The Dictionary meaning of Poise is composure or self-possession or equilibrium.
Thus a poised person is self-assured and carries himself/herself gracefully and with dignity.
For human beings the difficulty arises due to emotions. If anything is not happening as per the expectation, the individual is likely to react in a way which is often irrational. Poise is difficult to maintain. However, the benefits are immense. A poised person is able to deal with all kinds of people calmly and elegantly.
How to maintain poise? Psychologists after research have come to certain conclusions, which I would like to reproduce below:
The biggest enemy of poise is anger. Everyone would agree that anger is not beneficial to the individual under any circumstances. A person gets angry due to uncomfortable situations due to uncomfortable situations or due to his/her own inadequacies to meet the situations. One may also get angry if someone insults or speaks in a manner which is unworthy. But with practice one can meet all challenges. They can remain cool in all circumstances but this will happen with consistent efforts and self awareness.
You should laugh with others even if joke is on you. Any sarcastic remarks can easily be laugh away. Apply mind to come out with the solution. This will happen if you take things in their straight.
Life is mixture of highs and lows. Good things are followed by challenges just like night falls after day the life does not offer a regular cycle like night and day. But both difficulties and happy moments are a part of everybody’s’ life. We need to be appreciated. Keep your spirit up even when things go wrong.
Ego is another enemy of poise. Unfortunately this malady is wide spread. It is found in most well-to-do people. Realizing that ego does not serve any purpose we should throw it out from our life.
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Author: Nimble Foundation
What is Personality?
Personality comprises understanding self, fixing one’s goals, physical and mental health and various other facets of the person as seen by himself/herself and as seen by others. Indeed, understanding personality is not easy. But it is extremely important. It is important for your success. More importantly it helps you to achieve happiness.
Understanding self
Each one of us must sit down and contemplate about life’s significance. It’s a kind of vision statement which one must clarify to himself/herself. The act of contemplation on significance will always help you to adopt and maintain a proper prospective.
Specifying Your Goals
By and large everyone has wishes. But these are not specific desires. Wishes become desire only when you specify your goals. Wishes do not allowed you to focus and take actions needed for achievements. These wishes often times remain wishes. Further unrealized wishes erode self esteem. It is imperative therefore to write down clearly on your goals. Goals would state the time frame goals should also clarify how you plan to achieve. Its only when you make a practical plan that you can pursue your goals.
Physical and Mental Health
First on the list of your goals should be good health. One can achieve physically good health by taking care of food, exercise and sleep. Human body is made to last for about 100 years. So we need to use all the faculties with discretion. We must not over use, under-use, but strike a good balance and keep on becoming more effective. Mental health is even more important. It refers to your thoughts, your behavior and your attitude towards others. It also refers to your attitude towards life.
Good Communication Skills are Critical
We all communicate right from the time we are able to speak. In fact babies start communicating immediately after birth. As we grow the social considerations keep on shaping our communication skills. Besides the influence of people around, parents, teachers, friends and others we meet also create an impact. We can develop and maintain good communication skills only with regular review of our ability regarding communications.
Application of Mind
Application of mind enables you to analyze any situation. It enables you to review your performance even in challenges. In fact, human sufferings imparts great life’s lessons One should be willing to learn these lessons. Knowledge acquired through reading books, attending training programs and interacting others play an important role. One should never be judgmental. However it’s necessary to apply mind and to form opinions about anything that concerns us. This process helps us to become more decisive to pursue our goals.
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You may like to join our 2 day workshop on PowerPacked Personality. Please go through the details.
Click: http://nimblefoundation.org/Power-packed-personality.html
Courage & Kindness
Yesterday evening we (entire family) went to watch Cinderella. It’s a movie made 50 years ago. Yet we found it fresh and captivating. An oft repeated children fairy tale enthralled everyone, the little children as well as the senior citizens. Cinderella’s inherent kindness with courage to withstand adversity brought for her fortunes.
Kindness indeed is a virtue which however small in action never goes waste. It enhances self-esteem, but more importantly, kindness brings happiness. In our morning walkers’ club, often the subject of how to improve the morals in the society is discussed. Though India is known for its tolerance & kindness, yet today it is felt that citizens show scant respect for others.
