Prevent Alzheimer’s

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia, in which the mental ability of persons gradually declines and reaches a stage where it becomes difficult for them to lead a normal life. With the disease progressing gradually, patients find themselves more and more dependent on their immediate family members for survival.

A healthy diet, exercise, social and mentally stimulating activities, as well as everyday habits, and ample sleep can markedly reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s.

The most important ways to prevent Alzheimer’s: Control diabetes and high blood pressure, reduce weight if obese, stay active, treat depression & don’t smoke.

If you get evaluated for Alzheimer’s, your doctor can make a diagnosis based on symptoms, a clinical history, and medical tests (to rule out causes like thyroid issues or nutritional deficiencies). Brain imaging tests like a cat scan or MRI can look for beta amylase plaques gun king up brain regions.

Worldwide, there are at least 44 million people living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. It starts as minor forgetfulness and progresses into a disorder in which persons can’t even identify their near and dear ones.

Yoga and Mudras are very viable strategy for coping with and fighting Alzheimer’s.

Alzheimer’s and the Brain

Brain cells in the hippocampus, a part of the brain associated with learning, are often the first to be damaged by Alzheimer’s. Therefore, memory loss, especially difficulty remembering recently learned information, is often the first symptom of the disease.

How to cope with Alzheimer’s

Gyan mudra: - Gyan Mudra increases the air element in the body which has positive effect on our emotions. Gyan Mudra or the Vayu Vardhak mudra is formed by joining the tip of index finger and the thumb. This mudra stimulates the pituitary gland, which controls your metabolism, as well as your sleep cycles. This mudra increases the air element in the body which sharpens our mind and has positive effect on our emotions. If practiced regularly this mudra can help you cure disorders like Dullness of mind, lack of enthusiasm-initiative-creativity, recklessness, loss of memory, Drowsiness, lethargy, mental retardation, Disorders of the nervous system like cerebral palsy, neuritis, neuropathies, Alzheimer's disease, Tabes dorsalis, multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease, Ataxias, Dementias, Syringomyelia.

     It also facilitates movements of electrical impulses along nerves, empowers the pituitary gland and, thereby, the entire system of endocrine glands, empowers muscles, both voluntary and involuntary, empowers the vocal cords and the voice, empowers the heart. Perform for 30-45 minutes every day, or for 10-15 minutes 3 times a day. Mood enhancement is important because of the emotional difficulties involved in coming to terms with cognitive impairment.

     Mantra vibrations

The nasal and sonorous sound of proper recitation of mantras creates vibrations inside the brain that increases the probability of producing 40 hertz brain waves. Since both auditory and visual cortex, where sound and light signals respectively are processed, are in a certain section of the brain, we still do not know the exact mechanics of how such sound waves create 40 hertz for the whole brain.

Some scientists speculate that the hippocampus, which is the memory region of the brain, is positively affected by this chanting. Hippocampus is the first region of the brain affected by plaques. If plaque reduction in this region can be affected, then this cascading effect can be felt in other areas also.

The Aum sound: - verbal recitation boosts cognitive function

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wtLiBZs87Y

    Walking Barefoot On Grass

Green is a soothing color that helps calm your mind and reduces tension. When you walk barefoot on grass, the level of endorphins (feel-good hormones) in your body increases. Research also shows that walking barefoot on grass helps to decrease stress level by 62 percent. Apart from these, there are other benefits of earthing such as it improves autonomic nervous system balance, promotes cardiovascular health, improves blood viscosity, boosts brain power, improves heart rate variability etc.

Do yogic asanas and pranayama daily only in fresh air (not in AC halls) to maximise the effects of oxygenated blood in your body. It will increase the lustre of your face, hair, besides preserving your youthfulness and increasing vitality.

Yoga alters spontaneous respiratory regulation and reduces hypoxia. 

Prolonged or chronic hypoxia has been shown to alter the excitability and functional expression of ion channels, which possibly contributes to neurodegeneration.  

EMOTIONAL TURBULENCE : RELEASE THE TURMOIL

Humans can mentally time travel through past, present, and future.

When the energy is flowing through your body, you are releasing the old and welcoming in the new and healing happens effortlessly. Your body keeps a physical memory of all your experiences. The body doesn't forget. The body doesn't have words to express itself, so it responds with physical sensations. Your stuck emotions hold you back in every area of your life. Did you know that emotions are physical molecules in the body? And that your emotions can get stored up and begin causing imbalances, mood issues, anxiety, depression, and any disease you can think of? It’s true. And many people have no clue that the symptoms they are dealing with are being caused by unprocessed and blocked emotions in the body.

