Tag: concentration

10 top benefits of music on health 🎧 🎼

by drjurisharma, posted in emotional health, Life

Hello everyone ! Have a wonderful and safe day. 🙋🏻

Whether on purpose or without purpose, music has become a part of our lives. The day starts with a busy schedule, yet we happen to listen to music, maybe while driving to work, a shop, cafe, gas station or wherever we happen to pass by. After a day’s long work, we may intentionally listen to music to calm and rejuvenate our mind. Music is of different genre and variety, loud, hard, soft, calming or with and without lyrics. It is all about individual choices and preferences.

Both in the past and in the present time, studies show the tremendous effect of music on all mental, emotional and overall health.

Ten effects of music influence on health:

1.Mood booster: Listening to music can stimulate the release of neurotransmitters like dopamine which gives a feeling of satisfaction and reward. It makes us repeat the behaviour, that is to continue listening to music. Therefore, it can elevate the mood to pleasure, motivation and enthusiasm. It can strengthen you emotionally by fine-tuning your emotional health.
2.Improves sleep efficiency: Listening to soothing music, stimulates the parasympathetic system, lowers the blood pressure and slows down the physiological functions. It relaxes the mind and body, making it ready to fall asleep. Music has been instrumental in treating sleep disorders.


3.Exercise performance : Studies show that music increases the level of performance, strength, endurance level while exercising. It delays fatigue by boosting the stamina level.
4.Focus: Listening to fine instrumental music helps to capture attention and to focus. So, some people prefer listening to music while on work which allows them to concentrate and increase productivity.
5.Divergent creativity: We all have the same cognitive capacity to think original thoughts and ideas; it’s the area on the right side of the brain, the creative brain. Research shows that listening to lively, happy music helps to stimulate this area of divergent creative thinking.


6.Reduce stress: Listening to calming music of about 60 beats/min can stimulate alpha brain waves which can make you feel calm and conscious. It reduces the cortisol level and releases endorphins which helps you relieve stress. It has been used successfully by many as a stress-reducing technique.


7.Memory: The frontal cortex and hippocampus of the brain are associated with memory. So, revoking memories are challenging in person with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Sometimes, music with a particular tune or lyrics can help significantly to relieve some of the memories in such individual.


8.Immunity: Music stimulate the parasympathetic response in the body which elevates the physiological coherence and promote the immune response. It boosts the release of antibodies and natural killer cells which helps to combat infections and chronic conditions like cancers and autoimmune issues.

9.Improves vascular health: Music helps to ease the anxiety and stress level by bringing the blood pressure and heart rate to the average baseline level. It relaxes the arterial wall and enhances the blood flow, thereby improving vascular health.
10.Weight loss: Music has a visceral effect too. Listening to music helps you to eat slowly, with relaxation. This effect improves our chewing ability and promotes metabolism. As you are eating slowly, you end up eating in a lesser quantity. Moreover, music also helps your exercise performance. So, in the process, you end up losing weight too.

Thanks for reading.

Blessings and much love to all 💐

Post : Mind control : How do I get that ?😇🤔

by drjurisharma, posted in Uncategorized

Hello everyone ! Have a great day 🙋🏻

Our mind is illusional. Whatever, we think and perceive is our own derived illusion. It’s our biggest friend and at the same time can be our biggest enemy. Therefore, a common quote says ” You may die a hundred deaths without a break in the mental turmoil “ Our mind makes up everything that happens in our life – good or bad, big or small, ugly or beauty, sad or happy, success or failure, it ‘s all within this thing, called mind. So, how do I control this thing ‘mind’ and remain focus on my goal and life purpose?

