Tuesday, November 30, 2010

The secret of sound sleep

First thing first. There is no measure of sleep for anybody. It varies from person to person. For instance I may need a 6 hours sleep while you may need 9 hours sleep a day.

Secondly, the quality of sleep. Good quality sleep of 6 hours is enough. By standards, an adult needs 6-8 hours sleep in night.

Most of us today usually pass most of the time of our night in tossing and turning in bed. Everyone knows that this is because mind and/or body is not relaxed enough to fall asleep. This is all subconscious so you can not force yourself to fall asleep. 

The effort to find the cause for this restlessness will take us into the oceans of information on remedies, dietary treatments and tips for getting sound sleep. None seem to be working sometime.

Why Ayurveda or Yoga?

Ayurveda doesn't try to make you asleep for one night, like a sleeping pill does. Rather, it will find the root cause and remove it, rest will be done by the body system.  Root cause of every disease is imbalance of any of the three natural elements of body i.e. Vata, Pitta, and Kapha.
Insomnia is the imbalance of Vata.Medication is not recommended for insomnia as in most cases it is a result of unbalanced routine, heavy smoking and other demands of modern life. Still if insomnia lasts long, few home remedies should be considered:

  • Celery(Ajmud) juice with little honey before going to bed. 
  • Cumin seeds(Jeera) powder mixed with ripe banana can be eaten before going to bed.
  • Well known Dhara therapy in ayurveda is capable to cure even chronic insomnia.
Small things that can help big
  1. Maintain a routine of going to bed and rising early at the same time daily. This is sufficient in most of the insomnia cases. Nothing else is needed. First two/three days it will be difficult to rise early as you would have fallen asleep late. Still if you maintain rising and falling at same time daily, pleasant results can be surely expected.
  2. Morning exercise (avoid evening) is the second most efficient way of having sound sleep in night. 
  3. Have a difference of at least two hours between dinner and sleep.
Shakti Mudra:

Mudra can produce results instantly. The results that can be seen or felt. I wont write how to do it, the image below is showing  it. All you need to do is to focus on breathing and exhaling should be slower than inhaling.




Yoga 

Uttangasana, Sarvangasana and Halasana are good for people suffering form restlessness.  Several poses including these three can be done in succession to have a sound sleep in night. Watch this video:

 




Best wishes

Monday, November 29, 2010

Dry Skin - Ayurvedic and Natural Treatment

Dry means 'lack of moisture'. Over the time body loses it's moisture. Apart from aging, factors like weather, heredity, diet etc. also affects skin's moisture level.

First step towards acquiring a glowing skin is drinking a lot of water. Water is life and gives the skin enough moisture. 

After that comes our diet, in our daily diet we should mix some fat. Fat will bring moisture in body. However, for avoiding extra fat, the regular exercise and pranayam is recomended.


Prevention :
  1. Regular body oil massage.
  2. Be away from fried/stale food. Have fresh diet.
  3. Drink lots of water (Around 7-8 glasses in a day).
  4. Sufficient and sound sleep.
Useful herbs:
  1. Aloe vera extract is the most affective in curing dry skin problem. 
  2. Cucumber has water as its main component. We should include water rich vegetables in diet .
  3. Spices like turmeric , if taken regularly in food, will never let you have dry skin problem.
Ayurvedic Treatment:
  • Lemon tea in morning balances the three natural elements in body. Imbalance of these three elements is the root cause of every disease. If these three elements are in balance, body has this ability to heal itself.
  • In winter days, massage of warm mustard oil over the body parts sitting in sunlight gives us instant results.
  •   "An apple a day, keeps the doctor away". Apple has its own moisturizing abilities. Result starts showing on face within a month time.

Yoga Mudra(Finger combination):
Yoga shows its result by the time but 'Mudra' shows instant result. It is believed that dry skin is a result of 'lack of water' in body. Hence Varun Mudra , which brings water balance in body, is suggested. 
Mudra does not require any special posture or Asan. It can be done standing, or sitting comfortable in any position. 
Varun mudra is combining the tips of thumb and little finger. Rest three fingers should be straight. 3-4 minutes from both hands is sufficient. The image below shows how to do Varun Mudra.




