The alternative therapies are also being used to alleviate aches and pains, treat seasonal allergies.
Stress is big business. Spas are devoted to helping you unwind. There’s a flourishing trade in calming teas. Even fitness coaches have been pushing the feel-good aspects of a workout as much as its physical benefits.
But what if you’ve been to the spa, sipped the chamomile and found that the jog can only take your mood so far?
Wrung-out urban India is looking for newer ways to beat stress. Flower remedies are helping with seasonal allergies, touch therapy is treating stress, mechanical pulsations are helping restore balance, and for those looking for calm are opening up to sound baths. Here’s how they’re designed to help.
Bach flower remedies
In the 1930s, English homeopath Edward Bach researched plant essences and their effect on humans. He extracted essences from 38 flowers to develop a range of extremely diluted solutions, to heal patients’ ailments, while taking into account their individual emotional states.
Beauty writer Jhelum Biswas Bose, 36, was introduced to Bach flower remedies six years ago for her allergies.
“For me, every season starts with a horrible bout of cold,” she says. The floral remedies, she says, have alleviated her symptoms. “I tried rescue remedy and it worked wonders,” she says. “I had to travel with fever and cold, and it was two drops of this which kept me going all through.” She has been hooked ever since.
Biswas Bose has also worked towards becoming a certified trainer for the remedies, developed her own range of essences and customises products based on individual needs after consultations.
Many others also believe the essences gently restore the balance between mind and body.
CranioSacral Therapy
There’s a theory that the path to wellness starts at the back of your head. Craniosacral therapy deals with the cranium (skull) and the sacrum (bone at the base of the spine), and consists of gentle-touch techniques that address the bones of the head, spinal column and spine base.
“The therapy helps in releasing compression in those areas, alleviating stress and pain,” says Dr Sandeep Bhasin, who has been practising it…
