Sunil Baffna - The Art of Breathing

I request you all to hold your breath… and request the timer to time it…

How long can you be without breathing? ( A Question to one person in the audience)
One minute or less than that!!! We cannot be without breathing for more than a minute or so but do we ever give it a deep thought. Not even once a year rite?

(I did not realize the importance of breathing the proper way till one hot afternoon…. And all of us were in the play ground enjoying a good match… suddenly one of the boys collapsed on the ground… he was rushed to the hospital… and the doctors said that his brain was damaged as he had been breathing in correctly… and the lack of oxygen to the brain had caused the collapse…)

Did you know that more than 87% of the time we breathe incorrectly. Did you know that 7 out 10 people suffering from respiratory diseases are suffering due to their incorrect breathing habits? Or for that matter, did you know that the way you breathe can affect your blood circulation, energy levels, sleep patterns, moods, anxiety levels, your thought processes, indeed your entire existence?

Well, friends I am here to introduce you to a few breathing techniques which would help you during difficult situations.

Let me first introduce you to the ATM of your body, Automatic Temperature Moderator. Your “Nose”. Do you know that you are always carrying your own heater and cooler along with you? Yes, You do. The amazing features of you Nose allow you to do that. If you breathe through your right nostril, your body temperature increases and if you breathe through the left nostril your body temperature decreases. An interesting fact is that all the explorers of Antarctica and Artic circle use this technique to keep their body warm. Well, we chennaiites do know that it can get very hot here on some days, or shall I say on most days (smile). So friends, on those days use this technique at least for 15 to 30 mins to keep your body cool.

Next let us see a technique which allows higher oxygen retention in your body. This technique can be very handy just before you are going to enter into a session of high stress or pressure like an exam or interview or business meeting. In this technique, you take a deep, long breathe at you own comfortable pace and then hold your breathe for 5 to 10 seconds, then release the breathe. As you become more experienced using this technique, you can increase the period to 10 to 20 seconds. This gives your body more than 200% extra oxygen than normal breathing. Hence your concentration level and thought process are enhanced for you to excel at your exam or interview or meeting.

Now, I am going to introduce you to the most amazing technique that I came across to rejuvenate your body. ( Then I Explain the technique). There are numerous advantages of this breathing technique but the most fascinating one is that if u can hold your breathe for 2 mins then you would be as fresh as you would be as fresh as you would be after 2 hours of sound sleep. So people feel refreshed for a fun filled evening after you long day at work or college.

Friends… small things… but these have a major effect on our health… Given the global warming and different levels of pollution, let us breathe whatever good air is left is the atmosphere the right way and live healthy.

“As Prayer is to Soul, Breathing is to Body and Mind”. Learn the Art of Breathing to have a healthy body and a powerful mind.

Ravi Singal - Second Life

As contest chair announced my topic, I see a smile on some of friend’s faces. No, No it is not second wife.. I can understand your emotions, but for now it is second life..
Contest chair, fellow Toastmasters and distinguished guests, to me ‘second life’ is transition from bachelorhood to married life.

Now, the reason for which I am terming this transition as ‘second life’ is coz on one hand – sweet, bubbly, irresponsible and exciting bachelor life comes to an end, on the other hand we step on supposed to be serious n responsible family life.

Today I am going to present some insights of this transition – some which may confuse, some of you might refuse, yet we will make an attempt to diffuse.

First, interesting insight is – whether it is necessary at all to get married? I can see Abraham immediately bumping up. Plz hold on. You are married. Now, nothing can be done. To me bachelorhood was like enjoying the essence of life i.e. variety. But, marriage looks like a one way road, with no parallels and U turns.

Another point to dwell upon is whether you urslf carry out this transition or let the transition happen to you. In simple words – whether you should opt for love marriage or an arranged.
As per my experience, in quotes “which I have gained from observation” –Talking about love is good for ur health only till the time it remains a theory. As soon as you try to conduct a practical, u will find everything going haywire..

To be on the safe side, I decided to let this transition happen to me.

The process of arrange marriage starts with scouting for an ideal match. I must say as working in finance, this is like merger and acquisition. Both sides look for options where they have maximum synergy benefits.

I was asked what kind of girl I want. I hope all my bachelor friends will agree – ‘when by chance we get a rare opportunity of meeting any girl, do we put any filter as this kind of girl I would like to meet or have friendship with”. General bachelor philosophy is – Incoming is free i.e. let every one come, then we will see.
As like any other bachelor I was confused. I decided to leave this matter to the intelligent beings.

My parents were able to identify some possible acquisition targets. Now was the turn to see the girl. She walked inside the room – scared and nervous, yet trying to be confident (looked like an interviewee). All experienced eyes immediately froze on her trying to dissect the total physical being – across her length and breadth, color, make up, heels etc. As she was asked to take a seat, all interrogators were ready with their arsenal of questions.

This scene immediately reminded me of a project of ACB manual, where as a manager we have to tackle media on any labor issue. I knew only u r a TM, you are able to handle this kind of situation. I immediately developed sympathy for the girl.

Finally, after everyone is thru, I was given an opportunity to talk to her. I felt the same as I stood for my first table topic speech – blank and speechless. Couple of seconds passed, I said to myself – Ravi, you are a TM. You have to break the ice and get to the point.

I mustered full courage despite bubbling butterflies and dry throat, and asked – “Is kavita your name”, then talks followed.

Now, I was asked my opinion. I was again confused. As a bachelor, we always divided girls into two categories – good girl and a very good girl.

I sought the help of my mother, and asked – ‘mom how can I decide about any girl – whom I hv nvr seen, nvr talked, I don’t knw abt her nature, her aspirations, n finally I don’t hav a single clue – if both of us together would go fine or nt’

To this my mom looked at me, smiled n uttered golden words – ‘love happens after marriage’. My eyes were just stuck. It was as if a poor innocent disciple was given a sacred mantra by a great saint. I got married and started my second life.

Finally, one suggestion for my bachelor frnz – never form any opinion based upon your initial meeting. Every girl will sound sweet, simple n cute while u talk initially. U will come to knw the reality only when u start living. This holds true for both the sides.
And one word of caution – Beware!! Marriage is a one way journey.

Despite all this, if at all u happen to embark ur second life, whatever ur experience be – I hope all my married frnz will agree, it not the plz bring your wife along - one this is for sure – sacred mantra holds true - ‘love does happen’.