Pranayama for stress

Here I put together many of the posts that I wrote while practising Pranayama on a daily basis, also adding a chapter of my new eBook.

A chapter from my new eBook" Pranayama, Mudra, Mantra and Meditation for health and well-being"

Pranayama for Stress

You all at some stage in your lives become stressed out, and many of you suffer from chronic stress. Often you are not even aware that you are stressed, you may ignore the symptoms and causes.

To become aware if you are stressed or not you need to understand and distinguish from normal stress and chronic stress. When you get yourselves into an acute stress situation, due to an accident or something you witnessed it is a normal way of your body to maybe react in a certain way. But then when the situation is over you should come back into balance. And you should no longer be affected by the situation.

But when you are chronically stressed, your body and mind are responding to the overload. And the stress is ongoing and can result in physical and mental, emotional ailments.

External causes of stress;

Major life changes, like moving home or even moving to another country. Getting married or having a child. When your lifestyle changes in some form or way.

Work and any kind of stressful work situation. 

School, exams, stress with other students or with teachers etc.

Relationship difficulties

Loss of a family member.

The family, children, teenagers can all be a stress factor in your life.

Or just being too busy, everything is getting on top of you, too many things to take care of, and too many responsibilities.

Financial worries and stresses. This is often a very major one for many people.

Illness in the family

Internal causes;

Chronic worry, being negative all the time, being a pessimist.

Rigid thinking, lack of flexibility. Critical, Perfectionist.

Negative self-talk, insecurities and self-doubt.

Fears and anxieties.

Grief, chronic grief.

You all respond to stress differently and you all cope with stress differently. Some of you may even thrive on a bit of stress, like being under pressure. But it is important to become more aware when the stress is becoming too much.

If you continue to ignore stress and allow yourselves to stay under permanent pressure it can become a very unhealthy situation. You can become physically ill from stress.

Some of the physical symptoms you may experience if you have continuous stress in your life;

Headaches, muscle tension

Fatigue

Digestive troubles, stomach aches

Sleeplessness.

You may experience a lot of;

Anxieties

Fears

Guilt

Lack of motivation

Irritability and Anger

Depression.

You may end up;

Not eating, skipping meals.

Or overeating to make you feel better or to get energy

You may start to drink, overuse of coffee and alcohol, or get into drugs to keep going

You may withdraw from society

And you may lack motivation altogether.

There are many Pranayama that can help you with stress. But you may say; "You are too busy to practice any Pranayama".

Well, if you know that your life is stressful for whatever reason, stop and take a  breath, always remember to breathe, bring the focus back to the breath even just for a minute. No matter how busy you are you should never forget to breathe and make a conscious effort to stop and take a few deep breaths. Just slowing down your breathing every so often during the day, can help tremendously with reducing stress. And also come back into your heart centre.

Practising the Anuloma - Viloma or alternating nostril breathing, in the evening, before going to bed or even while laying on your back in bed with a straight spine, you can practise a few rounds of alternating nostril breathing, this can help calm and balance the body and mind by reducing stress and helps with a good night sleep





Below some of my older post that I wrote while beginning with my daily practice of Pranayama


19.04.2015
Pranayama for Stress relief;

About a couple of month ago my life became quite stressful and I also get badly influenced by the energies of eclipse and as I knew we were soon to have a solar and lunar eclipse my energy became very stressed. I looked through all my pranayama books to see if I could practice pranayama to help me with my stress levels which started to push up my blood pressure. I found the eight-stroke breath pranayama for stress, that I have been practising since the beginning of March this year. The pranayama goes; Sit with spine straight, inhale in equal strokes for eight strokes, exhale forcefully in one stroke the inhale and exhale is done through the nose. The mudra is thumb tip touches the index finger tip. This pranayama should be practised for 11 minutes and in the evening. To finish off the pranayama inhale, roll the shoulders as many time possible with breath held in, then exhale, then inhale hold the breath and roll the shoulders as fast as possible then exhale.
This pranayama really works, it is so good to do this in the evening and it helps to calm that busy mind and by the morning one feels calm and energised to begin the day. And these hard knots around the neck and shoulders ease off and eventually dissolve.
The external stresses, of course, are there but with this pranayama, one can get through the day without elevated blood pressure or unnecessary worries and anxieties. To me, it is wonderful pranayama and I love practising it as I become more focused on keeping my awareness with my breath. I think to me this is one of the most potent pranayamas to relief stress. I keep doing it as it makes me feel so good.
To get real benefit this pranayama should be practised for 40 days in a row. But the stress relief is almost instant. Anyone can benefit from this pranayama, who does not suffer from stress from time to time?
Keep it up pranayama does work.

17.09.2011 Making changes and letting go

Pranayama helps with making the necessary change to move forward. It is amazing how with practising Pranayama the awareness is so great that it helps with understanding what the lesson is to learn in each challenge. I have been facing some of my hardest challenges at the moment and it has been a lifelong long struggle. I have done many therapies to overcome these struggles and challenges and I do well for a while and then the challenge is hitting me again. Since practising Pranayama I have been working through smaller challenges step by step and knew one day I would have to deal with my biggest challenge and I would have no escape from it than to face it head-on. Over the past year this challenge has been building up and I watched it coming. I tried to do anything to get rid of it and to change direction, but I could not. I am standing in front of my biggest fear, biggest worry, biggest burden and I know it here for me to work through it. Over the past 5 days while practising Pranayama the awareness I have gained from practising Pranayama it has shown me in details how these fears, worries, burdens, have been manifesting over years and even lifetimes. I can see while I am doing the Pranayama that it is feeling like I am pulling out deep roots of my biggest fears, worries and burdens. It feels like I can identify what has been the creator of such deep-seated fears, worries and burdens, and I can work and transform these fears, worries, burdens into healing, letting go, detach, into positive thoughts and I am learning to surrender which gives such a deep sense of calm and relief. Pranayama is helping me to really letting go, to let go from every cell, atom in my body, to transform every instant negative thought into positive, slowly I feel I am winning the positive thoughts are starting to push the negative thoughts out of the way even in the midst of facing my biggest fear, worries and burden. I feel like my own resistance is breaking down, I am able to break through my own resistance, my own blocks, restrictions and limitations. It is all slowly breaking away. It feels like I am winning, thanks to Pranayama.


