DIAPHRAGMATIC BREATHING

Use the relaxation posture and practice diaphragmatic breathing for a minimum of ten to fifteen minutes twice a day.
The easiest time to practice is when you go to bed and when you first wake up in the morning. Doing it before you sleep will help you have a restful sleep.
In the relaxation posture, place your right hand on your navel, and left hand on the upper part of the chest.
Now inhale, as you inhale, your right hand will rise and as you exhale your right hand will fall.
Instead of chest going up and down, the stomach moves out and in as if you are filling a small balloon in your stomach.
This should be very gentle, no effort or work is required. Don’t try to completely fill or empty your lungs; let your body decide how much air it needs. There should be no movement at all in the left hand.
You should feel a slight movement in the lower portion of the chest cavity but the upper portion should remain still.
(Within a few moments you will become more rested and quiet.)
Do not try to force the breath.
Allow the motion to be gentle and effortless.
Notice how easy it is to breathe deeply and easily, without any effort.
Practice being an observer, or witness, allowing the body to do the breathing for you.
The evenness and balance of the breath will balance the nervous system.

BENEFITS:

It leads to autonomic balance and a relaxed state.

You will be less tired at the end of the day.

After a few moments of even, rhythmic diaphragmatic breathing, the feelings of pressure will disappear and you will feel more balanced and calm.
Chest breathing is our body’s emergency breathing.

Breathing techniques are used to solve a variety of problems, ranging from stress and anxiety and anger management to post-surgical care and treatment of stuttering.
Next time you feel pressure, or you are beginning to get tense, sit back and take two minutes to practice diaphragmatic breathing. Focus on your breath becoming very even and steady. Watch what happens to the pressure you feel. The situation will not have changed – the deadlines are still there, people are still making demands, problems still need your attention – but the pressure you felt have dissipated. Whenever you feel stressed or under pressure, you can use breath to restore your inner balance. The more you do this, the more skilled you become, and the greater benefit you gain.

EXERCISE

Exercise is necessary to maintain a healthy body. There are many forms which people follow like the cardiovascular, aerobics, & tai chi etc. here our focus will be to use exercise to increase inner awareness as well as to enhance flexibility.
These simple sets of exercises will strengthen mind and body, build balance and co-ordination as well as strengthen and enhance concentration and confidence.
If you exercise regularly, you will recognize that there are times when your exercise doesn’t seem very helpful. It happens only when the mind is not properly engaged. Whenever the body is exercising but the mind is not involved, the exercise yields fewer benefits.
If we want to use the exercise as a tool to increase our self-mastery, we must pay attention to how the exercise affects the body and mind. We must co-ordinate mind, body and action and this takes attention, which is the key to successful exercise.
With concentration and comfortable breathing you will be able to stretch much farther than you thought. By moving gently and relaxing in to the posture, you begin, you begin to develop the most important skill that comes from exercising. By paying close attention to the internal feelings and movements, you become conscious of the subtle feedback cues of the muscles and the systems involved. This increased sensitivity leads to a greater conscious control over these muscles and systems.

When you exercise, it helps to keep several points in mind:

Be consistent. Set a specific time each day for your practice and practice at least a little each day. Don’t rush – take the time you need to do them properly. Consistency builds very helpful habits.
Morning and evening are the two best times to practice. Morning exercise helps you remain calm and alert during the day. In the evening, the exercises help relieve the days tension so that you can enjoy a peaceful night’s sleep.
Do the exercises in a clean, quiet and well-ventilated room. Wear loose, comfortable clothing.
Always practice on an empty stomach.
Do not become discouraged if your body does not respond the same way each day. Just practice regularly and don’t compete with others or yourself.
Study your body and its movements. Be aware of your capacity and learn not to go beyond it. Your capacity will increase with practice.
Let the body movement’s flow evenly and gently with the breath. Do not hold your breath at any time unless specifically instructed to do so.
Follow any exertion with relaxation. However, do not allow the mind to drift toward sleep while you relax.

Breath – vital force in our body

Breath is the most powerful tool we have for achieving self-mastery. Yet we don’t pay much attention to breath until it isn’t there. Because of its unique relationship to the autonomic nervous system, the powerful nervous system that controls organ systems, breathing plays the critical role in determining whether or not we suffer from stress. Breath is part of both the voluntary or sensorimotor nervous system and the involuntary or autonomic nervous system. We can either consciously control the way we breath or let it run on automatic. This dual connection allows us to use the breath as a doorway to the autonomic nervous system, giving us the control we need to regulate autonomic balance and eliminate stress.

