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With Sayoni Sinha

The porch overlooking the garden is a great place to unwind. PHOTO: VISHWAS KULKARNIAmboli is not so much the poorer cousin of Matheran as much as the orphan of Maharashtra's tourism board. Monsoon revelers flock here to enjoy the waterfalls, but outside of this appeal this tiny hill station evokes little recall; the proximity to Goa further adds to its neglected angst. Why would you fly down to Dabolim and not soak in the azure of Palolem beach instead? Yet the two-hour drive down from Goa airport to Amboli is a balmy exercise in learning that the Goans still admire their football with a Latin, crusade-like zeal between innocuous coastal towns. Then Goa becomes Maharashtra; the bikini belt succumbs to a more demure equation with the coast.

One hundred and eighty species of butterflies inhabit the forests surrounding Amboli. Your rickshaw driver might sometimes spin a yarn on how tigers are spotted at night on the spiral that leads to Amboli, but butterflies and birds are more likely to bump into you.

A bird bath by a fresh water stream abutting Yoga RepublicWhen Zicky Sinha turned 45 in 1998, he threw up a top job with Tata Tea to pursue his dream. A well-maintained garden and a cottage-like home, both which overlook a horseshoe of reserve forest of stunted deciduous lush, comprises Yoga Republic. Torrential rain and the parky chill that winter brings restricts the growing season for plants to barely two-three months. Deforestation can be an irreparable disaster in an ecologically fragile zone such as this, which explains why Sindhudurg, the district in which Amboli is nestled, is so often the hotbed of ecological activism to stave off dubious mining contracts and the other perquisites of India Shining.

An earthen bed is said to improve your capacity to meditateTaking her cue from her husband's passion, Varsha Sinha too enrolled at the Bihar School of Yoga and became a trained professional in the science; her adopted sanyasin name is Dharma Priya. "Anu Agarwal, the model-actress, was my roommate, before she was thrown out. She returned after her accident, but I don't want to get into it. Even then I would tell her that Osho is more her scene than yoga. I was at Osho between 1979 to 1984," says Dharma Priya, 50. With a mane of grey tresses cascading down her lean face and cheekbones that glisten against large, shamanistic eyes, she has a stridently spiritual charisma. It also helps that she has had some experience with student theatre in Delhi during the early '70s.

Their daughter, Katyayani, a graduate in hotel management from the Taj catering college in Aurangabad, completes the yogic triangle. Her specialty is fusion and ayurveda cuisine, custom-made for patrons based on their specific health requirements. The ridge gourd pie is a staple classic from her kitchen. Called 'dodka' locally, ridge gourd is beneficial for your blood pressure, weight loss and is high in fibre. You don't miss the meat; you don't miss the booze, though Varsha Sinha clarifies that "we don't enforce any rules. Guests are welcome to have a good time with a tipple by night if they so please because, at the end of the day, Yoga Republic is also a holiday destination."

Meditation and yoga programmes too are custom-tailored to meet a client's requirements: "Dharma Priya handles the software, I handle the hardware (he is also a certified doctor who served with the Indian army for a while), and Kate takes care of the epicurean element," says Zicky. According to him, it takes at least three days for a person to adjust to the vibes of Yoga Republic, even if Yoga Republic does not discourage fly-by-night ascetics to pass by this haven.

The rooms are basic but clean, functional; no room in the house does not overlook a swathe of green. It is perched next to a fresh water stream that runs from May until February; Amboli enjoys the highest rainfall in Maharashtra. A copper water boiler, heated by lighting twigs that have fallen naturally, make for a silky bath. "Copper dissolves naturally with mineral-rich water and this lends the hot water its special tingly texture. Despite the perennial nip in the air, bathing here can be fun!" says Dharma Priya.

A room, with all meals and three one-hour yoga sessions per day, comes at Rs 4,000 per day. Jungle yoga, where more hardcore devotees can practice yoga "where it is meant to be practiced" costs around Rs 7,000. Yoga Republic entertains a clientele from mainly France, Belgium and Sweden, with a sprinkling of Brits, Australians, and practically whoever stumbles upon this recess. "We don't discriminate between Indian and non-Indian clientele with our prices. We are very clear that this is a rare experience, both for Indians and foreigners," says Zicky Sinha, who also runs a free clinic for villagers in the afternoon.

