Empathy: The greatest virtue and strength!

Empathy is the capacity to understand what another person is experiencing from within the other person's frame of reference, ie, the capacity to place oneself in another's shoes.

How it helps- when one is able to see another's point of view, then
1. He does not judge him as good as bad, but sees a person who is acting like he himself does sometimes under those circumstances
2. He doesn't attach nasty motives to other's actions and speech
3. It is very easy to find a common ground, a mutually beneficial solution to all problems, personal, family, social or occupational, resulting in a happy happy solution.
4. One improves the quality of his relationships greatly and forges relationships very easily with each and everyone.
5. A benevolent,  compassionate mind
6. Returns fron others in form of affection,  appreciation, love

Who can gain:everyone;
*parents- children,
*Husband -wife,
*Mother in law - Daughter in law,
Seller- buyer,
*Parties of a deal or agreement or negotiation. One who explores the benefits of the other party and convinces the other party of the same, will never ever fail in a negotiation.
* superior - subordinate
* parties in a conflict

Therefore Empathy towards one and all, ie all the children of God, is the best of the virtues and it guarantees Success, Happiness, health everything for everyone.

Also,
Emapthy leads to Compassion,  Compassion leads to Transformation,
Transformation leads to Self-Realization

Start today my brother.

"Curd, Wonderful, Curd!"

Curd has Lactobacillus,  a good beneficial bacteria which keeps various bad bacteria and fungus under control and keeps us healthy. It role in our body is far beyond one can imagine.

Body naturally has Lactobacillus,  but it is eliminated due to mostly  antibiotics, alcohol , highly chlorinated water etc.

Ideally  curd/ Probiotics containing lactobacillus alongwith antibiotics and heavy painkillers should be prescribed ,lese it may lead to allergies, digestion problems, ulcers,  hyperactive immunity related issues etc.

Benefits of lactobacillus: it treats/helps in
1. DIgestive problems like: IBS, ulcer, gastroenteritis,  acidity, GERD, sour belching,. Helps immensely, in almost every digestive problems
2. Allergies: Asthma, chronic allergy, chronic cough and cold, Symptoms: Chronic problem
3. Insomnia
4. Fungal infection such as Candiasis: Thrush, yeast infection, jock itch,. Human  Body naturally has  "Candida" fungus everytime kept under check by Lacto bacillus.  However due to elimination of lactobacillus by antibiotics,  certain other medicines, creams,  the fungus grows exponentially inside throat or on skin. Affect almost 75% of population. Symptoms: Chronic infection

In other words Curd should follow Antibiotics and Alcohol to prevent sleep disorders, indigestion, Allergies, anxiety etc.

Treatment: Fresh curd/chhach/lassi at room temp, application of fresh wet curd.

Lets make wonderful curd a part of our regular diet.

"Icebergs of Stress!"

Stress is deceptive. It appears on the surface of our behavior less frequently or lets us know of its presence only once in a while.

Like an Iceberg, only 10% of its size is visible , while 90% lies submerged under the surface of the ocean of the mind.

This ignorance harms us in many ways. The stress modifies our behavior an keeps on modifying encouraging anger, temper, irritability, fatigue, loss of memory, loss of focus, loss of concentration. In long run it gives birth to Adrenal Fatigue, which itself is a root of a hundred diseases.

Further, by reducing the mental efficiency and mental productivity, stress reduces the chances of our success and happiness.

How to locate and assess stress:

On the Radar of awareness.

Be aware, if the following are present,
1. Shaking legs
2. taut facial muscles, stiff arms, stiff back ( look into the mirror, if u see a stressed face looking back at you)
3. U r speaking faster than normal
4. you are getting irritated rather frequently during the day, leading to several scenes of conflicts
5. loss of memory
6. you are walking faster than normal, without any urgency
7. you did not notice people, things around you, how did they look like today..
8. Insomnia
9. Dreams of Examinations, chasing/missing trains, loosing something precious are also signs of high stress and anxiety


the above show a developed stress level, bordering on anxiety and panic. beginning of the spiral path downwards.

What to do?

1. Take at least 10 slow and deep breaths. Breath counting greatly helpful
2. Drink good amount of water,
3. Loosen up muscles of face and body, let arms hang, back loose, face relaxed
4. catch up on lost sleep at first occassion,
5. Cut down on electronic invaders: TV, Whatsapp, facebook
6. Have a very slow walk. talk slowly, work slowly, breathe slowly. mind will realize that there is no emergency and reduce orexin, adrenaline, cortisol.

"The way to a happy family in the era of discord!"

