Reiki

The practice of Reiki, which may be as old as 2,500 years, is mentioned in Tibetan sutras and in
ancient records of cosmology and philosophy. The name Reiki comes from the Japanese words
rei, meaning "universal spirit," and ki, meaning "life energy." Reiki practitioners believe that
beneficial effects are obtained from a "universal life energy" that practitioners channel to patients,
providing strength, harmony and balance to the body and mind.

Reiki aims to treat health problems and to enable patients to feel enlightened, with improved
mental clarity, well-being and spirituality. Reiki is sometimes administered to people who are dying,
with the goal of instilling a sense of peace. Reiki masters believe that all living beings are affected
by universal life energy. Participants have reported warmth, tingling, sleepiness, relaxation or
invigoration during Reiki.

Effects -

It has been proposed that Reiki can lower heart rate and blood pressure, boost the immune
system, alter hormone levels, stimulate endorphins and affect skin temperature and blood
hemoglobin levels.

Those who receive such treatments report relief of symptoms from numerous health challenges,
including mental health issues. Research shows that reiki primarily helps in the reduction of stress,
anxiety and depression, as well as relief of chronic pain the last of which can bring on anxiety
and depression, or make episodes worse.

Tai chi
Tai Chi is a traditional Chinese form of conditioning exercise derived from martial arts and rooted in
eastern philosophy and Chinese Medicine.Tai chi is an ancient Chinese tradition that has evolved
over centuries to become a means of alleviating stress and anxiety, a form of "meditation in
motion." Advocates claim that it promotes serenity and inner peace. The phrase "t'ai chi ch'uan"
translates to "supreme ultimate fist" or "boundless fist.

It involves a series of slow, meditative body movements that were originally designed for self-
defense and to promote inner peace and calm. According to the tai chi historian Marvin
Smalheiser, some tai chi masters are famous for being able to throw an attacker effortlessly to the
floor with the attacker and spectators unable to clearly see how it was done. Their movements use
internal energy and movements too subtle for most people to observe, reflected in the notion that
"four ounces can deflect a thousand pounds." At this high level of skill, a defender can use a small
amount of energy to neutralize the far greater external force of an attacker.

Effects:
Numerous studies have shown tai chi improves muscular strength, flexibility, fitness, improve
immunity, relieve pain and improve quality of life. Muscle strength is important for supporting and
protecting joints and is essential for normal physical function. Flexibility exercises enable people to
move more easily, and facilitate circulation of body fluid and blood, which enhance healing. Fitness
is important for overall functioning of the heart, lungs, and muscles. In addition to these
components, tai chi movements emphasize weight transference to improve balance and prevent
falls.

Tai Chi appears to be associated with improvements in psychological well-being including reduced
stress, anxiety, depression and mood disturbance, and increased self-esteem.

The technique has been associated with reduced stress, anxiety and depression, and enhanced
mood, in both healthy people and those with chronic conditions.

This is an emerging and growing area of research and improvements have often been reported in
health functioning, physical and emotional health, reducing falls, fear of falling and risk of falls, and
possibly enhancing cardiovascular functioning in older adults although the effects on bone
density, cognitive and immunological functioning are less clear.

Pranic healing

Pranic Healing is a claimed energy healing system developed and promoted by Choa Kok Sui
(1952-2007), a Filipino entrepreneur and philanthropist of Chinese descent. The healing modality
claims that prana (energy) can heal ailments in the body by contributing to the person's energy
field. Sui has also stated that pranic healing is like acupuncture and yoga in that it treats the
"energy body" which in turn affects the "physical body".

A student of Pranic Healing claims: "The primary principle of pranic healing is utilising the inherent
energy prana or energy of life in all beings for self-healing.

It is a system of no-touch energy healing. It is based on the fundamental principles that the body is
a self-repairing living entity that possesses the ability to heal itself and that the healing process is
accelerated by increasing this life force that is readily available from the sun, air and ground to
address physical & emotional imbalances.

A psychologist on pranic healing : Over the years, pranic healing has been a great support in my
practice in various ways- right from helping to increase the receptivity of the clients to diagnose an
unidentified physical ailment causing the psychological symptoms to manifest , pranic healing has
been a great support to me in helping clients.

According to advocates of this technique (scientific evidence not presented) :

 Pranic Healing is very effective in treating the physical ailments. Based on the testimonials, a
great number of physical ailments have shown tremendous improvements by applying Pranic
Healing including Migraine, Diabetes, Common Cold, Cough, Headache, Fever, Sinusitis,
Asthma, Back pain, Sodalities, High Blood Pressure, Osteoporosis and Arthritis.