"Jungle yoga is crucial because humans have a psychic connection to nature, and vice-versa. The jungle is where yoga happened, where it achieved its finer nuances. There is an intrinsic energy that is released if yoga is performed in the jungle. There are times when we perform near a cliff and the energy of meditation and of the mantras is so intense that a wind whips up. With appropriate chanting this rousing of nature is controlled, but I have had experiences where I almost felt that the tents are going to fly off into impromptu parachutes! This is rare though. For the most part, jungle yoga camps are safe, hugely rewarding experiences that are essential to exploring the power of this craft," says Dharma Priya.

Dharma Priya in her sanyasin outfit strikes a poseIt is recommended that you call seven days in advance to set up a camp (for jungle yoga) in the adjacent forest. Here, Katyayani, the in-house chef, will make a perishable oven from the earth around the site so that grilled vegetables and pizzas can add to the ascetic enchantment.

Closer home, at the main yoga centre, the cleverly developed garden and landscaping is jungle enough. For instance, the appearance of a Hanuman langur amidst shuddering branches of foliage after a meditation session is enough to alarm you. "This langur is after the sparrow eggs. That's what he's here for. You should never have fed him!" Zicky lambasts Dharma Priya at this flash sighting.

"He doesn't eat sparrow eggs, okay! Stop spreading ridiculous rumours. He just likes this place," insists Dharma Priya.

The drama eventually resolves itself as the langur recedes into the underworld of the neighbouring forest.

Dawn is an aviary of imagined flautists, but residents are encouraged to sleep until as long as they deem fit. The instructors start their day at a quarter past four. "It takes three days to get into the rhythm of the place. We encourage residents to sleep through their natural sleep cycles for at least three days. From the fourth day onward it is all right if they wish to join us at dawn," says Zicky.

source=http://in.lifestyle.yahoo.com

Doing exercise for up to an hour a day can improve memory and learning in children and the elderly, say scientists.

The researchers found that walking or cycling regularly for between six months to a year can improve memory and problem solving skills in the elderly by between 15 and 20 per cent.

They have shown that such exercise can also increase the size of crucial parts of the brain.

The scientists have also discovered that children who are fit also tend to be better at multitasking and performing difficult mental tasks than unfit friends, the Telegraph reported.

Professor Art Kramer, director of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois, who led the research, said their findings could have major implications for improving children's performance at school.

Source=http://in.lifestyle.yahoo.com

He said it could also be used to help the elderly combat memory loss in old age.

"It is a sad fact of ageing that our brain function decreases as we get older. Increasingly people are also living more sedentary lifestyles. While we know that exercise can have positive effects on cardiovascular disease and diabetes, we have found it can bring about improvements in cognition, brain function and brain structure," Kramer said.

"It is aerobic exercise that is important so by starting off doing just 15 minutes a day and working up to 45 minutes to an hour of continuous working we can see some real improvements in cognition after six months to a year.

"We have been able to do a lot of neuroimaging work alongside our studies in the elderly and show that brain networks and structures also change with exercise.

"Children also seem to benefit and we have found that aerobically fit children exhibit superior cognitive control to lower fit children," Kramer stated.

Work published earlier this year by his team showed that the hippocampus, the part of the brain involved in memory, of elderly people who exercised regularly for more than six months increased by two per cent, effectively reversing brain ageing by one to two years.

In the latest research, he also found that fitter children are better at crossing the street when distracted by music or holding a conversation on a hands-free mobile phone compared to those who were less fit.

He found that while the fit children could cross a road in a virtual reality simulation with ease when distracted, the less fit children tended walk at the same speed as the fitter children but misjudged the speed and distance of the computer generated vehicles.

"The low fitness kids were just as good at crossing the street when it was the only thing they were doing. If they were listening to music or talking on the headset, they performed badly. They often ended up with the screen going red to show they had been hit," Professor Kramer said.

"One way to look at it is that the high fit kids think more efficiently and so are better at multitasking," the researcher added.

The finding was presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Vancouver, and is due to be published later this year. (ANI)

Sleeping issues continue to daunt most of us from time-to-time.

