Torus Health: What is the Torus?

Dear Torus Health & Yoga:

What is the Torus & how does it contribute to my Health & Healing?

Torus Health is a business community committed to health and healing, but perhaps not in a typical function. Our healing models and programs are built around new age philosophies and findings to aid each of us take conscious responsibility for our own healing, health and sensational present and future selves. 

One facet of these philosophies is through the use of a combination of physical, mental and emotional works aiding in energy alignment and the strengthening of the Torus energetic field. 

Full stop! 

What is that, that sounds fluffy and what does that have to do with yoga? 

I hear you. Much of what I will discuss in this blog may sound a bit “fluffy” but stay with me. I will do my best to explain, inspire and will leave you with a couple short mediations to try at home. 

Of course, the practice of yoga provides physical health benefits (trust me, the first time I was able to successfully put myself into an inversion gave me the best feeling of physical aptitude!) but the practice of yoga goes far beyond the physical. The word Yoga in Sanskrit means Union and is defined as “the cessation of the modification of the mind”. This “modification of the mind” is achieved through the physical postures along with the integration of disciplined breath control and simple focused meditation. Harnessing these three entities at once helps provide a greater connection to your whole self. Often the great surprise experienced when practicing yoga, is not that an increase in strength or endurance are the leading factors to the inevitable achievement of complex physical postures and flexibility but it is largely due to mentally aligning your body and mind to focus on the present moment and maintain cohesive and constant breath works. With these key elements at play, your mind ignites and takes your body to new heights.  As the mind and body improve, so does your emotional welfare and your inner energies start to align inducing the Torus the take shape and strengthen. Imagine the Torus as an invisible shield surrounding your entire body, fueled with nothing but fulfilling and heightened positive energies protecting you from the negative and depleting energies of this world.

Full stop! 

Even if this concept sounds fluffy to you, the allusion of an invisible bubble of joy surrounding and protecting your body must bring some element of pleasure. 

So read on… 

In a very basic scientific sense, through mediation, breath work and the motion of the yogic postures, you are moving the cerebral fluid in your central nervous system (your lower energy centers often referred to as your root, sacral, solar plexus chakras) up the spin to your brain. These actions give your over worked, over stressed, over tiered brain a rush of fresh fluid to nourish itself and calm.  Once this stored energy is dislodged by the acceleration of the cerebrospinal fluid up the spine, it will draw the stored energy from the first three centers back to the brain. Once there is a current flowing from the base of the spine all the way to the brain, the body becomes like a magnet and an invisible three dimensional electromagnetic energy field is created around the body; the Torus (torsion field). 

Try This Meditation Practice for Starters: 

1) Sitting cross-legged (or how is most comfortable) on the floor or chair. Make yourself comfortable! If you require pillows or other accessories to sit upright comfortably, do so. 

2) Take a moment to place your attention on the top of your head, as if to say, “this is where I want my energy to flow”

3) Take one slow steady breath through your nose and at the same time, squeezing and holding the muscles of the perineum (area between the anus and the scrotum or vulva) 

4) Imagine as you inhale through your nose that the air is breathing up your spine, through your chest, your throat, and your brain, all the way up to the top of your head. 

5) Hold the breath here for 5 seconds while squeezing your perineum and then exhale out your nose. 

Again…adding some more steps 

6) Take one slow steady breath through your nose and at the same time squeezing and holding the muscles of your perineum, then those of your lower abdomen and then those of your upper abdomen. 

7) Imagine as you inhale through your nose that the air is breathing up your spine, through your chest, your throat, and your brain, all the way up to the top of your head. 

8) Hold the breath here for 5 seconds while squeezing your perineum and then exhale out your nose. 

This breathing exercise is one of many that helps to activate blocked energy through the activation of the sympathetic nervous system and helps elevate this energy to the brain.  As Dr Joe Dispenza puts it, “It is as if the traveling energy from the lower centers is ejaculated in to the brain”. 

Much of our vital energy becomes stuck within the first three centers because they are, as many would refer to them as, the “feel good centers” or “survival centers”. However, the more energy we draw from these centers the more energy we pull from the invisible field of energy around our body (ding! Ding! Ding! Yes! The Torus). By initiating all of our energy centers (FYI: there are 8 energy centers…ideal we want to be using all 8 and not only the first 3) our entire bodies become engaged, aware and fully conscious. For some, however, the concept of living with elevated emotions such as, compassion, love and gratitude is a scary concept as we all have fallen victim at one point or another to leaning on our anger, resentments, jealousy, competitiveness, or as I personally resorted to at a point in my life; complete numbness.

