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How the apan vayu mudra helped my anxiety

I was sitting with my sister one evening and we were watching reruns of New Girl. We’ve just come home from a fantastic workout and I’ve enjoyed a beautiful dinner with my family when it happens. You know how it goes.. It comes up unannounced with no warning or real trigger. My chest feels really tight and I find it hard to breathe. My heart starts to beat fast and I can’t seem to keep up. The walls are closing in on me and I can’t see very clearly. There’s an impending feeling of doom and just when you think you are going to die, it disappears without a trace.

I was really stressed out in 2015 due to personal life stresses and moved back home. I wasn’t so stressed about my wellbeing but more worried about the judgement from people around me. This is when the panic attacks began. They would creep up on me when I would be least prepared. In cabs, in metros, on a lunch date with my mother and onstage when I was presenting a speech.

I’m 29 and I’ve been to every physician, homeopath and had every possible test done from MRI’s, CT’s and even been for counseling. When I finally got sick of doctors telling me there was nothing wrong with me, I decided to take my health in my own hands.

I have been very healthy for as long as I can remember. I don’t smoke and rarely drink, I eat my greens and I workout 4 to 5 times a week. I try to make sleep a priority and don’t really have any vices besides chocolate, coffee and well, worrying. What do you think caused it? Well the doctors have no idea and everyone I speak to says “it is all in my head”.

In an attempt to heal my body and say goodbye to these attacks, I decided to cut out processed sugar and coffee. I swapped my high intensity interval training for yoga, pilates and brisk walking. I took more breaks at work to unwind and I started taking ashwagandha capsules as an antidote for my stress. Ashwagandha is an adaptogen- adaptogens, are herbs that help your body fight stress and reduce oxidative damage and delay premature ageing. When taken regularly, the herb can help promote rest, improve sleep and help your body deal with stress effectively. I was doing pretty well for the most part but a stressful situation at work would bring about a flare up and I would spend the next few days curled up in bed.

Mini Thapar Shashtri (founder of Om Yoga Shala), believes very strongly in the curative power of yoga and how it helps to bring down our stress response to situations and life events. She has seen numerous people become more resilient to stressful events and forge a deeper relationship with their bodies in her years of teaching. She states that with regular practice, “ we stay less combustible, more present, less reactive and more observant”.

I am no stranger to Yoga and meditation but It wasn’t until I visited Shreyas Bangalore that I learnt about the pivotal role that Mudras play in our health. Put simply, a mudra is a symbolic gesture that is usually performed with the hands. Used extensively in the practice of yoga and meditation, mudras force you to look inward and they facilitate the flow of energy in the body. MIni Thapar adds, “the science of Mudra vigyan works with optimising efficient movement of prana and heightening the nerve impulses to release obstructions in the flow of important elements that our bodies are made of”. Mini swears by the gyan mudra, also known as a ‘yogic tranquilizer’. Very easy to do, it is practiced when the pads of the index and thumb are pressed for 15 minutes a day when one is meditating or deep in practice.

When I was deep into my yoga and meditation practice and the panic attacks would still come on without warning, my yoga teacher suggested I practice the ‘Apan Vayu Mudra’. The mudra was really easy to perform and can be done when you are sitting alone or with people, while watching tv or when you are lying awake in bed. Although, my teacher suggested that you should sit in lotus pose while performing this mudra- I have experienced great relief even when I am lying down in bed.

The Apan Vayu Mudra is really easy to do. Just sit comfortably with some back support and join the tip of the thumb, middle finger, and ring finger, and place the tip of the index finger on the base of thumb finger. Hold this for 10-15 minutes and do it regularly to see an improvement in your anxiety levels and health. I tried it every day for 2 months and worked my way up from 10 minutes to 15 minutes a day.

This Apan Vayu Mudra strengthens the heart muscles, prevents palpitations and improves blood circulation. It is especially useful in the treatment of heart ailments, panic disorder and fear but also very effective for digestive distress. I never thought holding my fingers a certain way would help me with my anxiety but I noticed how much better I felt with just 15 minutes a day. I recommend it to everyone I know and I use it as my secret tool before presentations or awkward social situations and even in bed when I’m having a sleepless night. Happy to report that it works 9 out of 10 times which are pretty good odds, if you ask me. Try it and let me know what you think.

This post was originally published in The Hindu. You can read the whole link here.

Jia Singh

ABOUT ME

I am a Delhi-based nutritionist, food & wellness consultant and freelance features writer. I write for a variety of different magazines and websites in India and overseas on restaurants, travel, wellness and food.

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4 thoughts on “How the apan vayu mudra helped my anxiety

  1. Vv says:

    I Have high anxiety and fear. Will apan bath mudra help.
    Will hywn mudra help too.
    I deal with shortness of breath and fund hard to go to sleep.

  2. Kannan says:

    Thanks for this. I have the same problems what u have listed.
    I will try this mudra..
    One doubt I m having regarding this.
    Is there any side effects?
    How long can I do? Can I do when I walk or lying down?

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