 Introduce yourself and your children. Find out who is living alone and might need help in the event of a disaster-natural or otherwise. Check to see which households have young children or elderly persons living in them-anyone who might be vulnerable if they were suddenly alone for an extended period. Make it known that you are someone who can be counted on in a crisis,‭ ‬and others will almost certainly do the same for you. 


It is absolutely true that we cannot count on our government to help us in an emergency. Just look at what happened to the people of New Orleans after Katrina‭; ‬that's‭ ‬our government's response to a real emergency. And all one need do to see how Congress and the Administration react to the man-made emergency of the budget deficit is to listen to the Republicans in the Senate talk about what they want to do to save money. In fact,‭ ‬there is no better example of what happens to a society when its central guiding principle is‭ "‬every man for himself‭" ‬than the self-serving avarice running amok in our nation's capital right now. 
But we‭ "‬the people‭" ‬are not‭ "‬the government‭"‬,‭ ‬not any more. Our government no more represents our interests than they represent the principles set forth in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. ‭"‬The government‭" ‬today is a sad cabal of criminals,‭ ‬deviants,‭ ‬and celebrity wannabe's--Charlie Sheen in a three-piece suit.

‎"‏We‭" ‬are individuals‭; ‬human beings with free will and the capacity for compassion and empathy. I think we have come to the point in our evolution that we must begin to exercise these traits. The only‭ ‬real‭ ‬alternative is‭ ‬extinction. 

 



Yoga is a spiritual and philosophical discipline that is believed to have originated in ancient India in the 2nd century BC. First described by the scholar Pantanjali, traditional ancient yoga, known as Raja yoga, was a meditative practice with the goal of achieving total control over the influence of the external world and the physical realm (the body) on the mind. In one translation from the ancient Hindu, Swami Vivekananda  describes this original form of yoga as ….”Restraining the mind-, Citta) from taking various forms (Vrittis)." 


Today, the practice of yoga has evolved into dozens of variants, all of which focus to varying degrees on the achievement of mental and physical harmony, tranquility and balance through meditation, controlled breathing and the practice physical postures, poses, or positions. Many of these variants are so closely related as to be virtually indistinguishable from each other to any but the most discerning practitioner. Nevertheless, four main “paths” of yoga practice, distinct from each other both in practice and philosophy, still exist. These are the aforementioned “Raja Yoga”, Hatha Yoga, Bhatki Yoga, and Jnana Yoga. 


The first path of yoga, Raja yoga, is also referred to as “Royal yoga” because of its revered status among yoga practitioners, who are referred to in yoga parlance as called “yogis” (male) or yogini’s (female). 