Stress Relief By Yoga

Stress seems to be the root cause of ill health – physical and mental. Stress results in problems like insomnia, anxiety, nervousness, weight gain/lose, heart disease, arthritis, weakness of immune system, loneliness, hypertension and menstrual disorders etc.

Here are some ways to overcome stress:

1. Aman Mudra
Sit cross–legged or on a chair, with your back straight, but not stiff. Join the palms together at the centre of the body, with the base of the palms and fingers touching softly, just below their tips. (as in picture) Stay in this position as long as comfortable. It can be 30 seconds or more. Practice this regularly once a day, at a fixed time, convenient to you.

2. Four Step Breathing
a. Chest Breathing: Inhale and expand your chest. Then exhale and relax your chest. This is one round of chest breathing. Do this ten times.
b. Abdominal Breathing: Inhale and expand your abdomen. Then exhale and relax. Do this ten times.
c. Yogic Breathing: Inhale and first expand your abdomen, then expand your chest. Exhale and relax your abdomen first and then your chest. Do this ten times too.
d. Tadan Breathing or Ajgari Mudra: Inhale from both the nostrils slowly. While inhaling expand your abdomen making it like a pot
belly. Hold for 5 seconds, then exhale from your nose and pull your stomach in while exhaling. Do ten rounds of this.

3. Om Mantra Dhyan
Sit in a comfortable meditative pose with eyes gently closed. Keep your back straight and upright, shoulders relaxed. Place both hands in “Ghyan Mudra”.(Touch tip of the index finger with tip of the thumb keeping other three fingers straight to form Ghyan Mudra) Now silently recite the “Om” mantra and focus your mind on the rhythmic flow of this mantra. Practice this dhyan for at least 15 times daily. Slowly increase the time as per time available.

4. Progressive Relaxation Technique
Sit in padma asana or sukh asana. Now inhale and tense your body for a few seconds or as long as possible. Then exhale and relax your body.
You can use this exercise to relax, whichever part of your body is feeling tense. It can be done anywhere and at any time.

5. Warm Up Cup Therapy
Rub your hands together vigorously until they become warm. Then cup them over your closed eyes
for five seconds, while you breathe deeply.

6. Mini Self Massage
Massage the palm of one hand by making a circular motion with the thumb of the other hand. Do
this exercise on both hands.

7. Nadi Shodhana Pranayama
Nadi means channel or flow of energy and shoudhana means purification.
Sit in a comfortable meditative posture. Keep the head and spine upright. Relax the whole body and close eyes. Then with the thumb of the right hand close the right nostril. Now breathe in through left nostril. Then close the left nostril with ring finger and release the pressure of the thumb on the right nostril while breathing out through the right nostril. Now inhale through the right nostril. Hold the breath, then release the left nostril and breathe out. This is one round. Do this for at least 20 rounds.

Benefits: The whole body is nourished by an extra supply of oxygen, while carbon dioxide is efficiently expelled and blood purified of toxins. This pranayama increases vitality and lowers level of stress and anxiety by harmonizing the prana.

8. Shavasana
Lie flat on the back with arms about 15 cms away from the body, palms facing upwards, fingers of both hands slightly curled up. Close your eyes. The head and spine should be in a straight line. Relax the whole body and be still. Become aware of your natural breathing and with every inhalation, chant the word SO and with every exhalation think of the word HUM. Repeat this mantra for 5 to 10 minutes, or according to time available.

Benefits: This asana relaxes the whole psycho–physiological system. It should be practiced before sleep. Try not to move the body while doing this asana, as the slightest movement will create muscular contraction. This asana is very useful for high blood pressure patients, heart patients, depression and stress.

www.yogagurusuneelsingh.com

BOTOX SHOTS TO KILL MIGRAINE

BOTOX SHOTS TO KILL MIGRAINE
MUMBAI: There's a shot of relief for patients who suffer recurrent and intolerable migraines. In what is emerging as a good treatment option, Botox injections are now being used to provide pain relief to those with chronic headaches.

For many, like 20-year-old Gayatri Balasubramaniam from Chembur, the little-known treatment option brought loads of cheer.

"Her headaches were unbearable. She would cringe and cry in pain. There were days we had to wake up her physician at two in the morning, only so that he could give her a pain-relief injection,"recalls Gayatri's grandmother. In fact, the recurrent migraine became a stumbling block for the budding fashion designer.

With not much awareness, Gayatri was at first skeptical about trying out the new treatment. Botox or botulinum toxin now popularly associated with beauty treatments — widely used for ironing out wrinkles and frown lines — has huge benefits for treating neurological and movement disorders.

TOI had earlier highlighted how botox offers hope to patients of cerebral palsy, besides being widely used for dystonia, squints, sweaty armpits and palms.

Chronic migraines can now be added to that list. "Botox injections have two benefits to patients of chronic migraines.

They relax the muscles of the forehead, besides reducing the pain effect,"explains founder of Houston Headache Clinic and former president of the International Headache Society, Dr Ninan Mathew.

"We introduce botox treatment only when drugs fail to work and the pain impairs the normal functioning of patients,"says specialist in headache management at Jaslok Hospital Dr K Ravishankar.

There is a caveat. Patients need to be selected with care, as migraines — identified by throbbing pain at the temples — differ from individual to individual and can be triggered by different factors
such as irregular sleep, changing weather or stress.

Consultant neurologist at Hinduja Hospital Charulata Sankhla adds a word of caution. "While Botox has no side-effects, the shots should be given by a trained specialist,"she said.