2.1 - Drowning in a drop of water

Study on the effects of Yoga:

The review, published in the journal Brain Plasticity, focused on 11 studies of the relationship between yoga practice and brain health. “We see increases in the volume of the hippocampus with yoga practice," Gothe said. The hippocampus is involved in memory processing and is known to shrink with age, Gothe said. "It is also the structure that is first affected in dementia and Alzheimer's disease."

The amygdala, a brain structure that contributes to emotional regulation, tends to be larger in yoga practitioners than in their peers who do not practice yoga. The prefrontal cortex, cingulate cortex and brain networks such as the default mode network also tend to be larger or more efficient in those who regularly practice yoga.

"We found that those who had done yoga for eight weeks had an attenuated cortisol response to stress that was associated with better performance on tests of decision-making, task-switching and attention." Yoga helps people with or without anxiety disorders manage their stress, Gothe said. "The practice of yoga helps improve emotional regulation to reduce stress, anxiety and depression," she said. "And that seems to improve brain functioning."

"The prefrontal cortex, a brain region just behind the forehead, is essential to planning, decision-making, multitasking, thinking about your options and picking the right option," Damoiseaux said. "The default mode network is a set of brain regions involved in thinking about the self, planning and memory."

Like the amygdala, the cingulate cortex is part of the limbic system, a circuit of structures that plays a key role in emotional regulation, learning and memory, she said. The studies also find that the brain changes seen in individuals practicing yoga are associated with better performance on cognitive tests or measures of emotional regulation.

“If you constantly seek the Buddha in others, you will never find the true Buddha within yourself. Would you investigate a mirror that was broken, and distorted, trying to observe your true reflection? Why then would you look towards others, with their broken, wounded illusions about reality, for their approval and validation of your self-worth? The true guru is within.” - David Scott

Spend time with those that love you unconditionally and not just to get what they want.

I don’t want other people to decide who I am and what I stand for, I want to decide that for myself.

Change your thoughts and change your day.

It is not your responsibility to like me, it is my responsibility to like me.

“Unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later in uglier ways.” - Sigmund Freud

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.

What you wish for in life, someone else already has, what you already have is what someone else needs, what you already take for granted, is something someone else only dreams of finding.

Make sure your worst enemy is not living between your own ears.

When your heart is fractured and broken, it is the cracks that allow the light to enter.

Do you ever find yourself trying to justify yourself to others that in the end truly don’t matter?

When you start looking at people’s hearts instead of their faces, life becomes clear.

Sometimes when I am not feeling happy, I do something to make others happy, and then suddenly I feel happy again.

Do you drown in a drop of water?

“If you surround yourself with people who are strong and positive, you are much more likely to see a world of opportunity and adventure.” – Jack Canfield

“Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” – Confucius

“It takes a strong person to do their own thing and not validate their existence.” Steven Aitchison

“Sometimes the dreams that come true are the dreams you never thought you had.”

Four very powerful words you can say to your child “I believe in you.”

“It is in the quiet moments of your practice, that you prepare yourselves for the exciting moments.”

Sometimes we have to just stand back and let life happen. Don’t hold together what must fall apart. The familiar fades away to create space for the new.

You are not truly rich until you have something money cannot buy.

“The word happiness would not be understood if not balanced by the meaning of sadness.” David Scott

If you do not like where you are in life, move you are not a tree.

Kindness towards others begins with compassion for ourselves.

“Kind words are short and easy to say, but their echoes are truly endless” Mother Teresa

Having a soft heart in a cruel word is courage, not weakness.

“Telling lies and being deceitful takes so much more energy than being honest and sincere.” – Steven Aitchison

“Misery loves company, so if you find yourself surrounded by drama and negativity, change you situation quickly because bad energy is highly contagious.”

“Friendship is not something to be written on paper, for paper can tear and fade. Friendship is not something to be written in a stone, for a stone can shatter and break. True friendship should be written in the heart where it can last forever.”

You can't force someone to respect you, but you can refuse to be disrespected.

“If you surround yourself with people who are strong and positive, you are much more likely to see a world of opportunity and adventure.” – Jack Canfield

We are who we are, when we begin to accept people for who they are and not who we want them to be, our relationship can blossom.