"We need to express, release, unblock or detox our negative emotions or they will build up and block us from enjoying our present, being productive, and reaching our goals,"

Most Commonly Stuck Emotions

1.     Anxiety

2.    Grief

3.    Disgusted

4.    Fatigue

5.    Frustration

6.    Depression

7.    Anger

8.    Guilt

9.    Sadness

10. Grudges

11.  Stress

12. Dissatisfaction

These Factors combine to lead to low self-worth, poor emotional regulation skills, and difficulties with social and emotional functioning. Fear is one of the most powerful emotions humans experience and has wide-ranging effects on physiology, emotions, attitudes, cognitions, and behaviours. When we get stuck in not liking things or wanting them to be different than they are, we ignore them. We choose not to accept our own hand in the matter. That we have choices we can make when we confront the truth. When you ignore this ultimate control, we believe we can exert OUR way over reality – that the path, the fix, must bend to our way. So, if you are frustrated and dissatisfied with life right now, somewhere you are not accepting the truth of things and instead you are fighting their existence.

“Pain is a normal part of life, but suffering isn’t.”  When we do not adequately learn to deal with our turbulent emotions, we will suffer, and we will often become physically ill.

Quite frequently, when we’re an emotional wreck, it’s because we’re not addressing something in our lives. So here is a list of the primary emotions and what they usually indicate:

·         Angry—something needs to be stopped.

·         Sad—something needs to be released.

·         Scared—something needs to be known.

·         Joy—something needs to be celebrated.

·         Sexual Feelings—something needs to be created.

How to get rid of Emotional Turmoil

1.    Staying Mindful during emotional turbulence: The goal is to recognize the root cause of emotional distress when you have lost control and take back the reigns. This helps keep your emotions from erupting and taking over.

2.    Calm down: Slow down and take some deep breaths and create a buffer between yourself and whatever is occurring. If you cannot change how things are, practice acceptance and surrender, and notice how you begin to settle into the emotions rather than being taken for a wild ride.

3.    Bring your awareness: Whatever emotions you are feeling in this moment. Are you angry, sad, fearful, hurt, confused, or ashamed? Become aware of what comes up. Remind yourself that you are not your emotions; that they are simply energy in motion. They are transitory.

4.    Rebuilding a sense of self-esteem: Remind yourself how amazing you are. In your head or out loud, tell yourself "This transition is hard, but I'm going to come through it stronger than I was before. I know I'm smart and capable. The more strongly I feel it, the more other people will feel it, too!".

5.    cool off: When you’re feeling angry remove yourself from the situation for a bit to give yourself time to “cool off.” Remember, while you’re still angry, you’ll likely have trouble processing logical statements. If you remove yourself long enough to calm yourself down and reassess, you’ll get a much clearer picture of what’s going on. When you come back, you’ll be able to communicate more clearly and make better decisions.

6.    Eliminate negativity: The highly sensitive person’s problem is taking things too personally.  But it’s much more than that.  The highly sensitive person is deeply affected by any highly stimulating situation, whether physical, mental and emotional. Let your joy, happiness, optimism, wonder, and gratitude grace your life.

7.    Break the Circuit: Much like a circuit breaker, once the load becomes too intense to bear and we feel more than we can process, we simply disconnect. Separating our conscious mind from our emotional mind.

8.    Let Tears flow of their own accord: Crying does not only mentally cleanse us, it can cleanse our body too. Tears that are produced by stress help the body get rid of chemicals that raise cortisol, the stress hormone. Tears can elevate our mood better than any antidepressant available.

9.    Exercise: Exercising regularly like running, biking, hiking, walking, dancing, or swimming for about 30 minutes at least three times a week will help regulate the emotions.

10. Sleep tight: Getting at least eight hours of sleep is helpful to maintain a calm emotional state and turbulence.

11.  Dietary Changes: Including healthier foods and avoiding foods with high levels of salt, fat and sugar will also work to help ease symptoms. Adding healthy fruits, whole grains and vegetables to the diet and limiting caffeine and alcohol will help quell the problems of emotional distress.

12. Adjust Your Perspective: Something bad has just happened. Our immediate emotional response to negative life events is often stronger and more negatively charged than it needs to be. That’s because we rarely expect things to go wrong in any given moment, but they sometimes do. To counteract this, I recommend a perspective shift. Every situation has many possible perspectives. I think by default we tend to pick the worst one because negative events bias our mind to negative thoughts about those events. But if we consider other, more positive perspectives, we can reverse this negativity cycle.

