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Alternative therapies seeing a new revival

DUBAI - With the mainstream medicines offering only a little hope in some cases, a good number of people have been taking recourse to alternative therapies to revive their health.

Ancient therapies, such as yoga, acupuncture, feng shui, aromatherapy and colour therapy are seeing a new revival amongst people, with many trying these to increase their sense of well-being.

From curing chronic blood pressure to easing troubles during pregnancy, yoga seems to be the new catchword amongst residents here.

Lawrence Cruz, a resident of Dubai, stopped taking medicines for several of his ailments such as blood pressure, high cholesterol and an extended prostrate gland after he attended a 10 day yoga programme.

“After I started doing my .f+i.pranayama.f-i. and meditation, several of my symptoms lessened considerably. I used to pop several aspirins a day to thin my blood but all that is changed now. As of now, I have stopped my entire medication and miraculously my blood pressure and diabetes level is back to normal,” he said.

According to medical research, 90 per cent of diseases are psychosomatic in nature with stress and tension being the main causes of concern. Yoga practitioners say that people can benefit much more through a combination of meditation, yoga and pranyama (breathing exercise) than just practising one aspect of the therapy.

“Since a majority of diseases are chronic in nature, it is not advisable to remain dependent on alleopathic medicines for a very long time. Instead, pranyama and meditation can lead to a greater state of health and well-being. Through pranayama, there is an increased amount of oxygen supplied to the brain which leads to mental clarity, greater alertness and an enhanced sense of physical well-being,” said P.S. Rajesh, yoga teacher at the SSY centre in Dubai.

“Meditation on the other hand provides deep rest to the mind as 20 minutes of meditation is equivalent to 4 hours of sleep. A combination of these two along with diet control can lead to an increased longevity,” he added.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also recognised the need for developing alternative therapies further. Apart from yoga, many people are also increasingly flocking to other therapies such as Feng Shui to bring about that greater bit of efficiency in their lives.

Shilpa Sharma, a Feng Shui practitioner, says that by the inclusion of simple items, Feng Shui can lead to enormous benefits in a person’s life.

“Feng Shui essentially tries to balance out negative energies present in an environment by the inclusion of special items. It is a study of the environment’s influence on human fortunes.

“Everybody can change the way they live or work through simple acts,” she said. Ms Sharma further elaborated on these acts.

“For instance, including a ‘money toad’ in your house which faces the door leads to Lady Luck shining on the occupants. A ‘laughing buddha’ in a house also brings enormous luck to its owners while ‘mandarin ducks’ can be placed to increase marital harmony amongst newly wed couples.”

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