One day I saw my Grandmother sad and low. My grandmother was a cheerful, energetic lady. She was a powerhouse who positively influenced the energy of everyone at home. Seeing her sad was a rare occasion. I sat next to her and asked her, “What happened Grandma!! Why are you so dull?”

She said,” Nothing my child. These days I am not able to sleep properly. And, I am not feeling good the last few days, so I am not able to go for my morning walk alone at the nearby nature reserve. I miss birds, trees, lakes, etc.”

I said, “That is not an issue if you want tomorrow morning, I can take you to the nature reserve.”
She smiled lovingly at me and said, “That will be great. I will be ready in the morning at 5 AM.”

As a teenager, it was really tough for me to get up at 5 AM. I liked to work late in the night – after all early morning hours were for sleeping! But I did not want to disappoint my grandma, so I agreed.

That night I made sure that I had set alarms in two clocks and as a back-up, I made an arrangement with my sister, over a chocolate bribe, that she, by any means, will wake me up at 4:45 AM. My arrangement paid off and my sister was able to wake me up by pouring a glass of water on my sleepy head.

I took grandma to the nature reserve. I was fascinated to see that she suddenly forgot her age and illness and started walking around the trees, touching them with love. Many a time she would stop and start gazing birds, insects, and other small animals. She suddenly removed her slippers and started walking on the green grass. She signalled me to do the same. I followed her. We walked barefoot on the grass for 30 minutes. I observed grandma kept taking deep breaths throughout her walk. So, when we sat on a bench I asked, “Grandma, why were you taking so many deep breathes? Do you feel ok?”

Grandma laughed and said,” Yes I am completely ok. Don’t you know that you have to take as much oxygen as possible in the natural habitat? It keeps you fit and healthy”

I laughed at my silly question. I had studied Trees gave Oxygen etc. but had never put this knowledge to practical use consciously. In my mind, the Oxygen problem was for the sick and old. I never linked it to wellness and wellbeing.

My grandma said with a grim face, “There was a time when we used to have our fields and groves. We used to have trees and gardens in or next to our homes. But now this world around us has transformed itself into a busy, fast-paced, techno-savvy, convenient.”

She continued, “I am not an environmental specialist but as a humble dweller on this planet, I do realize the effect these basic demands have had on the natural habitat.

1. As I grew older, as a first-hand witness, I noticed how the Natural landscape had changed.
2. Flourishing parks replaced with thousands of apartments
3. Huge multi-tiered flyovers built over rivers, cutting mountains and hills
4. Farmlands sold to be developed into business parks
5. The course of rivers bent to make way for roads
6. Seashores pushed back to reclaim land and build more infrastructure
7. Hotels built on mountain slopes to cater to tourism
8. Air for breathing restricted as Buildings, Offices, Cars get air-conditioned
9. Air polluted by vehicles growing at an alarming rate
10. Forests levelled to source wood for development all around
11. The peace of the sky disturbed by aeroplanes
12. And many, many more… “

Grandma’s eyes became moist and her voice cracked. She sat silently for a few minutes, then we came back home. I noticed Grandma became her usual self and she slept soundly in the night. I watched her sleep like a baby who had just been put to sleep by her mother by rendering a lullaby. Next day onwards she slowly picked up her routine and was well again.

That day I learned why nature is called “mother nature” and how important our natural environment is for us. I kept thinking about what my grandma said with moist eyes and realised she was right.

The conveniences that are now a way of life, have eaten away slowly and surely into the natural diaspora in a way that it has not only put the balance of the environment at risk but also disturbed the natural rhythm of our body and mind. The body-mind harmony that has gone out of tune as mother nature’s lullaby is fast inaccessible to us daily.

Have you noticed how small flower pots in the little balcony of your apartment brings a smile to your face? The satisfaction you feel when you water them.

Just think – when a plant in a pot gives you this relaxation and brings a smile to your face, then think how you will feel when we go in nature where life is thriving and exchanging hands. In nature, like my grandma, you will stop your mind and will forget about your age, work and other thoughts that make you anxious. You will feel and observe the beauty and splendidness of nature. This will relax your mind and fill it with such a relaxation that you can (with a guarantee) sleep well at night.

So, what you need to do?

1. Fix a time for a daily walk in nature (early morning when the sun is just about to rise is recommended)
2. Walk at least 30 to 45 minutes (according to your health condition)
3. Walk barefoot on the grass (If it is safe for you)
4. Take a few deep breaths or perform any breathing exercises which you already know
5. Sit quietly in nature for 10 minutes and be an observer
6. Perform the above daily routine and you will find that you are more relaxed and this will improve your sleep patterns significantly.

As you connect with nature every day and breathe it in…Enjoy Sleep, Stay Healthy and Stress-Free!! 

Stress and Anxiety have many side-effects. One of the major side-effects often is lack of good sleep. Whatever you are worried about tends to stay in your mind and your mind keeps going into a loop and the worry persists when you go to bed. This does not let you sleep, which in turn increases your stress and anxiety and impacts your health. This becomes a vicious cycle which becomes very hard to break out of.

