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There's been a popular misconception that yoga only means the physical
postures. In fact, yoga is a whole lifestyle that includes yoga
postures as one of its many components. Yoga postures have physical
benefits, including curing disease, but the main benefit is mental -
they balance the emotions and calm the mind. That's because of their
effect on the glands, because it's the hormones produced by the glands
that determine the way we feel.
The first is the foot massage. Would you laugh if I told you it's more
relaxing than having a drink after work? Well it is! Why is
that?
Because every part of the body has a subtle nerve connection to the
foot. So each organ has an area on the foot that directly affects it.
The top of the foot is related to the surface of the body, while the
sole is associated with the deeper organs. Maybe you noticed that if
you scratch a certain part of your foot, you can feel a twinge
somewhere else on your body. That's because of the subtle connections.
So it goes without saying that if you massage your feet you're also
indirectly massaging your whole body - external and internal. Try it
for yourself and see - first the top, then the sole. Press down with
your thumbs, like you're molding a piece of clay. If you feel an area
that's sore, spend more time there - it probably means the part of the
body connected to it is tired or injured. For example, if you have
sore
shoulders from hunching over a computer all day, massage the area
on the outer part of the foot behind the little toe. See? So it turns
out there was a lot of truth behind that old story of getting your
feet massaged after a hard day's work!
Now, deep relaxation.
If it's done properly, it's more effective than sleep. Just 5 to 10
minutes of deep relaxation is more rejuvenating than one hour's sleep.
Don't believe me? Try it for yourself. But you have to do it properly
- completely relax all your muscles without sleeping. Find a warm,
comfortable place on the floor, lie down on your back with your arms
by your side, and make sure your breathing is calm and relaxed. Now go
through your whole body, starting at your feet, consciously making
sure that each part is completely relaxed - with no muscular
tension
at all. Go from the feet up the legs, consciously checking each part,
into the groin area, into the abdomen (feeling that your internal
organs are also relaxed), into the chest and shoulders, from the
fingers and hands up the arms, then into the neck and up into the
face, relaxing the facial muscles, including the eyes, and finally to
the top of the head, feeling your brain is also relaxed. Check once
more that your breathing is calm and relaxed, and imagine you're lying
in the most soothing place you can think of: it could be floating on
the sea, suspended in space, on top of a mountain - wherever you like.
Now stay like that, fully relaxed, for a few more minutes. But don't
sleep! You'll soon realize the benefit of deep relaxation. It'll
prepare you for the day ahead, rejuvenate you throughout the day, and
help you
sleep well at night. Do it as often as you can, especially if
you do a lot of mental work, and see how it keeps your body and mind
calm and refreshed. It also lowers the blood pressure, relieves stress
and relaxes the nerves.
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