All though the ignition of your energies is a great big step forward in the right direction, the next step for many can be the most difficult. That is what Torus Health is here for, to help you every step of the way as you commit yourself to reconditioning the body to a new mind; a state were you can allow yourself to live in a state of elevated emotions as your body is lifted to a new state of elevated consciousness. 

Just Imagine…

How would you live from this state of being? 

What behaviors would you potentially demonstrate from this state of being? 

How would it feel to be healed and to be free; to believe in yourself? 

Try this meditation twice a day: 

Morning: before getting out of bed

Evening: before falling asleep 

Place your left hand over your chest in your heart center. Out loud or in your head say: 

~ I Bless my future – that it never be my past 

~ I Bless my past – that it turns to wisdom

~ I Bless the adversity in my life – that it initiates me into greatness & that I see the hidden meaning behind all things 

~ I Bless my soul – that it wakes me up from this dream 

~ I Bless the divine within me – that it moves me, that it moves through me, that it moves all around me, that it shows cause in my life 

~ I give thanks for my new life before it is made manifest  

Visualize and feel these emotions.  

Memorize this feeling. 

Namaste 

Vinyasa Yoga - Where to Start & Where You Are Heading

Torus Vinyasa Yoga:

Where to Start & Where You Are Heading

Vinyasa Sun Salutation A & B function as the foundation to all Vinyasa and Ashtanga postures and flows. Perfecting these two flows will ensure a productive evolution as your body dexterity and strength improves. 

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Inhale to expand, exhale to bend. Salute the sun this morning through Surya Namaskar B with Mark Robberds and Deepika Mehta.

Flow with Deepika’s Sun Salutation A

How Yoga Can Change Your Body Shape

How Yoga Can Shape Your Body

The body shape of a yogi is different from person to person. Some practice yoga for the fitness and flexibility aspect, while other practice yoga, such as Kundalini Yoga, for the mental and spiritual benefits. The wonderful feature of Yoga as a whole, is it truly is a practice where you can achieve optimal union of Mind, Body and Soul. 

As many gym goers may have already realized, though you may garner great muscle gains, the key "troublesome" areas (ie) triceps, midsection, hips and buttock tend to take a great deal of time to see results and then that much more energy to maintain. Additionally, the physical exertion of weightlifting and cardio intensive workouts can actual cause more damage to the body then benefits. Many of us already live highly stressful lives, triggering an increase of adrenaline & cortisol released into our bodies. These releases trigger a daily elevation in blood pressure and heart rate, thus, stacking on high intensity work outs (triggering more cortisol and adrenaline released to the heart and circulatory system), although they are famous for some, often cause more damage by depleting an already stressed and, for lack of a better term, "tightly wound" body. 

The Answer? YOGA! The practice of yoga has everything to do with filling an individual up with whatever their mind, bodies and souls require to ensure optimal full body functionality throughout their daily lives. 

Here are some reasons HOW Yoga helps achieve full body health and your optimal body shape: 

1) Improves Balance

2) Improves Posture

3) Improves Breathing: Lungs begin to function at full capacity aiding in heightened muscle rejuvenation and mental awareness 

4) Easily Maintain Weight Without Dieting 

5) Improve Flexibility to the nth degree 

6) Firms & Tones every muscle from head to your tippy toes

7) Improves Self Esteem and Body Image 

Mental Health: 

Torus Health & Yoga is a firm believer that once mental barriers are broken through, the results that will follow physically can be life altering. This is because Yoga instructs your mind and body to be in a state of peace, centeredness and present throughout your practice. This mental and bodily state allow for your heart rate, hormones and other bodily systems to calm and regulate themselves naturally. As your body learns to natural align itself in a state of peaceful calm it will gradually learn to move and progress in ways that will leave you with such overwhelming gratitude. You will learn to truly trust your intuition and allow yourself to expand past lifelong mental blocks and physical limitations. 

Please stay connected as TORUS HEALTH & YOGA will soon have updates on upcoming workshops and retreats. 

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) Tracking to Optimize Your Overall Wellbeing

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) to Increase Physiological Coherence & Wellbeing

The use of new technologies such as OURA and  HEART MATH are fundamental in understanding and tracking your Heart Rate Variability. These and other new devices are coming to the market to help individuals personalize their health management practices. 

Tracking your HRV is a useful indicator for several health related reasons that have been used by researches & physiologist for decades.  Understanding how to optimize your recovery and personal readiness by tracking your HVR will help improve your emotional well being as you learn how to change your heart rhythm pattern to create physiological coherence. 

How does it work? 

The heart beat contains healthy irregularities. These are variations among the intervals between your heartbeats. HVR measures the intervals between each heartbeat (R-R intervals).  

