Anecdotes detailing how this technique helped relieve several Mind, Body and Relationship problems.
Please see the ‘Testimonials’ page under ‘ABOUT’ for the latest feedback from practitioners.

Anger

Anxiety

Compulsive Thoughts

Concentration/  Focus

Depression

Healthy and bright Face

Fatigue

Grief

Hypertension

Helping ‘Infertility Treatment’

Insomnia

Migraine

Obesity

Pains

Relationships

Smiling

Smoking and chewing Tobacco

Stress

Stuttering

Control over Anger

• “These practices have improved my self control and reduced my anger. They have reduced my road rage.” Report….from a New York state employee in a call center.

• A technical manager aged 43, was very unhappy about his anger affecting his work relationships. He said he wanted very much to control his anger, tried many times but failed to find a practical way to achieve the control. In about 4 months of starting this method he felt great relief from his outbursts of anger. He was practicing the method while having bath.

• A technical manager aged 30,  was getting irritated with his subordinates if they were not doing exactly as told. After this method, he simply could not get angry at them.  But on the other hand, he started feeling that he should patiently listen to them to understand the problems due to which they were not doing his way. At home, his wife also started this method when he told her the basic method verbally. He observed that she became more patient with their 5 year old son. Earlier she was getting irritated at their  son when he approached her for some attention while she was doing some work. But after this method, she became more receptive to him and started listening and soothing him.

• A Junior Engineer 25 years, was famous for his short temper with his workers. His behavior changed radically to his great relief and also of his workers. He was practicing only before sleep for about 6 months.

• A chief of security department 50 years, was famous for his short temper and constant fault finding with his supervisors. He changed so much after this method that his people became happy and also his wife complimented him for improvement of his temper.

• A Chief Engineer 45 years, used to go round the various sections of his department in the morning and wherever his people were found lacking in performance he was getting angry and scolding them, losing his mental peace and also making his people unhappy at his loss of temper. After this practice, his anger totally disappeared and he started dealing with them in a more fruitful manner.

• A civil contractor 35 years, was famous for his outbursts of anger on his workers. He also had high blood pressure and taking medicine. After this method, he said his anger totally disappeared. His blood pressure also had come down reducing his dose frequency from once a day to once in 3-4 days.

• A civil engineer 45 years, was very famous for his outbursts of anger on his contractors and workmen. After this method, he said his anger has come down drastically and he was very happy about it.

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Control over Anxiety

• Medical student: He attended three of my classes over a period of two months, at the suggestion of his mother who practiced this technique and found it very useful. She was worried about his anxiety and obesity. At the end of the third class, he made a self assessment of how he practiced and the change in his initial concerns.  Report…

• Drug Representative: Whenever I get a chance, I hand over the brochures related to the technique to the visitors to our office and ask the person to try it at bed time to  get sleep. Recently in my absence, a drug rep came on her periodic visit and happily reported to my daughter (Dr. Padma Sripada) and the office staff that she found the technique very useful in helping her calm herself when she was under great anxiety.

• Dr. Padma Sripada: “ I have introduced the technique to some of my patients with anxiety, panic attacks, hypertension and insomnia. Everyone who has adopted the technique has reported that it helps them relax. The most remarkable effect was on a patient with severe panic attacks, who could not drive over a bridge without taking an anxiolytic medicine first. She is now able to drive over bridges without relying on medications!”

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Control over Compulsive Thoughts

• “I’ve found the method to be very helpful on nights that I can’t seem to “turn off” my brain (worrisome thoughts, planning, mental “to do” lists, etc).” Feedback from a participant in my seminar at the local library.

• A comment in the guest book of my previous web site from somebody calling himself ‘Hopeless’   –  ”Hi, I tried this for a day and it is wonderful. Something horrible happened to me some years ago and so I have genuine tension that would be unbearable for most people. I have been searching for years for some form of mind control and I think this exercise is helping me to a great extent in getting over the serious problem”.

• A young security guard reported that he used the method to stop the compulsive thoughts about his ex-girl friend who got married to somebody else.

• A lady teacher reported that she used this method to get over the mental irritation she was feeling whenever a sudden heavy sound was coming from the nearby power plant (due to venting of excess steam).

• A girl college student who was in the USA, far away from parents living another country, used this technique to get over the compulsive thoughts of her father whom she was missing for the first time in her life.

• A young security guard who joined his first job used it to get over the memories of his parents living far away.

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Improving concentration

• Many soft ware people told me that practicing this method improved their mental concentration on job. Many of them told that the method helped them forget their programming related thinking and get badly needed rest through sound sleep.

• “I came to know about your ‘Focusing on breathing’ method from a brochure I found at the Albany Hindu Temple. I am preparing for USMLE exam due in August 09 and I am really tensed at the moment. I have been practicing the method since 2 days and I am really feeling very much relieved of my stress. And I am able to concentrate better on my studies” A student preparing for Medical Residency Exam in USA.

