Chapter 02 BACKGROUND STUDY

2.1 Urban stress: The “daily dis-ease”

No matter what country people live in, what job they have
and how many hours they log at work, there is one thing that
is common for a lot of people in this day and age, and that
thing is stress. Stress is an important element of life, and
appropriate levels of stress can help an individual overcome challenging situations.
However, if not managed well, high levels of stress will result in emotional problems and ill
health. In present day daily life-stresses cause a huge problem for both mind and body. It

BACKGROUN
may lead to different health conditions, including physical, mental and also emotional. It
may also cause excessive eating, which results in weight gain, and if ignored, even obesity,
which increases the risk of other serious diseases. That is why, in order to prevent that,

D
society needs to learn how to cope with stress.

But is stress a condition particular to urban life? Stress has always been a part of life. But
there is a higher manifestation of stress in urban life. Dr. Nimesh Desai, Medical
Superintendent, Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IBHAS), says that in
urban scenario it is case of materialism and aspiration as against a more spiritual, existential
ethos. Living in an urban area can expose people to social and ecological factors that may be
stressful and contribute to poor quality of mental and physical health.

BURNOUT
Stress has been found to be strongly associated
with job satisfaction; increased levels of stress can
lead to reduced job satisfaction. Occupational stress
is defined as harmful physical and emotional
responses incurred in the work environment. As
jobs have shifted from manufacturing industries to
service industries, the psychological and emotional
demands of work have increased. This has led to an
increased awareness of work-related burnout.
Burnout is described as a prolonged response to chronic physical, emotional and mental
exhaustion at work, which is characterised by emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalisation
(DEP) and reduced personal accomplishment (PA). It has been recognised as an occupational
hazard and is associated with physical illness and mental problems, including cardiovascular
disease, musculoskeletal pain, depression and anxiety. Additionally, burnout is associated
with absenteeism, intention to leave the job and actual turnover, and lower productivity,
job performance and involvement.

Behaviour customs such as

smoking, drinking, physical
exercise and avocation had
significant effects on burnout.
people with good behaviour
customs had a lower level of
burnout. This is probably because
Burnout as a disease, added international
respondents
classificationwith
of good behaviour
diseases list, BY WHO
definingwere
customs it as,
able"burnout is a syndrome
to cope more
conceptualized as resulting from chronic
easily with the strain faced at
workplace stress that has not been
work.
successfully managed.[ CITATION Jul19 \l
1033 ] Figure 1A snapshot of Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui promenade
in February

India

According to the 2018 Cigna 360° Well-Being Survey

conducted by Cigna TTK Health Insurance.:

Stress levels seem to be high in India compared to

other countries, both developed and emerging.
About 89% of the population in India say they are
suffering from stress compared to the global average

2018
of 86%.
78% of crowd in India isn’t happy or rather stressed just because of the strains and pressure
caused due to workload and consistent working hours.

The country only showed slight declines in physical, social and family wellness this year,
while respondents remained optimistic about work and financial well-being. The largest
percentage falls are in the physical area and were seen in weight and nutrition
management, followed by sleep-related challenges. In the social pillar, over 50% of people
from India said they are not spending sufficient time with friends or have enough time for
hobbies.

[ CITATION Liv18 \l 1033 ]

MUMBAI
Balancing professional commitments with the social and personal is no
2017
mean feat and the accompanying stress is taking a severe toll on the
working professionals of Mumbai. According to a latest study, conducted by Lybrate, an

online doctor consultation platform among Indian citizens, 31 per cent working
professionals in Mumbai suffer from stress.

 The percentage followed by Delhi (27 per cent), Bengaluru (14 per cent), Hyderabad
(11 per cent), Chennai (10 per cent) and Kolkata (7 per cent). 
 The study, revealed that nearly 60 per cent working professionals in Tier 1 cities are
stressed.