NOTE: Heart Rate Low = HRV is High as it indicates longer inter-beat intervals 

HVR can be traced back to our intrinsic/autonomic heart rate (base-line), comprised of our parasympathetic (rest) & sympathetic (activation) systems. The parasympathetic system has a lower heart rate, giving more room for variability between successive heartbeats. The sympathetic system has a elevated heart rate from the intrinsic level and thus, there is less room for variability between successive heart beats. 

Thus, measuring HVR reactions is a particularly sensitive tool that can give individuals greater insight into your your overall wellbeing and facilitates in the bodies natural regenerative processes. 

Steps to a healthy HRV: 

1) Breath Work: practice different breathing techniques that help regulate your breath and thus slow your heart rate (ie) pranayama breathing, heart lock techniques. 

For example: place your finger on your neck or wrist and find your pulse. You will feel the longest interval between pulses take place when you exhale and the shortest intervals between pulses when you inhale. 

2) Discover your baseline and use this as your starting point 

3) Measure from your baseline if your HRV goes up (heart rate lowers) or if your HRV goes down (heart rate speeds up). An increase in HRV can indicate that something is doing good for your mind and body, however, if your HRV lowers this is an indication that something may be burdening your mind and body. 

4) Regular practice will help restore low HRV to a healthy level. It is recommended to take 5 minutes 3-4 times a day and measure yourself accordingly. (Note: this is an excellent tool to use while meditating) 

Take your personalize wellbeing survey, and discover how HRV can benefit you. 

Elon Musk: Do What You LOVE...Even If The Odds Are Not In Your Favor

 Elon Musk...Do What You Love

Elon Musk, the entrepreneur and innovator behind SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity, sold one of his internet companies, PayPal, for $1.5 billion. Ashlee Vance captures the full spectacle and arc of the genius's life and work, from his tumultuous upbringing in South Africa and flight to the United States to his dramatic technical innovations and entrepreneurial pursuits. Vance uses Musk's story to explore one of the pressing questions of our age: can the nation of inventors and creators who led the modern world for a century still compete in an age of fierce global competition? He argues that Musk is an amalgam of legendary inventors and industrialists including Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Howard Hughes, and Steve Jobs. More than any other entrepreneur today, Musk has dedicated his energies and his own vast fortune to inventing a future that is as rich and far-reaching as the visionaries of the golden age of science-fiction fantasy

Jonni Pollard: Meditation Teacher and Enthusiast

Torus Health: Live with Purpose

Download FREE APP: 1 Giant Mind 

You will receive a 12 day guided mediation series by Jonni himself, and once complete a 30 day challenge will commence to ensure your practice of mediation becomes habitual within your daily life. 

Torus Health attended the 2018 Wanderlust Festival in Whistler where we heard Jonni Pollards talk “Do You Want To Be Right, Or Do You Want To Be Happy?”. His wisdom and knowledge surrounding life and the benefits of mediation provided a greater understanding of mediation and how the benefits can allow us to live meaningful lives with purpose.

How THINX Founder Turned Her Life Into an Empire

Read THINX Girl Boss Founder Inspirational Interview

Wanderlust (WL): You’ve created a myriad of awesome projects. What would you say is a common thread for inspiration?

Miki Agrwal (MA): I get my ideas from simply being in the world, doing my best to observe things with a fresh (childlike) eye, questioning the things that don’t seem to make sense, and notating the things that “suck” in my day-to-day life. And rather than complaining about the things that don’t make sense or suck, I get excited because it’s an opportunity to solve those things and make our collective human experiences better.

WL: I’ve read in previous interviews that THINX, TUSHY and WILD came out of necessity—both for yourself and for others. Can you speak more to this? How has your life and life experiences influenced your entrepreneurial projects?

MA: TUSHY solves one of the things that I do very often and every day: poop. I am one of those people who poops a lot and I never understood why we wipe our butts with dry paper and call that clean. We certainly don’t jump in the shower and only use dry paper and call our bodies clean. That area of our body is critical to our health and happiness (ie. sex, babies, excretion) and yet we don’t properly take care of it because it’s a “taboo” area. Also, since the late 1800s, we have been led to believe that toilet paper does the job but all it does is cost us money every month (to the tune of billions of dollars per year if you add us all together), kills millions of trees per year and causes chronic infections and issues down there like UTIs, hemorrhoids, and fissures.

So I created a simple, modern, affordable bidet attachment called TUSHY which easily clips onto any standard toilet and turns it into a bidet. It’s only $69, takes 10 minutes to install, requires no plumbing or electrical, comes with everything you need in the box, and it’s literally the most important thing in my bathroom. Also, for every TUSHY sold, we fund an organization in India that builds clean latrines for the urban poor who have access to nothing and are defecating out in the open. To date, we have helped 12,000 families gain access to clean sanitation facilities.