See the goodness of each other,

speak about the good ness of each other,

not allowing anyone outside the family to speak ill or gossip against a family member with a family member,

give a bit space to each other,

do not judge or attach motives to every action or speech of others,

sit down an discuss about issues, communicate and finally

Lose all illusions to control each other,

Nurture a family like a gardener.

How to be a unhappy family of discord- do the opposite of above.

A life without interest is an uninteresting life!

A secret:

When

A.  you Do things with interest-

1. Perception of time slows down proportionate to depth of interest/concentration.
2. You enjoy work, satisfaction and very less stress in the foreground or the background
3. Results are far far better

B.  you Do things without interest/ under pressure /as a chore
1. Time speeds up and you are behind
2. No joy in work, no satisfaction and high stress in the foreground and the backgroud all day long.
3. Results are just ok.

So, If we are interested in living then lets take an interest in living!

Natural Remedy of "Acidity-Asthma-Allergy-Cough Cold"

Symptoms: Allergy, regular cough and cold, high Acidity, reflux, breathlessness, insomnia, all present simultaneously. Current diagnosis and Treatmemt: Symptomatic treatment by Antihistamines, PPI, antacid. Doesnt work. Correct Diagnosis: Most probably a case of high Histamine level, mostly after dosage of heavy antibiotics. Cause: 1.DoA deficiency due to annihilations of good microbes in intestines by use of antibiotic. 2.High Hystamine food: Pickles, preserved food, unfresh vegetables and non veg High Histamine food- Alcohol, canned foods, Matured cheeses.Smoked meat products – salami, ham, sausages….Shellfish.Beans and pulses – chickpeas, soy beans, peanuts.Nuts – walnuts, cashew nuts. 3.Highly Chlorinated water Treatment: Restoration of microbes by taking Yogurt or Probiotics such as Sporlac or Yakut for few days. Avoid High Histamine food for some time. Other Reasons of DOA deficiency: 1.Copper deficiency 2. deficiency of Vitamin B6 and Vitamin C 3. over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs, called NSAIDS (e.g., as Solution: 1. Copper increase by: fresh basil, cocoa powder, cashews, soybeans (mature), herbal tea, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, and lentils. Use of copper utensils 2. Vitamin B6- poultry, fish.bread.whole cereals – such as oatmeal, wheat germ and brown rice.eggs.vegetables.soya beans. 3. Vitamin C- bell peppers, dark leafy greens, broccoli, berries, citrus fruits, tomatoes, peas, and papayas. 4.Also eggs and soybeans green tea, some spices such as cinnamon, and Vitamin C is good for digestion. 5.Natural antihistamines can be found in apples, grapefruit and some other citrus fruits, cherries, raspberries, red onions, leafy vegetables, red wine, green tea, black tea,-green algae, and capsium or "chili peppers". Also Papaya, tea, lemon, peppermint 8. Sleep 8 hours. All the best

Infections of Smiles and tempers!

Smiles do not stop with the person in front of us. Once initiated a smile goes on infecting a large number of people, just like flu. 😊. 1-2-4 and so on. One smile or a good word can make a better day for so many people. Keep smiling. One bad word or expression can also go on to spoil the day of so many. Let us keep the tension to ourselves and spread the happines. It will come back to us with a lot of accumulated interest finally. Good Investment! 

Happy 10th of April!

Friends. Today is 10th April 2015. This is a unique day. It will come only once in your life. Any day comes only once in a lifetime, but, years rush away speedily because of not living one day at a time. So, Enjoy this day as a once in a lifetime event. Celebrate today and each day. Today, Go a bit easy on the stress, nothing actually is on fire (unless it literally is 😀). Today, take some time off for yourself. To sit down ,relax, listen music, do what you like doing. Today, start the day with excitement and end with satisfaction of living this day, getting some good time out. Happy 10th of April!

A Relaxation Aid. Watch a few seconds and feel calmness inside. The more time , the better result.

Pranayam and Breathing!

Pranayam and Breathing.

Pranaym is not, as many think, something about breath. Breath has very little to do with it. Breathing is part of the exercises through which we get to the real Pranayam. Pranayam means
the control of Pran, the intangible energy of life.

As per the oldest treatise on yog, 'Yog Sutra' by Patanjali, Pranayam is the fourth stage of Yog that comes after Yam, Niyam, Asan, ie only after purifying the body and the energy and maintaining a healthy body by diet and exercise, one is trained to increase, control and direct the Pran for higher meditation.

However, as said above, this stage comes after mental and physical purification through Yams and Niyams of compassion, contentment, surrender to god, celibacy, truth, a virtuos life style and abstinence ie the path of a yogi with a very high energy level.

