Skip to content
  • Image
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Podcasts
  • Email
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Opinion
  • News
  • Features
  • Comment
  • Store
The Arab Daily News

The Arab Daily News

Original news, features, opinions from Chicago to Jerusalem

  • About
    • About
    • Our Writers
    • Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
    • Book Store
    • Contact
    • Submit Book Reviews, Press Releases
    • Advertise
    • Privacy Corrections Policy
    • Profile on Ray Hanania
  • Features
    • Food
    • Book Review
    • Humor
    • Movies
    • Travel
  • Arab Community Network Page
    • Arab Community Network Page
    • Arab Heritage America resources
    • Directory
      • Groups & Organizations
      • Mosques, Churches
      • Restaurants
      • 2008 & 2014 Arab Media Directories
    • National Arab Heritage Month
    • Video: Chicago Arab History
    • Video: Photo Array of Chicago Arabs
    • Overview of Arabs in America
    • Hanania standup comedy
    • Arabs on the Titanic
    • Obituaries
  • Podcasts
    • Arab News Ray Hanania Radio
    • Ray Hanania on Politics Podcast
    • Podcast Info
    • Hanania Podcast intro
    • Live Arab Radio
  • Your Views
  • Submit Press Release
  • Toggle search form
  • Imad Hamad Director American Human Rights Council
    AHRC Calls for Moral Consistency on Human Rights, Urges President Biden to Pause His Trip to Israel: American Arabs
  • The U.S.S. Liberty photo courtesy of the USS Liberty Veterans.
    Survivors of Israel’s strike on USS Liberty commemorate 55th year June 6 – 8 American Arabs
  • AHRC Logo new Feb 2021
    AHRC hosts an open meeting with TSA & community Activism
  • Former City Hall reporter Ray Hanania, ShawnTe Raines-Welch and Nick Kantas, candidates for Judge in the 4th SubCircuit, and Cook County Commissioner Frank Aguilar.
    Nearly 100 candidates, officials address Arab Democratic Club forum Sunday American Arabs
  • Citgo Gas Station and Quik Mart at 3759 W. Chicago Ave in Chicago ordered closed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot because a street gang member with an AK-47 killed someone in front of the store. Only Arab and Muslim stores are being closed by the Mayor
    Arabs and Muslim blast Mayor lightfoot for racist store closings American Arabs
  • Closure notice posted on the doors and windows of Arab American businesses during Mayor Lori Lightfoot's closure of Arab owned stores in June - Sept. 2021. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania
    Chicago aldermen to host “forum” to explore Mayor Lightfoot’s racist crackdown on Arab stores Activism
  • Imam Jamal Saad leads the more than 1,000 muslim attendees in payer at SeatGeek Stadium's open grounds at the Eid al-Fitr celebration May 2, 2022 in Bridgeview
    Local Illinois officials join Chicagoland Muslims for Eid Celebration at SeatGeek stadium American Arabs
  • DCEO Panel discussion on business support opportunities for all businesses including Arab American businesses, April 26, 2022
    DCEO Access to Capital: Arab American Heritage Month business workshop American Arabs
  • DCEO Celebrates Arab American Heritage Month (AAHM) American Arabs
  • Alderman Raymond Lopez addresses the gathering at an Iftar hosted by Radi Abuhashish Thursday April 21, 2022 joined by Dr. Willie Wilson and other candidates for Chicago Mayor.
    Political candidates join local Arab leaders for Iftar Activism
  • U.S. Congressional Candidate Rob Cruz in the 6th District GOP Primary election June 28, 2022
    Republican Candidate for U.S. Congress, Rob Cruz, Opens a Dialogue with the Palestinian Community American Arabs
  • Peak Rock Capital affiliate completes acquisition of Ziyad Brothers, a leading provider of brander Middle Eastern and Mediterranean foods American Arabs
  • Closure notice posted on the doors and windows of Arab American businesses during Mayor Lori Lightfoot's closure of Arab owned stores in June - Sept. 2021. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania
    Chicago aldermen to host forum on Arab businesses closed by Mayor Lightfoot American Arabs
  • April 24, 2022 Illinois DCEO American ArabChamber event
    American Arab Chamber and DCEO host online panel to help Arab Businesses secure funding Activism
  • Oussama Jammal presents Congresswoman Marie Newman with the Courage Award during the USCMO Annual Ramadan Iftar Dinner. Photo courtesy of Marie Newman Facebook Page
    Newman endorsed by major Arab and Muslim leaders Activism

Gaza War To Restorative Yoga

Posted on August 8, 2014September 24, 2018 By Eileen Fleming 1 Comment on Gaza War To Restorative Yoga
SHARE ...
          