9.09.2011 Focus and living in the now

Since practising pranayama I have become more aware of all the energies around me and within me. I have felt the pressure of needing to heal faster, to grow spiritually faster, around me people are talking about preparing yourself for the future for the year 2012 and the changes it will bring. I myself get caught up in all this, and my body feels as if it is trying to hold me back. And then every time I practice my pranayama, my energy is slowing down, my mind is slowing down, the pressure to heal fast disappears, the pressure to grow spiritually disappears. My body relaxes and I am focused on my breathing. The focus is on the now on what each breath is doing for my body, mind, soul, heart, spirit. And I realise there is no time limit in my healing process, there is no time limit in my spiritual journey, there is no fear of death or if I have to come back for much more lifetimes to complete the journey, there is nothing but the now. It feels calm and I know each breath I take is healing me it is helping me with my spiritual growth, but most of all it helps me to enjoy and to feel the MOMENT the HERE and NOW. It makes me realise how much more important the here and now is then the future. It makes me realise that it does not matter how fast I heal or grow, what matters is how I feel right now in each moment and with Pranayama it brings me back to the moment, it helps me to be focused on my inner being, in my heart space, on living each moment with depth, with awareness of joy, with love. The future will come quick enough, but the moment you miss will be gone forever. Don't waste your here and now don't waste each precious moment on the future, on trying to be there before you have lived the now.
We are so much living in the fast line, we are so much living in competition, there is even so much competition with spiritual journeys, the race is on who will get there first, who will be enlightened, who will be the most spiritual person who will be one with God first.
I may be last in line but filled with the richness that each moment each precious moment is giving me while living fully in the here and now. With Pranayama I feel I can slow down time, I can fully take in what each moment brings I can soak in the beauty, the love, the smells, the breath, the wind the whole energy and experience it fully. Why waste time on what the future may bring, when you can not fully experience the here and now, you may miss the future.

5.07.2011 Internal silence

I have learned the Pranayama Nadi-sadhana through the book Pranayama Rahasya ( with scientific factual evidence ) Swami Ramdev, and I have found this Pranayama most effective in calming my ever so overactive mind. While I am practising this pranayama it seems to block out any intrusive thoughts and it is stopping my mind from wondering. It is very effective. I have found the more traditional way of practising the Pranayamas like the once that Swami Ramdev teaches the most effective ones. Many teachers will add their own style to the pranayamas and what suits one, may not suit another. Like with all things we put our own style on things.  Traditional things become improved, adjusted, refine, only to in time to go back to the traditional way or the original way. So I have been studying these books of Swami Ramdev and watch the YouTube videos and have found when I follow his instructions I get the best result. The Pranayama Nadi - sadhana showed me how amazing it is when one is able to control the breath, and that there can be an immediate benefit. It feels like it goes very deep and I have felt that I become internally silent a very amazing feeling.

24.05.2011 Pranayama and the mind

Since practising Pranayama, now nine months, I would have to say that my absolute biggest challenge in my mind. It is just incredible how strong thoughts are and how hard it is to let go of negative thoughts, negative thought patterns, distraction, pictures in your mind. The mind creates worries anxieties and negativity. When I work on being positive negativity just pops in, when practising Pranayama I work on getting rid of all the negativity, and the words the pictures the thoughts, it seems endless what is coming out and needs to be dispensed of. Kapalabhati helps in getting rid of negativity, negative behaviour patterns, negative thought patterns, but sometimes I feel my mind is just so determined to keep me in a negative mood. It is unbelievable how strong the mind is. The mind soaks in outside influences, from the radio, TV, from people around me from things I have experienced, things I read, and it seems as if it only wants to store the negativity. Pranayama helps with changing that negative mind to a positive mind. What is happening now for me is that I am aware instantly when a negative thought, word, picture enters my mind and I can change it straight away into a positive thought, picture or word. Since practising Pranayama, pranayama has given me such a deep awareness and has helped me to go deep into myself. It has helped me to draw out all the negativity that is deep within me from my childhood, from my past, may even from my past lives. There is still more coming out, but now I can stop the negativity from going in. The awareness helps me to change the negative into positive before it enters my being. I still have a long way to go, but it is so healing to know I can let it all go now I need no longer to hold on to my demons, my negativity, my hurt, my grief. Pranayama is simply amazing. Sometimes it's so much hard work and I think why am I doing this, but then I realise I have come so far already I will not give up on it. The other day a friend of mine said that she did not think I would ever give up practising Pranayama as I have been doing it now for nine months and it is just so much part of my life. I believe, it takes about three months of disciplining yourself to practice Pranayama, after that it just becomes part of your life and daily routine.

3.05.11
Stress relief

It has just been an amazing experience for me; Major stress just did not throw me down this time around. I have felt so much calm it has been amazing in the past these major stresses would just get me down and make me angry and frustrated and this time around I feel calm, just the occasional feeling how do I deal with this now, but then solutions come and everybody around me is understanding, allowing me to be late with my payments without charging penalties or late payment fees, things are just able to be sorted. I have become creative in making things last longer, I have been more creative in making things myself and finding solutions for everything. This has made me positive and I am quite excited about trying out new ways finding solutions and solving problems. The challenges have become fun and I feel on top of the world in the middle of great turmoil. Since practising Pranayama, life, in general, has just become easier, things to deal with have become easier, people around me have become more helpful, due to my calmer nature. I truly feel like a new person. Pranayama is just amazing.

