Stretching, spinal twist, inverted yoga, deep breathing or doing Savansan correctly can boost you immunity. Read about immunity yoga.
During the Covid-19 lockdown, immunity booster foods and general immune system booster products have become highly popular as they help you fight virus naturally. It is true that prevention is better than cure (not applicable for Coronavirus as there is no cure at present. So the only way to keep yourself safe is prevention. What better way of prevention than using something natural such as Yoga? In view of the uncertainties of what immune system booster is best for you, why not give immunity yoga a try?
Ancient Yoga-Boosting Immunity Naturally
Practicing yoga is soothing, relaxing and spiritually uplifting, if done correctly and regularly. In the current context, when Covid-19 has spread its tentacles across the globe infecting more than 6 million people, it is highly recommended to practice, use and adapt whatever works well for you. From including immunity booster foods to your diet to practising immunity yoga regularly, you can do it all during lockdown as there is no lack of time, right? It works well for most people and is the most natural way to give your immune system a much-needed boost.
Deep Breathing-Pranayama for Immunity
First and foremost, the most vital function of our body, breathing has immense power to boost your immunity. However, the catch is that you must know how to harness its power. Yes, I am talking about deep breathing or conscious breathing at least once day, preferably early in the morning. That is part of Pranayama, which itself is a vast subject covering various methods and techniques to help you get the best possible health benefits from deep breathing. Boosting immunity is just one of the many benefits of deep breathing.
Twisting-Enhancing Flexibility of Parts That Can be Twisted
Not many people are aware that spinal flexibility is an indicator of how healthy you are. I have written about how spinal flexibility can be enhanced. Spinal twist can work wonders for your overall health not just for immunity. When you twist your spine, your digestion system gets stimulated, which helps in flushing out toxins. The overall result is, better digestion and strong immunity. And the best thing about spinal twist is that you can do it the first thing every morning, immediately after waking up. While still in bed, as soon as you sit up, twist your spine left and right twice or thrice. Do it regularly and notice the difference. In fact, this helps in weight loss as well. Ardha-Matyendrasana is the yogic posture that twists your spine and gives you many health benefits.
Stretching for Boosting Immunity
Simply stretching your body twice or thrice every day can help you boost your immunity. Again, I’d like to mention that spinal stretch works wonders . Paschimottanasana or forward bending positions stretch your back and improves blood flow to sinuses. This eases congestion, and gives your immune system a boost. While my favourite is paschimottanasana, you can choose any other yoga position that stretches your back or spine.
Inverted Yoga Postures
Our heart pumps blood to different parts of the body. While gravitation helps in carrying the blood to lower parts of our body, our heart has to work harder to pump blood to our upper parts, especially the head. In inverted position, this flow gets reversed as your legs are upwards and head is lower than heart. This helps in improving overall blood circulation in all parts of the body. Your head gets ample supply of blood and often clears various blockages due to less flow of blood. Your nervous system gets relaxed and kind of resets itself every time you perform an inverted position. This works in favour of your overall health and immunity. Sarvangasana (Shoulder Stand) and Sirsasan (Head Stand) are highly effective but must be done under expert supervision as they seem to be simple, but are not. Wrong posture can be counter-productive or harmful.
Savasan-Corpse Posture
As the name suggests and even the picture of someone performing Savasan, gives an impression that it is an easy posture, but it is not. You need to learn the technique of doing Savasan correctly to get the maximum possible benefits. This posture relaxes you completely and boosts your immunity, if you know how to do it without falling asleep.
Do you know that modern lifestyle does not allow us to enjoy some of the most easy, convenient and healthy activities. Today we are going to talk about some simple activities that can make a lot of difference in your health and overall happiness.
Lets start with the most basic and spontaneous activity that we do without any effort or you can say it happens naturally. Yes, I am talking about breathing. This spontaneous activity is what we ignore and don’t pay any attention to, but I must say that if you breath consciously for just 5 minutes a day, you’ll notice a remarkable difference in your attitude, mental alertness, overall energy throughout the day and reduced level of anxiety or stress.
