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Best Yoga Quotes of Amit Ray

Dr. Amit Ray is an Indian author, and spiritual master. He is known to the world for his teachings on meditation, yoga, peace and compassion. He is best known for his Om meditation and integrated yoga and vipassana meditation techniques. He is author of several books on meditation and other spiritual topics. He teaches peace, love and compassion for the transformation of human consciousness. He is an inspiration for many, across the world. His quotes motivates us to live a meaningful life. Here are 15 famous inspirational yoga quotes of Amit Ray.

Amit Ray Yoga Quotes - Exercises are like prose, whereas yoga is the poetry of

Exercises are like prose, whereas yoga is the poetry of movements. — Amit Ray

Amit Ray Yoga Quotes - Yoga means addition - addition of

“Yoga means addition – addition of energy, strength and beauty to body, mind and soul.” – Amit Ray

Amit Ray Yoga Quotes - Yoga is the art work of awareness

“Yoga is the art work of awareness on the canvas of body, mind, and soul.” – Amit Ray

Amit Ray Yoga Quotes - Yoga is not just repetition of few

“Yoga is not just repetition of few postures – it is more about the exploration and discovery of the subtle energies of life.” – Amit Ray

Amit Ray Yoga Quotes - Yoga is not a religion. It is a

“Yoga is not a religion. It is a science, science of well-being, science of youthfulness, science of integrating body, mind and soul.” – Amit Ray

Amit Ray Yoga Quotes - Mind and body are the cosmic

“Mind and body are the cosmic flowers. Yoga is the space where flower blossoms.” – Amit Ray

Amit Ray Yoga Quotes - Yoga is bringing fitness in body,

“Yoga is bringing fitness in body, calmness in mind, kindness in heart and awareness in life.” – Amit Ray

Amit Ray Yoga Quotes - Yoga is the space where flower

“Yoga is the space where flower blossoms.” – Amit Ray

Amit Ray Yoga Quotes - Exercises are like prose, whereas

“Exercises are like prose, whereas yoga is the poetry of movements. Once you understand the grammar of yoga; you can write your poetry of movements.” – Amit Ray

Amit Ray Yoga Quotes - Karma yoga is giving food to the

“Karma yoga is giving food to the hungry, clothes to the needy, shelter to the homeless, education to the uneducated, medicine to the sick, and trees and cleanliness to the environment.” – Amit Ray

Amit Ray Yoga Quotes - The purpose of karma yoga is to

“The purpose of karma yoga is to transcend the bondage of selfish genes through the service of others.” – Amit Ray

Amit Ray Yoga Quotes - Life is a living flute, yoga is the

“Life is a living flute, yoga is the art of creating melody and rhythm in it.” – Amit Ray

Amit Ray Yoga Quotes - Yoga is establishing an harmonious

“Yoga is establishing an harmonious connection to your inner world with outer world.” – Amit Ray

Amit Ray Yoga Quotes - Jnana yoga is serving the self that

“Jnana yoga is serving the self that is everywhere.” – Amit Ray

Amit Ray Yoga Quotes - Yoga is the best connecting tool for international peace

“Yoga is the best tool for international peace, health, harmony and human dignity.” – Amit Ray

20 YOGA RULES FOR BEGINNERS

Yoga techniques includes physical postures (asanas), breathing exercises (pranayama), and meditation. Even within the physical practice, yoga is unique because we connect the movement of the body and the fluctuations of the mind to the rhythm of our breath. Connecting the mind, body, and breath helps us to direct our attention inward. Through this process of inward attention, we learn to recognize our habitual thought patterns without labeling them, judging them, or trying to change them. We become more aware of our experiences from moment to moment.