There are many types of Pranayam:
Quiet Breathing , Deep Breathing , Fast Breathing, Nadi Shuddhi Pranayam, Anulom- Vilom,Suryan Bhedan Pranayam, Ujjayi Pranayam, Bhramari Pranayam, Pranayam from Hatha Yoga- Surya Bhedan, Bhasrika, Ujjayi, Shitali, Sitkari, Bhramari,Murchha & Plavini Pranayam.

As seen above the practices of Pranyam is meant for use by Yogis for higher purposes.

However for Good health and a relaxed mind, good breathing throughout the day is absolutely necessary.

Still, looking around, we do not see anybody having a visible breathing ie chest or stomach movememt except for children, who need much more oxygen.

So, basically we are breathing just enough to survive, resulting in low stamina, fatigue, weight gain in long run, frequent sickness, forgetfulness, stress, anxiety, anger, an internalized mind, less awareness and so on.

However, at higher levels of breathing one can actually find and enjoy much higher intelligence, active mind, externalized mind, high awareness, high productivity, success and a healthy body, way beyond one could imagine.

Good breathing means optimized breathing. At a lower rate of intake "Hypoentilation" develops resulting fatigue, depression, low body temp amd sicknesses develop. Excess intake rate results in "Hyperventilation " resulting in dizziness.

Both are not good for health. Therefore we need the breathing at an optimized rate at which sufficient oxygen is taken with sufficient time for absorption by the lungs.

This optimized rate for routine life has been found to be 4-2-4-2 or 6-3-6-3 for most people, while it can be anything in between.or around these for anyone.
One should discover and set into a breathing rhythm that suits him best.

Easiest way to do, anytime during the day,
1. Take the slowest and deepest breath u can. Inhale the maximum air u can by expanding chest and stomach both.
2. Now hold for 2-3 seconds
3. Exhale slowly amd compress chest and stomach. Maximum compression
4. Now again pause for 2-3 second.
5.repeat to set a rhythm which u feel comfortable in. Perfect timing not required.


So, to enjoy health, happiness and success we must remind oursleves to
1. develop and adopt good breathing practices throughout the day, as much as we can.
2. Clothes, innerwear, belt, tie etc loose enough to not affect chest or diaphragm movement
3. Ventilation - esp in AC room and Car- Most AC used today use nil or negligible fresh for less load on compressor or less energy consumption.
Result -Sleepiness esp in cars.
While we should use recirculation option for a small time, a small ventilation should be available. It changes the air quality and freshness experience altogether.
4. Snoring is bad for breathing and fatal in very long run. My post on snoring is available.
5. An early and light dinner followed by a walk or motion ensures good breathing during sleep buy allowing diaphragm movement. Also reduces risk of Asthma by reducing GERD.
6. Sleep 7-8 hrs mandatory, as body consumes much air during REM sleep for repair, recovery growth and immunity.
7. Sufficient water intake

Keep Breathing your way to Good health and Happiness!

Balance is the Key...

Key of Success and Happiness is in Balance!

In all aspects of life, we should look for balance,

Balance of Saving and Spending, otherwise either not enjoy life or suffer in future.

Balance of Hard Work and Rest, otherwise either lose efficiency due to bad health or no work no success

Balance of thought and action, otherwise no action or non productive action

Similarly,

Balance of pleasure and work,
Balance of taste and nutrition,
Balance of time between career and family,
And so on....

Magic of slowness !

Today I share the magic of slowness.

By looking at the activity level of a person, such as speed of walking, speaking, hand movement,
Level of his various body parameters like BP, heart rate, rate of respiration etc can be guessed, which would also be on the higher side.

The rate of body process and rate of walk, speech, or activities go together.

Also the brain activity also follows the same rhythm. Lets call it the "Brain Rate"

The higher the Brain rate
Higher will be,
Anxiety, distraction, stress, anger, instinctive reaction.


Lower will be,
Peace of mind, concentration, focus, imagination, awareness, intelligent response


Now, this synergistic Body-Rhythm can be manipulated for better health and productivity.

Slowing the body can reduce the brain rate.

Best practices that I have found are Slow talking, and slow walking.

Slow talking- more depth in much less words, better communication and impact. Look at the good speakers, who also speak slow, like Atal ji.

Slow walking-
Reduce walking speed to as slow as it can be, steps will become a bit longer.
Loosen up the body, legs, hips, arms, shoulders, let them swing.
Now you will realize the awareness of surroundings expanding. Various sounds and sights will enter your observation. Within 2 minutes mind will at a very different level of awareness and observation.
Also deep breathing starts,maximizing oxygen intake.
Now u realize mind and body have settled down to a calmer level.

