Living the Moment and Defeat the Constant Worry

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

The Secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, nor to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.

~ Buddha

Often we find ourselves thinking and worrying about the future. Another thing you may notice about the thoughts pattern ~ Most of the time the thought patterns are negative in nature which causes worry and stress. Living in the moment may be the solution to the problem of constant worry.

For those of you who are not habituated to observing your thoughts, just try this simple 10 minute exercise. Sit quietly and start observing your breathing. The task is very simple in nature. You just need to observe the breath. Observe that you are breathing in; then breathing out. Keep on observing the in and out movement of the breath.

The chances are that you would soon start thinking of something else and stop the observation. As soon as become aware that you have stopped observing the breath, bring back the awareness to the breathing. This is a good starting point to meditation.

You will observe that there are two kinds of thoughts ~ Either about the past events or about the future anticipated events. Many of the past events about which you think could be the negative events like someone hurting you, or saying something unpleasant. When these thoughts pass the mind, you would then start thinking about how you would deal with the person next time he/she hurts you and what you may tell that person. We then start getting angry and tense. These is the exact problem that happens when we do not live in the moment. We keep on reacting to the past and future events and that breeds unhappiness and creates suffering.

When we live in the moment and just focus on the current tasks, we are benefited in two ways - the task on hand gets done really well and results would be there for you to see; and during those moments just think of the task and not about the results and would feel less stressed. When this happens again and again you come to know the value of living in the moment more and more.

When you do not live the moment, you tend to be in hurry to complete as many tasks as possible in the shortest possible time. We may start thinking that we may miss some important tasks. Nature also does every thing so slowly yet so beautifully. It is not in a hurry to create. Everything gets done. Similarly when we start doing something which is important and just focus on that you can get much more done in lesser time.

The above mentioned breath observation exercise is part of Vipassana course which is a life changing 10 day course held all over the world. These teaching were originally taught by the Buddha and are relevant even today.

Some simple tips on Living the Moment

• While working on a task in the office, disconnect the email till you finish the task.
• You can also keep the phone on mute and let it go to voice mail and respond later.
• While practicing yoga just focus on the current pose. Then bring the focus on the particular muscles.
• Practice breath observation everyday for some time.
• Practice Silence.
• Try to do only one task at a time. For example while eating do not watch TV.

Related Articles
Breath Count - Your Natural Stress Indicator

Read more...

Recognize Your Stress Agents at Work

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosengrant/ / CC BY-ND 2.0

I have a colleague who is a very nice person and very focused on his work. Let’s call him Ravi. I was recently talking to a Ravi he mentioned how stressed he was after the office everyday.

“Nilendu, when I reach home in the evening, I am very tired and have no energy left. My head feels heavy and the neck is also tired.” Ravi said.

“Ravi, is your current project too much stressful?” I inquired.
“It is. But the stress I feel is more on physical level and not on mental level” He replied.
He continued “This problem disappears when I take vacations or on the weekends. That means this has something to do with the work environment.”
“I agree with you totally. There can be various factors which can be the reason of your problem.” I told him.

When we later analyzed his working style he rarely moved for couple of hours while involved in some tasks. That tired his neck and shoulder muscles a lot and resulted in tiredness. Ravi started taking short breaks more often and did some light shoulder movements. Doing this kept his neck and shoulder muscles relaxed and he was able to control the problem to a large extent. Ideally people should also include exercise in their daily activity to avoid such problems.

Since we work in a software development and consultancy firm I know that our job involves sitting for long hours in front of the computers.

This is a common problem with many people who work on computers for long hours. When we work on the desk for a long time and do not move the muscles start tiring and soon that drains our energy. By the end of the day you would not be left with much energy to spend on your family and kids.

When we work on thinking of a solution for a particular tough problem our focus shifts to that issue totally and during the thought process the physical movements become very less. That is almost similar to meditative process though due to the task in hand and the work environment it is not as relaxing as meditation and in fact causes bodily stress.

Here are few indicators of stress you can check and you can go through the list every hour to see if you are putting some body part under undue stress.

Neck Region : Is your neck thrust forward while working. Do you continuously look up or down during work. When there is less movement of the neck muscles these can cause serious long term problems and make you stressed out by the evening. Move you neck sideways and rotate them frequently.

Shoulder Region : Observe your shoulders. Are they raised up? This can especially happen if the desk is not at the correct height. Constantly keeping the shoulder raised up tires out the shoulder muscles.