• One group of 10 soft ware designers customizing SAP software used to practice it for 5 minutes every day before starting the work. Two foreigners visiting the team periodically were also practicing it along with them. They said it improved their mental concentration in their work.

• One Greek soft ware site had an entry in a discussion forum quoting this web site that the method was useful for improving mental concentration.

• A web designer told me that he was not able to use his daily travel time of 2 hours NJ to NY for reading books that he wanted  to read badly utilizing his idle travel time. After practicing this method he was able to complete reading of many books effortlessly.

• Some people who were practicing meditation like ‘Chakra Dhyana’ (a method of concentrating on the energy centers in the body) said that this method improved their practices significantly. Earlier, in spite of their best efforts,  they were getting frustrated due to lack of concentration. They are now getting better returns for the time they are spending on the practice.

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Depression

• “The ‘Focusing on breathing’ technique has helped me tremendously. Seven years ago I lost my daughter and I went into a deep depression and chronic anxiety, in spite of medications. I started to use the breathing technique and I got to say they were very helpful. For the first time in 7 years I feel my depression has lifted.” A 70 year old woman.

• “Since coming to see you I have been able to stop the antidepressant medication” A woman who attended a series of my classes. Report….

Healthy and bright Face

• A manager aged 50 years, had severe diabetes. He was taking insulin shots twice a day. His face looked alarmingly sick and lifeless. After about 6 months of practicing this method, his face changed radically to such a healthy look, that even his wife asked him how did it become so much better.

• An Engineer 28 years, was doing this method only at night while waiting for sleep lying in bed. After about 6 months, his face has acquired a remarkable clarity and glow. He reported that his out bursts of anger at his workers totally came under his control.

• A lady 50 years (USA) read the full article in web site ‘humnri.com’ and practiced the method. After a few months she sent me two photos of her face showing a clear improvement. She wrote by e-mail that her friends remarked about the happy smile on her face of late.Changing of face to a brighter, healthier and calmer look in spite of original color of  face, is a common improvement seen in many regular users of the method.  I could detect the regular users of the method among the people I used to meet frequently, by observing the improvement in their faces and style of interaction with others.

• The person aged 32, my ex-gardener, used to ride a bicycle to and from his work place, about 10 miles each way.  I explained this method in less than 30 minutes one day and started practicing it. After about 2 weeks he said he was feeling his breath while riding his bi cycle and he felt much less tired compared to his earlier experience. Being a manual worker for 8 hours a day, this benefit of reducing travel tiredness made him very happy.

• People who were in the habit of walking every day for 30minutes to 1 hour as an exercise, told me that they started practicing this method while doing their walking. They felt as though they did not walk much. The walking time passed quickly without feeling any impatience.

• A soft ware Engineer aged 30 (USA), reported that he used to feel headache after prolonged work at his computer. After knowing about this method he practiced it for a short time, sitting before the computer with closed eyes. He feels totally relieved of the headache.

Relief from Grief

• One teen aged boy was living with his single mother and grand mother. He was very fond of his grand mother who gave him his favorite dishes and pocket money.  She died due to illness in old age. The boy got terribly upset by her absence and started neglecting his studies. When his mother put too mush pressure on him about his studies he tried to injure himself with a broken Coke bottle. His mother shared the problem with me with great concern. On my suggestion, she stopped putting pressure on him and made him practice the method before going to sleep. She reported lot of improvement in her son in about 3 months. He became very positive to her advices and took up a career of a musician with his talent for playing guitar and singing.

• A patient of my daughter Padma Sripada M.D said to her “The ‘Focusing on breathing’ technique has helped me tremendously. Seven years ago I lost my daughter and I went into a deep depression and chronic anxiety, in spite of medications. I started to use the breathing technique and I got to say they were very helpful. For the first time in 7 years I feel my depression has lifted. ”

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Relief from Hypertension

India

• Person aged 50+, a chemist, was taking a 50 mg tablet everyday for last 15 years for high blood pressure. Within 4 months of starting this method, he felt so much relief that he could reduce his daily dose to 25 mg tab once in 3 days while checking BP regularly. His doctor was puzzled about this improvement. His total personality changed in work and at home. He became more responsible and less worried at work. He turned remarkably spiritual, sitting in meditation before his favorite Goddess Kali for an hour every day.

• Person aged 36, a contractor, was taking medicine for high blood pressure for last 2 years. He was very short tempered. He felt such relief due to practice of the method, that he felt like stopping his medicine. But on advice of his doctor he was taking once in 3-4 days. His anger almost disappeared for which he was very happy. Three more cases of such significant reduction of BP were reported from – a Chief Engineer, a record keeper in a Quality control department and a security supervisor.

USA 
• A lady who had hypertension and regularly visiting her doctor learnt these methods attending my classes over several months. Whenever she visited her doctor her blood pressure was showing very high. She was determined to get over this and one day went to the doctor’s office well ahead of time and practiced counting breaths for over 20 minutes. For the first time doctor found her pressure normal as reported by her with a beaming face.

