I am grateful to the following professionals for their endorsements. I request others professionals who practiced ‘Focusing on breathing’ or helped their clients practice it, to e-mail their comments to me. It may convince some non-believers.
Peter Horvath M.D - Please scroll down in this page
Sharon Wheeler M S Albany Medical Center
Emily Marynczak AAHCC Certified Birth Instructor
Aparajit Naram, M.D. (Resident Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery)
Kathryn Godley RN Albany Medical College
An Ophthalmologist M.D (Name withheld)
Meg Taylor Head of Robert C. Parker School
Lynn Schuster Class teacher Grade 2/3 Robert C. Parker School
A specialist M.D (Name withheld)l
Kathryn Watson Licensed Massage Therapist
We recommended to our patients and ourselves
A simple, no expense, meditation-oriented approach to stress reduction which we recommend for all our patients (and ourselves!) is nicely presented at the following website: www.countingbreaths.com. Try it; you’ll be glad you did! (Peter Horvath, MD, FACOG Endorsement in his web site under ‘Exercise and Stress Reduction.)
Helping my patients
The focusing on the breath 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 it helps them relax. Some patients have reported it has helped then sleep better, and no longer rely on medications. The most remarkable effect was on a patient with severe panic attacks, who could not drive over a bridge without taking an anxiolytic first, is now able to drive over bridges without relying on medications! (Padma Sripada MD Internal Medicine doctorpadma.com
Thanks for the simple hand outs
“Thank you so much for sharing your breathing techniques. You inspire us in how you used them yourself, then made simple handouts so that others could enjoy the Healing Power of Focusing on Breathing.
I hope many of our readers enjoy their healing power! Thanks for the Inspiration!” Nancy Moore PhD, RN
Meditation is so easy!
I really enjoyed your classes and experienced for the first time the fact that meditation can be done so easily. It is simple, meaningful and practical. I am regularly following this technique and can tell you for sure, that it has tremendous effect on my health. (Sudha Chaturvedi Ph. D. Research Scientist)
Magical effect
I have experienced some magical effect of the ‘Count your breath exercise’, which I started only recently, say 3-4 months ago. Though I had heard about such a technique many years ago, I was literally introduced to this by a good friend of mine, Mr. Suryanarayana. Initially, I was skeptical as anyone would be, but then thought, if I don’t gain much from it, I am definitely not going to loose anything. So, I started practicing this technique for a few minutes (10-15 minutes) without a particular goal in mind. I chose morning hours, immediately after coming out of the bed. In the initial couple of weeks, which included few gaps, I felt a very slight change in my attitude. The most important has been a sharp decline in frequency of getting panic on work not being completed according to target dates (set by me), which sometimes can be considered as unrealistic by my colleagues. At this point, I do not know for sure if this positive change in myself is due to ‘Counting your breath exercise’, but must be it , because I haven’t made any other change in my daily routine recently. I hope to increase the duration of this exercise in the near future. (Rajendra Agrawal Ph. D Research Scientist, Wadsworth Center, NYS Dept of Health, Albany NY and Associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Public Health of the University at Albany NY.
Helping children cope with stress
One of the ways we help children cope with stress at Parker is by practicing the simple mindful breathing taught us by C.S., the grandfather of Veda in 4-5. It is one of his life’s missions to spread this easy and effective way to reduce anxiety. The breathing technique is practiced regularly by almost all the children in the school. (Meg Taylor Head Robert C. Parker School Wynantskill NY in her blogspot dated Dec 1. 09.)
Pause, Breathe and Relax
I must thank you for teaching me to pause, breathe and relax. I used to think the fun and laughs we had and the connection and trust I Strive to create with each student would ensure focus when the time required it. But from your guidance and teaching, I saw that I needed to do something more. You have changed the way I live in the class room. You made me pay closer attention to what is really happening in front of me.
Lynn Schuster Class teacher Grade 2/3, Robert C. Parker School.