Lower Back : Wrong sitting posture, wrong type of chair or constantly sitting for a long time can cause lower back pain. If you feel that lower back is getting tired, get up and take a walk around the office for few minutes.
Forehead and eyebrows : Sometimes when we concentrate too much we squeeze our eyes and forehead. This can also be sign that there may be eye problem. Another issue while working on computers is we blink very less and these can cause red eye or dry eye problem. Eye problems are frequent cause of tiredness

Observing there few tiredness originators and indicators can help you to have a more energetic life after the office.

Related Posts
Shavasana - Relaxing after a hard day at the office
6 Simple Shoulder Exercises for Stiff and Frozen Shoulders
Migraine Relief with Yoga and Pranayama

Read more...

How to Avoid and Treat Neck Pain

Neck plays an important role anatomically. Neck supports our head, bearing a weight of around 5 Kilograms all the while apart from sleeping period. If your posture is incorrect it causes more stress on the neck. Constant stress and strain on the neck muscles can lead to tiredness and injury.

Problems Caused By Neck Pain
All the nerves passes through the neck to the brain and there can be several problems caused by stiff and stressed neck muscles like vertigo, headache, pain in the neck and shoulder regions, constant tiredness, loss of mobility in the neck etc. If neck problems are not treated in the initial phase it can also lead to severe and long lasting problems later in life.

Causes of Neck Pain
Neck pain could be caused by several reasons. One of the common causes especially in the younger people is improper posture. This happens more frequently with people who work on their desks or constantly looking at the computer screen the whole day. In the routine jobs the neck is constantly in the same position and usually thrust forward. Doing this tires the muscles and creates stress. Usually have very limited movement of the neck and the muscles are not properly exercised. When this continues for a long time it leads to serious neck trouble.

The vertebrae also starts below the skull and from the neck region. The stress in the neck can compress the vertebrae which can cause pain and other complications like Cervical Spondylosis. Problems can also arise due to age. People more than 40 are more like to suffer from Cervical Spondylosis due to degeneration of bones and more so in females who suffer of osteoporosis.

Stress or mental tension can also be a cause of neck pain since anxiety causes stiffer muscles and usually these kind of pain are on the sides.

Another reason for neck problems is weak neck muscles and using too many pillows. Weak neck muscles cause frequent neck sprains though they are less serious problem.

How to Avoid Neck and Treat Neck Pain
Unless there is extreme pain where the movement is almost restricted try to exercise your neck by moving is sideways and rotating it slowly. When you exercise your neck the muscles will become stronger and more blood flow will happen to the neck region. This will help in curing neck problems. Ensure that you do the exercises slowly.

Acupressure
I have already written about acupressure points earlier for frozen shoulder and neck sprain. Here are the links to those.

These is very effective in treating neck pains.
How to Cure Neck Sprain
Treating Frozen Shoulder with Acupressure

Yoga Poses
Trikon Asana (Triangle Pose) and Parsvakonasana are good pose for curing neck sprains. Makarasana is also a good pose in neck problems.

What to Avoid
1. Do not use more than one pillow.
2. Do not wear helmets and avoid sudden movements.
3. Do not sit too long in front of computer and take frequent breaks.
4. Do not practice yoga pose which puts pressure on the neck and shoulder region. These are poses where in neck is below the legs for example Shoulder pose, plough pose. You should also avoid poses like head stand.

Related Post

6 Simple Shoulder Exercises for Stiff and Frozen Shoulders
Hasta Uttanasana (Raised Hands Pose) - Improve Back and Shoulder Strength
Improve your Upper Back and Shoulder Strength with Virbhadra Asana 1 (Warrior Pose - 1)

Read more...

Open up Your Heart for a Healthier Life

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aussiegall/ / CC BY 2.0

I am sure that you know at least few people who are experts at hiding their feelings and emotions. If they are hurt by someone they store that feeling somewhere inside their heart. Similarly if they are happy they are too afraid to express that in front of others. These are the types of people who are most likely to suffer from various diseases like stress, constipation, palpitations, blood pressure disorders, nervous disorders and cancer. Though there can be other reasons to fall ill, suppressing your emotions is a major reason of the diseases.

Other problems which happens is, these kind of persons are afraid to take decisions and face the world which make it quite difficult for them to progress in professional fields also.

