Stress and ayurveda

Stress
• Stress is physical, mental, or emotional strain or tension. Tension is mental or emotional strain, suspense, anxiety, or excitement. Anxiety is a reaction to a real or imagined threat, a general feeling of uneasiness.
• Stress can be brought about by a traumatic accident, death or emergency situation.
• Stress can also be side effect of a serious illness or disease.
• Can't cope, can't concentrate, and feel hopeless, helpless, depressed and tired.
• Often irritable and angry, can't control your temper.
• Eat too much or too little, eat erratically.
• Have trouble in sleeping, don't get enough sleep, or sleep too much and still feel tired.
• Smoking in excess, more than normal intake of alcohol, caffeine or drugs.
• Have frequent headaches, backaches and stomach aches.
• Cut back on exercises.
• Family tensions run higher than usual. You and your spouse fight more often.
• Not interested in sex.
• Get cough and colds and allergies.
Ayurveda defines a person as the replica of the macrocosm and advise him to live in tune with the nature.
Health in Ayurveda
• Health in Ayurveda is defined as "svasta" means established in the self.
• The health in Ayurveda is the state of harmony experienced by the self in physical, mental and spiritual levels.
Ayurvedic View of Stress
• According to Ayurveda stress affects the agni or the internal metabolic fire which in turn affects digestion and metabolism, so the circulatory rasa dhatu (plasma), raktha (blood), mamsa (muscle tissue), medas (fat and adipose tissue), asti (bone and cartilage), majja (marrow and nervous tissue); sukra (reproductive fluids) will be affected.
• Above all the ojas or body's entire defence mechanism will be affected.
• Hidden stress affects agni (digestive fire), dosa, dhatu, and ojas, produce degeneration, depletion and accelerates aging process.
• This produces cellular damage and produces wide range of diseases either chronic or acute.
• Vata is the dosa which react very much to the stress which in turn vitiate other factors. There is a close relationship between respiratory rate and restlessness.
Ayurvedic management
It is inevitable in to avoid stress in today’s synthetic life, it all boils down to how best we can cope with. Ayurveda advocates regular oil massage as a preventive measure .In chronic cases intake of rasayans and doing ayurvedic treatments.

Oil massage
• Application of oil on head and body parts is one of the daily routine in Indian culture.
• Processed sesame seed oil is used generally for Vata and Kapha
• Coconut oil is good for Pitta
• For Vata people it is advised every day, for Pitta alternative days, for Kapha people once in a week
• Oil bath is avoided in cases of indigestion, cough, cold, diarrhoea, fever, menstrual cycle, conjunctivitis, post emesis therapy, purgation and infectious diseases etc.
• Application of oil on the head, ears and feet is necessary.
• Warm water bath after fifteen to thirty minutes is advised.
• Avoid cold water bath, ice creams, curd, sex, day sleep, alcohol, exposure to sun and exertion during the day of massage.
Benefits of oil bath• It controls Vata, promotes strength and sleep, overcomes fatigue, provides growth, prevents old age, mitigates pain, and promotes hair growth and vision.
Qualities of Rasayana• Improves appetite, digestion and assimilation; enhances serum proteins, fat and carbohydrate metabolism.
• Improves muscular tone and retards the changes in the skin that develop with age, promotes regeneration of epidermal cells.
• Assures normal sleep.
• Re-establishes regular bowel habits.
• Relieves vague aches and pains.
• Promotes healthy vigour and a sense of well being.
Special Treatment for Management of Stress
• If the guidelines adopted by the person fails he should consult an ayurvedic doctor and he does treatment like Sirodhara (pouring medicated oil in a continuous stream over the scalp of a person), shirovasti (allowing the oil to stand on the scalp of a person by fixing a cap), nasya (nasal application of medicines are done) special medicines like manasamitram, brahmi, asvagandha, vaca, sankapuspi, jadamamsi are highly effective in these conditions.