Longest Solar Eclipse in 2010 - Matter of Science or Faith

It was a day of Science vs Superstition. A matter of science or faith.The spectacle of the millennium.

What a Godly sight it was, simply divine.I was fortunate enough to observe it for a few minutes, managed to catch hold of the special glasses needed for viewing it from some colleagues in office. Could not observe the diamond ring but that did not reduce its beauty, it was just so awesome. South India was privileged to have been bestowed with proper visibility, me again fortunate to be located in Bangalore. I was elated because as being told in news, the next solar eclipse can be seen only in 3040, more than a 1000 years from now. In this life, I did not miss it :) Hope get to watch in other lifetime as well.

Ok lets come to the debatable part of the eclipse. I was motivated to write this post after viewing a discussion on CNN-IBN which was captioned Superstition vs Faith. Quite an interesting topic!

So many Myths that people do not have any basis to follow

1) Do not go out during Eclipse ( I observed many people taking leave today in office or Working from home :D felt it to be quite absurd, also in Haridwar hundreds of people took a dip in the holy waters, how contradictory)

2) Pregnant ladies should not observe the Eclipse ( No scientific basis)

3) We should not eat or cook during Eclipse because there are harmful rays in the atmosphere when the fact is Eclipse rays are the same as normal sunlight rays :P  ( What about the grains and vegetables in the field exposed to eclipse? No wonder office cafeteria was 90% empty, was quite surprised to see that though. I on the other hand had my lunch :) Could not resist the hunger pangs )

4) Eclipse is inauspicious , so do not make any important decisions today or do not start any good work today ( very debatable, can't say more :D)

Bharat Bhushan, a famous astrologer and also a participant in this discussion rightly quoted that "Astrology was being misinterpreted by half-knowing people". He also said that Blind faith is an individuals' prerogative. Changes like the eclipse mark the change in the dynamics of nature's energy spectra.The kundlis and the zodiac signs predictions that we see are astrological but these very predictions constitute a very insignificant part of the field of Astrology

Eclipse is just a simple geometry in space. People buy lot of things from astrology, predictions. But actually  there is nothing auspicious or inauspicious about an eclipse. An eclipse day is just like any other day, sun cannot be looked at directly on any day just like you need protective glasses to observe an eclipse as well.

“Nations, like stars, are entitled to eclipse. All is well, provided the light returns and the eclipse does not become endless night. Dawn and resurrection are synonymous. The reappearance of the light is the same as the survival of the soul.”  Victor Hugo

My wish for all is that any eclipsing phases in your life pass away soon. Just as the moon can cover the sun only for a certain a amount of time and not obscure it for eternity, so also the darkness in your life not remain forever :)

Pump it Up!

Worried about your health?? Do you despise the growing flab in your body?? Do you want to age slower?? Do you want to keep diseases out of your life and build body immunity and stamina?? Exercise, Exercise and Exercise thats the only answer to all these questions.

Image courtesy

And with growing awareness about health, we have gyms and fitness centers in every nook and corner of the city. In fact each company, especially IT companies boast of gyms these days. With hectic work schedules why go anywhere but office for even a workout. I work in an IT company myself and I try to hit the gym at least 3-4 days a week out of the 5 working days. Its also a welcome break from the work stress and also a great form of relaxation. A state of blankness is what I experience during workout, well I would say thats closer to meditation. You are focusing on your exercise and your mind is not wandering anywhere. After all meditation is focusing on a single task, may it be your breath or the flame of a candle or the second hand of a watch.

And if you are a person who enjoys any kind of music, take that MP3 player you love so much, load it up with high energy, nice feet tapping music and see how you enjoy your workout. Music is such a God-send entity I must say, it can engross you, relax you, make you workout harder.Yes!!! Good beat music and really make you pump it up!! And you end up burning more calories on that cycle, treadmill or elliptical trainer :) Ain't that a blessing? :D Listening to your favorite play list can help you to go up to 20% longer and burn more calories, according to research from West London's Brunel University as indicated here

A more fascinating fact is that solving a Sudoku game for an hour can help you not only boost your brainpower but also burn 90 calories :P Yes its true, true, true!! Look here for the news article. Yeah yeah you still need to do physical exercise :D I just wanted to mention it since it does involve brain exercize which is equally important.

Now you would say "We don't have the time" or "I don't find the motivation to exercise" Its not necessary to hit the gym for physical exercise, there is Yoga, there is the alternative of walking and simple habits like taking the stairs instead of a lift can help you lead an active life. And then in spite of having so many options to be a healthier you, if you still find it difficult, just think, its your health, its your life, either you make it or you break it! Its only and only in your own hands

"The whole idea of motivation is a trap. Forget motivation. Just do it. Exercise, lose weight, test your blood sugar, or whatever. Do it without motivation. And then, guess what? After you start doing the thing, that's when the motivation comes and makes it easy for you to keep on doing it." — John C. Maxwell

 Some good links for getting into shape :)

http://www.abc-of-yoga.com/yogapractice/halfspinaltwist.asp This is a very good site for understanding any yoga posture as it has animations illustrating each step of the posture

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/

This for the ladies especially I believe there is a menshealth site as well. You won't believe the plethora of free resources you get here beginning from a workout to flatten your belly ending at toning your body or a gear free workout

www.livestrong.com

Again a very good one when you want to monitor your portions on your plate. Register here. Goto the My Plate option in the Daily plate and record your calorie intake for each meal each day. Will help you to cut down those calories :)

Please do add any other good links you would like to share!