#also if you support ai art you very well may be contributing to the loss of jobs in the art industry

[that-on3-g1rl]

Ai art is not art it's an ai picture.

Use Ai as a refrence at most.

If you have health problems, draw in very short spurts (i.e. 5 or 10 minutes)

If you want art from your mind on paper/jpeg get an independent artist you like and commission them. They're struggling enough as is.

[roomstudent]

Lose Weight With Yoga

CHAPTER 1 –

INTRODUCING YOGA

Out of the many things that India is known for in her contribution to the world, ‘Yoga’ is perhaps one of the most important and popular exports. From the ancient times, the ascetics, the ‘rishis’ and the ‘munis’ of India have been practicing this form of art and science and deriving the benefits of enlightenment that accompany yoga.

What is Yoga and why is it important in today’s world?

The importance of yoga in today’s world has a lot of definitions floating around; however, if we go back to the roots of the word, we find that the term ‘Yoga’ has its origins in Sanskrit. It means to unite

- Yoga helps the body to unite with the other vital metaphysical aspects of the mind and spirit. It is also often defined as a lifestyle which aims to have a healthy mind within a healthy body.

Most simply defined, yoga is a set of poses or ‘asanas’ , coupled with breathing techniques, which help impart strength and flexibility to the body while helping to balance the mind and its’ thinking. Unlike other physical forms of exercises, like the aerobics, by practicing yoga, one can not only achieve physical health, but also mental and spiritual well-being.

The aim of yoga is to promote overall well-being of the body. And though, it is found beneficial for a variety of conditions, it is not considered a therapy for specific illness. Unlike other forms of exercises, yoga has a more holistic approach to teach the people the right way to lead their lives disease free and stress free.

In today’s world, all of us suffer from stress and a perpetual anxiety to perform well, leading to a plethora of diseases that we expose ourselves to. Yoga aims to calm and compose our minds and help us focus clearly on what really matters - good health and the happiness that accompanies it!

BENEFITS OF YOGA

Mental health

· Let us first begin with the benefits of Yoga on mental health. After all, good mental health is of paramount importance for being healthy physically as well. As advised above, breathing technique forms an integral part of Yoga. Do I hear you asking ‘how? ’It really is very basic - by breathing deep and right, something that you would be doing when you practice Yoga, you are inhaling more oxygen and allowing the cells of your body to have access to that oxygen for a longer period of time.

· A common practice in yoga is to breathe only from one nostril at a time, while holding the other one closed with the tip of your finger. Medical research has shown that this boosts increased activity of the opposite side of the brain, leading to better cognitive performance and tasks associated with the other side of the brain. Regular yoga practice helps children with attention deficit disorder and people suffering from anxiety, depression and mood swings. It also helps keep the mind calm and reduce stress and thereby increase the general well-being of the person.

Strength

· Ever wondered, why so many of us, after a hard day’s work, come and plonk ourselves, on our home sofas, with very little energy to even fetch a glass of water for ourselves. This is caused by lack of inner strength. Certain asanas of the yoga help generate inner strength. Inner strength is essential in doing day to day activities and in preventing you from injuries. This is especially useful, as we grow old and need more energy and strength to do the same activity.

Flexibility

· The popular notion that you need to be flexible in order to do yoga is incorrect; it is really the other way round - you should do yoga so that you can be more flexible. If you have a flexible body, you find it easy to do tasks. A lot of poses in Yoga concentrate on stretching and improving your flexibility.

· With yoga, not only the muscles of the body, but also the softer tissues of your body are worked out, resulting in less build-up of the lactic acid, which is responsible for stiffness in various parts of the body. Yoga increases a range of motions of the less used inner muscles and helps in lubrication of joints. The result is a more flexible body, able to perform tasks easily!

Cardiovascular

· Yoga has a lot of positive effects on the cardiovascular system of our body. A healthy cardiovascular system is responsible for preventing heart attacks, strokes and hypertension. Heart disease is a problem which has roots in an improper lifestyle, faulty diet and negative thinking.

Our thoughts, emotions and feelings affect our body and negative emotions/thoughts send a series of complex and unhealthy chemical processes throughout the body, giving alarms that something is amiss. Yoga tends to control these by bringing in fresh life-giving oxygen. The anti-oxidant properties of Yoga help in preventing the negative emotions and promote a general well-being in the body.

Joint pain and arthritis.

· The general tendency of people suffering from joint pain, inflammation and stiffness is to avoid exercise. Yoga helps prevent advancement of this malady by toning the muscles and loosening the joints. When a person suffering from joint pain practices yoga, the gentle stretching and strengthening movements of the various Yogic poses, improves the blood flow to the muscles and tissues supporting the joints, thereby making it more comfortable to move.

Respiratory problems

· Practice of certain asanas of Yoga has helped check chronic cases of Asthma and other respiratory problems. When the nasal passages get inflamed, they start producing mucous in excess making it difficult to breathe and often have common symptoms like coughing, wheezing etc. Respiratory problems could also be caused by multiple factors like allergy, exercise, weather change etc. By practicing yoga, the lungs capacities increase and so does stamina and stress on air passages is reduced.

Back pain· Yoga has helped innumerable cases of back ache. Back ache is caused due to stress and tension in the muscles supporting the spinal cord. Back ache may be caused due to improper postures mild injuries, which have been left untreated etc. Yoga has seemed to help cases of back pain by enhancing flexibility and strengthening the muscle groups supporting the spine, helping the body to maintain an upright posture. It eases the back pain by increase in blood circulation and getting healing nutrients to the injured muscles. Apart from healing injured muscles, it also prevents further injuries by strengthening the muscles.

Memory Improvement

“Memory is the measure of ability to reproduce the knowledge that is known”, says Yogacharya Vishwas. “Memory is holding on to that which has been known.”- The Hindu Texts.

· Yoga helps in retaining information better and for a longer period of time due to its focus on concentration and meditation. By breathing right, concentrating and meditating, more blood flows to the brain , making it supple and ready to accept more information and reproduce that information when required.

Obesity

· Obesity is when a person weighs more than his normal/ stipulated weight. This may be caused due to faulty eating habits, stress related eating, imbalances in the digestive and endocrine system or even something as basic as less physical exercise. Yoga helps obesity by inhaling more oxygen, which helps in breaking down fat cells and increasing your metabolism. Also, it helps remove sluggishness from the digestive and endocrine systems, making them work better.

Anti-Ageing

· Regular practice of yoga has anti ageing effects. Yoga revitalizes the mind and makes the approach towards life positive and stress free. Apart from this, a person practicing yoga regularly is more flexible, fit and mentally agile. Overall happiness and positive attitude towards life reflects on the face , leaving it glowing and reverses the ageing effect internally.

The importance of yoga in today’s world has a whole lot of other everyday benefits such as sound and deep sleep, high energy levels etc. However, the key to deriving these benefits is to be consistent with Yogic practices and do it under the supervision of a well-trained yoga teacher.

CHAPTER 2- WEIGHT LOSS WITH YOGA

In today’s society, obesity is a cause for concern with even children that are overweight. Apart from eating healthy, it is worth looking at the importance of yoga and weight loss. Weight gain is not only about the number of calories taken in. There are other underlying causes in the body that will result to weight gain if they become unbalanced.

The use of yoga posture can be very helpful in redressing this balance hence helping the body to burn fat more effectively resulting in healthy weight loss.

Some vital functions of the body that can be improved by yoga and help promote weight loss:

The liver

The liver is the body’s own detoxifying machine. A healthy liver works effectively to cleanse the blood of bad fat and helps the blood make use the good fat. Certain yoga postures help increase the functions of the liver. A healthy liver will remove bad fat effectively. Yoga postures like cobra pose and bow pose can be used.

The thyroid gland

Yoga and weight loss program can also involve poses that stimulate the thyroid gland. The hormone that governs the body’s metabolism is in the thyroid. How high or low a body’s metabolism is depends on how active the thyroid is. Most weight gain issues are due to hypothyroidism meaning low thyroid activity. Activating the thyroid function by using postures like fish pose and shoulder stand will help greatly towards weight loss.

The nervous system

It is not necessary to attend a hot yoga class to generate body heat. Internal heat is created in the body using nerve tension heat and length. This internal heat can burn deep and low seated fat. This can be achieved using the lunge and the seated forward bend.

Heart rate

It is very common to see people jogging to get their heart rate up in the quest to lose weight. This has been proven to stress the nervous system. Since a perfectly working nervous system is needed to aid in the yoga and weight loss program, any activity that adds stress to the nervous system should be avoided. It is better in the case of loss weight to use activities that raises the heart rate for a short period and then back down. This can be easily done using yoga.

Body movements

Yoga exercises that work to lengthen and shorten the muscles will aid in weight loss. Muscles use fat as fuel and will continue to do so even while in rest position. Strength exercises such as arm balancing will work well as they work all body muscles at once. Recommended yoga postures include crane and scale pose.

In Ayurveda, it is said that the issue is not to lose weight but to avoid weight gain. As we will discover in this guide, Yoga and weight loss programs will lead to a healthy, slimmer and younger looking you!

CHAPTER 3 – THE GENESIS OF YOGA

Whether you are a yoga fan or are just now discovering the art, knowledge of the history of yoga can help you appreciate its origin, understand it as a life transforming facet and effectively incorporate it into your life to shed those extra pounds and experience what yoga has to offer.

So we must start at the beginning. Yoga is believed to be as old as civilization. Scholars have traced the origin of yoga to Stone Age Shamanism. Like yoga, Shamanism’s major aim was to improve the condition of human life, heal community members and act as a spiritual mediator.

The earliest archaeological evidence depicting the history of Yoga dates back to 3000 B.C. It is found in stone seals featuring yoga poses. More effectively, yoga history is divided into four periods which clearly detail its evolution into the modern yoga. These include:

Vedic

This period is represented by the Vedas; the sacred scripture of Hinduism. The Vedas have evidence of the oldest Yogic teachings called Vedic Yoga or Archaic Yoga.

Vedic Yoga involved rituals and ceremonies designed to connect people to the spirit world and surpass the mind’s limitations. Vedic yogis; also called rishis were consulted for spiritual illumination.

Pre-Classical

This era began with the 200 Upanishad scriptures that related ultimate reality to the transcendental self.

However, the Bhagavad-Gita, which was created in 500 B.C., is a more vivid representation of the history of yoga and is devoted entirely to Yoga. The Gita brought together three facets: Bhakti (loving devotion), Jnana (contemplation or knowledge) and Karma (selfless actions). By so doing, it united Bhakti,Jnana and Karma yoga.

It was also during the pre-classical period that yoga found its way into Buddhism, with Lord Buddha being the first Buddhist to study yoga. Buddhist scriptures taught physical postures and meditation.

Classical

Classical yoga is marked by the creation of Yoga Sutras by Patanjali. The 195 maxims expound on Raja Yoga using Patanjali’s Eightfold path of yoga or the Eight Limbs of Classical Yoga which are:Yama (ethical values)Niyama (observing purity, tolerance and study)Asanas (physical exercise)Pranayama (controlled breathing)Pratyahara (withdrawing to prepare for meditation)Dharana (concentration) Dhyana (meditation)Samadhi (ecstasy)

Post Classical

This is the most modern era marked by an abundance of yoga literature and widened yoga practice. Postclassical yoga differs from previous yoga practices in that it teaches one to accept reality and live in the moment rather, than get liberated from reality.