13.  Prepare An Action Plan: You won’t escape unless you act. Emotional turmoil is difficult to escape sometimes because it depresses our entire system. When we feel bad, we have less energy, less motivation, less willpower, and fewer ideas. you should still be able to start forming a plan of action. What steps can you take to improve your situation? You’ll find that simply clarifying your intent is enough to create a powerful spark inside of you that can lead to action.

14. Forgiveness: To truly heal, you must be able to forgive yourself. Beating yourself up for past transgressions isn't productive, and certainly doesn't make you feel good about yourself.

Life is a constant flux, and a wax and wane of good and bad.  If everything was always good, we would find life boring and we’d take it for granted.  In this way, the bad moments in our lives can even be necessary and beneficial – they provide a contrast for the good, so we can appreciate it even more fully. When you let your emotions run their course, then something beautiful happens. expressing emotions such as disappointment with noise and anger are negative, we should instead react to disappointment with a show of acceptance and grace.

Happiness and fulfilment are within your grasp, but sometimes just out of reach.

ALSO READ - DOSE: THE HAPPY BRAIN CHEMICALS

PREVENT YOURSELF FROM EMOTIONAL SICKNESS

18 GEMS OF WISDOM : BOOK IS LIVE ON AMAZON & KINDLE

Wisdom is a subsection of Consciousness.

We aren’t born with wisdom, but it is available to anyone who is willing to seek it out. It is impossible to acquire knowledge in all areas but having wisdom would guide you through almost everything even when you don't have the knowledge. Wisdom can’t be stolen, only shared to those willing to let it guide them.

We need wisdom, the ability to handle life with skill because a lot of mistakes in decisions are made by people without wisdom.

Wisdom goes beyond knowledge - wisdom brings together experience, humility, knowledge, responsibility, accountability, morality/integrity, intuition and strategic vision.

The book is addressed to the people, urging them to love righteousness and seek wisdom.

18 GEMS OF WISDOM is about each life transition brings with it the universal challenges that can be overcome with the right information and a positive mindset.

I think about challenges, obstacles, hard work, natural talent and ability, and what it takes to be successful and this book hands down is the most impactful. Read it from the beginning to end, that will spark your interest. And, as your life changes, you can come back to these Gems as an invaluable resource to help you navigate through life’s challenges.

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B07HL336M1/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1537617092&sr=8-1&keywords=18+gems+of+wisdom

Yoga Mudra for KNEE PAIN

1.Joint Mudra – mudra for relieving Joints Pain

Everybody experiences aches and pain throughout their life. Joint mudra reduces excess vata and dryness in the joints. It restores energy and heals the wearied-out ligaments/tendons/muscles at and around the joints. Joint mudra can be applied to counter sore joints. Joint mudra helps by restoring the energy and space element in the joints. It reduces pain and facilitates movement. This mudra helps in balancing energy in the joints.

How to do Joint Mudra?

To do Joint mudra you need to connect thumb and ring finger of your right hand (form Prithvi mudra); and thumb and middle finger of your left hand (form Akash mudra).

You can do it for 15 minutes twice a day. People or elders suffering from chronic joints pain should do it for 30 minutes thrice a day.

Effects

Space is balanced between the cartilage and the joint muscles. This mudra also provides calcium.

Benefits

Ø  Pain experienced while climbing down after a long hike is pacified.

Ø  Resolve tiredness in the elbows after the long hours of work on a computer.

Ø  This mudra helps relieve pain in the hip joints and knee joints due to Arthritis.

2.Vayu Mudra 

Vayu mudra is a yogic hand gesture believed to help regulate and reduce the air element within the body. The name comes from the Sanskrit, Vayu, meaning "air," and mudra, meaning "gesture."

How to do Vayu Mudra?

Vayu mudra is one of the easiest mudras to perform. It is performed by placing the tip of the index finger inside the base of the thumb. The base of the thumb is then gently pressed into the tip of the finger. The rest of the fingers should all remain straight, and it should be done with both hands simultaneously.

Conditions Treated

Rheumatism
Sciatica
Stiff Neck
Knee Pain
Gout
Joint Pain in hands and feet
Paralysis
Hysteria

There is a whole range of other conditions that respond well to practicing this mudra, including:

• Parkinson’s - It is thought to reduce the tremors.
• Stress and anxiety - It is believed to calm a stressed nervous system and soothe the mind.
• General pain - It is said to be helpful for pain management.
• Joint pain - It is believed to soothe the pain associated with rheumatism, sciatica or gout.
• Endocrine system - It supports skin and cartilage.

