Do you find yourself affected by anxiety, stress, or fear even by the small issues of life? Be it at work, home or community if issues around make you prone to stress, learn to relax. It is well documented that Yoga Nidra and other Yoga Practcies induce deep relaxation of our body, mimnd, nervous system, hormonal system and hence the muscles as well. 

Let’s explore what is Deep Relaxation form yoga point of view. We will also briefly explore what neuro scientists have to say as well.

What does deep relaxation mean? In Yoga terms it means bring our selves back to our “home” . To do this we need to understand that we have several entities within the physical – skin, bone, flesh, blood – body. They are the Mind called manas in Yoga which runs around like a mad monkey, then we have the Intellect termed Budhi in Yoga, this is the entity that warns or tells the mind what is good and bad even though the Mind might chose to outshout or ignore the Intellect, then beyond this we have another entity called Soul or Atman in Yoga terms . the Soul is all knowing, ancient, was always there, is all knowing, all powerful and all pervading, it has not birth or death, it occupies every single shape and form we see around us, be it animate or inanimate. 

Because the Intellect is an inner instrument that is close association with the all-powerful Soul, the Intellect is corruption proof like a computer protected again virus attacks by a very powerful Firewall. In contract the Mind is like a computer that is prone for Virus atatcks ( such as Lust, Anger, greed, Infatuation, Ego and Jealousy). 

Well you might start thinking that this Soul entity sounds like God, the fact is it really is God. If you consider God as the vast ocean the individual soul is the water drop that evaporated from the surface and travelled into the sky became a cloud, travelled to the mountains , dropped one arth as a rain drop, flowed through mountains and valleys to reach the ocean again and lose it’s identity as the river. Our soul has the same yearning to reach the origin ( the primordial universal consciousness ) and merge within it and not be born again and again. This aspect is what has to be learnt in the first Limb of the Eight limbs of Yoga, namely Yama. 

So you will now realise that there are several entities within our body. The physical body is what you think you are, the Mind is what makes others think who you are( because your mind shapes your action and you get judged by your actions), and then you have the Soul that is whom you really are. 

The cause of agitations of the Mind is primarily because we have forgotten who we really are. As long as the Mind dwells on Likes and dislikes associated with the material world and society we live in we will have agitations of the mind as it flits between Likes and Dislikes or Aversions and Infatuations. In yoga terms this is called Vikshepa ( that which steals or distracts your mind from deep calmness). In this state your life is a like ship travelling through a raging storm, with large swells buffeting the ship up and down, pushing it sideways. With suscha  state of agitation all the internal organs are working under huge stress ( like the crew of a ship trying hard to keep the ship in a storm on even keel and course). You end up with stress hormones Adrenaline and Cortisol flooding your blood, tight muscles, chronic pains, headaches and many more aliments. Imagine a technique to navigate the ship through the raging storm and swells and reach the home port safely, the sigh of relief the crew and passengers feel when the ship reaches the home port.

This is our innate state in creation, however the moneky mind gets into the mode of Vikshepa (as explained above) and we lose it. This applies to the state of mind we are in the inability the do deep abdominal breathing which we did as babies. But all is not lost , our innate nature is part of our DNA, and we can rewire ourselves to manifest it from within. 

Deep relaxation practices take your mind to connect with your real self the Soul and stay there ( let us call it our home port). All spiritual practices in all faiths are about reaching this location by turning the monkey mind within away from the material world that pulls at the senses.  

All you need to do is learn first how to do deep abdominal breathing.

Then once this deep abdominal breathing becomes your natural state of breathing, you also learn a few Deep Relaxation techniques. There are several layers that you can practice deep relaxation work. You may start with just focussing your mind on an object or body part and moving it around your body, you can add another layer of practice onto this by also doing some positive contemplation connecting your deeper to your sub conscious mind. 

Please learn and practice deep abdominal breathing throughout your life and also set aside 10 minutes a day in the mornings ( 4am to 8am) or evenings ( 4pm to 8pm) before meals to practice the deep relaxation practices I am sharing with you below.  

Before I sign off let me share what neuroscientists have to say

Our brain fires electrical signals and these are called brainwave patterns. The patterns that emnate from our brain are governed by our type of  thoughts, emotions, moods, biological chemistry, everything you do.

Deep relaxation and Meditation ( I will dwell on meditation in another blog soon) has the ability to change our state of mind and hence brainwave patterns and finally our quality of life.  No amount of wealth or comfort can buy this quality of life. 

When we are in our mundane life mode we are not aware of the power within us, we get buffeted like a ship crossing the raging ocean of life on earth. Our brain wave patterns are then emanating Beta waves. As we try deep abdominal breathing, deep relaxation practices, change our food types we produce Alpha waves which are lower frequency compared to the beta waves. Once you get into a deeper and deepr relaxation yoemnate Theta waves and Delta waves. All these inferences are based on measurements, auro photographs and many other extensive research done by scientists. See below a summary of the various waves there measured frequency ranges in Hertz( Hz) and when you emanate them. 

Beta waves, 13 – 40 Hz: Associated with worries, stress, fears, aversions, lust, anger, greed, infatuation, jealousy, anger, ego , irritability. If you linger here affects your immunity levels and overall health. Makes you agitated, unable to fall asleep, nervous, depressed and anxious. Most people with no awareness of Yoga practcies or how to do deep relaxation stay in the Beta wave mode.

Alpha waves, 7-13 Hz: Start focussing your mind on an object and maintain the mind with focus, relaxation begins, mind running around reduces, anti stress hormones Endorphins, Dopamine and also Serotinin flow commences,  enhances learning ability, improves brain function, reduces fears, phobias, addictions, reduces tendency to get stressed, anxious, improved state of happiness and enhances self confidence.

Theta waves, 4 – 7 Hz: Getting into a deeper sate of relaxation, encountered during meditation rpactcies, deep sleep stage, feeling of being connected with evey one and every thing within and around you, creative ideas, positive thoughts, becoming aware of the impact of our Thoughts, Words and deeds on others, ability to cope with problems without imploding, intuition increased, able to be inspired and inspire others, further production of Endorphins, reduced levels of Stress hormone Cortisol, ability to fall asleep easily, enhanced emotional intelligence. Much lower breathing rates indicating a very calm nervous system.

Delta waves, 0-4 Hz; Deepest state of relaxation and Meditation, dreamless deep sleep, highly tuned and enhanced immune system, positive outlook, fortitude, equanimity, brain ageing reduced greatly, highly aware and feeling of being connected to the entire universe.

First start with learning and practicing deep abdominal breathing 24x 7 till you depart this beautiful planet earth which we all call home with other beings. Watch this video to learn deep abdominal breathing, 

Here are two relaxation practices to manage your stress you can do in 5 minutes a day. Practice these relaxation techniques and experience your anxiety and stress levels reduce and enhance your immunity levels too. You can do these techniques wherever you are. Click the link below and download the two free  audios and practice scripts and audio for stress-free life. 

Wishing you all a stress-free life

Narendra