Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease: How Yoga can help you live with it

Here are some yoga tips to deal with Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease.

Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease is a degenerative neurological disorder. A condition that affects a person's brain tissue, this condition makes a patient lose memory and they tend to forget things easily. While this is an unfortunate symptom, sometimes it is best to take the memory loss in your stride and think of it as a way to let go of bad memories. Although along with the bad memories yuo might lose the good ones too, there is a way to help you retain some part of your brain function -- through certain exercises.

Here's how you can start. If for example you are reading something, then read it out aloud so that you can speak the words written and hear your own voice, and then visualize it in your head. The idea is to use your sensory perception to remember and recall what you read. One should do this as a practice to remember the things that may be important. You may want to remember your address. Write it down, read it out aloud and visualise your house and the words that form our address.

To beat depression and to stay positive Anitya Bhavana has to be followed. Anitya bhavana helps a practitioner develop a 'bystander' attitude towards life. One must learn to develop a certain level of detachment, be objective, know and understand that everything is impermanent and will pass. This attitude helps us face the challenges of life. But then at the same time detachment doesn't mean that one can withdraw completely. It doesn't imply inaction.

Simhasana or the lion pose can be practiced to prevent and control speech impairment. One must also be very careful about everything that is consumed to make sure that they ingest no such ingredients that irritate one's throat or make it go dry.

Simhasanaor the lion pose:

Steps to do this pose:

• Sit in Padmasana.
• Lean forward and place your palms on the ground chest-width apart
• Fix your eyes at the center of your eyebrows
• Open your open as wide as you can and push your tongue out as much as possible
• Stay in the asana for as long as you are comfortable
• Slowly retract your tongue back in
• Carefully sit in Padmasana again

Anitya Bhavana

Steps to do this pose:

• Sit in Sukhasana
• Try to keep your mind free of all thoughts
• Stay calm and relax in this position for 10 minutes

You may also like to read:

• Yoga can help manage even chronic diseases!
• Yoga to deal with the symptoms of Kidney disease
• Yoga to help you live with Parkinson's disease
• How yoga can help you live with Schizophrenia
• Yoga can help you live well with HIV

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