The Energy Pill

Why is that after aerobics and other form of cardio exercise one feels the tiredness from the workout? The workout is tiring but one tends to draw satisfaction from the “good” pain effect of these exercises. The muscles and the entire body feels sore but we are happy about it. No more work is possible for few hours after the so called fitness workout. Rather than feeling relaxed the body inside is actually stressed. The muscles are more rigid and are in a constant state of alertness.

The objective is general fitness and muscular build but it comes with an expense. The expense  is an overwork of internal organs. Heart has to beat faster to pump more blood, respiration is faster, kidneys have to work extra since more blood flows through them and the digestive system becomes active because of all the hyper oxygenation going on in the body. Indeed, some of it is required. One needs a toned body a healthy heart but not all of the other side-effects that it is bringing. If one is not careful, a heavy workout can result in more damage than it brings any good. Often people complain of insomnia and anxiety. These are symptoms of body being in a state of alertness and stress. Unknowingly one has put himself in stress all the while trying to get body in shape.

So what is the right exercise regimen where we can get a proper nourishment to our external organs and also keeping internal organs from being overworked?

In my own experience, I have observed, after doing Yoga  based exercises I not only do not get tired but also feel energetic the whole day. I eat well, sleep well and am in a constant state of being contend all day. After some deliberation on what is indeed going on I have the following findings. The regimen of exercise I follow is, I start with breathing exercises for five minutes, then I move to stretching and bending exercises for another 5 mins followed by a warm-up session of Suryanamaskar for 10 mins. By this time I have got a good 20 min workout and I lay on my Yoga Mat for a 5 mins of guided relaxation. Once I am caught up on my breath while lying on the mat, I give suggestions to my body to relax, my mind to go blank and focus only on my breath. After the end of five minutes, I feel relaxed and my body loose. Then I proceed to do some asanas, i have different ones everyday based on what area of my body needs work on. This goes for 10 mins. Now I have prepared myself to do some Pranayama. I always do two of them everyday. One always being Kapalbhati and the other one I alternate between Nadi-Shudhi and Brahmari. This takes about 10 mins. In total I have followed a strict 45 mins exercise schedule where I have given enough cardio to myself to increase my heart rate, I have bended and twisted each on my external body parts and joints and my internal organs have benefitted from the asanas I did. All of this was constantly being done while I focussed on my breath and kept myself relaxed. So after the end of the session, I am good to go for the entire day.
The great Myth about Yoga is that it a set of exercises that is for elderly or people with weaker constitution, and that it does not give a good cardio workout. Well I have news for such misconceptions. If you spend one hour in the gym sweating or thirty minutes running to break into sweat, I can get you into the same situation in 20 mins all the while giving a full body workout. The 10 position Suryanamaskar is a grossly unexplored set of exercises. If done with proper guidance, it can give a full body workout that no other Aerobic or cardio workout can give. This followed up with a five to seven minute guided relaxation is an excellent 30 mins package that can make you feel more energetic and relaxed all the while giving a full body workout.
Aerobics, cardio-workout, running or biking are not bad way of getting into shape however all of them lack something. Either they focus on only one part of the body or they focus too much on calorie burning. If a 20 mins of Yoga regimen with some Pranayama and guided relaxation is added to a full body workout, it can come closer to being complete. At least the tiredness of the workout can be managed.
It is a known fact that we loose calories and yes indeed weight too, even when we sleep. Even when the body is at rest, the internal organs are still at work. Heart is pumping blood, kidneys are working on purification of blood, respiratory and digestive systems are working and all this consumes energy. Energy that we have accumulated during the day is slowly used up at night. The rate is slow and hence we don't feel hungry while sleeping. So while the modern exercise routine keep the body in a high state of alertness all the time and keep the internal organs working to keep up with the body needs, Yoga based exercises give the workout to all body parts and keep the internal organs to a minimal use. The energy of the calories needed by internal organs is constant, the heart beats normally, the respiration is longer and more productive, the digestive juices are flowing and the body is in a constant state of equilibrium. The body is no longer in a stressful situation. It actually starts to be in a constant state of relaxation. Based on somebody's needs this Yoga Based exercise regimen can become an energy pill that comes in the dosage of 20 mins, 45 mins or an hour on Yoga Mat.
So why follow a regimen that does not give you a full body workout or leaves you feeling achy and tired. Rather get that Energy Pill in the form of right Yoga exercises that makes you feel better and leaves the body in a perfect harmony devoid of any stress.

