Breathe Right and Beat Stress - Workshop

This is a presentation made by me for the benefit of Sasken employees. The initiative is as part of the employee well being (EWB) initiative conducted by the HR department. About 40+ people attended this hour long presentation and happy to inform that ALL of them have enrolled for the workshop

1

The employees shared a few of their expectations on email to me as to what they would be expecting in the breathing workshop. I have captured some of their expectations here.

2

The objectives of my workshop is to help everyone understand what it means to be ‘stressed’. Appreciate that there is a beautiful, undeniable connection between mind and body. Also appreciate that one can control the mind & body by breathing right – and in turn reducing stress. Not only that, by right breathing techniques, one can actually be able to produce & tap into the infinite source of energy (called as ‘prana’ in Sanskrit!)

3

I did a short experiment to make the audience aware that they know ‘little’ about their breath. I asked them the question – which nostril are they breathing now? And the answers were clear. 20 people said their left nostril was dominant; 17 said right nostril and 3 said that both were equally dominant. It is clear that for every 90min to 2 hours, the dominance of each of the nostril changes. We don’t know this. Neither do we know the significance of this.

4

Imagine you are in the middle of the jungle and come face to face with a tiger. The response the body will exhibit at that time is called ‘fight or flight’ response. Ofcourse, ‘freeze’ can be another response – but I feel that is in the rarest of the rare cases. This is the natural defense mechanism of the body, triggered by the sympathetic nervous system. In the fight or flight response, the body basically provides all the energy to the brain & the legs to help us escape from the tiger. No other part of the body is nourished during that time. This kind of response is also exhibited by humans in a much more sophisticated way – by defending themselves when pushed to a corner or avoiding work by feigning ‘headache’ as an example !! It is practically impossible to keep on living and responding as thus, because this consumes huge amount of mental /physical energy and the various body functions degenerate. This has an impact on the immunity of the body. This response is catabolic and one loses energy in the body.

5

The second type of response is called ‘restful response’. This is when the body’s parasympathetic nervous system takes off and helps in burning less oxygen, doing less work and secreting the right amount of growth harmones in the body that help us to rest & relax and digest. This response is anabolic, and the energy is converted into matter to build muscle, brain tissue etc. The restful response, thus builds immunity in the body.

6

I wrote a blog article, https://harnessingyourpotential.wordpress.com/2013/03/19/stress-demands-resources/ a while ago, defining stress as demands divided by resources available. While the demands on us can’t be wished to go away (work related, family, friends related, relationships etc), we need to figure out how to improve the resources we have at our disposal. When the resources we have meet the needs of the demands on us, that is NOT stressful; when they don’t then that is stressful!! Therefore, we need to focus on the bottom line of the equation and improve our resources – here we are talking of the infinite mental resources we have that we hardly use. These need to be improved.

7

In the experiment we did earlier on, several people had responded that either of their nostrils was dominant at a time. The dominant nostril influences the opposite side of the brain! When both the nostrils are equally dominant – that is an ideal situation when we can be both creative & logical as well as thinking & feeling at the same time. That is infinite power in the hand – providing you with not just the intellectual ability but also emotional quotient to deal with situations.

8

Some of the symptoms of stress.

9

Our peripheral autonomic nervous system has two types of responses, that control all the muscles in the body. Sympathetic nervous system is basically that response which the brain AUTOMATICALLY triggers when it decides it is under stress!! (small or big stress does not matter!!) This response, burns energy as it converts the existing ‘matter’ in the body into energy to deal with the stressful situation.

10

The second type of nervous system is the parasympathetic nervous system. Parasympathetic nervous system is basically that response which the brain triggers when it decides it is restful and does not notice any ‘stress’. This response builds muscle, bone mass and helps convert the universal energy – from food, air, water etc., into mass in the body – physical & mental muscles. This response is anabolic in nature.

11

Here is a pictorial representation of the influence of the sympathetic & parasympathetic nervous system. The good news is that both these nervous systems can be balanced & controlled by breath control. Therefore, conscious breathing allows us to stablize our ‘fight or flight’ response as well as ‘rest & digest’ response.

12

Our lungs have a maximum capacity of 5 litres but we don’t use more than 10% of it. By forceful, conscious exhalation & inhalation, we can breathe deeply. The volume of air we will take in will increase. The frequency of breaths per minute will decrease. They say, when we are born, God gives us ‘x’ number of breaths – not number of years as life! If we finish those breaths, we die; so it is important to breathe slowly!! A tortoise lives 100+ years compared to a dog because tortoises breathe so s l o w l y!!

13

I wrote a blog article explaining the efficiency of deep breathing https://harnessingyourpotential.wordpress.com/2013/07/01/efficiency-of-deep-breathing-explained-mathematically/ Deep breathing not only ensures that ALL of the lung space is used, it also ensures that the speed of inhalation /exhalation decreases thereby prolonging life!!

14

This is a pictorial representation of my workshop methodology. I facilitate the workshop through practice – not theoretical talks!! People learn by doing and I encourage that. I encourage them to observe their bodies and determine what is good /bad for them!!

15

The key ingredients one needs to bring to the workshop. I believe in simplicity – learn something and practice it whereever you are, with least amount of trouble (unlike going to a gym!!)

16

The tools one would use – practically nothing external to ourselves!!

17

In this workshop, I will demonstrate how you can ‘produce’ energy when you are emotionally down and get out of that situation. I will demonstrate the mind – body connection and its connection /dependency on efficient breathing. I will demonstrate practical tips to control your negative emotions. When I say “demonstrate” I mean that each of the participants will ACTUALLY EXPERIENCE this at their body /mind level!! So, in all true sense, the workshop is a “true” workshop.

18

19

20

I organize workshops for corporates at their offices. I believe that the corporates are benefitted immensely by helping their employees reduce their stress. I also believe that employees need to show commitment to improve their lives. Therefore, my model of engagement is that I will expect every corporate to sponsor atleast half of the workshop fees and charge the remaining to the employees.

21

Some other practical tips. I believe that I am a ‘facilitator’ and not a ‘teacher’ – Their bodies are the teachers! I expect each of the participant to listen & respond to the way their bodies are reacting.

22

23