Ayurveda Article - Get Rid of Stress NOW !

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THE AYURVEDIC VIEW ON STRESS MANAGEMENT:

 

You Can Give the Boot to Stress!

Matt, a 42-year-old manager of an electronics sales firm, called

himself a typical "Type A" personality. He spent a tremendous amount

of energy trying to get everything done yesterday. Unable to wait in

line at the bank or movie theater without getting impatient, he also

carried extra weight, had high cholesterol, and smoked to relieve the

tension.

Marlene, a 37-year-old mother of two, reported a range of physical

symptoms related to stress, including aches and pains in her lower

back, neck, wrists, and knees. Chronic insomnia made her rely on

eight cups of coffee a day just to keep awake, and she seemed to

catch every kind of cold and flu that came to town. She frequently

suffered from "blue" periods.

Matt and Marlene are not alone. Ninety percent of the complaints

people show up with in doctors' offices today are related to stress,

and include insomnia, fatigue, anxiety and depression.

Writing prescriptions for sleeping pills or tranquilizers is a reflex

for doctors, but unfortunately it doesn't solve the problem. Rather,

it produces rebound anxiety, rebound insomnia, and debilitating side

effects. Worse, thousands, if not millions of Americans are addicted

to these drugs.

Fortunately for Matt, Marlene and other Americans, it is now possible

to find natural, non-addictive ways to restore balance to the body,

mind and emotions through Maharishi Ayurveda.

 

Stress and How It Affects Us

In the past, Americans faced more physical stressors, such as

infectious disease and lack of food or shelter.

Today's stressors include physical ones such as pollution and rushed

schedules and emotional pressures such as financial worries, work-

related frustrations, and marital strife. Equally important are

spiritual difficulties, such as inner emptiness and lack of

fulfillment.

In today's stressed-out world, your optimum health and peak

performance depend on remaining calm under pressure. This defines

stress as excessive wear and tear on the nervous system, and points

to its origin in the French word estrece, which means "narrowness," a

constriction or limiting of your power.

Most debilitating types of stress, called negative stress or

distress, generally occur when you view change and pressure as

burdens and rising demands as threats. You feel a sense of

alienation, frustration, or helplessness. This results in dis-ease,

dis-order, and dis-satisfaction.

Repeated or prolonged negative stress can trigger complex

physiological reactions involving multiple chemical changes in the

body. These lead to an exhaustion of mental, physical and emotional

energies, thus increasing your susceptibility to disease. Research

shows that stress raises blood cholesterol and blood pressure, and

lowers immunity. It kills brain cells, lowers IQ, and impairs memory

and thinking. Cancer, heart disease, immuno-deficiency diseases and

even the common cold are linked to stress.

In a landmark study at Harvard, it was found that people who coped

poorly with stress became ill four times more often than those with

good coping skills. Another study of 30,000 people conducted by the

Center for Disease Control found that people who experienced severe

stress in childhood and adolescence were far more likely to suffer

from heart disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, depression and

other forms of stress as adults.

 

The Ayurvedic Solution

To be effective in treating stress, it's important to be

specific. "With the Maharishi Ayurveda approach, we always try to

target the etiological (causal) factors and then bring that area into

balance," says Vaidya Mishra, Director of Research and Product

Development at Maharishi Ayurveda Products International. "But we are

careful not to create imbalance in other areas that may produce

negative side effects."

There are three different manifestations of stress from the

perspective of Maharishi Ayurveda - mental, emotional, and physical.

Each requires different solutions and therapies.

 

Mental Stress

Mental stress, according to ayurveda, is caused by an overuse or

misuse of the mind. For instance, if you perform intense mental work

many hours a day, or if you work long hours on the computer, it can

cause an imbalance in Prana Vata, the mind-body operator concerned

with brain activity, energy and the mind. "The first symptom of Prana

Vata imbalance is losing the ability to handle stress," says Vaidya

Mishra. "As the person becomes more stressed, it impacts mental

functions such as dhi, dhriti, and smriti, or acquisition, retention,

and recall. The person's mind becomes hyperactive, yet the person

loses the ability to make clear decisions, to think positively, to

feel enthusiastic, and even to fall asleep at night."

To treat mental stress, Vaidya Mishra suggests that you begin by

managing mental activity. Secondly, you can take measures to pacify

Prana Vata.

 

Diet, lifestyle and herbal recommendations for mental balance:

• Favor Vata <http://www.mapi.com/mdev_shop.cgi?

goto=catalog/vata.html>-balancing foods, such as sweet, sour, and

salty tastes.

• Favor warm milk, ghee <http://www.mapi.com/mdev_shop.cgi?

goto=newcatalog/mindbodygourmet.html>, and other light dairy products

• Sip a relaxing herbal tea through the day

• Diffusing a calming aroma oil can help relax you before bed

• Perform a full-body warm oil massage everyday

 

Emotional Stress

Emotional stress can be caused by a problem in a relationship, the

loss of a relative, or any situation that might hurt the heart.

Emotional stress shows up as irritability, depression, and emotional

instability. It affects sleep in a different way than mental stress --

it can cause you to wake up in the night and not be able to go back

to sleep.

"With emotional stress, the management is quite different," says

Vaidya Mishra. "Emotional stress disturbs Sadhaka Pitta, the mind-

body operator concerned with the emotions and functioning of the

heart. To balance emotional stress, you need to favor Pitta

<http://www.mapi.com/mdev_shop.cgi?goto=catalog/pitta.html>-pacifying

foods and routine."

