Healing with yoga: 7 stories of resilience and hope

  Are the wedding bells and bills giving you the jitters? Or have you been carrying that tensed look everywhere lately? Wedding, I'm sure you'll agree, is like restarting your life with a new identity and new people. The stress factor (or better still, uncertainty) is then considered a given. What can we do at such times to allay our fears or manage the stress? The following are a few helpful tips that can give your wedding a head start. #1 Understand The Factors That Give You Stress If you've ever solved a complex mathematical equation in your life, you will agree that half your work is done the moment you crack those unknown variables. Pre-wedding stress is as good as a set of complex equations, and half your problems will be solved the moment you realize exactly what is bugging you. "If you are able to figure out what stresses you before wedding, half your problems are managed", quotes Dr Dinal Vora, MD, Homoeopathic Psychiatrist, and wedding Counselor, Angels ...

  “In meditation, healing can happen. When the mind is calm, alert and totally contented, then it is like a laser beam – it is very powerful and healing can happen.” ~ Gurudev  Sri Sri  Ravi Shankar Just like how only a healthy bud can blossom, similarly, only when we are healthy can we blossom to our full potential. To attain a perfect state of health, one has to be mentally calm, steady and emotionally stable. ‘Swasthya’ means health. It also means being in one's self. Swasthya or health is not just confined to the body and the mind but is also connected with consciousness. The clearer one’s consciousness, the more one’s sense of well-being increases. Listed below are 6 ways how meditation has the power to heal: 1. Meditation increases prana (life energy) Prana  (life energy) is the basis of health and well-being for both, the body and mind. You can gain prana through meditation. When your body is alive with more  prana , you feel alert, energetic, and fu...

  53-year-old Peter Mittermuller is an environmental engineer by profession. He wanted to save the environment from global warming. But he soon realized that in order to save the environment outside, we first need to save another environment inside us that is polluted with stress and anxiety. That’s when he started teaching ameditation to people and started a revolution for  finding inner peace. Among the thousands that he has taught were trauma-struck people too. He believes that meditation is the best way to relieve people of trauma. Here he shares some success stories of how meditation can provide trauma relief to people. Q1 Could you talk a little about how you got introduced to meditation and your journey from being a non-meditator to a meditator? In the early 70s, I was working as an environmental engineer. At that time,global warming had just started to emerge as a problem.As an environmental engineer, I wanted to help the environment. So we started working towards that...

  Often we look around for the secrets of happiness. Everyone wishes to be happy, perhaps every day. Be it in meeting friends, traveling, enjoying a good meal or pursuing hobbies and talents, the search for lasting happiness seems endless. But, what if you’re told that this is not an elusive search and more than not, it could end within the four walls of your home? What if you’re to be told that one person who can well qualify to be an inspiration in your pursuit is your granny?   A long life with many moments of pain, yet a granny’s face radiates with happiness, be it 7 am or 10 pm. What is granny’s secret? How does an 85-year-old granny smile all the time? How does she find joy in the littlest of things? How can she accept everybody at home and still be happy in their company? Do you remember seeing her unwilling to give or share?   Granny has many secrets, like secret recipes for good health, secret ingredients to treat an ailment and secrets of life too. Granny’s secr...

  #7 Learn a few relaxation techniques this season One of the relaxation techniques that we can offer is the Sudarshan Kriya (SK), a unique breathing and relaxation technique that has proven to be an effective cure in healing patients with migraine. SK is associated with an increase in GaBa levels, the absence of which is a cause of migraine and anxiety. It also relaxes our nervous system while balancing stress hormones, the imbalance of which accounts for 80% of migraine cases worldwide.  Know more about Sudarshan Kriya The Brahmari pranayama, when done prior to the Sudarshan Kriya, releases serotonin and helps address post-partum and menstrual migraine. "It stimulates the upper respiratory tract sensitive to a migraine attack", adds Dr. Shiksha. Rajaque Rahman, a former journalist who once had a chronic case of migraine, practices Sudarshan Kriya regularly and has found it to be a life-changing experience. "It has been thirteen years since my last migraine attack and m...

  The most learned professor in the Ivy League school, the shrewd banker at the stock exchange, the metro train driver, the farmer and a waiter at a busy restaurant, they all might have their own lives round the clock. Yet they all will let go and experience the same rest and relaxation in their sleep. Sleep is the most basic yet the most essential aspect of our physical and mental well-being. Our lifestyle changes and work commitments disturb our harmony with sleep and might put us to fatigue during the day. A few tips can help you create a marked difference to your sleeping patterns and keep your day more active and productive. 1 Make Your Bedroom More Sleep Friendly     The most primary element to your sleep is a  meditation   relaxing bedtime environment. A tranquil and serene environment with no bright lights sets the right tone to sleep. The right ventilation depending on the climate will add to the sleep experience. Avoid having flashy or bright lights i...

  At a time when everyone, including strangers on the internet and digital entities like social media ads, is fighting hard for your attention, staying focused is a challenge. Our digital lives coupled with stress, anxiety, low energy levels, and fatigue have reduced our ability to focus and work efficiently, even for someone with great concentration power.   Take quality relaxing breaks Focus is an inbuilt natural function. It is possible to enhance it naturally simply by relaxing the mind. Engaging your mind with interesting videos and social media does not count as quality relaxation.  Go old school when you want to relax. Walk, catch up with a colleague, listen to some relaxing music, meditate, or do refreshing  face yoga  for 7-minutes. “Take ten to fifteen minutes of break after every hour of deep work and you will notice your ability to focus has improved,” says Khurshed Batliwala, Author of Ready, Study and Go!   Meditate daily A study by the Univer...