MOTIVATION : IMPACT OF REGULAR EXERCISE ON OUR HEALTH

                                                         - Milan K Sinha

Various studies have shown conclusively that physical inactivity leads to many health problems. The sedentary lifestyle of growing number of people of all strata of society including large number of white collar employees across industries and businesses is a serious cause of concern. The so-called modern lifestyle actually makes the life of several million Indians devoid of even minimum amount of physical activity absolutely necessary to keep this unique machine called human body going. The growing dependence on technology in some way or the other has also been contributing its share to make a crippling effect on the lives of large population of our youth.

A recent medical study has revealed that sitting for longer hours in office or home before the Computer or TV or with laptop or engaged with your smart phone or such electronic gadgets can definitely raise the chances of all types of major diseases and then even 30 minutes of exercise every day may not be sufficient. As such, longer duration of daily exercise would be necessary to keep you fit. 

To be more precise, physical inactivity or lack of physical exercise is known to affect badly our muscles, heart, lungs, kidney, bones, joints, brain and digestive system which lead finally to indisposition of some kind or the other in quicker intervals. Besides weakening the immune system of our body significantly, it impacts our monthly budget to a reasonable extent as we are forced to incur avoidable expenses towards doctor’s fee, medicine and at times hospitalisation as well.

It is interesting to know that moderate to intense exercise including simple brisk walking for some time also acts as a mood booster and also a de-stressing tool.

So, what should one do to keep the body healthy and going?

Starting the day with a few minutes of warm up session is widely recommended by health experts. It is necessary for loosening your muscles as they become stiff while resting for couple of hours in the night. This is needed to be rightly ready for intense exercise or work-out. If for any reason, you are not going out for a walk, you may very well do spot running and other free hand exercises for a few minutes, may be ten to fifteen  minutes. This should be done on an empty stomach preferably during morning hours.

It is needless to emphasise that even this kind of simple routine exercise confers many benefits like better exercise tolerance, lower body weight, lower blood pressure, better control of blood sugar, lowered cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. It also contributes significantly towards reduced stroke risk, reduced risk of cancer of all types, lesser incidence of viral infections and lowered risk of depression. Not only this, regular dose of physical work out and exercise in many ways keeps our physique in right shape and also ensures a better sleep in the night.

Hence, the standard medical advice has been to recommend exercise duration ranging from 20-40 minutes a day, if not possible for all the days of the week, for at least four to five days in a week. Undoubtedly, if done daily, it is still better. Studies have shown that benefits of lowered blood pressure due to exercise disappears if one stops the activity for more than two weeks. It is because exercise helps decrease the level of LDL (Low Density Lipoprotein, commonly known as bad cholesterol) and enhance the level of HDL (High Density Lipoprotein, also known as good cholesterol) in our blood.
                Will meet again with Open Mind. All The Best. 

# Published in Patna Daily.com

WELLNESS POINT: YOUNG PROFESSIONALS, STRESS AND YOGA

                                                              - MILAN K. SINHA

Generally speaking, the young professionals, whether they are in jobs or managing their own business or industry, are experiencing lots of stress day in and day out in varying degrees across the globe. Undoubtedly, the competition is huge and cut–throat.  Consequently, they often get tired and indisposed too rather more frequently, which badly affect their self–confidence, general health/well-being and productivity at their work place. It also impacts their family life adversely.

In fact, medical experts have been noticing an abnormal increase in the number of young professionals falling prey to psychosomatic ailments which involve both our body and mind. In majority of cases, it is the fall out of perpetual stress and tension. Ultimately, the person starts suffering from medical disorders such as headache, migraine, ulcer, hypertension, diabetes etc. This is not a happy situation for any individual and his or her family. The question is how to cope up with this situation on an on-going basis without visiting a doctor and without taking medicine on every such occasion?

The simple and very effective solution is practicing ‘Yoga’ sincerely and regularly.

In an address given at Gandhi memorial College, Bhopal on 28th February, 1979 Swami Satyananda Saraswati, the founder of world famous “Bihar School of Yoga” said, ‘…Today, the thinking people, who have eyes to see and who are able to understand the secrets of yoga with an open mind, have come to the conclusion that the science of yoga has a definite, clear and indisputable solution for the difficulties of man. The science of yoga covers a great range of human problems. It not only solves the problems of spiritual life, but it can also help to ease the problems of our day to day illnesses. The science of Yogasanas, Pranayama, Mudras and Bandhas, including Hatha Yoga - the science of physiological balance and physical purification- has brought to us the knowledge that diseases can be relieved by the practice of yoga.’

  

To say in plain words, through regular practice of yoga, preferably in the early morning hours in a relatively open space, we gradually learn to look inside, explore our latent potential, achieve higher level of mindfulness in our every action and thereby gain control over our body and mind. In reality, besides achieving a better physical fitness level, we do improve our power of concentration and the capacity to remain calm and quiet even in moments of distress and indisposition. As a result, we become far more capable to handle and manage any hardship we normally confront in the journey of our life and become more productive and satisfied most of the time.

So, the simple prescription is to spare minimum 30 minutes out of 1440 minutes in a day to practice yoga every morning to manage your stress significantly and hence keep yourself healthier and happier now and always.

Finally before signing off, let us enjoy the motivating lines of Swami Vivekananda, ‘All power is within you. You can do anything and everything. Believe in that.’  

                                           

                                                                            

            Will meet again with Open Mind. All The Best.

# Published in Patna Daily.com dated 22.06.2016 

HOW TO STAY FIT AND FINE DURING EXAMINATION SEASON

          -        Milan K Sinha

 

Examination season is very much on in our country and so is the final preparation by several million students. In this age of cut-throat competition for securing better grades or marks even in final school examinations due to various factors including high expectation of parents from their children, the students in general pass through higher stress level during this period. 

Besides impacting their normal study routine, it has negative impact even on their daily routine of eating and sleeping. Surveys show that some students do fall sick at this crucial time and all their preparations of entire year fail to fetch desired result.

                                                                                                                       

Truly speaking, during the examination period, it is all the more necessary to stay fit and fine both mentally and physically in order to perform better by withstanding any negative pressure. To be precise, eating and sleeping well are equally important as studying well during this period.

Well, but the question is how to address these issues?  Yes, it goes like this :

It’s said that well begun is half done. So, start your day early with heavy and healthy breakfast. Your lunch and dinner should also be protein, mineral and vitamin rich but should be relatively lighter than your breakfast. It needs little emphasis that your daily diet has adequate quantity of seasonal fruits and green vegetables. Avoid eating or drinking junk and processed food items or aerated drinks as it normally contain higher level of sugar, fat and salt than actually required besides certain unhealthy chemicals or preservatives. It is always better not to be in a hurry while eating as chewing well is very necessary for better digestion. Keeping your body all the time adequately hydrated is also desirable.

In any case, sleep for 7-8 hours in the night as it calms the brain and facilitates the normal hormone secretion. Actually, sleep deprivation can put the body into a state of high alert as production of stress hormones goes up which may lead to many health complications. Following the age old prescription of ‘early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise’ is definitely worth practicing. Yes, the sleeping dress should not be tight or uncomfortable; your room should be adequately airy and your bed reasonably comfortable. It is equally vital that your room is devoid of light and sound, the sleep distractors. Meditation of  5-10 minute duration before going to bed ensures quality sleep which adds to your level of freshness and energy in the morning and thereafter as well. 

As always, I'm keen to know what do you think on this subject. Hence, request you to post comments to share your views and experiences.

                Will meet again with Open Mind. All The Best.

# Published in Patna Daily.com dated 28.02.2016