Seven days to a new You

Inner beauty through Yoga

Ramani Kangaraarachchi

YOGA: "I teach people how to have a blissful life in seven days. As a beautician earlier I made people more beautiful externally and now I do it from within through Yoga," Damini Khira, a dedicated Yoga teacher from Mumbai told the "Daily News".

She was in Sri Lanka to conduct a programme last week. The participants were highly impressed and wanted me to do more programmes in Sri Lanka and I am very pleased to serve in a country like Sri Lanka, she said.

"Millions of people world over spend miserable lives due to stress and various diseases because they simply don't know the truth about their own health. Yoga is a natural development for the body, mind and soul and is practised to join these three together, forming a unified spiritual whole," she explained.

When practising Yoga all the movements are natural and come from inside the body, and as such one should really feel and enjoy its effect naturally.

The practice of Yoga also maintains a youthful and healthy body thereby improving everything one does physically and mentally bringing an overall gain in self esteem, Damini said.

People living in different parts of the world change their lifestyles, jobs and habits from time to time due to various reasons. But rare indeed is a successful businesswoman becoming a dedicated Yoga teacher for the betterment of society.

But it has happened with youthful looking pretty Khira who was a successful businesswoman in the garment export trade for many years. She owned two shops in Mumbai and exported readymade ethnic garments to the USA and UK. She also used to design jewellery, handmade jute and embroidered purses and Bindis for export to the USA.

"I realized that beautifying the body externally is not the right path when I started developing aches and pains here and there in my body and putting on weight due to the busy schedule in my business life.

Then in 1993 I came to know about the renowned teacher of meditation, consciousness and education Master Guruji Shri Rishi Prabhakar, Founder of Siddha Samadhi Yoga Programme and went to him. After successfully completing the programme I decided to become a teacher practising the Siddha Samadhi Yoga programme at World Evolution.

And I have been serving the organisation for over 13 years committing myself to a path leading to a blissful life."

Towards achieving this Damini conducts two types of programmes one Precious Lives seven days non-residential programme covering stress management, self management, time management, healthy food habits breathing techniques and meditation.

The precious lives three days residential programme covers total detoxification of mind, body and spirit. Damini, a mother of two grown up children, has been a total vegetarian for the last 13 years. She teaches people how they should eat to live. "The participants have to take food according to my instructions during the programme. These programmes have made them realise the value of life."

Damini has conducted classes in various parts of UK and India and set up centres in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Her programmes conducted for the corporate sector in India have benefited them tremendously. Free your mind... Release your soul ....Refresh your spirit.

Her Precious Lives programmes teach the science of living and she can be contacted through aspicprof@aspicgroup.com.

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Understanding Osteoporosis

Dr. Kaleel Cassim (MBBS) MD (Medicine)

This article has been produced for anyone interested in finding more about osteoporosis. You may be suffering from the condition, or you may be a friend or relative of someone with osteoporosis. Whatever reason you have for reading this, I hope you will find it useful.

What is Osteoporosis?

The word 'osteoporosis' literally means 'porous bone'. Osteoporosis is a common bone disease caused by insufficient bone tissue (also referred to as low bone mass). Gaps can appear in the bone structure and bones get thinner and weaker. This loss of bone strength leads to brittleness which increases the risk of fractures.

What causes Osteoporosis?

Our bones grow during childhood and adolescence and are their strongest in the late 20s. As middle age approaches the bones - while remaining strong - very gradually begin to lose their density. This loss or thinning of the bones continues as we get older.

The process speeds up in women in the ten years after the menapause. This is because the ovaries stop producing the female sex hormone oestrogen - and oestrogen is one of the substances that helps keep bones strong. Men suffer less from osteoporosis, because their bones are stronger in the first place and they do not go through the menapause.

Who is at risk?

All of us are at risk of developing osteoporosis as we get older, which is why elderly people are more likely to break bones when they fall. But there are some people who are at more at risk of osteoporosis than others. These are some of the factors which can make a difference:

* Oestrogen deficiency. Someone who has had an early menopause (before the age of 45), or a hysterectomy where one or both ovaries have been removed, is at risk.

* Lack of exercise. Exercise keep the bones strong - both as they are developing and throughout adulthood. So anyone who does not exercise, or has an illness or disability which makes it difficult, will be more prone to losing calcium from bones, and so more likely to develop osteoporosis.

* Poor diet. A diet which does not include enough calcium can encourage osteoporosis.

* Heavy smoking. Tobacco lowers the oestrogen level in women and may cause early menopause.

* Heavy drinking. A high alcohol intake reduces the ability of the body's cells to make bone.

* Steroids (cortisone). If someone takes prednisolone over a long period of time, it can cause osteoporosis.

* Family history. Osteoporosis runs in families. This is probably because there is some inherited factor which affects the development of bone.

* Previous fractures. People who have had a low impact fracture are at greater risk of having another. Men and women who become shorter due to crush fractures of the bones in the spine are also more at risk.

What are the signs of Osteoporosis?

It is difficult to know if you have osteoporosis because it is a disease which can remain painless for a long time and without obvious outward physical signs. Osteoporosis may be first recognised following a fracture (commonly of the spine, wrist or hip).

Fractures associated with osteoporosis most often occur following a minor trauma during everyday activities, e.g. when carrying heavy items or from a simple fall. While sharp pains in the spine during exercise suggest the possibilty of spinal fracture, they very often happen without pain.

Severe osteoporosis can cause a loss of height when the back begins to curve. When you have experienced an osteoporotic fracture, your risk of a new fracture is increased. Therefore, once osteoporosis has been diagnosed, it is important to seek therapy quickly and stay on therapy.

(The writer is a consultant in Rheumatology)

To be continued