Our demanding schedules ensure that our sleep is disturbed either in terms of quality or duration-wise. A sporadic incidence of bad sleep isn't that big an issue. However, if you feel that lack of sleep or poor quality-of-sleep is hampering your performance at work or your health, you need to read about the following better sleeping habits:

1. Develop Your Personal Sleep Routine

You don’t need to follow sleep timing-related advice that surrounds us in the form of tabloids and blogs. Just develop a pattern that is suitable to your lifestyle. It doesn’t make sense to follow a routine that inconveniences you and makes you “work” towards getting proper sleep. However, you need to follow some sort of routine. This means knowing when you should switch-off the lights and when you need to wake-up. This is best done by noticing at what time you tend to get a bit heavy-eyed at night. Keep your going-to-bed time around this period. Follow this with a wake-up timing that allows you an extra few minutes to laze in the bed. Ensure a wake-up time with the flexibility of 15 to 20 minutes. Even if you get less than the recommended eight or nine hours of sleep, it won’t matter much if your quality of sleep is good.

2. Eat Lighter & Early Dinner

Ensure that you have had your major meal or supper at least three to four hours before the sleep time. Eating too close to bedtime tends to keep away the sleep. Since the body is actively involved in metabolizing the food that you have consumed, its metabolic rate is up. This means that chances of falling asleep decrease. You might wonder that often after having a heavy meal you get a bit drowsy. However, that is more of a nap that is induced by the body trying to maximize its resources towards digesting the food and slowing down other systems. However, to get a longer and refreshing nighttime sleep, you should eat lighter and a bit early.

Slideshow: 10 Foods for Fabulous Abs

3. Exercising Helps

This might sound a bit strange to you but exercise and the quality of your sleep are interrelated. You need to understand that sleeping patterns are essentially a part of your internal body clock. This includes the body’s ability to rest and return to active performance. However, due to issues like stress, anxiety and poor dietary habits, this inherent body clock is compromised. In order to sustain the optimal performance of our bodily rhythm, you need to exercise regularly. This doesn’t mean pumping iron in the gym is compulsory. Any sort of activity where you can dedicate about 40 minutes, combining some stretching, running and jogging is sufficient.

4. Choose Evening/Night Foods with Precaution

Once the evening sets-in, try to reduce your intake of alcohol and caffeine. Even nicotine is known to disrupt the action of biochemicals in our body that induce sleep. There are some foods that help you in falling asleep with ease. For instance, milk and complex carbohydrates found in foods like brown rice contain a higher amount of Tryptophan. This compound is known to assist the sleeping cycle. Avoid foods that are high in sugar before bedtime. These tend to induce the sugar-rush that can disrupt your sleep cycle.

Blog: Who knew? Eat more to gain less!

5. Keep Away From Nighttime Distractions

Your pre-sleep routine can include reading a book or watching a bit of TV but ensure that you don’t indulge in something so fascinating that it doesn’t let you switch-off your mind. Shun-out any kind of distracting light coming through the windows by drawing the curtains. Try to avoid watching typical genres on TV that can arouse your senses. This means keeping away from action-packed and thriller movies/serials. Switch-off the cell phone, laptops/tablets or any other gadget that might buzz you. (Health, MensXP.com)

Great sex is a terrific mind-body experience- as is yoga. Yoga not only relieves stress-one of the drive dampeners-but also improves flexibility, increases blood flow, strengthens your lower abdomen and fills you with energy that help steam things up in the bedroom. Try these yoga poses for better sex.


Poorna Halasana: Lie on your back with your feet together, palms resting on the floor. Inhale and then while exhaling raise both your legs up. With the help of your palms, raise your hips up and bring your toes above your head, without bending your knees. Now interlock your fingers with each other, stretch your arms together and hold the position. Breathe normally while in this position, keeping the neck and face muscles relaxed. Come back to the original position in reverse order. How it helps: This asana is known to sublimate sexual energies by strengthening the pelvic area. It alleviates menstruation discomfort, and claims to remedy certain sexual disorders.

Padmasana: Sit on the floor and stretch your legs forward. Place your palms onto the sides of your body. Now, hold the sole of your right foot and place it on your left thigh; repeat with the left foot. Know this: Yoga helps tackle sexual disorders and improves chances of conception your back straight, place your palms on your knees in gyan mudra. Close your eyes slowly and breathe normally. Hold for some time and return to original position. How it helps: This asana stimulates the pelvis, spine, abdomen and bladder.