Understanding the mind, and its content is very important and fundamental. What makes our thought world? How do thoughts are generated? We build up mental impressions through the different inlets of this outer world. The inlets can be :
*Five senses: sight, hear, smell, touch, taste
*Memory: That has been built up over the years of this outside world experience, right from the day we were born.
*Activity: That we perform , habituated and do throughout the day.
We create thought by an idea backed with emotion. Through different inlets, we build up thoughts as our mental content every day. We generate, perceive, analyse, process and ruminate our entire thought world. So, we keep doing the same mental activity of thinking, analysing, ruminating every day. The thinking pattern doesn’t change. So, does our behaviour and habits. It is uninterrupted, a never-ending process which we may not be even aware.
According to Yoga Psychology ( Yoga Sutras), our thought world mainly depends on mental fluctuation (Vritti) and thoughts (prataya). The mental impulses (vritti) are created through the different inlets like the senses, memory, activity which inturn create mental impressions generating thoughts (prataya). This is the reason, when we are in a positive , vibrant environment, surrounded by positive people, we generate positive, beautiful, creative thoughts. But, when we surround ourselves with negativity, we generate negative thoughts of guilt, anger, pain, hurt, jealousy and so on.

Normally, what happens, when we centred our mind for a particular activity, at the office or home. There are endless distractions. Okay, we try to control the distraction or cut down to some extent, but still mental fluctuations and wondering thoughts continue to distract us. This is because the memory continues to generate unstable thoughts in an unstable mind.
Therefore to manage our mind, we need to control our mental fluctuation and thoughts. The only way to control them is through a concentrated mind. A concentrated mind can be achieved through the power of attention. The power of attention is our very own property (which arises from self) which we can achieve by practising and training our mind. It is a steady power of awareness which is created at our own will. It is the only capability that we can learn to develop for mind control. Whereas, the mental fluctuations (impression) and thoughts are greatly influenced by our outer world, the external distractions. They are not completely within our control.

The different states of mind depending on the power of attention can be defined as
*Ordinary mind: When both the mental fluctuations (vritti) and thoughts (prataya) are unstable. The mind is rather restless distracted, jumping from one thought to another.

*Focused mind: When there is less mental fluctuation (stable vritti) but thoughts are still wobbly (unstable prataya). This is the learning mind.

*Concentrated mind: When both the mental fluctuation (vritti) and thoughts (prataya) are on the same line, stable enough. This is the highest level of attentive mind.

*Meditative mind: When the vritti and prataya are concentrated at the same point, on a similar goal. That is the mind is concentrated at one point say, your attention is entirely on your breath or a point of focus. That is when both mental fluctuation and thought are at the same point. This is the highest level of concentration.

The power of attention is similar to a focused beam of light where all your energies are focused. With this power of attention, you can learn, achieve, complete tasks and attain success in whichever areas of life you want to. That is the reason, we should always learn to perform an activity or task one at a time. So, we give our full power of attention. Handling multiple tasks all at a time can be like a scattered beam where all your energies are distributed. You can be able to do some while some are left undone. Your mind will keep fluctuating and your attention span will be variable and unstable.

So, how do I learn to achieve a concentrated mind with the ultimate power of attention? How do I control my mind, my inner thought world, daily? How do I focus my mind on one activity at a time? How do I take charge of myself? This is a self-learning task, an ongoing process. Two comprehensive ways:

1. To achieve the power of attention, two important things matter the most :
Awareness: Being consciously aware all the time. Feeding our thought world and thought process with positive, constructive and creative thoughts.
Will: Self-training and developing a restrained impulse towards worthy goals, purposeful life.

2.Control of thoughts:
*Exposure to right kind of thoughts: Feeding the mind everyday with right kind of thoughts. Reading good books, being in a positive, good company, surrounded by positive vibrations.
*Right behaviour: Good conduct, right behaviour pattern influence thoughts and emotions. That means reframing our cognitive abilities. Correcting our behaviour patterns as on when required.
*Right lifestyle and habits: Maintaining a regulated lifestyle and habits will greatly influence our mind. You cannot have a stable mind with an unstable lifestyle.
*Purposeful life: Working towards a specific goal, understanding and working towards a meaningful life. Developing a stable mind through meditation and prayers. This cannot be achieved overnight. It is an ongoing, self-learning process. You and I have to keep working on it daily.

Thanks for reading.