Some of the major issues resulting from lack of sleep are

– Serious Health Problems – heart diseases, blood pressure, diabetes and many more
– Forgetfulness
– Reduced Sex Drive
– Increased Weight Gain
– Impaired Judgment
– Life threatening

More and more people are spending their time and money on sleep therapists and counselors. One of the most effective ways to combat sleeplessness and associated stress related illnesses is to Meditate. Meditation is an ancient method that teaches one to be in the moment and has been a proven remedy for Stress and Anxiety. It tends to make the practitioner happy and increases the feeling of joy.

Let me tell you a little story about meditation and its effects on sleep. I had a colleague who was very driven and ambitious. He was the first in the office and last out of the office and you would always see him work and irrespective of the time at night he would respond to e-mails promptly. He was always held as a model employee and the senior management had him identified for higher roles. Over the course of the year we struck up a good friendship, I came to know him as someone who is a lot of fun to be around despite his workaholism. However, I noticed over time that he had started to have dark circles under his eyes, and he was missing things and making mistakes which was very unlike him. These were definite signs of stress and anxiety combined with sleeplessness. I spoke to him about it and he shrugged it off. It looked like he was getting increasingly tired and not getting any help. One fine day he didn’t show up at work and I called him up. No response from him left me a bit concerned. Next day I heard that he had been hospitalized for severe exhaustion and had been advised rest.

I met him the next week and he looked a little better, but it looked like he had not slept at all. His wife confirmed as much to me. I convinced him to meet my Guru (Master) who had taught me Meditation as I was confident that this would help him with his problems. Good sense prevailed and my friend came to meet my Master. My master spent some time with him and taught him meditation over a period and advised him to practice twice every day. My friend started practicing it and after a week when I met him, he was looking better. He told me that the meditation was helping him relax, making his less stressed and with reduced stress and anxiety, the quality of his sleep was better than ever.

He came back to work in a month’s time with the old vigour and good humour intact. Even after he came back to work, he continued with his meditation and this started having a positive effect on his work. He was more focused than ever, he still worked hard but the meditation (and not any medication) was making him more effective.

A year since the incident he was heading up a major division within our bank, when I met him last week for coffee, he credited his remarkable recovery and health to meditation which he continues to practice.

Dear Friends, meditation is an ancient science that continues to prove effective in the modern world. All one needs to do is to make time for it. It should be part of your daily. Meditation is holistic and complete in itself and it arms the body and mind to be better and can be an effective combatant to any illness.

If you look around you, you’ll see that meditation is trending of late. However, the powerful ancient practice is so much more than just a trend. Setting a few moments aside for stillness and mindfulness each day can have such an incredibly positive effect on so many aspects of your life. Specifically, if done right before bed, meditation can help you sleep soundly and deeply throughout the night. The best thing is that all you need to get started is your very own body and breath. What is important to note that Meditation needs to be learnt from a practitioner – look for one.

Doctors are increasingly using meditation as a complementary medical treatment in the fight against almost any type of ailment, including insomnia, cancer and many other diseases. Meditation when practiced correctly is successful at quieting your thought process and physically relaxing the body – two conditions one needs to have before you can be receptive to sleep.

As a meditation practitioner myself, I would urge you to do the following to see massive improvements in your life.

– Identify a master or a teacher who can teach you the right techniques of meditation. Please accept that closing your eyes and sitting down is not meditation. It needs to be learnt from someone who is qualified to teach it. You can make an appointment by writing to me at anurag@anuragsahai.com to learn meditation.
– Set aside a particular time in the morning and evening to do your practice. Ensure it is the same time slot daily. The best time in the morning is between 4:00 – 6:00 am and during dusk hours or before you go to sleep. These times are extremely calm and a wonderful time to practice your meditation.
– Meditate just before you go to sleep, it relaxes your mind and ensures you have a peaceful sleep, taking away your anxieties and stresses making you a better person for the next day.

REMEMBER!! With practice, your meditation experience will become better and better. Learn meditation and keep practicing this throughout your life to lead a stress free and a healthier life.

As you make Meditation a part of your regime…Enjoy Life, Stay Healthy and Stress-Free!!

I sit over a leisurely chat with my friends and one of our most discussed topics is ‘a good sleep after a long day’. It is not that we pick this discussion consciously but somehow as we exchange notes on how our day has been, someone will mention how they had not slept well or another friend mentions how she ‘was dead to the world’ by the time she hit the bed – simply put, she lapsed into an exhausted sleep.

I myself have gone through this spectrum of sleep experiences and my symptoms have flavours but broadly:

1. I have a hectic day at work, and I fall into an exhausted sleep drained out mentally OR
2. I have a hectic day at work, and I am so tired that sleep does not come easily OR
3. I decide to be a couch potato over a weekend and by the time I hit the bed, I feel more tired OR
4. My body clock does not trigger drowsiness as it waits for the ‘appointed hour’ – it is just used to sleeping only after 9 pm– I become a slave of this habit OR
5. Over a weekend, I go out shopping for a few hours and sleep soundly but when I wake up, I oddly feel physically tired

Do you notice a pattern here? Do you find something that ties up the experiences well? I am sure you have found the answer by now – Yes, my sedentary lifestyle. A day that is spent sitting or lying down or a walk in a mall (where my mind is more aligned to my shopping list than to my body), does not qualify as an active day.