Everyone complains about the conduct of our people. Undoubtedly with the uncanny behavior no one has anything to gain but a lot to lose.
Courage is another aspect of personality which helps you to have a positive attitude. Someone wrote, ‘life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage. How true! A person who lacks courage can hardly live life. They just exist, like other living beings. Life comprises a series of events. Some are to our liking. Others are not so good and certain others very disturbing. The Bhagvad Gita teaches us that all such events good or bad have to be borne by each individual. If you have courage, you may face these without fear. But if you lack courage there could be some horrifying experiences even though the events remain the same.
One may belong to any religion, they usually pray before any dire encounter. Prayer has a certain power. In fact courage is not the absence of fear. Human beings when faced with an unexpected untoward situation are bound to face fear. When you decide to embark upon a challenging situation, you are fully aware of the danger involved. You may be struck with fear but you still go ahead. It only means that you have conquered that fear. Courage is not absence of fear. Courage is nothing but conquering the fear.
Great success can be achieved by someone who adds perseverance to courage and kindness. When you do that even the most difficult tasks can be completed with ease. In fact lives of all great men clearly illustrate that they had courage, were aware always kind, and they all persevered.
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Golden Rules to Build Your Confidence
Lack of Confidence
First of fall we need to understand the reason for lack of confidence. Lack of confidence is due to a fear of one kind or another (mostly unfounded). As an American wrote, “my life was full of misfortunes which never happened”.
Of course, one need not be reckless. Yet, harboring fear never helps. We need to think rationally and pen down what makes us afraid and why. This process helps remove some of the fear and begins the path of building confidence.
A famous Management Guru one said that there are four ‘C’s which form the foundation of an individual’s growth and a Company’s progress. These four virtues are – Curiosity, Confidence, Courage and Consistency. The most important of these happen to be Confidence. If absence of confidence the other virtues will simply disappear.
It is said that “they conquer who believe they can”. Self-belief is thus the second important factor in building up confidence. Confidence emerging out of self-belief is necessary for any significant achievement. New opportunities always carry some incidence of chance. For taking any initiative you must be prepared to take calculated risk. In fact not taking any risk is the biggest risk of life.
Further, Confidence enables you to trust yourself. And if you don’t trust yourself, nobody else will. No one will feel secure in placing any responsibility on you. That will be the dead end. There is no further growth.
Lost Opportunities
Often we do not see opportunities because we are not interested. On the face of it, lack of desire acts as a strong handicap in our progress and growth. But, Confidence trains our mind to desire what the situation demands. It makes us alert enough to recognize and seize emerging opportunities. With desire created by confidence we look ahead, strive hard and succeed.
Confidence breeds courage
For taking risk of any kind one needs to have courage. If we have confidence; we will be able to rise up to the demands of the situation. So we must go ahead and take calculated risk. Courage enables us to move ahead! Yet, if there is no confidence it will be very difficult to harness courage.
Smile
Most people lack self-confidence. You can help them! Smile. Your smile will reassure them. You will be doing a great job helping them to gain confidence. This is particularly true when somebody is meeting a new group of people. We must also remember that the more we are helping others to gain confidence, the more we enhance our own self-confidence! We help ourselves too!!!
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Mahashivratri
Mahashivratri is an extremely important celebration for all Hindus who believe in the power of lord Shiva. Shiva and Shakti together mark the convergence of power, devotion and renunciation. The festival according to Hindu calendar is celebrated on Krishna Paksha Chaturdashi in the month of Maagha.
People all over the country go to Shiva temples. They chant Om Namah Shivay and offer Bell Patra and white flowers to the Shiva Ling. Thousands of devotees gather together at important Shiva’s temple all over the Indian Sub-continent. Pashupati temple in Nepal is revered by Hindus from all over the world.
According to another legend, Shiva saved the world from the disastrous effects of the poison that emerged as a by-product of the churning of the Milky Ocean (Samudra Manthan), by consuming the whole of the poison. Shiva could arrest the poison in his throat by his Yogic powers and it didn’t go down his throat. His neck turned blue due to the effect of the poison on his throat and henceforth he is also known as Neela Kantha or The Blue Throated.
