HYDERABAD: It's worth being slightly more mindful of the way you breathe, as it can go a long way in helping mitigate health conditions that have no treatment in mainstream medicine.
Yoga practitioners in the city vouch by the therapeutic powers of yoga, in helping manage the symptoms of some of the worst health conditions like migraine, fibromyalgia, sinus, etc.
Speaking to Express, a yoga practitioner in the city explains how she is working with patients and helping them overcome different health conditions, by using their own cosmic energy. “Yoga is all about one’s aura and energy. A huge but understated role here is played by how we breathe,” noted Jyoti Jashnani, Dietician and Yoga Ratna.
To work with clients who come in with pre-existing health conditions of pains and aches, she noted, she first works to correct the natural breathing course of the individual. “Our life extends by the breaths we take in, so it must be done properly. We must ensure that our breathing ensure the oxygenation of our body to its capacity, unlike other exercises. In health conditions where pain is recurrent, the pain increases if residual carbon dioxide is left behind,” adds Jyoti.
She recommends people to follow the correct breathing pattern with each of the asanas they perform, in order to ensure that the breath taken in reaches each of their cells. “This is necessary to combat the health condition faced,” she says. For instance, if one is affected by frequent migraines, doing a headstand is one way for the brain to get more oxygen and the nerves to relax. However, since everyone cannot do that, yoga has an alternate method to oxygenate the brain. “Pranayamam is one of the best options, as it ensures that the brain gets sufficient oxygen. Thus all the nerves and blood vessels get enough oxygen, reducing the pain,” Jyoti adds.
She vouches by this method, because yoga had helped her overcome a painful and difficult health condition like fibromyalgia. “Fibromyalgia has 18 tender points spread across the body, that impacts the soft tissue. It can leave one in pain all day, in addition to bringing in disorders like irritable bowel syndrome, body stiffness, brain fog, etc. However, corrective breathing can go a long way in ensuring that blood reaches all these points and relieves the pain, thus helping keep the stress that comes along with it at bay,” explains Jyoti, who has been practising yoga for the past five years now.
Simple breathing cycles for any time of the day
Sit with your back straight in the vajrasana position, folding your feet.
Breathe in deeply and hold it for a second and breathe out.
This method sees to it your proper intake of oxygen and outspell of carbon dioxide. Practise this daily for 5 minutes, until it comes naturally to you.
Practise a breathing cycle that lasts about 8 seconds. The usual cycle we are conditioned to do is 4 seconds in length, with 2 seconds of inhalation and 2 seconds of exhalation.
In this technique, the cycle is stretched to a total of 8 seconds. This will help improve the lung capacity, oxygen retention and absorption.
Breathing cycle can also be extended to 3 minutes, with 1.5 minutes each allotted to inhalation and exhalation