m We are Moving Forward Towards Providing Access to Affordable and Modern Medical Facilities: Dr. Surekha Kishore, Executive Director, AIIMS, Gorakhpur

Chiropractic Care for Rheumatoid Arthritis

People choose chiropractic care for all kinds of health concerns. If you have problems with your joints, you may be wondering if chiropractic care can help you. The answer may depend on the cause of your pain. Here’s what to consider before you try chiropractic care.The theory behind chiropractic care is that your nervous system works best when the bones in your spine are aligned correctly, to benefit not just your muscles and joints, but all the systems of the body. Many people use it to address musculoskeletal problems.

Chiropractic care is a form of manual therapy, which means practitioners use their hands and special instruments to deliver treatment. They don’t prescribe medication and they don’t do surgery. But they are licensed and may have recommendations on exercise and other therapies.Some types of joint problems may limit what your chiropractor can do. Spinal manipulation should not be used on joints that are inflamed or infected. It also shouldn’t be done on people with weak bones, as it can cause a fracture.

But other techniques chiropractors use, such as joint mobilization and soft-tissue therapies, may be used safely. Damage to a joint can cause a domino effect of tightness and spasms in the surrounding muscles, ligaments, and other tissues. Working on those can relieve your pain.

Talk to your primary care doctor or arthritis specialist about whether chiropractic care would be a good addition to your treatment plan and what the risks might be. They also might be able to refer you to someone.It’s important to discuss your symptoms and any changes in your overall health at every treatment session. Changes to your condition may mean a specific therapy used in one visit may not be right for another.

Do you ever feel sluggish or out of your senses? Are you experiencing excessive numbing or tingling in some parts of your body? The Sanskrit word Shunya, which means “void,” “emptiness,” or “spaciousness,” is where the name Shunya mudra originates.

Shunya mudra is a tattva mudra (element’s mudra) made to lessen the space element (akasha) effect in the body and is called “Gesture of Emptiness”. Since this mudra focuses on limiting space element, which is expanded throughout the entire body from every cell to muscle, it is very helpful in the treatment of many health conditions.

Physically, shunya mudra can provide relief from most ear ailments, prevent heart diseases, improve the sense of balance, and other problems which are caused due to an imbalance in ether element.

Shunya Mudra: Benefits

Some common health conditions in which shunya mudra is helpful are; • Ear disorders such as hearing loss or tinnitus • Throat problems, enlarged thyroid • Motion sickness • Numbness in different body parts

Shunya mudra is performed with the middle finger and thumb. To form shunya mudra, you need to curl your middle finger for its tip to touch the base of the thumb. The thumb is then placed over the bent finger giving a slight pressure. Keep the rest three fingers straight. Then place the back of the hand (with mudra) on the knees in any sitting posture.

Shunya mudra aka Aakash shamak mudra is a therapeutic as well as a spiritual hand mudra. Here are some main benefits of this mudra.

Relief from Ear-Related

Problems. Since excess space element in the body is mainly responsible for hearing issues, Shunya mudra (which suppresses space element) can relieve ear-related problems such as earache, tinnitus (ringing or buzzing noise in the ears), and deafness.

Prevents Motion sickness. Motion sickness is caused when our mind cannot distinguish sensory signals over brain signals. It is often caused due to inflammation in the inner ear and can result in dizziness, lightheadedness, nausea, or vertigo. Practising shunya mudra directly affects and stimulates the nerves near inner ear, preventing balance disorders.

Cures Numbness. Numbness is caused when you lose partial or complete sense of sensation in cer-

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tain parts of your body. It happens when there is excessive presence of space element in our cells or veins. Shunya mudra will decrease this extra space element and give relief from numbness or tingling.

Prevents Heart Disease. Placing the middle finger at the base of the thumb also acts as an acupressure point for Atrium – chamber through which blood enters the heart. Hence, shunya mudra may also relief from a wide range of heart diseases such as Atrial fibrillation (strokes), ASD (Atrial Septal Defect), blood pressure, and other heart disorders.

Spiritual benefits – Makes Able

to Hear Anahata Sounds. Anahata is the mystic sound and sounds of nature, often heard by yogis at the beginning of their meditation. You might be able to hear these sounds when you do shunya mudra with meditation. This also signifies that the Nadis or astral currents are getting pure.

Helps activate the Heart chakra. The finger formation of shunya mudra promotes a smooth flow of prana towards the heart chakra. It opens up the heart centre.

Aromatherapy Aid to Eating Disorders

Eating disorder (anorexia and bulimia) is engaging in unusual and persistent behaviors in order to prevent weight gain, by attempting to follow rigid dietary rules, like only consuming very small number of calories of a limited number of food at specific times per day, which puts the body in starvation mode. Per dictionary meaning; “Anorexia, also called Anorexia nervosa, a disorder characterized by fear of becoming fat and refusal of food leading to debility and even death.” It affects 3 in 100 and not surprisingly, it affects the teens in industrialized countries the most. In Western world, where size zero models – actors are the role models, young people, especially girls, see themselves not standing up to the cultural expectations of the social norm. Anorexia is often preceded by a traumatic event and other emotional problems.

