• Heartfulness guide Mr. Kamlesh Patel (Daaji) and Luke Coutinho, Holistic Lifestyle Coach – Integrative & Lifestyle Medicine share wholesome secrets to deal with mental, emotional challenges that have aggravated in the light of this pandemic. 

• A meditative mind won’t be anxious and stressed out, a relaxed state of mind impacts the hormonal state, further boosting the immune system to combat viruses – Daaji

 Mumbai, 21^st May 2021: Kamlesh Patel (Daaji), Heartfulness Guide – Heartfulness Institute and Luke Coutinho, Holistic Lifestyle Coach – Integrative & Lifestyle Medicine conversed on the topic of ‘Secrets of Wholesome Living’ today, on the occasion of World Meditation Day. Daaji and Luke shared their insights derived from their experience of working with people from different walks of life. They shared their philosophies, enlivened with many anecdotes from each of their lives. Daaji also spoke about the Heartfulness meditation system and the role it has played in his personal journey. Luke and Daaji answered some of the most pertinent questions that beginners have before they commence meditation. The conversation deepened into ways in which one can enable one mind to meditate, develop an interest to meditate every day, achieve clarity of thought and reason, and above all tap into and learn to listen clearly to one’s inner guidance.

Their intent through the length of the conversation was aimed at guiding the viewers with deep insights and more importantly practical tips and tools on maintaining one’s mental, physical, and emotional well-being. This is especially important now due to the individual challenges posed by COVID-19. Lockdowns and many social restrictions, more keenly faced by India due to extended pandemic restrictions, have created a negative impact on people’s mental and emotional psyches. Through the reasonings of science and philosophy and various personal observations and life examples, Luke and Daaji deliberated on the practical solutions on bringing hope, confidence, and positivity in the current scenario of extreme mental fatigue.

Luke, Holistic Lifestyle Coach – Integrative & Lifestyle Medicine, set the conversation rolling by explaining his intent and hope that both these experts come together to help and guide people to take care of themselves in simple, powerful, and effective ways. His opening remarks were, “The idea behind this initiative was to combine our life experiences and share the secrets we have learned over the years. Integrating the philosophy of meditation with holistic practices has helped me and countless people with who I have worked with. Daaji’s wisdom has always been enlightening for me and I wanted to share our conversation with the world so that people can benefit from our personal and professional knowledge. We want people to understand and use this knowledge to overcome personal and societal challenges. We hope to reach more people, guide, and motivate them to take care of their mental and emotional wellbeing, counteracting the negative elements prevalent around them.”

While addressing a question on the benefit of meditation,  Daaji, Global Guide of Heartfulness, said, “I find that people who meditate have a special aura around them. Only a meditative mind can perceive turbulence and ward it off even before turbulence starts brewing as it is proven to calm the mind and vanquish negative thoughts. Just a 20-minute Heartfulness meditation practice can help people achieve peace. As a result, they are better prepared to navigate stressful circumstances with relative ease. Integrating it into wholesome living practices can benefit the practitioner during these stressful times as they are equipped to handle issues related to pain, rejection, motivation, fear, anxiety, etc. in a much calmer and effective manner.”

Managing anxiety, stress, and dealing with uncertainty

“Uncertainty is giving rise to emotional and mental distress around us. I see a lot of people trying to deal with the uncertainty of what’s happening around them. Uncertainty gives rise to the fear of the unknown. Integrating powerful meditative practices in their routine can help people manage their anxiety. It can also alleviate the negative feelings arising from uncertainty. Gone are the days when you can take one pill or do one workout and expect to be healthy. Today, to be truly healthy, people need wholesome living practices that combine the benefits of meditation, yoga, diet, exercise, and other wellness tools. Wholesome living is a combination of all of this.”, Luke shared during the conversation.

Adding to that, Daaji said, “Meditation is the core of most of the things. There is something grander behind our brain and mind; a level of consciousness. Consciousness involves thinking, and intelligence. Our decision-making is better if it resonates with a better mental system, thinking faculty, intelligence faculty, and ego; which make decisions. When the mind is regulated, it will resonate with the inner self physiologically, and neurologically. When it resonates with a better mental system, it will have its positive impact at a physical level.”  He further added, “When you are worried, what happens to your entire system is at a different level, or when you are angry your moods are different, and your body reacts differently. It is how we respond to various emotions, create various ailments in our physical body so we must address this, since, health improves with a simpler mind. These are lifestyle decisions that can help handle emotional or physical problems like Covid. Meditating helps us combat challenges like Covid in a better way since we are better prepared. Firstly, the meditative mind will not be anxious and stressed. Secondly, as you are not stressed, the relaxed state of mind improves the hormonal state thereby boosting the immune system.”