Yoga found its way into the West in the early 19th century. It was first studied as Eastern Philosophy before becoming popular among vegetarians and health conscious people in the 1930s. By 1960s several Indian yogis had popularized yoga such as Maharishi Mahesh who taught Transcendental Meditation and Siv Ananda who popularized the now widely used principles of yoga, which include:

Sav asana (proper relaxation)Asanas (physical exercise)Pranayama (proper breathing)Dhyana (meditation and positive thinking)Proper diet Today, yoga has crossed geographical and spiritual boundaries and is practiced globally as a means for health and wellness

CHAPTER 4: DIFFERENT YOGA SCHOOLS

Nowadays, yoga has become a well-known term, and people have gotten awareness about it. Contrarily, in old times, not so many people were familiar with it and only a few had a vivid idea about its beneficial aspects.

 The history of yoga emerging in the western world goes back to 1890s when Swami Vivekananda travelled the Americas and Europe for the first time. In 1900s, Indians started practicing yoga and a health yoga movement was started by Dean Ornish in 1980s. Presently, yoga has stepped into gyms, and every gymnasium seems to have a yoga teacher who makes the members practice various techniques of yoga and teaches them how they can make their yoga  super beneficial for them.

Not only, gyms, but many health spas and cruises as well, have facilities to teach people the ways of practicing yoga and making it useful for them. A whole lot of yoga schools are also working nowadays. They have their own way to deal with students and different yoga schools, and their teachings vary from one another in many aspects.

If you want to make your health better, it is never too late. You can start right now and join a yoga school in your locality. Different yoga schools and their teachings are helpful in maintaining ideal health and the techniques you learn there are worth practicing. If you join an ordinary gym, it is also not a bad idea. However, don’t you feel it is a bit of a conventional method? Come on, the world has progressed and people prefer going for fast methods. Work smartly and join a yoga school. In an ordinary gym, it becomes a bit boring for you to practice those repetitive exercises every day. Conversely, in the case of yoga, there are thousands of techniques and exercises that can try out, and you never get fed up with practicing similar one daily. A yoga teacher is always there for you to help out. If you have any difficulty in trying a technique, you can consult your teacher. He can demonstrate you and make you learn that quickly.

Apart from these, yoga schools are laced with all the essential facilities required for practicing different yoga techniques. Your demonstrator not only makes you learn several ways of yoga exercises but also advises you which yoga technique you need to practice making your health better. These demonstrators are highly skilled and experienced in their field. They possess understanding about their students and their requirements. So, different yoga schools and their teachings are best for maintaining your health in no time .

Talking about the benefits of yoga, in the next chapter we find a plethora of them. Yoga helps you in deep breathing. This way, you can improve oxygen absorption and conversions, blood circulation, relax your muscles and make your brain activity better. Hot yoga and Bikram yoga are known to have these tremendous effects on your body. These are most popular yoga techniques and give exceptional results. So, check your nearby different yoga schools and their teachings. Select one which suits you and enjoy some marvelous yoga techniques now.

CHAPTER 5: MAJOR HEALTH BENEFITS OF YOGA 

As we have learned, Yoga is not a new trend among human beings. It has been around in some form or another for 10,000 years and it is practiced by many people from all parts of the world. Yoga has gained popularity among many people due to its health benefits to people of all ages, children and adults alike. Doctors, therapists and ordinary people who have had an experience of yoga have witnessed that yoga is good for physical, emotional and psychological health.

 Generally, yoga uses both physical and meditative practices to bring about inner harmony within you. According to yoga experts, yoga physical and emotional practices work at the deepest levels in people’s body and can heal many different ailments. 

There are numerous health benefits associated with yoga. Other than being used to achieve the peace of mind and body it is currently used as a complementary medicine in the treatment of anxiety and stress. For instance, yoga physical postures increase body flexibility and helps in strengthening body joints.

Yoga also helps in pain management that could be as a result of being stationary for a long time. This could be after spending a long time driving or seated in an office.

Yoga can be used to make muscles flexible and bring about relaxation.

Yoga is also the best natural weight loss. Its physical postures increase body metabolism and enables you to lose weight naturally and with no side effects. Yoga improves breathing by taking deep breaths and long pauses that help in clearing the nasal passage and heal other respiratory diseases such as sinus and asthma problems.

Yoga also helps in strengthening the nervous system.

Another important health benefit associated with yoga includes lubrication of body joints. Yoga exercises work on both external and internal body organs and this enables them to remain healthy and function efficiently

More so, yoga treats chronic diseases by improving body mechanism thereby helping it to get rid of major chronic diseases. 

Other than using chemical detoxification that could have immediate or future side effects to your health, yoga serves as natural detoxification agent. It helps an individual to get rid of toxic substances from the body naturally with no side effects. 

Another important health benefit is its anti- aging effect.

Yoga helps you to look and feel younger and this helps in delaying the appearance of wrinkles on the face. It is also important to note that yoga helps in improving the memory especially in those who forget very fast. This is because yoga improves blood circulation to the brain and other parts of the body. 

Lastly, yoga provides a lasting solution to mental and emotional disorders. It helps in getting rid of stress and this helps in calming the mind. Consequently, you are able to live a healthy life with self awareness and confidence. Generally, the health benefits associated with yoga are numerous and it’s the best way to live a healthy life through the natural way .

CHAPTER 6: GUIDELINES WHEN BEGINNING YOGA FOR WEIGHT LOSS

According to the yogic, man’s problem is not being awakened enough to know the inner self. In yoga, breathing is considered the source of life and breathing exercises and postures are used to connect with the spirit. For a beginner wishing to take on yoga, some guidelines when beginning yoga are in order to help appreciate the experience more. The main issues are where, when, what and how to practice yoga

Where is the best place to practice?

Yoga can be practiced at home on in a yoga class.

It can be practiced indoors as well as outdoor. For indoor sessions, select a particular area and turn off any noise source. If warmth is needed, a yoga mat or any exercise mat can be used. When practicing outside, shaded areas are better.

When is it recommended to practice?

The first thing is to choose a time when there will be no disturbance or distraction. Also there is no need to rush so choose the right time. The experience will be better and effective if the stomach is empty so wait atleast two hours after meals. The postures also called asana will be best taken when the body is relatively flexible. Choose the right time of the day during which your body is most flexible. Most guidelines when beginning yoga will suggest sessions of at least ten minutes of posture. If meditation is to be added, this could be increased to about twenty minutes or more.

How is the practice done?

 Yoga is practiced on bare feet. Bare feet not only help in taking the right posture but also help prevent slipping. Wear clothing that is loose and comfortable enough to allow the different postures to be taken.

What postures (asana) to take?

Yoga is not about force and any exercise that creates tension in the body should be abandoned. Even before you beginning taking postures, it is important to understand your own body and how it can go. Yoga is not done for competition and patience and effort will pay off.

Other guidelines when beginning yoga 

1. Always begin each session with a warm-up. Use exercises the stretch the spine and legs.

 2. Understand inhalation and exhalation procedures. Inhalations are associated with expanding movements and exhalation with contracting movements.

 3. Sequencing is the change from one pose to another. This helps to balance the workout session.

 4. Understand the different uses of the various poses.

 5. Always breathe through the nose.

 6. Start with simple postures and move up as you get more comfortable. 

7. Always avoid injury by not forcing the body into a particular posture.

 8. Always end the session by relaxing the body.

 Like in all exercises, starting simple and getting complex later will yield more benefit. With yoga, constant practice session is the key to getting better. Postures are repeated three times but instead of trying to do a posture thrice, try to get it right even once. Hopefully these guidelines when beginning yoga classes will prove useful to those considering yoga.

CHAPTER 7: AVOIDING COMMON BEGINNER MISTAKES

Uncertainties are normal whenever you start on something new and these uncertainties could lead to negative first impressions, thus resulting to backing out and not wanting to try the same activity again. The same goes with yoga. 

Yoga exercises can provide you with lots of benefits, both physical and spiritual and missing out on its important elements can result to negative results. 

Avoiding yoga beginner’s mistakes is of utmost importance and 3 of these common mistakes include the following:

 Not knowing what you want from the practice

 You may not be aware of the fact that there are various styles and forms of yoga and these have their own different attractions.

 Before enrolling in a yoga class, it is necessary to determine first what attracted you to yoga and from there; you can start investigating the different styles that will cater to your attraction.

You can set goals and these goals can be mental, physical or spiritual. Once you have set your goal, you can now discuss this with your yoga instructor before you begin with the classes. 

Your instructor will be able to discuss with you your goals and give you advice on how you can easily achieve it. However, make sure that you have a set timeframe for these goals to make it more measurable.

Jumping in Feet First

Once they have decided to attend a yoga class, some people tend to head on and jump to a 12 month class.

Take note that these classes normally require an upfront payment and it progresses from one level and so on as the week progresses. Although learning yoga is fantastic, you should not opt for a 12 month class, as you are not yet sure if the class you opted for is ideal for you. The best thing that you can do is to join beginner yoga classes first. Once you have attended these classes, you can easily determine the type of yoga that you want for yourself and your goal.

As these classes were designed to give students a broader understanding on the different types of yoga, the levels of students also vary and the instructors are normally strict. However, this is beneficial for you because as mentioned, it can help you determine the type of yoga that will be most suitable for you without involving any huge financial outlay. You will not be required to attend every class as well, so you will not fall behind when you miss a class, unlike in longer courses of yoga.

Choosing the Wrong

Instructor

 Yoga instructors should have been an apprentice of a skilled guru for several years before being able to teach simple yoga techniques. However, there are yoga instructors who just went through a 3-day course and this will definitely make a huge difference. Proper yoga techniques can be achieved depending on the level of abilities and skills of the instructor that is why it is necessary to find the right instructor for your yoga class. Although unqualified yoga instructors are not necessarily terrible, qualified instructors are still your best option. 

Avoiding yoga beginner’s mistakes can help you succeed in learning yoga techniques and in achieving your goals. If you can avoid the common mistakes mentioned above, it would be a lot easier for you to learn this practice and be able to reap its benefits without wasting your time and effort.

CHAPTER 8: ASANAS: YOGA POSTURES

Yoga is carried out by making postures known as asanas. These postures ensure that the person doing yoga is relaxed for a specific duration. In the modern age, there are many postures that are made to exercise both the body and mind.

Asanas: Yoga Postures—the Fundamental Yoga Poses Types - basically, there are four types of yoga postures with many sub-postures. These four postures are standing yoga poses, sitting yoga poses, yoga poses while lying down on back and yoga poses while lying down on the stomach.

Standing Yoga Poses 

These are yoga poses that are done when one is standing. Under this category of yoga postures, there are various different postures that can be made such as: standing sideways while bending one arm; bending sideways while using both arms; standing on a spinal twist; bending forward while standing; bending backwards while standing; making a triangle pose; making a warrior pose; bending forward with the feet apart; making a tree pose; making a chair pose; bending forward while standing on one leg.

 Sitting Yoga Poses

 These are yoga poses that are done when one is sitting. 

Under this category of yoga postures, there are various different postures that can be made such as: making and inclined plane posture; sitting with a half spinal twist posture; sitting with a butterfly posture; making a cat stretch; making a child posture; making a mill churning posture; making a bow pose; making a cobra pose. 

Yoga poses while lying on the back 

These are yoga poses that are done when one is lying on the back. Under this category of yoga postures, there are various different postures that can be made such as: superman pose; fish pose; locust pose; bridge pose; boat pose. 

Yoga poses while lying on the stomach

 These are yoga poses that are done when one is lying on the stomach. Under this category of yoga postures, there are various different postures that can be made such as: shoulder stand; wind-relieving pose; plow pose; lying-down body twist; corpse pose; lying down on sides. 