• A doctor of internal medicine happened to meet me and said that she was using the technique herself and found it useful. She told one of her patients  under 5-6 medications and suffering from severe insomnia to practice ‘counting breaths’ in blocks of 1 to 10 at bed time.  She made the patient practice it in her exam room. After 2 days that patient called and said after a long time she was able to sleep happily!

• “The ‘focusing on the breathing’ technique is appealing in its simplicity, and absence of restrictive conditions that often hamper the adoption of most techniques of meditation. I have introduced the technique to some of my patients with anxiety, panic attacks, hypertension and insomnia. Everyone who has adopted the technique has reported that it helps them relax.Some patients have reported it has helped them sleep better, and no longer rely on medications. ”  Padma Sripada M.D  Internal Medicine   www.doctorpadma.com

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• Helping ’Infertility Treatment’ by reducing Stress
  (Reports from two couples)

Couple One:  Wife

• I have been married to a wonderful person for 9 years. We had everything in life but didn’t have any kids. We consulted at least 6 different doctors and had several tests. All the results came out normal. We went on vacation, did lot of spiritual things and ate the things recommended in Google search. Nothing worked. As the years passed by, we got tense and frustrated. On the suggestion of my primary care doctor we went to the IVF clinic for 6 months, did 2 IUI procedures (intrauterine insemination) but nothing happened. We took a break. Then in 2009 I had two IUI again but they still failed. We were totally heart broken. The social pressure from our parents and relatives for getting a child was adding to our stress. We were fighting with each other because of all this tension. My fertility doctor then told it was better to do IVF. By this time, my husband saw a brochure on the ‘Focusing on breathing’ technique (www.countingbreaths.com) displayed at the Albany Hindu Temple. He attended the weekly classes on this technique offered by Suryanarayana Chennapragada (CS). Within 3 months I saw a tremendous change in his health as well as behavior. He became very gentle, handling things smoothly, even when I fought with him. This really surprised me, especially because I was all the time a tensed character. I suffered from insomnia, lying awake up to 2 am and getting thinner and thinner. My husband suggested that I should also attend those classes. I was very skeptical as in the past I attended 3 meditation programs without any success. I used to meditate during those classes but skipped the practice at home, as I felt that I didn’t have the peaceful time or mind to do it. I also felt that it was tough. My husband forced me to attend one class along with him. He told me that if I didn’t like it, I would not go further. I gave it a try, specially on seeing my husband change. I immediately liked the class. I didn’t see any change in myself in the first month. As my practice continued, I felt a tremendous change. My insomnia disappeared and I was sleeping like a baby! We attended these classes for 6 months. Both our stress levels came down.
We restarted the fertility treatment. To our surprise, my fertility specialist showed a chart showing a tremendous change in my hormone level over the 3 months that I was attending the classes. Another big change we noticed was that we both became very calm, and were taking everything cool,, like we used to be, once upon a time. This was really wonderful.  We realized how stress could affect a person. Reducing stress was the main thing we were focusing in the breathing classes. As planned, I had the IVF treatment. I am now pregnant after 9 frustrating years!. We could not ask for anything more in life. Our teacher CS helped us change ourselves completely. We are so grateful for that. These breathing classes were totally unique. This technique is so simple that even a child can do it.  I do it regularly now. I gained weight. We got our life back and we are once again a very happy couple.
Good news: This woman delivered a healthy baby girl in Dec 10. Both mother and baby are doing well.

Couple One:  Husband
• Due to work stress and being a short-tempered person, I had difficulty in sleeping and also not able to spend time happily with my wife. I was interested in learning stress management techniques and yoga for better health.
I happened to see a brochure about “Focusing on Breathing”. I wanted to learn from a teacher so that I will learn the right technique. I attended classes by CS at the Albany Hindu temple. During my initial practice I could not stick to a planned schedule as there are no ‘rules’ in this technique. But this aspect proved to be good.   Due to the full flexibility given in the practice, it created curiosity and offered more opportunities to practice at different times of the day. As the practice continued, I felt more relaxed and enjoyed better sleep. My personal relations improved at work and at home. My stamina in long distance running improved.
Apart for improving health, the whole process helped me and my wife spend more time together and share the experiences of inner peace and happiness at work and outside.  When we spent more good time together, we had a more harmonious relationship, which helped a lot when we planned for a child. Initially, due to work stress and other reasons, we had some medical conditions that delayed the pregnancy. As our practice of the techniques continued, we could see good results in the medical tests. Finally my wife achieved pregnancy!
We are very happy to share the success from the ‘Focusing on breathing’ practices and the way they changed our personal lives. We encourage everyone to learn this technique which helps not only in getting good sleep, but also in improving the overall personality, leading to a stress free life.  We are thankful to CS for making a big difference in our lives.




