Part I: Stress Counseling according to Bhagavadgita
Part II: Effect of Yoga Guided Quick Relaxation Technique (QRT) and of Supine Rest (SR) on Autonomic Variables
By
Ravindra M Kshirsagar

ABSTRACT
Part I: Stress Counseling according to Bhagavadgita

Background:  A man’s life is full of stressful moments and events, which lead him to suffer from a number of psychosomatic disorders.  The Bhagavad Gétä best provides the answer to the problems of stress and its consequences.
Aims and objectives:1) To understand the modern concept and the Yogic concept of stress and stress counseling;2) To discuss the counseling from Bhagavad Gétä

Method: A literary search from the text books of modern Psychology to understand the modern concept and from the ancient Indian scriptures, to understand the Yogic concept of stress and stress counseling was done with special reference to Bhagavad Gétä. The modern concept of stress emphasizes the physiological changes in human body and the counseling, at best, gives a man different ways to adjust to the situation or change the lifestyle.  The Yogic concept is a holistic concept, which describes the five-fold existence of man (PaïcaKoças) and gives the root cause of stress as the ignorance of man (Avidyä) about his own real nature-giving rise to disturbances at various levels.  So the best remedy of stress is to eradicate this root cause. 
Stressed person needs appropriate counseling for this.  Bhagavad Gétä, which is the quintessence of the Upaniñads and is the greatest of all counseling approaches to solve the riddles of human life, provides perfect solutions.  It caters to the diverse range of human nature and difficulties.
Conclusion: The Bhagavad Gétä is a counseling par excellence, ever relevant and guides man to the ultimate goal of human life through the pathways of Karmayoga, Bhaktiyoga, Räjayoga and Jïänayoga.

SUMMARY & CONCLUSIONS
Modern way of life has given rise to an upsurge of stress and stress induced ailments all over the globe.  These psychosomatic disorders, as they are called, are not cured by modern medicine.  This is because the root cause of them is not unraveled fully by the modern theories.
In the modern science the concept of stress is understood in the perspective of physiological changes in human body.  Whereas the Yoga and Upaniñadic literature elaborately describe the origin of stress as imbalances at various levels of human existence starting from the subtle level of manomaya koça grossifying to diseases at annamaya koça via disturbances produced at präëamaya koça level.
The root cause of these disturbances is stated as the ignorance of man about his real nature.  It is termed as lack of right knowledge by the great sage Vasiñöhä in Yoga-Vasiñöhä while named as ‘Avidyä’ in Pataïjali Yoga sütra.  Haöhayoga Pradépikä says that as long as we feel the separation from our true identity there will be stress, which it calls as ‘Täpa’.
The Bhagavad Gétä, one of the highest revered ancient Indian scripture, precisely pins down the origin and development of stressful situation to the duo of lust and anger paving way to a cascade of events degenerating to total destruction of man. Sri Kåñëa says from their very birth all beings are deluded by the bewitchment of the pairs of opposites like pleasure and pain, which spring from the instinctive feelings of attraction and aversion for them.  That is why they fail to see the truth and wallow in the mire of transmigratory existence. 
As the stress, so the disorders born out of it can be effectively tackled by applying correct counseling approaches.  The Modern methods of counseling fall short of the requisites as they are based on modern psychology which itself is based on the pathological mind and has a fixed goal of a return to normalcy, that is, in practice a return to average. 
Gétä gives extensive prescription for not only combating almost all kinds of problems and dilemmas encountered by man in his daily life, but also specifically emphasizes the ultimate goal of human life and provides techniques to attain it, namely Karmayoga, Bhaktiyoga, Räjayoga and Jïänayoga respectively.
Karmayoga in Gétä speaks of dedication of fruits of actions to God as true renunciation and performance of duties without attachment and aversion and desire for results of the work as the best of action.  In Bhaktiyoga, Gétä teaches man to completely surrender to the Lord and go beyond the ego to get purified and dwell in eternal peace and bliss.  The Gétä teaches also Räjayoga which helps a man for reducing his mind into pure consciousness through the process of concentration and meditation so as to get the ultimate mastery over the mind.  The path of knowledge or Jïänayoga teaches us to get rid of the limitations of time, space and causation and to discriminate right from wrong, the reality from the unreality and become free from all the bondages for ever.
These counsels contain theories and approaches, which are applicable universally, at all times in the history of mankind, for all kinds of personalities and all varieties of trying situations.  Sri Kåñëa declares that whoever has abandoned desires, and moves about without attachents and the sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ – he attains to peace.
Finally, modern psychology is of recent origin.  It is  founded on materialistic basis.  Although it has started realising the value of consciousness based approach and is gradually developing trends towards a “ Science of Supreme Spirit” yet it has to go a long way on the path which was tread by the great ancient Indian sages, thousands of years ago, to its ultimate end.

Part II: Effect of Yoga Guided Quick Relaxation Technique (QRT) and of Supine Rest (SR) on Autonomic Variables

Background: Various relaxation techniques reduce autonomic activity.
Aims: To compare the effect of Yoga guided quick relaxation technique (QRT) and of supine rest (SR) on autonomic variables in healthy young males.
Methods: In this self as control design, twenty-seven male volunteers with ages ranging between 20 – 45 years (mean ± std.dev.26.3 ± 4.1) were studied in 2 sessions, of QRT and SR on consecutive days.  The duration of each session was 3 minutes. Assessment of autonomic parameters was made before, during and after both sessions by using a 4-channel polygraph (Recorders & Medicare Systems Pvt. Ltd, Chandigarh).  The data were subjected to repeated measures analysis of variance (RMANOVA).
Results: The RMANOVA yielded a significant interaction between phases and sessions for respiratory rate (RR) (F=11.477, df = 2, p< .001) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (F=16.216, df = 1, p < .001).  RR decreased during (31.97%, p< .001, es = 1.52) and after QRT (8.71%; p = .051, es = 0.49) and also during (11.34%; p .< .05, es = 0.68) after SR (7.42%; p .<.05, es = 0.43).  The systolic blood pressure (SBP) (2.46%; p< .001, es = 0.81) and the DBP (3.28%; p< .001, es = 0.95) decreased after QRT than after SR.  Galvanic skin resistance (GSR) increased only during SR (2.36%; p < .05, es = 0.61). The finger plethysmogram amplitude decreased after QRT (11.68%, p < .05, es = 0.67) whereas there were no changes in HRV and HR.
Conclusion: QRT reduces sympathetic tone better than SR.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The study was aimed at evaluating the effect of Yoga based guided relaxation (QRT) and SR on the autonomic variables including HRV spectrum.  27 normal healthy males whose ages ranged between 20 – 45 years were studied in a self as control design.  The participants were assessed in two sessions on consecutive days for 3 minutes before, during and after the intervention using a 4-channel polygraph.  (Recorders & Medicare Systems Pvt. Ltd, Chandigarh).
The results showed that there was decrease in RR during and after both the sessions, with significant interaction with higher effect size during QRT.  The SBP and DBP decreased after QRT with significant difference and interaction between groups.  PLT values decreased after QRT. GSR increased during SR.  There were no significant changes in HR and HRV in either of the sessions.
It is concluded that, 1) Both QRT and SR reduce some parameters of autonomic activity suggestive of relaxing effect, 2) QRT results in a state of alertful rest, with effect of relaxation combined with some signs of sympathetic stimulation, 3) QRT is better than SR in reducing autonomic activity, 4) Neither of the sessions of QRT and SR showed any significant changes in the measures of HRV spectrum.
Key words:                  yoga               quick              relaxation              autonomic.