Asanas: Yoga Postures—the Fundamental Yoga Poses Practices 

Whenever carrying out asanas, there are practices that are observed. For instance, one should perform the positions on an empty stomach. This is in order to avoid constipation. When making the postures, force, or else pressure, must not be applied. The body should be stable and trembling completely avoided. The head in particular, as well as other body parts, such as the heels, must be lowered slowly to avoid any physical injury. Whenever the postures are being made, breathing should be well controlled.

 Advantages of Yoga

  There are many advantages that come along with taking up yoga. These include: Improving flexibility; improving balance; improving strength; reducing anxiety and stress; reducing lower back pain  symptoms; reducing hypertension; shortening labor; improving fitness/physical health; reducing sleep disorders; decreasing fatigue while increasing energy.

With such benefits to the health, mentality, and fitness, yoga is surely a practice that all should undertake, whether young or elderly.

CHAPTER 9 – NUTRITION IDEAS TO DROP FAT WITH YOGA

I deally, it is always a good idea that you conduct yoga practice without eating anything too close prior to beginning. But as it is not possible all the time because of personal and professional commitments, you need to be very careful of what you are eating.

Timing

Timing is quite pivotal. If you are interested in a light meal before going for yoga practice, it is advisable that you take it one to two hours beforehand. When you follow this strategy, it will give your digestive system quite a bit of time to settle down. This will ensure that you are going to feel at ease during class.

For people interested in heavier meal, the time frame should be in the vicinity of four to five hours.

Fruits and vegetables 

Your first preference should be fruits and vegetables. One of the most important things about fruits and vegetables is that you are not going to have any digestive issues and in a matter of hour, you will get a feeling of empty stomach. In addition, inclusion of fruits and vegetables in your diet is advantageous for your overall health.

Heavy foods

 Make sure that you stay away from heavy foods. Before yoga class, you should not eat meats, pasta and processed grains. After eating these foods, you are going to feel lethargic, which is not ideal when you are all set to give your all in your yoga workout.

Spicy foods 

Similar to heavy foods, you should also stay away from spicy foods. Because of the fact that spicy foods can easily lead to heartburn, you should not take these foods before starting the yoga practice. 

Talking about yoga, not only it has an impact on the outside portion of your body but also inside portion and therefore you can pretty much imagine how it is going to be when you fill your stomach with spicy foods.

Yoghurt

 Before going for yoga practice, it is always a good thing to try yogurt. Taking yoghurt half an hour before the yoga class is not only going to be good for your digestion but also the strengthening of your heart.

Final diet tips

 No two individuals are same and therefore you will find that there is going to be variation in terms of diet as well. It’s not easy figuring out an ideal time for eating before yoga. But as the time passes by and you get to know about your body, more notably, your digestive system, you will be able to plan out things in a much better manner.

 Individuals with low blood sugar need to eat something fifty minutes before yoga practice. When it comes to yoga practice, use of nuts is recommended. Almonds, pecans and walnuts contain essential iron and vitamins, good for your health. For healthy intestinal tract, pecans is one of the best options. There are lots of poses in yoga that are going to have a positive impact on the intestines. To get the best out of this, you need to take pecans and walnuts on a regular basis.

CHAPTER 10 – THE MOST EFFECTIVE YOGA POSES FOR WEIGHT LOSS 

The most effective yoga poses for weight loss can actually make you lose weight just like employing other high impact exercises. Yoga is known for being a stress-relieving method, but it has also been proven by many people to be an effective weight loss remedy. Yoga started as a means of meditation from ancient civilization and was very popular in Hinduism.

Yoga is beneficial for the overall health not only just the physical aspect of people. Among the benefits of which include better equilibrium, increased reaction time, improved energy levels, enhanced sleep, improved memory and concentration, reduced depression and anxiety and many others.

For people who want to lose weight, it has been proven that yoga is also effective for the normalization of weight.

The most effective yoga poses for weight loss actually helps you maintain a desirable weight because they tend to increase the metabolism while these poses are being employed. Also, it improves the overall circulation to effectively utilize glucose and fats for energy production instead of being stored as fats.

Not only do they increase burning of fats, they also tone major muscle groups for a leaner body. So to help you maintain a normal weight, the following are the most effective yoga poses for weight loss that you can do at home:

1. Crescent 

This yoga pose tones firms the thighs, hips and abs. Stand with your feet together and your arms at your sides. Breathe in deeply and raise your arms overhead in a straight manner. Slowly exhale and bend your knees forward while lowering your hands to the floor. Inhale and exhale while assuming a lunge position and bring your arms overhead again.

2. Willow 

This position helps you tone your legs, arms and behind.

Stand with your feet together and your arms at your sides. Lift your legs and place the sole of your right foot against the inner left thigh ensuring your knees are turned to the side. Position your arms in front of your chest with palms facing each other. Extend your arms up towards the ceiling. Bend torso to your right. Repeat for 5 times after which do it on your other side.

3. Twisted 

Chair Pose This is one of the most effective yoga poses for weight loss because it improves the circulation and calorie burning by using each and every major and minor muscle groups in your body. Stand with your feet together. Bend at your knees and assume a position as if you are sitting on a chair far behind your back. Place your palms facing each other in front of your chest. Rotate and bring your left elbow to your right knee. Hold the position for 30 seconds and release.

Repeat on the other side.

4. Locust Pose

 This is another one of the most effective yoga poses for weight loss as it strengthens your lower back and legs. It also boosts your energy levels to make you feel an increased feeling of well-being. Lie on your abdomen with arms on your side facing the ceiling. Lift your head, arms, legs and body off the floor as if the only ones in contact with the floor is your stomach. Hold the position as high as possible and feel your muscles contract. Release after 30 seconds and repeat three to five times. 

5. Bow Pose 

This is similar to the locust position only that your arms reach for your legs so you are doing a more difficult pose. First, perform the locust position. Bend your knees up ward so your arms can grab your ankles. Make your position as relaxed as possible to prevent muscle strain. Hold the position for 30 seconds and repeat three times.

 You can actually do more poses, but remember not to miss these out because they are just some of the most effective yoga poses for weight loss.

CONCLUSION – DON’T PROCRASTINATE, START YOGA TODAY

As we have learnt throughout this guide, Yoga is more than just stretching; it is a spiritual experience as well as a physical one mastering exercises and postures as well as your breathing. Yoga is considered by some to be an alternative for medicine. It has a lot of benefits not only to the physical but also to the mental state of a person. So to conclude this beginners guide we will recap what we have just covered

Where Did Yoga Originate? 

Yoga is believed to have been in existence since thousands of years ago even before the ancient people learned the writing system. It originated in India where its name was derived from the Sanskrit word yui which roughly translate to English as unite. Experts believe that the practice was named this way because it unites the body, the mind and the soul into one to create a holistic effect. Over the years, more and more techniques are created to make a better yoga experience for people who want to improve their overall health condition.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF YOGA? 

The Physical Aspect

Some people started practicing yoga because they wanted to become more flexible. The practice involves different poses where muscles have to be stretched. This is very useful for people who have arthritis and those who are in their old age. As the body ages, the bones become more rigid and the muscles become weak. With yoga, even elderly people can move like they are 20 years younger.

 Yoga poses are specially designed to improve the core strength of the body. As people continually practice the positions, the muscles are becoming more and more toned. After doing yoga for several weeks, you will realize that your stamina has improved and you will feel stronger. 

With yoga’s focus on poses, posture will be dramatically enhanced. A lot of medical conditions are brought about by poor posture which include spinal cord problems, chronic fatigue syndrome and back pain. Good posture, on the other hand, will improve the circulation of blood in the body and will result to a healthier and more alert mind.

The Mental Aspect 

Yoga focuses more on breathing than perfecting the poses especially for beginner classes. Proper breathing will help clear the mind and reduce stress. With effective meditation techniques, people will be able to create more sound decisions and these will prevent them from acting out of whim.

Practicing yoga will prove to be essential in fighting depression and increasing concentration. When a person is depressed, a lot of things fill the mind and this can lead to several accidents involving poor concentration. This can directly affect work and daily routines.

How Does One Get Started With Yoga? 

Although it is perfectly fine to practice yoga at home with instructional videos, it is still recommended for beginners to take basic lessons. Learning the proper way of breathing and the proper way of doing basic poses will be helpful to maximize the health benefits. Everyone should have all the necessary items which include yoga mats, straps and proper attire. Knowing the basic order will also help beginners prepare for the sessions. Warmup poses are done during the first few minutes followed by the poses in their respective order - standing, sitting, twists, supine and prone. Finishing poses are done at the last part of the session which aims to cool down the body. 

Yoga is great for everyone. Don’t procrastinate and start yoga today to reap the benefits.

[omw2happiness]

What are the following diagrams? Chemistry? Math? Choreography? Physics?

By now, you would have guessed it. They are stage positions for our class performance with two wonderful Lamrim classes! We are the Radiance Dharma Warriors 3.0!

The warriors performed in the BW Monastery’s Auspicious Insightful Praise Recitals organised by the Arts and Culture Department on 10th Nov 2019. We will again perform and offer our song and moves one more time for the 2019 Joyous Rhapsody: “BRILLIANCE” Concert!

Besides the meticulous planning of stage moves, props, attire and motivation by our monitors, heart work of the team leads as well as the logistics leads, etc made the performance magical for the Triple Gem.

Below are some of the motivational messages given in our group chats:

Firstly, sincere rejoice 🥳to everyone for making a trip down to BW Monastery yesterday for practice. It’s your spirit and drive to create the best offering together, to not be satisfied with our last performance but willingness to seek improvements that make you guys true Radiance Wisdom Warriors! 💫⚔✨

You have planted great seeds of joyous perseverance! 🌱

Arya Asanga says repeatedly that you have both to know well the methods of training in extensive practice without being discouraged and to not be satisfied with only minimal qualities.

Keep this fire 🔥 burning! When you give nothing lesser than your best, you are the best! 👍🏻😇 Countdown to performance – 4 days! Are you a warrior? Definitely! YOU are the Radiance Wisdom Warrior who took your precious time and efforts to practice again and again to perfect your moves to do what pleases the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas! Why? Is it because YOU want to be a Buddha? Only YOU will know as this is a path filled with challenges to overcome own afflictions. Why do you want to be a buddha? Contemplate on this and be certain about your ultimate goal. Rejoice with gratitude! 👏😊🌟

Countdown to performance – 3 days!

Are YOU ready to harvest your virtuous seeds planted in the past practices? If u remembered the kindness of our Teachers and the Three Jewels, then YOU will experience the joy of harvesting coming Sun night as YOU give your best to the audience with a virtuous heart and dedicate the performance to all Dharma Protectors, our Teachers and the Three Jewels. Rejoice your diligence! 👏👍😄🌟

Countdown to Performance – 2 days

Radiance Dharma Warriors! Every one of you is also a virtuous teacher and virtuous friend of another person. Over the past weeks and months, each have you have practised diligently and supported one another in one way or another. Everyone is contributing towards a greater whole in his or her own ways to do what pleases our Teachers and benefit the audience during the performance. It is heart warming to see Lamrim practitioners coming together in unison and acting in concordance to the virtuous body, speech and mind acts taught by our Teachers! Give yourself a clap and cheer! Rejoice your diligence! 👏👍😄🌟

– TB LIM – Monitor of S15G027E

Hello Radiance Dharma Warriors! 2 more days to our rehearsal, excited to gather everyone again!