Pranayama diffuses stress 30.04.2011

We are living in a stressful world and it is the story of my life that I have always stressed due to finance. I have chosen to live a lifestyle different to many people, self-employed and always choosing an occupation which is hard to make a living from. I have times where things just go smoothly and great and suddenly things turn to mud and get really difficult. I stress about finance to the max. I often felt I could not move as moving costs money. Since practising Pranayama, I have been able to relax more about finance, even so, I still have days I stress, it seems to get easier as more I practice Pranayama. I find solutions I never been able to find before. I am able to live in the moment more, then worry about next weeks bills and payments. It feels now that slowly but surely I am getting on top of things. Finding ways to cut back costs, realising,   I  do not need so much, realising one can be happy with less, realising that becoming more in tune with the rhythm of nature allows me to find better solutions, understanding myself better finding my strength and weaknesses, helps me in sorting my ongoing financial issues. Often when practising Pranayama I get distracted by my thoughts about my stresses, but then automatically I focus back on my breathing. I realise I can not force change it comes automatically. When practising Pranayama the focus comes naturally, the changes come naturally letting go and surrendering comes naturally in time at the right time. The healing is a transition that takes time but practising Pranayama makes it easier, my aggressive nature is calming down and I feel I can cope with life better each day. We will always have challenges but with Pranayama these challenges are easier to work with.

10.04.2011
Pranayama brings about awareness

Practising Pranayama brings about an awareness that helps understand one's emotions, thoughts, behaviour patterns, mood swings, anger, frustrations and depression. Since practising Pranayama, I have become aware of all my mood swings, negative thoughts my negative behaviour patterns, and my lows and highs. What I have found is that the negative thoughts and the negative behaviour patterns are fighting with me they try to block my healing process and they try to intrude when I practice my Pranayamas. The awareness helps me to identify this and helps me to work through these struggles. I have found that every time I sit down to do my Pranayamas despite my negative moods or anger and frustration, I calm down and can put things in perspective with every out breath I can work on letting go of negativity, old negative behaviour patterns, old hurts, negative thoughts and emotions. It is not an instant cure, but with the awareness that Pranayama has given me I have been able to come through the lows and the negativity much quicker. It is hard to let go of old hurts, grief, anger frustrations that have been part of my life since a young age, the behaviour pattern one has created over the years, it's as if all these negatives have a hold on me and show up out of the blue. With Pranayama I feel I have been able to work through so much already, it has given me the strength to change, and to let go. Pranayama is not an instant cure like when taking a pill, but it works on a deep level, changing me from the root of my being. It seems to bring a lasting change.

1.03.2011
Pranayama to calm the mind

Pranayama calms the mind and heals the emotions. Since practising Pranayama I have become much calmer and have been able to deal with stress much better. Practising Pranayama brings about an awareness of emotions that need to be healed and it helps to deal with these emotions and to bring about a calm and focused mind.
Pranayama, breathing, helps deal with any kinds of stress it helps deal with natural disasters better and helps to focus on the moment rather than dwelling on what has been and what will be.
My thoughts are with all my friends and all the people in Christchurch. Pranayama helps to get through each day.
Breath deeply in any situation. Stop what you are doing and take a deep breath to see what it feels like! Can you feel your lungs expanding?

Walk the journey, your path in peace

This is all about my personal experiences copyrights@BarbaraSchaer all rights reserved

Pranayama for Arthritis,Joint problems and Frozen Shoulders

A chapter from my eBook on; 

Arthritis and Joint problems

For most of my life I had been hating my body for holding me back, for causing me so many pains and troubles, often I felt like I was a cripple, and often got bullied at school for not doing well in any sports, wondered why I had to live in a body like this. Some of you are born with many physical disabilities, some of you are prone to many physical ailments, and you just have to put up with it, or do you?

All my life I had issues with my joints and had been very accident prone and it had caused me to suffer from arthritis at an early age.

Well, what can you do? I was told I would need shoulder replacement surgery, and don't worry you can do the knees and hips too when they have enough deteriorated. And for pain, you can use all sorts of drugs no worries.....And nobody ever suggested that there may be a natural way to keep arthritis from getting worse and that there were natural ways to manage pain. 

As I had always been looking for natural ways, and also had no intentions having all my joints replaced through surgery, I began a journey of trying out various things. When I started practising Pranayama and gained so quick relief for my migraines and back issues I continued my practice in the hope to help me with my arthritis, joint issues and my very bad shoulder problems. 

The shoulder problem started around 1988 when I had to drive a lot and my left shoulder started to become very painful from the shifting of gears in my van. In 1991 I had been diagnosed with frozen shoulders and the start of abnormality in my shoulder joint, the beginning of arthritis. I was then told within the next ten years I would need surgery. And of course, my right shoulder also started to deteriorate as time went by. It is 2017 now and I have not had surgery, and I am feeling better than I have back then.

Arthritis is a deterioration of the joints, it causes inflammation, stiffness and pain in the joints. Often the cause of arthritis can be due to injuries to the joint, infections of the joints or due to a family history of arthritis. When you get older there is a natural deterioration of cartilage and the joints, but it does not have to cause inflammation or pain. 

When you suffer from arthritis, there is inflammation most of the time. You may have times during the year that the arthritis flairs up and other times where it is quite good. There are foods that can cause more inflammation and there are foods that can help in reducing inflammation. There are natural herbs that can help with the management of arthritis, without causing the nasty side effects that many pharmaceuticals do. 

Arthritis is a chronic condition and therefore will not heal overnight and there is no real cure for it. But Pranayama and mudras has helped me and has slowed down or even stopped the further deterioration of my joints. 

So when I started my practice of pranayama I started to feel a difference in my joints and my level of pain and stiffness also.

Now I hardly ever experience any pain unless I totally overdo things, like a lot of gardening or long hours of typing on the computer, can bring on stiffness in the joints, but by the next day after a good night sleep and doing some Pranayama with mudra and a few stretches I am fine again. 

I sometimes take a few Ayurveda herbs, but my budget often does not allow me to buy them for long-term use. I think that if I could afford to buy the herbs I may even have a chance to rebuild the joints and become even more flexible again. But for now, the Pranayama with mudra gives me very satisfactory results, actually, it gives wonderful results. 

