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De-stress with yoga

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When you sit with your eyes closed, you will notice that your mind is clouded with multiple thoughts — thoughts about the body and health, about job/business and finances, parents, spouse and kids, thoughts about future, thoughts of things gone by.




These thoughts translate as stress and weigh down an individual all through life, keeping him/her entangled in the everyday struggle. And before one knows, hair turns grey, spine gets bent, skin is shrivelled, eyesight gets blurred, the body is host to a plethora of diseases, and stress never subsides, thus deteriorating the body further and faster. Psychological stress is, in fact, the prime factor expediting ageing in the body.



Stress followed by disease and ageing is because of avidya/agyan. It is impossible for a normal person to get vidya/gyan of reality and become stress-free. A normal person is so tied up that he does not have the time or the inclination for anything beyond.



Sanatan kriya and Shanmukhi mudra (Shan means six and mukhi means face or gate). This mudra involves closing the seven gates of perception — the ears, eyes, nostrils and mouth) give a glimpse of reality which lies within and not outside. It is enough for one to get the inclination to discover more.
At any point of time, one of our senses is always at work, running after some object of desire. The doorways to these desires in the human body are our sense organs. Shanmukhi mudra shuts these doors to be able to experience the real world, which lies inside.
Sit in Siddhasan (seated position with legs crossed) and keep your back absolutely straight. Bring your hands towards the face keeping the elbows at shoulder level. Put the thumbs inside the ear holes, blocking any external sound. Then close your eyes and gently press your eyelids with the index finger. Ensure that no light enters. Then with the tips of middle fingers slowly press the nasal passage. Keep the pressure soft and release the pressure on the nostrils at frequent intervals to inhale. 

(Caution: In the beginning do not try and strain yourself by closing the nostrils as you might suffocate yourself. Breathe in after frequent and comfortable gaps.)

With the ring finger and the little finger press the upper lip and the lower one, thereby closing the doorways to maya — two eyes, two ears, two nostrils and the seventh doorway, mouth. Once all the doors are shut, try and listen to the sound within and observe where it leads you. Do not stretch the breath beyond your limit.


As you practise this, you will see that your stress is waning. This is an extremely effective technique for those who lead an extremely stressful life, or suffer from insomnia and depression.
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