 
  

  • Tweet

Gaza War To Restorative Yoga

By Eileen Fleming

Exclusive to The Arab Daily News

 

In Thursday’s email,  Ray Hanania, the Managing Editor of The Arab Daily News wrote,

Yes, the Gaza war was one of the worst I’ve seen in my entire life covering the conflict…I am completely and totally overwhelmed with work and things to do all the time I never get a minute just to relax…

I replied, Yoga could help you relax!

Ray wrote more and ended with, A lot of Arabs go for the Symbolism of writing for HuffingtonPost… GAZAhuman

I wrote Ray to check out HuffPost’s How Yoga Became A $27 Billion Industry — And Reinvented American Spirituality

In June, I wrote: Yoga Studio ‘Church’ and Anger Management a chapter in Getting Older Yet Better

 

“In the last year, 15 million people regularly participated in yoga in the United States and more than $27 billion was spent on yoga products.”

 

The best money I have spent in the Yoga Industry was for a few private lessons with two extensively trained teachers who had years of experience teaching yoga and a dedicated practice of continuing education.

Bill Harper, the publisher of Yoga Journal, told The Coast News that the reason one in 10 Americans are yoga enthusiasts is due to peer pressure, celebrity pressure and various health benefits.

I began the practice of Yoga last October and quickly learned that what we practice in the West as Yoga is only one component of what was originally considered yoga by the ancients.

The physical practice of postures, or asana, is one of eight traditional limbs of yoga, as outlined in the foundational text of yoga philosophy, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, thought to be over 2,000 years old. These limbs present a sort of eightfold path to enlightenment, which includes turning inward, meditation, concentration and mindful breathing. The Sutras make no mention of any specific postures, but the original 15 yoga poses were later outlined in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, dated to the 15th century CE, making it one of the oldest surviving texts of hatha yoga, the yoga of physical exercises.

Traditionally, yoga was a private, personal practice that involved a sacred bond between the student and teacher (guru) using demonstration and oral transmission of imparting knowledge known as guru-shishya paramparya.
“In the West, there are streams where this authentic transmission from living masters to students still exists,” Viniyoga founder Gary Kraftsow said at the Omega Institute Being Yoga conference in 2011. “But there’s a lot of yoga that’s made up, modern stuff, with no understanding of depth and meaning of text.”

 

Today, yoga is promoted as the antidote to our Western speed of life and if practiced on a regular basis it has been shown to help free one from addictions, back pain, diabetes, slowing the aging process as well as boosting overall well-being and stress relief.

However, Yoga’s proven health benefits do not necessarily mean that every form of adaption of the practice is valuable or healthy for YOU-because yoga is about comfort in ease in movement and stillness-so if it hurts it is not yoga!

Philip Goldberg, a spiritual teacher and author of American Veda, told The Huffington Post, “The sudden boom of interest led to people wanting to fill the demand by getting more teachers trained, and studios discovering that they can make more money training yoga teachers than giving classes in some cases. The standards can get compromised along the way.”

 

The old Theosophical statement goes, “When the pupil is ready, the Master appears” and the Buddhist Proverb says, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”

Last October I stumbled into a local yoga studio after being told my MRI’s and x-ray’s confirmed endstage osteoarthritis in my shoulders and no cartilage in my knees.

I was told by medical experts that the only relief modern medicine could offer was drugs and joint replacements-but my gut/inner wisdom told me to say NO to total bilateral knee replacements in the midst of signing the release forms intuiting there was a better way for me to go; I just had to find it!

My first Yoga Teacher G, is a Yoga Alliance E-RYT 500 registered yoga teacher and a member of the National Association of Yoga Therapists.

Yogi G taught me how to breathe in yoga and in yoga everything is about the breath; and also somewhat contrary to how I had been taught to breathe during practice on a Pilates Reformer-which I began 7 years ago and continue on a weekly basis:

Baby-boomer Overuse Syndrome and a Case for Pilates

 

During a private session with Yogi G she recommended I try ginger as an anti- inflammatory.

I had been using prescribed anti-inflammatories for over twenty years and as many had been pulled from the market due to killing people-I began to drink 2-3 cups of Ginger Tea a day.

I have not taken any prescribed or over the counter medicine in 8 months and I feel 10 years younger now than I did last year at this time!

