The Yogic Path to Better Sleep

By Faye Martins

Everyone has a bad night’s sleep once in a while but many people suffer from chronic insomnia. Often times the culprit is stress. The thoughts are consumed by what is needed to be done in the future or what should have been done in the past. Chronic insomnia sufferers typically experience fatigue, poor concentration, decreased alertness and performance, and muscle aches. These symptoms occur because during sleep, the body is producing hormones that allow for recovery and healing of muscles and tissues and the brain is also restructuring neural networks and helping to solve complex problems. Many chronic insomnia sufferers have successfully eliminated or reduced their stress and anxiety symptoms by incorporating yoga into their life.

The yogic path includes the positions practiced, controlled breathing exercises, and meditation employed in practice, which help the body eliminate anxiety and stress. To correctly achieve a pose and hold that pose, the individual must focus their attention in the moment. Thinking and worrying about outside things is not possible. The poses increase flexibility and strength and train the body to work towards its limits and relax simultaneously. Through a series of poses, the yogic path helps train the body to rid itself of tension and relax.

Controlled breathing exercises (pranayama) help the body eliminate stress and anxiety because of increased oxygenation to the brain. The yogic path focuses on keeping the breathing slow, even, and purposeful. Pranayama promotes a state of calm within 3 – 5 minutes and if continued for several minutes, becomes a form of meditation. The goal of meditation is to clear the mind by identifying the thoughts that are causing stress and anxiety and learn how to empty the mind of these thoughts. The yogic path teaches individuals how to let go, and turn the negative thoughts to positive ones by becoming alert and present in the moment

Yoga helps people who suffer from stress related chronic insomnia because it offers relaxation techniques that provide relief. There isn’t one specific yoga pose that aids individuals into falling asleep but including a few poses a day can be effective. The stretching of the body releases tension and successful breathing meditations help to eliminate the stress from the mind. The inner peace achieved is not limited to the times set aside for meditation but affects all areas of life. The yogic path teaches individuals how to remain still and quiet within by focusing on their body, mind and breathing, no matter what is happening on the outside.

© Copyright 2013 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

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The Benefits of Laughter Yoga

By Faye Martins

Is Laughter Yoga a new form of holistic medicine or just another trend? Started in a park in Mumbai, India, in 1995, the practice has quickly spread to the rest of the world. Scientific research says positive attitudes affect our mind, body, and spirit – a truth embraced by Yogis thousands of years ago – and Laughter Yoga does just that.

Laughter as Medicine

After Norman Cousins, former editor of the “Saturday Review,” developed an immune disorder in the 1970s, he decided to try an unorthodox approach to self-treatment. With his doctor’s approval, Cousins checked into a comfortable hotel and watched a steady stream of funny movies. Eventually, his disease went into remission, and he told his story in “New England Journal of Medicine.” His bestselling book, “Anatomy of an Illness: A Patient’s Perspective,” followed in 1979, leading to a new field of research – the healing power of humor.

Scientific Studies of Laughter and Medicine

·     Dr. Lee Berk did studies in the 1980s showing that laughter leads to higher levels of two beneficial hormones: HGH, a human growth hormone that boosts immunity; and beta-endorphins, the kind of hormones that create feelings of well-being.

·     Additional studies show that laughter lowers levels of three stress hormones – cortisol, adrenaline, and dopac - known to lower immunity and produce toxins in the body.

·     In 2009, Dr. Berk, now a preventive care specialist at Loma Linda University in California, presented results of a more recent study showing that “mirthful laughter” reduces inflammation and lowers stress in diabetics. He theorizes that laughter can be a powerful addition to traditional therapies.

Benefits of Laughter Yoga

The website of Laughter Yoga International says that “Unconditional Laughter with Yogic Breathing” provides the same health benefits as spontaneous outbursts of laughter. In other words, the body can’t tell the difference between fake laughter and real laughter. Participants usually burst into authentic “mirth” when involved in the playful practice, anyway.

Recent anecdotal evidence from India claims schools have used Laughter Yoga to improve academic performance, reduce discipline problems, and encourage attendance. In the United States, Ithaca College in New York and the University of Minnesota led the way to change by offering Laughter Yoga to their students. The practice continues to spread throughout the states.

