ByIANSlife
May 26, 2020 (IANSlife) There are more than 8 million people who die from tobacco related causes each year. Of these, over 7 million die as a result of direct tobacco use while around 1.2 million are non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke. Smoking is decidedly bad for your health and harms nearly every organ of the body.
Smoking causes damage to blood vessels making them thicken and grow narrower. This increases heart rate and your blood pressure. Smoking also causes many other cancers and health problems. Women who smoke during pregnancy face a greater risk of certain pregnancy problems.
An effective cure to addiction is the practice of yoga and meditation. Yoga offers tools to down-regulate the stress response system and activate the relaxation response. This increases our capacity to observe our experiences with a greater sense of level-headedness and self-control. Yoga practices such as asanas, and meditation also rewire the brain creating new neural pathways. These are effective for new behaviour-forming habits, breaking old patterns to replace them with healthier ones. In this way yoga can help in de-addiction, and also regain the body’s health by boosting your immune system, building strength for both body and mind, and flushing out toxins.
One of the main reasons that people find it a challenge to give up smoking is because of nicotine. Nicotine is a stimulant drug and a highly addictive substance that is found in tobacco. Nicotine addiction makes it much harder for people to quit smoking. But it is important to remind oneself of the dangers of smoking and stay committed to quitting the habit. Yoga asanas release feel-good hormones in your body and lead you to make positive lifestyle changes. Yoga also builds mindfulness, and this awareness can be useful to keep yourself in check every time you reach for a cigarette.
Practice the following asanas upto three times or more a week, repeat for up to three sets holding each pose for 15-30 seconds.
Ustrasana
Vajrasana - Thunderbolt pose
Formation of the Posture
Breathing Methodology
Softly inhale and exhale
Word of Advice
A person suffering from knee joint pain, Arthritis or any knee injury should avoid this asana
Paschimottanasana - Seated forward bend
Formation of the Posture
Breathing Methodology
Exhale as you fold forward
Padahastasana
Formation of the posture
Adho Mukha Svanasana - Downward dog pose
Formation of the posture
Breathing Methodology
Exhale as you enter into this posture
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