Are you stressed?

Check out the top reduction

techniques
More and more people are subject to stress in the present day because of several reasons.
It is very important for such people to handle stress properly, various stress reduction
techniques will help them to reduce their stress. This article on stress reduction covers:

• How effective are various reduction techniques?

• How 'pranayama' helps in reducing stress?
• How meditation and stress reduction is related?

Stress is the leading health disorder in United States. Various stress reduction techniques
are practiced to reduce stress. Some of the very old principles which were forgotten for
years are being revived and followed. Researches done so far prove the effectiveness of
these techniques in stress reduction.

Some of the popular and useful stress relief techniques are

• Yoga
• Meditation
• Aromatherapy
• Hydrotherapy
• Deep breathing
• Biofeedback
• Progressive muscle relaxation
• Music Therapy

Yoga

Yoga is a 5000 year old Indian concept for the relaxation of body and mind. Yoga means
Union or Harmony. Though the classical Yoga has 8 components, only 3 are used in the
stress reduction. They are

Postures or asanas

Asanas can be considered science of body physics. Wrong and bad postures causes stress
in the body by inhibiting the flow of energy and by accumulating toxic products inside.
All kinds of body aches are said to be due to bad posturing and the subsequent
accumulation of toxic products in the body. By performing yogic postures there is a free
flow of energy in and out of the body which helps in the proper functioning of the body
and the subsequent relief of muscle tension. Among the different asanas the following are
very popular.

Makarasana or Crocodile Posture

In this posture, the person lies flat on his tummy with face downwards and remains still
without moving (resembling a crocodile under water). It relaxes the muscles and keeps
the mind away from distraction. It is very much useful in women suffering from
premenstrual tension.

Bal asana or the Child's pose

In this posture, the person assumes the posture of the fetus inside the uterus by curling
forwards. By doing this, there is relaxation of back muscles.

Savasana or the Corpse pose

In this posture, the person emulates a dead person. Though it appears very simple, it is
one of the toughest asanas to perform and the most effective one also for relaxation.

Pranayama

Prana' means life and 'ayama' means control. By doing pranayama, the person takes
control over his breathing. There are different types of pranayama. The most popular and
the simplest one is the 'Nadi shodhanam'. It means channel purification. According to
Yoga there are 14 nadis or channels and prana or lives flow through them.In this
technique the person holds his nose with his right thumb and ring finger and breathes
through the two nostrils alternatively by releasing the pressure of the thumb and the ring
finger alternatively. The technique of using the hands by assuming different postures is
called mudra. (Different mudras are used for other purposes like meditation also).

Meditation

The third component is meditation.

Steps of performing yoga

• Take the guidance of an able teacher during the initial few days
• Select a proper posture or asanas. Among the numerous asanas, the Makharasana
or the crocodile posture, the bal asana or the child's posture or the Sav asana or
the corpse posture are quite popular. By these asanas the different endocrine
glands are put into alert.
• Do pranayama. In Nadhi Shodhanam , one of the popular methods deep breaths
are taken by holding the nose with the right thumb and ring finger and releasing
the pressure alternatively. This helps in free flow of energy in and out of the body.
• With proper posturing and pranayama, the body gets ready for the next step, the
meditation. By meditating the mind loses focus of the stress inducing factor and
there is relaxation of mind.

Meditation
Though meditation means Contemplating or focusing, there are types in which it is not
required.

Meditation that needs focusing

• Sit comfortably with a straight erect spine

• Focus on any object or sound or image or any thought
• Take deep breaths slowly
• Do this for about 30 minutes

By doing this the person's mind focuses on a particular object and thus gets rid of all the
thoughts and worries. The mind focus gets shifted away the stress inducer and this gives a
feeling of relief.

Meditation that does not need focusing

Transcendental Meditation

This is a unique meditation technique first described by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It is

unique in the sense that there is no need for concentrating or focusing on any object. The
term 'transcendent' means 'going beyond' or 'crossing all limits. With this meditation, a
person is able to go deeper in to his mind crossing all boundaries and attain a state of
mental relaxation. The meditation is done twice a day for about 20 minutes by sitting in a
comfortable position with eyes closed and chanting mantras. By performing
transcendental meditation, the mind progresses through three levels of relaxation starting
from

• Restful alertness
• Deep relaxation
• Transcendental consciousness in which the mind has crossed all mental activities.

In this method there is no need for concentration on any object.

• Sit comfortably
• Close your eyes
• Chant mantras ( for e.g. OM)
• Take deep breaths
• Do this for 30 minutes twice a day

There is relaxation of both body and mind.

Deep breathing

This method is based on the concept that the ill effects of stress are due to retention of
toxins like carbon dioxide and lactate and in adequate oxygen to provide energy. The
amount of air entering and leaving the respiratory tract during each breath is 500 ml. By
deep breathing this is increased to 1500 ml. This helps in more oxygen entering in and
carbon dioxide going out. The steps of deep breathing are

• Sit comfortably with a straight back

• Take a deep breath. The movement should me more in the abdomen than the chest
• Now exhale so that the abdomen goes inside like before
• Do this for about 30 minutes every day