As for THINX, I just couldn’t believe that there hadn’t been any innovation in a very long time in those categories because again, those topics were deemed “taboo” by the social system that we lived in. I thought that by creating best-in-class underwear, it could shine a light on this subject and make us ask ourselves why are these things [periods] not okay to talk about when it’s the very thing that creates human life? Also, I was a very irresponsible bleeder and kept ruining all of my underwear—and I needed a solution for that! Under my leadership, we helped over 100,000 girls gain access to menstrual products throughout Africa.

WILD came about when I realized how sensitive I am to processed foods: the bleach, refined sugar, hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, preservatives etc and it turns out that millions of people are too, for obvious reasons. I had to give up my favorite comfort food, pizza, so I decided to start New York City’s first gluten-free, farm-to-table pizza eatery in 2005. During that time, everyone thought “gluten-free”, “farm-to-table,” and “organic” meant “must taste like cardboard,” so it took a lot of education to get people to “get” it.

WL: Promotion for your brands (THINX especially) come across more as art than the do advertising. How have you used art to now influence TUSHY and your other projects?

MA: My teams know that unless it’s artful and show-stopping, it won’t pass the test. We are in the process of rebranding TUSHY to make it artfully aspirational yet playful and fun. Art needs to be fun and not too serious. Also, since I’m talking about “taboo” subjects like poop and periods, the campaigns better be artful, or people will be too grossed out to talk about it. The art and playful tone bring people’s guards down.

WL: What or who is something/someone who has most influenced you professionally?

MA: I think having a twin sister who has been with me since birth has taught me to remain authentic. Anytime I’m not being “myself” or she’s not being “herself,” we keep each other in check. Like, “Why are you acting like that?” or “You’re being weird right now.” Haha. It came naturally, but I learned that being authentic is critical in business, especially if we are doing things that are out of the ordinary.

If we are working from a place of “pleasing people,” then trying to create businesses that break taboos simply will never happen.

Also, my life coach Lauren Zander has had more influence on me to face myself over and over again to deal with all that life throws my way in a really productive way and she makes self-work so much fun! I have worked with her every single week for almost five years and it has truly changed my life.

WL: It’s pretty clear you’re a creative person. Do you have trouble deciding which projects to focus on?

MA: I always ask myself three questions before moving forward:

1. What sucks in my world?

2. Does it suck for a lot of people?

3. Can I be passionate about this issue, cause, or community for a really long time? (This is the most important question to solve.)

WL: You’re all about tackling taboos. What’s next on the agenda?

MA: I’m really focused on TUSHY—getting every butt in America clean, saving 15 million trees from getting flushed down the toilet unnecessarily each year, and saving our natural resources that are required to make toilet paper (ie. it requires 37 gallons of water to make 1 single roll of toilet paper!). Changing the culture around our bathroom habits is something that I’m going to work on for a while.

I’m really passionate about the global sanitation crisis that is affecting over 1 billion people globally. The fact that TUSHY not only elevates human lives in the first world, but also funds the buildout of clean latrines in the third world, makes me even more motivated to keep going.

WL: I’m super excited for your upcoming book, DISRUPT HER : A Manifesto For The Modern Woman. Can you tell us more about this?

MA: Disrupt-Her is a new kind of Manifesto that asks—no, demands—that women question, dissect, and disrupt 13 major areas of our lives, including societal preconceptions that keep us from living fully lit up, both personally and professionally. In this book, I want to teach women to:

• Dissect, declutter and update internal thoughts and external habits that are currently holding you back.

• Start a movement that solves real problems and does good—even especially if you don’t have a lot of money, a college degree or years of experience.

• Become a true “Warrior-Gatekeeper of your Mind” in all situations.

• Not let “Hate-Hers” derail you from your mission, and instead show them the way back to being “Love-Hers.”

• Create healthy relationships with men who are stuck in the old-fashioned patriarchy.

• Find and align with SNAGS (Secure New Age Guys).

• Create a supportive, fun, caring community that stands by you no matter what.

WL: You’re all about empowerment and I love it. What advice would you give to others looking to create authentic entrepreneurial projects?

MA: No more talking and dreaming, only doing! Put one foot in front of the other and focus on doing one or two things every single day toward the thing you are working on. It’s amazing how fast it adds up when you are doing a couple of things every day.

For more Miki, check out her first book, Do Cool Shit: Quit Your Day Job, Start Your Own Business and Live Happily Ever After. 

Meditation Literature

August Reading Material:

"MEDITATION FOR THE LOVE OF IT" - Sally Kempton

Meditation For the Love of It comes highly recommend by Torus Health as it offers practical secrets that let you unlock your own capacity for joy in meditation revealing clear pathways and powerful practices for moving to deeper levels of inner freedom and serenity.