Vipaasana

There have been a shift towards a digital economy in the recent past. Cryptocurrencies are among those digital transitions.  What is a Cryptocurrency? It is a digital currency which uses cryptography. What is Cryptography? It is a technique of protecting the information using codes so that only the intended user will be able to extract and understand the information. What is the technology that Cryptography uses? Cryptography uses blockchain technology. What is blockchain technology? It is a technology which uses a technique called digitally distributed ledger.  A ledger is nothing but a record of any transaction.  Normally one centrally controlled ledger is used to store the information of all transactions. But in blockchain, multiple decentralised ledgers are used to store the information, i.e. each information is stored at the same time at different places on different computers. What is the advantage of blockchain technology? Since a single piece of information is stored on differe

 A question lingering in the minds of many, "Can lifestyle affect health?" Answer: Yes, IN A HUGE WAY. What is lifestyle? Lifestyle is literally the way in which a person lives right from waking up to sleeping back again including both. It includes all the activities that we do daily and how we do it.  Eg: Waking up and sleeping times, food habits, exercise habits, etc. What affects our lifestyle? Money : This is one of the biggest factors that affect our lifestyle. It can even change a person's attitude! Usually as income increases, people tend more towards materialistic lifestyle. Simplicity becomes rare. Everything is easily available and hence value for other humans and generally the world decreases. Although there are a few exceptions to this, money plays a huge influence on a human's mind. Culture : In quite a few cases culture also plays a huge role in influencing lifestyle. It can have both positive and negative effects.  Eg : Fasting if done correctly by unde

You might have heard about the word cognition from time to time in your circles. Ever really wondered what it is? What is Cognition?  Cognition is the process of THINKING which entails LANGUAGE, REMEMBERING, REASONING and INTELLIGENCE. LANGUAGE  is the process by which we will acquire information. REMEMBERING  is the process where we learn to store the acquired information. REASONING  is a process where we make logical conclusions about the stored information. INTELLIGENCE  is a process where we connect the gaps by adding creativity to the information. In further stages of life cognition can include PERCEPTION, EVALUATION and JUDGEMENT. When does cognition start? It was believed widely that children develop the ability of cognition only when they start learning a language, but today it has been proved that right from birth, an infant starts cognising the world around it. Can cognition be improved? Yes, cognition can be improved. Brain has a characteristic called neuroplasticity. When w

  Normally anxiety is common among humans. But, chronic anxiety will affect the quality of life and can have physical symptoms on the body as well. What is anxiety? Anxiety is the body's natural response to stress.  Whenever we are in certain situations that we have not faced or are yet to face, there will be a certain degree of fear, nervousness and apprehension. Eg: First day at school, attending a first job interview, giving a public speech, moving to a new place, a new relationship, etc.  Normally it will not last very long. It will ward off when we come out of the situation. What happens during anxiety? It will boost up all the functions of the body to perform a particular task and achieve goals.  It will trigger the fight or flight mechanism and release a flood of chemicals like adrenaline. The pulse rate, the breath rate, blood flow and the oxygen supply to the brain and other parts of the body increases. But over a period of time after the task is done or the prevailing con

  The pursuit of mental peace or inner peace acquires importance at all times of life. But unfortunately we usually realise this only after a trauma. What is mental peace? It is a state of mind which is achieved from mental and emotional calmness, free from unnecessary worries, fears and stress. It is a happy and relaxed state of mind while doing karma or action. Why is it important? To enjoy the existence of life! If we are constantly complaining about everything around us, can we really enjoy this one life that we have? To develop compassion and tolerance towards others. Once we start accepting the diversity of others and ourselves, we can appreciate the life to its fullest. To get proper sleep! When the mind is peaceful, we can sleep without any worries and can avoid all the sleep related illness. To enjoy the happiness more deeply. Being happy is a state of mind which happens without our obvious consciousness. But being aware that we are happy can lead us to bliss. To improve our r

Mind is a very powerful tool which can be shaped and used in many ways. It is often neglected and looked down upon as it does not show any symptoms in the physical body at least in the earlier stage. Attitude and mindset determines the person’s qualitative aspect of mind. We often neglect smaller things in life for example making our own bed, trying to learn small things like gestures, polishing our way of behaviour towards others, taking responsibility, etc. Many of these small things have the potential to create a huge impact on our personality. Observing and enjoying the smaller things for some occurs naturally while it comes from a constant and conscious practise for others. The smaller things will play a huge role in activating the reward system of the brain by motivating us to perform better and ultimately help us in taking control of our thoughts, emotions and actions. Once we start appreciating the smaller things in life, we develop an attitude of acceptance and tolerance. This

     Credits : Aishwarya      Examination is a test conducted to evaluate the expertise of a candidate concerned with a subject. The examination system was introduced by the 'King of Sui dynasty' of China to select "able" candidates for the post of government services. Is the practice of proving our "expertise" through examination relevant in today's world?       In ancient India, the learning process took place throughout one's life. Gurus were considered as gods and revered more than parents. Civilisations were built, the country prospered and ancient Indians excelled in administration, science, mathematics, astronomy, art, medicine etc. Few drawbacks of the ancient system of education as pointed out by the British were that: women were not included in the Gurukuls or Vidyapeet and Varna or Caste system was created which led to evil social discrimination.      The British introduced the system of examination in India to pick out the candidates who