I also consume anti-inflammatory foods such as blueberries, sweet potatoes, olive oil, broccoli and salmon.

I also massage Sesame oil into my shoulders and knees before submerging in my back yard pool and ‘jogging’ for an hour suspended on a tether like a fish on a hook and with out impact on any joint.

Yogi J taught me that I am and will be a Wabi Sabi Yogi for the rest of my life.

Yogi T specializes in Therapeutic Alignment Yoga and she taught me Restorative Yoga poses I can do at home and Mountain Brook has become a daily ritual:

“Think of the props as smooth river stones,  and allow your body to be the water flowing over them.” http://www.yogahaven.com/valentines-day-heart-opening-restorative-yoga-pose/
“Think of the props as smooth river stones,
and allow your body to be the water flowing over them.”
http://www.yogahaven.com/valentines-day-heart-opening-restorative-yoga-pose/

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Adrienne Sarise Baggs wrote for the Elephant Journal regarding Restorative Yoga:

Several years later, I got my first yoga teaching gig and thought I’d take a stab at teaching restorative yoga.

I mean, how hard could it be, right? It’s just a few poses.

Humility set in when I realized that the people I was attracting through this practice were overworked athletes and hospice caregivers, cancer [survivors] and the newly diagnosed, people healing broken spines and people healing broken hearts.

But even more important, these people weren’t just sick trying to get better.
They were on the wellness train—working hard to to prevent further illness, balance the effects of chronic stress and optimize their potential as human beings.

These very wise students were giving this very ‘green’ yoga teacher a lot to learn about this practice.

With a ton of studying, training and many mistakes along the way, I now try my hardest to offer a nurturing, open space where people can practice resting…

They are courageous enough to get quiet and potentially uncover physical and emotional states that are often masked by overbooked schedules and never-ending checklists.
They are aware enough to know that they must take responsibility for their own healing if they expect to be well.

They are trusting enough to know the body can do amazing things when we get out of our own way and allow ourselves true rest…..

 

At last Wednesday’s yin class, Yogi G handed out paper and pens and had us list what gave us energy, depleted our energy and then to consider how to live divided no more!
Some things gave me energy, some just depleted me, but these things gave, depleted and also taught me how to live divided no more:

Reading the News and viewing painful images, researching, reflecting and then writing my heart out energizes me- until I finish my article or book chapter and only then do I realize how depleted my vocation/passion/work can leave me.

Through the latest war on Gaza I learned the dire need for me to FAST from the News and especially images of bloody children.

 

"Young boy in Gaza pretending to be a journalist with his home made flak jacket, had to lend him my helmet." - JoMa Sommarstrom, Foreign News Journalist, Swedish Broadcasting, Sveriges Radio  https://twitter.com/ekmathia
“Young boy in Gaza pretending to be a journalist with his home made flak jacket, had to lend him my helmet.” – JoMa Sommarstrom, Foreign News Journalist, Swedish Broadcasting, Sveriges Radio
https://twitter.com/ekmathia

 

I also now begin my day with a few deep breaths while gazing at this little boy of Gaza and say a prayer for ALL children that they will be free to grow into their full potential as human beings.

 
In 2005, Eileen Fleming established WeAreWideAwake.org in response to her first of 8 trips to both sides of The Wall as a public service.

In 2012, Eileen Fleming ran for US HOUSE of Representatives

Eileen is the Administrator for FREE VANUNU and TNT/Telling Nuclear Truths

Follow her at TWITTER, read her fifth book as she lives it HERE.

 

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Eileen Fleming
Senior Non-Arab Correspondent for TADN at The Arab Daily News
Senior Non-Arab Correspondent for The Arab Daily News
Producer "30 Minutes with Vanunu" who founded WeAreWideAwake.org in response to her first of 8 trips to both sides of The Wall in Palestine Israel.
In 2012, Eileen ran for US House of Representatives District 5, in Fl.
Read her FREE eBooks and more at:http://www.eileenfleming.org/
Latest posts by Eileen Fleming (see all)
  • Vanunu still has more nuclear secrets to spill, Israeli court declares - December 29, 2021
  • 9/11 and a 20th Reflection of That Day - September 5, 2021
  • Mordechai Vanunu: Final Annual Update and this Writers Next Steps - June 19, 2021

  • Tweet

SHARE ...
          
