What we learnt and forgot

It is clear that we (myself included) forgot the most important things taught in school. We need to remind ourselves of the very basics of how to perform our everyday activities. It is not surprising that most of us do not know: how to breathe, how to stand, how to sit, how to sleep, how to eat, how to take a bath, etc. Maybe it is because we do not pay much attention to these things - since these seem to be so insignificant. Or maybe it is because we have not been taught how to perform these things exactly.

Upon reading some books on various topics such as yoga, acupressure and others, it became clear to me that we were not following the basic rules that we had been taught. For example, all of us were taught that we should stand "straight", but on observation, I find hardly anyone (including myself) following that rule. After having read about the harmful effects of not following these rules, I've tried to follow these as often as I can. I also observed if others are following these.

A nice example is to take a look at people standing at the bus-stop. It is morning time and people have got up and look fresh and are waiting for the bus. But none of them is standing straight. And its not because they are tired (come on - they've gotten up after at least 5 hours of rest - and this is the start of their day). Maybe it is the fashion to stand by putting one's weight on one leg and folding the other (like the ramp models do). But remember what we were taught - to stand straight. Probably the problem is that we were not taught "how to stand straight".

Here then is what I have gathered from reading various books:

Standing:

• One must always stand straight with the body weight thrown equally on both the legs.
• Why: If one does not stand straight, the body will soon feel tired, the spine is affected and the mind becomes dull
• How: Here is a secret: The weight of the body is to be borne not on the calves, but on the thighs. The thighs must be "pulled and rolled" inside and the buttocks must be held tight. Do it and see the difference. Of course, the spine must be kept erect and the feet close to each other.
• Symptom: The easiest is to observe the soles of the footwear worn by the person. If the soles are worn out at an angle, then the person is not standing straight (as in this definition)

Breathing:

• Breathing must always be slow and steady.
• Why: If one does not breathe slowly, the mind is likely to get carried away by all the distractions. One will easily get excited and will not be able to concentrate. Indeed, the ancient science of pranayama (the 4th stage of the 8-stage yoga) is precisely the control of breath - so that the mind can be controlled.
• How: Each cycle of breathing has 4 steps: inhaling, holding the breath in the inhaled state, exhaling and holding the breath in the exhaled state. The recommended ratio for this is 1:4:2:2. By practice, one can increase each cycle to take more than a minute.

Eating:

• One must eat slowly and chew the food properly.
• Why: If one eats hastily without chewing the food properly, the food will not get digested properly. The stomach may need to overwork for performing the digestion. Not chewing the food properly has been specified (by ancient wisdom) to be the main cause of diabetes.
• How: Each morsel of food must be chewed at least 32 times to ensure proper mixing with the salivia. This itself ensures that the food is pre-digested reducing the burden on the stomach.

More about the other activities in a later post (maybe).