Healing HERBS

If breathing right, sipping herbal tea, and meditating can help, why pop pills?

As I stroll through my garden of herbs, inhaling their sweet fragrance, I can feel their magic work on me.The stress and strain of deadlines, unfinished work, just fades away as I touch their delicate leaves and talk to them.
There is the familiar tulsi, known as basil, the spiky lavender with its beautiful mauve flowers, and sharp-scented rosemary. Besides these fashionable herbs, I have planted some Indian medicinal plants which have been curing people in our country for more than 2,000 years.

We have brahmi, a strong, long-stemmed plant which enhances memory and poetic imagination. Then there is ashwagandha for vitality, jatamansi for soothing sleep and various other medicinal plants which promise all kinds of cures. And I believe they do. I don’t claim to know much about them. I am learning by reading books and talking to learned vaids.

Right Way To Breathe
To really appreciate the goodness of these herbs, I walk early in the morning through the fields sensing the good vibes coming from them. This is also the time I do my breathing exercises. I learnt how to breathe correctly after I did the Art of Living course.

Breathing easy sounds simple, but only when you’ve learnt the skill you realise you have done it wrong all your life.When I began to really notice how I breathe, listened to sounds of my breath, felt it travel through my lungs, I realised what breathing actually meant. In school we were taught “take a deep breath, throw out your chest, stiffen your shoulders.”
But now I know that is not the right way to breathe. It makes you breathless, anxious and dizzy. Tense and nervous people always breathe rapidly and this adds to the feeling of stress.

But when your breathing is slow, measured and deep, your brain gets a good dose of oxygen and feels good. A wonderful feeling of peace and tranquillity floods you when you learn the art of breathing right.

“Breathe calm, breathe gently, and let your breath flow through your body,” Guruji’s voice says softly and I feel all my anxiety and fear flow out with my breath.
 

Soothe Pain And Feel Calm
I hate to take medicines. But if breathing right, sipping herbal tea, walking on dew drenched grass and meditating can help, why pop pills. “Take Alprax,” my friends would say when I would get stressed before a show. But I learnt to do reiki instead. Just by placing your hands on yourself you can soothe pain and feel calm.

I found I could help the special children I work with, with these alternative cures. Whenever I have to deal with a hyperactive child, I put my hand on his head and we play a game of breathing. Gradually, I can feel the child calming down and then we settle down to paint happily.

I find reiki, yoga, Sudarshan Kriya and meditation all teach you the same thing. They help you get in touch with yourself.You may think it is a cliche, but when you actually practice it, the results are amazing.

To get in touch with yourself you have to draw a line from your head to your heart so that your entire being is balanced. Mind, body, breath — all poised like a dancer in one fluid, graceful movement. It’s not easy to achieve this.You need total concentration; you cannot force your mind to obey, you can only  coax it gently in the right direction. After doing five years of meditation practice, I can sit like this for not more than four to five minutes, but it seems like a lifetime of bliss.

There are some days when it does not work at all and I continue to whirl like a top. Then when it gets too much, I take off for the hills.The soothing green mountains, my village home in Shaya work like a balm, calming me down at once. Brahmi, jatamansi, vanapsha, rosemary, sage and thyme help, too, with their magical powers. All imaginary fears, petty thoughts, useless needs, fall away and life seems joyous and wonderful as the mind learns, once more, to stand still.

by BULBUL SHARMA