Symptoms of arthritis; 

Stiffness

Inflammation of the joints

Swelling of the joints

Redness of the joints

The heat of the joints

Restriction of the movements in the joint.

In the advanced stage of arthritis, there can be nerve pain due to bones touching or pinching the nerves. I had this often on my shoulders when the bone hit a nerve I was in agony and for a short time, a few minutes my whole arm would become paralysed. I had to just wait and allow it to settle down. And certain movements could set off the aggravating pain as well.

Aches and pains in the joints. Pains can come in waves, they can get aggravated due to the weather, or too much of acidy foods.

The finger joints, they can become thicker and nodules can grow from the calcium deposits in the joints these will cause stiffness, pain and restriction of movement.

I no longer hate my body, I feel my body has been a blessing for me as it has given me the opportunity to work and experience Pranayama and mudra on this physical level. Amazing when your health improves with age!!!

Below, my old posts on  Trauma, Shock and Pain, Excruciating pain, Arthritis and Frozen Shoulders

29.03.2014 Trauma, Shock, Pain

Just over a week ago I experienced a very traumatic time, I will not go into the situation that happened on Friday but it did shake me up very badly. I was shivering and shaking uncontrollably and felt very traumatised, with anxiety and worries. I noticed my breathing was rapid and I just about hyperventilated.
Quickly I thought of Pranayama and started to slow down my breathing. Closing my eyes and just breathing deeply and slowly. I felt my heart slowing down and my whole being started to relax.
Friends around me and neighbours also worried about me and it was interesting how everyone was trying to comment on the situation reading into it in many different ways. Listening to this all was trauma in itself and I realised how we make a situation worse by just talking about it twisting it in all direction. I had to keep on breathing and reminding myself of breathing deeply and not to read to much into the situation.
I felt the breathing really helped me not to take everything in a bad way, but to turn the situation around and be grateful as it could have turned out much worse.
The next day early in the morning as I was taking my dogs for a walk I knew I had still been a bit shaky from the trauma the day before but felt a walk with the dogs would do me good.
I did not make it very far, as soon I was outside my gate my dogs pulled me in one direction, I tripped and fell onto my knees and flat on the stony ground. I had smashed both my knees, twisted my wrist and pulled a chest muscle. I was feeling very nausea and hobbled back into my house. Sitting down and again my breathing was panting like a dog and I was in shock again and in pain.
Again I started to focus on my breathing and wow it was amazing how it helped me to calm down and then to assess my injuries and just getting my Homeopathics sipping them with just resting and breathing. At first, I was quite angry thinking that I had to get through hell twice, I felt again traumatised and all my friends and neighbours came to my aid. And I guess it is human to talk about it all in a negative way and to see just the negative about the trauma, but I could feel as more I had focused on my breathing and doing breathing exercises, slowing the breathing down to three breath per minute just relaxed me and also helped with pain and shock. Then doing the alternating nostril breathing helped me to focus and do the right thing for my injuries as I do not like to go to doctors and take pills and have them squeezing and fiddling around my bashed knees.

Later on in the day I also did an hour of my usual Kundalini Yoga meditation and then added a fifteen-minute pranayama meditation for the neutral mind. This went like this, just breathing long and deep and quiet and when relaxed, then focusing on the third eye point silently chanting wa- he- gu- ru while breathing slowly and deeply. After the fifteen minutes of this meditation I felt relieved, I felt positive and I was feeling so grateful that I got through all this trauma so well and that everything turned out so well, I felt I had been protected and looked after as it all could have turned out so much worse.
I also realised when being honest with myself, it is nice to get all the sympathy from friends and neighbours and I know that I often thrive on getting sympathy, but with Pranayama I was quickly feeling better and the healing of my body also happened more quickly, with this, people often do not believe that a situation was as bad as it truly was because they can not see that pranayama and meditation can be so powerful. So the sympathy from others quickly disappears.
I often have been hoping for a bit of recognition that being able to think, while going through trauma, of pranayama and meditation takes discipline and great awareness. It is easier to just fall back into the trap of negativity and allowing trauma to have a hold over you than to focus and do Pranayama and meditation for a speedy recovery and for a more positive outlook on the situation.
But breathing is so important, it calms, it relaxes, it takes you out of shock, it helps to think positive instead of negative, and it helps to see the blessings in the trauma.
So think of your breathing, when stressed stop and breathing consciously deep and slow, when traumatised think of slowing down your breathing, breath deeply, when in shock, breath deeply and focus on your breath. Pranayama and meditation are wonderful tools to see the sun rising again after a very dark night.

Excruciating pain; 6.09.2011

A couple of nights ago I woke up with excruciating shooting pain in my left cheek and jaws, my teeth were hurting my ear and the cheekbones, the pain was 10 out of 10. I tried to do some pranayama, but the pain was so bad I could only cry. I had found some orthodox painkiller and decided to take some as I could not bear the pain. I got only slight relief and went to sleep for a short time then woke again with this horrible pain. I got up and tried to do more pranayama and could only do some Bhastrika and some Anuloma Viloma, this gave some relief enough for me to focus on finding some homoeopathic remedies to take. This only gave slight relief. I went to see a friend to try and keep my mind away from the pain but it was so bad. My friend wanted to take me to a dentist, but I did not want to go. I continued the day with homoeopathy and some deep breathing and relaxation. The evening came and I felt I just needed some more relief, I was worried I would have a sleepless night again. So I sat down to do more Pranayama and my cat came and sat very closely by my side. I could do Bhastrika, Anuloma Viloma, some Nadi-sodhana with three bandhas and some Bhramari. Any other Pranayama hurt my jaws too much. In the end, I decided to do a self-heal kriya kundalini meditation, and as I started with this meditation, my cat put one paw on my knee and its head gently on my knee. He purred loudly and it felt like he was humming. I felt strong energy, warming energy entering me, coming from my cat, and when I finished the meditation and the pranayama all the pain had gone I felt at ease again my teeth, my jaws were fine and I had a very good night sleep. My cat looked at me and it was as if he'd smiled. He is my miracle cat as I had lost him once and found him very badly injured at a shelter a few days later and he had surgery on his jaw that was broken in six places. he recovered so well and it is now five years since his accident. We are very in tune with each other and it felt so nice that he assisted me in my Pranayama and my meditation to heal my pain.

