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If you plan to make a ghillie suit, you will need supplies, time, effort, and patience. Depending on the purpose of the suit, as well as the quality and longevity you want from the finished product, you may spend many hours preparing, making, and seasoning it before you can put it to use. When a ghillie suit is made from scratch, these tasks can take as many as 100 hours to complete. For a small cost, however, you can buy most of the materials you need to put your camouflage together more quickly and easily. A third option is to buy a ghillie suit that is pre-made and ready to wear.

A ghillie suit starts with a foundation, usually a battle dress uniform (BDU) comprising pants and jacket, a flight suit, or simply an old pair of coveralls. If you improvise your own foundation suit by using such garments as old coveralls, make sure they are first washed with a detergent that has no scented chemicals added. When you need your ghillie suit to provide cover only from the waist up, leaving your legs free for movement, you can plan to make a net poncho covered with ghillie material rather than a full suit.

Dedicated people who are determined to make their own ghillie suits from scratch need to buy burlap in preparation for the most time-consuming and tedious part of the operation. This involves dyeing the burlap to various shades ranging from medium green to brown, cutting it into strips, and sewing the strips onto the foundation suit with the ends of the higher strips overlapping the attachment points of the lower strips by about half an inch to provide coverage. Alternatively, you can first sew and glue netting to the foundation suit, then attach the dyed burlap strips or jute twine to the netting. Be careful not to finish with blocks of strips in similar coloring, as this will defeat the aim of using the ghillie suit to merge into the background.

The dye colors should be chosen to blend in with the area where you will be wearing your ghillie suit. You can also increase the authentic look by taking the suit to the area and rolling it around in the local vegetation, or by adding some of the vegetation to the strips on the netting or the suit. Keep in mind, however, when making your ghillie suit, that burlap is hot and heavy. If you add too much to it, you may find it difficult to move as quickly as you may need, as well as being uncomfortable, particularly in hot weather.

You can omit the dyeing and cutting, but still have a hand in the making of your ghillie suit by buying a ghillie kit that includes all the materials you need, as well as assembly instructions. These can be ordered in the custom color combination you want or bought in available patterns, and can take from five to 10 hours to complete by hand. If time is a factor, a pre-made ghillie suit costs more than a kit, but saves time and effort.

When making your own ghillie suit, you need to remember that Hessian and burlap are highly inflammable and take appropriate precautions to treat it. This need should not apply to the ghillie suits and kits available for purchase, because they are usually treated with fire retardants before you buy them or are made of fire resistant materials. They are also often made of materials that are lighter and cooler than burlap, making them more comfortable, if less traditional, than the type of ghillie suit you would make yourself.

Tyler is a manager at Ghillie-Suit.net. The company features a wide selection of ghillie suits and ghillie kits for hunting, paintball, and the military.

// posted by 91850 @ 6:58 PM 0 comments

Where does a student of Yoga start his or her practice? What is the foundation of Yoga practice? Why do so many Yoga classes and teachers avoid approaching the foundation of Yoga?

Where does a student of Yoga start his or her practice? Much like the desire to learn Yoga, the practice of any form, or style, of Yoga, comes from within the self. You should seek a Yoga teacher to act as a guide. Not all forms of Yoga are physical, but if physical mastery is what you seek, there are Hatha, raja, and kundalini, Yoga to consider. These are just three of the nine main forms of Yoga and there are many sub-styles to consider, as well. You must also take the availability of styles within your local area into consideration.

Researching may take some time before visiting a Yoga teacher. When you make an appointment for a discussion, find out what your Yoga teachers methods are. Does this teacher have patience, understanding, and compassion?

A Yoga teacher is a guide, who teaches you to eventually become your own teacher. This does not mean to visit a Yoga teacher every so often, but it does mean to practice what is learned in each lesson by bringing it home.

Unfortunately, many Yoga instructors do not place enough emphasis on the value of home practice. If a student practices in Yoga, casually, once a week, takes the summer and Christmas season off, that is thirty-three lessons per year, without any home practice. After three years, how much has this student learned?

What is the foundation of Yoga practice? The foundation of Yoga is to be totally present within the lesson, and if possible, to be without distractions. If there are any distractions going on in the mind, you should learn not to judge yourself harshly because you were not mentally present in your Yoga class.

To be in the moment, or to be mentally present for your Yoga practice, is the key to advancing your practice in Yoga. In fact, physical postures (Asanas) are part of the practice, but they are not the primary emphasis of most forms of Yoga.

Why do so many Yoga classes and teachers avoid approaching the foundation of Yoga? People are stimulated by superficial things. In the case of Yoga, the results of asana practice can be felt immediately. many Yoga instructors give up on teaching meditation and the deeper aspects of Yoga. The result is the perception that Yoga is an exercise class only. The myth stems from the classification of asanas as beginner, intermediate, and advanced.

It is true that Yoga posture should be classified according to difficulty level, but asana has little to do with classifying a Yoga student. Consider this: Is a gymnast who is completely stressed out, and who knows nothing about meditation, an advanced Yoga practitioner?

If this is so, then we do not need Yoga teachers at all. Yoga studios can hire teenage gymnasts to perform physical feats, and wow the students, with their prowess. This would be very cost effective for Yoga studios, and most young gymnasts would love to perform physical feats to impress crowds of adults for a salary.

This may seem riduculous, but it does bring your view full circle. People have been duped into seeing Yoga as a gymnastic event. asanas are one component of Yoga, but they are one of the eight limbs. All of the eight limbs of Yoga, described by Patanjali, should operate together for a complete practice.

If we practice asanas without higher forms awareness, and that is it, we are not practicing Yoga. We are then focusing on muscles and breath, which is fine for weight resistance. In truth, Yoga requires the eight limbs described within the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

The many healing aspects of Yoga are barely realized, when we consider it a physical competition.

Copyright 2007 Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, has written many books on the subject of Yoga. He is a co-owner and the Director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA. http://www.riyoga.com

He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. To receive a Free e-Book: "Yoga in Practice," and a Free Yoga Newsletter, please visit: http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

// posted by 91850 @ 8:14 AM 0 comments