From the importance of a genuine smile to how to practice breathing, Ram Chatterjee, Wellness Director, tells you the secret of leading a stress-free life.

It’s normal to be clueless, irritated, frustrated during the lockdown period. I have witnessed many incidents where the worst situation is turning to most remembering experience and dissatisfied guest to loyal guest.

Most of us are aware of our problems in our lives and many of the issues are self-created. There are only a few issues that cannot be handled by us in our life, it’s so important to take a pause and reconnect to rediscover ourselves. We are generally very busy in our daily life; we forget to smile and spend some quality time with our loved ones. A genuine smile can uplift any human being from depression, bad mood, irritation, etc. Just the simple act of putting a smile on your face can lead you to feel actual happiness and joy. Smiling on purpose changes brain chemistry. So, it can be a big help to people who are dealing with depression and anxiety. When we feel great, a smile comes naturally, it’s an outward sign of joy. It’s not natural to smile when we’re sad or upset. But it turns out that smiling might be the best thing to do when you’re ready to shift into a brighter mood.

Smile relaxes the facial muscles and calms the nervous system. Laughing sends more oxygen to the brain, that triggers the release of a brain chemical called endorphins. This chemical helps us feel happy. I would like for you to try a few steps to give your life extra happiness.

Start the day by gently opening your eyes slowly and then get up. Laugh out loud without any reason. You may feel stupid at the time but being happier helps you keep the smile going in a genuine way. Your fake smile is now a real one. This will make you more active and cheerful. When next time someone tells to cheer up, when you’re in a low mood, own it.

Do you know the secret of being happy and lead a stress-free life?

Watch your breathing. When we are under stress or overexcited, we tend to hold our breath or breaths are very shallow. This causes a lack of oxygen to the body and ultimately to the brain. Shallow breathing results are increased stress and fatigue and sometimes panic. It’s actually a proper breathing technique. We need to remember this important fact because it is vital to our health and well-being. We can go for weeks without food, days without water, but only a few minutes without oxygen. Regular breathing is a great exercise for anxiety and it helps to get asthma and many more health problems under control too. Proper breathing is a form of relaxing meditation and will not only make us feel better, but it gives a feeling of self-awareness.

Some benefits of deep breathing exercises would be lowering blood pressure, soothing heart conditions, and helps with insomnia, depression, anxiety, and abnormally high heart rate. My favourite breathing exercises-

• Bhastrika

• Kapalbhati

• Anulom Vilom

• Bhramri

During this lockdown period, you can change the moments of boredom to the happiest moments in your life by practicing below steps.

• Make a chart for all your family members and see who is getting angry frequently

• Don’t overeat. Have lots of fruits and vegetables and reduce your carbohydrates intakes.

• Have two solid meals and two light meals of fruits or bowl of vegetables.

• Have two solid meals and two light meals of fruits or bowl of vegetables.

• Take some new challenges to speed up your career goals.

• Take some new challenges to speed up your career goals.

• Enjoy your time in such a way that you are not going to get back this time again.