indica News Bureau-
A leading medical school in the US has recommended yoga, meditation and controlled breathing to address anxiety issues related to the novel coronavirus that has now spread fast across America.
The article ‘Coping with coronavirus anxiety’ was published a few days ago by Harvard Medical School.
The latest healthcare guidelines states, yoga, meditation, and controlled breathing are “some tried and true ways to relax”.
The article said, “When anxiety rises because we’re facing a distressing threat like the new coronavirus, we need to focus on what tends to work for us to ease anxiety — that, plus doing a little bit more of some actions and a little bit less of others.”
The article further said, “Keep these thoughts in mind. You’re fully prepared to help yourself. You can take steps to calm and steady yourself. Remember what works for you — because as fellow humans we’re not so dissimilar, but we do tend to have our own preferences and best practices.”
“Regular meditation is very calming. Many apps teach simple forms of meditation, such as Headspace or Calm,” wrote John Sharp, a board-certified psychiatrist on the faculty at Harvard Medical School and the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.
“Not a yoga person? No need to start now unless you’d like to try it. Sometimes trying new things and discovering new activities you can benefit from and enjoy can be a welcome, healthy distraction. Yoga Studio and Pocket Yoga are good apps to consider,” he said.
On controlled breathing, he said, one simple technique is called square breathing. “Visualise your breath traveling along a square. As you follow the instructions to inhale, hold your breath, or exhale, count slowly to three on each side. Try it now,” he wrote.
“Inhale up the first side of the square. Slowly count one, two, three. Hold your breath across the top. One, two, three. Exhale down the other side of the square. One, two, three. Then hold your breath across the bottom. One, two, three. After a few minutes of this you should be feeling calmer and more centered,” Sharp said.
Meanwhile, the World Hindu Congress USA said that it organized a ‘havan’ and prayers across North America as part of its efforts to address growing mental health and anxiety concerns arising from the COVID- 19 pandemic.
What is Yoga? It means ‘union’. It is originally derived from the Sanskrit root “yuj” which means ‘to unite’. Yoga is not just bending your body and doing physical exercise but it is regarded as one of the best therapies to all the problems in the world. India is known as home to Yoga practice.