Blessings and much love to all 💐

References: Science of Focus by Pravrajika Divyanandaprana (Vivekavani)

 

Post: My take on yoga mat….

by drjurisharma, posted in Uncategorized

Practising yoga is my daily routine regime for health and wellness. But do I have made the right choice of yoga mat where I enjoy doing my routine practise ? Or is it worse like sliding and slipping very often while holding a posture ?

Before, jumping onto the topic of yoga mat availability and preferences, I would like to share some insight facts about Yoga.

It’s an ancient Indian practice of mind, body and spirit connection. Traditionally, it was practised by the yogis to keep them in discipline with their mind, body and spirit. The ultimate goal of all traditional forms of Yoga was to attain samadhi (enlightenment). All the traditional forms of Yoga like Hatha Yoga, Bhakti yoga, Jnana yoga and Karma Yoga has the same common goal to help reach the samadhi state. Though it is not associated with any religion, it is more of a spiritual practice than a fitness method. Therefore, while practising Yoga, the spiritual essence is very important. Today, because of its popularity in the entire world, the deviation from the actual traditional Yoga has been a concern. It has become more of a fitness tool to build up muscles, stretching, flexing muscles and aerobic exercises. The popularity has been boosted due to its immense benefit on many medical ailments like mental illness, schizophrenia, anxiety, stress and bodily pain. In fact, studies have found that practising yoga and meditation regularly can be beneficial and facilitate healing of all type of physical and mental illnesses. 

I, myself have been a yoga practitioner for the last 5 years. It has not only helped me become more self – discipline and focused but also benefited me both physically and mentally. That is how , I have started to know about Yoga Mat.

As a routine practitioner of Yoga, I know how it is important and essential to have the right kind of yoga mat. Whenever, I use to step into a store, to buy my yoga mat, seeing the different types of sizes and colour, I always ended up in a confusion. Sometimes, picking up the wrong mat, make me realise it to be too thick, slippery, sticky and easily damaged. This has happened to me a number of times. In the course of my experience, I have started to learn the right kind of choice of Yoga mat which does work for me and also last longer without damage. 

Yoga which has gained immense popularity in the fitness industry, likewise the yoga mat companies have become billion dollar industries. When we step inside a store, there are a lot of different types of yoga mats with different materials, sizes and colour. Keeping up the popularity, comfort and trends, different materials of Yoga mat has been in the market, starting from rubber, plastic, cotton, jute and also PVC, latex. Depending upon our essentially, comfort and durability, the choice should be made. Since it’s for our daily routine use, toxic material like PVC, latex should be avoided. As for new beginners of Yoga, the mat should be of sticky material like natural rubber.

Though not a beginner anymore, my personal preference has been always a natural rubber mat. Such a mat would help better grip and prevent from slipping while holding asanas (Yoga poses). Eco-friendly material like cotton and jute mats have become very popular for health reasons and in a warm climate. They are comfortable and help in absorbing sweat. But the wear and tear are more due to the material. Plastic elastomer is the new material that has been widely used in Yoga mats. These mats are quite cheap and health friendly too. One more important aspect of the Yoga mat is the thickness. Regarding the thickness of the mat, it may vary from a range of 1/16 to 1/4th  of thickness. Again, this is a personal choice depending on what type of floor, we do routine practice and the kind of cushioning required. Usually, the i/8th thickness is most preferred for its durability and performance. Nowadays, yoga mats are available with a travel bag, that helps us to carry along wherever we travel. But, yes, many buy it to look cool and trendy. So, next time, when shopping for a Yoga mat, you do have some tips to grab the right choice for you. 

Ideally, yoga should be performed in close proximity to nature. To breathe freely during Pranayamas (breathing poses) and to breathe fresh air. So, the best places are in the quiet back yard, garden or balcony. But this is not possible in city life. So, any preferred place indoor or outdoor is fine, but it should be a quiet place away from distraction. 

Doing Yoga is not just a fitness regime, but also our dedication, respect and spirituality towards the incredible ancient practice.