Arthritis
25.05.2011

Over the past six weeks, the weather has been very wet, windy and it is now getting cooler, winter is approaching. This is the kind of weather that usually upsets all my joints, especially my ankle, wrist, fingers, knees and hip. Since practising Pranayama, my joints have started to improve, pain is much less I now have pain -free days. I would say the pain is better by 80% the swellings have also reduced a lot and the only swelling I get is on my left ankle which has been a problem since as long as I remember. The biggest improvement I can see in my fingers as the nodules in my finger joints have gone. All the finger joints look normal again. I still get twinges in my lower back and a bit of an ache in my left hip. Since practising Pranayama I have not been able to sit cross-legged for a long time, now I can sit cross-legged for about 30 - 40 minutes comfortably. It's just great how Pranayama works.

Update 4.09.2011

Over the past 10 or so years, I have had problems with arthritis in my hip, knees, shoulders, wrists and fingers. It is now a year that I have been practising Pranayama and the pain that use to be about 8 out of 10 is now down to 1 out of 10. I only get pain or stiffness if I have been lifting too much or doing a lot of physical work. The weather has not affected me anymore and arthritis in the finger joint has gone the swellings and nodules on the joints have gone. I can now sit cross-legged during my one-hour Pranayama practice with only very slight discomfort towards the end of my practice. With the extra yoga I am now doing regularly my flexibility has also improved a lot. The only restriction and inflexibility I have is the shoulders, but as they had been frozen for 20 years and had very bad arthritis in it, I know it will take more time, I had been offered to have shoulder replacement surgery but have not accepted it as I have hardly any pain and I believe my shoulders will heal completely. It is just amazing how well Pranayama works and I can not put it into words how amazing Pranayama is. It has changed my life, it has given me life back.

Update 28.10.2011

I have found that Pranayama is continuing healing my arthritis and my joints. There has been more improvement since my last post. I can now sit cross-legged for any length of time without any pain I now sit for 1 1/2hours during my Pranayama practice without any problems, except maybe that my legs go to sleep a little bit, depending on how I am sitting.
All my joints seem to feel better and become more flexible. I have only slight twinges in my knees, but my hips are fine now. During my week of working a lot on the computer my wrists and fingers flair up a bit but after each Pranayama session, it went back to normal. The swelling in my ankle is very minor and it does not flare up as much as it used to.
Overall I feel great no pain and move so much easier. I teach now four classes of yoga without any problems and I can stay a step ahead of my students which I could hardly do before. Coming down from a pain level 9 out of 10 to 0 is a great achievement. As the joints had been badly deteriorated I would imagine that it takes a long time for them to maybe even regenerate and heal but be pain-free and not feeling so restricted in my joints with stiffness is wonderful and well worth the effort of practising Pranayama daily
It is just great!


Frozen shoulders;
10.05.2011

It is now 9 month since I started practising Pranayama and doing some gentle yoga exercises. I have been having frozen shoulders diagnosed in 1989. First, the left shoulder ceased up and 2 years later the right shoulder started to give problems. I was offered steroid injections which I refused. I was told most likely by the time I am 50 I would need shoulder replacement surgery. I am 52 now and I was in a lot of pain day and night often the pain would be about 8 out of 10. I often was tempted to take painkillers but just put up with the pain and the restriction. It was very difficult for me to hang out the washing I could not reach up high with my arms. Cleaning windows I could just not do. At night it was so painful I could not sleep on my side on the shoulder it felt as if I was lying on raw bone. The restriction got worse over the years and the pain eased if I did not use my arms too much. When I started practising Pranayama, I could not hold my arm up for the Anuloma Viloma for the opposite nostril breathing I needed arm support. Also, I needed arm support for the Bhramari Pranayama, and after this Pranayama, my shoulder was sore. Now 9 month into practising Pranayama, I do not need any support for my arms and I can do the Anuloma Viloma for 20 minutes in one go without any pain. The pain has improved 75% and the restriction has improved by about 50 % I am much more flexible now in my shoulders and can hang out the washing without any problems. I have many days now where I am completely pain-free. I feel pain only if I have been on the computer too long or if I have been doing some gardening for a few hours, or the weather is wet and damp. I teach now exercise classes, including Yoga and many stretch exercises and I can do almost all of the exercises now. It is just amazing what benefit I have gained from practising Pranayama. Doing an hour of Pranayama each morning and about 1/2 an hour in bed before going to sleep is not much hard when I think that I have gained so much relief in only 9 months. I think I never really knew how much pain and restriction I was until now where I often do not even feel my shoulders and the hardness and knots in my shoulders and muscles have gone completely. How much money could be saved by the health system if we all just gave an hour a day to practising Pranayam Make a start today! I am happy to help you along.

Update 28.10.2011

My frozen shoulders are improving too, the healing is slow, but considering that my shoulders had been so bad that doctors suggested shoulder replacement surgery, they are doing just fine. The flexibility is getting better, the pain is down to 1 out of 10, I only get pain if I have been on the computer too long or have done too much gardening.
But after a session of Pranayama, the pain goes. The tension in the muscles around the shoulders is easing and sometimes now the knots are gone for a few days. I feel there are just amazing improvements and people have commented on how my flexibility is improving on my shoulders. All thanks to Pranayama.
In my yoga classes, people are always commenting on how my flexibility in my shoulders have changed and how well I look and move now. The arms flow much better.