2nd Most burnout: MUMBAIKARS 2020

A new survey released by a sleep research company, Savvy Sleeper, it was found out that
Mumbai came in second on the list of ‘most stressed out cities in the world’.[ CITATION
Kar20 \l 1033 ]
 Mumbai has the longest working hours, Mumbaikars spend an
average of 65 hours a week.

 Survey done by tom-tom traffic index revealed that Mumbai

ranked at 4th worst road traffic in the world.

2020 In the middle of pandemic, many people have struggled with mental health
issues across the world. A study conducted by Lybrate , one of India’s
largest health and wellness platforms states that there has been over 180
percent rise in online patient consultations around mental health
conditions .
 205% rise in online patient consultations around mental health conditions on the
online platform, highest jump has been witnessed in Mumbai.
 Delhi (180 %), Pune (170 %), Ahmedabad (155 %), Chennai (142 %), Bangalore (115
%), Kolkata (109 %) and Hyderabad (102 %)
[ CITATION lif20 \l 1033 ]
2.3 Grownups needs RECESS too

We all need a pause, by taking time out to restore and rejuvenate ourselves, results
increased performance and more focused efforts. Take an example of everyday life, after
working on a computer for longer periods of time, just a short stroll outside the office is
refreshing. Our minds, our bodies, and our spirits can only go so far without some care and
feeding. Breaks or pause helps to reduce the stress in a positive way and can bring peace to
the individuals, so they can be happier and healthier.

A grown-up recess might look like:

 Every day’s tea break.

 Spending more time with friends or close ones.
 Weekend movie and shopping plans, after a weekday of hustle.
 Cleaning and dusting the room, could also be therapeutic.
 Exercising in gym or taking a nice walk in the park just to relive the stress of the day.
 Going on a short vacation
 Or just a walk outside the workplace.

Now in this soul crushing and terror inducing environment of modern day, where time is
precious, someone might find it difficult to take time off from work.

When we pause, our brain shifts to a place of calm and feeling back in control of a situation
again. The stress negatively impacts our brain function it affects region in our brain called
temporal lobe that is responsible for memory and emotions. In the stressed condition traffic
control centre in the brain freezes- creating a stress-response, we cannot think clearly.
Emotions overrule rational thinking.

To take control of the situation, we must take control of our brains. There is a need to
retreat and replenish and feel the power of pause. Managing the types of stress, short term
acute stress and long term, requires combination approach for holistic healing ( Different
emotion-focused coping techniques and solution-focused coping techniques are
important as well.)
BALANCE IN
LIFE
Chapter 03 Foreground
3.1 Holistic Approach.

Health, a relative term having different meanings for different people. The concept of being
healthy varies through a wide angle. For someone having great physique is healthy, for
some having good metabolism is heath, some teen girls may think having stick figure and
glowing skins is being healthy. Some might think that having no disease is a sign of good
health. But being healthy does not mean free from any chronic disease or having any dream
body but also having a sound mind, emotionally stable and good relations with society. So
let’s narrow downs things, to lead a healthy successful life besides physical wellbeing we
must pay attention to emotional nurture, mental stimulation, focus & clarity and spiritual
nourishment. To live a higher quality life and achieve the optimal level of wellness holistic
approach is the key.

Physical Wellness: Typically measured by how comfortable, dynamic and functional the
person’s body is. The physical wellbeing has been compromised if there is pain, discomfort

FOREGROUN
lack of mobility, low energy, or other body symptoms.

Spiritual wellness: We need to understand the purpose and meaning of life. If there are

D
elements of regret, resentment, and lack of gratitude, inspiration, or vision, then the
spiritual aspect is in need of attention.

