Every breath you take

May 15, 2015 06:10 pm | Updated July 31, 2015 09:04 pm IST

CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU, 18/04/2015: Yoga enthusiast demonstrating Rudra Mudra in Chennai._Photo: S.R. Raghunathan

CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU, 18/04/2015: Yoga enthusiast demonstrating Rudra Mudra in Chennai._Photo: S.R. Raghunathan

Anxiety is an emotion that all of us deal with on an everyday basis. Worrying about our future, our children, their future, the traffic, the weather, the maid, our family and what they will say, the validity of our decisions… the list stretches on for km. We worry because we keep using the problem-solving feature of our brains to run through every worst case scenario possible and try to prepare for it. Anxiety is the result of the anticipation of all the possible failures. Please do note that it isn’t prevalent in just people with high-pressure jobs or students who put pressure on themselves to perform and succeed. Each and every one of us is subtly pressurising ourselves to make sure that we tick all the boxes in every sphere of our lives. The resulting build-up of anxiety leaves us drained of energy, joy and, in many cases, our sleep and the resulting well-being.

Intervention should not be just for the symptoms; it should also address that part of you where the anxiety and worry is stemming from. But the first step is to allow you to calm down and experience some relief. Hopefully, when your mind is relaxed, you can self-examine and re-evaluate your life’s priorities. Deep breathing can definitely help, as can the power of your imagination. The following is a process that doesn’t strictly come under the domain of the yogic sciences, but I still use it in almost every class to release stress and access mental equilibrium.

You can choose to either sit on a thick blanket against the wall or on a comfortable chair that supports your back without letting you slouch.

Visualisation

Take deep breaths by expanding your stomach as you inhale and drawing your belly inwards as you exhale.

As you inhale, visualise yourself breathing in a soft white light.

And as you exhale, use your imagination and see yourself releasing gray smoke through your nostrils.

Let the white light represent peace of mind and relaxation.

Let the gray smoke represent stress, physical pain and lethargy.

Continue to breathe in and out till you feel yourself more at ease than before.

This visualisation can be repeated as many times as you want during the day.

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