This is all about my personal experiences,copyrights@BarbaraSchaer all rights reserved

Pranayama; Benefits for your eyes and eyesight

This is an updated post where I have put all my other posts together so you can read my blogging about Pranayama for eyesight all in one place. 

It is now the 13th of February 2017 and I am still practising Pranayama, Mudra, listening and chanting Mantras and do Meditation daily, as it has become part of my life and it is helping me with all my challenges, all my ailments and it is a wonderful tool for healing yourself and for staying healthy.

A chapter from my new eBook;

How many of you are doing anything for your eyes? I think you may often neglect your eyes and yet they are so important. Pranayama can help you heal and look after your eyes. The breath is incredibly powerful, and through many breathing exercises, you can relieve symptoms, heal ailments and live a happier life. I was born with a defect in my eyes, and am nearly blind in my left eye and my right eye vision was deteriorating. I have been wearing prescription glasses since the age of three years old and never thought that there was anything I could do for my eyes. 

When I started learning the Pranayama’s I was told it would be beneficial for my eyes too. Yes, right I thought I do not quite believe this, especially as my vision and eye problems have been since birth. 

What I noticed first in regards to my eyes after practising Pranayama for a while was that my eyes did not get tired so quickly and the burning I experienced often, was getting less. As a child during my school years, I remember well that it was very difficult for me to read or write for more than about ten minutes at the time. Often after reading one page in a book would make me so tired I could just drop off to sleep. I was often told off, because in reading or writing I was considered of not being much focused, and nobody ever thought it could have anything to do with my eyes. Thankfully as an adult, I did not have to read books ha-ha. So when I experienced while practising Pranayama that all of a sudden I could actually read a book or spend lots of time writing on the computer without any eye strain I was impressed. 

By my eye specialist I was also told that due to the eye disease I have, there would be a fifty % chance I would go blind through acute glaucoma and that I need to keep a good eye on the pressure in the eyes, by a yearly checkup with my optometrist. A reading of nine to about fourteen was considered normal and anything above would require close watching. My pressure in the eyes had climbed over the years to eighteen, so, there was no panic but it was in my eyes, a sign things could deteriorate. After practising Pranayama for about three years daily my pressure had come down to twelve, hurray, who would have thought this could happen. Then at my last appointment at the optometrist, my eyesight had also improved ever so slightly, but that is so cool I think!! I do not go to my yearly appointment as I can just not afford it, so it is hard for me to really say how much improvement I get each year. To me it is wonderful that my pressure has come down and that my eyesight has slightly improved, I never expected this and the fact that I can read and write as much as I like without dropping off to sleep is just amazing. No more burning in my eyes, no more feeling of sand in my eyes.

Eye exercises can also help you with tiredness in your eyes and it will strengthen your eyes. Check out my forty-day eye exercise blog here

The Pranayama and Mudras I practised to help me with my eyesight, you can read and learn through my eBook; "Pranayama, Mudra, Mantra and Meditation for Health and Wellbeing"

Below I have put together all my previous posting about my eyesight and improvements while practising Pranayama on a daily base. Starting from the 3.03.2011 - the end of 2013



3.03.2011; Pranayama for eyesight
It has just been over six months that I have been practising pranayama regularly on a daily base and this week I have noticed an improvement in my eyes. I have had bad eyesight since birth, my left eye is just about blind, my right eyesight has deteriorated over the years. Also, I have been diagnosed 6 years ago with Swalbsline and Axenfeld-Reiger's syndrome which means I could get acute glaucoma and there is a 50% chance of going blind, I have been wearing glasses all my life.
I have felt this week that I can cope working on the computer for much longer, my eyes do not get tired as they use to 15 min on the computer was enough in the past now there has not been a time that I have a need to stop. My eyes do not get blurry and no headaches from eye strain anymore. Wow, I am excited about this. It means that I can now work on my book without needing a break all the time. Makes life so much easier.

20.03.2011
Over the past few weeks, my eyesight has improved a bit more. My prescription glasses are 5.5 which is very strong. And now my eyes have improved needing prescription glasses of 4.8 quite a big improvement really.
I still am able to read for longer periods of time without getting tired and my eyes feel clearer and fresher. There is a lot of discharge from the eyes in the morning and I am hoping it is all the toxins coming out. I feel better about flushing my eyes out in the morning. In the past, I would feel sick if I attempted to flush my eyes with water. In fact, anything coming near my eyes, eg. eye drops would make me sick. Going to an optometrist was always an ordeal for me anything to do with my eyes made me hypersensitive and often very nauseous, not anymore I feel so much stronger in regards to my eyes.
It will be slow and long progress, but it is all worth it at the end and I am already happy if my eyes do not deteriorate, I am used to be wearing glasses, and all I am grateful for is if my eyes do not get worth.

24.04.2011
Two weeks ago I also started using the Ayurveda eye drops Drishti, as I felt I was ready to use eye drops, so in the past it had been such a job for anyone to put eye drops into my eyes as I would feel sick just thinking about it and often vomited at the eye specialist when he would put drops in my eyes. I felt I was ready to try these drops as I want my eyes to heal completely and as there is a 50 % chance I could develop acute glaucoma and go blind overnight I wanted to try the drops together with doing my Pranayama's every day. Well, I can now put these Drishti drops into my eyes myself and even so it burns terribly for about a minute I do not vomit or feel nauseous. I been putting the drops in for a week now and noticed today having my better eye closed because of the drops in it and my left eye open which I hardly see anything, today I could find the lid of the eye drops and the little box and found my glasses too I could see the outline of the box, lid and glasses. Not clear but I could find it without any troubles. This was not possible in the past, I could not see enough with my left eye to find these items. I always needed my right eye to look for glasses. So I can say there is a slight improvement in my vision. I guess any slight or minute improvement is a lot for me as my eyes have been bad since birth that is now 51 years. I still feel positive about gaining good vision and know it may just take time. I am practising Pranayama for eight months now.