Pranic Healing belongs to a comprehensive package of complementary treatment that also

includes healing of psychological ailments. Pranic Psychotherapy is the application of Pranic
Healing dealing with emotional and psychological ailments. Pranic Healing has shown effective
dealing with psychological ailments such as childhood traumas, phobias, stress, anxiety, grief,
irritability, hysteria, violence and depression.

Shavasana

Shavasana or Corpse Pose is an asana. Shavasana is a pose usually done at the end of a yoga
practice in which practitioners lay flat on their backs with the heels spread as wide as the yoga mat
and the arms at the sides of the body, palms facing upward.

Effects
This posture brings a deep, meditative state of rest, which may help in the repair of tissues and
cells, and in releasing stress. It also gives time for the yoga workout to sink in at a deeper level.
This posture leaves you in a state of rejuvenation. It is the perfect way to end a yoga session,
particularly if it has been a fast-paced one. It helps reduce blood pressure, anxiety, and insomnia.

Shavasana is intended to rejuvenate the body, mind, and spirit. In Shavasana, practitioners breath
deepens, and the stress of the day is released. The yogi forgets all other thoughts and surrenders
any psychological effort. While in Shavasana, yogis slip into blissful neutrality and reflect on the
practice.

It has been said to have following benefits:

Releases stress, fatigue, depression and tension.
Improves concentration.
Cures insomnia.
Relaxes your muscles.
Calms the mind and improves mental health.
Excellent asana for stimulating blood circulation.
Beneficial for those suffering from neurological problem, asthma, constipation, diabetes,
indigestion.

Benefits for Women (Tabishs comment : this section seems to be written by a man)
- Shavasana can be very useful during menstruation as it gives a deep relaxation to the muscles
and also to the mind. If a women is feeling tearful, angry, irritable, tired or just plain stressed
Shavasana will help. It will give the peace and calm needed by relaxing the muscles, focusing the
mind and getting rid of any anxieties or worries. Shavasana can also help if there is any lower back
or pelvic pain. By focusing on the stressed parts the women can relax the area and relieve the
pain.
- During pregnancy it is a great practice to do at any time of the day, especially if feeling tired or
emotional.
- Irregularities in the menstrual cycle are often indicative of a larger problem. Shavasana helps to
rebalance the body and relaxes every body system.
- It is beneficial for emotional disturbances, stress, anger, depression and frustration, redirecting
the energy and giving a feeling of calmness and freshness.

Therapeutic applications
All stress related diseases
Fatigue
High blood pressure
Heart complaints
Stress
Anxiety
Insomnia

Yoga

Yoga is a mind and body practice with historical origins in ancient Indian philosophy.
The word "yoga" is derived from the Sanskrit root yuj meaning "to yoke or join together." Some
people take this to mean a union of mind and body. The origins of yoga have been speculated to
date back to pre-Vedic Indian traditions, it is mentioned in the Rigveda, but most likely developed
around the sixth and fifth centuries BCE, in ancient India's ascetic and ramaa movements. The
chronology of earliest texts describing yoga-practices is unclear, varyingly credited to Hindu
Upanishads

Originally, yoga was a method for joining a regular imperfect human being with the divine principle,
or God. It is aimed to unite the mind, the body and the spirit. Through the practice of yoga, the
mind can be trained to relax through deep breathing and become focused while holding the breath.
This practice will lead to control of the mind.

Doing yoga, not just the physical portion, but also immersing oneself onto the mental aspect of it,
can help improve mental health. Yogis (those who do yoga) believe that yoga can reduce, and
eventually prevent, the biuld-up of repressed emotions in the mind. The process is gradual but the
effects, if yoga continues to be practiced, are lasting. "Yoga is a very effective stress reduction and
relaxation tool. Performance of various postures requires the tensing and stretching and then
relaxing of muscle groups and joints, which effectively produces relaxation in much the same way
that a massage does. Yoga practice also draws attention towards breathing, which producces a
meditative and soothing state of mind," says Mark Dombeck, Ph.D.

Scientific research studies on the psychophysiological benefits of yoga practice also date back to
the early 20th century, and this growing body of research reveals that some of the most consistent
and reproducible effects of yoga practice include stress reduction, emotion regulation, improved
mood and well-being, improved cognitive functioning, enhanced respiratory function, improved
physical flexibility, muscular strength and neuromuscular performance

Yoga therapy research began much more recently. The first study of yoga in a population including
psychological conditions appeared in the Journal of the Yoga Institute in 1971 and reported on
improvements in symptoms of patients with anxiety, depression and schizophrenia.

