WHAT IS OIL PULLING?

An ancient Ayurvedic ritual dating back over 3,000 years, oil pulling involves placing a tablespoon of extra virgin organic cold pressed oil (I use coconut oil, but sesame or olive oil is fine too) into your mouth and then swishing it around for up to 20 minutes, minimum 5 minutes (pulling it between your teeth), before spitting it out. Whatever you do, do not swallow the oil as you will ingest the toxins you are trying to wipe out. Afterwards requires brushing your teeth with an all-natural fluoride-free toothpaste, and rinsing your mouth out. And you’re done! It really is that easy.

WHY OIL PULLING?

Oil pulling can really transform your health. With the mouth as the home to millions of bacteria, fungi, viruses and other toxins, the oil acts like a cleanser, pulling out the nasties before they get a chance to spread throughout the body.

This frees up the immune system, reduces stress, curtails internal inflammation and aids well-being. I do it while preparing Hugo’s breakfast. 

It has so many benefits that whole books have been written on the topic, but here are my TOP 7 BENEFITS of oil pulling: 

1. WHITENS TEETH

There is no need for chemical teeth whitening strips when oil pulling works just as well! The oil possesses natural antibiotic and antiviral properties that brightens and cleans teeth, keeping them pearly white. Try it for two weeks and you’ll see what I mean, or just take a look at our voluntier’s smile. She is known to follow the practice each morning.

2. INCREASES ENERGY

When our immune system is put to work in clearing out toxic waste from our body, it drains our energy levels. Removing the noxious culprits in the first instance by oil pulling lowers the amount of work our body has to do to function, which leaves us feeling a whole lot better.

3. DETOXES THE BODY

Germs in the body are much like poison causing inflammation and leading to disease and illness in turn. The gateway to the body for such contamination is the mouth. Therefore, in removing the toxins at the source before they get a chance to spread, the body undergoes a complete detox. Neat!

4. AIDS HORMONAL CHANGES

Without having to compete with foreign substances, hormones can behave as they should, functioning to their best ability without being thrown off balance.

5. REDUCES HEADACHES

When the body is under toxic stress, headaches and migraines occur. It is nature’s way of asking for some time out to recover. By eliminating bacteria from the body via oil pulling, headaches can be avoided. 

6. KEEPS THE SKIN CLEAR

The benefits even extend to your skin! Removing toxins from the body that would otherwise make it into the bloodstream means the skin has a chance to shine. Rashes and skin issues often reduce dramatically, or even clear up completely, when oil pulling.

7. PROMOTES ORAL HYGIENE

Oil pulling is highly effective at reducing tooth cavities and at eradicating bad breath. Removing the Streptococcus mutans bacteria (an important player in tooth decay) as well as other microorganisms, oil pulling is great for oral health. It also helps with plaque-induced gingivitis.

When you start oil pulling, you might experience some of the positive effects immediately, or it may take a few days or even weeks. It will very much depend on the state of your health to begin with, and how compromised your immune system is.

The truth is, failure happens to everyone. The only thing that separates people who succeed from those who don’t is a proper understanding of the power of failure. Success requires that you learn from mistakes and missteps along the way rather than falling into despair and giving up.

All important learning comes from failure.

Almost all learning comes from negative knowledge, but we prefer to understand it as positive knowledge. How do you know that a dog is a dog? Children learn this by initially associating the word dog with a few objects. Children then automatically generalize this to many other objects by virtue of their similarity. Having done this the child has not learned much. Real learning comes as he gradually eliminates all those objects that are not dogs from his understanding of what is a dog. Real learning is taking a few observations, creating a conjectural hypothesis about those observations, and then testing the conjecture to find and eliminate that which is incorrect, the errors.

1. Failure is a Function of Trying

The best way to measure your progress at something is the number of setbacks and “failures” you’ve had. If you haven’t failed yet, chances are you aren’t trying very hard. Failure is the blacksmith’s hammer that tempers the sword of success. If you want to get really good at something, you have to fail at least a few times.