Sharing some suggestions from audience and organisers are to make our moves even sharper and to sing out more, then the impact will be almost perfect. Our energy was great and everyone was mesmerized 😍😊👍🏻

For these 2 days, let’s please practice our singing to make greater impact, especially during the choruses. I will send in video and sound clip below for your singing practice 🎤👩🏻‍🎤🎤👨🏻‍🎤

*23rd Nov – Level 4 Hall Of Jewels Attire: Comfortable (remember to bring cloak)* 545pm: AV, stage and props set up (Jolynn & Terence; anyone knows AV can help??) 6pm: singers (Monitor TB, Irene and Jolynn) meet 630pm – 7pm: Motivation setting Briefing on 3 changes – standby place, singers’ positions and chorus 2 row 2 7pm – 730pm: large group revision sharpen moves 730pm – 900pm: full run – confirm any position/partner changes (PJ & Jolynn) – coordinate warrior poses (PJ) – run through 2-3 runs 900pm – 920pm: – Singers tie down choreo (TB & Jolynn) – Warriors Q&A clarification (PJ & Ros)

Cheers,

Jolynn

Thank you everyone for taking time off your precious Sunday afternoon to practice 💃🏻🕺🏻 for Joyous Rhapsody today!! 💫✨ (Those who were not physically present, we visualized your presence and we know that you guys are spiritually with us too)

Our chemistry is definitely getting better as we are more in sync and able to coordinate better with each practice. Not forgetting the moment when I literally got goosebumps when all of you sang loudly together. 佛菩萨 would have heard you equally loud and clear 🤗 棒棒的! 🐻🙏🏻

– PJ TAN –

Dear all,

Rejoice your diligence and perseverance in preparing for the insightful praise recital!

There is so much compassion in the Insightful Praises. Let’s follow in these virtuous footsteps and also supplicate to the Manjusri Bodhisattva for wisdom on our path towards enlightenment in our preparations.

Grateful to our lineage masters and the precious insightful praises!

Rejoice to your sincere offering of praise to the Triple Gem and seeking reliance in the Manjusri Bodhisattva. Your offering of praise includes melodious tunes but more importantly the purest of intention, motivation and practice.

May we all possess the fighting spirit of our Master in our process of preparation.

We may be some distance from our expectations but the way of a practitioner is find the solutions to less favourable conditions.This is what our Master has taught us by being fearless in defeat.

Practice more if you need but present with sincerity and pure dedication like shiny precious jewels and blooming bouquets of fragrant flowers!

Treasure our Teacher’s compassion Mahayana vow to guide all singing, performing, enjoying, conducting insightful praises on the Bodhi path till we achieve enlightenment!

With Metta, IRENE

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Penning this now, I recalled battling internal resistance when being appointed to take up this role. I was shrouded by inferiority and afflictions as I did not have confidence to pull off this project. The more I hid from it, the worse it became as I realized I was just wasting time as it slips away.

Monitor Tiong Boon sat us down in Mac Donald’s after class one night, and with the support of creative VFF Wei Lin, we began ploughing the field. The Insightful Praise song only got selected by Buddy PJ and I in very late September. Only 1 month to piece everyone and everything together!

With the blessings of monitor Chong Tien, monitress Nancy and sis Julie, we “jio-ed” talents from all around to mix interesting elements into the performance. It was a bold move, to plan formation and choreography for people whom we have not met. It was monitor Tiong Boon and sis Irene’s fervent encouragement and guidance that kept us persevering on. Without much initial visibility, we started to draw up plans and make tutorial videos for our warriors soon-to-know.

We are blessed with extremely supportive team members who are concerned and involved with the project. Initial rehearsals were chaotic and draining, but very soon it started to get enjoyable.

During the process, PJ and I were often approached with reminders and updates from team members that they have taken care of aspects that we overlooked. We were never alone, because everyone took ownership of this project just like their own. It was truly reassuring for us to have a team that we are fully trusting of, to make the best support decisions in the interest of our collective offering.

With this very strong collaborative spirit, we even had the capacity to invite members to join even only at later rehearsals. Our team members had grown themselves into strong mentors to help the new warriors catch up with the progress.

10 November was pure joy. The excitement was so strong that it felt like we only had 10 seconds on stage! We were exhilarated and many of us rewatched the recordings on repeat after we got home. Happy sleepless night it was! Looking back, giving up had seemed to be the easiest option, but then we will never learn of this joy and accomplishment should we have stopped back then. Then again, how could this have been possible without the protection from Buddhas, Dharma, Dharma Protectors and our Lineage Masters? I simply cannot fathom. Thus, we will continue to perfect our item and definitely our motivation. May we be blessed with another golden opportunity to offer at the Joyous Rhapsody in December 🙂 Deepest heartfelt thanks to wonderful team: Organising Committee and Programme/Media/AV team of Joyous Rhapsody 2019 Monitors and class members of S13G008E Monitors and class members of S15G026E Monitors and class members of S15G027E Translation of Lyrics: Jolynn Chew and Irene Lee Wushu artists: Julie, Cindy and Ah Ai

Ever-supportive media team: Wilson and Wei Lin Most reliable AV and logistics: Samuel and Terence Dharma Sabre Protector: Awesome Doris

To my dearest and most respected Triple Gems, Master and Teacher:

I have been blinded and unable to feel your kindness over many lifetimes, but you’ve always stayed by my side guiding me towards the bright path. I will pledge my limitless future lives in following your path and learning to do what pleases you. May I have your blessings to be in your direct guidance until I attain Buddhahood with our hearts as one. Forever-disciple, Jolynn Chew S15G027E (aka Buddy 1)

There has been many unforgettable moments in the preparation and getting ready for this prelude to Joyous Rhapsody.

I recall: Buddy and I were going through the list of insightful praises (IP) an evening after class, totally at loss and silently panicking as there wasn’t much time till performance. How now brown cow?😱 Should we pick an English IP since we are from a bilingual class, or should we pick one that is easy to sing so more people would want to participate and gain merits, or should we pick something that is unique and leave an impact etc.? After supplicating for the IP that can best cultivate the aspiration to attain Buddhahood, 勇悍行 it is! And there’s no turning back! 💪

The week after, we were soaking in perspiration (because we 不舍得开空调) at BWM Hall of Jewels, experimenting the formation and choreography with an umbrella and a vacuum cleaner tube (in replacement of our props that were still shipping over). Though we retained less than 50% of what was previously planned, we were ready to gather our fellow Bodhi warriors.⚔️

说不尽的感恩, 道不完的感谢。

最先，感恩老师编写了这么多脍炙人口的赞颂，让我们能随着跳动的音符歌颂三宝的功德，合着振奋的旋律发愿要证无上菩提缘一切众生。每一次彩排演练再发一次誓言，同时让所有的参与者和同修种下向善向上的种子。

感谢大会组办这一次的赞颂观摩会，给予这个机会和善友们齐聚一堂供养身语意，时儿感动时儿高昂地欢唱，不停地随喜赞叹。因为台前幕后所有人的付出，所以才会让人如此意犹未尽的’法音飨宴’，余音绕梁。

最后，感谢所有的光明勇士不遗余力地付出，相互鼓励和引导。即便不能亲身参与演出，也给予建议。即便不能参与所有的彩排，也勇悍不退。你们的心力感染了我，也完美了演出。虽然我们非专业，但这一股力量，绝对能让我们迈向巅峰。鞠躬!

Buddy 2 – Poh Jee S15G027E

The achievement of practicing as a group was very memorable. Everybody put in their best effort to make it possible!

Without Lineage Master’s blessings, we will not have this opportunity to make this body speech and mind offering to Triple Gems of the ten directions!

Rejoice to everybody for making it possible.

Yim Yao Hua S15G027E

Rejoice to everyone!

感恩上師三宝的加持，隨喜各位同行善友非常精進的供養上師三宝，作師所喜，赞叹！

Wilson 15G027E

团队配合的精神！团员請吃炒面，小点心以及生日蛋糕。

增加对三宝的信心，增加善友团结的力量！

Angela Ng Wai Cheng S15G027E’s Observer

After watching the videos of the Bodhi Warriors 3.0, I cried tears of joy!

I don’t dare say that I am like our lineage master who has qualities of compassion and wisdom but I truly felt the tsunami of bliss in my heart as described in the Global Lamrim when our lineage master wrote the Lamrim to benefit practitioners! We have planted such pure and sincere virtuous seeds of wisdom on this pathway to Buddhahood! These seeds will bear amazing fruits of magnificent wisdom! MEGA REJOICE!Rejoice to the Bodhi Warriors team! Grateful to Abbot Jing Yuan and blessings from our lineage masters! March on towards the 2019 JOYOUS RHAPSODY: BRILLIANCE! With Metta, Irene S15G027E

Related reads: 文化艺术处呈献2019吉祥赞颂观摩会 Arts and Culture Dept Presents the Insightful Praise Recitals

吉祥悅~智慧之光赞颂观摩会分享

2018 忆师恩– 师心。我心。菩提心: MRD INSIGHTFUL PRAISES OFFERING by S15G027E

RADIANCE DHARMA WARRIORS 3.0 @BWMONASTERY 07.12.19 What are the following diagrams? Chemistry? Math? Choreography? Physics? By now, you would have guessed it. They are stage positions for our class performance with two wonderful Lamrim classes!

[csrgood]

How Technology Is Protecting Endangered Species

Cambodia is home to 16 globally endangered species, like the Asian elephant, tigers, and leopards. Conservationists there are working with a Harvard computer scientist to stop the poaching that is pushing so many species to the brink of extinction.

It's just one of a growing number of collaborations bringing technologists and conservationists together to fight to protect wildlife from being wiped off the face of the planet. Environmentalists have long had a daunting challenge ahead of them when it comes to protecting animals from poachers, habitat loss, pollution, and climate change. They're now hoping, though, that technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), drones, GPS trackers, smart cameras, and the cloud could give them the upper hand they've been looking for.

"It is horrifying to think about the possibility that we may be leaving a world behind where keystone species like tigers, elephants, and rhinos may just be gone," says Milind Tambe, the Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science and director of the Center for Research in Computation and Society at Harvard University. "We don't want to have to tell our children, 'Well, they're all gone.' We don't want a world like that."

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, which coordinates the organization's environmental activities, the earth is in the midst of a crisis, with 150 to 200 species of plants, insects, birds, and mammals reportedly going extinct every 24 hours. Biologists say that's 1,000 times the rate that's considered natural extinction. And a 2019 U.N. report notes that approximately 1 million animal and plant species are threatened with extinction, many within decades. More recently, research from the University of Arizona suggests that one-third of plant and animal species could be gone in 50 years.

Here are some more alarming numbers:

In 2018, three bird species vanished from the earth.

In Tanzania, the elephant population has dropped by 20 percent in recent years.

Because of widespread poaching for their horns, as of 2018, there were only two northern white rhinos—both female and incapable of natural reproduction—left in Kenya.

An estimated 100 African elephants are killed each day by poachers seeking ivory, meat, and body parts.

Fewer than 450 North Atlantic right whales, including a little more than 100 breeding females, remain. With so many dying and so few being born, scientists warn that the species may not survive more than another 25 years.

With numbers so staggering and dire, conservationists around the globe increasingly are turning to technologists and tech to protect endangered animals and hopefully save them from extinction. Seeing the plight of many species, tech-savvy people are offering their time and expertise to track animals, analyze their habitats and availability of food, and better understand population dynamics.

It's not new for wildlife conservationists to draw on technology like cameras and tracking collars. What's new is the explosion in technologies like AI, machine learning (ML), the Internet of Things, 5G, wireless, and the cloud. And that explosion is touching many industries, including conservation.

"Every industry is going to be changed by it," says Jeff Kagan, an independent industry analyst. "It's transforming so much. It only makes sense that it's transforming wildlife protection. Where before they could never really follow the animals and the paths they take, and the things they're eating, and how they're living, now we can see exactly where these animals are and what they're doing. And think about how much it will advance in the next 10 years." 