Knee pain is a common ailment that affects over 18 million adults each year. Performing Mudras, stretching and strengthening exercises that target the muscles that support your knees may help ease pain, improve range of motion and flexibility, and reduce the risk of future injuries.

5 MANAGEMENT STORIES WITH MORALS

v  'The Most Common Profession'- Akbar Birbal Story

One day Akbar resolved to find out which profession was the most Common Profession in his capital. He asked the courtiers; some said trade, others said masonry, but the consensus was on soldiering.

When Birbal’s turn came, he arose from his seat, bowed before Akbar and said, “Your Majesty, in my opinion the most
popular profession is medicine.” This was surprising as one could count the number of physicians in the city. The court
physician was furious and said that Birbal had no clue about how difficult it was to train in this profession and advise
people on medical problems.

Birbal smiled and said, “I can prove my statement, Your Majesty, if you come with me tomorrow morning.”

Akbar agreed, and the next morning met Birbal on a major crossroad in the city.
Birbal had a bandage on one hand. Akbar looked at it and asked what the matter was. Birbal said, “I cut my hand while chopping fruits for breakfast. Please, Your Majesty, you will have to write down the names of all the physicians we come
across.”

“I will do that Birbal but be sure to wash that wound well and apply some ointment on it,” said Akbar.

I will, Your Majesty, but only after I have proven my statement,” said Birbal.

They sat at the busy crossroad all through the day. Birbal was a well-known personality, so everyone who passed by
asked Birbal about his injury and advised him about some medication or the other. As the day wore on, the list grew long
and by afternoon Akbar was tired of writing names, so he suggested they go home.
Birbal asked for the list and said, “My Lord, you forgot to write your own name at the top of the list. You were the first one to advise me!”

v  Bond of Love and the Truth

A very loving couple had been married for over 10 years without any child and it was becoming their 11th year.  Steve and Sarah stayed with each other and greatly hoped that they will have a child before their 11th year of marriage runs out because they were under persuasion from friends and family members to get a divorce.  But they couldn’t let go because of the strong bond of love between them.  Months passed and one day, while Dave was returning from work, he saw his wife walking down the road with a man.

Months passed and one day, while Dave was returning from work, he saw his wife walking down the road with a man.  The man had his arms around her neck and they looked very happy.  For over a week, he saw the same man with his wife at various places and one evening while Dave was returning from work he saw the man drop her off at the house after giving her a kiss on the cheek.  Dave was angry and sad but he didn’t spoke of it with his wife.

Two days later after a hectic day at work, Dave was taking water with a glass jug from the dispenser when the phone rang.  He picked it up and the person said,” Hello dear, I’ll be coming to your house this evening to see you as promised.”  Dave hung up the phone.  It was a male voice and he was sure the person was the man he had always seen his wife with.  He suddenly became shaky with the thought that he has lost his wife to another man.  The glass jug fell from his hand and shattered into pieces.

His wife came running into the room asking,” Is everything okay?”  In anger, he gave his wife a push and she fell.  She wasn’t moving or getting up.  Dave then realized that she fell where he broke the glass jug.  A large piece of glass had pierced her.  He felt her breath, pulse, and heartbeat but there she lay lifeless.  In a total confusion, he saw an envelope in her hand.  He took it, opened it and was shocked by its content – it was a letter.  It read:

“My loving husband, words cannot express how I feel so I had to write it down. I have been going to see a doctor for over a week and I wanted to be sure before I give you the news.

The doctor confirmed it that I am pregnant with a twin and our baby is due 2 months from now.  The same doctor is my long-lost brother whom I lost contact with after our marriage. He has promised to take care of me and our baby and give us the best without collecting a dime.

He also promised to have dinner with us today.  Thanks for staying by my side.

Your loving wife.

The letter fell from his hand.  There was a knock at the door and the same man he had seen with his wife came in and said,” Hello Dave, I suppose I’m right. I am Max, the brother of your wife” Suddenly, Max noticed his sister lying in a pool of her blood.  He rushed her to the hospital and she was in a coma.  She had lost her twins.

Moral: We should not be too quick to take unnecessary actions in our relationship or marriage when we haven’t questioned our partner or spouse on what we saw or heard about them.  We all have our faults.  We shouldn’t be too fast to judge others.  Not everything you see, hear or believe about someone is true.  Always learn to control yourself under any condition or situation, irrespective of what you’ve heard or seen.

v   An empress with no children decided to hold a competition to determine who would succeed her when she died. She summoned all the children in the city to her palace and gave each one a seed. "Plant this seed, care for it, and in one year bring back the flower that grows from it. Whoever brings me the most beautiful flower will be the next empress."