Believe me or not, deep breathing can reduce your blood pressure, if you ensure that you do it every day preferably in the morning hours.
2. Deep breathing improves your blood circulation, which has many health benefits including improved cardio vascular health
3. In fact, deep breathing helps you develop a more positive attitude toward life. So, when was the last time you breathed deeply consciously?
Start it from tomorrow morning. Just go to your balcony, lawn or any open area where you get fresh air in the morning and breath deeply for 5 minutes. Feel the fresh air going in your lungs and coming out. That’s it. This simple habit can work wonders for your overall health.
Stationary Bike Vs Real Bike Ride- Feel the difference
This brings me to another important point that we often ignore and that can have a lot of impact on our health. If you go to the gym or exercise regularly, then make sure that you enjoy the activity. Do not simply workout just because you want a perfect shape or figure. Do not workout to impress others. Enjoy every moment of your exercise session instead of doing it as a routine or something that you are forced to do. This attitude change towards your workout or exercise session can make a big difference. For example, instead of riding an exercise bicycle, why not ride a real bicycle for the same duration. You’ll notice the difference, once you start doing so.
Do you feel restlessness when sleeping, without any specific reason? Are you anxious of thinking deeply about something that you cannot control? Don’t know why it is happening or are you looking for a tried and tested restlessness cure? No matter what your exact symptoms are, you can rest assured that you are not alone and there are people who have overcome their restlessness and similar issues by using natural methods such as relaxation, meditation and various yoga techniques. Also, there are many cases which require medical intervention. Let’s have a look at a few basic facts about general restlessness and RLS or restless leg syndrome.
Cannot sleep due to restlessness?
Do you find it difficult to sleep properly despite working very hard throughout the day? While insomnia or inability to sleep is one of the reasons of restlessness when sleeping, there are various other symptoms that can help you identify your issue. If you want to move constantly or your legs or arms get cramps while at rest, then read on. You cannot calm your mind or cannot stop thinking about something unpleasant, triggering more restless and anxiety. You may also feel the combination of both physical and mental restlessness.
Here are some common symptoms of restlessness
Inability to focus on anything
Unable to manage your time
Unconscious or conscious leg movement
Foot or hand tapping
Cramps in arms or legs, when at rest
Unnecessary palpitations
Inability to sleep or insomnia
Frequent distraction at work for no specific reason
Are restlessness and anxiety related
It goes without saying that when you are anxious about anything, your mind is working extra hard to reach a conclusion about the issue you are thinking. As it seems to be impossible, you become even more anxious, and it becomes visible in your behaviour, physical sensation and emotions. You can get annoyed at the slightest of provocation or even without any valid reason. Negative emotions will be more dominant and visible than positive ones, and you may feel that you are completely alright. Others can quickly identify your disorder and suggest a visit to your physician.
Positive or negative restlessness
On the other hand, restlessness is not always negative in nature. You can also be restless or over-excited to do or achieve something. Though it is true that most often restless is related to anxiety, which is negative in nature and is a kind of psychological disorder, it is not always the case. Positive restlessness is often visible in teenagers or adolescents, trying to experience something for the first time. From academic achievements and excellence in sports to first job interview or excitement of owning your first car, anything can be the reason for restlessness. We’ll focus on restlessness that needs treatment or attention.
Causes of restlessness
Excessive use of caffeine in any form such as coffee or carbonated drinks
Certain types of medication
Sudden changes in medication
Psychiatric disorders such as ADHD, or schizophrenia
Certain neurological issues can also cause restlessness
How to identify restless leg syndrome
Do you find it difficult to sit for long duration or do you move your legs unconsciously while sitting? Yes, you will not notice it because it happens unconsciously. If others have noticed your tapping feet or unnecessary leg movements, then consider taking action about it. You may be suffering from restless leg syndrome. Physicians and therapists take unique approaches to treat different patients depending on their exact health conditions and overall medical history.