Same activity, with more discipline and technique becomes "Walking Meditation "

The time taken during walking or speaking might increase by 10-15%, but impact and productivity may rise more than lets say 500%.

Slow talking, slow walking is also slow living, living and experiencing each hour and each day. Not exhausting the life in a rush. See how years have flown by. Weeks cross before you can count.

Slower movement, deeper awareness, better productivity, slower life and better health.

NB- in fact slower reading will also increase absorption

The Right Care of Mind and Solution of Mental Problems!

The shortcomings of the Present Medical system.


What is mental health-

Common belief a- A person is either Sane or Insane with no stages in between.

Truth- Mind also suffers through deviations from good health just as body does. Thers is no 0-1 state of Sanity and Insanity, but infinite stages of deviation in between. As body suffers from fatigue, cold, flu etc. Mind suffers from Anger, anxiety, panic, stress, lack of sleep etc, most of which are reflection of the suffering of the body. A happy mind can not exist in a sick body, and a sick mind can not exist in a healthy body

What is a Healthy body?
Common Belief- A healthy body is a body not bed ridden. Able to follow career and family activities.
Truth- A truly healthy body means,
Enthusiasm, energy, at the peak of performance.


Due to extreme compartmentalization, the presnt medical science does not see the above big picture.

Example:
The physician treats the body and the psychiatrist treats the mind, as if Mind and Body are two separate non related entities. Result the balance of Body -Mind mechanisms is not restored, but symptomatic short term relief provided, while keeping the way open for other long term problems, as the original cause was neither identified nor restored.

Truth: Mind and Body are integrated throughout and work in harmony. The offset in one affects the other and again the first and the vicious cycle begins.

Example: Lack of sleep- Anger, anxiety- insomnia- Vicious circle.

Solutions: Taking good care of the body is also the assured way to take good care of mind to maintain mind at its highest efficiency and avoid deviations such as anger, anxiety, fear, panic, insomnia, depression etc except some extreme advanced cases.

The above is based on my studies and my own first hand experience.

The present psychiatry is mostly medicine oriented and based mostly theories of Freud and Jung, who almost ignored the Body Mind Intrgration.

However, the older schools of psychiatry believed in the integration.

Ibn Sinna (Avicenna, Egypt 10th century)'s treatise describes "Depression as a result of Brain Dryness, i.e. Dehydration. "
He also describes an advanced case , " A rich man used to think himself a cow. He used to make cow like sounds and ask people to butcher him. His freinds failed in counseling him. Sinna went as a butcher and said, this cow is too thin, feed and fatten him, then I will come. The rich man started eating good, and soon his health had regained."
This was known to Sinna that mental afflictions are caused by lack of diet, sleep etc.

Also, old school western psychology believed the same principle. I came across Robert Burton (17th century).
In his book, The Anatomy of
Melancholy , drawing on numerous theories and the author's own experiences. Burton suggested that melancholy could be combated with a healthy diet, sufficient sleep, music, and "meaningful work", along with talking about the problem with a friend.

Summary -
Ruin your body- Ruin your mind,
Care of Body- Care of Mind.

N.B.- Any extreme cases should continue their medicines, while doing above, so that they can taper off their medicines.

Springclean your mind!

We hold grievances, small or big, against every one know,
We gather thousands of grievances in first 25-30 years itself,
Where do these grievances exist?-Inside our own head,
Whom only does this mountain of anger and negativity affect? Us only and no body else.

How does it affect? Feelings become chemicals in the body. Grievances give rise to hormones of mostly Adrenaline and Cortisol, this negativity gives us insomnia, anxiety, anger amd then paves the road for Bipolar, schizophrenia, OCD etc. Also gives obesity, heart problems, sugar etc, in short a life of suffering.

What to do? Let go!

Let go the grievances. They are toxic.

For our own happiness.

What you will will come back to you.
What other will, will come back to them.

Do not judge.

Forgive, reconcile.

Forgive as a selfish deed for own health and happiness.

Forgive, others too are human and make mistakes. Someday they will learn too.

When I did the above, I found peace and I discovered a wonderful world of wonderful people, which I never thought existed.

After all the world is what we percieve it to be.
We find people, as we believe them to be.

Luck? Is there even such a thing?

All of us suffer through misfortunes sometimes or more in our lives.
These event often leave us dejected and some of us often rue our luck, curse our luck or blame our luck for these misfortunes and this despondency may lead some even upto depression.

Is it so? Is there Good Luck or Bad luck? Do some Good or Bad events really decide the way of our lives?

