2010
Feedback from a childbirth educator
I offered a complimentary seminar for two couples taking lessons from Emily Marynczak, a childbirth educator. Following was her feedback after the seminar –
“Thank you very very much for your session last night. I personally have benefited so much from your techniques and I know that my clients have too. I will continue to discuss how well your techniques apply to labor. The concept of using the fingers to ‘anchor the mind’ is very promising for use in labor. Your “911″ remedy for a stubbed toe is something that I teach for labor just with a different name. I also teach women to vocalize their exhalations- to release the power of the contraction- we practice open loud powerful wailing sounds to release the breath and any fears. A kind of birth song- but ultimately just a simple breath technique. I think that perhaps counting breaths, 1,2 3, 1, 2, 3 out loud may also be helpful to some women in labor. I am so enthralled with the simplicity and freedom inherent in your approach- It is freedom and simplicity that I strive to teach in my birth education work.
Subsequent comment: “I continue to refer my clients to your web site. We often practice together in my classes. I too look forward to a time when these techniques are mainstream.”
NOV 2010
My back pain of 25 years 80% reduced
Received following feedback from a 50+ years old male who attended my classes at the Albany Hindu Temple.
“I was suffering from back pain and sleep disorder for the last 25 years. I was diagnosed with herniated disk and arthritis in L4 & L5. Six years ago, I was hospitalized twice. I have been taking numerous pain relievers, muscle relaxers and narcotics for severe pain and spasms until last year. I have been getting treated for 10 visits once in 6 months by Chiropractors and Physical Therapists. Massage would make me feel good for a week. All these would help for a week and then I would reach a plateau. I spent numerous hours and dollars at the pain clinics. Needless to say how much money was spent thru the Insurance Company. I tried all kind of things from home remedies to old Grandma remedies to gain some relief without success.
A few months back, I asked Suryanarayana Chennapragada (CS) if he could teach me how to practice “SuryaNamaskar” (Sun salutations of Yoga). He mentioned about the ‘Focusing on breathing’ technique for relaxation and simple stretching exercises. I had seen his brochures at the temple and other places. I read them but never practiced.
I thought that I had nothing to lose, let me give it a try, maybe this would work. I was meeting with CS every week to learn relaxation by breathing and stretching exercises. After a couple of weeks, I saw improvement in my sleep pattern and back pain. I have been doing the breathing and stretching exercises for the past 3 months for about 30-45 minutes a day. In this period, I did not take a single pain medication and had a good night sleep. After mowing the lawn for about 3 hours, I would feel my back a little sore but after a shower, breathing & stretching exercises I feel a lot better. After 30-45 minutes I am back to normal with no pain. Currently my pain is 20% of what it had been for so many years.
‘Focusing on breathing’ technique combined with the stretching exercises helped a lot with my back pain and sleep disorder. I strongly suggest these techniques to everyone to reduce stress, back-pain and gain profound energy. There is nothing to lose but a lot to gain, that too, without spending any Dollars.” OCT 2010
Could you please note my new email address?
Received following email report from a participant who attended my seminar at the Department of Environmental Conservation New York State a few years back.
“I have been following your counting breaths strategy for some time and find it very helpful. I will be leaving DEC at the end of September and would like to continue hearing about your program. Could you please add my new email address to your contact list.” Sept 2010
Helping a breast cancer survivor
A breast cancer survivor, a patient of my daughter, was introduced to the technique of ‘Focusing on breathing’ in a short session of 15 minutes by me when she visited our office. I showed her the ‘Segment’ mode and made her do it in my office, completing 2 hands. She experienced the relaxing effect and was convinced. She has been using the technique before sleep, on waking up and many other times of the day.
She reported following benefits -
Back of her head was very stiff and painful for a long time and now this has become free. She is able to sleep better and tolerate the harsh series of chemotherapy treatments which resulted in her hair falling off and body aching a lot and still function as a housekeeper. She said that recently when she was fatigued and feeling totally powerless, she practiced the technique for one full hour and at the end she felt restored enough to be able to move about in the house.
Her recent feedback:
“The ‘Counting breaths’ technique is wonderful. It is a help for me when I am facing a treatment like chemotherapy. I am able to relax my mind and body with great sleep time. I use the counting mode at bed time, on waking up and when doing my stretching exercises.”
She has been displaying the brochures on the technique in her oncology clinic for the benefit of other patients. This is the first case of a cancer survivor practicing and reporting the benefits. Sept 2010
A doctor teaching the technique to her patients
I gave copies of the hand outs to a doctor of internal medicine known to my daughter Padma Sripada. When I met her after a few months, she said that she was using the technique herself and found it useful. She told one of her patients under 5-6 medications and suffering from severe insomnia, to practice ‘counting breaths’ in blocks of 1 to 10 at bed time. She made the patient practice it in the exam room, in her presence. After 2 days, that patient called and said after a long time, she was able to sleep happily! July 2010
Diabetic patient’s rate of smoking reduced
One diabetic woman attended my seminar at the Diabetic fair organized by Albany Medical Center, in May 2010. She registered for the ‘Follow Up’ classes at my office and attended her first class in June 2010. When I called her after a week to know how she was practicing, she said she liked the practice. She added voluntarily that she was not smoking as many cigarettes as before. We did not even discuss smoking in the class! July 2010
97 Year old woman practicing
I work in my daughter’s medical office as a manager. Occasionally I meet with a patient and depending on the receptiveness of that person, I give them the hand out and explain the tip or segment mode. I advise them to practice at bed time – lying in bed, when needing to sleep. When I happen to meet the same person at a later visit, I try to find out if the technique was tried and if so, what benefits were felt.