Basic Yoga Rules:

1. A good night’s sleep is mandatory for good yoga practice.
2.  Yoga should be practiced on an empty stomach or at least three hours after eating. It is preferable that the body be warm when performing yoga.
3. If you had food, wait for at least 3 hours before practicing.
4. Relax for 10 seconds at least after each yoga exercise.
5. Avoid excessive intake of tea or coffee when you are practicing yoga
6. Wear comfortable cotton clothes for practicing yoga.
7. Do not try to stand on your head or do other advanced poses within one month.
8. First begin with easy poses and thereafter you can advance to the tough ones.
9. Do not practice yoga on naked ground. Always use thin yoga mat or thick bed sheet for Yoga.
10. Before you start Yoga, you must clear your bowels and bladder. Clean your nostrils and throat of all mucus.
11. Woman should not practice yoga during menstruation.
12. Food can be taken after an hour of practicing yoga.
13. Morning is the best time to prepare for yoga and it is always better to practice yoga where there is abundant clean air.
14. Don’t do yoga twenty minutes before and after taking a shower as blood circulation could speed up after take a shower. It is better to take cold shower after practice it.
15. To get better results, earmark about 30 minutes to one hour daily for yoga practice.
16. The yoga asanas must always be approached with a peaceful state of mind.
17. Fill your mind with thoughts of peace and serenity; turn your thoughts inward and away from materialistic world.
18. While doing an asana, your breathing is very important. Follow the specific instructions for breathing if applicable for a given asana. Otherwise, practice normal breathing which must be rhythmic.
19. Maintain moderation in everything. Avoid eating too much, or too little. Do not sleep too much, or too little.
20. Keep harmony with the forces of nature.

Best Yoga Food

Practicing Yoga Poses is not sufficient without proper food. Yoga food is based on the idea that foods must be consumed in their most natural forms in order to realize their true benefits. What we eat, not only influences our physical well being, but also our emotions and thoughts.

Upanishads said “And he knew that food was Brahman. From food all beings are born. By food they live and into food they return”. – Upanishad 3.2

Yoga Food is classified into 3 categories – Sattvic, Rajasic, and Tamasic Foods.

A sattvic diet is a yoga food. A sattvic diet avoids any foods that involve killing or harming of animals. Sattvic diets also encourage foods grown harmoniously with nature, and foods that are ripened and grown naturally. Sattvic Foods are foods that should be eaten the most and that are very easily digestible. These foods nourish the body, purify the mind and heal the imbalance in the body by generating good health, energy, vitality, vigor, mental alertness, peace and strength. These include foods rich in vitamins and minerals such as vegetables, fruits, herbs; essential dietary fiber and carbohydrates required by the body include whole and unrefined grains; protein rich foods such as legumes, nuts, seeds, dairy; natural sweeteners such as honey and raw sugar, therapeutic spices in small quantities, oil and ghee (Indian clarified butter made from Special Desi Cows) in small quantities for the required fat in the body.

Yoga also prescribes a more personalized diet according to the nature of our constitution. Food that might be favorable for someone might be harmful for a person of another constitution. It is best to consult an Ayurvedic physician to decide what kind of food is necessary for you and which should be avoided.

Three most essential yoga foods are:

1. Triphala Churna

Improves digestion,
Reduces serum cholesterol,
Improves circulation (potentiates adrenergic function),
Exerts a marked cardio-protective effect,
Reduces high blood pressure,
Improves liver function,
Has proven anti-inflammatory and anti-viral properties,
Expectorant, hypertensive.

2. Tarmaric Powder:

Turmeric powder is a bright yellow powder made by dry grinding of mature turmeric rhizomes (underground stems). The use of turmeric for coloring and flavoring food, for cosmetic purposes and for medicinal properties dates back to the ancient Vedic culture of India. Used in almost all Indian curries, this spice has almost no calories (1 tablespoon = 24 calories) and zero cholesterol. It is rich in dietary fiber, iron, potassium, magnesium and vitamin B6.

Turmeric powder has a huge therapeutic value and boosting immunity is one of the most important properties of curcumin.

