Life is a prolonging hustle and people keep on getting engaged in this world web trying to figure out a simple way; however it only gets more complicated. Everyone is so engrossed in earning their daily bread that they have totally forgotten about the most important aspect which keeps them going that is their body. We often talk about how mental and physical health is important for our body to function but there is no one suggesting how to achieve it. Well its simple – “TRATAKA KRIYA”, a form of meditation which helps a person to bring mental and physical balance.
How is Trataka Kriya Beneficial?
It calms the mind and emphasize on self control. To know about the health benefits of performing trataka kriya we talked to expert Dr. Eram Rizvi who is physical trainer and yoga expert and has been suggesting Trataka Kriya from many years. According to him, this yogic practice is not just limited to physical health. Yes, it does calm your nerves and improves concentration but apart from that there are many health benefits which you can have.
- Trataka helps people who suffer from glaucoma, conjunctivitis, eye herpes, Keratoconus, macular degeneration, ocular hypertension and sometimes even for retinitis pimentos and Stargardt disease. Usual and common problems like hypermetropia (long sightedness) or myopia (nearsightedness) and astigmatism can be relieved. Peripheral vision problems, presbyopia and diplopia can all get help through the practice of Trataka. It can also reduce the number of your specs.
Health Benefits of Performing Trataka Kriya-
- It helps in Headache; it reduces the frequency of headaches.
- Improves concentration
- Helps curing eye diseases
- Relaxes your eye muscles
- Improves mental health
- Reduces stress and anxiety
- Cleans your eyes naturally
- Relieves insomnia
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Technique To Perform Trataka Kriya?
Tratak Kriya is embodied in ‘Shatkarma’ which is a form of Yoga. This kriya is all about focusing on one entity without getting distracted to anything else in the surroundings. The main practice of Trataka is to gaze. It doesn’t matter which object you use for this but you should focus on it and gaze at it without blinking.
Trataka is generally practiced with a candle which is placed around 75-90 inches away from your eyes. The candle or the object should be placed at your eye level. Placing it higher or lower than your eye level can cause stress to your eyes. Then you just have to keep on gazing at the flame of the candle until your tears start coming out which is around 2-5 minutes. Then just close your eyes and concentrate on the same point. After you are done with it, slowly keep you palms on your eyes move it in circular direction without applying any extra pressure on them. Now you can slowly open your eyes.
It is not compulsory to concentrate on a candle. You can choose anything to focus on both indoor and outdoor. Be it anything in your room, any trees outside, a stone, a flower, the moon, a star, a painting, shadow, etc. You can even do it with your eyes close by focusing on a point and thinking of that object right in front of your eyes. Just concentrate on that object without letting your mind getting diverted in any way. After the exercise let your eyes relax for a while then you can continue with your daily tasks. It is almost a 20 minutes exercise which has more than 20 benefits.
What Happens When You Perform Trataka?
In the process you have to resist blinking your eyes while concentrating on one particular point. Resisting the temptation to blink makes our tears flow naturally. This results in cleaning the surface of eyes which reduces the risks of eye related problems and improves the visual system. Since it also a technique of concentration and meditation, it prevents in building of mental toxins in the body.
Tips for Performing Trataka Kriya
- People who are suffering from psychic disorders such as schizophrenia or hallucination should avoid this exercise.
- This exercise should be performed under guidance initially so that the technique is correct and doesn’t affect your health.
- Do not over do Trataka as it is high level meditation exercise and more importantly can put extra pressure on your eyes.
- Trataka Kriya is best when performed daily. It provides with mental and emotional stability.
- People who undergo daily stress and students who want to improve their concentration should definitely perform Trataka.
- Start by concentrating on the upper side of the flame for 15 seconds and gradually increase the duration of gazing.
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Motive of Trataka Kriya
Trataka Kriya is like a cleansing process for your body. For eyes it physically cleans down the dirt and unwanted waste with the tears. It helps in relaxing your nerves in such a way that the efficiency of performing daily tasks increases. Trataka is a type of Pratyahara technique which aims to direct all the energy to a central point. The main motive is to calm your physical and mental stress and help the person grow emotionally stable and healthy.
Conclusion-
It is often said that meditation can reintroduce you to life and your inner self. Trataka Kriya is a meditation which lets you discover your inner self and motivates you to perform your daily routine in more efficient and healthy way. It reduces the risk of many eye-related problems and improves mental and emotional health. Hence please take out some little time from your busy schedule and work a bit on your physical and mental health by performing Tratak Kriya daily.
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