowledge does not work. Pranayams, Sudarshan Kriya and Presence of wise enlightened ones helps to nurture emotions and makes one emotionally stable.
Silence- Talking spends high amount of energy. Every word you speak should bring silence in your and others mind. Every action you do should be with proper intention, attention and action. It should not create turbulence in you and others.
Cold water- Baths & Drinks and other applications.
In brief, Nerve energy is attached or associated with breath and knowledge. This are the tools. Breath is the main source of nerve energy. I will tell you two big secrets. 1. Secret to buy energy is in breath & secret to prevent enervation, managing stress, (going back to living free like a child) is in knowledge, because breath and knowledge is associated with the body, mind or emotions and nature. 2. Secret to buy wholesome knowledge is in dedication to the wholehearted quality of being faithful innocently.
Hence confluence of Action, Devotion and Knowledge is highly essential to restore health. Yoga is that cognitive process or life style practiced in daily life to pierce stress and go ahead. “Sopanam yoga” is a complete practical manoeuvre that reflects some of the most important developments in modern teaching in the release of pent-up stress from busy lives, healing diseases and bringing back health. It is a very natural, safe, and effective means to get rid of our daily stress, before it accumulates and becomes harmful to us. 'Sopanam Yoga’s approach to health and happiness is much more special to restore the balance in our body, mind and emotions as well as the environment.
There are five different aspects in it; the physical exercises, the breathing techniques, the relaxation methods, meditation and nutrition. All aspects are taught and practiced with equal emphasis.
In this unique lifestyle way, you truly experience what you are and gain amazing skills that you never gained anywhere else, how to manage your mind, how to manage your emotions, how to get rid of stress, how to correct your appetite, how to bring yourself back to your true nature, as when you were born, Happy, bright, enthusiastic.
Enthusiasm is the sign of our vibrant life. You will start enjoying each moment of your life & that is Natural LIVING. Life means LOVE, JOY, ENTHUSIASM, ENERGY, FOCUS, CLARITY, FREEDOM, WISDOM; all these we seek in life is hidden in nature.