Exercising your mind TO HAPPINESS

Most stressed-out Mumbaikars are taking up body-mind-soul regimen

Mumbai: Senior accountant Jyoti is worried that she may not get a bonus this Diwali. "The boss has been cribbing about losses,'' says the 43-year-old who works in the retail sector. But Jyoti doesn't let her financial preoccupations get in the way of her new love—gymming. "I cannot do without it,'' she says about her early morning exercise sessions.
    Jyoti may not be able to explain the subtle biochemical equation between exercises and happiness, but she is vocalising what doctors have for long been prescribing: exercises help people cope—be it with the ravages of cancer, the crippling effect of arthritis or mind-numbing stress. With the tumbling Sensex, the threat of pink slips and salary cuts looming large, there is merit in following Jyoti's example, doctors say.
    Incidentally, a subtle change was noticed in New York after the meltdown on the Fleet Street: business people were turning to exercises to weather hard times. An article in The New York Times says, "Adding classes in yoga, meditation and other so-called mind-body regimens is just one way fitness professionals in the financial district are responding to recent economic uncertainties roiling their corporate clientele. Some are also offering shorter, cheaper personal training sessions and, in at least one health club, quiet discounts for members who lose their jobs.''
    In Mumbai, the financial problems haven't yet turned so messy as in the US ("the trickle of patients with financial problems are just trickling in,'' says a doctor), but the medical fraternity advises that staying fit in body and mind is more important now than before.
    Social psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty recalls that the support group he had started after the Harshad Mehta scam in 1992 had helped many people cope with their financial losses. "People talked openly to each other about their losses and how to get around them. This helped many of them,'' he says about the group that met regularly for over 18 months. Talking it out is one of the best medicines in times of stress, he adds.
    Exercises play a crucial role too. Dr Aashish Contractor, preventive cardiologist from Asian Heart Institute in Bandra Kurla Complex, says it has been proven beyond doubt that exercises help in most medical conditions. "It is often joked that if the benefits of exercises could be incorporated in one pill, it would be the best medicine,'' he says. Not those turning to fitness regimes in times of financial stress, but those already hooked on to the healthy way of life would reap better benefits, he adds. It has, after all, been proved that exercises spur creativity and can help people find ways to bust their own stress.
    At least that is what the Yoga Institute in Santa Cruz is trying to do at a special two-day camp organised on Saturday. Yoga exercises have a tranquilising effect on the pain of day-to-day living, says family physician Dr Shantaram Shetty, who is also a faculty at the yoga institute. "Moreover, the yoga philosophy of accepting things and having faith in oneself helps in busting stress,'' he says.
    Another yoga teacher, Deepak Gupta from the same institute, says that "once they accept things, they can work further to resolve it themselves''. "The point,'' he says, "is to make people accept breakdown as a breakthrough. They have to look upon the incident as a window to bring betterment to their lives.''
    toireporter@timesgroup.com
WAYS TO COPE WITH STRESSFUL TIMES...
    Sudden loss is like an earthquake and so there should be no shame nor blame, says social psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty. "Drop your guard and let the facts and feelings surface, share it with loved ones, including your children,'' he adds
    Discussions of the future within the family should always have a friend or a non-affected relative. This prevents the family from falling into a depressive spiral, says Dr Shetty
    Normal routines of school and work should never stop. Attending family functions and celebrating festivals should never stop either
    Cutting down on expenses should be discussed with the entire family
    People with financial problems should keep in touch with debtors and creditors and never avoid them
    In case of excessive fear, sadness, anger or lack of sleep, you should see a counsellor immediately