This is a vicious cycle – lack of exercise leads to lack of sleep which leads to stress. The corollary of this is stress leads to poor sleep which is aggravated by the lack of exercise.

Lack of good sleep leads to many adverse conditions stated broadly here:

– Adverse impact on your brain functions
– Experience headaches, migraine and burning eyes
– Decreased cognitive alertness
– Deficit in attention and working memory
– Adverse impact on your brain functions
– Experience muscle cramps and joint stiffness
– Adverse impact on digestion
– Weakens the immune system
– Suppresses the growth hormones
– Reduced rate of healing

Let me share my experience of the days when I was overworked and tired after a long day and would wake up more tired the next morning as I was not getting good sleep.

This was the time when I was working 12-14 hours a day as I was rapidly climbing the corporate ladder. I would drive to office, sit at my desk or in conference rooms for 8-10 hours on an average, have lunch at my desk, order some tea or coffee again, at my desk and would have my dinner with my partner on my way home so I could spend some quality time with her. I would reach home quite late and fall asleep almost immediately, readying myself for the next day. In my mind, I was quite an active person as I would be active and buzzing with energy the full day and everything was going as per my plans.

After 6 months, however, I started noticing that despite me looking forward to going back home and sleeping to ‘recharge’ myself, I would be tossing and turning more often over the night than I had in my entire life. I tried a few tactics of reading a book before bed and listening to soft music. These did help – or so I thought! I would fall asleep for the initial few hours but then wake up in the middle of the night to force myself to go back to sleep.

The result was that I would wake up tired and groggy in the morning, feeling low in office and soon this started showing on the quality of my work. I was making silly mistakes, missing discussion points, getting impatient with my colleagues, experiencing mood swings and would be tired all day long. One day at work, I ended up missing an important client meeting and found it difficult to explain it to my seniors and subordinates. The tension that followed got the better of me and I fell sick to land in a hospital for a week due to extreme fatigue. This was my wake-up call!!

After getting discharged, I spoke to my doctor and he asked me “How has your sleep been of late? How many hours are you sleeping at night?” I narrated my experience over the past 6 months, which he heard patiently. He said, “You suffer from lack of sleep. You think you are active, when you are not. You think you are energetic, when you are not. A daily schedule without physical activity qualifies as a sedentary life.” Saying this, he handed me a prescription which read,

1. Stretching exercises for 15 minutes early morning
2. Brisk walking for 30 minutes, 45 minutes after dinner

I will be honest – I was sceptical about this – maybe some kind of medication would have helped me sleep better. Since he was my family physician, I decided to try the prescription and not reject it outright.

In a week’s time, I could start to experience the results. I had started to sleep better and I was finding it less difficult to wake up on time in the morning. Yes, at the start, my body would feel a little stiff – but this was natural. My muscles were rebelling to go back to the relaxed, no action lifestyle and I was not allowing them to – as the daily regime of exercising and walking was uncompromised. After all, if my doctor had given me some pills, would I not have taken them diligently, without fail?

The next transformation that happened for me was that I started to feel a sense of loss when I would not start my exercise / walk on time. In about 6 months, I had developed my 15 minutes morning regime to 45 minutes as I had now included Yoga and Core in it and my evening walk was now a full one hour with my partner. I had also started enjoying my walks with her and this would give me some ‘us’ time too.

Life had suddenly started to look so much better – work life was stress free and home was even better.

All I had done were the following and I would urge you to do the same too:

1. Recognized the problem: I listened to my body and mind to realize that I was not taking adequate care
2. Reached out to a professional: In this case, my doctor – who asked me to put an effort to resolve the problem. He did not put me on pills as a quick win.
3. Resolved to follow a regime: I imposed self-discipline and diligently followed the regime that I promised myself.
4. Recreational attitude: I realized that exercise and walking could become mundane after a while – especially once I started feeling a little better. I consciously came up with ideas to stay motivated. I had my partner’s support and the days she could not make it, I would carry an audio book with me and listen to something motivational.
5. Rediscovered myself: I had an immediate goal of attaining a healthy body and mind, but I realized that I was also starting to rediscover myself in these ‘me-times’. I started to get more and more aware and was pursuing new hobbies and interest.

What am I recommending here, so you can enjoy all aspects of life and stay healthy and stress-free?

1. Resolve to recognize, redefine your lifestyle – where exercise of some kind is mandated
2. Look for a motivation – Learn from the experience of anyone around you whose journey feels inspiring to you
3. Make a regime and follow the schedule with passion, enthusiasm and discipline
4. Listen to your body – step up your exercise over a period and stop when you think you have reached the threshold (trust me, the threshold keeps rising as you stay resolved and this is a good feeling!)
5. Enjoy your exercise regime – include your friends, family. The collateral benefits are tremendous.

So, repeat to yourselves: “I reside in this beautiful, healthy body and I will take care of it in the best way possible with purpose, passion and enthusiasm.”

As you tweak your regime to include exercising and sleeping better…Enjoy Life, Stay Healthy and Stress-Free!!