Pune Mirror ( 21/10/09)-Fatigue

Mitali Parekh gets experts to tell you how to cope

Music director Pritam has been so fatigued recently, that he had to take time out and go to Kolkata. Such has been the pressure on the Kal Aaj Kal composer that his smoking habit spiralled out of control and he’s been advised a prolonged holiday. If you thought stress was bad, meet its extreme cousin — fatigue.

WHAT’S FATIGUE?

“Fatigue is another word for extreme exhaustion of both mental and physical strength,” says psycho-therapist Salma Prabhu. “You feel you can’t go on or even talk to anyone. Short breaks don’t help; you need to take a longer one.” Mental fatigue is caused by any prolonged activity along with high level of stress and emotions. It is seen among individuals who work on tight deadlines for long duration and carry out tasks that require continuous attention and effort. It results in mistakes, affects decision making skills and drops performance drastically. One can prevent fatigue by defining limits and sticking to them. If you know the physical and mental threshold of work is say, eight hours, and include music, a walk or reading, then fatigue will rarely set in. People who exercise regularly, meditate, practice yoga and pranayam hardly experience fatigue. Many offices have soft music in the background, gym or cafeteria, all of which help alleviate stress.

SURE-FIRE CURE
Do this once a week

• Get a massage and listen to soothing music.

• Eat light and go for a brisk walk to pump up blood circulation.

• Avoid phone calls.
SCENT FOR HELP
Jyoti Devjani of Shanti Spa at the Trident, Mumbai, has the following tips:

•Cut open, peel or deeply smell citrus fruits such as lemon, orange or lime between tasks.

• Carry rosemary, lavender, tulsi or lemon grass in cloth sachets or crush them and inhale deeply.

• Dab eucalyptus oil on a handkerchief, or crush leaves by hand and inhale.

• Keep a bunch of jasmine, desi roses and champa near your workspace.
YOGA TO THE RESCUE
Yoga trainer Yogesh Chavan prescribes the following asanas: Jalandhar Shuddhi Kriya: Under presure, lactic acid accumulates around our neck. Exercising it frees up the nervous system since all the nerves branch out from the base of the neck.
Rotate your neck clock-wise and anti-clockwise. Sit cross-legged on the floor. Drop the neck forward, chin should touch the chest, roll to your left, then drop your head back, roll to the right and come back to the starting position. Repeat in the anti-clockwise motion. Repeat five to six in each direction.
To relieve tired collar muscles, rest your hands on your thighs and roll your shoulders front to back and then back to front. Repeat five to six times. Jathar parivartanasan:The lower back feels the strain if you are on your feet for too long. Twisting it flexes the spine. Lie on your back and pull your knees up. Drop your knees to the left such that the left knee touches the floor and the right thigh and knee rests on it. Drop your head to the right side and your hands should be near your ears, as if you’ve just yawned. Hold for count of seven and change directions. Repeat three times for each side. Pressure point: The energy regeneration point is located on the middle of the inside of the right forearm. Press, roll and pump it with your left thumb to energise it. WHAT THEY SAY Listening to music keeps fatigue at bay; I even have western classical s piping in the theatre when I'm performing a surgery. Even 10 to 15 minutes of music on my MP3 player refresh me. I read a book, some kind of self-help or non-fiction work, between appointments. — Dr Ramakant Panda, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeon (does six to eight surgeries every day) Really, de-stressing is automatic. If you have a clean conscience, there is absolute no stress. I
my work. When an innocent person is involved, I get stressed. I listen to music. I also love reading books but get no time for it. I go for long walks with my wife, which is de-stressing. I always love visiting old temples to get de-stressed. If you go to nature, they are like living creatures and absorb our negative energy.
— Shrikant Shivde, Advocate Actually people are not aware that in our field fatigue does come in. Only
we take rest or sleep, we get destressed. I like music but get less or no time for it. Most police personnel carry stress and are overburdened. There is no time to cultivate recreation or hobbies. My hobbies include sher-o-shayariand when on the move, I try listening to it.
— Arvind Patil, Senior PI, Thane