ACTIVITY:

Let’s explore the relationship between breathing and the autonomic system. Take a finger and find a place where you can feel your own pulse, either on the inside of your wrists or in your neck. Pay attention to your pulse for a few moments. Notice that your pulse doesn’t tick like a clock. Instead it fluctuates slightly. There is a slight slowing and speeding up of your pulse. This gentle rhythm is related to another process going on in your body.
As you keep track of your pulse, pay attention to your breath. As you inhale, notice how your pulse begins to speed up, and as you exhale, your pulse begins to slow down. (This is called sinus arrhythmia, and is a healthy and natural rhythm or fluctuation in your pulse.) Your pulse is controlled by the autonomic nervous system, the control system that controls your organ systems. The sympathetic arm of the autonomic system, which creates arousal in the body, speeds up the heart rate. The parasympathetic arm, which creates rest for the body, slows the heart rate.
Taking charge of your breath is the crucial “first step” to self-mastery. If you know the secrets of breathing, you learn the secret to controlling the physical reactions to fear and self-hatred. Not only do you now have control of your stress reactions, but also have a powerful tool to begin to take control of your emotional reactions and the two dragons - fear and self-hatred.

RELAXATION

To be relaxed at work doesn’t mean you walk around like a wet noodle, but rather you work without tense shoulder muscles, a clenched jaw, or a hectic mind. Practicing deep relaxation quiets your organ systems, eliminates chronic tension, strengthens your immune system, and helps you stay calm and focused during daily activities.

Deep relaxation: Exercises Recommended by stress management professional.

The best time to practice relaxation is when no one will disturb you at for at least fifteen minutes. At the end of a workday go to a quite room and take 15 minutes to clear your mind and body of stress and tension, and all the pressures from work. At first, it may be difficult to take this time when your family wants attention. But if you persist, you will find that you feel more refreshed and calm, and your interactions with your family and friends will be much better.
Obviously, the more you practice, the more skillful you become. Start with fifteen minutes a day; as you gain skill, the time required shortens dramatically. After you have built your skill, never spend more than five minutes doing relaxation.
You will soon realize that the harder you try to relax, the tenser you become. Relaxation is like floating; simply lie back and allow it to happen.
People often tell me that their favorite relaxation technique is to listen to music. Obviously, certain kinds of music and sounds will help you to relax; but listening to music or whales communicating with each other does not teach you the skill of deep relaxation, nor will the relaxation be as complete or as deep. Also you won’t always have the opportunity to turn on your stereo or plug in your earphones. If you have the skill, you can relax any time, in any situation.

DIET

In our culture many of our eating habits can only be called abusive. Although we have become much more sophisticated about nutrition, our knowledge and practices are primitive and our attitudes are disrespectful. We forget that diet is the basis for physical health and has a profound impact on our emotional health.
Our special attention to our food should be in terms of freshness and quality. It should be simple yet nutritious. We don’t pay attention to the quality of food we eat, and we allow junk food to dominate. We don’t prepare or cook our food properly. We eat too fast. We eat when we are tense and under pressure. The stress that all this creates is evident in the high and increasing incidence of digestive diseases such as Crohn’s disease, ulcers and diverticulitis.
Our dietary problems are serious, but we can do a great deal to minimize them with a little understanding and a few simple practices. The digestive system involves two complementary processes – nourishing and cleansing. If we don’t build the proper habits, the body gradually builds up toxins, which lead to mental and physical diseases. To prevent dietary misery, we have basically three areas to manage: what we eat, how we eat, and when we eat.

THE QUALITY OF FOOD WE EAT

The foods most conducive to health are fresh, simple and nutritious. But amazingly enough, fully 60 to 70 percent of the average Indian diet of sub optimal nutritional value. This is because what we eat is of little or no value. Refined sugar, for instance, which contains absolutely no nutrients, makes up about 25 percent of our diets. Fats, which also contain no nutrients, make up about 45 percent. For many, this combination of fats and refined sugar constitutes as much as 70 percent of their food intake. However, to process refined sugar and fats, the body must utilize nutrients.
Besides increasing our nutrient debt, refined sugar leads to a number of other serious problems, such as obesity, a serious and prevalent problem in our society.

What happens when we take refined sugar in our body?

