Acharya Mahaprajna
(A) PHYSICAL & PSYCHOLOGICAL
Hypertension—a Disease with No Symptom
Ordinarily, no symptoms are associated with high blood pressure for many years. The insidiousness of hypertension lies in its covert, seemingly harmless nature, which can end in permanent damage to the heart or brain or at worst, in sudden death. Death of heart or brain tissue occurs directly as well as indirectly, through the development of what is commonly known as hardening of the arteries [1]. When hardening of the arteries does develop, the target is usually one of the three vital organs: the heart, the brain, or the kidneys.
High blood-pressure or hypertension requires the heart to pump blood at higher pressures, thus making the heart work harder and placing an excessive strain on the heart. It is very dangerous because it also increases the rate of development of hardening of the arteries. It is caused by the deposition of the blood clots, fats and calcium on the inside walls of the arteries, making the normally soft elastic arteries to become hard, inelastic and partly or completely blocked. This blockade may lead to dire consequences.
The risk of developing atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries is directly related to the level of blood-pressure. The higher your B.P., the greater the risk. If the arteries to the heart, called coronaries, are blocked, death of heart cells is inevitable and a heart-attack follows. If the arteries to the brain become obstructed, strokes may occur. Thus continuous high blood-pressure or hypertension is the indirect cause of major causes of death: heart-attack and stroke.
Causes for 90 to 95 percent of hypertension called essential hypertension, are not known. Stress is a generally accepted explanation of the disease. Though it is commonly accepted that anger, fear or anxiety play an important role in causing hypertension, the subject has been inadequately studied by the medical profession. Stressful [2] situations which can be defined as situations leading to continuous behavioural adjustment may underlie the development of hypertension which cannot be explained.
It is natural to question whether we know how to check the dangerous results that inevitably follow the hypertension. Is there an innate physiological response that is diametrically opposite to the stress mechanism?
The answer is yes. We do possess an innate response to counter the effects of stress response. When activated, this can positively reduce the blood-pressure without any drug. The victims of hypertension can be taught to trigger the protective mechanism and lower their blood-pressure. The use of the technique of relaxation described in the next chapter is not only a therapy to lower the blood-pressure but that it has been part of the cultures of man throughout the ages.
As stated earlier, the risk of developing the hardening of the arteries is directly proportional to the level of blood pressure and anything that lowers B.P. without injurious side-effects is beneficial. Anti-hypertensive drugs inhibit the activity of the sympathetic nervous system thus lowering the blood-pressure. But the drugs could create dangerous side-effects and may create more serious problems. Relaxation is a safe way to lower the blood-pressure by the same means as some anti-hypertensive drugs. Regular exercise of relaxation is of great value since it has none of the pharmacologic side-effects present with the drugs. It also substantiates the hypothesis that hypertension in most cases is due to stressful situations that require behavioural adjustment and can be alleviated by behavioural means alone.
By far the most appealing use of relaxation lies in its preventive aspects. It serves as a natural way to counteract the sympathetic dominance. This means that it should be useful in alleviating other emotional upsets where increased sympathetic activity is a factor. For instance, relaxation is useful in alleviating various anxiety states and in treating some of the cardiac problems.
Another important area of the therapeutic use of the practice of relaxation is prevention of abuse of drugs, alcoholism and smoking. Marijuana, Hashish, LSD, narcotics, hard liquor and smoking are some of the dangerous drugs which can shatter the user's health. Regular practice of relaxation together with meditational exercises of Prekshã Dhyãn system lead to giving up of the addiction. In fact it can provide a natural non-chemical alternative to fulfil the basic motivations behind drug abuse. The profound feelings of pleasure which accompany meditational practice can be much higher than the high or low of drugs.
(B) PHILOSOPHICAL
Jain Yoga philosophy lays great emphasis on the frequent performance of the exercise of relaxation (Kãyotsarg). It is an essential routine of an ascetic's life. Whenever an ascetic goes a kilometer or more from his place of sojoujrn he must perform the exercise on his return. Every time he comes back from an outdoor chore, relaxation is necessary. As soon as he wakes up normally or after undergoing some bad dream, he must perform relaxation. The duration of exercise varies from occasion to occasion and is measured in number of breath—25, 50, 100, 500 or 1000 breaths.
