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Journalism of Courage
Stress is an inalienable part of life. A little stress is good for heightened performance. But sustained stress is clinically damaging as hormones like cortisol flood the body and suppress the immune system, elevate blood pressure and trigger cardio problems, anxiety, depression, plaques in the heart and so on. A Gallup survey in 2021 had shown that 42 per cent people experienced a lot of worry and 41 per cent stress.
Since stress is here to stay, the positive side is that yoga offers easy, non-intrusive relief. This has now been backed up by research. KN Udupa, director of the Institute of Medical Sciences, Benares Hindu University, Varanasi, did a psychological testing of his subjects who performed yoga asanas and found that they had the following results:
1. A lowered neuroticism index
2. Decreased rate of mental fatigue, even after stress
3. Increased feelings of well-being
4. Increased memory
5. Dominant alpha waves correlating with enhanced relaxation and feelings of creativity.
Yogamudra asana: This universal supplication posture should be done with an attitude of surrender. This asana calms the mind, ensures better blood flow to the brain and helps refresh it.
· Sit erect, but relaxed, in padmasana or a simple crossed-legged pose.
· Interlock your fingers and place your arms behind your back. They should remain there throughout the practice.
· Close your eyes. Inhale deep and raise your hands straight over your head. Simultaneously, visualise internally that your breath is going up from the tail bone towards the eye-brow centre along the hollow of the spinal cord.
· As you exhale, slowly lower your arms, head and torso without lifting your hips off the floor, until forehead is resting on the floor. Simultaneously, visualise your breath is travelling down from the eyebrow centre to the tail bone along the spinal cord.
· Your arms remain relaxed behind you.
· Stay in the final position until you feel like inhaling.
· Inhale and come back to the starting position again, visualising your breath going up from the tail bone to eyebrow centre.
· This completes one round.
· Do three rounds for a week and then develop to five rounds with awareness of your spinal cord breathing.
Bhujang asana: This backward bending asana completes further manipulation of the spine and nerves by executing a backward bend. It opens up the lungs and brings in calmness when the final position is held with five rounds of deep breathing in and out.
· Lie on your stomach, feet together, toes stretched out.
· Place your palms along the shoulder but a little away from the body.
· Keep elbows close to the body.
· Place your forehead on the floor, close your eyes.
· As you inhale, visualise your breath going up from the tailbone to the eyebrow centre, simultaneously raising and tilting the head back, with your chin pointing forward and the back of the neck compressed.
· Then slowly raise your trunk, using your back muscles and then straightening the elbows as support.
· Come up to the navel and a little more.
· Stay in this position.
· To come back to base position, start exhaling with spinal cord breathing, lowering navel, chest, shoulders and finally placing the forehead on the floor. Do three to five rounds.
Ujjayi pranayama: This pranayama soothes the nervous system, calms the mind, has a profound relaxing effect on the psyche and relieves insomnia.
· Sit in any meditational or comfortable pose. Close your eyes and relax your body.
· Take note of your own breathing till it becomes calm and regular.
· Shift awareness to your throat and visualise and feel the breath in the throat area.
· After a few breaths, slightly contract the glottis and you will hear your own breath like soft snoring.
· Continue deep breathing in and out for 10 rounds.