Couple Two:  Wife
• Myself and my husband were trying to have a child for more than six years. We tried all the treatments in US and India. Some were so severe that I had to stay in the hospital for a month. Nothing good happened from these treatments. On the other hand, I suffered from stress and depression. I blamed myself for not having a baby.  At some moments, I even thought what was the necessity to live in this world.  Then, my husband convinced me to take a break from all those horrible doctor visits and blood work.
After six months, when we were planning again for the treatment, one of our friends introduced us to Mr. Suryanarayana Chennapragada (CS)  who was teaching  ’Focusing on breathing’ (www.countingbreaths.com).They said his classes were helpful for their own infertility treatment. We joined the classes, In a couple of classes, the teacher made me understand that worrying and building up stress was not doing any good for me or for my treatment. He taught us different modes of focusing on breathing which helped me relaxed a lot. He also helped me question and resolve the recurring negative thoughts I had about myself. I started seeing a change in myself and gained some confidence that I would have a baby of my own some day. After a couple of months, my fertility specialist me on a mild treatment. I combined it with a lot of breathing practice and prayers. Within a month, I was blessed with pregnancy. I am so happy that we took the classes on ‘Focusing on breathing’.


Couple Two: Husband
• After 2 years of our marriage, we started planning for a child. As the result was not coming, we began fertility treatment. Since then, every year passed by without success, building up frustration on top of the pain caused by series of most aggressive treatments (10 on a scale of 10).  After a while, we realized that we had been under treatment for many years, without any success. We stepped back and took a break for an year.
Then one of our friends introduced us to the classes on “Focusing on breathing’ offered by Suryanarayana Chennapragada,(CS) as they helped them for a similar problem. While attending these classes, we were able to practice the technique along with a series of Yoga based stretching movements, fully focusing on breathing. We were able to practice them regularly with a little adjustment in our daily routines. We felt lot of changes in body and mind – felt relaxed and experienced positive thoughts.
After we practiced for a couple of months, we were ready for the fertility treatment again. This time, our doctor started with the least aggressive treatment (1 on a scale of 10). In a few weeks, we received the long awaited good news that my wife was pregnant. I want to continue practicing these techniques as part of my daily routine, as a little effort everyday goes a long way in helping the body and mind work at their full throttle.
Author’s Note: These couples reduced their stress in three phases. Phase1: Practicing ‘Focusing on breathing’ at bed time, on waking up and any other times. Phase 2: Practicing some basic Yoga based gentle stretching movements matching with appropriate breathing. Phase 3: The women were coached in critically questioning and resolving some recurring negative thoughts about own selves or partners.

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Relief from Insomnia

This is the most assured benefit among all. It has never failed to relieve even chronic insomnia where there is no medically identifiable cause. Surprisingly it works across all ages as the following reports show.

• 2 year old child: Here is the message from the mom of a 2 year old girl. “I have a 2 year old daughter who was not sleeping well at night. She would constantly toss and turn all night and come morning time when I would go in to wake her up, she was absolutely miserable. I was then introduced to the’ counting breaths’ method. I tried it with my daughter. To my surprise the next day, I woke up a completely differently little girl…. or so it seemed. She was much happier and more co-operative with me than the previous mornings. I also tried this method with her time out if she misbehaves. Once again to my surprise it worked. Within a few moments, she would become much calmer and more relaxed. “ Mother: Tara Wescott

• Medical student: He attended three of my classes over a period of two months, at the suggestion of his mother who practiced this technique and found it very useful. At the end of the third class, he made a self assessment of how he practiced and the change in his initial concerns. Report…

• 97 year old senior: I work in my daughter’s medical office as a manager. Occasionally I meet with a patient and depending on the receptiveness of that person, I explain the tip or segment mode. I advise them to try it when lying in bed and needing to sleep. When I meet the same person at a later visit, I try to find out if the technique was tried and if so, what was it like. Recently I met a 97 year old woman patient the second time (a few months back I explained the segment mode to her) and inquired how she was doing, without mentioning the technique. After explaining her current set of problems she added on her own, that she was using the breathing technique using the segments whenever she had difficulty getting sleep and it was helping her in calming her mind and fall asleep. She said she sent the brochure on this technique to her sister in California.

• “I have introduced the technique to some of my patients with anxiety, panic attacks, hypertension and insomnia. Everyone who has adopted the technique has reported it helps them relax. Some patients have reported it has helped then sleep better, and no longer rely on medications.” Padma Sripada M.D

• A patient of my daughter Dr. Padma Sripada read my hand out on Insomnia and practiced on her own. On my request, she wrote out this testimonial: “I had a lot of anxiety, stress and sleeping disorder. Sometimes, my body would shake and I would cry for no reason.  I was introduced to the ‘Focusing on breathing’ technique when I came to Dr. Sripada’s office. The first day I tried it,   I suddenly became so content and relaxed. My sleep has become a lot better and I am more focused. It has allowed me to not have to use my sleeping medicine every night. It is great!”

