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The eight limbs of yoga, as described by Maharishi Patanjali, in the yoga Sutras, are a system of steps toward absolute bliss or enlightenment. The first four limbs (steps) are primarily concerned with ethical guidelines, developing awareness of the energy body, and physical mastery.

The last four limbs are concerned with development of consciousness through meditation. The physical body is a capsule for the soul (Jiva). The physical body has basic functional demands, and sensory demands, for pleasure. Transcending awareness beyond the physical senses grants us peace with ourselves.

If the general population of this planet would follow ethical guidelines, and transcend their awareness beyond the physical barrier of the body, we would have world peace. Just to listen, observe, and act, guided by our empathic sense is a good start toward helping others.

When you contemplate the first two limbs of yoga (Yama and Niyama), you will notice they flow in harmony with every moral code in existence. The principles of Yama and Niyama are universal laws for mankind.

You may have noticed that ten is a common number for moral codes. The Ten Commandments are another example of ethical guidelines. With ten fingers on our two hands, it makes it easy for humans to remember. Hence, we have five Yamas and five Niyamas, for a total of ten.

Yama are restraints, but are sometimes called Thou Shall Nots by western yoga teachers. It is not enough to observe them. It is much more important to live by them in our actions, words, and thoughts.

Copyright 2007 Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, has written many books on the subject of yoga. He is a co-owner and the Director of yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA. http://www.riyoga.com He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. To receive a Free yoga e-book: "yoga in practice," and a Free yoga Newsletter, please visit: http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

Do (Fill in the blank) diets work?

Strange title.

But I believe that you could insert any popular or fad diet into the above statement and be able to truthfully answer the question.

For the short term yes, for the long-term maybe, but probably not.

Think about it.

Do Low Fat diets work?

If they really did, we would be a nation of puny 98 pound weaklings. Everything is low fat, problem is when they remove the fat, something that most of us really like, they replace it with high carbs. Low fat coffee cake, come on. Beside that our body needs fat to operate, maybe not the fat we give it, but we do need fat.

Do Low calorie diets work?

Our genetic makeup won't let our bodies starve. When we were hunters and gathers and had some lean times, when food was scarce, our bodies started to slow the metabolism down to preserve us. As you start to reduce your caloric intake you body compensates for it and starts to go into a survival mode. Oh sure you will lose weight initially but that will stop and you will be upset most of the time because you are hungry.

Do Low Carb diets work?

I will admit that it was easy for me to follow the atkins Diet. But it was not easy for my wife to follow it. Still it was a pain in the --- not eating some of the fruits I really enjoy. I truly do believe that a modified form of this diet is the best one for most people. Not as harsh as atkins but maybe more in the line of south beach. You kick-start your system with the low carb diet and then transition into a sensible eating plan.

Do the Purchase our food diets work?

If you get on some of the plans, it will cost you $300 to $600 a month for the privilege of eating their food. I am not sure about you, but that is some serious change to eat. Oh, I'm sorry, with most of these plans you still need to purchase some food to supplement their food. Give me a break!

I have found some of the frozen dinners do a good job of portion control, along with following the Weight Watchers guidelines. They are reasonably priced and very convenient. I am doing this right now. Although some of these brands do leave something to be desired in the taste category, but that is something you will need to find out for yourself if you choose this plan.

So the question remains Do (Fill in the blank) diets work? For the short term yes, for the long-term maybe, but probably not.

But think about this. We did mention that we were genetically made to burn fuel efficiently.

What would happen if we changed what we eat and when we eat it and kept our body burning fuel in that highly efficient manner. Instead of a low calorie diet, we gave it the food it needed and then changed what we gave it for a few days so it started burning our stored body fat.

Then before the metabolism starts to slow down, we give it the food it needs again. We we just keep changing our food pattern and food intake to keep our furnace burning hot. But that is for another article, another day.

Ross Gallo writes on health care information topics. If your passion is health care and you want more amazing anti-aging, health and weight loss information, you can read more of his work at http://www.healthcareinformationonline.com/blog/

If you are deciding which Yoga book to buy for your collection, choose a book that will captivate your imagination, and suit your needs. On the subject of reading Yoga books: It has been a life long passion for some of us. Yet, it is not the number of books you read, but how you apply them to your life and the lives of others around you, which makes a difference.

The practical application of what you learn is more important than the quantity of Yoga books you read. So, the question is: How will you put the knowledge you learn to good use? To take an extreme view: If a homeless man reads personal finance magazines every day, he has educated himself, but he has not applied any of the advice.

You would be surprised what the homeless know. I knew a man who was homeless, yet he was very familiar with the ups and downs of the stock market. How did he learn so much? He pulled the wall Street journal from the trash and mentally absorbed it. Unfortunately, he never applied the knowledge he learned.

This is a critical point to understand. Knowledge is like a bank savings account - You have to save, but you also have to put your savings to good use. In the words of Andrew Carnegie, I resolved to stop accumulating and begin the infinitely more serious and difficult task of wise distribution.

To learn knowledge, without applying it to life, is a waste. It is not intentional, in most cases, but what a shame it is to know so much and not be able to help anyone with it.

Within Yoga, today, are so many books to read, which were not accessible to many of us a few decades ago. Some Yoga texts have been in existence for thousands of years, but local libraries did not have much on the topic of Yoga.

At that time, we did not have VCRs, DVDs, Internet access, e-books, MP3 Downloads, or Yoga audio books.

So, what did we do? When we acquired a Yoga book, or any book, we analyzed it by hand, and read a little. We made sure it would suit our needs, before we checked it out of the library, or purchased it from a book store.

The reason is simple If we buy or borrow any kind of a book, the value of our time is magnified by our complete comprehension and the ability to put it to practical use.

Copyright 2007 Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, has written many books on the subject of Yoga. He is a co-owner and the Director of Yoga Teacher Training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA. http://www.riyoga.com He has been a certified Master Yoga Teacher since 1995. To receive a Free Yoga e-book: "Yoga in Practice," and a Free Yoga Newsletter, please visit: http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html