Lynn’s full report
Enthusiastic response
Thank you again for participating it the 2009 Diabetes Health Fair. We were so pleased with the enthusiastic response! Enclosed please find your $100 honorarium, a small token of appreciation. We will be certainly be in touch about the next year’s symposium! (Kathryn Godley, Diabetes Nurse Clinician. MS, RN, CDE Albany Medical College Dept of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Albany NY)
No more Insomnia
“Insomnia is an occasional problem for me, sometimes affecting me for days at a time. Sometimes, I go to sleep easily, but wake up in the middle of the night. Then I can’t fall back to sleep. Other times, I just can’t fall asleep at all. Sleeping pills work, but I don’t really like to take them, and they are definitely not an option to take at 3:00 am if I have to get up at 6:00. I have practiced Mr. Chennapragada’s counting breaths technique for the last two years or so, and have found it to be a very effective way to go to sleep, or get back to sleep. I also occasionally use it to reduce stress, and as suggested in Mr. Chennapragada’s handout. I sometimes use it while sitting at stoplights. I am very thankful to have learned this great technique.” An Ophthalmologist M.D (Name withheld)
Useful for women in Labor
Thank you very very much for your session last night. I personally have benefited so much form your techniques and I know that my clients have too. I will continue to discuss how well your techniques apply to labor. The concept of using the fingers to ‘anchor the mind’ is very promising for use in labor. Your “911″ remedy for a stubbed toe is something that I teach for labor just with a different name. I also teach women to vocalize their exhalations- to release the power of the contraction- we practice open loud powerful wailing sounds to release the breath and any fears. A kind of birth song- but ultimately just a simple breath technique. I think that perhaps counting breaths, 1,2 3, 1, 2, 3 out loud may also be helpful to some women in labor. I am so enthralled with the simplicity and freedom inherent in your approach- It is freedom and simplicity that I strive to teach in my birth education work.
Subsequent comment: I continue to refer my clients to your web site. We often practice together in my classes. I too look forward to a time when these techniques are main stream.
Emily Marynczak, AAHCC and Bradley Method Certified Birth Instructor #(518) 478-0062. (AAHCC is for American Association for Husband Coached Childbirth)
Made a huge difference
“As a medical student and now as a resident, there are numerous nights where I find myself awake in bed, thinking of unfinished tasks of the day and the challenges that await me in the morning. ’Counting breaths’ has made a huge difference and helped me tremendously, particularly at night, allowing me to turn off the background chatter of my mind and focus on one thing, my own breath, which then allows me to get the rest needed to face the problems of the next day. I wake up in the morning feeling refreshed and prepared for what lies ahead. I would recommend these techniques to anyone dealing with stressors on a daily basis.” Aparajit Naram, M.D. Resident (Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery)
Lunch time seminar
Thank you for presenting ‘counting breaths’ at our lunch time. The feedback you received from the participants was overall score of 4.9 out of 5 satisfaction. (Sharon L. Wheeler. MS, MT-BC, LCAT, HTCP, Healing Arts manager, Albany Medical Center – June 17, 09)
A pragmatic strategy to control the mind
Meeting Mr. Suryanarayana was more than a sheer coincidence. I called him hoping for ‘Srimadbhagavadgeeta’ (Geeta in short) (1) sessions, just to realize that he had come up with a very easy, yet pragmatic strategy to control the mind (one of the major aspects of Geeta).
I have benefited from this technique and continue to hope for ongoing experiences. Focusing on breath using the ‘tip mode’ and ‘counting mode’ has been very beneficial to calm the mind. My sleep quality has improved phenomenally and so has the ability to reduce the impact of the stressors of day to day life.
Both our children have learnt the technique from him and hopefully will continue to reap the benefits. They are realizing their inner strength every day through constant practice.
We are even hoping that Mr. Suryanarayana will teach this technique to my younger sister, who is deaf; and her daughter (both visiting us from India) so that they can improve their quality of life even back home.
I would very strongly recommend this simple and effective technique to anybody and everybody. Thanks to Mr. Suryanarayana for being a catalyst in our evolution! Specialist M.D (Name withheld)
This is an excellent technique for any one having trouble sleeping
“This is an excellent technique for anyone having trouble sleeping or needing better quality sleep. I highly recommend this.” Kathryn Watson, Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Hypnotherapist, Life Coach and Motivational Speaker in her web site having-trouble-sleeping.com.
(1) An ancient spiritual text from India known World over.
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Parent page: Level I – ‘Focusing on breathing’