If you look at all the great men and women throughout history, you’ll notice that they had one main thing in common. They failed, and they failed often. Think of Thomas Edison. How many times did he fail to find the right filament for his light bulb? There are various estimates, but they all range in the ballpark of awhole heck of a lot. Henry Ford knew of failure intimately. So much so that he is quoted for saying the following: “Failure is the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently.”

Clearly, failure represents opportunity and growth, not deficit and loss.

2. Success Lies in Seeing Failure as a Tool

Just as all the greats have something in common, so too do the true “failures” of life: their inability to use failure as a tool. When you feel that sinking, desperate sensation known as failure and you take it to heart, you diminish yourself. You give your power away to an external event. Success is about learning how to recognize why you failed, and how you’re going to compensate for it.

I find it helpful to ask myself the following questions upon failures, big and small.

·         What brought about the failure?

·         How much of it is in my realm of influence?

·         How can I use my influence to turn failure into success?

·         What steps do I need to go through to try again?

·         What can I do every day to ensure that my next try is done more                       intelligently?         

You may want to get out a piece of paper and go through that list. Be completely open and honest as you ask yourself each question. Analyze your answers carefully and implement them – don’t procrastinate! Remember, failure is an opportunity, not a burden. Be grateful for a chance to grow.

3. Failure Builds Character

If you look at the events leading up to any significant victory, you’ll often discover failure as the biggest motivator. Just as the Colorado River created the Grand Canyon over a period of millions of years, success can also come in small chunks, and they’re part of any winning strategy. On the other hand, waiting years upon years for something to happen isn’t effective when you can take action now.

So what do you need to consistently test yourself and learn from failed attempts? Character.

Success occurs in leaps and bounds for people who are ready for it. To genuinely create value, day in and day out, requires determination, purpose, and most of all, that subtle yet all-important trait known as character. Failure is a far better character builder than any affirmation or fleeting goal. While each success will propel you by a small amount, failure will forge your career – and your personality – like nothing else will. It’s the difference between a natural lake being formed over thousands of years and a man-made lake coming into fruition in under a year.

1) Google announced in August that it will

restructure its business. At the end of the day on Friday, it will spin out its exotic projects like

driverless cars and anti-aging research into

separate companies. Alphabet will become the

parent company of all of those smaller companies,

one of which is Google.

2) Don't worry, you won't notice any changes -- at

least for now. At its most basic level, Google is just

renaming itself "Alphabet" and creating a subsidiary

business called "Google." The new Google will

continue as the consumer-facing brand and will run

all the products you've heard of, including search,

Android, YouTube, Maps and Google Apps.

3) Don't expect to hear much from Alphabet

( , Tech30 ) itself. It will be a holding

company, with no consumer products of its own.

Alphabet doesn't own the rights to Alphabet.com.

Its website is abc.xyz , and it's as bare-bones as

they come.

4) Alphabet will be organized like Warren Buffett's

Berkshire Hathaway ( ). Each business,

including Google, will have its own CEO. They will

all report to Alphabet CEO (former Google chief)

Larry Page, who has been a longtime admirer of

Buffett's managing style.

5) Page and fellow Google co-founder Sergey Brin

are giving up their reins at Google to take over

Alphabet. Page will be CEO and Brin will be

president of Alphabet.

6) The new CEO of Google is Sundar Pichai . He's a

well-liked executive who's had a meteoric rise since

he joined Google in 2004. He led the Google Toolbar

team, then Chrome. He was then given control of

Android and eventually every Google product not

named YouTube. As CEO, he'll oversee YouTube

too, although Susan Wojcicki will remain YouTube's

chief executive.

Related: Who is Sundar Pichai?

7) Alphabet's structure is designed to give each

separate business more independence and freedom

to grow. In a memo to investors , Page said he

wants to make the company "cleaner and more

accountable." Since smart home company Nest, the

experimental Google X, and age-fighting Calico don't

really have much to do with Google's core search

business, spinning them off makes a good deal of

sense.