19.06.2011
Ten months into practising Pranayama, I have now noticed that my night vision has improved a lot. In the past, I stopped walking my dogs early in the morning before work as I could not feel comfortable walking in the dark. It was as if I was completely blind walking early mornings and could not see where I was putting my feet. I now have continued my early morning walk with the dogs again even so it is winter here now and it does not get light until 7. 30 am. I start my walk at 6.45 am and feel quite confident walking without a torch. My eyes are adjusting and I can see where I put my feet. this is just great. I also noticed that my left eye which had been almost blind, use to have a lot of black shadows when trying to see without glasses. Now, most of the black shadows have gone and I just have blurred vision. Without glasses, I can not see anything sharp, with both eyes. When doing the eye test without glasses I am still what they call legally blind, but to me, it is a huge improvement as I can find things without glasses now and even with my left eye I can find things it is just very blurred. The blurred vision in my left is slightly worse than my right side, but I feel my left eye is catching up with my right eye. If this makes any sense. With my glasses on, my left eye is still very much in the right eye, which I find interesting. But I feel confident that things will improve more.

28.10.2011
Over the past few weeks, I had a lot of work to do on my computer and especially working and reading small prints. It has been amazing that my eyes have not got tired and that I have been able to read for hours all the small print and work on my computer. I had no problems with my eyes. I felt amazed that I could even read the small print as in the past it was always very hard. It is hard to tell if my vision has improved or not but I would say it has improved a very tiny bit. I feel that because my eyesight has been bad since birth I will need to do a lot more healing and work on getting rid of all the mental and emotional stuff as well before the eyes can heal completely. With Pranayama it is possible to heal as it works on all levels. Just the fact that my eyes do not get tired as quickly and I can do a lot of reading now is a great improvement for me

Optometrist result;
19.09.2012
I finally made it to the optometrist to get my eyes checked. I dislike going there as I hate anything to be done to my eyes, but I went as I needed new glasses.
Well they made for me the same prescription,(this is the prescription of the 4.8 glasses that were an older one as my last pair of glasses were a 5.5 one, but I felt an improvement after the first six months of practising, and I changed my glasses to the 4.8 pairs without telling the optometrist about it,) but with a slight improvement on the reading lens. This meant that my glasses now are a 4.8, I did not have to go back to the 5.5 prescriptions. But there was still more improvement as in the past with my prescription lenses I could not read the two smallest paragraph on their charts, now I can read the two smallest paragraphs with my glasses. The smallest one it is straining my eyes, but had no problem to read the second smallest paragraph. For the first time in my life with my left eye, I could read the biggest letters on the eye chart with glasses. In the past, I could not even guess the largest letters.

So there is for me great improvement. The eye pressure for glaucoma had climbed over the past 15 years to a steady 16.5 in my right eye and 18 in my left eye. This time my pressure in my right eye came down to 12 and in my left eye to 15. It had been the first time that we did a scan on my eyes which showed that I had very healthy eyes and the optic nerve was healthy and strong. I also was for the first time relaxed and had no problems with the whole eye examination. It was all a happy experience.
Well this to me proves that pranayama, meditation and Kundalini yoga does work on improving the eyes. It may be slow but it works.


End of 2013; It has been now over three years that I have been practising Pranayama, and so my vision has only improved slightly, what has been a real improvement, is that I can work on the computer all day, or I can read and use my eyes all day without getting any eye strain and the eyes have not deteriorated as in the past. In the past, my eyes got so tired after only about an hour or two reading or working on the computer. My vision feels clearer if that makes any sense, it just feels so much better. I do still feel very positive that the vision will improve more too and I am so excited that the eye pressure has reduced from 18 to 12, this is just about down to normal really. So I am keeping up with Pranayama and my eye exercises.



These are all my personal experiences copyrights@BarbaraSchaer all rights reserved

For my eBooks and Services:

Benefits from practicing Pranayama, Mudra with Mantra

The benefits you get from practising Pranayama, Mudra, Mantra, Meditation, Visualisation and using Colours all depend on how often you practice and for how long you practice. This means, the longer you practice the greater the benefits. But even eleven minutes twice a day can make a great difference. So whatever time you have is just fine.

If you working with chronic ailments to rip the benefits you need a longer practice. If you work on emotional and mental issues, remember you learn and grow for the rest of your life, but a long practice or integrating the practice into your day will benefit you the most and will help deal with everyday challenges. 

An example, I had suffered from severe migraines for close to thirty-eight years, and when I started my practice of Pranayama and Mudra, I practised for about one to three hours a day and I was free of Migraines within two to three weeks, and at the same time I also got rid of very bad sciatica I had for about ten years. It is not always possible to do such a long practice, but the result was just amazing. 

And I was impressed with how quickly it worked for my migraines. 

So what benefits can you achieve, I will give you my experience here, and as you are all different, and your practising time varies, you may experience different benefits. 

Benefits;

1. No more migraines or headaches

2. No more Sciatica problems.

3. My menstrual problems disappeared, and I had the easiest transition into menopause. No menopausal problems at all. I use to suffer badly from PMT.

4. Bowel motions became regular and daily, use to suffer from constipation

5. My breathing became better, I use to be a very shallow breather and could hardly hold my breath, now I feel my lungs expanding and I can take a very deep and long breath. It will also help asthmatics.

6. My fitness improved a lot, my heart rate used to go up very high at any stage I did cardio exercises or hill walking. Even as a child, I had great difficulties in walking up hills or stairs, now this is much better. My heart rate could easily get into the 200, and now even when I do not exercise regularly my heart rate may go to about 170 if I work out hard.

7. My immune system is much stronger, many of my friends comment why I am not getting a cold or the flu, have not had it for many years now, when others come down with it yearly. I have not needed to go to a doctor in ten years.

8 My gums have improved, use to have gingivitis off and on. 

9. My joints are much better, use to sprain my ankle yearly, now I have not had a sprained ankle for a few years. 

10. My eyesight and pressure in the eyes had improved, so this is a difficult one to judge as my problem has been since birth, but now I can read longer, my eyes do not get so tired anymore, I can concentrate longer and my eyes just overall feel better.