Recently I met a 97 year old woman patient for the second time (a few months back I explained the segment mode to her) and inquired how she was doing, without mentioning the technique. After explaining her current health problems, she added on her own that she was using the ‘segment mode’ of the breathing technique and it was helping her in calming her mind.
She said she sent the brochure on this technique to her sister in California. July 2010
Reducing the anxiety of a drug rep
Whenever I get a chance, I hand over the brochures related to the technique to the visitors to our office (Office of Padma Sripada, my daughter where I work as a manager) and suggest trying the technique at bed time to get sleep. Recently in my absence, a drug rep came on her periodic visit and happily reported to my daughter (Dr. Sripada) and the office staff that she found the technique very useful for helping her calm herself when she was under great anxiety. July 2010
Students of Robert C. Parker School ‘Focusing on breathing’
‘Focusing on Breathing’ was introduced to all the classes in Robert C. Parker School in Feb 2009.
Introduction to all the teachers during a faculty meeting – 15 minutes. Introduction to each class – 15 minutes for classes Pre K 4 to Gr 5 and 30 minutes for Gr 6 to 8. One review visit by me to every class after about 3 months. Some classes (Pre K4, K/1 and Gr 2/3) used to practice it every day, for a minute or two as part of their daily circle meeting. Gr 4 to 8 had no such daily reinforcement. Cost to the school – None
Meg Taylor Head of Parker says in her Blog Dt Dec 1,09: “One of the ways we help children cope with stress at Parker is by practicing the simple mindful breathing taught us by C.S., the grandfather of Veda in 4-5. It is one of his life’s missions to spread this easy and effective way to reduce anxiety. The breathing technique is practiced regularly by almost all the children in the school.”
Is there any such technique that can be introduced to children of this age group so cheaply, that will be absorbed so easily and enables them to practice on their own and would elicit such feelings and thoughts?
Please explore the possibility of introducing this technique in your child’s school. I can help on-line.
Feedback from all the classes
The Feedback from all the classes was collected in a simple form from all the classes in May 10. It is presented below, first the summary and then class wise.
PART ONE: SUMMARY OF FEEDBACK (See part II for grade wise feedback)
Class Age On Roll Number practicing %
Pre School 4 15 7 50
KG & Gr 1 5 to 7 20 18 90
Gr 2 & 3 7 to 9 18 17 95
Gr 4 & 5 9 to 11 16 16 100
Gr 6 to 8 11 to 14 33 5 17
When do I practice the technique?
Time of practice Number %
Bed time/ Sleep 27 43
Morning meeting 21 33
Angry/ Mad 8 13
At school 7 11
In car/ Bus/ Plane 7 11
Morning at home 5 8
In shower 4 7
Others 2 each: Bored, At home after school, On waking up, When stressed.
Others 1 each: To become calm: Crazy, Feeling yucky, Trying to hold tears, Out of control, Upset, Overwhelmed, Before Dinner to be patient, Sad To cope: Need to focus, Tired, After exercise To engage themselves: When I like it, Grandma’s house, Every day at home I Don’t use it: Not very often, I don’t use it.
How does it help me? (response, Number of responses, percentage)
Response Number of responses %
Calms me down 21 33
Sleep 18 28
Relax 18 28
Concentrate 7 11
Keep away sadness 2 3
Survive 2 3
Feel good 2 3
Others -1 Each: For better mental states:
Be peaceful, Feel the silence, Shuts my mind down, Makes me feel happy, Feel silent, Have a good day, Stop crying as much, Helps me be patient at dinner time, On the plane it helps me because I am usually scared but I don’t get scared any more
Practical uses:
After that I am not tired anymore, Keep away bad dreams, Wake up, Keep awake at home after school, Takes away my cough a little, Stop car sick, Slow down my heart rate, Shortens the lessons, Relieve stress, Helps me so I can get my books and not lose any of them
Unique experiences:
It makes me disappear and I do not know where I am any more, It calms me down and when I feel like running around the room it makes me not do that, Makes me feel real good and I feel like I can be a rock or stone, Makes me feel like I am bathing in the sun,
“If people do this, all the wars in the World will end” one girl in K/1 told me when I first introduced the breathing to the class and asked each one of them felt about the experience.
PART TWO: GRADE WISE FEEDBACK
Preschool – 4 years (7 out of 15)
Place of practice:
Every day at home, Right after I go to school, In the morning and at night, At bedtime deep breathing with mommy.
