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Tag: mental health

  • Ujjayi pranayama to de-stress

    Ujjayi pranayama is a type of breathing exercise of yoga which helps to get rid of your stress, fatigue and invigorate your body and mind.

    ujjayipranayama

    The literal meaning of “Ujjayi” is breath of victory. This pranayama technique is related with victory as the breathing in expands the chest and belly of the person doing this pranayama and the body may resemble to a victorious warrior.  It is one of the important pranayama mentioned in Hata Yoga Pradipika, the ancient classical yoga text.

    Ujjayi pranayama -health benefits

    • It helps to de-stress

    This breathing exercise helps to calm down your nervous system and remove your fatigue and accumulated stress.  You may practice this simple breathing to address the stress of daily life in a positive and effective way.

    • Ujjayi contributes to meditation

    Ujjayi is an integral part of meditative process and it aids to enhance focus and concentration indirectly. Meditation is calming down your nervous system and body to be receptive .Ujjayi helps in this area and as an outcome you may be gifted with better focus and improved concentration.

    •  Helps to improve emotional stability

    Ujjayi pranayama helps to reduce anxiety, agitation and impulsiveness. To get rid of this excessive mental stimulation, is crucial in achieving emotional stability with regular and consistent practice. Only an emotionally stable mind can do better decision making in your career as well as personal life.

    • It improves the energy flow in human body

    According to yoga principles, this pranayama invigorates you by removing energy blocks in your spinal cord. It removes the stagnation of energy and facilitates smooth flow of vital force or energy.

    How to do ujjayi pranayama?

    • The first step is sitting erect with your spine and head straight.
    • closing your mouth and constricting or contracting the throat with slight exertion. Avoid too much contraction of glottis.
    • Now try to exhale and then begin to inhale air slowly and rhythmically. Let the air pass through the constricted throat slowly.
    • Continue inhaling slowly the fresh air, until a sense of fullness is achieved in the chest region. It is good to retain the inhaled air for a period of 6 seconds.
    •  Now exhale spontaneously. Please try to exhale slowly and it is advisable to avoid jerky or hasty movements.
    • At the end of it,breath normally in a relaxing way.

     

    How does ujjayi breathe work for human body beneficially?

        This breathing technique is capable of generating body heat with in. Actually, it is the friction of the air, going down the contracted upper airway to both lungs is generating the heat. It is soothing for all vital organs & particularly aids in stimulating the fatigued brain. Therefore, Ujjayi is also referred to as “Psychic breath”.

    Ujjayi is beneficial in enhancing the capacity of your lungs. The airflow through constricted throat in this type of pranayama, compels the lungs to expand fully during inhalation of air.  This maximum expansion helps increased oxygen transfer to various parts of the body.

    The ujjayi pranayama is done slowly and rhythmically and it calms down the para sympathetic nervous system and brings about calmness at mental level.

    While doing ujjayi pranayama certain vibrations in the larynx stimulate sensory receptors and it may signal the Vagus nerve. The whole process helps to calm down the mind and body.

        The contraction of glottis throat] produced in Ujjayi pranayama exerts a gentle pressure on the carotid sinuses in the neck also, which is regulating blood pressure in the arteries. This may affect to reduce stress and slow down the excessive thinking activity.

    Who should not do Ujjayi pranayama?

    • Individuals having high blood pressure & heart diseases better avoid doing this pranayama.
    •  Never over do the contraction of glottis

    While doing this breathing exercise, exert only a little contraction of throat so that the air flow through channel is streamlined and a little friction is generated. This is generating the adequate heat or energy. Too much exertion is the erroneous method of doing this breathing exercise and is associated with various disadvantages and adverse effects. Be cautious to be gentle.

     writtenby dr sanjana p [copyright]

    References

    • https://www.yogajournal.com/practice/yoga-sequences/what-is-ujjayi/
       
      https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0975947621001388

  • Creative pursuits to boost your mental & emotional health

     Creative mindset is a gift as well as a talent which can boost your positivity as well as professional talents. However, creative pursuits can be adopted as a habit with a view to improve your physical and mental health.

     Creative pursuits encompass a wide range of activities that involve imagination, expression, and the development of original ideas. These may range from cooking and crafting to artistic performances.

    Many of you might be immensely creative in different areas of life. Creativity offers a broad horizon to explore and practice. Worldwide people are keen towards pursuing some form of creativity since time immemorial. The creative pursuit was part of every civilization, developed as a part of the social evolution of ancient tribes from hunter gatherers into a society or population.

