Pranayama is Sanskrit word and is derived from the combination of words "Prana - air or life force" and "Ayama- control mechanism".Pranayama,in its literal sense means control mechanism of the flow of the life force in and out of human body.Old Indian author Patanjali considered father of Yoga has placed lots of relevance of Pranayama in our living.The basic principle employed by Pranayama is that all living beings are given certain number of life breaths during his life cycle.Hence it is important that each and every being utilises his share of life breaths in the most sensible manner to live life longer.
To give real life example one can see that the life span of a tortoise averages 200 years as compared to Dog which averages 10-15 years.One can easily see the reason is the duration of the each breath in case of tortoise and dog.Hindus also believed in doctrine of "Food for Thought". Foods were classified as a) Sat''vik b) Rajo''tamik c) Tamasik.
The classification was purely on the grounds of the thoughts effected by intake of such food.While Satvik Food consisting mostly of Fruits, herbds and certain vegetables, Rajo''tamik consisted of Brinjal, Drumstick,etc which leads to carnal pleasures and Tamasik included meat and other varities.The Brahmin and others even today practice Pranayama on their daily routine.The 5 major challenges which are faced by human beings today are 1) Lack of good food due to side effects of of food cultivation techniques employed such as insecticides, pesticides etc and non availabilitu of natual food supplmenet 2) Lack of sufficient Sleep 3) Pollution and other hazardous External environment 4) Lack of Positive thoughts leading to low productivity 5)Lack of physical exercising.
Pranayama is supposed to relieve stres related disorders, breathing relaed disorders such as asthma,and reducing signs of oxidative stress.It also improves life expectancy provided proper amends are made into food intake.Yoga teachers recommend that pranayama techniques shoule be practiced under the guidance of a trained teacher. This article is only meant to educate the belief behind Pranayama techniques and certain benefits which can be derived from there.
Showing posts with label stress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stress. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Relieving Stress to Prevent Cancer
Dr Laurence Magne RELIEVING STRESS TO PREVENT CANCER From the office of Dr. Laurence Magne, author of www.cancer-free-for-life.com. It is now agreed that stress is not what happens, but how the person reacts to what happens. Stress in itself is neither good nor bad. It is a mechanism built into our organism, not for the purpose of making us sick, but to enable us to respond more effectively to challenges.
The successful people who can handle stress effectively have designed techniques to manage the inevitable stressors in their life. You will note that the most truly successful people are not overburdened with stress. They actually perceive stress as an opportunity for learning and achievement. They also possess a disciplined self-awareness and the flexibility to handle excessive amounts of stress. Individual techniques which they qualified as tools for developing a consistently positive attitude toward life included: Deep breathing, Listening to music Long walks on the beach Traditional meditation Yoga practices Prayer Biofeedback Visualization The silent repetition of a meaningful word or mantra Relying on stress management techniques alone to accomplish the rapeutic goals is shortsighted.
You must also take a good look at what drives your life. To learn more how you can stop cancer in your life, read Cancer Free For Life. Finding a purpose in life: feeling that you have a role to fulfill in the universe which gives you an unwavering commitment to your values. The stress management techniques described above are only tools to reinforce your sense of purpose. Victor Frankl: Man’s search for meaning. “Man finds identity to the extent to which he commits himself to something beyond himself, to acause greater than himself. ’Research also shows that purpose is beneficial to psychological health, alleviating such conditions as depression and anxiety and physical health and contributing to recovery from heart attacks and cancer.
A majority of people with stress-related disorders are actually suffering from an inner feeling of unworthiness that generates an impressive array of coping strategies all aimed at self-perfection. The person you think you are is actually a committee of sub-personalities, each doing its best to keep you safe from situation that threatened you in the past. Most of us still harbor the emotional ghosts or ourselves as children, frightened and insecure. Healing our guilt involves putting these ghosts to rest by giving them the love they need to let go of their self-protective fear. Unhealthy guilt is an autoimmune disease of the soul that causes us to literally reject our own worth as human beings.