Emotional and Psychological Wellness: Typically measured by how calm and grounded a
person feels when under varying degrees of pressure. Feeling some emotions like
frustration, anxious, fear or tense can be normal but remaining stuck in any is not. How
efficiently the brain is working is measured.
3.1.1 QUANTUM HEALING
• Quantum healing is a controversial form of mind-body medicine wherein a
fundamental change in consciousness is said to produce a profound healing of the
body-mind. Every emotion .and thought changes in our body chemistry at subatomic
level. Quantum healing works on the concept of: where thought goes, energy flows.
Our cells reflect how we feel.
• It is about creating harmony in mind, body and soul.
• If a person feels good – cells have healthy vibrations.
• If cells are charged with positive energy, it will replicate identical cells.:
NEUROGENESIS
• Neurogenesis the birth of new neurons that extend connections to parts of the brain
within a month from the time they were born and the remarkable aspect is that they
are affected radicular by the environment to which they are exposed. If environment
is challenging and stimulating the number of cells can be increased dramatically.
• Changing the environment means change the brain and does behavior in conclusion,
by combining the two-mention parts architecture and neuroscience one can provide
healthy environment.

Be more present
3.2 Community.
Human are social creatures; people add the
significant values in our lives is often undervalued or
overlooked. As human beings, we dream, learn, grow,
and work as part of society. The society that we’re
born into and the societies that we navigate
throughout our lives shape our personal identities.
Phycologists and researchers have shown in studies
that people with good connections are happier and
Figure 2wheel of wellbeing
healthier in the long run. In fact, the researchers
found that “those with close social ties and unhealthful lifestyles (such as smoking, obesity
and lack of exercise) actually lived longer than those with poor social ties but more healthful
living habits.”

“Needless to say, people with both healthful lifestyles and close social ties lived the longest
of all.” John Robbins writes in his book on health and longevity, “Healthy at 100.”

In another study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 1984, researchers at
the Health Insurance Plan of Greater New York found that among 2,320 men who had
survived a heart attack, those with strong connections with other people had only a quarter
the risk of death within the following three years as those who lacked social connectedness.

Social interactions can enhance good health

through a positive influence on people’s living
habits. Lack of social interactions also damages

Figure 3the supercentenarians of the village mental health. The emotional support provided by
Ogimi
social connections helps to reduce the damaging
effects of stress and can foster “a sense of meaning and purpose in life,” the Texas
researchers wrote.

Emma Seppala author of the 2016 book “The Happiness Track,” wrote, “People who feel
more connected to others have lower levels of anxiety and depression. Moreover, studies
show they also have higher self-esteem, greater empathy for others, are more trusting and
cooperative and, as a consequence, others are more open to trusting and cooperating with
them. A Study has also found that people who exercised in a group rather than on their own
had decreased stress levels and had better mental and physical well-being at the end of a
12-week fitness program comparatively to their peers who went for solo fitness sessions, or
who exercised with only one partner

For those seeking a health-promoting lifestyle, it’s not enough to focus on eating your
veggies and getting regular exercise. Dr. Seppala advises: “Don’t forget to
connect.”[ CITATION Jan17 \l 1033 ]

In Buddhism and other traditions “Sangha “refers to the community of people on the
spiritual journey. Practising different traditions can be difficult and challenging, a community
with mutual goals offers support for living alternative values.

 Community can function as a mirror allowing a person to see themselves more

clearly.
 Communicating with people face-to-face, helps
to make people more resilient to stress factors
in the long run.
 In sharing experiences with community, it
makes us feel being a part of something bigger.
 Just being around people who encourages to keep healthful habits or achieve
challenging lifestyle goals is helpful to remain mindful of habits.
 Greater accountability and improved practice: practice becomes more consistent
and disciplined; motivation increases after seeing other people on the same path.

Current Condition
Society has been trying out a major lifestyle innovation since the turn of the century. A new
concept called privacy has become increasingly popular. While living alone is considered by
the culture to be a desirable luxury made possible by affluence, its effect on health and
longevity is frightening. Any social animal has an instinctive craving for social connections.
Human long to be a part of something larger than themselves. Yet in today's society that
longing often goes unsatisfied. Today it is common to take a job far away from parents in
order to enjoy privacy. And People who are chronically lacking in social contacts are more
likely to experience elevated levels of stress and inflammation. These, in turn, can
undermine the well-being of nearly every bodily system, including the brain.

