Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on the different types of tiredness & ways to overcome them
Are you tired? Tired of what? Before the lockdown, you were tired of work, speaking, going to shops. Your children tire you, your spouse, and friends tire you too. You were tired of this, you were tired of that.
Everything is tiring, isn't it? Every day you get tired, and only then do you sleep well. If you are not tired, you cannot sleep well.
How do we usually get tired? There are many types of tiredness.
#1 Physical tiredness
If you have not taken a walk for a while and get onto the treadmill one day, you exhaust (burn) some energy and get tired. After a workout, you get tired and get good sleep. This is physical tiredness.
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#2 Mental tiredness
It comes from overthinking all the time and it wears you out. It is the worst type of tiredness that you can ever experience in life.
#3 Emotional tiredness
It comes because of heartburn, fear, and anxiety.
Feeling tired? Do this!
# Tip 1: Learn from your experience
Just look back in your own life and see how many times you have been anxious and you're still existing. Still, you are intact now, right? You are eating. You are alive. Why not just look at our experience, take strength from it and come out of this emotional and intellectual tiredness?
#Tip 2: Handling the emotions with the power of breath
Your breath is linked to your emotions. Every emotion has a particular rhythm in your breath, but we seldom attend to our breath. We don't even know that there is a link between our emotions and our breathing patterns. Every thought and worry in our head has a definite pattern in our breath. So if you change the pattern of the breath, your worries will also stop. Do you know this secret? It's a secret, but share it with everybody at home.
Science of breath
Sometimes, you cannot get rid of emotions or thoughts, but you can do it through your breath. If you have been part of any drama or acting group, they will tell you to breathe differently when you have to express different emotions. If you have to show anger, you have to breathe faster; only then anger can be expressed.
So when you are feeling serene, the in-breath is slow and soft. You cannot feel the exhalation at all. But when you are frustrated, your exhalation is powerful.
Now, you can reverse this by doing some pranayamas, thus coming out of mental tiredness.
#Tip 3: Pranayama to calm you down
Take a long deep breath in, hold the breath, and then breathe out through the mouth as though you are blowing out of a straw. Breathe out through the mouth as slow as possible. This can also bring down your blood pressure. If you have high blood pressure and tension, this can calm you down. You can either keep your eyes open and keep your gaze at 30 degrees, or keep your eyes closed. It's better to keep your eyes closed. Just five such breaths can calm your mind and snap you out of worries.
Tip 4: Instant energizer - Bhastrika pranayama
Keep loose fists by your side, take a normal breath in and throw your hands up. Breathe out with the same force and bring your hands down. Breathe in and breathe out at the same speed. This is Bhastrika pranayama and it can refresh your head and immediately remove tiredness.
Don't do it too much. You can do 10 to 15 counts. Like this, you can do two or three cycles with a little rest in between.
#Tip 5: Listen to music and chanting
Listen to chanting for 15 to 20 minutes. You could either be sitting or lying down. At the end of it, you will feel very energized and more lively.
So, get rid of physical tiredness with good rest. Get rid of mental tiredness by doing pranayama, some yoga, and meditation. Get rid of emotional tiredness, by listening to chanting or bhajans - of any language and religion. It can truly uplift your emotional well being.
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