Outsmarting the poachers

Tambe, who for the past 15 years has been working on how AI can benefit society, made a slight turn six or seven years ago when he began to wonder how technology could be used to protect animals.

The computer scientist is the creator and driving force behind Protection Assistant for Wildlife Security (PAWS), predictive AI software geared to analyze massive amounts of data and then use ML, game theory, and mathematical modeling to take on the poachers decimating many species of animals around the world, including Cambodia.

For instance, intensive poaching of both Cambodian tigers and their prey have caused a rapid decline in the big cats. Today, the World Wildlife Fund reports that there are no longer any breeding populations of wild tigers left in the country, making them functionally extinct there. As for wild elephants, it's generally estimated that only 300 to 600 remain in Cambodia, down from 2,000 in 1995 and 500 to 1,000 in 1999, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the U.N.

Normally, park rangers and environmentalists study maps trying to figure out where poachers may be laying traps or lying in wait to kill protected animals. The PAWS system goes beyond human gut instinct and crunches data to predict where the poachers will be working, where the animals are in the most danger, and the best patrol routes for the rangers.

Tambe has been extensively testing PAWS in Cambodia. Conservationists there are finding poaching traps five times more today than they were before they began using his AI-based system.

"I kept saying, 'I think AI can help,'" he says. "Where are the poachers going to hit next? There are thousands of square kilometers in national parks. There are hundreds of rangers. They can't be everywhere. If we can tell them where they need to be [to stop the poaching], that's important."

Now, Tambe's PAWS system is being adapted to work with 800 global national parks that use SMART (Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool) software to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of conservation and wildlife law enforcement. With the help of an AI engineer from Microsoft, Tambe has been working for the past six to eight months to integrate PAWS with the SMART software and enable it all to run in the cloud. The system, which so far has been running only on an experimental basis, is scheduled to launch this spring.

"We are honored to be able to contribute," he says. "Some people think of AI being a technology that might be harmful in some ways, maybe taking jobs away. It's a surprise to people that you can apply AI to protect wildlife and use it for social good. The gift to us, as AI researchers, has been opening the door to new AI research challenges so we can advance the state of the art in artificial intelligence."

Saving the salmon

In the Northern California foothills of the Sierra Nevada range, a group of conservationists, the Friends of Auburn Ravine, has been working to protect the local wild Chinook salmon, also known as king salmon. The salmon's numbers have been slashed by logging, dams, overfishing, and pollution. Scientists estimate that 29 percent of the Pacific salmon populations have become extinct in the past 240 years.

The group of volunteers set up cameras to record video of the fish as they migrate upstream to spawn every fall and winter. They were trying to collect data on the number of salmon swimming through, to garner support to improve habitat and facilitate natural migration of adult and juvenile salmon.

The problem was that volunteers were sitting and staring at a seemingly endless amount of video to count fish swimming by.

"It's boring work looking at the videos," says Brad Cavallo, president of Cramer Fish Sciences and a board member of the Friends of Auburn Ravine. "It's easy to miss something because you just space out, but estimates are important so we know how to set harvest limits and how the fish are doing."

Eric Hubbard, a master technologist who has worked at Hewlett Packard Enterprise since 1999, came along and changed that boring, but important, work.

Hubbard says two or three years ago, his dad, who is a volunteer with Friends of Auburn Ravine, told him about video watch parties where volunteers ate pizza and counted fish.

"It was a cool volunteer effort," says Hubbard. "I saw their enthusiasm and effort, but it hurt me to see them doing it so inefficiently. It took huge amounts of hours to look at videos to count these fish. I knew we could automate this and make it so much easier on them."

Hubbard, using the annual 60 hours of paid volunteer time he receives from HPE through the company's community involvement program, HPE Gives, traded out the volunteers' security cameras, which used proprietary protocols that were difficult to work with, for new digital underwater and overhead cameras—dubbed salmon cams—with standard protocols and formats.

Using the Java programming language, Hubbard wrote 5,000 lines of code to create a software program, called FishSpotter, to detect and document passing fish. Raw digital video is uploaded to the cloud, where FishSpotter processes it. Using advanced image recognition to detect activity and identify salmon, FishSpotter automatically produces short GIF highlights of any passing salmon, so humans can then review it to confirm the fish species.

The 2018-2019 migration season was the first to be monitored with the new digital system.

By eliminating the need to watch this large batch of data, FishSpotter was able to pare down 1.6 terabytes and 2,416 hours of raw data into just 101 gigabytes and 20.4 hours of GIF highlights for volunteers to vet and verify as salmon (or other wildlife or activity). In future seasons, Hubbard hopes to further refine FishSpotter's image recognition capabilities to narrow this data set of possible suspects down even further to further accelerate insights.

"I live in a real tech bubble," says Hubbard. "Everyone around me is tech-savvy. I look at these nonprofits and they're outside that bubble. They don't necessarily have the expertise to know what's possible. It's been very gratifying. Initially, it started out as helping people more than the salmon. Then as I got more involved, I was drawn into how important these fish are."

Tech to protect polar bears and rhinos

Colby Loucks, vice president of the Wildlife Conservation Program at the World Wildlife Fund U.S., says technology is increasingly a vital tool in wildlife conservation. And as a leader in the organization's Wildlife Crime Technology Project, which focuses on using cutting-edge technology to fight poaching, he says tech advancements have opened doors.

That's what led the group to create WildLabs.net, a global online community joining conservationists with technologists, engineers, data scientists, and entrepreneurs. With more than 3,000 active users, the group's mission is to use technology to tackle conservation issues, like illegal wildlife trade and poaching.

"We had conservationists trying to use technology, but they weren't technologists by training," says Loucks. "There were a lot of technologists around the world who have the skill sets, knowledge, and desire to help in conservation. WildLabs.net is about connecting those communities. We're piecing together innovative ideas between people with a conservation background and a technology background."

For instance, Loucks says conservationists are combining cameras with ML software trained to distinguish between animals and people. When the system identifies humans, as opposed to zebras or rhinos, passing by a camera, rangers are notified so they can check to see if the people are poachers.

Others in Africa are using thermographic cameras that use infrared radiation to detect elephant and rhino poachers.

Loucks notes that the smart thermal camera technology was installed in 2016 in two different areas of Kenya's Lake Nakuru National Park, a site known for its rhino conservation work. The year before the technology was installed, there were 17 attempted poaching events in the park, he says. The year the system was installed, two poachers were caught, and after that, there were no poaching incidents for the rest of the year and none in 2017 and 2018. In 2019, the system was used to catch another four poachers.

"We feel like that is a big success," says Loucks.

Some scientists are even using environmental DNA (eDNA) technology, which can detect genetic material, such as traces of biological tissue and mucus, obtained directly from environmental samples like soil, sediment, and water. Loucks explains that scientists studying polar bears can scoop samples from streams or footprints in the Arctic snow. From that, they can pull up DNA and use that information to identify what the bears have been eating and even identify individual bears.

"The dream is that you might not see a bear, but if you get a polar bear footprint, you could still know quite a lot about it, which would be a big leap forward for tracking polar bears and seeing how climate change is impacting them," says Loucks. "It is an exciting time to be in the wildlife conservation space right now. We've seen a lot of developments and efforts using technologies to solve problems."

source: https://www.csrwire.com/press_releases/43983-How-Technology-Is-Protecting-Endangered-Species?tracking_source=rss

[entergamingxp]

Eurogamer readers’ top 50 games of 2019 • Eurogamer.net

2019 is nearly done, and to put a ribbon on it all we present to you the Eurogamer reader’s top 50 games of the year. Thank you all for your contributions, and for proving once again you’ve all got better taste in gaming than us. Although I’m not quite sure about your take on Fallen Order… Enjoy!

50. Wreckfest

What we said: “A simple no-frills game that’s more Destruction Derby than Flatout, evoking a different era for the racing genre with its no-nonsense approach. Unassuming it may be, but it’s also absolutely wonderful, a knockabout racer that sticks to what Bugbear does best; this is all about cars lunching one another in a variety of events that are tuned towards maximum carnage, and as ever there’s a cathartic joy to be found in seeing fields of pre-loved machinery crumble at your fingertips.”

“Best racing game in years,” writes merf. “More fun than Forza and Gran Turismo and makes every everything Codemasters turn out look pish. Looks amazing, handles like a dream, excellent AI opponents, great post release support, a tuning system that makes sense and a physics system that feels like it needed next generation power to make possible.” Which is all well and good, but they go on to diss Fast & Furious and I’M NOT HAVING THAT.

“One of the best racers of the generation,” says kalel-ofkrypton, “and reminiscent of the favoured racers of previous gens.”

49. Greedfall

What we said: “GreedFall has more than its fair share of faults, and its curious mix of the sweet and the sour is far from a roleplaying revelation. But the elements that matter have been imbued with such love and care – so much so that I quickly forgave this ambitious RPG its shortcomings.”

“Spiders best yet,” says jbumi in what may be damnation with faint praise. “I was thrilled that I was able to get the ending I was aiming for.” “

nicfaz keeps it nice and simple, meanwhile. “Need more like this pls.”

48. Rage 2

What we said: “In its desperation to be edgy and in-your-face, this sequel sometimes falls just as flat as its predecessor, the copious neon pink daubings incapable of concealing its bland, repetitive wasteland and elevate this open-world shooter above its siblings of a similar ilk. But in its quieter moments – usually away from the Goon Squad scrum – you might find glimmers of surprisingly sophisticated storytelling, perhaps hidden in the lines of a datapad, or conveyed by a nameless NPC.”

“The guns are amazing,” says robozot, which says all that needs to be said really.

formulaic had more to say, though: “For the gunplay and the vibrant neon painted world this might be my game of the year, but it got tiring driving round a desert world that largely didn’t live up to the set pieces and enclosed areas within it.”

“A wholly enjoyable slice of post apocalyptic shooty mayhem in a Day-Glo world,” says FortySixerUK. “Hyper violent and fun.” And what more could you really ask for?

47. Sayonara Wild Hearts

What we said: “Sayonara Wild Hearts is such a simple thing but also such a complex thing, such a heartfelt thing. And so dense! Its exuberance is precision, its chaos is sheer choreography. It can reference Panzer Dragoon, Jet Set Radio, Dyad and Thumper while remaining entirely coherent, entirely itself.”

“Sayonara Wild Hearts is 2019’s best pop album game,” writes Dogatella_Verpoochie, and I entirely agree. “It’s a blast to play and listen to.”

46. Halo: The Master Chief Collection (PC)

A belated PC release, topped off with the addition of Reach late in the year which Digital Foundry got stuck into: “it really needs to be better – the legacy of Halo, the quality of Reach itself and the potential from a remaster practically demands it. Preserving games for the future – especially on PC – means replicating them as they were in all the places where it matters, while improving them at the same time based on the scalability of today’s hardware and beyond. Perhaps this may sound overly harsh in some respects, but this is the Halo remaster that will persist for years or even decades to come – and while the foundation is solid overall, there are clearly issues here that need attention.”

“A return to the glory days of gaming when you and your mates actually had time to waste,” says GuiltySpark.

“I hadn’t played a Halo since Reach way back when, so I was curious to see if I would still love them as much as I did,” says Spiderland. “And I did! Particularly Reach, which for one reason or another, I had forgotten everthing about. I feel Reach was the product of a team who had really honed their craft, which makes me ponder all the more as to what Bungie’s Halo 4 would have been like.”

45. Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the Necrodancer

What we said: “Cadence is better than great. It’s an authentic banger, frankly – a Zelda game to be savoured. It’s surprising and strange and funny and sad and thrilling. And when it’s over, the game that lives on in your memory really feels like Zelda.”

