Painting: Véronique Nicolet, Auroville Profounder Aspects of Physical Education Introduction With the increasing liberation of human spirit/Torn the clutches of narrow concepts and dogmas that refuse to consider the salutary influence that the ethical, aesthetic, and spiritual powers can exercise upon the development of the human body, there has come about in recent times a growing perception that the human body is not a tomb but a temple of the Spirit and that there is discernible in us a spiritual will which wants to manifest itself fully in the physical life. It is also

-42_Ram Gopal^s Training.htm Ram Gopal's Training Ram Gopal was born in Bangalore early in this century, from an Indian father and a Burmese mother. He received a complete training in Kathakali dance with his gurus Meenakshisundaram Pillai and Kujun Kurup but he was also interested in other forms of folk and temple dancing. He went abroad several times before and after the second World War and was the first Indian to dance the age-old legends of India in a Japanese theatre. Ram Gopal went to America, Poland, France and was happy to feel that he could understand completely the classic storehouse of European and Indian music. After his return to India, he continued to use the K

Ayurvedic nutrition In the ancient medical system of India, we find what is one of the oldest and most time-tested approaches to nutrition. Its science of food and diet is an integral part of a philosophy of man, his consciousness and his relation to the universe. The result is an approach to diet that is unsurpassed both in its profundity and sophistication as well as in its practicality and simplicity. Here the selection and preparation of food is seen as inseparable from the treatment of disease and the cultivation of vibrant health. Both these goals are part of traditional Indian medicine. The traditional system of Indian medicine is called Ayurveda. Ayur

-07_Extracts from Leonardo da Vinci^s Notebooks.htm Leonardo's drawing: study of the shoulder, the arm and one foot Extracts from Leonardo da Vinci's Notebooks How it is necessary for the painter to know the inner structure of man. The painter who has a knowledge of the nature of the sinews, muscles, and tendons will know very well in the movement of a limb how many and which of the sinews are the cause of it, and which muscle by swelling is the cause of the contraction of that sinew; and which sinews expanded into most delicate cartilage surround and support the said muscle. In fifteen entire figures there shall be revealed to you the microcosm on the s

Emil Zatopek (left), the "Czech Express" Running II — Zatopek Zatopek had first realized his own potential in 1941, when he was nineteen, and he had improved steadily but unspectacularly at 800 and 1500 metres until 1945, when the great Swedish middle-distance runner Arne Anderson paid a short visit to Prague. Andersen's physical condition, and the quality of his background work, transformed Zatopek's own training. He added quality to the quantity he had already established, and blended both with the extraordinary determination he had acquired for stretching his own body to the utmost whether in a race or a training session. Even on army sent

Part VIII Body reaching out beyond itself An 18th century Indian depiction of the network of centres (chakras) in the subtle body Body reaching out beyond itself Introduction The growing popularity of Hatha Yoga all over the world does not necessarily mean that its real purpose is well known or understood. In fact, the Hatha Yoga practices which were designed by the ancient Rishis of India for the evolution of man, are now being viewed and utilized in a very limited sense. Today, particularly in the West, Hatha Yoga is generally practised to improve health, reduce stress, minimize the effects of ageing or k

Insights from Indian Wisdom May all be Happy. May all be free from diseases. May all experience the Bliss. Let none partake of any suffering. *** The mind, the soul and the body — the three constitute the three poles (supporting the human structure). It is their combination that maintains the living beings. Everything depends en them for its subsistence. Charakasamhita *** He alone can be considered to be healthy whose dosas, power of digestion, and functioning of dhatus and malas are in a state of equilibrium and whose soul, Page – 182 mind and senses as well as organs are free

Notes Anna Pavlova — Biographical Note Anna Pavlova was born on January 31, 1881. Her life's ambition crystallized in childhood, at a performance of The Sleeping Beauty ballet, at the Maryinski Theatre in St. Petersburg. "It never entered my mind," she remembered later, "that there were easier goals to attain than that of a principal dancer of the Imperial Ballet." At the age of ten she was admitted to a famous ballet academy and was soon singled out by her teachers. Bypassing the corps de ballet, Pavlova was accepted into the Maryinski company in 1899, and in 1905 was appointed to the rank of prima ballerina. Her performances were so popular that students would

Basic Programme for the Human Body (Extracts from "The Four Austerities and the Four Liberations") To pursue an integral education that leads to the supramental realization a fourfold austerity is necessary and also a fourfold liberation. Austerity is usually confused with mortification. When austerity is spoken of, one thinks of the discipline of the ascetic who seeks to avoid the arduous task of spiritualizing the physical, vital and mental life and therefore declares it incapable of transformation and casts it away with out pity as a useless burden, a bondage fettering all spiritual progress; in any case, it is considered as a thin

Mystery and Excellence of the Human Body Acknowledgements This book is the result of the cooperation of the following members of the research teams of the Sri Aurobindo International Institute of Educational Research, Auroville: Alain Antoine, Alain Bernard, Arjun Puri, Aryamani, Ashatit, Christine Devin, Deepti Tiwari, Frederick, Patricia Greer, Jivatman, Jyoti Madhok, Pala, Sanjeev Aggarwal, Sharanam, Serge Brelin General Editor: KIREET JOSHI We are grateful to many individuals in and outside Auroville who, besides the above mentioned researchers and general editor, have introduced us to various es