Managing Chest Pain

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 !