 
  
 
          
 
 Tweet 
American Arabs, Arab World, Bloggers, Eileen Fleming, Palestine & Jordan Tags:Arab people, Arab World, children, Eileen Fleming, Facebook, Gaza, Gaza Strip, Gaza War, Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Huffington Post, Israelis, JoMa Sommarstrom, Middle East, Operation Protective Edge, Palestine, Palestinian people, politics, Ray Hanania, Religion and Spirituality, restorative yoga, The Arab Daily News, United States, Yoga, Yoga Journal, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Post navigation

Previous Post: Wise, University of Illinois guilty of violating Illinois Hate Crimes Laws in Salaita firing?
Next Post: Morocco Shines as Key US Business and Security Ally at US-Africa Summit

Related Posts

  • Saudi King AbdulAziz with US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Photo courtesy of the White House
    King Abdulaziz University is Ranked No. 1 in the Arab World Arab World
  • War rages between U.S and Arab World Airlines American Arabs
  • Attacked by Israeli soldiers and armed Israeli settler terrorists, Palestinians respond with protests and rock throwing in the Gaza Strip. Photo copyright 2015 Mohammed Asad and The Arab Daily News
    Protests against Israeli embargo and occupation continue Arab World
  • Netanyahu exploits Charlie Hebdo for his own motives Bloggers
  • Saudi Arabia’s ancient UNESCO heritage site Madain Saleh will open to tourists for the first time in 2020 Photo courtesy of PrNewsWire, SCTH and Visit Saudi
    Saudi tourism takes-off with China, UK, Malaysia, US, Canada topping list of new arrivals Arab News
  • My Palestine Bloggers

More Related Articles

Yellow Card! Sagnol’s polemical hit on African soccer players Abdennour Toumi
Algeria Kamel Daoud Why Algeria Should Get a Leader Like President Erdoğan?  Abdennour Toumi
J.B. Pritzker from his election campaign Facebook Page at UFCW union endorsement. J.B. Pritzker’s Muslim problem lingers American Arabs
Middle East Migrants. Photo courtesy fo Pixabay Algeria Migration Policy: National Security Concerns Vs. Humanitarian Morality  Abdennour Toumi
Place Charles-de-Gaulle, Prissier, France. Photo courtesy of Abdennour Toumi From a Social Movement to an Urban Insurgency in France Abdennour Toumi
Israeli terrorists kill civilians in Gaza Strip Arab World

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

  • OPINION COLUMNS
  • Palestinian refugees forced to flee their homes at gunpoint by Jewish terrorist groups operating in Palestine in the 1930s, 1940s and after Israel was created on May 14, 1948. Photo courtesy of the United Nations
    Unresolved status of Palestinian rights makes UNRWA essential
    May 7, 2022
  • The Ray Hanania Radio Show Live Wed 5 PM EST in Detroit, Washington DC, Ontario and on Thursday in Chicago. Watch the program live at Facebook.com/ArabNews
    Second Season of “The Ray Hanania Show” Arab American radio launches April 6
    April 4, 2022
  • Hollywood Sign
    Will Smith violence takes Oscar protests to dangerous level
    March 31, 2022
  • Chicago's racist Mayor Lori Lightfoot ordered more than 150 Arab owned stores closed in 2021 in a racist effort o fight street gang crimes
    Arab Daily News launches Arab American Network to fight racism
    March 12, 2022
  • NEWS
  • Imad Hamad Director American Human Rights Council
    AHRC Calls for Moral Consistency on Human Rights, Urges President Biden to Pause His Trip to Israel:
    May 24, 2022
  • The U.S.S. Liberty photo courtesy of the USS Liberty Veterans.
    Survivors of Israel’s strike on USS Liberty commemorate 55th year June 6 – 8
    May 23, 2022
  • AHRC Logo new Feb 2021
    AHRC hosts an open meeting with TSA & community
    May 19, 2022
  • Former City Hall reporter Ray Hanania, ShawnTe Raines-Welch and Nick Kantas, candidates for Judge in the 4th SubCircuit, and Cook County Commissioner Frank Aguilar.
    Nearly 100 candidates, officials address Arab Democratic Club forum Sunday
    May 15, 2022
  • NEWSWIRE
  • Imad Hamad Director American Human Rights Council
    AHRC Calls for Moral Consistency on Human Rights, Urges President Biden to Pause His Trip to Israel:
    May 24, 2022
  • The U.S.S. Liberty photo courtesy of the USS Liberty Veterans.
    Survivors of Israel’s strike on USS Liberty commemorate 55th year June 6 – 8
    May 23, 2022
  • AHRC Logo new Feb 2021
    AHRC hosts an open meeting with TSA & community
    May 19, 2022
  • Closure notice posted on the doors and windows of Arab American businesses during Mayor Lori Lightfoot's closure of Arab owned stores in June - Sept. 2021. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania
    Chicago aldermen to host forum on Arab businesses closed by Mayor Lightfoot
    April 15, 2022