One young girl planted her seed in a pot and watered it every day, but nothing grew. At the end of the year she was devastated, but on the day set for inspection of the flowers she picked up her pot and carried it to the palace.

All the other children brought colourful, vibrant flowers, but the empress only glanced at them. She walked straight to the young girl and smiled. "All the seeds I gave you had been boiled and were dead. Only you were honest enough to bring back the original seed I gave you. You will be a just and wise empress."

Moral:  Tell the truth, even when it seems easier not to.

v   A King’s Painting

Once upon a time, there was a Kingdom. The king there only had one leg and one eye, but he was very intelligent and kind. Everyone in his kingdom lived a happy and a healthy life because of their king. One day the king was walking through the palace hallway and saw the portraits of his ancestors. He thought that one day his children will walk in the same hallway and remember all the ancestors through these portraits.

But, the king did not have his portrait painted. Due to his physical disabilities, he wasn’t sure how his painting would turn out. So, he invited many famous painters from his and other kingdoms to the court. The king then announced that he wants a beautiful portrait made of himself to be placed in the palace. Any painter who can carry out this should come forward. He will be rewarded based on how the painting turns up.

All the painters began to think that the king only has one leg and one eye. How can his picture be made very beautiful? It is not possible and if the picture does not turn out to look beautiful then the king will get angry and punish them. So, one by one, all started to make excuses and politely declined to make a painting of the king.

But suddenly one painter raised his hand and said that I will make a very beautiful portrait of you which you will surely like. The king became happy hearing that and other painters got curious. The king gave him the permission and the painter started drawing the portrait. He then filled the drawing with paints. Finally, after taking a long time, he said that the portrait was ready!

All the courtiers, other painters were curious and nervous thinking, How can the painter make the king’s portrait beautiful because the king is physically disabled? What if the king didn’t like the painting and gets angry? But when the painter presented the portrait, everyone in the court, including the king, left stunned.

The painter made a portrait in which the king was sitting on the horse, on the one-leg side, holding his bow and aiming the arrow with his one eye closed. The king was very pleased to see that the painter has made a beautiful portrait by cleverly hiding the king’s disabilities. The King gave him a great reward.

Moral: We should always think positive of others and ignore their deficiencies. We should learn to focus on the good things instead of trying to hide weaknesses. If we think and approach positively even in a negative situation, then we will be able to solve our problems more efficiently.

v   The Needs and Desires

Once upon a time, there lived a King who, despite his luxurious lifestyle, was neither happy nor content.  One day, the King came upon a servant who was singing happily while he worked. This fascinated the King, why was he, the Supreme Ruler of the Land, unhappy and gloomy, while a lowly servant had so much joy.  The King asked the servant, “Why are you so happy?”

The man replied, “Your Majesty, I am nothing but a servant, but my family and I don’t need too much, just a roof over our heads and warm food to fill our tummies.”  The king was not satisfied with that reply.  Later in the day, he sought the advice of his most trusted advisor.  After hearing the King’s woes and the servant’s story, the advisor said, “Your Majesty, I believe that the servant has not been made part of The 99 Club.”

“The 99 Club? And what exactly is that?” the King inquired.  The advisor replied, “Your Majesty, to truly know what The 99 Club is, place 99 Gold coins in a bag and leave it at this servant’s doorstep.”  So the King ordered to do it.  When the servant saw the bag, he took it into his house.  When he opened the bag, he let out a great shout of joy, So many gold coins!  He began to count them.  After several counts, he was at last convinced that there were 99 coins.  He wondered, “What could’ve happened to that last gold coin? Surely, no one would leave 99 coins!”

He looked everywhere he could, but that final coin was elusive.  Finally, exhausted, he decided that he was going to have to work harder than ever to earn that gold coin and complete his collection.  From that day, the servant’s life was changed. He was overworked, horribly grumpy, and castigated his family for not helping him make that 100th gold coin.  He stopped singing while he worked.  Witnessing this drastic transformation, the King was puzzled.  When he sought his advisor’s help, the advisor said, “Your Majesty, the servant has now officially joined The 99 Club.”

He continued, “The 99 Club is a name given to those people who have enough to be happy but are never content, because they’re always yearning and striving for that extra 1 telling themselves, “Let me get that one final thing and then I will be happy for life.”

Moral:  We can be happy, even with very little in our lives, but the minute we’re given something bigger and better, we want even more! We lose our sleep, our happiness, we hurt the people around us, all these as a price for our growing needs and desires.  We must learn to maintain a balance of our need and desires to enjoy a happy life with what we already have.