Lifestyle Choices

Meditation has been practiced for centuries in many spiritual traditions as a way of purifying the mind. Basically, meditation involves quieting the mind so that the mental chatter that fills your waking consciousness can be stilled, if even for a moment. Through quieting the mind, you cultivate a sense of calm, and come to know yourself in a deeper way. Meditation helps you to become aware of habitual patterns of thinking so that you can make better choices about how you are living. Meditation is an excellent way of relieving stress, because when the mind is calm, the body naturally follows. Many people experience feelings of deep peace and clarity through meditation. Experiment with the different meditation techniques that follow and find those which appeal to you. (more…)

If you have trouble falling asleep, or if you wake up a number of times at night, or if you wake up earlier than you would like, or if you always feel as though you need a nap during the day, or if you fall asleep while watching TV or while waiting for a traffic light to change, you might very well have insomnia. If so, you’re not alone. Fifty per cent of the population have experienced insomnia, the most common sleep disorder.’

Those with insomnia experience an insufficient amount of sleep, or do not feel rested after having slept. This often impairs social and occupational functioning, and can be accompanied by feelings of restlessness, irritability, anxiety, daytime fatigue and tiredness.’ Transient or short-term insomnia lasts no more than a few nights to two or three weeks. It can be caused by any of the following: (more…)

The Body’s Clearing System

While the act of breathing is supplying your cells with the oxygen they need, it is also removing carbon dioxide and wastes from your system. Carbon dioxide is a by-product of oxidation and energy release. If it were allowed to build up it would poison the cells and eventually kill them. So tiny blood vessels carry the waste back to the lungs, where it is eliminated when you breathe out and exchanged for new oxygen when you breathe in. At least that is how it should work.

In most women, however, this vital process of taking in necessary oxygen and eliminating poisonous wastes is neither as efficient nor as complete as it should be. This can be due to many things, from tissue anoxia as a result of a diet too high in fats, from insufficient iron, B12, folic acid, or vitamin E resulting in anemia. (more…)

1. When you breathe, breathe with your whole chest and abdomen too. Most of us breathe only with the top part of our body, which means we are not fully lowering the diaphragm and expanding the lungs and so are not making use of their full capacity. This kind of restricted breathing stifles emotional expression and is often linked with anxiety, depression, and worry. To check for abdominal breathing, put your hands on your tummy. Does it swell when you breathe in and sink when you breathe out? It should. Lying flat on a firm surface, practice breathing fully and gently until you get the feel of it.

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Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957), a pupil of Freud, extended analytical ideas on repression of thought and feeling to include the physical level. He showed that people literally tense against an uncomfortable or socially unacceptable thought,by tensing muscles and thereby creating an “armouring”, rendering the body physically less vulnerable. When the body is harder, the person feels less vulnerable emotionally. Many people are aware of their bodies tensing in a tense situation, for instance, their necks stiffening in a moment of anxiety. Lowen and Pierrakos, both patients and pupils of Reich, took the best ideas of Reich and developed what they called “bioenergetics“. In this form of psychotherapy they made use of physical movement to help release old tension patterns, which Reich had recognized to be related to old patterns of thought and feeling. (more…)

Any worry that you have increases your level of muscular tension. Any specific feelings that you inhibit are likely to be related to specific areas of muscular tension — for instance, if you inhibit aggression you may feel tension in your limbs. If you inhibit the voicing of a feeling, you will automatically find a physical way of stopping the process of sound production at some point between your lungs and your lips. You may:

• Temporarily stop breathing or else breathe more shallowly.
• Constrict the muscles of your neck. (When such tension is held for a long period it can lead to a headache at the back, top and/or front of your head.)
• Tighten the muscles of your jaw. (Jaw tension can lead to a headache on the sides of your head around your temples.)
• Tense your tongue and stiffen or purse your lips.

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When it comes to acknowledging your own self-care, we believe there are a few basics you need to tick off your list first:

Breathing is something that many people take for granted. What is good breathing? When you are breathing correctly, your diaphragm muscles are used to their full advantage. You have a relaxed, natural flow of breath through your nose into your diaphragm. Your breath should be slow and deep, allowing the best oxygen intake. What can go wrong? When you are under stress or ill, the flow of oxygen may be impeded, leading to shallow breathing. This means that you only breathe into your upper chest, which limits your intake of oxygen and makes you breathe faster to compensate. Breathing through your mouth instead of your nose can also create a problem. When you breathe through your mouth there is less muscle resistance compared to nose breathing. Therefore your diaphragm muscles are not used properly and full breath extension is not achieved.

Correct breathing plays an important role in your health and well-being. Your breath affects your nervous system, which in turn affects your heart rate, blood pressure, blood flow to organs and muscles, and breathing rate. Hyperventilation Syndrome is a common problem caused by incorrect breathing. Some of the symptoms include breathlessness, palpitations, frequent yawning, anxiety and panic attacks, and sexual problems. If you suspect you might have breathing problems, have a look at the book Hyperventilation Syndrome in the bibliography. A specialised respiratory therapist can also help you with breathing problems.

(Yoga classes are an excellent way of combining good breathing and relaxation. If breathing is your focus, choose a gentle class. Tell your teacher about your concerns.)

Here are some ways you can check your breathing and maintain health and vitality through good breathing habits:

1. Become aware of your breath.

2. Make sure you are breathing through your nose, not your mouth.

3. Check the stress levels in your life and try to make changes where needed.
Mental and physical stress is the number one cause of health problems. (more…)