Unhealthy guilt causes life to become organized around the need to avoid fear rather than the desire to share love. Finding out who we are is the very process of life. As long as we are prisoners of guilt, we cannot discover who we are, we are too busy with people-pleasing, and our addiction top refection, to really live each moment as it happens. The question is not how we will die, but how we will live. Our inner critic tells us that we never good enough, never worthy of our own love. In spite of all our achievements, peace and acceptance remain elusive, and we are guilty and stressed.
We have forgotten who we really are. We are searching for our worthiness in all the wrong places. We forget that we access our real identity whenever the mind becomes quiet and we are fully present in the moment. But whenever our guard is down, yielding to the majesty of a sunset, the caress of a breeze, the silence of a heartfelt hug, we re-experience the inner current of joy and love that is always present After all, what else can mobilize us to overcome the inertia of day-to-day life? It’s the crisis and pain which are the universal awakeners. In facing our dark parts, the disowned parts of our being that we thought were unworthy of love, we learn to live whole, authentic lives. In the shadow, we find the power that allows us to live life with enthusiasm, excitement, and joy, the natural impulses lost from our child hood. In becoming psychologically whole, we mend our souls and becomes spiritually whole. We discover loving-kindness and compassion, the ability to suffer with.
The successful people who can handle stress effectively have designed techniques to manage the inevitable stressors in their life. You will note that the most truly successful people are not overburdened with stress. They actually perceive stress as an opportunity for learning and achievement. They also possess a disciplined self-awareness and the flexibility to handle excessive amounts of stress. Individual techniques which they qualified as tools for developing a consistently positive attitude toward life included: Deep breathing, Listening to music Long walks on the beach Traditional meditation Yoga practices Prayer Biofeedback Visualization The silent repetition of a meaningful word or mantra Relying on stress management techniques alone to accomplish the rapeutic goals is shortsighted.
You must also take a good look at what drives your life. To learn more how you can stop cancer in your life, read Cancer Free For Life. Finding a purpose in life: feeling that you have a role to fulfill in the universe which gives you an unwavering commitment to your values. The stress management techniques described above are only tools to reinforce your sense of purpose. Victor Frankl: Man’s search for meaning. “Man finds identity to the extent to which he commits himself to something beyond himself, to acause greater than himself. ’Research also shows that purpose is beneficial to psychological health, alleviating such conditions as depression and anxiety and physical health and contributing to recovery from heart attacks and cancer.
A majority of people with stress-related disorders are actually suffering from an inner feeling of unworthiness that generates an impressive array of coping strategies all aimed at self-perfection. The person you think you are is actually a committee of sub-personalities, each doing its best to keep you safe from situation that threatened you in the past. Most of us still harbor the emotional ghosts or ourselves as children, frightened and insecure. Healing our guilt involves putting these ghosts to rest by giving them the love they need to let go of their self-protective fear. Unhealthy guilt is an autoimmune disease of the soul that causes us to literally reject our own worth as human beings.
Unhealthy guilt causes life to become organized around the need to avoid fear rather than the desire to share love. Finding out who we are is the very process of life. As long as we are prisoners of guilt, we cannot discover who we are, we are too busy with people-pleasing, and our addiction top refection, to really live each moment as it happens. The question is not how we will die, but how we will live. Our inner critic tells us that we never good enough, never worthy of our own love. In spite of all our achievements, peace and acceptance remain elusive, and we are guilty and stressed.
We have forgotten who we really are. We are searching for our worthiness in all the wrong places. We forget that we access our real identity whenever the mind becomes quiet and we are fully present in the moment. But whenever our guard is down, yielding to the majesty of a sunset, the caress of a breeze, the silence of a heartfelt hug, we re-experience the inner current of joy and love that is always present After all, what else can mobilize us to overcome the inertia of day-to-day life? It’s the crisis and pain which are the universal awakeners. In facing our dark parts, the disowned parts of our being that we thought were unworthy of love, we learn to live whole, authentic lives. In the shadow, we find the power that allows us to live life with enthusiasm, excitement, and joy, the natural impulses lost from our child hood. In becoming psychologically whole, we mend our souls and becomes spiritually whole. We discover loving-kindness and compassion, the ability to suffer with.
Stress Will Make You Fat!