Besides being an essential rerequisite for meditation, the exercise of Kãyotsarg is performed for the following purposes.
For Self-Realisation
Necessity and emphasis on the performance of relaxation is laid down because that is the only way one can hope to communicate with one's subconscious self. So long as there is turmoil in the body, i.e. the muscles and nerves are tense and taut, one cannot reach the subconscious level. Now Kãyotsarg can be performed in both directions, i.e. from outside to inside or from inside to outside. In other words, it can be from relaxation to self-awareness or from self-awareness to relaxation. In the former, first steps are to (i) stop all voluntary movements, (ii) relax the skeletal muscles of the limbs, trunk and head, (iii) stop speaking, and (iv) discipline the sense-organs. Once the total steadiness is achieved, self-awareness and self-realisation follow. In the latter case, self-awareness precedes the relaxation. The conscious mind is completely withdrawn from external environment and seeks the separate being of the spiritual self. The body is forgotten as soon as even a glimpse of the spiritual self is realised. The self-awareness progresses and finally the body becomes limp, relaxed and cast off automatically.
The conventional performance is, however, outside to inside. Cessation of voluntary movements of the body and speech brings about the discipline of sense-organs. The normal attraction of sensuous pleasure vanishes or is drastically reduced. The state of total relaxation is achieved and self-awareness—the journey to self-realisation—commences.
For Conservation of Energy
Why is the practice of this exercise prescribed on several occasions and so often? What is the purpose behind this? One of the reasons is to save colossal waste of nervous energy in muscular action, in speech and in thought. Frequent relaxation can stop the waste, and the energy which would have been wasted futilely could be utilised purposefully. In particular, it can be used for attaining higher levels of consciousness.
Energy saved from being wasted can be accumulated, stored, and utilized to reach higher standards of meditation. Relaxation is a simple means of stopping the unnecessary waste of energy. In total relaxation, every tissue, each cell is prevented from being overloaded and the energy from being wasted. An essential condition of relaxation is slow, deep and regulated rhythmic breathing. In relaxation, metabolism slows down and need for oxygen is reduced drastically.
For Attitudinal Change
Spiritual science prescribes a complete process for development of an integrated personality. Understandably, the process is divided into several stages, and the very first stage specifies relaxation.
It changes nasty, old and deep-rooted habits and attitudes. Relaxation is an instrument for transmuting psychological distortions. He, who does not practise relaxation, cannot hope to effect attitudinal change. Protagonists of self-hypnotism have also prescribed auto-relaxation which is equivalent to total relaxation. Be it attitudinal change or treatment for a disease, relaxation is the remedy.
For Mental Health
For maintaining mental health, peace and balance of mind is essential. Peace of mind is the result of mental purity and mental purity accrues from stabilizing the body. More stabilized the body, cleaner the mind. The mental uncleanliness is the result of mental excitation, agitation and turmoil, and unless the body is stabilised, mental turmoil cannot be eliminated. Motionless state of the body is the prerequisite for slow and silent respiration, silence and peace of mind. Unnecessary memories of the past and planning for the future continue to encroach on the present (work in hand) and vicious cycle of thoughts keeps the mental equipment in constant turmoil. Pre-requisite and pre-condition fro preventing all the mental uncleanliness is relaxation. Once the body is relaxed and made motionless, all the above inflictions vanish and the more advanced stages of the process of spiritual uplift are easily attainable.
For Easy Solution to Problems
Whenever one is faced with a problem, he has to work out a solution. He has to sit down calmly in solitude, relax the body, purge his mind of all other matters and think and concentrate on the problem in hand. And flash, there comes the solution. Thus everybody in this world, during the course of his life, must resort to relaxation from time to time. But for a practitioner of meditation and one who aspires to tread the path of spiritual life, it is a must; if he does not practise relaxation regularly, he will not make much headway in the direction of spiritual progress.
