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TENSION IN DAILY LIFE:
We are living in information technology age and
media is playing a big role. The newspapers and televisions
are day by day aiding to the level of desires of the people at
younger ages. The desire level has become high which demand
more concerted efforts and each one tries to make a
short-cut. The whole scenario produces stress at younger ages
and today the younger generation is suffering from all kinds
of hyper tension which results in high blood pressure, heart
attack and premature deaths. Everywhere there is color war,
communal strife, religious riots and the inflated desires of
politicians are making our life miserable. Atomic weapons
continue to pile up. A number of states indulge in terrorist
activities in the name of “jehad”. These all added together
increase problems in daily life. These are added with
increasing population in
India which is making urban areas very congested. The
increasing cost of living and unabated shortage of basic
necessities, polluted air and water are further aiding to
worsen the situation. Many difficulties are built in our
daily life due to unnatural living conditions.
Scientific and technological development have
brought speed in life. Traveling with increasing speeds has
become regular habit. This has further increased demands on
our physiological organs as well as mental equipments. Life
is very fast and this needs tremendous expense of energy. The
existence of mental tension has become part of modern living
and has been universally accepted. The frequent stressful
circumstances are effecting our daily life not only
physiologically but also undermine our physical health.
If a modern mind is always in mental tension and
their nerves are taut and highly strung off, it is very
difficult to expect good performance and balanced mental state
where appropriate decision have to be taken. Agitation,
restlessness and evil thoughts are the results of continued
tension in daily life. STRESS may be defined as :
“An Altered State Of Body And Mind As A Result Of Imbalance
Created By Environmental Demands And The Individual Capacity
To Meet These Demands”
DISORDER OF
BODY
Human beings are having innate mechanism and it
is which prepares everyone fight or flight to cope up with
such situation. When stressful situation occurs regularly the
stress mechanism to fight such stress is activated
repeatedly. If the physical condition persist for long or
frequently occurs serious disorder starts appearing. For
example if blood pressure remains high and blood pressure
restricted for long it will result in hear attach or strokes.
The causes of digestive disorders may appear due to blood
stoppage to stomach. If the breathe is prolonged at high rate
it may result in Asthma. Sustained muscle tension will lead
to pains in head, neck and shoulders. These are few examples.
Besides this chronic tension often bring in feelings of
panic. The stressful condition and constant state of anxiety
prevents human being from coping up with the relentless
demands of ordered life. Now it has become evident by a
number of experiments that tension leads to a great many
illnesses. We have to face these problems and keep tension
under a manageable level to keep us physically and mentally
fit.
CAUSES OF TENSION
Some kind of tension is essential for achievement
of goal and to keep drive on. But tension should not increase
above a desired level, as increased tension causes trouble and
it may give rise to permanent disorder. There are may
situations in life where increase of tension is based on the
sudden change of situation such as death of a spouse, divorce,
injury, illness, marriage dismissal from service, retirement,
change in work, change in working conditions, change in eating
or sleeping habits, change in working environment and so on.
The list is not complete. All the above situation will
increase the tension as they are natural phenomenon which is
against liking of a human being. Life is not so simple and we
need to meet several changes in the life and we must adjust
ourselves with the changed situations. The reaction level has
to be kept minimum and remedial measures have to be taken so
that the causes are removed. Sources of Tension may be
clarified as
v
PRESSURE
v
CONFLICTS
v
FRUSTRATIONS
TENSION :
Tension has got direct bearing on the
physiological conditions. The affects blood supply to the
Digestive systems and immediately increases respiration. The
physiological conditions can be summarized as follows.
v
Blood Supply To The Digestive Systems Is Curtailed; Digestion
Slows Down Or Is Halted
v
The Salivary Glands Dry Up
v
Respiration Rate Increases; Breathlng Becomes Faster Or
Gasping
v
The Liver Releases Some Of The Store Of Blood Sugar And Is
Carried To The Muscles Of The Arms And Legs.
v
The Heart
Beats Faster To Pump More Blood Where It Is Most Needed And
Blood Pressure Rises.
RESULT OF CHANGED PHYSIOLOGICAL CONDITIONS:
The change in
physiological conditions give rise to complex changes in the
human body. These are
v
All Complex
Changes Occur To Generate Extra Qualities Of
Electro-Mechanical & Hormonal Energy Which Enables Us To Act
Quickly.
v
The Energy
Goes To Muscles And Gets Wormed Up In The Muscles As Tension.
TYPES OF TENSION:
Basically there are three types of tension,
(i)
Muscular
Tension
(ii)
Mental
Tension, and
(iii)
Emotional
Tension.
(i) Muscular Tension : Muscular
Tension is caused due to wrong sitting habit, wrong walking
habit, wrong sleeping habit and wrong postures during day to
day activities.