Tips to handle the mental health and emotional issues

Luke spoke about the challenges which people are facing on mental and emotional fronts. “Transforming your mind to deal with emotional challenges requires a shift in energy. I believe everyone knows what’s the right thing to do. Everyone knows they should eat well, exercise, meditate, etc.; but most people struggle to do it. Eventually, we all have to figure out our own ways to do the right things. Personally, analyzing and linking it to reasons for not doing those things worked well for me. It takes some introspection to figure out the reasons that are holding you back. We all need some inspiration and motivation to make those lifestyle changes.”

Daaji shared Luke’s observations and suggested that heartfully listening or rejuvenating is the key. “Firstly, we should meditate so that the myriad thoughts that clutter our mind, akin to muddy waters, can settle down. When the mud settles at the bottom it allows the water to become clearer; similarly, the mind with settled thoughts experiences clarity. Secondly, cleansing our thoughts and impressions can help significantly. We collect a lot of impressions during our day-to-day interactions that affect us, make us form opinions, and in turn, we condition ourselves based on such opinions.  It is imperative that we learn to break this conditioning and clean it out of our systems. Such cleaning enables us to free ourselves from false opinions and significantly improves our relationships. Thirdly, we must feel grateful for the things we receive in our everyday life, for example, food. Expressions of gratitude bring joy and happiness to our minds. Lastly, sleep is one of the most important elements in managing our mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual selves.”

The full conversation can be watched free on the below links:

• facebook.com/practiceheartfulness
• youtube.com/lukecoutinho
• https://www.facebook.com/LukeCoutinhoOfficial
• https://www.facebook.com/YouCarebyLukeCoutinho/ 

About Heartfulness Institute: 

Heartfulness is a Raja Yoga system of meditation, which is also known as ‘Sahaj Marg’, or the ‘Natural Path’. It originated at the turn of the twentieth century and was formalized with the founding of the Shri Ram Chandra Mission in 1945 in India. With several million practitioners worldwide, Heartfulness meditation is a set of practices for self-development that help us find inner calm and stillness in our fast-paced world. The easily adopted practices are appropriate for people from all walks of life, cultures, religious beliefs, and economic status, over the age of fifteen. Ongoing Heartfulness meditation training can be found at thousands of schools and colleges, and over 100,000 professionals are meditating in corporations, non-governmental, and government bodies worldwide. More than 5000 Heartfulness Centres, known as HeartSpots, are supported by many thousands of certified volunteer trainers in 160 countries.

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The coronavirus pandemic has become a norm and in order to adapt, schools across the country have switched to remote learning. Children have been asked to stay on track with their syllabus through an online learning model at home. This transition from classroom-based to online learning can be quite stressful for children as it is a change from their normal structure and they are not accustomed to the new way of learning. At the moment, it is important for parents and teachers to acknowledge the anxiety that students might be feeling.

Due to stress, parents might start noticing behavioural changes in their children such as excessive arguments, refusals, opposition, defiance, or withdrawal, and it is not unusual for some kids to fall further behind. During this phase, parental support and guidance is very crucial.

Here are some tips for parents to help children cope with stress

Be kind to your children

Parents should be gentle and understanding with children to adjust to this new learning schedule. It’s not always going to go well. At times the kids are going to need a break. Parents and families know best what their children need and they should really listen to them.

Maintain breaks

Routines and schedules are extremely important for children not only while at school but at home as well. Children will function best if they maintain their routine as in school. Around lunch time encourage them to get up and move around in the house so that they are not sedentary for the entire day.

Have open conversations

Encourage your children to express their feelings with you. Be patient and understanding as your child may have different reactions to stress. Encourage them to talk about the issue and try not to avoid their concerns. Be sure to acknowledge their feelings and assure them with compassion.