 

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Kapalbhati Pranayama to reduce belly fat

Kapalbhati means 'purifying your mind'. However this YOGA is not limited to mind only but to body as well. 

Lot has been spend and researched on a common problem - Obesity. A effortless solution with no expense resides in pranayama. Specially Kapalbhati.

First I will discuss the benefits of Kapalbhati pranayama, then will tell you how to do it. At last we will see the video depicting it.


Key benefits of kapalbhati are: 
  • It throws the toxic elements out of lungs.
  • By forceful inhaling and exhaling, it purifies blood. Spreads oxygen in blood; every part of the body.
  • Helps in getting toned abdominal muscle. A flat belly.
  • Helps in loosing weight.
  • Cures diseases of almost every part of body.

How to do :
  • Sit in comfortable position. Cross legged, on a thin cushion or mat. 
  • Rest your hands comfortably on your knees.
  • Get your breath in control. Let it be spontaneous and rhythmic.
  • Now take a deep breath and exhale with both nostrils as forcefully as you can. The abdominal muscles should contract inner side towards spinal cord.
  • After exhaling, let the air come through both nostrils spontaneously. This time, no force should be applied.  The abdominal muscles will come out by lungs filling with fresh air and diaphragm expends.
  •  Go on with above two steps of exhaling and inhaling 15 times. This will be one set of kapalbhati. You can do 3 such sets initially with little break between each set. 
Deep inhaling and forceful exhaling is the key. Few things need to be taken care of while doing Kapalbhati:
  • Kapalbhati is not for heart and blood pressure patients. Women should take care during periods and pregnancy while doing such exercises.
  • Inhaling should not be an effort while doing kapalbhati.
  • One should not expect immediate result. Pranayama is a practice, not a muscle toning machine. Body will take its own time to get balanced.
  • Initially it should not be done more than 2-3 minutes. After a month time, the duration can be extended.
  • The back, hips and neck should be in one straight line while doing kapalbhati. 
  • In summer, the duration not be long as this is a warm exercise. 
Following two videos will show kapalbhati visually 
 
 




Saturday, November 27, 2010

Ayurvedic Baby Oil Massage


Why oil Massage ?
Few benefits it will bring to the child's health which no parent can avoid
  1. Ensures proper blood circulation.
  2. Builds muscles strength.
  3. Help building sense and nervous system.
    The three DOSHAs we need to know
  • Vata: The symbol of air is one of the three natural elements of body. If it is unbalanced, then it may affect digestive system badly.
  • Pitta: The symbol of fire which deals with nutrition and metabolism. Imbalance of which can result into anger and stress.
  • Kapha: The mix of earth and water is 'Kapha'. It provides strength and resistance which can be felt lacking if 'Kapha' is unbalance.
All the above mention three 'Doshas'(Disorders) can be easily avoided in child if proper body massage with all precautions is practiced. Which further will guarantee health and wellness.


Why Ayurveda ?
Ayurveda works on body to be strong, not to the disease to be cured. Simple principle it follows is : "Keep your body elements in proper condition, the body will take care of itself".
For a baby, it is the right time to work on body and make strong enough for the disease to get over it .


When to start ?
From the seventh day of baby's birth, the massaging should go on for three weeks. Massaging should be done everyday.


Which oil to be used ?
Almond oil is considered best for baby massage. Though, mustard oil and other Ayurvedic  oils have also been proven good.


How to massage ?
  1. Take a soft wheat dough ball.
  2. Dip it into oil and massage by rolling it over the body of the child gentally(For babies over one month, hands can be used for massaging instead of dough balls).
  3.  While massaging the back, support the baby on the other arm of yours.
  4. Massage should emphasized on the parts which need to gain strength. This included spine, backbone, neck, wrists, hands and feet.


But wait, you must know that 
  1.  Massage should not be given immediately after food, there should be a decent difference.
  2. Medium pressure can only be applied after 30 days of birth. Before that massage should be gentle.
  3. Passive exercise to the hands and feet should be given while massaging.
  4. Infants joints are not strong, take care in holding the baby
For mothers and parents, the love and affection shown during the massage will remain in child's sub conscious mind for the life time. Show your love to your baby and enjoy the lifelong good relation.


Best wishes.