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Swami Dayananda Saraswati
Swami Dayananda Saraswati was born in a village Tankara near Morbi in Rajkot district of Gujarat on 12th February 1824. He is known as the first leader to give the call for Swarajya. He propounded India for Indians. Later on Lokmanya Tilak continued the movement. Swami Dayananda is also the founder of Arya Samaj. Even though in the beginning he was an ardent worshiper of Lord Shiva, yet later he advocated ancient Vedic traditions of Hinduism. He expressed that ideal that idol worship had brought many ills in the Hindu society. In Vedic tradition chanting mantras and performing havans are prominent.
Dr. S. Radhakrishnan who was a great philosopher and also the President of India called Swamiji as one of the ‘makers of modern India’. Shri Aurobindo Ghosh also gave great importance to the contribution of Swami Dayananda in modernizing the Hindu society. There were many others who were deeply influence by Swami Dayananda. These included Madam Cama, Pandit Guru Dutt Vidyarthi, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Lala Hardayal, Madan Lal Dhingra, Ram Prasad Bismil, Mahadev Govind Ranade, Swami Shraddhananda, Mahatma Hansraj, Lala Lajpat Rai and others.
Maharshi Dayanda believed in the philosophy of Karma. Further, he was a first to call Dalits, Harijans long before Mahatma Gandhi, though it is attributed to the latter. The D. A. V organization was started by Swami Dayananda. Even today many schools and colleges are run by the organization not only in Gujarat but also in Rajasthan, Punjab, U.P and various other states.
We pay our heartfelt tribute to the great Swami who devoted all his life for reforming Hinduism and for propagating education.
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Wani Yoga & Throat Chakra
Study and practice of Yoga is incomplete without understanding the importance of the 7 Chakras. These chakras are the real energy centers. Wani Yoga particularly impressive the practices involved in balancing Throat Chakra and the Third Eye Chakra. Today I will talk about the importance of Throat Chakra in Wani Yoga.
It may be necessary to give a brief introduction of these 7 Chakras in order to appreciate their importance in the life. The 7 Chakras are described as under.
- Root Chakra is concerned about the safety of the human being.
- Sacral Chakra refers to the relationships and creativity of the person concerned.
- Navel Solar Plexus Chakra describes the personality and will power of the person concerned.
- Heart Chakra Heart Chakra indicates the love and compassion that the person practices in his/her life.
- Throat Chakra is responsible for expression and communication of the individual.
- Third Eye Chakra shows the development of the individual to have good gut feeling or intuition
- Crown Chakra is the ultimate destination of the individual. This chakra concerned his/her spiritual development.
Talking about the Throat Chakra if there is any imbalance the person will be effective with lack of expression. He/she will suffer from the inability to express himself/herself. A feeling of stagnation will be the next problem suffered by the individual. The person might become habituated to holding on to unexpressed angle in tern the attitude will turn negative.
The imbalance of Throat Chakra will also bring a feeling of despondency in the individual – helplessness to make them heard. Further the person made be afraid of speaking. Speaking to a group of person effectively is not at all possible for a person who’s Throat Chakra is not balanced. Besides, the person will suffer from failure to find the right words while speaking.
Wani Yoga ensures that regular simple speech exercises along with breathing techniques are helpful in bringing back the balance of the Throat Chakra. The exercise prescribed in this module are simple to understand and easy to practice. Speech is an extremely important aspect of the human personality. It is therefore necessary that whenever any individual suffers from the blemishes described above, the effects of same may be mitigated by practicing Wani Yoga.
In my next posting I’ll talk about the problems suffered due to imbalance of the Third Eye Chakra. I’ll also describe how the Wani Yoga can help in bringing back the balance.
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Wani Yoga is gradually being recognized as one of the most important facet of Yoga.
The posting is repeat of one appeared on 18/10/2015.
Makar Sankranti
According to the Gregorian Calendar Makar Sankranti is celebrated every year on 14th January. There are only rare exceptions when the festival is celebrated on 13th or 15th January. Most of the other Hindu festivals fall on different dates.