Social Isolation and Wellbeing

Study has been done over more than 3,000 elderly subjects who took the pleasure and well-
being test were also asked questions about their social connections, such as whether they
had good friends and family.

 Social isolation had an

amazingly strong
association with low
scores on the pleasure
and well-being test.
 Seventy percent of the
people with scores
below 1.5 were
considered socially
isolated while none of
the people with a
perfect score of seven
were isolated.[ CITATION whe13 \l 1033 ]
6.2 How brain reacts in stressed condition?
 Our organism has two major hormonal stress systems, the quick responding (within
milliseconds) autonomic nervous system, which controls the release of noradrenaline and
adrenaline, and the somewhat slower hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) system,

which is responsible for the release of cortisol, the ‘stress hormone’.  Stress begins with
something called the hypothalamus pituitary adrenal axis, a series of interactions between
endocrine glands in the brain and on the kidney, which controls your body's reaction to
stress. When your brain detects a stressful situation, your HPA axis is instantly activated and
releases a hormone called cortisol, which primes your body for instant action. But high levels of
cortisol over long periods of time wreak havoc on your brain.

Noradrenaline and adrenaline increase the heart rate and decrease the heart rate
variability, dilate the respiratory airways and activate blood platelets to coagulate.

Cortisol antagonises insulin and thus, under certain conditions of persistent stress-
dependent dysregulation of the HPA system, results in a diabetes-like metabolic situation. It
restructures body fat, promotes obesity, suppresses the immune system and may have a
toxic effect on neurons in certain brain regions, particularly the hippocampus, which is

important for memory functions.   [ CITATION Maz11 \l 1033 ]

These stress hormones, adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol are the same ones that
trigger your body’s “fight or flight” response. Your heart races, your breath quickens, and
your muscles ready for action. This response was designed to protect your body in an
emergency by preparing you to react quickly. But when the stress response keeps firing, day
after day, it could put your health at serious risk.

Everyday annoyances like heavy traffic or an overwhelming inbox—or sustained crises, such
as unemployment or caring for a sick relative—can cause the body to activate the stress
response constantly. The body and brain can’t reset hormones and inflammatory chemicals
to normal levels, damaging the immune system and making you more likely to get sick.

And as levels of cortisol rise, electric signals in your hippocampus, the part of the brain associated
with learning, memories, and stress control, deteriorate. The hippocampus also inhibits the
activity of the HPA axis, so when it weakens, so does your ability to control your stress. That's not
all, though. Cortisol can literally cause your brain to shrink in size. Too much of it results in the loss
of synaptic connections between neurons and the shrinking of your prefrontal cortex, the part of
your brain the regulates behaviours like concentration, decision-making, judgment, and social
interaction. 

Stressed state for longer time turns out less sensitive to stress because their brains developed
more cortisol receptors, which stick to cortisol and dampen the stress response. 

6.3 Holistic approach towards optimal healing (importance of balance in life)

Wellness is not a static state. A dynamic equilibrium must be achieved to be healthy. All
components of the individual must be integrated and maintained. Healing must be
concerned with, and respond to, the interrelationship of the mind, body and spirit. The
whole must be considered and embody personal, social, environmental, and spiritual
aspects of life. One must look beyond the body to see how our relationships, social
environment, employment, economic status, education and socialization connect to a bigger
picture and whether these are uplifting us or depleting us.

One's state of health is in a flux, and as such, must respond to changes, whether they are
physical, mental, emotional, spiritual or environmental. The most fundamental influences
on our health are extremes in climate, our diet, our relationships, the balance of work and
rest and our sense of meaning and purpose. Health results not only from an organism
becoming suited to the surrounding condition, it is also involving people adapting and
responding creatively to a situation. Self-awareness and self-consciousness become
paramount. People cannot enjoy their pleasures if they are consumed with fear, hate,
worry, anxiety, etc. Attitude, then, is an important factor in realizing health.