I recall a small zen story.

Once upon a time in a village, a farmer's only horse ran away to the forest, right in the ploughing season, that when he needed it the most.

Everyone expressed pity, "Oh How unlucky! Now he cant prepare his farms. What a loss."
The farmer said, "Maybe"

However, within a few days, the horse returned from the forest , and even brought a mare with itself.
Everyone appreciated, "See . How lucky. Having a mare for free. Now he will have foals to sell also."

The farmer heard this and again said, "Maybe"

Soon, one day, the only son of farmer was riding the mare and fell down from the untrained mare and broke his own leg.

Again everyone said, "Your luck has again taken a turn for unlucky. This mare is unlucky."
The farmer heard and said, "Maybe".

In a few days a war broke out. The king ordered to recruit every able bodied man. The officials came and forced every youth to join the army. The farmer's son was left behind due to the broken leg.

Everyone said with jealousy ,"You are actually lucky! This broken leg saved ur son. "
And the farmer said......

What we observe in the story?

Since life is a continuous stream of events , one leading to another, we can not judge any event in isolation as our good luck as our Good luck or our bad luck.

There is no good or bad luck, its our life and our destiny as we shape it everyday.

Its not about how things are today with us,
Its about how we take those things and what we do with those things. Every thing that look as a problem may have advantages and solutions in disguise.

What is needed is just an open mind to recognize the advantages in the seemingly bad situation. It may even turn out to be an opportunity of a life time.

So with a open approach and a clear mind, everyone can have a very "good luck."

Letting Go....

Let go of the past, and the future will be all yours,

Let go of what you think you are and you can be master of any field,

Let go the chase of your desires, and you will be rewarded beyond your dreams,

Let go of self-righteousness and judgement and you will find a world full of wonderful good people,

Let go of the grievances held deep in your mind and you will find a world of Joy.

Just let go!

Listen to the "Pain" to prevent suffering !

Friends, we have a habit of killing pain of all types immediately as it occurs.

We simply pop a IBUPROFEN or COMBIFLAM on our own.

Lets understand. Pain is not a disease. Pain is the messenger that something is wrong somewhere. That the system is out of order somewhere.

We should listen to our pain. Where exactly is it occuring. At what postures it increases or decreases. At what time. Before or after food. These 4-5 question can tell a good doctor the nature of disease without a test. For instance chest pain can be due to gas, lungs, pericardial muscles or heart, but the pain profile is different.

Similarly stomach pain can also be from gas, gall bladder, kidney etc but location, nature, intensity is unique for each cause.

Most muscular pain, very intense, esp in late night morning is due to dehydration. Therefore nothing seriously wrong is found later on.

The pain in leg muscles or back might be telling u that the shoes are killing. Change the shoes and see.

Further, ignoring or suppressing pain means the actual disorder is existing as well as growing without identification. This may lead to very serious problems in future, sometimes beyond medical science in longer run.

Also, prolonger use of pain killers is also harmful esp leading to kidney failure, ulcers and so on

Every pain tells us some thing about or health, esp if it is recurrent.

Therfore listening to the pain can save us from a lot of suffering in future. Listen to it first.

Make your Android phone an anti snoring device!

Make your Android phone an anti snoring device.

Snoring is a very serious problem for the whole family leads to a hundred diseases including weight gain, fatigue, depression, anxiety and heart problems in long run.

I have worked out a way to prevent snoring with an android phone.

Required: 1. One android phone fully charged. Put your old phone to use.

Apps: 1. Noise Killer 2. Argus touch blocker 3. Keep screen on

Steps:
1. Download and install the three apps.
2. Now put the phone in airplane mode
3. Reduce brightness to the minimum
4. Disable screen lock. Open "Keep screen on". In settings: left tab: select argus and noise killer. Now touch icon in top right. U will see 3 options. Select middle one.
5. Enable Argus touch blocker. Now an item of touch block toggle switch (enable/disable) will come in the swipe down menu. It can also be disabled by triple tap by default.
6. Now start noise killer. The value in the middle is the noise limit. We will use this limit to detect snoring. Put value 55 in it. Now it will vibrate with noise above 55 db. This value can be changed by you for best results.
7. Now enable touch block, ie. Disable touch screen.
8. Now you have your Anti snoring device ready. Keep it near your pillow or under your pillow. It will give slight vibration whenever you snore, thereby aiding you in changing posture to stop snoring.

Inspite of the above, if u snore very very heavily, and your breath stops for a few seconds in between (ask your spouse to find out) then i strongly recommend a sleep test at a hospital. It can save your life.