Dhanurasana: Lie down in prone position (face down), bend your knees. Now, hold your ankles with both hands and inhale while raising your legs and upper body. Hold for some time, breathe normally and return to prone position. How it helps: Effective in strengthening your back. Regular practise may improve chances of conception.

Bhujangasana: Lie in prone position with legs together. Now fold your hands and place your palms on the floor aligned with each shoulder. Inhale, raise your chin, turn your head backwards and raise your upper body up to the navel. Hold for a while, exhale and come down to the original position. How it helps: This asana firms the chest, tackles spinal problems.

Sarvangasana: Lie down in the supineposition (face upwards) and slowly inhale. Raise both the legs together at a 90 degree angle to the floor and then exhale. Use your palms to support your back and take your legs upwards till they align with your chest and abdomen as your chin is placed against the jugular notch. Lower your buttocks, release your hands slowly and bring your legs down without raising your head. How it helps: This asana is believed to cure premature ejaculation and loss of desire.

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Your guide to better sex

Enticing, thrilling and hot; would you use these words to describe your sex life? If not, then it’s time to take a look at our guide. You’ll soon be enjoying some sumptuous, pillow-biting sex:

Go back to school

Awkward teenagers, bells and bad food doesn’t sound romantic but reverting back

Have a curryto a pupil may put the kick back into your sex life. Whether you’ve been with your partner a few weeks, or a few years, there are always new things to learn about what the other wants from sex. Take it in turns to play the role of teacher and pupil. The teacher needs to take control, show the pupil what they want and how to do it. The pupil needs to listen, comply and also remember these frisky moves for later. Make sure you both get a go in each role and on different days.

If you want hot sex then take your date for a curry. A UK study has shown that you don’t even have to eat a curry to raise your heart rate, just thinking of your favourite spicy dish is enough to increase both your heart and your blood pressure to a level similar to one reached during sexual arousal. Spicy food was also found to release endorphins, which provided extra pleasure. After your curry, why not have a chili eating competition. A chemical found in spicy peppers, capsaicin, stimulates nerve endings, which means your sex will feel amazingly good.

Love Yourself

Sex is a hugely intimate act and requires a lot of trust. Considering this, it’s not surprising that many people feel uncomfortable about sex. If you don’t feel confident, don’t worry, there are a few things you can try. You could play a new sport. Sport players have healthier relationships with their body because they value its function, not its aesthetic value. You could also invest in some sexy lingerie that covers areas you feel uncomfortable with. And remember, psychologists have found that people who are considered beautiful are just as likely to be unhappy as anyone else.

Never been touched?

Sex can become a routine; another thing to tick off your list. You do the same moves, the same tired tricks and it all gets a little bit dull. If this sounds familiar, stop. There are lots of new things and new places you can touch. The thighs and knees may not be the most obvious place to begin, but they often get overlooked and yet they are very sensitive spots. Another neglected part of their body is the fingertips. Take their hand and rub their palms, then pull on their fingers. Touching each other in new ways is simple, exciting and fun.

Play a game

If foreplay has become a timed race to see who can turn off the lights, pull off their clothes and reach the safety of the covers first then it is definitely time you learnt how to slow down. Take a pack of cards and play a game you both know well. The loser must remove one item of clothing. Once you have both stripped off, continue the game, but this time the winner can choose an act they’d like the loser to perform on them. Keep a timer close by, so the game progresses. Playing this game will not only allow you to enjoy each other it will also build sexual tension.

Go alfresco

Doing bad things we shouldn’t do is a turn on. Everyone enjoys it, but only the daredevils seem to give it a go. A fun and safe way that would allow you to take your loving outdoors is to find a compromise. You could have sex in the secrecy of your garden, or your balcony if it is s

ecluded. Make sure both of you are comfortable and take necessary accessories, such as a blanket or pillow. Having sex outdoors will give you huge adrenalin surges, which not only make you feel great, you’ll also perform better than normal. Be safe though; if you get caught expect trouble.