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Relief from Stress

• Medical student: He attended three of my classes over a period of two months, at the suggestion of his mother who practiced this technique and found it very useful. At the end of the third class, he made a self assessment of how he practiced and the change in his initial concerns. Report…

• The principal and vice principal of a school with about 1000 students were under lot of tension and irritation due to frequent demands from visiting parents who demanded admissions, improvement of marks, so on. After they started this method, their response to such situations totally changed. They were able to listen patiently to the visiting parents and send them off with a smile, without conceding anything. Their way of interaction was so different from earlier style that some parents even complimented them for not getting irritated and being so cool in spite of all their pressures.

• A senior manager in a factory, aged 44 years, said he used this method while talking over phone to his factory shift–in-charges early morning every day. It helped him reduce his frustration and irritation on hearing the problems reported by them.

• A pathological lab technician at Albany USA with whom I shared the hand out of the technique  said happily that she has been using the technique every day around lunch time to get over the job stress and refresh herself.

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Relief from Migraine

• Person (male 53 years) was suffering from migraine every week lasting for a day, since more than 30 years. He was not taking any medicine and putting up with the pain as the pain killers were making him drowsy. Within 2 months of practicing the method, his Migraine totally stopped and did not recur even once in last 6 months. He started practicing the method for mental comfort without expecting any relief from migraine. This benefit came as a pleasant surprise for him.

• Person, female, 45 years is a working lady suffering from Migraine every day in the evening lasting for whole night since 2 Years. She was taking a pain killer every day after returning from work. Even then she had to twist a towel around her head to bear the pain. After she started this method the frequency and  intensity of pain gradually reduced. In about 4 months, she was getting pain only 2-3 times a month instead of all 30 days. She started practicing this method when she was told it may  help reduce her Migraine pains.

• Person, male, 35 years, was suffering from Migraine once in 15 days lasting 2-3 days since 3 years. He was putting up with the pain, without taking any medicine. Within 2 months of practicing this method, his Migraine totally disappeared without any recurrence even once. He started practicing the method when told it may relieve his Migraine.

• Person, male, 47 years, was suffering from Migraine every day or two starting in the evening and lasting throughout the night since about 2 years. He was not taking any medicine. He practiced the method without any expectation of relief from Migraine. Now he is getting pain rarely and intensity is very light.

• A lady of age 86 attended several of my classes with the hope of getting rid of her migraines that bothered her from age 11 intermittently. For many years she used to take one light medicine daily and one strong medicine 9 pills a month, to control acute attacks. She was very scared of running out of the strong medicine which could be procured only after her doctor  fought with her insurance company. She was very regular in her practice and reported after about 8 months happily that she could reduce the strong medicine to 6 pills a month and no longer worried about running out of it.

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Relief from Obesity

• Two persons in their forties reported that their pot bellies were reduced significantly after they made the method a habit. Asked how it happened, they said that their food intake had reduced automatically. Earlier they were over eating, without any awareness. Now they were eating with more awareness and eating only as much as they actually needed. In one case, the person’s wife who saw the big change in his waistline was concerned about the change and asked if anything was wrong with his health.

• One industrialist who learned the method from me and enjoyed its benefits, explained it to his wife. After some time,, he noticed that his wife was taking more care about her weight by controlling her diet and regular walking.

• A person 40-50 years was acutely aware of his obvious obesity and feeling helpless. After he practiced this method mostly before sleep and just after the shower, standing in the bath tub, his obese appearance significantly changed to a slimmer look, though his waistline was still prominent.

• I gave the flier and complete booklet to the senior librarian of the local library about 8 months back. Whenever I used to come across him he was telling me that he and his wife were practicing the method and happy about it. After a few months, he told me he was practicing mostly at bed time and enjoyed good sleep. He also told happily that he lost 15 pounds. Asked how it happened, he put both his index fingers at his temples pointing to his head and said “it is all here!”

• A lady 30+ was obese and having many other health problems. She lost more than 20 pounds after she attended several of my follow up classes. She was also relieved of some of her other problems like IBS.

• A software engineer practiced this method before sleep, traveling and frequently during the day. He told to a group in my presence that his weight was so much reduced that his pants were sliding down. This happened in spite of the fact his gym attendance was very irregular and he did not practice conscious diet control, compared with the period he was struggling to reduce his weight.

I have been seeing more such cases among the practitioners of this technique.

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Relief from Chronic Pains

• I stopped Celebrex medication: Feedback from a female medical professional, working as a research scientist in the department of health of New York State. She had a stroke (heart attack) a few months before. “I started practicing ‘Focusing on breathing’ when Mr. Suryanarayana gave me the hand out on the technique and suggested I should try it for relaxation. I practiced it intermittently, during the day, whenever I remembered, using the segment mode and counting modes. Within 3 days, my back pain was completely gone, never to return. Before practicing this technique, I was depending on Celebrex to control the back pain. Now I do not need it at all. I feel stress was the cause for my back pain which was reduced by practicing this relaxation technique.”

