Thursday, February 27, 2020

PANACEA OR PUNISHMENT


Panacea or punishment


My friends, I am here again to share with you what amazed me today. Like my every single day I am done with all my home chores and now relaxing on my couch going through all my messages. These days’ social media is like the doors open to curiosity. And I can never hold myself opening the door and enjoying the honeydew.
You might be wondering how the picture I posted to my blog can be anyways related to the honeydew. But my friends… really it is. I was going through one of my cousin’s messages on WhatsApp, where he posted a video of brain games. And that opened for me my door of curiosity. I found out that people are engaging in brain games and brain yoga to overcome the stress they are dealing with in their daily life. What I found was the age old pose which we called as punishment given by teachers was one of the major brain yoga that enhances the brain power.
Holding left ear with the right hand and the right ear by the left hand. The yoga called as Thoppukaranam which is applying pressure by the thumb on the earlobes while doing knee bends and taking breaths. Doing this yoga has shown to decrease anxiety, depression, increases concentration, helps with memory and improved class performance in kids and people of any age can do this and anywhere. There has been research done to prove that it increases the cognitive abilities in a healthy individual.
Effect of repetitive yogic squats with specific hand position (Thoppukaranam) on selective attention and psychological states
Original Article International Journal of Science and Consciousness Access online at: www.ijsc.net December 2016, 2(4), 40-46
There are a number of resources available on google, google scholar, you tube and everywhere your curiosity can take you, you will see its arms spreading in all directions to show that sometimes what is called physical abuse can turn out empowering the individual rather empowering the brain of the individual. So, is the topic for today…
PANACEA OR PUNISHMENT..
I am a teacher by profession and by my interest in learning. I have seen how the educational system has made people change their perception of the word strict and discipline. When I did my Bachelors in Education we studied about the psychology of a child and how it should be taken care of while teaching in a school.  Through my experience, I found out that, sometimes students need to be disciplined and steps have to be taken strictly to enforce the discipline. I am not neglecting the importance of the psychological needs of the child. But, it is also necessary for us as teachers to understand if it is really the psychological need or just a rescue from the assigned responsibility. I think it is a high time for every parent and every system person to understand the difference between the punishment and panacea!!!
The teachers I remember, when I was a small kid and was in school, teachers were not afraid (fear of laws that secure children’s rights) to punish the students. Now, teachers before they enter the class are told how to behave with students. And after taking care of so many theories and data, we are not able to control the stress and anxiety level in kids which is a big IRONY. The percentage of children, teens and adults who are now suffering from mental disorders or stress is far more than it was before in times. This is a kind of emergency situation because 99% of the illness are due to stress of some kind. It affects almost the entire human life.
So, Are the teachers who asked the students to hold their ears and do sit ups, are right? (Which made the students understand their mistakes) or Are those system people right who call it a punishment and prevents students from getting corrected?
 The so called punishment given years ago… Now, we are proving it as a Brain Yoga!!!
It is the time for PANACEA NOT PUNISHMENT!!








Thursday, February 13, 2020

Tiniest things matter!!!

Tiniest Things Matter. (Latest burning topic of corona virus)

Today I came across a beautiful article in Marathi which was related to the corona virus. I got so emotional after reading it that I decided to write it down in my blog. Sometimes it is not easy to ignore the most important trait of a human being which is humanity. We are amidst of a situation confirmed by WHO as a global emergency which is caused due to nCOV, novel corona virus. This virus is so deadly that it has the capability of eradicating life out of this planet if we fail to control the spread of this viral disease.

Now, coming down to our irrelevant fights where people around the world are involved. Fighting over issues like religion, money, job, status, and so on. When we do so, we often forget that the Nature is above all. Mother Nature doesn’t like us fighting. She often reminds us of not to have the illusion of being powerful. Every year we get storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, wild fires and deadly diseases. We are in line of creating the worst bombs, atomic  bombs, mother of bombs, nuclear bombs and whatnot. But, unfortunately we forget that if Nature decides to destroy us none of this is going to save us.

Macroscopic and gigantic weapons are useless when a micro-organism like a corona virus takes the charge of destruction of life existing on this whole planet. In the 21st Century we are launching big projects of visiting  different planets in the search for life. The medical industry is like a magical industry where we claim to treat and cure the worst of the diseases. We sometimes claim that we have created vaccinations which can save us from fatal diseases, but again this is just a mirage which is very different from reality. Every time a new virus is born, it creates havoc. I remember Swine flu, Ebola and so many... Even though we think we have now secured life, but life is not secured.
"The tiniest things cannot be ignored". 
It comes down to everything. The tiniest things in life if taken care of can make life beautiful and if ignored can wipe out the human life forever. The only thing that will remain is in the end is “Humanity”.

On this Valentine day, which is not just limited to couples to celebrate, we must understand the deepest meaning of the day given to us by Saint Valentine, that it is only the love that can save mankind. Else everything is just an illusion which in Sanskrit is "Maya". Let’s not hate each other and fight over things that carry no significance because, when it comes down to Nature’s power, No other power can stand. So, let us all appreciate our Mother Nature, its blessings and let us all come together to make this world a beautiful place to live.