3. Amala

The word “amla” is derived from the Sanskrit word “amlaki”. The tree is best known for its round, small and green fruit. The fruit has a sour and bitter taste. Except for the seed, all parts of the amla fruit are edible. It enhances immunity. It’s high in antioxidants.

stress management

Top 10 Ways for Stress Management

Stress is your body’s way of responding to any kind of demand. It may be internal or external demand. It can be caused by both good and bad experiences. When people feel stressed by something going on around them, their bodies react by releasing chemicals into the blood. Stress is only harmful when it becomes overwhelming and interrupts the healthy state of equilibrium that your nervous system needs to remain in balance. Stress is not an illness itself, but it can cause serious illness.

Doing yoga practice can be a great way to reduce stress, stay in shape and calm the mind. Seated postures like child’s pose can induce feelings of calm and help put the mind in a meditative state, while empowering positions like standing forward bend and eagle pose can calm the mind while also energizing the body.

In fact, stress is the body’s general response to any demand made on it, regardless of whether that demand is pleasant or unpleasant, or whether it is emotional or physical. Relaxation helps reduce stress by distracting your mind from stress provoking thoughts. Besides various relaxation techniques help to counter effects of ‘fight or flight’ reaction.

stress management
stress management

Ten simple and effective  stress management ways are as follows:

1. Do things you enjoy:
– Pamper your self,and make sure you do something you really enjoy at least once a day.

2. Talk about it:
– Where you feel you can, discuss your problems with your partner or close friend in order to see the situation more objectively.

3. Laugh:

– Laughter is a fabulous healer and encourages social bonding. The act of laughing also increases the oxygen supply to the lungs, stimulates the production of endorphins and can produce a feeling of euphoria. Occasionally it may also open the gates to tears-another positive release.

4. Yoga Exercise:
– Burn off the energy that stress generates before it burns you up. A study at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, shows that 20 to 30 minutes of aerobic exercise that raises your heart rate to about 120 beats per minute at least three times a week can lower depression and anxiety within 12 weeks. Performing some stretching exercises or regular exercise pattern can help you combat stress.

5. Dont always be a pushover:
– Make space for yourself and get some respect. State your options clearly and calmly. Don’t wait to be asked, and then feel angry and overlooked if you’re not. Make sure to put yourself first sometimes.

6. Be creative:
– Women often feel stressed, frustrated and depressed when family or business management pushes creativity out of the picture. Taking up a stimulating new interest helps you to keep an open and progressive mind.

7. Be yourself:
– Accept your personality, don’t try to alter it. Instead, learn to manage your strengths and weaknesses. Likewise, stop chastising yourself for past mistakes. Learn from them – then let them go.

8. Dont procrastinate:
– By procrastinating you are putting things off and they end up building up, then a bunch of little things turns into a big thing that causes stress.

9. Be positive:
– Approval-seeking and self-doubt both erode self-esteem. Tell yourself you can do things not merely to stay popular but because you genuinely enjoy them. Remember the glass is half full.

10. Find support:

– When you are stressed be around family and people that care about you. it will make things easier on you because there are strength in numbers.

B. K. S. Iyengar the Finest Yoga Teacher

B. K. S. Iyengar is know as the”Michelangelo of yoga” and the “king of yogis”. He was the founder of the “Iyengar Yoga” a new style of yoga. He is known as one of the foremost yoga teachers in the world. He brought yoga to the west with his pioneering teaching in the 70s. His invention of yoga props revolutionized the art of yoga. 

B.K.S. IyengarHis seminal manual Light on Yoga, called “the bible of yoga” and continuously in print since 1966, has been the source book for generations of yoga students. The popularity of yoga in the West can be attributed in large part to Iyengar’s teaching and writings.