8) Google hired a big-time chief financial officer

from Wall Street a few months ago. Ruth Porat,

now the CFO of Alphabet, had said that she wanted

to add more transparency to Google's business.

Alphabet's new structure will give investors a better

understanding of how well each of Google's former

"side projects" (now Alphabet subsidiaries) are

performing, as well as more clarity about Google's

core business.

9) The Alphabet move was done in part to appease

investors. Shareholders had been growing

increasingly anxious about Google's funding of

"moonshot" investments that may never pay off.

Since 90% of Google's sales came from advertising,

Page was criticized for not devoting more of his

time to search. Now, Google will be a separately run

company without its CEO worrying about those

"side projects."

10) Shares of Google will begin trading as Alphabet

under the same "GOOGLE" ticker beginning on

Monday, October 5.

Tadasana (also called Samasthiti) or mountain pose:
This is the basic standing pose. It teaches you the art of standing correctly and increases your awareness of your body.

Stand with your feet together. Tighten the knees, keep the navel drawn into the spine with a neutral pelvis, and chest lifted but with shoulders relaxed and pressed down away from the ears.

Advantages: It corrects bad posture and improves the alignment of your body.

Uttanasana or intense forward stretch
Start from Tadasana and inhale while stretching the hands up and exhale reaching down with your hands. Try to press down with your palms.

Advantages: Tones the liver, spleen, kidneys and the abdominal region. Stretches the hamstrings and the spine.

Adhomukha Svanasana or downward-facing dog stretch
Lie down on the floor on your stomach and face downward. Place the palms next to the chest. Exhaling, raise your trunk from the floor. Straighten the arms, move the head inward towards the feet and extend the back, trying to press the heels firmly into the ground keeping the knees straight making an inverted 'V' with the body.

Advantages: Calms the brain, reduces stiffness in the shoulder region and tones the legs

.

Utthita Trikonasana or extended triangle pose
Stand in Tadasana pose. Keep your feet around three feet apart and turning the right foot to 90 degrees, turn the left foot slightly to the right, raising the arms sideways. Bend to your right, bringing the right palm towards the right ankle keeping both legs absolutely straight. Repeat on the other side.

Advantages: Improves flexibility of the spine and relieves backache. Massages and tones the pelvic region, relieves gastritis, indigestion and acidity.

Utthita parsvakonasana or extended side stretch
Stand in Tadasana pose. Keep your feet around four feet apart. Stretch the hands sideways, bend the right knee at a 90-degree angle, not pushing the knee beyond the ankle. And while exhaling, place the right palm on the ground outside the right foot and stretch the left arm in a diagonal line over the left ear. Repeat on the other side.

Advantages: Tones and strengthens the legs, improves lung capacity and relieves arthritic pain.

Virabhadrasana 1 or the first warrior pose
Stand in Tadasana pose. Keep your feet around four feet apart. Bend the right knee above the right ankle and not beyond it. Keep the left leg stretched. Extend your hands up in a namaskar, stretching the spine up. The face, chest and right knee should face the same way as the right foot. Repeat on the other side.

Advantages: Tones abdominal muscles, legs and hips, strengthens back muscles and relieves backache.

Virabhadrasana 2 or the second warrior pose
From Tadasana pose, keep the feet around 4 to 4 1/2 feet wide. Bend the right knee above the right ankle, keep the left leg straight. Stretch the hands straight in two opposite directions. Turn your face to the right and gaze at the right palm. Repeat on the other side.

Advantages: Tones the muscles of the legs. Stretches the shoulders and shoulder blades and significantly tones the abdominal organs.

Utkatasana or the fierce pose
Stand in Tadasana pose, stretch your palms straight over your head. Join the palms, exhaling bend your knees and lower your trunk till your thighs are roughly parallel to the floor.

Advantages: Tones the legs, abdominal organs as well as the back.