When sugar is refined, the body does not need to process or digest it in order to absorb it in to bloodstream. The sugar is immediately absorbed, leading to a quick increase in blood sugar levels. If, for instance, you eat a chocolate on an empty stomach, this precipitous rise in blood sugar keys a high insulin release to break down the sucrose so the body can use the sugar. This large insulin output reaches the bloodstream just as the blood sugar is dropping; it causes the blood sugar level to plummet below normal levels; and we feel depressed and enervated. Since we don’t like to feel that way, we take another sugar hit, creating the same blood sugar spiking and over production of insulin as before.
The precipitous rise and decline in sugar often leads to a strain on the lives, which has to clear the insulin from the blood stream, as well as imbalances in insulin production. This in turn can lead to both hypoglycemia and diabetes. A more serious consequence is the danger posed to the nervous system- such as a diabetic coma. Low blood sugar can also intensify emotional problems, anxiety, and restlessness as well as tiredness and depression. Physical problems related to high sugar intake include kidney irregularity, fluctuations in blood pressure, and adrenal imbalances.
If instead we eat an apple, which has to be digested before the sugar is available, a very different process occurs. The sugar in an apple consists of both sucrose and fructose. You don’t need insulin to process fructose inside the body as you do with sucrose. Second you must take apple through a digestive process to get to the sucrose. Not only the level of sucrose lower, but the sucrose is released over a period of time as you digest the apple. This keys a much smaller production of insulin, creating less work for the liver. Unlike the chocolate with its refined sugar, an apple satisfies your nutritional needs without stressing your system. Blood sugar is a the major fuel for our cells, but we can usually get enough naturally occurring sugar in fresh fruits, vegetables and grains. When we need a break, a relaxation or breathing exercise would be far more helpful. These reduce stress, clear our minds and leave us feeling wonderfully refreshed.
Since independence the consumption of soft drinks has gone up by 80 percent, pastries by 70 percent and potato chips by 85 percent. On the other hand, the consumption of dairy products has decreased by 21 percent, vegetables by 23 percent and fruits by 25 percent.
How we eat is just as important as what we eat. Unfortunately, most of us are in too much of a hurry to take the time to really chew and taste our food.
After two, three or four quick chews, we swallow it, expecting the rest of our overworked system to break it down further. But contrary to popular belief, neither the stomach nor the liver has teeth. Neither can adequately break down pieces of foods that have been reduced in size just enough to be swallowed.
There are several important consequences of gulping down food. First, the digestive process is incomplete. Gulping food prevents the proper mixture of digestive enzymes with the food and interferes with the absorption of nutrients that is supposed to occur in the mouth. This creates stress within the entire digestive system. And when gulping food becomes a habit, the stress becomes chronic.
Further when we gulp our food, we don’t really get an opportunity to taste it. We only experience a few strong flavors- sweetness, saltiness, and sourness. The more subtle flavors (which require a more complete breakdown of the food as it mixes with the digestive juices) are not tasted. Thus, we don’t allow our taste buds to tell us what is good for us and what is not.
Most processed food and in particular snack or junk food is intentionally designed to appeal to the obvious tastes- sweet, salty and sour. These products contain either sugar or salt as a major ingredient, and eating quickly will leave this taste in the mouth. Their real appearance, odor and flavor are disguised by a variety of chemicals. The word enhanced or imitation on the label usually indicates the addition of chemicals.
While artificial coloring can fool the eyes, it is much more difficult to fool the nose – and even more difficult to fool the taste buds. Our taste habits are primarily conditioned by a few strong flavors and gulping food reinforces our dependence on them. But if our olfactory and taste capacities are given a chance to do their work, it is very difficult to hide or enhance the real flavor or smell of what we are putting in to our mouths.

Here is an experiment, which will give you an opportunity to discover your potential for tasting food. You will need two pieces of bread. One should be the fluffy white kind made from highly refined, enriched white flour, complete with all sorts of artificial additives. The other should be a piece of fresh whole grain bread made without any additives or preservatives. Rinse your mouth with water. Then take the white fluffy bread, hold it to your nose, and sniff several times to get a good smell. Put it in to your mouth and chew until it becomes liquid. Spit it out, rinse your mouth and repeat the same process with the whole grain bread. Do your senses of smell and taste tell you anything about which bread you should be eating?

Another reason to gulp food is that when we chew completely, we generally eat about a third less than if we wolf it down. Approximately one-third of digestion is supposed to take place in the mouth. When we bypass it by chewing only two or three times, we also bypass about a third of the nutritional value in our food. Consequently, we will eat about a third more than what we really need. When we thoroughly chew each bite, digestion takes place more efficiently, hunger is satisfied more quickly and thoroughly, and we require less intake. Compulsive eaters, or overeaters, rarely if ever chew their food. If this is a problem for you, taking the time to chew your food will be very helpful. If you are on a weight-loss diet, take particular care to chew thoroughly.

Eating when you are calm and quiet is also helpful. The emotional disturbances of anger, sadness, and fear create an impossible internal environment for the digestive process. Even the most perfect food creates serious digestive difficulties when eaten under these conditions. When you pause for a moment of silence before meals, it gives you time to clear your disturbing emotions – and thus calm your body – before you eat. In the growing pressure and hurry of our lives, we have lost track of this simple wisdom.

We can solve the problem created by poor diet if we pay attention to what we eat, how we eat, and when we eat. There is no one diet for everyone. We can discover what we need by paying attention to how food makes us feel not just immediately, but four hours later after we eat it. Again the key is relaxed awareness. The more sensitive we become, the better choices we make, and the fewer problems we create for ourselves.