     In the present era of advanced science and technology also creative pursuits have indispensable role.  Across the globe, people may be pursuing creativity either instinctively or as an integral part of profession as arts provide you rewards, contentment and joy, elevating the mood towards more positive outlook. Some of you may have adopted creative professions which also provide you wealth & sense of joy while stimulating your cognitive skills as well. 

    Research data about creative pursuits & health benefits

    The creative mind is more stable and intellectually keen. Of late numerous neuroscientific research studies have been published focusing on creativity and mental and cognitive health. They point out that engaging in creative pursuits is associated with numerous benefits, including improved mental health, enhanced creativity, and increased opportunities for personal growth and expression. Briefly, creativity and creative pursuits boost your physical, mental and emotional health.

    A few examples of creative pursuits you may incorporate into life:

    Artistic pursuits

    • Performing arts such as acting, singing, dancing etc.
    • Visual arts – drawing, painting, sculpture, pottery, digital arts
    • Creative writing of poems, short stories, fictions, journaling etc.
    • Crafts: Knitting, crocheting, sewing, woodworking, candle-making.

    Other types of hobbies you are pursuing may be considered as creative pursuits if it involves your mental and physical contribution such as:

    • Gardening
    • Photography & editing
    • Home decoration & renovation
    • Learning new languages
    • Cooking experiments
    • Creating video games
    • Playing musical instruments
    • Story scripting and narration
    • blogging

    Apart from the listed pursuits you can add more creative hobbies and ventures into your life and enjoy its positive effects on life. Creativity is the ability to discover innovative and original ideas. It is one of the 10 life skills advocated by the World Health Organization.

    Four-C model of creativity given by Kaufman and Beghetto

    According to this model creativity is classified as:

    • Mini-c model

    It means transformative learning, meaningful interpretations of daily experiences that can make changes in the understanding at the individual level.

    • Little-c model

    This modelincludes creative actions and thoughts that is out-of-box thinking in anything we do &          it impacts individuals and their zone of influence

    • Pro-c model

    It includes the creative acts of experts/experiences people learn within an organization, community, or domain or organization, field system of practice. It has impact on the market

    • Big-c model

    This includes eminent creativity of exceptional people that is self-taught, unconventional thinking. This can make profound impact on culture, society and the world.

    Benefits of creative pursuits

    • Psychological or mental health is improved by creativity

    Enhanced  self-efficacy, coping skills and emotional regulation or balanced emotions are achieved by creative people more easily. All creative pursuits orient the mind for positive focus. Purposeful creative involvement promotes well-being.

    • Creativity helps to reduce stress

    Creative pursuits lower stress hormone response and thus help in reducing the impact of stress on your physical and mental health.

    •  Immunity is better in creative & active  people

    Enhanced immune function is another added benefit of creative pursuits

    • Creativity improves social involvement

    Creative pursuits reduce loneliness and isolation, particularly presentation of artistic performances, digital art work etc. These kinds of pursuits are shared with audience and receive feedback also. It enhances social support, and improves social involvement.

    • Adoption of healthy Behaviors

    A focused attempt at creativity fosters healthy habits including increased exercise or physical activity, adoption of healthier behaviors & skills development.

    Creativity as an important way of enhancing and maintaining a sense of well-being. Research studies have recognized that the practice of creative pursuits can be beneficial in influencing positively psychological, physical and social components.

    For example, music as a creative pursuit is associated with numerous health benefits on the brain. A study conducted on children shows that music plays an important role in reading, language, and auditory skill development. Studies have shown structural differences in grey matter and white matter in children who engage in music (especially during early childhood) compared with those who do not.

    Another study shows that in adults with a mental illness, activities such as choir singing, art-making, expressive writing, and group drumming reduce mental distress, depression, and anxiety while simultaneously enhancing individual and social well-being.

    The benefits achieved through creative pursuits of these kinds may be attributed to the modulation of serotonin and other neurotransmitters, a decrease in cortisol and other stress hormones. The creative activities also cause a reduction in inflammatory immune responses.

    Sleep studies on music indicates that music helps to improve sleep quality, sleep efficiency, and time to sleep onset in a way much better than meditation can do.

    Written by Dr Sanjana p Souparnika [ dr sanjana vb]

    Reference

    • Hyde KL, Lerch J, Norton A, Forgeard M, Winner E, Evans AC, et al. Musical training shapes structural brain development. J Neurosci. 2009;29:3019–25. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5118-08.2009. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19279238/
    • Cordi MJ, Ackermann S, Rasch B. Effects of relaxing music on healthy sleep. Sci Rep. 2019;9:9079. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-45608-y. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-45608-y. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31235748/
    • https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10911317/