“Remaking Link’s Awakening was a great success for Nintendo but in the same year Zelda got its greatest spinoff yet,” says wez_316. The original Necrodancer was fun but tough. Cadence was fun but easy. For me that suits rhythm gameplay a lot more as it can be hard to stay in that zone. Now make me an easier Metroid themed adaption of Enter The Gungeon and take my money.”

44. Life is Strange 2

What we said: ” I was left feeling the loss of these two characters as people I had spent the past year checking in on and helping to guide. Like Sean, I felt, I had done all I could to help Daniel – and the brothers’ story finished in a place which felt truthful to them and the story path I took. It was beautiful while it lasted.”

A popular follow-up, though most of you kept to yourself precisely why it got your vote. Dalek5000 had this, though – “The most compelling new game I’ve played this year.”

43. Divinity Original Sin 2 (Switch)

What we said: “Divinity Original Sin 2 on Switch is another ‘impossible port’ made real, thanks to a lot of careful design choices. Flawed as it is, I’m glad this exists, and it’s uncontested as a handheld take on the game. Add in the online save sharing and it’s a very big deal for fans of the desktop experience..”

“I have not played the Switch version…” says vaskis. You cheat! “I played it on my Mac, but it is such an extensive and well polished gem of a CRPG, that it really deserves to be awarded some more awards.”

“I have this on Xbox also but I found it easier to get into on the Switch,” says nee5on, who at least played on the right format. “Second time playing has been so much fun as I now have a feeling for what I’m supposed to be doing. Starting to find the complexity thrilling and liberating. It is a genre of game I’ve always thought I would enjoy if I could get past the learning curve and having been playing games since the early 80s – I feel like I’m finally there.”

42. Yoshi’s Crafted World

What we said: “Yoshi’s Crafted World is a fine achievement. It’s a scrolling platformer with an abundance of style and imagination, and a pleasingly laid-back adventure with an ocean of depth to explore. It is, first and foremost, a work born of mastery and a keen attention to detail. This is a game of impeccable, readily appreciable craft.”

“Is Yoshi about to become the new Kirby in the best way possible?” asks simplymod. “Fair enough, Yoshi’s appearances as the main character are quite a few games shy of what Kirby can offer, but Crafted World is true to the Yoshi Feeling (twentysomething years after Super Mario World 2), brings a new art style to the table, relies on what works but is brave enough to try something new.”

41. Return of the Obra Dinn (Console)

The second appearance in as many years on our list as Obra Dinn came to console, but this is surely a treasure worth returning to: “It is a joy to poke around as the game slowly opens up new spaces. It is a pleasure – and a very harmonious pleasure – to come to an understanding of how different parts of the ship slot together, where people sleep, where they work, where they gather for a game of cards. That powdery white line that draws this bleak world is surprisingly adept at giving a sense of the material reality of the ship – razor sharp on the rarely-used stairs you use to climb aboard, breaking into radar-like speckles when ghosting an outline of waves into life. As your clues mount up and the images in the book become less and less fuzzy, so the world comes into focus. You are not just exploring a place, you are slowly getting a sense for it. What an astonishing game. What an incredible piece of work.”

“The lack of hand holding made this a challenge,” writes Lucidmatt, lucidly, “but the pay off was exceptional.”

“Never got to play it on PC, but it was worth the wait,” says disintegration7. “Totally unique gameplay and artistic style, plus a giant squid!!!” Er, spoilers mate..

40. Blood and Truth

What we said: “It all adds up to a game that is surprisingly charming. Certainly more charming than anything the actual High Ritchieverse has ever mustered. There is a sense of silliness to Blood & Truth that loves the idiotic family drama at the center of the story, that understands that VR is at times a very clumsy business so you’re going to accidentally shoot the person you’re meant to be talking to or shoot yourself in the groin while you’re trying to put your gun away.”

“Runner up for best VR of the year,” says dbvapor. “Sorry, but Ace Combat 7’s VR mode is just that good. Excellent game though, and I look forward to the next one! Reload!”

“This is the sort of polished ‘big game’ I had been waiting for from PSVR,” adds Stepharneo.

39. Kingdom Hearts 3

What we said: “Here’s the thing. Kingdom Hearts should be right up my street: I love Disney, I have a reasonable tolerance for the idiosyncrasies of your typical JRPG, and I enjoyed the second game and Birth By Sleep. I fell hard for the weaponised nostalgia of The Force Awakens and Mary Poppins Returns. So this should really be an open goal. And yet, Yoko Shimomura’s impeccable score notwithstanding (those yearning oboes of the Twilight Town theme always set me off), I remained dry-eyed throughout.”

“A game stuck in development hell that actually turned out quite well,” writes XanderXAJ. “Amazing animation that somehow often matches that of extremely-high budget CG animation — and in real time, too! It also has an amazing soundtrack – and one I had the pleasure of experiencing live at a World of Tres concert earlier this year.”

“It’s one of two games from this year I’ve really bothered to give a go,” says Solegor. “Not because there are terrible games this year, but because I’m still clearing my backlog. While KH3 is far from perfect, it’s still gorgeous to look at and at least it tries to tie up the convoluted storylines from the previous games.”

“Honestly,” says agrippA1, “the wait was worth it just for the Big Hero 6 world.”

38. The Witcher 3 (Switch)

What we said: “Overall, Saber and CDPR hit an impressive bar of quality here. Clearly, performance can vary, but on balance it holds 30ps more often than I expected. The Witcher 3 Complete Edition pruned back everything it can to be playable, while still somehow retaining a lot of its best visual features. Graphical points like reflections, light shafts, water physics, and even a high NPC count are incredible to see on a handheld. This is close to perfection.”

“Unfortunately, despite big releases such as Gears 5, Pokemon Sword, Jedi Fallen Order and many more, nothing truly gripped me this year,” says Dalek5000. “I’ve found myself yet again immersed into the world of The Witcher 3, despite the graphical downgrade. Commuting has never been so fun!”

“I don’t even own a Switch but this is the game of the year every year it is released,” says Rodimus Prime. Heretic! And honestly, treat yourself to one. They’re rather good.

37. The Division 2

What we said: “From start to finish, The Division 2 pulls in these bits of American history with unwavering earnesty and yet manages to say absolutely nothing. Worse, it goes out of its way to say nothing. The result is that the only real message The Division 2 manages to impart is that guns will keep you safe. Despite the advertising campaign this is not a game about saving the soul of America, it’s a game about the good guys with guns taking what they want from the bad guys with guns. A shame, because if you can look past the vacuity and the slapdash politicisation of The Division 2, there’s a great game to be enjoyed here – even if you’ll never quite escape the sense that it’s a thunderingly dumb one.”

“If I didn’t have a friend, probably not,” admits groovychainsaw. “But with a buddy this is some of the best coop shooting you can get. A superb engine, great graphics and great moment to moment shooting. Expanded well to give you plenty to do after the end, unlike many of its rivals.”

“Awesome experience with an end game that kept giving,” adds Big-Swiss.

“It’s not only one of the best Ubisoft games of the past few years but successfully built on the foundations of the first game,” says gabortoth. “Bigger, better in every way, it’s an excellent looter-shooter-RPG that seemingly never ends. Outstanding gunplay, cover system and RPG elements make this one of the best experiences for me in 2019.”

“Flawed, unfinished, and absolutely fantastic,” says atropos as they strike a more cautious note. “It’s a shame The Division 2 didn’t just build on what the original The Division had become after many, many updates (thoroughly excellent), but this was still the most time I spent in an MMO this year.”

36. Monster Hunter World: Iceborne

To our eternal shame, we weren’t able to play enough of Iceborne to provide a review, though we did enjoy what we saw: “Iceborne, with its stubborn challenges, can feel like it’s pitched more towards those expert players, but the joy of Monster Hunter – now, as ever – is how it embraces all playstyles, whether you’re thrashing about with dual blades or keeping a watching brief with a bowgun. Or, whether you’re veteran who wants to solo some of the biggest, baddest monsters, or a scrub like myself who’s happy to wade in the shallows and simply enjoy the spectacle. Iceborne does a decent job of catering to both, and there’s enough there to satisfy all corners of Monster Hunter World’s 13 million strong audience. So, don’t be put off by Iceborne – in truth, there’s never been a better time to get into Monster Hunter.”

“Every time I think that the series has peaked and can’t get any better, Ryuji Tsujimoto and his merry crew manage to tweak and improve the formula,” says XanderXAJ. “350 more hours in this expansion pack so far are testament to how well-honed the mechanics are — and how hooked I am. Capcom have had one hell of a year.”

“Monster Hunter has evolved into a free flowing beast of a game,” says Mechakabukizero. “I still love the older games in the series but l find it tough to go back after the greatness which is Monster Hunter World.”

“Improves upon the base game in so many ways,” says Aporca. “It adds a wealth of new content which is both a challenge and a joy to play. The one game I keep coming back to.”

35. Dragon Quest Builders 2

What we said: “The series’ sense of adventure, of pushing forward into new lands to make new discoveries and to unearth the warmth and character that’s always been at the series’ heart, is re-emphasised. It’s a wonderful thing, really, and the most fun I’ve had with a Dragon Quest game in years..”

“Being a jaded old fart whose gaming pedigree dates back to the early Vic20 days, I was delighted to find this recaptured some of the wonder and magic I felt with new worlds as a kid,” says Matnee. “That’s something to be cherished these days.” Ain’t that the truth.

“Everything I love about Minecraft, with none of the crippling, overwhelming, anxiety,” adds logicub. “This game is what defined my other choices, I spent so much time building up my Isle of Awakening that I haven’t played half as many games this year as I normally would.”

34. Final Fantasy 14: Shadowbringers

What we said: Well, not enough really as Final Fantasy 14’s a title we’ve struggled to cover properly. Sorry!

Thankfully you lot know your stuff. Like Gamblix here: “I have played Final Fantasy XIV since the late days of A Realm Reborn and seeing this game from strength to strength is so heartwarming, considering the games awful 1.0 launch. Shadowbringers is without a doubt, one of the best MMO expansions EVER and one of the best JRPG stories in modern video games. Anyone who has a remote interest in Final Fantasy should play this. It is near perfection in storytelling.” God, we really should play it, shouldn’t we?

33. Dirt Rally 2.0

What we said: “Dirt Rally 2.0 is part of the new Codemasters – the one that brought us the equally brilliant F1 2018 – that indulges its passion for motorsport. It’s deep, involving and crafted with love, and you can’t help but love it back in turn. The original Dirt Rally made a convincing claim at being the best off-road sim to date. I think its sequel can lay claim to being one of the best driving experiences available right now.”

“Well… it’s an improved Dirt Rally,” says DrStrangelove, keeping things to the point. “How much more praise do you need?”

“The best, better,” says hypobla5t. “Compulsive genius.”

32. Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown

What we said: “Ace Combat 7 is the real deal with a perfect blend of new and classic ideas packed into a cohesive, highly replayable package. There aren’t many games quite like this being released today so whether you’re a returning fan that has missed the classic series or a newcomer looking for something a little different, it’s an absolute must-play.”

“Ace Combat 7 is such a pure game,” says mickjohnson. “It’s action, it’s mayhem, it’s a crazy storyline, with fantastic music, and it’s beautifully delivered in a way that seems elusive to other developers. Add in some brief (but excellent) PSVR support and you’ve got my #1 game of this year.”

“Tragically underrated,” says AgrippA1. “It’s exactly what you would expect from an Ace Combat game and the VR bit was excellent.”