Don’t try to recreate school

Parents should aim for anywhere from two to four hours of schoolwork each day, depending on the age of their children. Don’t try to recreate school with six to seven hours of curricular content. Instead, focus on shorter, higher-quality engagement with your kids and make time for fun activities

Allow them to interact with friends via video chats

Your children are used to a lot of social contact at school, so they will definitely feel the effects of being distanced from them even after a few days. While it might not be safe for your kids to see their friends in person, you should allow them to interact with them online, beyond social media or text messaging. Video chats are often the closest thing to seeing someone in person, and are a great way to get in social time without endangering yourself or others.

Remember to schedule time for fun

While this is most certainly not a vacation, it’s important to have some fun with your children while they are at home. It’s rare that you have so much time with your children, so use this as an opportunity to bond.

Getting enough sleep, eating nutritious foods and exercising are all important for good mental health. As your kids are experiencing detachment from their normal school routines, make your kid’s learning experiences more personalized to their strengths, interests, and skill level. The best way to teach children these self-care strategies is for parents to follow them too.

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Do you struggle to sleep or frequently wake up in the middle of the night and lie awake for hours, you might be suffering from insomnia? Insomnia is a common sleeping condition where people find it difficult to fall asleep or they stay awake for a long period of time restless in their bed or wake up frequently in between their sleep and find it difficult to go back to sleep. Insomnia can either be short term or long-term primary or secondary insomnia. Chronic sleep loss over a period can be dangerous for your health as the body needs a minimum of 8 hours sleep during which it heals itself and rests to prepare for the next day. Not getting enough sleep can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes and high blood pressure. However, most cases of acute insomnia are linked to poor health habits and by correcting those, it is possible to get the required amount of sleep.

Get in tune with your circadian rhythm

Your body follows an internal body clock – if you keep a specific time to sleep and wake up in the morning, your body slowly adapts to that pattern and will do the same thing without any external motivation. Set aside a specific time every day when you retire to bed. This will help you sleep better. Ensure your sleep environment supports you to fall asleep for eg, avoid using loud colours or harsh lights in your bedroom. Try to live in a noise-free area.

Schedule your meals properly

Before you go to sleep, it is important that your body is not in an active state. Very often we tend to eat heavy meals an hour before we go to bed, which may hamper our sleep. The process of digestion may interrupt your ability to fall asleep and laying down could also lead to indigestion. Preferably have your meals a minimum of 2 hours before you go to sleep. Try to eat light, and protein-rich food, which takes longer to digest. This way you will not have difficult falling asleep because of hunger cravings either!

Manage stress

Stress affects all of us daily and it is important to develop coping strategies because it can have far-reaching negative effects on our lives. When you take your stress to bed with you it can impact your sleep and worsen your mood, making your stress worse the next day and leaving you in a vicious cycle. Journaling, taking therapy sessions, channeling stressful emotions into creative work or meditation will help you manage excess stress. Severe anxiety and depression can also affect your quality of sleep, seek professional help to manage this.

Exercise is key

Exercise is not only great for your overall health, but it also helps you sleep better. When you exercise on a regular basis, it helps improve your cardiac health, your immunity, reduces stress levels and tires you out so that you fall asleep easily. It is important to set aside a convenient time for you to exercise every-day and follow a routine even if it is for 15-30 minutes. Your body needs to burn a certain number of calories per day to maintain good health, without sufficient physical activity, it can lead to chronic ailments which may consequently impact your sleep.

Avoid stimulants like alcohol, caffeine, nicotine

Alcohol and nicotine can interrupt with the normal breathing patterns, making you have disturbed sleep. Coffee in small amounts will not do much harm, but excessive amounts of caffeine will over-stimulate your system and make it difficult for you to fall asleep. It is best to avoid all the above four hours before you go to bed. More serious breathing disorders such as sleep apnoea can have a serious affect on the quality of sleep which will require medical intervention.

If you follow the above tips in your daily routine, your chances of achieving restful sleep will improve. If your sleep difficulties do not improve through this, it is adviced to consult your physician or a sleep specialist.

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We all know how adversely the unhealthy lifestyle we are living presently is impacting our health, irrespective of our age. To add to that, the excessive levels of stress in not just adults but also among children is making the situation worse and affecting children with many health issues that were earlier limited to adults. Acidity is one health complaint that was always observed in adults, however, now there has been a rise in the number of children suffering from it too. Experts highlight how stress is among the most important factors behind hyperacidity as it can imbalance the automatic system of acid secretion and inhibition.