Urdhvamukha svanasana or upward-facing dog stretch
Lie on the floor with face downward and toes pointed. Inhale raising the head and trunk and stretch the arms completely. Push the head and trunk as far back as possible, without resting the knees on the floor.

Advantages: Rejuvenates the spine, relieves stiffness of the back and significantly
increases your stamina.

Dandasana or staff pose
Sit on the ground with your legs straight ahead of you. Keep them straight without hyper-extending the backs of your knees. Keep the chest lifted, shoulders relaxed. Place your palms next to your hips.

Advantages: Tones the abdominal organs, the spinal, leg and chest muscles. Good for those suffering from asthma.

Paschimattanasana or intense back stretch
From the Dandasana pose, stretch the hands forward and grab your toes, stretch the spine forward reaching towards the legs with your head. Try to stretch the spine from the buttocks.

Advantages: Soothes the adrenal glands, activates a sluggish liver, stimulates the ovaries and uterus. Tones the abdominal organs and helps detox the body.

Janu Sirsasana or head-on-knee pose
From Dandasana, bend the right knee, placing the right foot near the perineum. Stretch the hands up, reach forward and hold the toes of the left foot. Try extending the spine from the buttocks to the back of the neck - lengthening the spine.

Advantages: Stablises blood pressure, helps correct curvature of spine. Tones abdominal organs, stretches the spine, hamstrings and hips.

Baddhakonasana or bound angle pose
From Dandasana, bend the knees and bring the feet together towards the pelvis. Use your hands to grab your feet and try pushing both your knees down by pressing your thighs firmly down on the floor.

Advantages: Relieves stiffness of the hips, prevents hernia, keeps the ovaries healthy, corrects irregular menstruation and helps to treat urinary tract disorders.

Marichyasana 3
From the Dandasana pose, bend the right knee and press the foot on the floor in line with the right hip. Extend the left arm and wrap it around the right knee, keeping the right hip pressed down, twist and try grabbing the right hand from behind.

Advantages: Tones and massages the abdominal organs, helps detox the body, increases energy levels, relieves backache, stimulates the functioning of the liver, kidneys and pancreas.

Sarvangasana or the shoulder stand
Lie down on the floor on your back. Lift the legs straight up and supporting the hips, keeping the elbows inward try to straighten the legs up towards the ceiling. Eventually the chest should be pressed into the chin. The body weight should be extending upwards not falling into the neck and shoulders, if it feels uncomfortable, do the pose while resting against the wall.

Advantages: This helps in the proper functioning of the thyroid and parathyroid glands. It helps to rejuvenate and detox the body. This is known as the 'Queen of Asanas'.

(Note: People suffering from high blood pressure, cervical ailments, cardiac condition should not practice this pose. Women should not practice during menstruation.)

Halasana or plough pose
From Sarvangasana pose, bring the legs down till the toes touch the ground behind you. Interlock the fingers, keep the hips lifted, stretch the arms away from the armpits and extend the legs from the buttocks to the heels.

Advantages: Relives fatigue and rejuvenates abdominal organs. Helps in the proper functioning of the thyroid and parathyroid glands.

(Note: People suffering from high blood pressure or cervical spondylosis should not practice this pose. If you are overweight practice with props. Women should not practice during menstruation.)

Savasana or corpse pose
Lie down on the floor like a corpse - completely relaxed and on your back. Keep your legs apart and hands away from your body with the palms facing upwards. Shut your eyes and concentrate on relaxing each and every muscle in your body.

Advantages: Helps reduce stress, insomnia. Soothes the nervous system, gives the entire body and mind rest. Makes one feel peaceful, calm and blissful.

(Please Note: All yogasanas must be done on an empty stomach and under the supervision of a qualified teacher from a reputed yoga institute/school. Also, in case of any medical issues please consult your doctor before attempting the above mentioned yoga poses.)

Watch the trailer-2  of most awaited movie,Batman v/s Superman(Dawn of justice).