Til Gul Ladu
Gul Poli
It is a festival to celebrate harvest. In many parts of the country this harvest festival is celebrated with lot of activities. The great thing about Hindu festivals is that they promote social interaction. Makar Sankranti is no exception. In Maharashtra the festival is celebrated by exchanging sweets. Halwa and Til Gul Ladu are particularly prepared on this day. Gulachi Poli which is a delicacy a served during lunch. Gulachi Poli is a traditional Indian bread-chapati/paratha with a difference that there is filling of ground till, besan(gram flour) and lot of pure ghee. People greet each other with ‘Til Gul Ghya, Ani Goad Goad Bola’- promoting better interpersonal relationship. Haldi Kunku is distributed among married women. The gifts of utensils, clothes and sweets are exchanged.
Makar Sankranti is also an auspicious occasion on which Sun God is revered. Millions of people take bath in Holi Rivers. Ganga Sagar where river Ganges flow into the Bay of Bengal is particularly popular.
In Tamil Nadu the festival is known as Pongal and is celebrated by preparing lots of sweets and Tamilian dishes. These are served on planten leaves. Another marked feature of this festival is that people fly kites in open spaces. Very decorative and colorful kites are made for the occasion. It is a wonderful festival where people participate with the enthusiasm and gusto.
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Patriotic Saint
12th January is a very important day in India. This is celebrated as National Youth Day. Swami Vivekananda who is also known as Patriotic Saint was born on 12th January 1863. He was the Chief Disciple of Ramakrishna who was a well known saint in Bengal during 19th century. Swami Vivekananda is credited with founding of Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission. The latter has spread throughout the country and is engaged in learning many educational institutions.
Narendranath Datta (the real name of Swami Vivekananda) was born in an aristocratic Bengali family of Calcutta. His father Vishwanath Datta was an Attorney at the Calcutta High Court. His mother Bhuvaneshwari Devi was a devout house wife. The progressive rational thinking of Narendra’s father, and the religious temperament of his mother helped shake his thinking and personality.
Swami Vivekananda was instrumental in the introduction of The Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the western world. He was a great public speaker. His confident participation in the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago in 1893 brought him laurels. The beginning of his speech by addressing Sisters and Brothers of America… is remembered by religious leaders of various countries even today. He was considered the most effective and influential speaker at that meeting.
Swami Vivekanada’s teachings emphasize human development. According to him each individual has a soul potentially divine. The goal to manifest this divinity should be prime for everyone. This is possible through devotion to one’s duty. This is possible by mental discipline or prayers. Contemplation on human soul is also very relevant. This is the very essence of any religion. Rituals, dogmas, books or temples or forms are just secondary details.
Swami Vivekanada’s influence on Hinduism is paramount. According to him, Love and respect towards the Motherland was the solemn duty of every citizen. He is respectfully known as the Patriotic Saint.
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Film Actress Nanda
One of the most expressive faces in Hindi Films was that of Nanda. Her face had a remarkable child like expression. In fact, she started to work in films as a child artist. Her father had died at the young age of 41 so she started working in films as a child artist to support her family.
In 1956 her uncle V. Santaram one of the famous producer of his time gave her a big break by casting her in Toofan Aur Diya in the year 1956. The film was a big hit. Thereafter Nanda featured in films like Bhabhi, Kala Bazar and Dhool Ka Phool.
In the year 1959 she played the title role in L. V. Prasada’s Choti Behen the movie was a big hit. It made her a star. Thereafter she got lead roles in Hum Dono and Teen Deviyaan against popular star Dev Anand. She also got an opportunity to play the lead role in B. R. Chopra’s Kanoon in 1960. A good human being at heart, she is said to have signed as many as 8 films with Shashi Kapoor when he was not a successful actor in Hindi Films. However their film together ‘Jab Jab Phool Khile’ was a big hit. This film played a significant role in shaping and bringing success to Shashi Kapoor as a star in Hindi Films.
We remember her on her birthday that is January 8th. Appreciating all the good work that she had done for Hindi Films.
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