Quick tips to IDENTIFY RLS or restless leg syndrome
Throbbing sensation in legs
Feeling of pins and needles in feet quite frequently
Painful cramping in calves
Burning or tingling sensation in legs
Moving the legs usually relieves the symptoms temporarily, but if it becomes frequent or worsens, then get medical help. You can also try a few yogic methods that work wonders for many people. However, yoga in general, requires discipline and regularity to give you any significant result. Just check what suits you the best.
Restless cure
There are various methods and home remedies to handle and minimise restlessness. If you believe that your problem is more of psychological in nature, then simply focusing on one task at a time can prove to be highly effective. Do not over-commit if you cannot deliver something within a certain time frame. In fact, under-commitment and over-delivering is the best possible way to control restlessness as you work within your limited resources without getting anxious about what if you’d not be able to deliver on time.
Restless leg cure
Mustard oil massage on both the legs, especially on calves
Soak your legs in warm water regularly
Cool and hot packs alternatively
Hamstring exercise also helps in some cases of RLS
Limit your caffeine intake
Identify your RLS triggers
Sitting for long duration is the most common trigger for RLS syndrome. However, there are a few other triggers as well. Have you noticed that when you consume caffeine or alcohol, your RLS aggravates. If you are on some kind of medication or special diet, then try to notice if you get restless leg after that medication. If that is the case, then consult your physician about the issue and try to get your medication changed, if possible. Alternatively, you can also give yoga a try for relief. If you can pinpoint the exact triggers that aggravate your situation, then you can manage your health more effectively.
Yoga for restless leg
A lot has been covered in our previous posts about various yogic postures and exercises that help people suffering from leg pain and cramps. Some of them are useful for restless leg syndrome as well. For example, one posture or Asansa I never forget to mention about is Pashchimottanasana or complete posterior stretch. This is essentially a forward bend pose in which the arms and legs remain parallel to the ground. The practitioner clasps his/her toes, and tries to touch the knees with his/her nose whilst ensuring that their knees don’t bend. This simple, but not easy asana is highly beneficial for not just restless leg syndrome, but also for back pain, spinal issues, digestive disorders, cardiac health and obesity. If you have any of these issues, then start practising pashchimottansana gradually. What I mean by gradually is that you must not force yourself hard to attain the perfect posture. Try to bend forward slightly more than the previous day so that your backbone becomes flexible enough for the position. You will notice a remarkable difference in your overall health if you can do this asana every day.
Second important and effective yoga postures for restless leg is a kind of standing version of the same pose, called Uttansana or standing forward pose. However, I must say that you won’t be able to do this Asana unless you are able do Pashchimottansana first.
Child’s pose (Balasana), Janu Sirasana and many other leg stretching postures are beneficial for leg pain, cramps or restless leg issues.
Harnessing the power of deep breathing to cure restlessness
Breathing happens so naturally and effortlessly that we often underestimate its power. In fact, I will not be exaggerating if I say that we hardly breath deeply, which is so powerful that many health issues can be controlled or cured by it. Simply deep breathing in the morning hours (preferably before sunrise and in natural environment such as parks, lake side or any open area with greenery) can remarkably improve your restlessness, and calm your mind. However, regularity is the key here. You cannot expect magical effects after a few days. Just start deep breathing regularly for a month or so, and see the results.
Meditation to control restlessness
With deep breathing, develops the power of meditation, which is essentially about training your mind for higher awareness, better focus and deep introspection about your inner self without cutting off from your current environment. At places of worship, no matter what faith or religion you belong to, you find an object, thought or word to focus on. The basic idea behind rituals or methods of worship is to train your mind to focus on your object/ idea of faith (God) so that you can discover your inner self and remain at peace for a few minutes that you spend there. If you worship everyday in any form, all you need to do is spend some more time and try to empty your mind from all thoughts, which is nothing but a meditative state. This simple practice can calm your mind and relieve your restlessness. If you want to learn how to mediate for better effects, then consider learning the art of breathing first. Get a copy of Breathing In Flow, displayed below.