B.K.S. Iyengar Famous Yoga quotes:

“Yoga is like music: the rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind, and the harmony of the soul create the symphony of life.” ~ B.K.S. Iyengar

“When I stretch, I stretch in such a way that my awareness moves, and a gate of awareness finally opens” ~ B. K. S. Iyengar

“Penetration of our mind is our goal, but in the beginning to set things in motion, there is no substitute for sweat.” ~ B. K. S. Iyengar

“By drawing our senses of perception inward, we are able to experience the control, silence, and quietness of the mind.” ~ B. K. S. Iyengar

“It is through the alignment of the body that I discovered the alignment of my mind, self, and intelligence.” ~ B.K.S. Iyengar

Preparation for Good Meditation

Good meditation is associated with good lifestyle. I am giving below some of the important lifestyle practices for good meditation. Preparation for good meditation is also deeply associated with self respect and dignity. Your life is all about you. Don’t allow too much people to get to you. Love all, but don’t except too much from people. Grow your inner strength.

Mantra Chanting

Do 5 minutes chanting. Through repetition of word, the mind becomes focused and we become fully present in the moment. Chanting attunes our energy systems and this enables us deepen our presence to ourselves and others. Om chanting is the easiest of all meditations.

Limiting the intake of fats

Obesity, high cholesterol and hypertension are some of the major causes of cardiac illness. Keep your heart healthy by limiting the intake of fats. Exercise regularly and most importantly, stay happy. Meditation and breathing exercises are also good, as they improve blood circulation.

Get enough sleep

Sleep for at least six to eight hours daily; it’s a must for overall health. Don’t compromise on your sleep unless in case of an emergency. Sound sleep keeps you fresh and energetic throughout the day.

Avoid chemicals in any form

Wash fruits, vegetables and grains thoroughly before consuming them. Most of these contain harmful chemicals — from pesticides —that affect your long-term health. Similarly, avoid strong chemical treatments on hair and skin, like colouring. Opt for organic food stuffs. In fact, try to use make-up without harmful chemicals like lead, nickel and sulphur.

Increase physical activity

Indulge in some physical activity for at least 30 minutes daily, since exercise is the best way to stay healthy. It need not necessarily be rigorous workouts at the gym. Even something as simple as walking or dancing (choose the exercise you like) will do. Simple measures like taking the stairs instead of the elevator also helps.

Drink lots of water

Drinking seven liters of water a day is healthy. Make sure you keep drinking water throughout the day; it helps to reduce weight as well. Beginning your day with a glass of warm water mixed with lime and honey, cleans your system. Also, a glass of water before your meals improves digestion and stops you from overeating.

Maintain your dignity

In life you have your good days and bad days. Sometimes, you have lower level of ego sometimes it is balanced. Self respect is the key point of meditation. When you have self respect, you will not be depressed by criticism. When you maintain a balance throughout the day, your meditation will be good.

50 Great Meditation Quotes

“Meditation is the dissolution of thoughts in Eternal awareness or Pure consciousness without objectification, knowing without thinking, merging finitude in infinity.” ~ Voltaire

Delight in mediation and solitude. Compose yourself, be happy. You are a seeker. ~ Buddha

“Through my love for you, I want to express my love for the whole cosmos, the whole of humanity, and all beings. By living with you, I want to learn to love everyone and all species. If I succeed in loving you, I will be able to love everyone and all species on Earth… This is the real message of love.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, Teachings on Love

“If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.” ~ Amit Ray, Om Chanting and Meditation

“I said to my soul, be still and wait without hope, for hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love, for love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith, but the faith and the love are all in the waiting. Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought: So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.” ~ T.S. Eliot

“To understand the immeasurable, the mind must be extraordinarily quiet, still.” ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

“Meditation is a way for nourishing and blossoming the divinity within you.” ~ Amit Ray

Meditation brings wisdom – lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom. ~ Buddha