31. Destiny 2: Shadowkeep

What we said: Nothing. Look, we got the hint – we might have written enough already over the past few years about Destiny.

“The amount of time I’ve put into Destiny 2 since picking it back up in August doesn’t let me choose anything else, honestly,” says SnikrepJ. “It’s spectacular if you enjoy the whole shared world looter shooter MMORPG – not without its flaws, but what is these days?”

30. Super Mario Maker 2

What we said: “Years ago I read the only writing advice that I suspect anybody really needs. Type something, it ran, because then you have something to change. William Goldman said that, I think, and he would have been very at home with Mario Maker. Everyone would be at home here, I suspect. Like the first game, this is a warm bubble bath to settle into, or an afternoon on the sofa with the Sunday papers and nothing else in the diary. Has it changed? Not too much. But it is wonderfully soothing to have it back.”

“It is Mario Bros on the Nintendo Switch and you can design and share your own levels!” says Beatleben. “What else can you say?”

“The game I’ve played more than any other this year,” says EvilAspirin. “Endless Mario levels. What’s not to love?” Exactly!

29. Dragon Quest 11 S

What we said: “Is this the best Dragon Quest? Some people believe so, and I can understand why – it’s where the character, charm and colour that make this series so beloved are at their most vivid. Personally I’m not so sure, and even after the improvements made for this edition I wish Dragon Quest 11 could find a little more space for its players, though there’s no denying the eloquence of its craft, or the vastness of its scope. In terms of scale and spectacle, this is as grand an adventure you’ll find on the Nintendo Switch this side of Breath of the Wild.”

“I almost stuck it out until the final boss (before I got distracted by other games; I will return), and that is more than I can say for 99% of JRPGs…” That’s the Romeric verdict.

“Unbelievably conventional but undeniably beautifully polished. Video game comfort food – like eating a buttery hot cross bun on a gloomy, wet, winter’s evening.” Captain_T_Dawg paints a nice picture there.

28. Pokmon Sword and Shield

What we said: “Sword and Shield’s Wild Area is desperately flat. There will undoubtedly be a moment of shivers, if you’re a long-term fan, when you first see Pokmon roaming the world and you finally get to gaze around that space yourself. But that moment will wear off when you realise you’ve already seen it all. And it’ll fade from memory entirely when you inevitably hop back on the rails from which you have just at last broken free. What is intended as a great, Breath of the Wild step forward quickly turns to two giant leaps back, and with these games that sad irony is everywhere. Pokmon Sword and Shield project a sense of scale and ambition far beyond any previous ones in the series, but to take it back to those gargantuan new Dynamax forms, the size is merely a shadow. A shallow projection, in place of the real thing.”

Logicub – is that a Pokmon? – says: “Pokemon games are not made purely for the long-term fans. They’re made for everybody. If you can just remember that, then this is a thoroughly enjoyable romp through a Britain that’s better than the real one right now.”

Lukazor – is that a Pokmon? – says: “I hadn’t played a main line Pokemon game in years so I was extremely excited to play Sword/Shield and they didn’t disappoint! Extremely addictive, the new Pokemon are great and the wild area is a great addition. Loved every minute of the main story and now on the hunt to complete the Pokedex.”

27. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

What we said: “It took more time to get here than we’d originally expected, granted, but Igarashi sure did deliver in the end.

“I backed this and, despite choosing the Switch version, had a good time with it,” says HKT3030.

“A joy to play,” agrees Navi. “Unapologetically a modern update to Castlevania, full of all the lovely little touches you’d expect from a well crafted 2D game.”

26. Red Dead Redemption 2 (PC)

Developer: Rockstar

Mods!

What we said: I bet we said something about horses and hats and I bet we ended by saying, “Saddle up, pardner!” That would be just like us.

“Eeeeeee ha.,” says Karmazyn. I hear you. Pardner.

“A magnificently lush, varied and gritty open world,” says Subquest. “A compelling story and highly enjoyable gameplay. Graphically an astonishing technical achievement. Rockstar’s finest hour.” Steady on (pardner). You do know these guys also made a Table Tennis game right?

25. Shenmue 3

What we said: “And all these years later, it makes for an entry that, as unlikely as it is, is more finessed and fully-featured than the first two games. A more astute critic might point out that the performances are uneven, the character models sometimes look wayward, you’re kind of limited as to what you can do and nothing of note really happens. That’s not me, I’m afraid. Yes, Shenmue 3 can look and play like a Dreamcast game. But it looks and plays like a Dreamcast game that’s as off-kilter, maddening, magical and majestic as the Shenmue and its sequel, both all-time classics. I think there’s good reason to rejoice in that.”

“18 years of waiting came to an end. Shenmue 3 is everything the fans could have ever expected, and probably very close to Yu Suzuki’s original vision for the game.” Ta, Hansliengnell1!

24. A Plague Tale: Innocence

What we said: “The great shock of Plague Tale is that on some level, it’s a Gears of War game. The more obvious comparison is The Last of Us, another poignant, apocalyptic escapade in which an older character guides a more innocent soul whose blood is touched by destiny, but in practice, and for all the absence of chainsaws, it’s often Epic’s game that comes to mind. It’s there in the tanky handling, with characters swivelling ponderously as though secretly many times their own size. It’s there in the sense of a historical backdrop (the Sera of Gears is a pastiche of familiar architectural traditions) being softly consumed by the supernatural: the darkness alive with eyeshine, the twisted, bony black rot the rats leave behind them, the alchemical motifs that gradually become the plot’s crucible. But above all, it’s a question of framing. As in Gears, you spend most chapters wending your way towards some distant landmark, a brooding structure such as a windmill that is teed up for you with a context-sensitive look command, then tugged into and out of view by the intervening geography. It lends each stage of Amicia and Hugo’s journey a powerful inexorability, for all the trail-and-error process of bamboozling soldiers – as though you were being drawn through its world by gravity towards a procession of massive objects. It’s worth giving into the pull. Just don’t forget to look for the flowers.”

“Very underrated title this year,” says Europsnfan70. “Absolutely beautiful and features one of the best stories this year. More people need to be playing this one.”

“Atmospheric, dark wonders,” says King_Of_Shovels.

23. Baba is You

What we said: “Baba is You is a game about how sentences work that is also, inevitably, a game about how thinking works too. How could it not be, really?”

Pjotroos here: “Can’t remember the last time any game made me feel this stupid. The core concept is spectacular. Some early puzzles made me laugh out loud in joy, once the solution clicked. But the amount of creative thinking it requires to deal with the later levels is genuinely intimidating. I’ve lost the count of times when I was sure I was thinking outside the box, only to realise I merely got myself stuck in a slightly larger box for another half hour, once the solution finally, finally clicked in. I haven’t finished it. I doubt I ever will. But I still have to respect the raw creativity on display.”

22. Metro Exodus

What we said: “We need more experiences like Metro Exodus that know how to resist empty bloodshed and kindle such closeness, finding the warmth in the wasteland.”

“Incredibly immersive and beautiful,” said Ivanbasov, one of only a few comments on Metro Exodus. Instead, I’ll tell you that lots of people who liked this also liked Slay the Spire.

21. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

What we said: “There’s a tinge of disappointment here with Modern Warfare at launch. I’m playing it in the hope that what is soon to come will pull all the right levers in all the right directions, turning this good Call of Duty into a great one. And there’s plenty waiting in the wings: Modern Warfare’s battle pass, which Activision has said will come in free and premium forms, will hopefully fuel progression in a post-prestige world. More, better-fitting multiplayer maps are essential (Infinity Ward pulled the night vision MP maps shortly after the game launched and at the time of publication, they have yet to return). And then there’s the inevitable battle royale. Undoubtedly, there’s an exciting potential to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Until that potential is realised, though, Modern Warfare remains a shooter that is at odds with itself. When it’s good, it’s great. When it’s bad it’s frustrating. Everything in between is, well, Call of Duty.”

Lots of people voted for COD, but almost nobody wrote anything about it. Here’s Phinor, who is always reliable! “A good soundtrack can lift a four star movie up to five stars and the same principle applies to games. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare did that by adding much needed oomph to gun sounds. Add the best new multiplayer game mode since forever with 2vs2 Gunfight and you have the tightest Call of Duty package since, well, Modern Warfare (the original).”

20. Days Gone

What we said: “I wasn’t expecting Days Gone to add anything new to the genre, but both in terms of its systems and its story it’s uninspired, which is driven home by the fact that it’s endlessly, needlessly long. I’m begging you, haven’t we done this enough?”

“Better than expected,” says HungaryGrowler.

“Beautiful open world game with a compelling story and characters you actually care for. Genuine heart-racing moments when freakers pour down upon your position,” says Mustabuster.

19. Borderlands 3

What we said: “You’ll likely have seen – or even experienced for yourself by now – that Borderlands 3 is everything Vault Hunters loved about its predecessors. It’s hard to imagine how, technical issues aside, existing fans could not find more to love about this latest iteration, but that could also be said for fans who didn’t like its predecessors. But whether you believe it’s giving the fans what they want or a dazzling lack of ambition – evolution or revolution, in other words – Borderlands may be polarising, but it’s back nonetheless: bigger, better, and more unapologetic than ever.”

“Whilst the new protagonists couldn’t hold a torch to Handsome Jack (very few can in any game), it was a joy to play and felt continually rewarding,” says Bigworv.

“Loot and shoot. Humour.” That’s the Clockworkzombie verdict.

18. Devil May Cry 5

What we said: “Is it the measure of the action titles that come out of that other studio in Osaka? At times it feels a little too retrograde to be the best in class, but I’m certain it’s the best Devil May Cry there’s been yet – which is still quite the claim to be able to make. This is a more vintage type of action, though that ends up serving Devil May Cry 5 incredibly well. Style like this never really goes out of fashion, after all.”

Navi has nailed this: “Dante has a silly beard, Nero’s arm now explodes and V reads poetry while demons fight each other. What’s not to love!” When I read that I can’t help but imagine it as the starting crawl for a Star Wars movie.

17. Slay the Spire

What we said: “In the end, I’m an optimist, so I went with the donut.”

OllyJ is taking us on a journey: “So, in 2019 I’ve discovered board games. From Splendor to Cosmic Encounter, I’ve been blown away by the feel of playing a board game. I’d never have played a game like this otherwise, and I’m so glad I did because my Switch has basically turned into a Slay the Spire machine. That’s now its only function, a 250 console that plays what is essentially a card game. I’m cool with that.”

Jaz666: “Meant that I enjoyed my 19hr holiday flight. Almost as much as my holiday…”

16. Astral Chain

What we said: “There’s more – there is so, so much more – to the point where Astral Chain can be dizzying in its depths. Combat boasts so many moving parts that it’s easy to become flustered, so it’s almost a relief to find it supports an easy ‘Unchained’ mode whereby much is automated. Is it sacrilege to play a Platinum game that way? Maybe, but I welcome the option to unlock Astral Chain’s spectacle to all, and it helps remove some of the frictions that might have scared some players off the studio’s previous work.”

Break it down Quizmos: “PlatinumGames at its finest once again proving they are hard to beat when it comes to fast paced action with a unique twist!” Testify!

“All hail Lappy!” says FanBoysSuck.

15. Gears 5

What we said: “Will Gears 5 rekindle Gears of War’s glory days on Xbox 360? I doubt it. But The Coalition has finally stamped its personality on the series, even if it’s taken a few missteps along the way. Gears 5’s campaign reminded me just how much I love a good Gears of War campaign. I’m not trying too hard. Gears isn’t trying too hard. We’re holding hands, safe in the collective knowledge we’re in this together, and it’s going to be one hell of a ride.”

