Astu Mind

Heart and circulatory disease is still one of the biggest killers despite related deaths falling faster than those of other diseases. If you want to keep your heart in great shape, here are 10 things you can do: 1. Cut down on salt If you have a diet high in salt, it’s likely that your blood pressure could be high too – which means you have an increased risk of suffering from heart disease or stroke. The recommended maximum daily intake of salt is just 6g for adults and 3g for children (2.5g of salt is the equivalent of 1g of sodium). Cut down by trying not to use any salt at all at the table and reducing how much you use in cooking. Also, keep an eye on food labels to check how much salt you’re eating in processed foods (foods with more than 1.5g salt or 0.6g sodium per 100g are high, so avoid them wherever possible). 2. Eat less sugar Too much sugar in your diet could lead to weight gain, which can raise your blood pressure and lead to diabetes and heart disease....

Music is one of the few activities where people around the globe respond in a common way. It connects all kinds different people across a myriad of cultures, traditions, and practises all over the world. It’s pretty safe to say that music plays a huge role in our daily lives – whether we are aware of it or not. But, exactly how does music really affect one’s personality and overall well-being? The effects of music are cognitive, psychological, social, behavioral, and emotional. Listening to music, singing, playing, composing, and improvising are activities that not only allow one to express inner states and feelings but also have many positive effects on the people engaged in them.  Research shows that music can even make you smarter. Neuromusicology, a new discipline in science which explores how the human mind reacts to music, is showing that a musical experience involves almost every part and section of the brain at some point. During the musi...

Hot vs Cold: Benefits of Drinking Hot Water vs Cold Water Does the thought of ice cold water make your teeth ache, or inversely, the thought of warm water to drink make your stomach churn? Whichever of the two schools of thought you fall into, here are some undeniable benefits of both types! Benefits of drinking Warm Water Improves digestion  –  According to Ayurveda and ancient Chinese medicine, you should drink a glass of warm water early in the morning. This is because it activates your digestive system, which helps avoid indigestion. It also helps stimulate blood flow to the intestine and helps prevent constipation. Detoxifies your body  –  Did you know that warm water helps your body get rid of harmful toxins? It not only reduces pitta in your body, but also prevents acne and other skin problems. To further enhance its effect, squeeze half a slice of  lemon in the water and drink it every day. Relieves nasal co...

One of the things that surprises me time and time again is how we think our brains work and how they actually do. On many occasions I find myself convinced that there is a certain way to do things, only to find out that actually that’s the complete wrong way to think about it. For example, I always found it fairly understandable that we can multitask. Well, according to the latest research studies, it’s literally impossible for our brains to handle 2 tasks at the same time. Recently I came across more of these fascinating experiments and ideas that helped a ton to adjust my work flow towards how our brains actually work (instead of what I thought!). So here are 10 of the most surprising things our brain does and what we can learn from it. 1. Your brain does creative work better when you’re tired When I explored the science of our body clocks and how they affect our daily routines, I was interested to find that a lot of the way I’d planned my days wasn’t really the b...

The Fascinating Deity: Shiva Known by many names--Mahadeva, Mahayogi, Pashupati,  Nataraja , Bhairava, Vishwanath, Bhava, Bhole Nath --Lord Shiva is perhaps the most complex of  Hindu deities , and one of the most powerful. Shiva is 'Shakti' or power, Shiva is the destroyer--the most powerful god of the Hindu pantheon and one of the godhead in the Hindu Trinity, along with Brahma and Vishnu. As recognition of this fact, Hindus isolate his shrine separate from those of other deities in the temple. Shiva's Trishul or Trident  The Trident  or Trishul of the Lord Shiva unites the three worlds of a  human being  which is associated with - his inside world, the immediate world around him and the broader world. The trishul/trident shows harmony or balance between the three realms. A Unique Deity The actual image of Shiva is also uniquely different from other deities: his hair is piled high on the top of his head, with a crescent tucked into it...