Tension and emotional stress, how we deal with it?
You are tense, nervous, worried, and unable even to relax in bed, but you are not alone. When you get all tied up in knots, you can feel like you’re losing your mind. And you take relaxation pills, pep pills, tranquillizers, anything to give you a ‘lift’ And then wonder at the resulting unpleasant side effects.
Could Yoga be the answer?
Clearly, without question, it can do that.
Yoga doesn’t like drugs and you know, your body does not either so if the so-called orthodox methods have failed to establish an easing of tension in your overworked body and over-worried mind then why not try Yoga’s way? Yoga is proven to be effective when medicine no longer works.
Proper breathing is intrinsically linked with relaxation, with the emotions, with the health of the body itself. Your thoughts mirror your breathing style, and as such, your mind will be affected if your breathing is off balance.
Through your daily experiences, you can confirm this to be true. When you are watching television, absorbed in a book, or listening to an interesting talk on your radio. Your breathing processes become slow. When your mind is afflicted by anger, or sorrow, the breath becomes irregular and choppy. If you are scared you breathe and seize your breath, and if you are uninterested you yawn.
The exercises formulated by the Yogis of ancient times in connection with the respiratory tract are all based on a close observation of the body’s natural impulses. Most people neglect this bodily function so much that they barely inhale enough oxygen to maintain living.
Mind and breath, then, being interdependent, you must learn how to breathe properly if you want to calm your mind and rid yourself of your worries and frustrations in everyday life. Your breathing is slow and steady when you are relaxed so if you learn to control your breathing, you can help your mind reach that state of restfullness. If you are breathing in a calm and controlled manner,you can’t be worried and upset,and if your breath is coming out in hurried jerks you can’t remain calm.
So first things first.
I want you to try the Yoga COMPLETE BREATH which employs the lower, middle and upper lung. It is sometimes divided into three-diaphragmatic, inter costal, and clavicular breathing-but in its correct form the Yoga COMPLETE BREATH should employ all three sections in one fluid intake of breath. You should take it easy if you are a beginner.
Lie flat on a solid surface like the floor, without pillows, and rest your hands over your diaphragm. When you are practicing yoga always remenber to wear loose clothing, and females need to loosen their bras.
The technique ” Complete Breath Slowly” involves exhaling as much air as possible from your lungs. As you inhale air through your mouth, do so very, very slowly so that you breathe the air in evenly without any unexpected bursts. If your hands are positioned evenly above your diaphragm you will locate that this is the primary part to spread out.
As your inhalation progresses you will feel a very slight retraction of your lower abdomen. When you are taking a breath in you will notice your shoulders rise, and your lungs expand. Slowly exhale through the mouth, using slight force. Expel as much air as possible by contracting your abdomen each time you breathe out. Lie quietly for a few minutes after you have taken your first Complete Breath.
Do not try to sit upright for a bit of time or you can feel minor faintness or wooziness because of hyperventilation produced by an unexpected, too much, and unfamiliar inhale of oxygen.
If you get dizzy from the breathing, relax, it just means you needed to do it and it will pass.
When beginning this exercise work carefully at first and with a little practice you will soon be able to do it without pain or difficulty. Once you reach this phase, you can do this exercises sitting straight with your hands placed in your lap and your head level or you can stand straight up placing your hands by your sides. Always, of course, practise Yoga breathing exercises before an open window and if at all possible, in the open air.
For the first few days, take no more than two Yoga Complete Breaths a day, but then, you can increase the number gradually, ad lib, to to to sixty full breaths per day.
This should be a slow process and you should allow yourself quite some time before attempting the full quota of sixty a day. At first, be content to take just a few at a time.
Keep your chin up and I’ll see you real soon.
Gaylene
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