“Again, didn’t play it (still need to get through Gears 4), but I’ve played through two of the originals in the franchise, and this game is optimized well enough I very much look forward to hitting it on PC.” BudTheCyborg, I’m not sure you really get the whole concept here.

14. Tetris 99

What we said: “It’s a phenomenal thing, pretty much justifying the cost of a Nintendo Online subscription in one fell swoop, and I dare think of the number of hours I’m going to end up putting in over the course of the year.”

“Counting the DLC as part of the overall, this is the perfect update to Tetris. The increasing tension throughout the multiplayer and the euphoria of a win (or top 10 finish for less good players like me) just add to the game’s just one more go draw.” That was Reverandglass and they’re right, aren’t they?

13. Untitled Goose Game

What we said: “Untitled Goose Game started as a joke in House House’s Slack channel, and it’s astounding how much mileage they’ve found in the gag. This is slapstick – the ultimate form of humour – and it’s slapstick of the highest order. There’s something quite classical about how its slapstick expresses itself, and how beautifully engineered it is, that makes Untitled Goose Game really stand out – if Goat Simulator is an old Farrelly Bros. film, then Untitled Goose Game is as refined and stylish as a Jacques Tati standard. It’s a perfectly formed little troublemaker.”

“Quirky, fun, endlessly meme-able. I pick UGG more for the impact it had on this year than for the game itself. We need more games like this and less loot box, microtransaction, bleed you dry games please.” Reverandglass there with a bit of a sermon.

“Fun concept,” says Watershed.

12. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

What we said: “I first played Link’s Awakening in black and white, more than 20 years ago, but it coloured my hopes for every Zelda since. Some frame-rate issues on the overworld at launch aside – more an annoyance than anything else – this version surpasses the hopes I had for another visit to its world. Koholint Island deserves nothing less, and while Link must journey to leave its shores, this remake will always be a place which preserves the island for others to follow.”

“Perfectly remade, this time I finally finished it unlike when I was a kid, and the music is sublime” says Foxxlet.

“Just wonderful in every possible way,” says The_jinks.

11. Apex Legends

What Martin said: “There’s opportunism here too, of course, but Apex Legends feels like something else; laser-sighted, deeply considered and incredibly smart, it’s the kind of thing you’d imagine Nintendo might come up with if ever they set their minds to a battle royale. The real test will come in where Respawn can take Apex Legends, and how it evolves as a live service – something that publisher EA has struggled with in the past with its first-person shooters. But after a few hours with this impeccably crafted battle royale, the one overriding feeling I’m left with is keen anticipation to see where Apex Legends heads next.”

“300+ hours in and I’m still utterly addicted,” says Jonny5Alive7. “The game lengths are perfect to hook you in and the regular content updates keep it varied.”

10. Luigi’s Mansion 3

What we said: “Part of me still yearns for those dusty carpets of the first Luigi’s Mansion – the near pitch black corridors, the fumbling around in the dark. This third entry, by contrast, feels more like Luigi has left the haunted house and gained free reign around the neighbouring theme park. But what a theme park. It’s left me excited to see where the series goes next.”

“This year’s best Third Person Sucker!” says EpcotMan, minting a genre that I’m not sure we’ll be allowing. “An intricately detailed fun house that reminds you of how many playful ideas Nintendo can cram into a game. Inventive, surprising and surprisingly funny. “

“Suck it,” says Clockworkzombie.

9. Disco Elysium

What we said: “One character and one story may contain multitudes, but Disco Elysium has pushed that idea to extremes, making me a flippant macho and above all a weirdo who stands for nothing. Once the novelty wears off, I feel like I’m playing a game that insistently wants to prove to me how smart it is, and that, above anything, is just really tiring.”

KDR_11k says: “The term CRPG doesn’t really describe what Disco Elysium is. It’s a game about talking and investigating. And it does talking really, really well. ” What else? “I’ve saved the world countless times in many different games over the years, but very few of these will I remember as fondly as singing karaoke in the Whirling in Rags bar in Disco Elysium.” says Nafter.

8. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

What we said: “The annoying thing is, for the first ten hours or so, I absolutely adored Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.”

“EA should’ve made this game five years ago. It’s definitely one of the top ten best Star Wars games ever made,” says Mickjohnson. EA should have mailed it to the Marx Brothers! “Rough around the edges, but the mix of Sekiro and Uncharted with a Star Wars hat on was right up my street. The Sonic the Hedgehog bits can fuck right off though.” That’s HONKHONK. He’s swearing now because he doesn’t see the point in keeping you away from this stuff anymore.

“Was surprised by how good it was,” says UltimateKGB.

7. Fire Emblem: Three Houses

What we said: “This isn’t the game to bring together fans of the old-spec Fire Emblem and those drawn in by the appeal of the new. There’s a clear divide right through the centre of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, and its masterstroke is in bridging the two, the bonds you build away from the battlefield giving each blow taken on it that much more impact. It’s a deeply emotional tactical game, one in which you end up invested in each unit. In that way, it’s true to what’s always made Fire Emblem so special – it’s just that Three Houses expresses itself on a different scale, and a different style. Fire Emblem: Three Houses really is a game of two halves, but they come together to make one incredible whole.”

“Never has a game that disrespected my free time so much, been allowed to take up so much of my time in a bid to get all the endings.” says Gintoki.

“Dating sim and tactical RPG with three distinct factions to choose from. Love it,” says Humey26.

JackdawBlack agrees. “The best TRPG dating sim, not that we have many.”

6. Outer Wilds

What we said: “There’s a twofold joy to Outer Wilds – the thrill of discovery itself, as you slowly decipher the variables that swirl around each not-so-distant world, and of seeing that thrill reflected in a phrase scribbled centuries ago by some castaway alien boffin. It gives the game that feeling of displaced community, of mutual striving across the extinction barrier, you might otherwise associate with the Vigil scene in Mass Effect or feats of translation in the recent, excellent Heaven’s Vault. Moreover, the game’s pint-sized solar system is full of models of itself, from the star lifecycle models you’ll find in your home planet’s observatory, to the holographic sandtray projections and swivelling, Stone Henge-scale orreries left behind by the Nomai. It’s a setting mesmerised by its own intricacies, and it wants you to share in that delight. Whatever their differences on the subject of the apocalypse, I like to think that both Eisinga and Alta would have enjoyed it.”

Revfosco nails it: “I just loved the sense of freedom coupled with a slight sense of panic. Incredibly clever game too – one of those ones that makes you in awe of the writers/developers.”

There is nothing more to say about this one. A classic!

5. The Outer Worlds

What we said: “I don’t hate The Outer Worlds. Rather, what I hate about it is that it’s sufficiently unhateful that you can spend 30 hours playing it without noticing. It’s solidly-made enough that you keep hanging around in the hope of something more, like a layer of catchy percussion that never quite escalates into a song. I guess to sum things up, I would like two features to be added to the game. One is a powerful suction cannon with infinite extra-dimensional storage, so I can just gather all the loot in one fell swoop. The other is the option to hand off dialogue decisions to one of my companions, because I have no strong feelings either way, comrades. Let me do clean-up in the background, hosing down the level’s crevices with one earbud in, following the conversation absent-mindedly. According to my own character’s backstory as a janitor, that’s exactly the part I was born to play.”

Deadman316 is savage: @What a Bethesda game should be like. The choice directions are limitless, the worlds are varied in colour and activity, and the characters and quests are fun, funny and multidimensional. It’s a mini full-fat RPG we’ve been waiting for.”

“Decent shooting, decent RPG, decent story. Ticks the boxes.” That’s Lonebadger. I saw a lone badger one evening this summer coming home late. I thought it was a fox with a back problem at first, but no: a badger.

4. Control

What we said: “In other words, while it invokes the dark things that lie beneath, Control’s actually a peerless argument for the beauty of the surface. It revels in the peculiarly warm gloss of polished concrete, the simple and undeniable thrill of combat backed up with enthusiastic physics and animation, and the visual buzz of UI that has a stark, minimalist beauty to it. Without any shade of a slight, I would call Control a sort of coffee-table book in terms of its sheer visual flair – but for how dazzling it looks in motion as you wrench individual blocks from a stacked trolley, sending them thudding through the air, as you fling rockets back at the people who fired them at you, amber sparks glinting as they pass in and out of focus and then die away for good.”

Fore-warning: RaphaelR is right! “This game has everything: great style, mood, story, characters, and gameplay. And also the best sequence in a video game this year.” It says a lot that I know what bit they’re talking about.

“One of the most interesting games I’ve played in a long time,” says Switch024. @A fantastic setting that’s brilliantly realised and combat that’s always great fun.” Man, Control was GOOD.

3. Death Stranding

What we said: “As the credits roll on Death Stranding, heavy with unearned pathos, the impression you’re left with is of a self-congratulatory monument to the ego of a creator who is high on his own supply. Has Kojima always been this full of it? Maybe. But then you return to the game proper, select a humble delivery order, lace up your boots and plan another reckoning with those unforgettable, haunted moors. And you realise that this game has got under your skin in a way few do.”

Eugen-fet: “I’ve been waiting for a good Spider-Man game for years. This one delivers.” Ha ha ha! That was from last year’s list. I left it in because it included the word “delivers”. I’m great, me.

“A bonkers masterpiece,” says Monkman76. “Not for everyone but certainly my cup of tea,” says Emeritus. A lot of you said this sort of thing.

2. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

What we said: “I have no real insight to offer on the symbolism of wolves in Japanese culture and myth, but I think Sekiro may be a different beast. He’s more of a cockroach, getting in everywhere and all but impossible to expunge – the kind of wondrous, abhorrent creature that will be first to the top of the rubble pile as and when civilisation comes crashing down.”

“Great game. Great pacing. Great fighting system” says Ed-exley, who’s not bad at pacing either.

xRiska, we feel your pain: “Finished the whole game before finally learning how to play it on the last boss. 10/10 would bash my head against a wall again.”

EvilAspirin can take this one home: “A game that starts off feeling tough as nails, but becomes actually pretty easy once the parry system clicks. Playing the Samurai and perfectly deflecting multiple blows in epic fights is incredibly satisfying.”

1. Resident Evil 2 Remake

What we said: “It toes the line between schlocky and scary that the older Resident Evil games managed so well, and does so in perhaps one of the most atmospheric settings ever to grace a survival horror game. It’s good to be back in the RPD.”

“New ‘n’ shiny meets nostalgia to create one of the finest, most atmospheric games to date,” says TheDarkSide. “As soon as I played this all those months ago, it screamed GOTY from every pixel. THIS is how remakes should be done… Hell, this is how games should be done, full stop! Absolutely superb.”

Shotformeat agrees: “It’s a proper game and plays like the era its from in a way that holds up amazingly, but all dressed up in a chunky and satisfying fashion and looks and feels amazing to play. They really don’t make them like this anymore, except when they remake them with this level of care and attention to detail. My favourite game of the year. “

Let’s leave it with El Lawsonoso: “I had zero interest in horror or the Resident Evil franchise until I saw RE2 Remake. The design, the atmosphere, the escape room-style puzzles and the sense of panic when Lickers or Mr X are about are all top notch. Admittedly, the Police Station is a far more interesting environment than the later game, but for this non-horror fan (who probably won’t touch RE3 Remake, because it seems like it’s one big chase sequence that’ll give me anxiety) this is a true GOTY. I think that speaks volumes.”

Wonderful stuff! All done! Happy new year everyone! May it bring you all the very best!

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/01/eurogamer-readers-top-50-games-of-2019-%e2%80%a2-eurogamer-net/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=eurogamer-readers-top-50-games-of-2019-%25e2%2580%25a2-eurogamer-net