Preliminary research from India, the U.S., and Austria confirms that Laughter Yoga reduces the level of stress hormones in the bloodstream.  Now recognized as a beneficial practice among corporations, students, disabled people, senior citizens, and those suffering from chronic illnesses, Laughter Yoga could be here to stay.

© Copyright 2013 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

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The Healing Power of Yoga Therapy

By Shahid Mishra

To the uninitiated yoga is simply a form of exercise. Even those who practice yoga on a semi-regular basis are not aware of just how powerful yogic science actually is. Yogic science is one of the world’s oldest medicines. The reason that people have used yoga for healing for all of these centuries is because it is effective.

Take a common condition like asthma. This disease impacts millions of people all over the world. Severe asthmatic episodes can be powerful enough to critically injure or even kill someone.

Yogic postures and breathing routines can do a lot for the asthma sufferer. While asthma is a real condition and should be treated as such, many asthma sufferers know very little about their breathing habits.

Simple yogic breathing exercises (pranayama) preformed daily can help asthma sufferers learn to control their breathing. These exercises also strengthen the lungs. Finally, in the onset of an asthma attack, those who practice yoga training are more likely to be able to regulate their breathing.

Anxiety is one of the most widely reported medical conditions these days. People from all walks of life are reporting higher incidence of worries, anxiety attacks, and racing thoughts. Modern medicine has few answers for the person who suffers with this condition. In most cases strong medicines are prescribed.

The difficulties with providing a pharmaceutical solution to a spiritual problem are many. Many people today suffer emotionally from a lack of spiritual health. In many cases, prescriptions have exactly the opposite effect of what is wanted. Even in successful cases, side effects from medications often produce highly toxic results.

Yoga therapy on the other hand, is about physical and mental discipline. By cutting anxiety and worry off at the root, yoga eliminates them naturally. The only side effects of yoga are beneficial ones.

Every conceivable medical condition has a yogic treatment. Because yogic medicine focuses on providing practical solutions for mental and physical ailments, so-called ‘modern’ problems like ADHD and PTSD can also be treated with yogic science.

There is a lot that modern science does well. There have been an amazing number of success stories that are directly attributable to breakthroughs in research and treatment. There are however a number of conditions that continue to stymie even the best minds that modern science has to offer.

Yogic medicine has never needed to compete with western or alternative forms of medicine. Yoga has always been adept at bridging the gaps between conventional and ancient wisdom. The reason for this is that at its core, yogic science respects all wisdom no matter what source it has been derived from.

© Copyright 2013 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

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Yoga for Emotional Health

By Amruta Kulkarni

While obstacles and mood swings are a normal part of life, they don't have to get in the way of living a happy and calm existence. Yoga has a number of physical health benefits, but its potential for benefiting emotional health is extensive. The power of yoga to heal and upkeep emotions is an important factor that contributes to overall health.

Healing and Prevention

Yoga training sessions can provide comfort and healing to any emotions that overpower daily life, and can help control the emotional drives experienced by a traumatized, stressed, or depressed life. Yoga can be used as a mood management tool by utilizing the calming effects of various breathing techniques, poses, and meditation. These tools are used to promote a calm state of mind that is effective in fending off negative emotions such as anger, stress, and depression. Over time, practicing yoga cannot only remedy these negative emotions but can provide a barrier of prevention.

Pathways to Comfort

Scientific research has indicated that practicing yoga can, over time, alter brain chemistry by increasing the intensity of the "good" neurotransmitters. This particular pathway to better emotional health can soothe and reduce anxiety and depression. In addition, certain yoga techniques can improve the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for automatic reactions that happen when the body is in a relaxing state. Improving the parasympathetic nervous system helps to subdue negative reactions and can offer a faster turnaround time for getting to calming emotions.

Mindfulness and Acceptance

Yoga has also been shown to increase concentration and achieve mindfulness, which are two key components of reaching optimal emotional health. Mindfulness training is often used with psychotherapy, due to its contribution towards promoting acceptance of negative emotions. Instead of reacting negatively or avoiding the problem altogether, examining and consequently accepting whatever is causing pain or anxiety is key to relinquishing the control these negative emotions can have on emotional health.

Boosting emotional health can be accomplished through practicing yoga poses and breathing techniques that relieve stress, quell depression, and promote better awareness and control over negative emotions. Yoga training is a way to improve mental clarity to help understand and calm negative emotions that can cause problems and unrest in everyday life. 

© Copyright 2013 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

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