Putting "ME" in (HE)alth

Listening to all the debates on health and well-being one wonders why there are only so few people concerned about well being of world at large. There are numerous talks about Government Spending and getting World Health Organisation to come up with wellness policies. Representatives of various countries go all over the world rallying up each others government support for putting together a he alt agenda. What happens in the end is a beautiful report of where we are in terms of disease control and what the various health departments in all countries are doing to rein in and control various epidemics.
Now based on some surveys and reports of few agencies, are these people fully aware on what needs to be done for "Our" health and well-being. WHO acknowledges that health is not a mere absence of disease but wellness at mind, body, social and emotional level. So what happens to health of people who seemingly do not have any diseases or they have something that is not a concern of the few people concerned about World Health? Who is really responsible for my health? I think that should be ME. All surveys and statistics are collected for a pool of people and what comes out sometimes is misleading and actually not even important to an individual like ME. Well, I do not have diabetes or suffer from any heart ailment or have any serious issue so I am anyway out of radar of much of the discussion.
Medicine, whether its traditional or modern, works on a basic principle that one's own body is the primary healer. Allopathy drugs or homeopathy formulations work on this basic premise that providing certain chemicals on right proportion will allow the body to generate antigens to fulfil a deficiency or antibodies to fight a particular disease. This is passive way of working on one's body actually creates an imbalance within the body and makes the body work extra hard to correct that imbalance. Something is being done to ME to take care of my body and since the body has to work extra, much of the side effects to medication are lethargy and inactivity. Its the HE part in "HE"alth that is working on curing ME. I am myself not actively involved. I just pop a pill or take the formulation and just sit tight for it to work on myself.

But since these formulation or chemicals are not natural to the body, it starts to either get used to the prop to an extent that higher dosage is required to generate a similar response or the body outrightly rejects it. The doctors have not other choice but to increase the dosage or try a new chemical. If 100 mg chemical A does not work lets try 250 mg or give chemical B. Soon enough body develops enough resistance to all the chemicals and formulations that more drastic measures need to be taken.

Certainly there are other ways to take care of one's own health. The traditional Indian medicine techniques like Yoga, Naturopathy and to a great extent Ayurveda can be used. The traditional Indian medicine also works on the same basic principle of treating body as its own natural healer. However, the approach to evoke that response is also natural. These techniques have evolved from thousand of years and although there are very few direct research on these, they have been practiced and verified by millions of people over centuries and have found practical application. Modern science and its research techniques are only few hundred years mature and the research on them is few decades. Fortunately or unfortunately, we are living in these decades. We cannot have these few decades of research techniques defy wisdom of thousands of years and general logic of a human being.

The sages observed that bringing the body in a particular position evokes a slow and gradual but a permanent change in the body. They started to document, prescribe and practice those Yoga Postures. Sages also observed that certain habits in ones lifestyle be it work, food, behaviour or other wise also influence one well being. Thus came the practices in Naturopathy. A lifestyle was prescribed and followed for generations. Quality of life has been at its best when these practices are followed. However, these are active practices. One needs to be totally involved in ones well being to generate a natural response of own body. This is an Active way of taking care of own well-being. This putting ME in my own (he)alth. The active natural ingredient keeps one active even during the therapy.

The basic principle that an external agent will have a command over my own body for it own well being is an incomplete proposition. Indeed body needs help but the help needs to be for bringing it back on its own rather than forever cripple it to take an aid forever. How many times we have heard, if you start taking diabetes medication or cholesterol medication, there is no going back? The dosage only goes up. It proven that lifestyle changes encompassing naturopathy and Ayurvedic nutrition coupled with Yoga based physical activity can actually bring more permanent and long lasting benefits for these conditions.
No longer we should ignore our health and put it in somebody else's hand and make our body handicap and used to a crutch all the time. We should empower our body to take it own charge and actively heal ourself. The power of Yoga and Naturopathy is undisputed and together these can bring about a lasting improvement in our lifestyle. Put a ME in (HE)alth.