There is a direct relation between the mind and the body. The emotions which are suppressed keep building up in the mind and in the body and this leads to diseases. When we express our emotions those are more like to be freed from the body and the mind. If someone hurts you, do not be afraid to mention this to that person even if that person is quite close to you. You may though you may express this politely. This way the negative emotion will not keep on building inside you.

Sometime people hold back their emotions because they are afraid of confrontations. The fact is if you tell the other person about the hurt he/she has caused you may gain in two ways. Number one if the other person may also have been hurt by some of your actions and they would like to explain in a better manner once you open up. Number two it will make the other person more sensitive about your feelings and they may take care not to hurt you in future. In both the situations you stand to gain from expressing your emotions.

Hurt is not the only feeling which is hidden by people. Some people are also afraid of expressing their joy and happiness. If the entire group is singing or dancing then also they are afraid of joining the group. Remember when you express your joy it increases where as suppressing the sorrow also increases it. They are unable to enjoy the great achievements or any other news of joys.

Why Do People Suppress their emotions
Most of the people who suppress their feeling are because they lack self confidence and it mainly has to do with the way they have grown up. It is always easy to hide your feelings and retreat to isolation.

Childhood abuse or loosing parents early in life or facing lot or trauma also leads to these kinds of problems.

In many cultures females are suppressed and they are told to control their emotions, especially the happier ones. This creates a permanent problem for these females and sometimes expressing joy starts creating guilt.

How to Open up Your Heart?
In this kind of cases it is important to provide constant encouragement and positive feedback to the person.

Including physical activities like Yoga and dancing and bring about a major changes in the thought patterns. In yoga back bends are extremely useful as it opens up the heart region and so is Surya Namaskar. Surya Namaskar will drain out the negative emotions from the body. Such people may avoid forward bending poses. Practicing yoga poses for few months will bring about a huge change and gradually the personality will change.

For back bending poses following poses may be tried.
1. Sphinx Pose
2. Snake Pose (Sarpasana)
3. Bhujanga Asana (Cobra Pose)

Read more...

3 Simple Routines To Make You Fitter in 2010

Maintaining your health is the basis of all the other activities in life. If you are not healthy you would not be able to enjoy what life has to offer us. Many of us have the excuse that we do not have the time. The routine I am suggesting is a quick routine which should take less than an hour. This is a good way to maintain minimum fitness if you do not exercise regularly (Or none at all) or unable practice yoga. I would suggest you practice these three short routines which help you to become healthier.

Start the day with these activities and finish it off as the first thing in the morning. Within a few days you would be able to see the difference in how you feel. So here is the list.

1. Water Therapy
   Starting the day with Water Therapy is very beneficial and I cannot over emphasize this. I have written a post on how to do it earlier. You can follow that. I would suggest mix around two spoons each of Amla and Aloe Vera juices to the slightly warm water. Start with 1 liters and increase to 1.5 liters. This will kill constipation, help you lose weight and detoxify the body and in turn increase the clarity of mind.


2. Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutations)
   Practice 16 rounds of Surya Namaskar. It will be complete exercise for the entire body including muscles, ligaments, nervous system and glands. Start this 10 minutes after finishing the water therapy. You will sweat and it should not take more than 15 minutes if you do it slowly. Take rest in Shavasana (Corpse pose) for 5 minutes.


3. Pranayama Practice for 10 Minutes
   Practice yogic breathings for 10 minutes. Practice Kapalbhati for 5 minutes and Nadi Shodhan for 5 minutes each. This will help your to relax you, oxygenate the entire nervous system and soothe them. To lean about these find the links below.

So here is the break down of the activities. As you can see you can finish it in less than an hour.
Water Therapy - Warm the water and have it in 10 minutes.
Relax for 10 minutes.
Practice Sun Salutation for 15 minutes
Shavasana - 5 minutes
Pranayama - 10 minutes

Benefits

1. Water Therapy - Detoxification of the body which will help you get rid of many diseases.


2. Sun Salutations - Control and lose extra weight.


3. Sun Salutations - Glands are activated, joints lubricated due to Sun Salutations. Lot of positive energy and confidence


4. Pranayama - Soothes the nervous System and controls stress and high blood pressure. Oxygen levels will increase.

Related Posts
Amla -Aloe Vera juice for Eczema and Stomach Problems
Using the Freshness of Morning in your Yoga Practice
How to Detoxify using Water Therapy
Relaxing Consciously Through Yoga – Part II
Kapalbhati Pranayama
Surya Namaskar - Day 1
Surya Namaskar - Day 30 of 30 day Practice

Read more...