When do I practice and how does it help?:
Sometimes I breathe right after I am mad – It helps me by calming me down, When I feel really angry – It is calming, At play time when I am mad – Calms me down, Before dinner – Helps me be patient, When I am upset – Stop crying as much, When I am excited – It helps me by calming down, Bed time – It helps me go to sleep, When I am tired, When I am overwhelmed, Others: It helps me so I can get my books and not lose any of them, Helps me focus, It takes away my cough a little,
KG and Grade 1 (5/ 6 Years) (18 students, 15 of them practice ‘Going into silence’ and 3 of them mentioned ‘breathing’)
All of them practice at the morning meeting and feel these effects:
It is relaxing
It feels nice, I feel calm
It makes me much calmer
It feels calm and good
It calms me down when I feel like running around in the class room, it makes me not do that
It feels good and relaxing
It makes me feel really relaxed
I feel the silence
It makes me feel peaceful
It makes me feel real good like I can be a rock or a stone
It makes me feel like I am bathing in the Sun
It makes me disappear and I don’t know where I am any more
Other practice times and effects:
In the morning at my house – I feel relaxed
At my house at night time – It helps me to go to my bed and sleep
At my grandma’s house, sometime in the morning – it makes me feel happy
Sometimes when I am in the bath I close my eyes – It makes me feel like it is the middle of the night and I am fast asleep.
When I am going on vacation in the car – It stops me from being car sick
When I am mad
At night time when I get back home
In the car
At home
On the plane when I try to go to sleep – It helps me because I usually get scared – I don’t feel scared any more
Before I go to Tae-Kwon-Do – It makes me do good work
When I have nothing else to do – It feels good
I fall asleep
It makes me feel silent
Grade 2/3 (7/8 years) (17 out of 18)
When do I practice and how it helps me
Morning meeting
– Focused
– Having a good day
– It helps me focus for the rest of the day
– It helps me to calm down
– It helps me concentrate
– It helps relax me
– At school – To survive
– At night when it is hard to get sleep – Keeping bad dreams and sadness away
– Before I go to sleep – It helps me sleep
– Bed time – It calms me down
– Before bed – Calm down
– At home 6.30 am – To survive
– In the shower – I don’t know
– In the shower – Relaxed
– In the shower – To relax
– When I wake up – It helps me complete my day
– When I am waking up – it helps me wake up
– At home after school – Keep awake
– When I am trying to hold in tears
– When feeling yucky – Feel relaxed
– When sad – less sadness and focus
Gr 4/5 (9/10 years) (16 out of 16)
When do I practice and how it helps me
When stressed – Helps me relax
When angry and need to focus – Helps me concentrate better
When I want to sleep – Helps me sleep better
Before bed – Go to sleep
Before bed – I am sleepy
At night – It helps me sleep
At night – Relaxes me
At night – It helps me fall asleep
When I go to sleep – To fall asleep
At night – Get to sleep
Going to bed – To relax
At night – It helps me calm down
When I go to sleep – It helps me relax and sleep
In school – It calms me down
At school
When I am mad – I am calm
When I am meditating – I am peaceful
When crazy or stressed
It does not really help me that much
When I am in the car – Calms me down
In the car – To concentrate
Sometimes in the bus – Stay calm
On the bus – Relieves stress
It shortens lessons
When I feel like it – It calms me down
When I am out of control – Relax
In the morning
Middle school Gr 6 to 8 (11 to 13 years) (5 out of 33)
When do I practice and how it helps me
When I am bored – It helps me go to sleep
When I have a hard time sleeping – It relaxes me
When stressed – It calms me down
When I am angry – Helps me relax
When I am going to sleep – Helps me shut my mind down
After exercising – helps slow down my heart rate
Some times – Relax
It does not help me
TEACHERS (5 out of 9)
When do I practice and how it helps me?
I breathe every morning before getting out of bed when my mind starts racing. I don’t get up until I’m centered and ready for the day.
At the beginning of morning meeting – Keeps to focus and think about the day ahead of me.
When I have difficulty sleeping – Greatly helps put my mind to rest.
When I can’t sleep – It still my mind and usually makes sleep come to me.
When I am faced with a particularly challenging moment – Helps me to be calm and focus on the issue at hand.
Morning meeting – Relaxes me as I prepare for a busy day.
Between activities to transition to next task – To be more focused and ready for next learning activity.
After lunch – Helps students stay on task
Some students do this at morning meeting or on their own before the meeting.
Some students use this technique before a learning activity that is difficult or challenging for them. I have seen students do this on their own to calm themselves or refocus.
In the evening – Relaxes me
When I feel stressed – Relaxes me, Calms me and helps me to be more focused.
When I need to be more focused – Helps me transition to the next activity.
“I truly feel that, what we in the class call “going in your silence” has made a very big difference for the children and Lynn and me. I often watch the children during those times and I can see their whole body relax, their facial expression become calm, and whatever the next activity we have, the children begin it with more focus and calmness. Closing eyes remains a challenge for some children and we continue to work on this piece. For me personally, I find the breathing helps me relax, refocus, brings back my humor and ability to see things around me a bit differently and more clearly-truly helpful in the classroom as well as life.” July 2010
xxx