• Back pain: I was suffering from back pain and sleep disorder for the last 25 years.  I was diagnosed with herniated disk and arthritis in L4 & L5.  Six years ago, I was hospitalized twice. I have been taking numerous pain relievers, muscle relaxers and narcotics for severe pain and spasms until last year.  I have been getting treated for 10 visits once in 6 months by Chiropractors and Physical Therapists.  Massage would make me feel good for a week. All  these would help for a week and then I would reach a plateau. I spent numerous hours and dollars at the pain clinics. Needless to say how much money was spent thru the Insurance Company.  I tried all kind of things from home remedies to old Grandma remedies to gain some relief without success. A few months back,  I asked Suryanarayana Chennapragada (CS)  if he could teach me how to practice “SuryaNamaskar” (Sun salutations of  Yoga).  He mentioned about the ‘Focusing on breathing’ technique for relaxation and simple stretching exercises.  I had seen his brochures at the temple and other places.  I read them but never practiced. I thought that I had nothing to lose, let me give it a try, may be this would work. I was meeting with CS every week, to learn the relaxation by breathing and stretching exercises.  After couple of weeks, I saw improvement in my sleep pattern and back pain.  I have been doing the breathing and stretching exercises for the past 3 months for about 30-45 minutes a day.  In this period, I did not take a single pain medication and had a good night sleep.  After mowing the lawn for about 3 hours, I would feel my back a a little sore but after a shower, breathing & stretching exercises I feel a lot better. After 30-45 minutes I am back to normal with no pain. Currently may pain is 20% of what it had been for so many years. ‘Focusing on breathing’  technique combined with the stretching exercises helped a lot with my back pain and sleep disorder. I  strongly suggest these techniques to everyone to reduce stress, back-pain and gain remarkable energy.  There is nothing to lose but a lot to gain, that too, without spending any dollars.

Improving Relationships

• “Since I have started ‘focusing on breathing’ practices  with C.S (Suryanarayana Chennapragada) in October 2011, my family life has changed dramatically.  My daughter and I now talk on a daily basis without yelling at one another. My husband has calmed down his attitude around me. They both say it is because of the person I have become.  I am much more relaxed now and take things as they come, instead of  worrying about things. I am sleeping much better than I use to, without taking sleeping pills.   I also have started to eat healthier than I did before.   Basically I am a much calmer person with more energy, in the last four months, thanks to C.S. He has also given me good counseling advice better than any counselor I have ever seen in the past.” From a woman who attended several of my classes.

• A person 45 yrs, had a strained relationship with his wife from date of marriage. They have a teen age daughter. As reported by him, she had very different expectations from him in terms of status and power. As these were not fulfilled by him, she used to nag and humiliate him daily after he returned from long hours of factory work. She used to compare him to others getting promoted faster than him and pointing out his inferiority. He used to react to her by getting angry and destroying things in the house in her presence, like – tube lights, bulbs and news papers . This was going on for more than 20 years. After he started this method, he could control his reactions to her. He was silently listening to her and focusing on his breathing, and not replying anything to her. Seeing his total silence in spite of her continuous nagging, she would stop her verbal attacks. She even used to remark ‘am I talking to my husband or the wall?’. Earlier, after such an episode they were not on talking terms for 2-3 days. But these days they were talking to each other in the evening of same day. His boss remarked that earlier the person’s wife was complaining about her husband every day over telephone. But for last few months he was not getting such calls from her.

• One industrialist practiced the method frequently while traveling in his car on business trips. It reduced his mental tension. He could handle the pressures from his customers better.He verbally told his wife about the method and forgot about it. His wife and his widowed mother, though closely related, were not on good terms. His wife was not willing to take his mother to the hospital whenever required. He had to squeeze time from his busy schedule, to make these trips himself. After some time, he found his wife’s behavior changed. She volunteered to take his mother to the hospital. He feels this could be only because of her practicing the method.

• One security guard was feeling very bad that he was not able to satisfy his wife’s demand for stopping his smoking. After this practicing this method, he could discontinue smoking totally. He was very happy that he is enjoying a happy relationship with his wife now.

• An Engineer who joined service a few months back, was having a very strained relationship with his boss. He felt the boss was making unreasonable work demands. He was arguing with his boss a lot but ultimately he had to do as he was told, feeling demoralized in the process. He was so frustrated that he privately confided to me that he was planning to resign from the job and search another one, just because of this problem with this boss. This method was in it’s early stage of evaluation at that time. I told him to try the method and see if it would help. After about 3 weeks, he reported that he was no longer bothered about his boss’s behavior. He was just doing as his boss wanted him to do, even if he was not in agreement with him and forgetting about it.  He was relieved and happy.