In medical terms, gastric refers to anything related to the stomach. While acidity refers to any kind of condition that leads to excessive secretion of acid from gastric glands.

How does it happen?

The entrance of the stomach has a valve which is a ring of muscle called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). Usually, the LES closes as soon as food passes through it but if the LES doesn’t close entirely or opens too often then the acid produced by the stomach can move up into the esophagus. This can cause burning chest discomfort. If acid reflux symptoms happen more than twice a week, then one may have acid reflux disease, also known as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

Pediatric GERD also occurs for the same reasons when the stomach acid backs up into the esophagus during or after a meal, causing pain and other symptoms. In infants, GERD is quite uncommon, while children and adolescents can experience this. Mostly in babies, acid reflux is a result of the poorly coordinated gastrointestinal tract. While in older children, the causes are often the same as those in adults. Additionally, an older child is more at risk if he or she experienced GERD as a baby. GERD also has a hereditary factor to it.

Some of the other factors that enhance acid secretion are:

• Stress
• Not enough sleep
• Inappropriate diet
• Long fats
• Binge eating
• Exclusive high-protein diet
• Excessive use of caffeine
• Soda soft drinks
• Smoking
• Fried or spicy foods
• Certain painkillers
• Some other specific medications like certain muscle relaxers or blood pressure medicines
• Obesity
• Overeating or lying down right after a meal
• Snacking near to your bedtime
• Consuming certain food more like citrus, tomato, chocolate, mint, garlic, onions, etc.

When it comes to the symptoms of acidity or gastric problems, they are pretty common and noticeable. Some of these signs that one can look out for in acid reflux include:

• Heartburn (a burning pain which could move from the stomach to the abdomen or chest and even up to throat)
• Regurgitation (a bitter-tasting acid backing into the throat or mouth)
• Bloating
• Burping
• Continued hiccups
• Nausea
• Blood vomiting
• Blood or black stools
• Dysphagia (the feeling of food being stuck in the throat)
• Weight loss for no particular reason
• Wheezing, dry cough, hoarseness, or chronic sore throat

When it comes to infants and children, the most common gastroesophageal reflux symptoms include:

o   Recurrent and repeated vomiting

o   Persistent or frequent cough or wheezing

o   Refusal to eat or difficulty in eating (the child may feel or display choking or gagging with feeding)

o   Heartburn

o   Gas

o   Abdominal pain

o   Frequent crying and being fussy especially while feeding/ eating or immediately after the meal

o   Regurgitation and re-swallowing

o   Complaining of a sour taste in their mouth, especially in the morning

o   Poor growth

o   Breathing problems

o   Recurrent pneumonia

While once in a while these issues could be normal pertaining to our lifestyles and can mostly be managed with certain precautions. However, if it is very frequent and not paid attention to then GERD can bring along some potential complications like respiratory problems, difficulty in gaining weight, inflammation of the esophagus, and other problems affecting the nerves, brain or muscles, especially in infants. Most babies can outgrow reflux by the time they are one-year-old.

A major way to effectively treat acid reflux disease is to make healthier lifestyle changes especially with the modification of foods and beverages we consume. Some of the lifestyle measures that can be adopted to prevent acid reflux are:

• Smaller portions of meals but multiple times throughout the day
• Quitting smoking
• Raise the head of your bed at least 4-6 inches
• Eat at least 2 to 3 hours before lying down
• Try taking your daytime naps in a chair
• Avoid wearing tight clothes or tight belts
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Check with your doctor if any medication could be triggering acid reflux symptoms

Apart from the ones mentioned above, some points to be remembered for the babies include:

• Elevating the head of the baby’s crib
• Holding the baby upright for 30 minutes after feeding
• Feeding smaller amounts of food frequently
• Trying solid food (with doctor’s approval)

For older children:

• Elevate the head of the bed
• Keep the child upright for at least two hours after eating
• Serve several small meals through the day, rather than three large meals.
• Make sure your child is not overeating.
• Limit foods and beverages that could worsen the child’s reflux such as high fat, fried or spicy foods, carbonation, and caffeine.
• Encourage regular exercise

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