It’s true, stress can make you fat. It’s because of a hormone called cortisol. This hormone is always present in your body, but your body secretes it at higher levels when it’s under stress. Cortisol has positive effects on when it’s secreted in small amounts – it gives you bursts of energy, increases memory function and lowers pain sensitivity.
However, when secreted I larger amounts, Cortisol can have negative effects on your body and your health. It is necessary for us to reduce our stress level to keep cortisol levels under control. The thing is, we live in such a high-stress culture that some people’s secretion of cortisol doesn’t slow down and they live in a state of what is called chronic stress. Chronic stress sufferers end up having many negative effects because of the high levels of cortisol in their systems. The effects include blood sugar imbalances, high blood pressure and increased abdominal fat. This is caused partially by the fact the people who secrete high levels of cortisol tend to eat more in general, and more specifically carbohydrates, than their counterparts who secrete less cortisol during stressful situations. This excess abdominal fat alone can be detrimental to your health because it increases your risks of heart attacks, strokes, and bad cholesterol. The best way to combat the negative effects of high levels of cortisolis to give yourself opportunities to reduce your stress and “kick-in“ your body’s relaxation mechanisms.
Most people do know that physical exercise is a great stress reliever. But what they don’t know is that most traditional forms of exercise such as running, walking and jogging and aerobics classes only serve to help reduce the body’s physical effects of stress. To get the full benefits of physical and mental stress reduction, people need to find activities that work their bodies and minds. Training martial arts does this. It’s impossible to train martial arts without fully concentrating on what you are doing. This concentration helps your mind relieve its stress as well. Activities like martial arts that require you to concentrate on your movements and core strength give you a well-rounded stress relief; not just on your body, but on your mind as well.
At the Academy of Kempo Martial Arts we use Shoalin breathing methods effectively accomplishing this goal of combating everyday stress. These kung fu breathing methods (which have been refined over 1500 years) include physical movements which relieve the physical symptoms of stress, and breathing patterns which clear the mind and relieve mental stress. Training these methods will help to bring down your levels of cortisol, which can help relieve another stressor in your life…, needing to lose those few extra pounds. So if your diet isn’t working it might be stress. Combat stress and get in better shape by training the mind and the body with martial arts. Combined with a healthy diet and a positive life style you can’t beat it!
However, when secreted I larger amounts, Cortisol can have negative effects on your body and your health. It is necessary for us to reduce our stress level to keep cortisol levels under control. The thing is, we live in such a high-stress culture that some people’s secretion of cortisol doesn’t slow down and they live in a state of what is called chronic stress. Chronic stress sufferers end up having many negative effects because of the high levels of cortisol in their systems. The effects include blood sugar imbalances, high blood pressure and increased abdominal fat. This is caused partially by the fact the people who secrete high levels of cortisol tend to eat more in general, and more specifically carbohydrates, than their counterparts who secrete less cortisol during stressful situations. This excess abdominal fat alone can be detrimental to your health because it increases your risks of heart attacks, strokes, and bad cholesterol. The best way to combat the negative effects of high levels of cortisolis to give yourself opportunities to reduce your stress and “kick-in“ your body’s relaxation mechanisms.
Most people do know that physical exercise is a great stress reliever. But what they don’t know is that most traditional forms of exercise such as running, walking and jogging and aerobics classes only serve to help reduce the body’s physical effects of stress. To get the full benefits of physical and mental stress reduction, people need to find activities that work their bodies and minds. Training martial arts does this. It’s impossible to train martial arts without fully concentrating on what you are doing. This concentration helps your mind relieve its stress as well. Activities like martial arts that require you to concentrate on your movements and core strength give you a well-rounded stress relief; not just on your body, but on your mind as well.
At the Academy of Kempo Martial Arts we use Shoalin breathing methods effectively accomplishing this goal of combating everyday stress. These kung fu breathing methods (which have been refined over 1500 years) include physical movements which relieve the physical symptoms of stress, and breathing patterns which clear the mind and relieve mental stress. Training these methods will help to bring down your levels of cortisol, which can help relieve another stressor in your life…, needing to lose those few extra pounds. So if your diet isn’t working it might be stress. Combat stress and get in better shape by training the mind and the body with martial arts. Combined with a healthy diet and a positive life style you can’t beat it!
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