Mental hygiene is a need of the hour for Manipur – Art of Living

Lively interactions about various dimensions of mental health marked the curtain-raiser event of the World Mental Health Day organised by the Art of Living Manipur on Sunday at its Happiness Centre located at Keishamthong Bazar, Imphal.
Mental health experts shared the intrinsic value and urgent need for adopting mental hygiene in our life. Dwelling on the theme of the event, ‘Mental Hygiene: The Need of the Hour’, Brahmachari Dixon, senior faculty of the Art of Living, highlighted the virtues of having a calm, relaxed and clear state of mind. He stressed on the need for guarding ourselves against the dangers of getting into extreme behaviour patterns of aggression or depression. He added that the Art of Living is creating a supportive atmosphere in Manipur where people could learn techniques and skills to handle their mental challenges in holistic ways and without side-effects.
“Mental hygiene is something we should adopt every moment of our life. It’s about doing every action of our daily life in a positive and mentally relaxing way,” shared Dr Waikhom Rebecca, Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology, RIMS.
She shared many tips and techniques to ease the load on our mind and handle challenging situations with ease. She highlighted the need for paying attention not just to physical health but also to mental and spiritual health. “Keeping the mind in the present moment, doing breathing exercises regularly, being grateful and avoiding substance abuse like alcoholism will help ensure mental health,” she advised.
Senior faculty of the Art of Living Rajaque Rahman shared practical and effective measures of maintaining mental hygiene. He elaborated on how breathing techniques and meditation help in increasing the life force energy and keeping the mind stress-free and positive. “Unless we learn to manage our breath, it will be almost impossible to calm the mind and live a happy life,” he added. Saying mental health is a global crisis with one suicide happening every 40 seconds, he stressed on the need for adopting mental hygiene before the challenges of day-to-day living start creating high levels of stress and anxiety and making us medicine-dependent.
Delivering the concluding remarks, adventure sports pioneer and faculty of the Art of Living Dr K. Romeo Meetei urged the gathering to learn the breathing techniques of the Art of Living and live a stress-free life. He shared how the resultant calm state of mind and the clarity helped him to perform better during critical steps of adventure sports.
The programme was held as a part of the Art of Living’s Anouba Yakairol campaign which is aimed at helping the masses in Manipur adopt techniques that will calm the mind and stay stress-free. The international NGO is also conducting regular workshops for the general public that teach powerful techniques such as the Sudarshan Kriya at its Happiness Centre located at Keishamthong in Imphal.
The Art of Living Manipur is also running a free Mental Health & Anxiety Helpline to assist people to cope with the mental challenges of the crisis and spread awareness about mental hygiene. The helpline can be accessed on 7005658504.