(ii) Mental Tension :
Now-a-days each one suffer due to over activity of his mental
involvement. In this competitive age, you try to do short
cut and one try to move very fast. The value of the society
has also changed. Now wealth is considered as the parameter
for judging social status. Mental faculty is over stretched
and it results in mental fatigue. Over thinking has become a
usual phenomenon. This results in mental disorder and many
people suffer from this. Constant use of mental faculty has
become a way of life. We constantly indulge either in
memories of the past or are busy with the planning of the
future. To be precise, we live more in the past or in the
future and very little in the present. We are very much
involved in the work plan of unnecessary memories and thus
there is little time for living in the present.
(iii) Emotional Tension: Emotional
tension has become also a daily affair in family as well as in
office life. Intense craving to possess has desired results
in abnormal emotional tension if there is a hindrance for the
same. Likes and dislikes if are encountered results in
emotional tension. Everyone wants that others should pay
attention to him without bothering whether he is paying
attention to others or not.
India which
is a multi regional, multi lingual and multi national society
this problem is very much due to diverse situation. We are
prone to hurt each other emotionally without any cause or
reason. Now-a-days non- violence and tolerance has become a
far cry and are used only for speeches significantly without
following in spirit.
MANAGEMENT OF TENSIONS
i)
Muscular Tension: Management of sitting and standing postures have to be correct. Apart
from this one has to inculcate daily habit of yogic exercises
or any form of exercise or walking as substitute. If regular
exercises are performed maximum tension can be managed to a
certain extent.
ii)
Mental and Emotional Tension : Management of these two types of tension are very
essential as they are of the highest order. Mental and
emotional tension leads to physical tension also and hence
these need to be taken care of. Meditation is be best remedy
for these two types of tensions. Physical changes during
medication are as follows.
v
The Number Of Breaths Per Minute Reduce
v
The Metabolic Rate Falls Basal Metabolic Rate
v
Cardiac Output Reduces
v
Blood Pressure Reduces
v
Blood Lactate
Elimination Process Becomes More Rapid
v
ECG Shows A
Relaxed State Of Mental Functioning
Meditation produces effect in a gradual manner. If the
meditation practices are performed regularly it will start
showing results. The effects of meditation are given below :
v
General Improvement In Health
v
Decrease In Insomnia
v
Relief From Asthma
v
Decreased Use Of Drugs
v
Faster Reaction Time
v
Sharper
Perception
v
Improved Mind-Body Coordination
v
Growth Of Creativity
v
Improved Inter-Personal Relationship
MEDITATION TECHNIQUE FOR STRESS MANAGEMENT:
This meditation techniques may be
done while lying flat on the back or on stomach or by sitting
in a comfortable posture or standing in a relaxed position.
The steps to be followed are given below :
v
If you are lying on your back, this will be the natural state
of following the technique.
v
Close your EYES and keep your body relaxed.
v
On flat posture, start from the TOE of the right leg.
Visualize the TOE of the right leg and then suggest that the
TOE of the right leg is getting relaxed. Repeat 3 to 4 times.
v
Visualize the next finger and suggest that the finger is
getting relaxed. Same way visualize all the fingers and
suggest that the fingers are getting relaxed.
v
Visualize each part of the right leg from sole up to the waist
and suggest that they are getting relaxed. (Each part should
be visualized and then suggested.
v
Start from the left TOE and visualize that the TOE of the left
leg is getting relaxed. Repeat 3 to 4 times.
v
Similarly visualize all fingers, leg, thigh up to the waist
and suggest that each of them are getting relaxed.
v
If while doing so tension is observed on any part thereof
visualize that part and suggest that it is getting relaxed.
v
Now visualize each part of the body from the waist to
shoulder, lower part of the abdomen, upper part of the
abdomen, the stomach, liver, pancreas, the lungs, the heart
and suggest each of them are getting relaxed. (It is better
to do the meditation by seeing a physiological chart for clear
visualization).
v
Now start from the right arm thumb. Visualize the right arm
thumb and feel that the right arm thumb is getting relaxed.
Similarly visualize other part of the right arm up to the
shoulder and suggest that they are getting relaxed. Repeat the
same exercise for the left arm.
v
Visualize now from shoulder and above, mouth, nose, eyes,
forehead, and upper part of the head and then suggest that it
is getting relaxed. Here visualize each part and suggest.
This process can be repeated again as per
availability of time. The exercise can be repeated while
sitting on a chair or standing in a comfortable posture or
lying on “Makarasan”
This is a complete relaxation
exercise and if it is done while sleeping in the night it will
induce very good sleep.
TEST FOR THE TECHNIQUE
One may feel that after this exercise breathing will become
very slow. If correctly followed one may feel that even the
breathing has almost stopped. This is the correct test of the
technique. If you fall asleep in the night do not worry but
in the day time it is better to keep awake so that the process
is repeated to all parts of the body.
B.Sharma
Pradhan Acharya, OEYR
E-mail :
pradhanacharya@excelyoga.com |