Healing is a state of mind, or perception, as much as an activity. Therefore, the healing

process can begin with a conversation and the awareness of the here and now. Equal time
should be spent pondering the immediate as well as the past and future. Recognizing the
present can lead to a new realization of life's purposes.

6.4 BALANCE IN LIFE

Physical, mental or spiritual imbalances seldom occur in isolation, they are interwoven. The
most expressive aspect of balance in nature is the seasons, making their influence on health
undeniable. To maintain physical and mental health, one must cultivate the mind by
balancing and regulating the spirit, consciousness, thoughts and emotions. One must stay in
touch with one's self by facilitating a natural approach to achieve balance. Nutrition is
important as an aspect of whole health.

Also, avoiding overstrain by finding appropriate rhythms that correspond to nature,

maintaining regular lifestyle patterns like working at daylight and resting at dark, and
keeping regular and adequate sleep habits are crucial to the upkeep of optimum health.
Factors that affect health are nutrition, sleep habits, exercise, air quality, environment,
personal attitude and relationships with others. The individual and his or her environment
form a symbiotic relationship that plays a determinant role in health. The term holistic
implies an attitude, which is concerned with the whole person within the total environment.

6.5 Self-Heal: Quantum healing

Human body works as a whole, has an excellent capacity to heal by itself. Most of all
diseases starts in mind, mind is the canvas on which our thoughts are projected, it is a part
of human consciousness. Mind is the holographic representation of the human body.
Quantum healing is one of the novels holistic medicine begins to emerge. With positive
thoughts (quantum thinking) in our mind, we can heal any diseases including cancer. Mind is
nothing but a consciousness, is a canvas, where our thoughts are projected. Quantum field
is the total collective consciousness. Inside and outside of human the body consists of
energy, by using this energy we can heal any disease including cancer is known as body
energy healing or Quantum healing.

Quantum healing therapy is based on the principle of resonance and entertainment. The
energy level in the body is escalated through breathing and visualization of energy flow.
Quantum Healing is not only a spiritual thing, but it also directs positive effects on the
immune system by producing endorphins. Endorphins are opioid peptides, has many
activities such as immune stimulatory, anti-inflammatory, stress buster activity, anti- aging,
and alteration in gene expression, can be used to treat many diseases like cancer, auto-
immune diseases, and infectious diseases.
Neurogenesis: Neurogenesis the birth of new neurons that extend connections to parts of
the brain within a month from the time they were born and the remarkable aspect is
Therefore, that they are affected radicular by the environment to which they are exposed. If
environment is challenging and stimulating the number of cells can be increased
dramatically. Changing the environment means change the brain and does behavior. In
conclusion, by combining the two-mention parts architecture and neuroscience, one can
map a healthy and healing design.

Our modern medicine such as using chemical drug to heal disease by considering our body
as bits and pieces, rather than as a whole, has many adverse effects, which is a major cause
of death worldwide. Holistic medicine is a whole-body healing; Human body has a capacity
to heal by itself without any adverse effects, yields better results.
Consciousness is a force that most of us undervalue. Generally, we do not focus our inner
awareness or use its real power, even in the most difficult moments of crisis. That may
account for why “miracle” cures are greeted with a mixture of awe, disbelief, and reverence.
Yet, everyone possesses consciousness. Perhaps these miracles are extensions of normal
abilities. When your body mends a broken bone, why is that not a miracle? As a healing
process, it is certainly complex, far too complex for medicine to duplicate; it involves an
incredible number of perfectly synchronized processes, of which medicine knows only the
major ones and those imperfectly.

When the body needs to be rebuilt differently the mind could do that each time we oscillate
between energy (formlessness) and particle (it happens innumerable times in a second). We
should have total control over what we want with our attention to manifest out of the
energy field the next moment. It depends on our belief and feelings to an extent.

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