 “The soil in which the meditative mind can begin is the soil of everyday life, the strife, the pain, and the fleeting joy. It must begin there, and bring order, and from there move endlessly. But if you are concerned only with making order, then that very order will bring about its own limitation, and the mind will be its prisoner. In all this movement you must somehow begin from the other end, from the other shore, and not always be concerned with this shore or how to cross the river. You must take a plunge into the water, not knowing how to swim. And the beauty of meditation is that you never know where you are, where you are going, what the end is.” ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

“Above all, be at ease, be as natural and spacious as possible. Slip quietly out of the noose of your habitual anxious self, release all grasping, and relax into your true nature. Think of your ordinary emotional, thought-ridden self as a block of ice or a slab of butter left out in the sun. If you are feeling hard and cold, let this aggression melt away in the sunlight of your meditation. Let peace work on you and enable you to gather your scattered mind into the mindfulness of Calm Abiding, and awaken in you the awareness and insight of Clear Seeing. And you will find all your negativity disarmed, your aggression dissolved, and your confusion evaporating slowly like mist into the vast and stainless sky of your absolute nature.” ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

“The act of meditation is being spacious.” ~ Sogyal Rinpoche

“Meditation practice is like piano scales, basketball drills, ballroom dance class. Practice requires discipline; it can be tedious; it is necessary. After you have practiced enough, you become more skilled at the art form itself. You do not practice to become a great scale player or drill champion. You practice to become a musician or athlete. Likewise, one does not practice meditation to become a great meditator. We meditate to wake up and live, to become skilled at the art of living.” ~ Elizabeth Lesser, The Seeker’s Guide

“Meditation is not a way of making your mind quiet. It is a way of entering into the quiet that is already there – buried under the 50,000 thoughts the average person thinks every day” ~ Deepack Chopra

“Meditation is the ultimate mobile device; you can use it anywhere, anytime, unobtrusively.”  ~ Sharon Salzberg, Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation

 “Meditation needs no results. Meditation can have itself as an end, I meditate without words and on nothingness. What tangles my life is writing.” ~ Hélène Cixous, Coming to Writing and Other Essays

 Meditation is a tool to shake yourself awake. A way to discover what you love. A practice to return yourself to your body when the mind medleys threaten to usurp your sanity.” ~ Geneen Roth, Women, Food, and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything

 “When even one virtue becomes our nature, the mind becomes clean and tranquil. Then there is no need to practice meditation; we will automatically be meditating always. (151)”  ~ Swami Satchidananda, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

 Meditation, then, is bringing the mind home.”  ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

 “Meditation is an essential travel partner on your journey of personal transformation. Meditation connects you with your soul,and this connection gives you access to your intuition, your heartfelt desires, your integrity, and the inspiration to create a life you love.” ~ Sarah McLean

 “Every soul innately yearns for stillness, for a space, a garden where we can till, sow, reap, and rest, and by doing so come to a deeper sense of self and our place in the universe. Silence is not an absence but a presence. Not an emptiness but repletion A filling up.” ~ Anne Leclaire

 “The art of meditation is a way of getting into touch with reality, and the reason for it is that most civilized people are out of touch with reality because they confuse the world as it with the world as they think about it and talk about it and describe it. For on the one hand there is the real world and on the other there is a whole system of symbols about that world which we have in our minds. These are very very useful symbols, all civilization depends on them, but like all good things they have their disadvantages, and the principle disadvantage of symbols is that we confuse them with reality, just as we confuse money with actual wealth.” ~ Alan Wilson Watts

 “Because the development of inner calm & energy happens completely within & isn’t dependent on another person or a particular situation, we begin to feel a resourcefulness and independence that is quite beautiful—and a huge relief.” ~ Sharon Salzberg, Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation

 “Meditation is a microcosm, a model, a mirror. The skills we practice when we sit are transferable to the rest of our lives.” ~ Sharon Salzberg, Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation

“The difference between magic and meditation methods is the difference between drugs and diet—medicines will do swiftly what diet can only effect slowly, and in critical cases there is no time to wait for the slow processes of dietetics, so it must be either medicines or nothing. Nevertheless, drugs are no substitute for right diet and wholesome regime, and although magic enables a speedy and potent result to be attained, is is only by means of right understanding and right ethics that the position which has been won can be held.” ~ Dion Fortune, Esoteric Orders and Their Work and The Training and Work of the Initiate

“Meditation is a powerful and full study as can effectually taste and employ themselves.” ~ Michel de Montaigne, The Complete Essays

“The seeker after stillness should be told that the stillness is always there. Indeed it is in every man. But he has to learn, first, to let it in and, second, how to do so. The first beginning of this is to remember. The second is to recognize the inward pull. For the rest, the stillness itself will guide and lead him to itself.” ~ Paul Brunton, The Notebooks of Paul Brunton

“Suffering is due to our disconnection with the inner soul. Meditation is establishing that connection.” ~ Amit Ray

“Meditation is like going to the bottom of the sea, where everything is calm and tranquil. On the surface of the sea there may be a multitude of waves but the sea is not affected below. In its deepest depths, the sea is all silence. When we start meditating, first we try to reach our own inner existence, our true existence- that is to say, the bottom of the sea. Then when the waves come from the outside world, we are not affected. Fear, doubt, worry and all the earthly turmoils just wash away, because inside us is solid peace. Thoughts cannot touch us, because our mind is all peace, all silence, all oneness. Like fish in the sea, they jump and swim but leave no mark. When we are in our highest meditation, we feel that we are the sea, and the animals in the sea cannot affect us. We feel that we are the sky, and all the birds flying past cannot affect us. Our mind is the sky and our heart is the infinite sea. This is meditation.” ~ Sri Chinmoy

“Meditation is a mysterious method of self-restoration. It involves “shutting” out the outside world, and by that means sensing the universal “presence” which is, incidentally, absolute perfect peace. It is basically an existential “time-out”—a way to “come up for a breath of air” out of the noisy clutter of the world. But don’t be afraid, there is nothing arcane or supernatural or creepy about the notion of taking a time-out. Ball players do it. Kids do it, when prompted by their parents. Heck, even your computer does it (and sometimes not when you want it to). So, why not you? A meditation can be as simple as taking a series of easy breaths, and slowly, gently counting to ten in your mind.” ~ Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

“We must experience the Truth in a direct, practical and real way; this is only possible in the stillness and silence of the mind, and this is achieved by means of meditation.” ~ Samael Aun Weor, The Revolution of the Dialectic: A Practical Guide to Gnostic Psychology and Meditation

“Quiet the mind, and the soul will speak.” ~ Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati

Meditate. Live purely. Be quiet. Do your work with mastery. Like the moon, come out from behind the clouds! Shine.
~ Buddha

Each human being was given two possibilities: action and contemplation. Both lead to the same place. ~ Paulo Coelho

If we want to save the world, we must have a plan. But no plan will work unless we meditate. ~ Dalai Lama

Suppose you read about a pill that you could take once a day to reduce anxiety and increase your contentment. Would you take it? Suppose further that the pill has a great variety of side effects, all of them good: increased self-esteem, empathy, and trust; it even improves memory. Suppose, finally, that the pill is all natural and costs nothing. Now would you take it? The pill exists. It is meditation. ~ Jonathan Haidt

Meditation is to be aware of what is going on in your body, in your feelings, in your mind, and in the world. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Here is my wish for you and every other child, woman, and man on the face of the earth: Spend one week saying only kind, caring things to yourself. Say thank you at least ten times an hour, direct five toward yourself and five to the world at large. Compliment yourself (and others) each time an effort is made. Notice all the wonderful qualities and characteristics about yourself and those around you. One week. You will never go back. And your whole life will be a glorious meditation. ~ Cheri Huber

When you have the constant focus of going within and then acting, your life will unfold in magical ways.  ~ Elizabeth Joy