Relaxation for 20 minutes every day
There are various relaxation techniques to suit your personality type and preferences. However, what I suggest is a highly effective method for everybody. This is called Savasana or corpse pose. Though it seems to be simple, it is not easy. You must learn how to achieve complete relaxation without falling asleep, which is not possible for beginners. Here is how you should do Savasana.
Place a soft yoga mat on the ground
Lie flat in the middle of the mat without using any pillow
Keep your hands on either side slightly away from your body and palms facing up
Feel every breath while inhaling and exhaling slowly
Feel that your lungs are expanding and contracting as you inhale and exhale
Let every part of your body feel relaxed starting from the toe to head
Do not let any other thought come to your mind, just focus on your breathing while keeping your whole body completely relaxed
Do not sleep as you are supposed to remain awake to feel the relaxation
After 30-45 minutes, your body and mind will be completely relaxed. Do not worry if your thoughts start wandering or you start feeling sleepy as you learn the techniques of Savasana gradually. After practising for a week or so, you’ll notice the difference.
Initial difficulties in performing savasana
Unless you are pregnant or have some severe backbone related issue that restricts you from lying flat of your back, it should not be difficult for you to perform Savansa. Pregnant ladies can put some soft pillow under their head or use something else for comfort. The idea is to completely loosen your muscles, joints and all stiff parts of your body so that you can relax completely. If lying flat is causing some discomfort, then hold off on this posture or asana until you get your discomfort issue cured. Those with backbone related issues must consult their physician before trying this posture.
Similarly, if you have discomfort in straightening your knees, then you can put a folded blanket under your knees for support. However, gradually your hamstring will be stretched fully and you’ll feel comfortable even without any support.
7 Benefits of Savasana
Relaxes your body completely
Calms your mind
Help you achieve a meditative state (after some practice)
Serves dual purpose, relaxation and meditation
Highly effective in reducing blood pressure and anxiety
Helps in managing insomnia
Stimulates and balances blood circulation
Savasana is recommended after all types of yoga sessions. This will relax your body and prepare you for the day with a calm mind and energised body. If you prefer to do this asana in the evening, then you will notice the effect in the form of sound sleep and complete freshness when you wake up next morning. Please note that you do not have to sleep in this posture. This can be practised in the evening hours before dinner. There must be a gap of some 2 hours between the end of your Savasana session and your bedtime.
Last but not the least, I’d like to mention my personal views about restlessness. If you can control your mind, whether by practising meditation, relaxation or any other technique, you can manage restlessness effectively. Medical attention is required only when the symptoms are very severe and you have already tried all possible natural methods of curing restlessness. Also, it is always advisable to seek expert advice if you are on medication or have any special health condition.
Have you had a heart attack recently, and want to prevent further attacks? You guessed it right, we are talking about cardiac rehabilitation program, but not the conventional one. It is the natural version of it. Yoga based cardiac rehabilitation, which is neither expensive nor inconvenient. A study was conducted by Indian Council for Medical Research and Medical Research Council (UK). Its result was presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Session in Chicago.
Natural therapy for heart attack patients
The researchers studied 4000 patients who suffered heart attacks and were discharged from hospitals. The participants were asked to undergo a structured YogaCaRe programme as an alternative to or additional cardiac rehabilitation programme.
What is Yoga CaRe (Cardiac Rehabilitation)
As the name suggests, it is a care programme for cardiac patients who have had a heart attack. The programme consists of 13 yoga sessions, which include:
Lifestyle advice to be followed after a heart attack
Generic yoga plus modern lifestyle
The programme is essentially a combination of generic yoga and modern lifestyle practices that can be modified or improved for better health. As yoga can be practised by anyone following any faith or religion, the programme has been designed keeping in mind that it is suitable for all sects and faiths.