• One person in service, aged 42, told that he was in the habit of angrily bursting out while dealing with his parents whom he used to visit once a year during his holidays. This was so remarkable that his parents were avoided directly talking to him. After practicing this method, his behavior towards them changed remarkably. H made it a point to talk to them nicely during his visits. He came to know through others that his parents noticed this change and were very happy.

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Able to Smile spontaneously

• An operator in a paper mill aged 45, had serious family problems. His wife had chronic mental problems and had outbursts of anger not controlled by treatment for a long time. His only son aged 26 was mentally retarded and had speech problems. He used to walk with a grim face like a statue – a personification of sorrow. After several rounds of persuasion, he started practicing the method. In about 3 months, his facial expression changed remarkably. When I asked last time about his problems, he started crying, tears flowing from his eyes but to my pleasant surprise, he soon recovered and started smiling though the tears were still there. This I consider as the greatest achievement of this method. If a person in his condition could smile by practicing this method, any one can smile.

• An officer in stores was always having a serious face – never smiling. After this method his face showed a frequent smile.

• Two guest house bearers always had a tense and serious face as though they were afraid. After this method, their faces often showed a spontaneous smile.

• A young person of 20 years working in the Information systems department was always looking serious and gloomy. It looked as though he was having an inferiority complex. There was never a smile on his face. After he practiced this method his face changed remarkably with a frequent smile. H showed more confidence in talking to others. I continue to see more people whose previously grim faces show a spontaneous smile as a result of practicing ‘Focusing on breathing’.

• A pathological lab technician in Albany USA practiced this technique around lunch time every day. Before this practice, her face was looking very gloomy and never showed a smile.  The expression on her face is now radically changed. Now she smiles happily and greets people.

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Tobacco smoking and chewing cessation From USA

• A cashier in UPS store used to smoke 20+ cigarettes a day  for many years. Earlier he tried hypnotherapy but it could not help him. Here is his feedback.  ”I was smoking a pack and half a day. I had been looking for a way to quit that would not require more money and the same old results. I was introduced to the ‘counting breaths’ methods. After just a week of doing the method once in the morning and right before bed, I was able to cut down smoking down to around 15 cigarettes a day from the previous 20 a day, by doing nothing more than the method. I now do it throughout the day and I am down to about 4 cigarettes a day. My goal is to be smoke free within the next month.  This is all due to doing the method: I am more relaxed, I don’t need to lash out at everybody because I am edgy. The best part is, it costs me nothing to do, except for my effort into it. I didn’t need any outside help like gum or patches; I  did it on my own which is a great feeling. My wife has now started this method and we are slowly getting into our children to do it too. I highly recommend this for anyone of any age.”  April 2009

• One patient (50+ years age, with a smoking history of 7 cigarettes a day for 20 years) saw the above feedback in the brochure displayed in the waiting room in my daughter’s medical office. He said he would try this method immediately, to stop smoking. When he visited after 5 weeks he reported it worked. On my request he sent this inspiring feedback. ” The Solution is Simplicity: Several days ago, while awaiting to meet with my physician, I read a booklet about the benefits of counting breaths. Out of curiosity, I tried several proposed methods, especially “finger counting.” (see mode (A) on page 1 in this brochure) It seemed to relieve some tension, but I was fascinated to test the effectiveness of this techniques through  a more practical implication; smoking cessation. I was, at best skeptical as not only was counting breaths easy, and  affordable, it as also a ‘holisitic’ approach to addiction abatement. My first craving for a cigarette began shortly after my appointment, and instead of reaching into my pocket for a smoke, I tried finger counting. At first, it was fast paced, nervous and a bit “hurried”; however, within a few minutes not only did the craving stop, but I felt more energized. That was four days ago. I still have cravings, though less frequent, still conditioned to light up at certain times, but I finger count. It is so simple that even someone like me who has no patience and desires immediate satisfaction has found counting breaths  an “easy does it” resolution to an insidious condition, nicotine addiction. Try it just a couple of times, you will see, feel and be inspired by counting breaths. Again, give yourself a chance and try it out. You will not be disappointed.” June 2009.

• A woman diabetes patient (40) attended my seminar at the Diabetes Fair  organized by Albany Medical College in May 2010. She registered for the ‘Follow Up’ classes and attended the first class in June 2010. When I called her after a week she said she liked the practice. She added voluntarily that she was not smoking as many cigarettes as before.  We did not even discuss about smoking in the class!

• I gave the brochure about 5  few months back to an young postal clerk at the post office which I visit periodically. She was interested in quitting smoking.  Recently she said that the ‘Focusing on breathing’ practice was working well. Before this practice she was smoking one pack (20) cigarettes a day. Now she smokes less than half pack (10). She simply read the brochure, practiced on  her own and achieved her goal partly.