1) Yoga improves your psychological/mental well-being.

2) Yoga helps with anxiety and depression.
3) Yoga boosts memory and improves concentration.
4) Yoga prevents the onset of mental health conditions, which are prevalent during adolescence. -
Yoga, among others, has been seen as a helpful method that can be used to protect adolescents
from mental illnesses. This is according to a study published in the Journal of Developmental and
Behavioral Pediatrics. The said study had some of the subjects enrolled in PE classes centered on
Kripalu Yoga. This type of yoga involves physical postures, breathing, relaxation, and meditation. In
comparison to the control group, the yogis displayed better moods, lower levels of anxiety and
tension, better anger control, improved resilience, and enhanced mindfulness. These are just some
of the many factors that are important in the prevention of psychological conditions in teenagers.

5) Yoga reduces the effects of traumatic experiences.

Women who have been abused, as well as enlisted military personnel who have gone into battle
with enemy combatants, usually develop a condition known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD). Patients who suffer from this mental illness frequently experience nightmares and
flashbacks, to name a few of the symptoms. While some mental treatments can address the
underlying factors of PTSD, there are some patients who prove to be immune to these
approaches. Particularly in cases where contemporary mental and pharmacological treatments
have failed, Hatha Yoga has been shown to be effective in reducing PTSD symptoms, according to
the American Psychological Association. As such, Yoga might just be a great counterattack against
the ravages of traumatic experiences.

You can check this for more detailed reviews of scientific studies -
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3447533/
Meditation

Meditation is the practice of turning your attention to a single point of reference. It can involve
focusing on the breath, on bodily sensations, or on a word or phrase known as a mantra. In other
words, meditation means turning your attention away from distracting thoughts and focusing on the
present moment. Meditating is deceptively simple. A cartoon from The New Yorker sums it up: Two
monks are sitting side by side, meditating. The younger one is giving the older one a quizzical look,
to which the older one responds, "Nothing happens next. This is it.

Meditation-which come in many variations-has long been acknowledged as a tool to master the
mind and cope with stress. Science is increasingly validating those claims, especially for
depression, schizophrenia, anxiety, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), and ADHD (attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder). Over 600 research studies on one form of meditation,
Transcendental Meditation, indicate the positive effects of this stress reducing technique.

Yoga and meditation are described separately, but it should be recognized that meditation is an
integral part of yoga and difficult to separate out.

when researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD sifted through nearly 19,000
meditation studies, they found 47 trials that addressed those issues and met their criteria for well-
designed studies. Their findings, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, suggest that mindful
meditation can help ease psychological stresses like anxiety, depression, and pain.

Detail on meditation and psychiatry - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2719544/

Studies have been suggesting for the past decade that meditation can bring big health benefits, but
it wasn't until recent years that research has looked into exactly how it can change the brain.

The latest study, published this month in the journal Biological Psychiatry, studied 35 unemployed
men and women experiencing the major stress of searching for a job, and found significant
changes to the brain on scans done after just three days of mindfulness meditation. Specifically,
there was more activity in the portions dedicated to processing stress, focus, and calmness. In
blood tests, the subjects also showed lower levels of an important marker of inflammation, even
four months after the study.

It's this impact on the body's stress response that seems to make meditation so effective in treating
mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, and PTSD.

Annelies Richmond, an international teacher of personal development, meditation, wellness, and

leadership programs for the Art of Living Foundation and the International Association for Human
Values (IAHV), tells SELF she has seen some impressive results from meditation in people with
varied levels of depression. "Even [some people who have] had depression for 20 to 25 years, I've
seen them come out of it," she says. The research backs up what Richmond has observed in
practice.

Richmond and the Art of Living Foundation teach Surdashan Kriya (sometimes called Surdashan
Kirya yoga, or SKY), a yogic breathing exercise marked by its meditative, rhythmic breathing
patterns. A study done on this specific type of meditation showed that it was able to alleviate
stress-related disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, because of the
way it affects the parasympathetic nervous system (responsible for moderating heart rate and
hormone release), and curbs the body's stress response.

Meditation can even take the place of medication for some people.- One study published in 2015 in
The Lancet showed that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), a treatment that combines
mindfulness meditation with traditional cognitive behavioral therapy, was just as effective at
preventing recurrence of depression as antidepressantseven for those with a larger risk of
relapsing. Other research from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs shows while mindfulness
therapies can help improve outcomes for various mental health afflictions, the most consistent and
obvious improvements are with depression.