The Tabboun Column

The Political Grapevine Political Tabboun. Original photo by tim-mossholder-KX1BBNY69Ao-unsplash
  • Tabboun
  • The Political Grapevine Political Tabboun. Original photo by tim-mossholder-KX1BBNY69Ao-unsplash
    The Political Grapevine/The Tabboun, Friday Dec. 16, 2021
    December 16, 2021
  • The Political Grapevine Political Tabboun. Original photo by tim-mossholder-KX1BBNY69Ao-unsplash
    Tabboun: Chicago remains strongest Palestine voice
    September 7, 2016
  • The Tabboun: Israeli human rights violations hit
    June 30, 2016
  • The Political Grapevine Political Tabboun. Original photo by tim-mossholder-KX1BBNY69Ao-unsplash
    Tabboun: Himes questions troop deployment to Syria
    November 3, 2015
  • The Political Grapevine Political Tabboun. Original photo by tim-mossholder-KX1BBNY69Ao-unsplash
    The Tabboun: Dearborn removes statue of racist former mayor
    September 29, 2015

Creative Commons License
All work on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Do not edit original work. Give credit to the original source.

  • 08-09-21-Ziyad-Sices-Ad.jpg
  • 08-09-21-Ziyad-Ad-Pantry-essentials.jpg
  • ZiyadBrandLogo-2016BlackRedBackgrnd.jpg
  • HANANIA Arab News Op-Eds
  • Ukraine conflict gives Palestinians chance to redefine their conflict
    March 9, 2022
  • Mishmeshan PHC medical center destroyed in Syrian Government assaults. Photo courtesy of UOSSM Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations
    President Biden’s dyslexic policy in Syria is a mess
    October 20, 2021
  • Annissa Essaibi George and family
    Annissa Essaibi George faces “race hypocrisy” in campaign to be Boston Mayor
    October 20, 2021
  • Jerusalem image of Jews and Arabs walking together. Shutterstock. Courtesy of Arab News Newspaper
    Jewish Michigan lawmaker leads push for Two State Solution
    October 7, 2021
  • BOOK REVIEWS
  • Stories My Father Told Me by author and artist Helen Zughaib, book cover. Photo courtesy of Cune Press
    Stories My Father Told Me by author and artist Helen Zughaib
    November 1, 2021
  • Girl Fighters, new book on Yemen Book Cune Press
    New Book: Girl Fighters: Break Tradition in Yemen 
    October 25, 2021
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • The Ray Hanania Radio Show Live Wed 5 PM EST in Detroit, Washington DC, Ontario and on Thursday in Chicago. Watch the program live at Facebook.com/ArabNews
    Second Season of “The Ray Hanania Show” Arab American radio launches April 6
    April 4, 2022
  • American Arab CHamber President HassanNijem accepts the Proclamation from Chicago Ald. Roderick Sawyer at the Chamber dinner March 30, 2022
    Chicagoland celebrates Arab American Heritage Month
    March 31, 2022
  • Hollywood Sign
    Will Smith violence takes Oscar protests to dangerous level
    March 31, 2022
  • 03-30-22 Arab Chamber Heritage Month Flyer
    Arab Chamber to host Arab Heritage Month dinner March 30
    March 14, 2022
  • “Rupture”, the psychological thriller produced by MBC STUDIOS, has won Best Saudi Film at the 2021 Red Sea International Film Festival (RSIFF).
    MBC GROUP’s Rupture wins Best Saudi Film at the inaugural Red Sea International Film Festival
    December 15, 2021
  • New-iTunes-1400-x-1400-The-Ray-Hanania-Show-Podcast-Icon-300-x-300.jpg
  • terroristbookcover-300-x-300.jpg
  • powerpr300x300ad.jpg
  • The-Kings-Pawn-Book-300-x-300.png
  • Podcast-iTunes-Logo-Chi-City-Hall-1985.jpg
Arab News Newspaper Logo
Read the Arab News, the leading English language newspaper in the MIddle East

Follow Ray Hanania at Gab.com, MeWe.com and IDobbinate.com, the alternatives to Facebook and Twitter Censorship.

Click here to get information on The Ray Hanania Radio Show and its podcasts

Copyright © 2022 The Arab Daily News.

Powered by PressBook Premium theme