Eating disorder is a serious condition and an early intervention is thought to be one of the most important ways of preventing complications due to anorexia. It’s not an easy disorder to be treated permanently, but today a wide range of effective treatments are available including; regularly monitored by a doctor, cognitive behavioral therapy, support groups, dietic guidance, acupuncture, guided meditation to reduce stress and anxiety, and therapeutic use of Essential Oils through Aromatherapy to tackle the underlying cause.

Inhalation of essential oils may alter emotions that could change the underlying psychology and disturbed-thinking pattern which supports the self-destructed behavior. Essential oil aroma directly affects the limbic system of the brain. There are several essential oils that are calming, anti-depressant, and soothing, that are traditionally used for anorexia based on each individual needs, eg:

Bergamot: Is uplifting, antidepressant, regulates the appetite.

Lavender: Is calming, anti-anxiety, and helps with insomnia.

Mandarin, Orange, Grape fruit, Tangerine, Neroli:

Is gentle, calming, anti-depressant, promotes happiness. It calms nervous tension and restlessness. It is also traditionally used for digestive disorders.

Angelica: Is calming, helps release and let go of negative feelings, trauma or anger, used for loss of appetite as well.

Lemon: Is used for digestive problems, anxiety, anti-depressant. It promotes a sense of well-being. Its has invigorating, warming, and enhancing aroma. Lemon also promotes clarity of thought and purpose as well as physical energy.

Ginger: Is stimulating, used for courage, loss of appetite and other digestive disorder.

Jasmine: In addition to its romantic and exotic qualities, used to support healthy-looking skin.

Clary sage, Coriander, Patchouli, Basil, Peppermint Essential Oils can also be considered.

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The Five Elements: Water in Ayurveda

The element water, called “apas” in Sanskrit, is the fourth of the five great elements (pancha mahabhutus). It comes fourth because it evolves from ether, air, and fire; water contains aspects of the other three elements within it. Ether provides water the space to exist within. Air provides water with the ability to move and flow. The relationship between fire and water is more esoteric. Air creates the friction that generates the heat of fire. Fire moves in a fluidic or flowing manner. In each evolution from one element to the next, nature becomes denser. As fire becomes denser it cools and takes greater form. This is the form of water.

The element of water represents fluidic matter and the cohesive principle of physics. Water is the protector of the body. It provides the body with its most basic nourishment. Water protects against the dissolution of the ether element, the roughness and motion of the air element and the heat of the fire element. The water element sooths all pain and inflammation in the body.

The origin of the water element is the tanmatra of taste, rasa. Rasa in this context is the primordial causation of the experience of taste. Rasa is the causal energy that provides the potential for the experience of taste to occur. It is not the taste itself. However, since taste depends upon the water element for its manifestation, disorders of the ability to taste are due to an imbalance of the water element.

Water: Sense Organ and Organ of Action

The tongue is the vehicle through which the rasa tanmatra manifests. The tongue is the sense organ of water. Through the tongue we taste the world around us. It is interesting to note that the taste buds of the tongue only work when water or saliva is present. No water, no taste. The urethra is the organ of action. Through the male urethra, highly potent reproductive fluid is expelled from the body. Through the male and female urethra, water is expelled in the form of urine. Imbalances of the water element in the body can be observed by monitoring changes in a person’s experience of taste as well as through alterations of urine or seminal fluid.

The Qualities of Water

To know any element is to know its qualities. Water is cool, stable, heavy, moist, smooth, gross, flowing, dull, cloudy, and soft. The water element is the antidote to symptoms that have the opposite qualities in the body. It is important to take in the qualities of water when you are feeling too warm, ungrounded, emaciated, dehydrated, rough, lacking in self-esteem, obstructed and immobile, irritable with a sharp tongue, transparent and vulnerable, or if your heart has become too hard.

The Five Waters of The Body

In the human body, water is expressed in five distinct ways, known as the five types of kapha. The water that protects the mouth against the actions of chewing and against the enzyme that begins the breakdown of carbohydrate (salivary amylase) is called bodhaka kapha. Bodhaka kapha is the salivary fluid, and also the mucous membrane secretions of the lips, checks, and pharynx. The water that protects the mucous membranes of our stomach against the acids that aid digestion is called kledaka kapha. The water that stabilizes the flow of neurological impulses and protects the nerves of the brain is called tarpaka kapha. The water that protects the joints from the friction of motion is called sleshaka kapha. Sleshaka kapha is found in the synovial fluid that moistens joint surfaces, and in the bursae that allow tendons to glide smoothly over each other. The water that protects the respiratory system from the movement of breath (a drying process) is called avalambaka kapha. Avalambaka kapha keeps the mucous membranes of the bronchi and lungs healthy and also provides the fluids that support the pleura and pericardium.

Water and the Kapha Dosha:

The kapha dosha contains both water and earth. It is water that is responsible for most of the protective and healing aspects of the kapha dosha. As water is the foundation for earth in the body (water supports earth’s heavy, stable qualities) an increase in the qualities of water will result in weight gain and sluggishness.

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