11. I have been able to lose weight, and it has brought awareness to my eating habits, and I have been able to make easy lifestyle changes. I use to eat a lot of meat and loved it very much, now I am vegetarian and the transition was very easy. I am so much more conscious of what I eat, I eat to nourish my body, and have no need or desire to overindulge. It takes away cravings and any addictions to certain foods. 

12. My circulation has improved so much that I no longer get chilblains even so I have now moved to a colder climate. 

13. I have got rid of sinusitis and do not have a big problem with allergies anymore. 

14. My digestive system is working so much better, my metabolism improved too.

15. It helps with depression, lack of energy, grief, anger and so many emotional problems. It keeps picking me up and integrating Pranayama, Mudra, Mantra, meditation and colours into my day it feels so much easier to get through any challenges. The challenges will always come into our lives, but it is how we deal with them and how we cope with them, and for me, I can cope so much better with any challenge that comes along. I recognise quickly what the challenge is all about, and therefore it does not need to cause me any stress.

16. It reduces high blood pressure. And it is very calming and relaxing, at the same time it can be energising too. 

17. It reduces stress all kind of stress.

18. It helps with any aches and pains, and for me, I started getting arthritic fingers, swelling and stiffness, this has all gone now. It is helping my frozen shoulders a lot, it reduces rheumatoid arthritis, and here it is important to do a longer practice as these problems are very deep and for joints to heal it takes a very long time. 

I believe that using all these tools can make you healthy again, and it will keep you healthy and strong. It also helps you to be happier, more content, more peaceful and connected to your heart. Things become clearer, you will gain clarity about yourselves and how you function. The awareness that it creates on all levels is just amazing.

Being able to live a peaceful, stress-free and pain-free life, practising pranayama, mudra and meditation daily are certainly worth it! 

Using colours and becoming more aware of how you can learn through the colours you choose to wear or to eat and how they can help you with many things is wonderful. 

Using mantras as background music to cleanse your environment, changing your energy and energy field with positive energy gives extra healing. 

Below some of my older blogs posts that I wrote during the time the benefits from practising pranayama daily begun.

4.08.2011 I have been practising Pranayama for a year now

I have been practising pranayama just about a year now and the benefit is just incredible. Sciatica completely went. Headaches, migraines have gone since February. Arthritis has improved by 80 %. Frozen shoulders improved by 80% there is just a bit of restriction in movement left but no pain. I have lost 9 kg and kept it off I am the weight I was in my 20's and I was always told I had to accept the weight gain at my age, I proved them all wrong. A great improvement I am feeling is with my mind, I am so much calmer, my anger is very short lived and I snap out of frustrations very quickly, I feel I cope with stress so much better and I do not fight and struggle with things I can not change, I relax in to it and allow things to unfold without resisting the changes and the challenges of everyday life. My only weakness; coffee, but I feel it will sort itself out in time. I feel myself moving on to a new path, I feel so much healthier and stronger, energy is increasing and I feel I got my enthusiasm for life back. My eyesight, I feel my eyes do not get tired so easily and so the eyesight had improved a little over the past month there has been no more improvement. I am still hopeful as I know it will take time. To achieve the things I have done in one year is more then I could have ever asked for. I feel positive, excited and motivated. Thanks to pranayama.

3.11.2016

And I am still here, using Pranayama, Mudra, Mantra and meditation as a tool to get through the challenges of life. I am still free of Migraines, Sciatica and feeling great. My sadhana is part of my daily living, it is my tool to stay healthy, to help me on all levels as Life will always throw challenges at all of us. The amazing part of Pranayama, mudra, chanting mantras or meditate, it is absolutely free and it is so beneficial in so many ways.


1000 days of working with Pranayama, mudra and meditation daily 28.05.13

I have now been working with pranayama for a thousand days. Some days my session has been three hours, some two hours some days ten minutes, but I have done some pranayama each day for one thousand days. Over these days I have introduced meditation and kundalini yoga to my practice of pranayama.
The benefit has just been great. I had my ups and downs and still have ups and downs the journey is not without its challenges, and there will be challenges to come along for the rest of my life. But it has all been worth it and I will continue my journey with pranayama, meditation, and kundalini yoga daily.
I think for me the highlight is NO MORE MIGRAINES! this is just so wonderful. Next is NO MORE SCIATICA that is also so great. All my physical pains from my problems with joints, frozen shoulders, and arthritis has reduced by about 85% this is huge as I now have many complete pain free days, it is unbelievable.
The improvement with my eyes is great and especially that the eye pressure has come down so far I am really pleased with it. I feel especially the pranayamas work on the physical level and it really is so easy but also I feel I sleep better and can relax on a deeper level than in the past.
The meditation and Kriyas have helped me a lot on my mental and emotional level. It is so great to get through grief, through anger and frustration, through insecurity and most of all, it opens doors to creativity, calmness and inner peace.

If we want to win a gold medal at the Olympics we have to work hard without the guaranty of winning, if we want to become rich and famous we have to work hard and without the guarantee of success. Whatever we want to achieve takes a lot of hard work without any guarantees. Yet most people are not prepared to put in some work toward their health and wellbeing. Our bodies mind, emotions and our souls are being neglected and always come last.

To me, my health and wellbeing are my top priorities now as when I feel happy, content and balanced and pain-free than I am able to achieve anything I want. With pranayama meditation and kundalini yoga, I learn patience, I learn to keep going, I get the energy, creativity, and motivation to go for what I desire. I also become aware and learn to see what is really important in life. I can make changes and I can be grateful for the things I have rather than chasing the things I can not have. Learning to live in the moment and understand life is all about, how one is living and appreciating each moment of our lives.

For me, my journey is with my practise pranayama, meditation, and kundalini yoga it is now truly part of my lifestyle. I have fou7nd the tool I have been looking for that is free of charge and that is helping me with any challenges it is helping me to live a happy and healthy life!