 

Diet, lifestyle and herbal recommendations for emotional balance:

• Eat lots of sweet juicy fruits

• Favor Pitta <http://www.mapi.com/mdev_shop.cgi?

goto=catalog/pitta.html>-pacifying foods such as the sweet, bitter

and astringent tastes.

• Drink a cup of warm milk with Rose Petal Jam

<http://www.mapi.com/mdev_shop.cgi?

goto=newcatalog/mindbodygourmet.html> before bed

• Try sweet lassi with Rose Petal Jam

<http://www.mapi.com/mdev_shop.cgi?

goto=newcatalog/mindbodygourmet.html> at the noon meal (For recipe

<http://www.mapi.com/mdev_shop.cgi?goto=catalog/indexrecipes.html>,

click here)

• Cook with cooling spices such as cardamom, coriander,

cilantro, and mint

• Massage with coconut oil

• Go to bed before 10:00 p.m.

 

Physical Stress

Physical stress is caused by misuse or overuse of the body, such as

exercising too much or working for extended periods at a job that is

physically taxing. The person experiences physical fatigue along with

mental fogginess, difficulty in concentrating, and dullness of the

mind.

"Excessive physical strain causes three sub-doshas to go out of

balance: Shleshaka Kapha, the subdosha concerned with lubrication of

the joints and moisture balance in the skin, Vyana Vata, which

governs the circulation, nerve impulses and the sense of touch, and

Tarpaka Kapha, which governs the neuro humors," says Vaidya Mishra.

Another cause of physical stress is too little exercise, which

results in a sluggish digestion and the formation of ama, the

digestive impurities that clog the channels. In either type of

physical fatigue, the process of regenerating cells slows down, and

thus the cells themselves become physically tired.

"The solution is to balance Vata <http://www.mapi.com/mdev_shop.cgi?

goto=catalog/vata.html> and to support Kapha

<http://www.mapi.com/mdev_shop.cgi?goto=catalog/kapha.html> to make

the body more stable and nurturing," says Vaidya Mishra.

 

Diet, lifestyle and supplement recommendations for physical balance:

• Sip a relaxing herbal tea through the day

• Favor Vata <http://www.mapi.com/mdev_shop.cgi?

goto=catalog/vata.html>-Kapha <http://www.mapi.com/mdev_shop.cgi?

goto=catalog/kapha.html> pacifying diet

• Perform the full-body warm oil self massage everyday

Certain foods are also natural stress busters. "These include

walnuts, almonds, coconut, any sweet juicy, seasonal fruit such as

pears, apples (cooked if possible), milk, lassi, ghee

<http://www.mapi.com/mdev_shop.cgi?

goto=newcatalog/mindbodygourmet.html>, and fresh cheeses such as

panir or ricotta," says Vaidya Mishra.

 

Natural Relief for Matt and Marlene

Matt and Marlene were able to combat stress with an arsenal of

natural solutions from Maharishi Ayurveda. "For Matt I prescribed

Worry Free <http://www.mapi.com/mdev_shop.cgi?

goto=newcatalog/mindbodybeverages.html> tea, the most effective

natural tranquilizer available," says Dr. Bloomfield. "Matt's wife

has blessed me many times, because he's now able to listen

receptively to her and the kids, and doesn't have the hyper-

aggressiveness that he had before."

The herbs in Worry Free <http://www.mapi.com/mdev_shop.cgi?

goto=newcatalog/mindbodybeverages.html> tea include Brahmi

<http://www.mapi.com/mdev_shop.cgi?goto=/ayurvedicherbs/brahmi.html>,

Ashwagandha <http://www.mapi.com/mdev_shop.cgi?

goto=/ayurvedicherbs/ashwagandha.html>, and Arjuna

<http://www.mapi.com/mdev_shop.cgi?

goto=/ayurvedicherbs/arjuna.html>. "In widespread research, Brahmi

has been found to enhance dhi, dhriti, and smriti," says Vaidya

Mishra. "Ashwagandha is an adaptogenic, which means that it combats

physical fatigue that converts to mental dullness. Research shows

that Arjuna supports cardiac health."

Matt was able to stop smoking after starting the Transcendental

Meditation technique, and Marlene also experienced its holistic

stress-reducing benefits.

"Worry Free <http://www.mapi.com/mdev_shop.cgi?

goto=newcatalog/mindbodybeverages.html> and Slumber Time

<http://www.mapi.com/mdev_shop.cgi?

goto=newcatalog/mindbodybeverages.html> tea and the related herbal

tablets were tremendous aids for establishing a normal sleep cycle,

and Marlene no longer needs six to eight cups of coffee a day to stay

alert," says Dr. Bloomfield. Marlene also reported that the Blissful

Joy aroma <http://www.mapi.com/mdev_shop.cgi?

goto=newcatalog/aromatherapy.html> and tablets

<http://www.mapi.com/mdev_shop.cgi?goto=catalog/p-

herbalblissfuljoy.html> helped her wipe out her "blue" periods.

Stress unfortunately is a part of life for many of us. If you don't

find ways to manage stress, it is likely that twenty or thirty years

down the line dis-ease, dis-order and dis-satisfaction could lead to

frank disease such as heart disease or cancer.

On the other hand, if you build your resilience to stress through

natural methods, you can begin to experience stressors more as a

challenge or a positive opportunity for growth.

If you learn to evoke the 'stay and play' rather than the 'fight or

flight' response, you can truly live a stress-free life of self-

actualization, and become a 'spiritual being' in human form.

 

 

 

Note : This ayurvedic information is educational and is not intended

to replace standard medical care or advice.

Copyright MAPI, 2002.

 

For more information on Ayurveda or to to free newsletters,

plaese visit <http://www.mapi.com>