A sudden chest pain
is not necessarily the first sign of a heart attack. Many press the
panic button at the slightest hint of it, and seek medical help urgently, only to
realize that, it was nothing but a harmless stomach disorder; but, at the same
time, many have lost their lives by mistaking an actual heart attack for gas trouble
and not doing anything about it. Neither is a desirable situation and can be dispensed
with by conducting a simple test that
will tell you the real reason behind the discomfort.
Take ½ cup of hot water; mix in 1tbs of honey and drink it.
If it is a gas problem, the pain will start abating almost immediately. But if it persists with the same or increased
intensity, consider it a medical emergency.
In the mean time, till help arrives, practice the following relaxation technique to
minimize the damage. It may even stop the attack completely.
Lie down in Shavasana (corpse pose), breathe naturally, and start counting your breaths backward from
100. Better still, if you have a ‘Yoganidra’ CD, play it and follow
the instructions.
These practices are the ultimate relaxants, which will quickly open
up the coronary arteries that will allow some blood to flow past the clot-if the clot is not too big- and reach the heart muscles. The
heart tissues will remain alive and the
danger can be averted.
If you are in a place where you cannot practice any of the above, or if it makes you feel
nervous, then do the following.
Sit comfortably or
lie down and relax your body.
Concentrate on your breaths. ( should be spontaneous)
Imagine you are breathing in from the left nostril, and
breathing out from the right; and then breathing in from the right nostril, and breathing out from the left. In a minute
or so, when this pattern is established ,add a mantra to
it-either ‘Om’ or ‘So-ham’. If the chosen mantra is ‘So-ham’, mentally say ‘So’ as you breathe in , and ‘Ham’
as you breathe out. For ‘Om’, repeat it in your mind when you inhale, and again when
you exhale. Continue the process for as
long as you can.You will be surprised at its effect !