“The Yoga-CaRe Trial, the largest trial on yoga as well as cardiac rehabilitation, has shown the potential of yoga to be an alternative to the conventional CR programmes and address the unmet needs of cardiac rehabilitation for patients in low-and middle-income countries. It is safe, relatively inexpensive, does not need an elaborate infrastructure, culturally acceptable and improves quality of life.”
-Prof Prabhakaran, vice-president of the Public Health Foundation of India and principal investigator of the study. Read the full report here.
Benefits of deep breathing
I’d like to mention that despite breathing being the most essential body function, its importance is often ignored as it happens naturally. What really makes the difference is deep and conscious breathing, which we often don’t care about. Those who can make time for deep breathing every day realise and feel the positive difference due to:
Though taking deep breath in the morning hours is most beneficial, you can do it anytime of the day, as long as the air is fresh and not polluted. There are many breathing techniques, which we’ll cover in another post.
Deep breathing to lower blood pressure
As we hardly breath deeply, we usually don’t get the maximum possible benefits of deep breathing. Those with high blood pressure can notice remarkable difference in their blood pressure after practicing deep breathing regularly. All you need to do is make time, some 5-10 minutes every morning to breathe deeply.
Not sure how to obtain meditation benefits? You can use meditation for healing by using 3 quick tips. Let’s start with how meditation can be used in modern life. While there is no clear definition of modern meditation, it essentially means an informal collection of various forms and styles of meditation, customised to suit our modern lifestyle in the 21st century.
Meditate for inner peace or self-realisation
As meditation was developed more than 3000 years ago, when there were no Facebook, Twitter and general stress of modern life, people had a lot of time to sit in a particular posture to attain inner peace, self-realisation and awakening. Though the purpose of meditation still remains the same, we cannot make time to sit for hours to achieve something, effect of which will fade away in less than 24 hours.
Modern meditation for healing and positive effects
One of the most talked about and desired effects of meditation is stress reduction. In fact, that is probably the number 1 reason that makes meditation and its various forms so popular in the modern world, whether you are in Chicago or Shanghai. Let’s take a look at some of most effective methods or techniques of meditation for healing that can help you achieve better focus, inner awareness, mental peace and physical fitness to a great extent.
Pre-requisite to start modern meditation
First and foremost, you need to decide or identify which sensory organ works best for you. As we know that eyes, ears and skin are the more dominant than other sensory methods, we can use these senses to attain meditation benefit s. Here is how we can do it
Visualisation or guided imagery for meditation
If visual forms stimulate your mind, then go for Tratak meditation, which essentially involves focusing on any visual image. It can be a dot, circle, flame of a candle, your own image in the mirror or any special image that stimulates your mind. The idea is to keep looking at that image for 10 to 15 minutes without blinking until your eyes start watering. Then, close your eyes and let them relax for 5 minutes and then wash your eyes with cold water. Do not strain your eye in the beginning as you cannot stay without blinking for more than a few minutes. Be within your comfort level, as the moment it starts hurting, the whole exercise becomes counter-productive.
Using sound for meditation
This is an easy and convenient method in today’s world as you can listen to the music anytime of the day. In fact, you can use your travelling time (if you are not driving) to meditate by listening to various audio forms of meditative music such as chanting of certain hymns, shlokas or ‘Om’.
Deep breathing and sense of smell for meditation
Volumes have been written about how to benefit from deep breathing and its various forms. However, the bottom line is as long as you feel good about any form of deep breathing, it is beneficial for you. Simply breathe deeply a few times a day (morning hours are preferred), without thinking about anything else. Just feel the air going inside your lungs and coming out as you exhale.
Quick breathing exercise anyone can perform
Repeat this a few times and a day and notice the difference immediately after the exercise. Continued practice of this exercise will help you gain better focus, high energy levels and overall better physical health including stress reduction. We do not realise the importance of deep breathing and simply remain devoid of its health benefits, which include better heart health, more focus and increased stamina.