Reinvent yourself

You’re a brother, you’re a sister, you’re a wife, husband, dad or mum. When you get under the covers though, it’s important to forget who you are during the day. Adopting another persona in bed helps you de-stress and become sexy. There are lots of tools or accessories you can use to help you make the transition. You could wear a costume, a wig or even some exotic make-up. Play with different looks until you feel comfortable. Dressing up will give you a confidence boost, make your sex fresher and enable you to try new things with ease.

source=http://www.realbuzz.com/

Have you got a receipt for your wife, sir?

In 953 Princess Olga of Russia introduced a law whereby men could ask to, essentially, return their wives if they found out they were not virgins. The husbands could ask for monetary or material compensation if they discovered that their wives were more experienced than they had hoped.

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If you were feeling sick in the 19th century then it was quite possible that your doctor may have prescribed you a dose of alone time with a sex toy, ladies. The Museum of Sex explains that vibrator-induced orgasms helped doctors identify “hysteria” and its symptoms.

Love and marriage

In the 12th century a book was written called The Art of Courtly Love. Within it there were 31 rules that told the British upper-class how to love and who they could love. It told the rich that “True love can have no place between husband and wife” and that marriage should be thought of as a business arrangement.

Size mattered

If you thought that men’s issue with the size of their manhood was a 21st century thing then think again guys and girls. In the Middle Ages it was highly fashionable for British men to wear a codpiece. A codpiece was a flap or pouch that men wore over their trousers to exaggerate the size of their crotch.

Playing away from home

We all know the WWII poster that urged men and women to “Keep calm and carry on” but have you heard about the other, naughtier slogan that was printed in government brochures? The slogan went: "Don't forget – Put it on before you put it in." It was no surprise that many men returned from WWII with sexually transmitted diseases.

Burlesque

Burlesque may seem like a modern day phenomena, but the truth is Burlesque, in one form or another, has been around for centuries. The queen of burlesque, Dita Von Tease, points to Aristophanes as being the “founder” of the striptease. Aristophanes wrote a cheeky, titillating play back in the 5th century BC.

The G Spot

The G spot was unidentified until 1950 when Dr. Ernest Gräfenberg underwent a few experiments and found that attention to this area could trigger powerful O moments in women. Dr. Ernest Gräfenberg is in fact the G spot’s namesake and was also the first to claim that this spot could cause female ejaculation.

The first pornography

It turns out that pornography has always been taboo. In 1524 the horny Marcantonio Raimondi published 16 engravings of people throughout history getting it on. Unfortunately for Marcantonio the Pope at the time did not share his open approach to sex and placed poor Raimondi in prison for a year.

The changing shape of boobs

These days it would seem that most women want bigger boobs, but like our clothes boobs have always been subject to changing fashions. In the Middle Ages people preferred small boobs and women wore corsets that flattened their chests. During the Renaissance it was popular in Spain to have cone shaped boobs – it seems Madonna was not the trend setter we once thought.

Contraception

It was only in the mid 1600s that condoms were used as a contraceptive. These early condoms were made from linen. It would seem that women were a little more proactive when it came to contraception than the guys. Women used crocodile dung, honey, mercury, sneezing and jumping backwards as early as 1850 BC.

source=in.lifestyle.yahoo.com

THE happily-ever-after phrase is a far off dream in modern marriages.

Relationship counsellors harp on the fact that couples should stick together in not-so-happy marriages because of obligation, partnership and convenience. And now a controversial new book reiterates the fact. Written by historian and feminist thinker Pamela Haag, Marriage Confidential: The Post-Romantic Age of Workhorse Wives, Royal Children, Undersexed Spouses, and Rebel Couples classifies modern marriages into various

categories. We take a brief look at each of them and ask experts if they exist in the urban Indian scenario.

essional Sameer Babu and his wife Sunanda are together for the sake of their 14-year-old son. Both have an active social life. Their relationships outside their marriage are no secret among friends.

"I am waiting for my son to go abroad for higher studies. That will be a new beginning for him and me. I am seriously thinking of ending this relationship,” admits Sunanda.

Sharma says the trend is very common among parents in India. "Over 40 per cent of couples stay together for the sake of their children. They often part ways once the children grow up and live a life of their own," she says.

However, Sharma warns that even in such a situation, the children suffer the most and many end up with personality disorders.

WORKHORSE WIFE

THE workhorse wife is the exhausted breadwinner as opposed to her dream- chasing husband. These marriages too are beginning to be seen in India.