• One person about 50 years age saw the brochures related to ‘quitting smoking’ in my office and wished to do my classes.  He tried all the popular quitting methods like nicotine patches, Chantix etc. without success. He stopped Chantix because it made him hullanciated. He attended 2 sessions and began practicing the technique with high motivation to quit smoking to save money as he is unemployed. Within 2 weeks he reduced his smoking rate from 6 a day 5 a day. Within 3 months, his rate was down by 50% i.e,.  3 a day.

• One man, 30 years, who attended 5 of my classes over 2 months sent this feedback “I have been smoking for more than 15 years and almost 1 pack (20) a day for last 5 years. I tried nicotine patches but I was smoking even after using them. I tried Chantix but it caused severe sleep disturbance and I was forced to discontinue it. A few months ago, I again decided to quit smoking and have been trying to find ways to cut down cigarettes. I met Suryanarayana Chennapragada (C S) and started learning and practicing the ‘focusing on breathing’ techniques. Since then, I am practicing breathing and meditation techniques 3 to 4 days a week. With strong determination to quit smoking as my wife was soon to deliver a baby, and applying meditation/breathing techniques, I was able to cut down the smoking habit to 4 – 6 cigarettes/day in about 6 weeks. After further 6 weeks, I was finally able to stop completely. For the last 4 days I am smoke free.”

• One person around 50 years was smoking 1 1/2 packs (30) a day, from his high school. He attended my seminar and practiced the breathing. He reported that his smoking rate got reduced gradually over about 2 years to 2 to3 a day. This shows that the technique can help reduce smoking even when the addiction existed for decades.

From India (2002)

• A man (42), had been smoking 30 cigarettes a day for more than 10 years. He was a marketing man working under stressful work conditions. He used to worry about his work problems even after reaching home. After he started practicing this method, his rate of smoking slowly reduced. Over a period of 8 months his smoking rate came down to 5 per day. He is hopeful of a smoke free day.

• A man (45) used to smoke 10 cigarettes a day for last 8 years. He used to have a tiff with his wife over smoking. After 3 months of starting this method he could totally stop smoking. His relationship with his wife improved dramatically for which he was very happy. It also saved valuable money for him as he was a security guard with low income.

• A man (40) used to smoke 4 cigarettes a day for more than 15 years. After 4 months of practice of this method he stopped smoking on a regular basis. He now smokes occasionally during parties in company of friends.

• A man (30) used to smoke 10 cigarettes a day for more than 5 years. After 2 months of practice of this method he did not feel like smoking. One day, when he tried to smoke out of old habit, he suddenly got irritation in throat and felt an aversion to smoking. He threw the cigarette down.  He totally stopped smoking for last 3 months.

• A man (48) used to smoke 10 cigarettes a day. After about 3 months of this method his rate of smoking came down to 3 per day. He also stopped going round the town wasting money and time. He now spends his spare time with his family.

• A man (42) used to smoke 20 cigarettes a day for more than 10 years. Over 9 months of practicing this method, his rate gradually came down and now he rarely smokes on his choice, without feeling any compulsion.

Tobacco Chewing Cessation (From India)

• A man (52) was in the habit of chewing 15 Zarda Paans* a day (* Zarda paan is a combination of green pungent leaves mixed with powder of tobacco and other spicy ingredients, popular in India). Within 6 months of starting this method he totally stopped chewing tobacco. Even the number of times he chewed only the green leaves came down drastically to one a day. He said he had no need to chew now as he was not feeling any tension/ stress.

• A man (45) was in same habit as above of chewing tobacco along with green leaves 5 times a day. Within 5 months of practicing this method he totally stopped chewing even the green  leaves without tobacco.

See this special article ‘How to Quit Smoking by ‘Focusing on breathing’. Print PDF

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Relief from ‘Stuttering (Stammering) and Speech’ problems

• The person, male 55 years, was stuttering (stammering) from his high school age, for more than 30 years. Within 2 months of practicing this method, his speech started improving. Over a period of 9 months his speech became 90% normal. Any new person talking to him would not feel his speech deficiency at all. He was practicing this method even while walking during his regular office work and during his regular morning walks as well. He said this problem started due to his fear of his father and grand father when young. It continued for 40 years even after he himself became a grand father!

• The person, male 40 years, was speaking haltingly for many years. He used to halt for a few seconds while speaking to individuals or groups as though he was searching for the right words. Over a period of 6 months of practicing this method his speech became remarkably fluent.

• Person, male 56 years, was speaking haltingly since many years as though he was hesitating to express his opinion. Over 3 months of practicing this method his speech became very fluent.

• A person aged 50, was in the habit of listening impatiently and speaking very hastily. He became a calm listener and normal speaker after he practiced the method. He was practicing the method while doing his morning walking.

• A person aged 48, used to speak in gushes of speech with agitated   gestures of hands and face. After practicing this method his speaking style and gestures changed remarkably to a normal mode. This method seems to improve self confidence, for want of which stuttering occurs. It also seems to improve mind body co-ordination and hastiness in speaking as evident from above anecdotes.