 Meditation is simply about being yourself and knowing about who that is. It is about coming to realize that you are on a path whether you like it or not, namely the path that is your life. ~ Jon Kabat-Zinn

 Meditation is the action of silence. ~ Krishnamurti

 In dwelling, be close to the land. In meditation, go deep in the heart. ~ Lao Tzu

Prayer is when you talk to God; meditation is when you listen to God. ~ Diana Robinson

The kind of spirituality I value is one in which you get great joy out of contributing to life, not just sitting and meditating, although meditation is certainly valuable. But from meditation, from the resulting consciousness, I would like to see people in action creating the world they want to live in. ~ Marshall Rosenberg

 If I do not go within, I go without. ~ Neale Donald Walsch

 Meditation is the discovery that the point of life is always arrived at in the immediate moment. ~ Alan Watts

Pain Management Techniques: Yoga and Meditations

Our brain circuit is a very complex subject involving a great deal of biological, cognitive and social functioning. Brain produces different chemicals that causes the feelings of pleasure and pain. When certain part of the brain is “turned on” or “turned off” , we fell pleasure or pain.  We feel pleasure when we we enjoy something like eating good food or being in love.  Our brain has its own reward system. When we do certain things, the brain rewards us by making us feel good. Reward is a great way to encourage us to do something repetitively. Similarly, there is a pain circuit in the brain. When certain things happen in our body or mind, the brain punishes us by developing bad feelings, so that we should not repeat that next time. Yoga and meditation helps people consciously control the perception of pain and pleasure.  The new understanding and perceptions relieves pain.  During pain the blood vessels serve as a radiator to cool the brain, overheating can cause neuron death.

Pain Management Techniques
Pain Management

Five Yoga Exercises as Pain Management Techniques:

#1: Observe your normal breathing patterns

Try to observe your normal breathing patterns.  Do not try to control, remove or diminish your negative sensations or the private events of your life.  Try to accept the unpleasant sensations or thoughts while still persisting with your chosen tasks.

#2: Breathing Exercises:

You can breathe into the area around the pain sensation or around the belly. Yoga literature proposed several breathing techniques to overcome pain. The easiest one is;  place one hand on the chest and another on the belly.  Take a slow and deep breath, take as much air as possible. You can press the belly a little bit, with one hand. After holding the breath for a few seconds, exhale slowly. Meditation with proper breathing is the most common relaxation and pain management technique.

#3: Present Moment Awareness

Present moment awareness is the most efficient and the most ancient meditation technique for pain management. Yoga literature is flooded with present moment awareness meditation techniques for pain management.  You can just bring your awareness to the activities you are doing.  Khechari mudra is a great way for pain management.  If  the khechari mudra is perfect, one can withdraw the mind from the body.

#4: Yoga Nidra for Pain Management

Yoga nidra is a very ancient meditation technique for pain management. In modern literature there are various forms of muscle relaxation techniques. This technique involves slowly tensing, briefly holding, and then releasing each muscle group in a systematic fashion. It starts  with the muscles in the toes and moving upward. During this exercise, the person should notice the differences between tension and relaxation.

#5: Meditation and Visualization for Pain management

Visualization involves imagining a scene in which you feel at peace, free to let go of all tension and anxiety. You may meditate with eyes open or closed.  Select a simple geometrical shape or symbols, with  some specific color. Think of something which may be symbolically meaningful for you in some way.  For example, you can select some green circles. You can chant any mantra of your choice during visualization meditation.

Meditation and prayers are the great ways to overcome pain. Acceptance is very important in pain management. Mentally, you may say, “It is unpleasant but I can accept it”. Pain is always unpleasant but mediation changes the nature of pain before it is perceived.

Sources:

1. “Meditation: Insights and Inspirations”  By Amit Ray

2. “Handbook of Pain Management: A Clinical Companion to Textbook of Pain”  By Ronald Melzack