The Hindu Business Line : Slimming stops snoring

Yes, being overweight by 20 per cent can lead to snoring. A heavy body has to work harder to suck air into the lungs, causing the tissue in the back of the throat to vibrate excessively like a wind instrument — this makes a sound albeit not a musical one! So exercise, diet and lose weight. Make ‘Slimming stops snoring’ your priority-mantra. Also…

Sleep on your side, not on your back.

Elevate your head and torso to minimise snoring.

Stop alcohol, sedatives, antihistamines, cigarettes.

If prone to colds, do steam inhalations.

Daily practise this pranayama: Sitting erect, inhale deeply, squaring the shoulders. Exhale until lungs are empty. Bend forward, sucking the stomach in. Repeat 10 times. This clears your nasal passage and helps you sleep better.

Please advise how to tackle cervical spondylosis. It has just started paining on one side of the neck which, at times, descends to the arm. I’m 40, weigh 52 kg and am under medication for asthma. My blood pressure is normal and I have no other complications.

Usha Nair

I suggest you consult an orthopaedist for a calcium supplement with vitamin D3, an analgesic if the pain is acute, and a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug if necessary. Make sure you inform the doctor about your asthma medication. Once the pain has subsided, consult a physiotherapist for postural corrections and neck exercises to prevent future pain.

There’s a lot you can do to help yourself too:

Daily, direct a warm shower on the back of your neck, shoulder, arm until you feel relief.

If you are at your computer for long hours, take breaks every hour to massage and stretch your neck.

Sleep flat on your back on a firm mattress. Get a cervical pillow to support the neck while you sleep.

Eat low-fat, low-salt foods. Fat coats red blood cells and hinders proper blood circulation which lowers oxygen levels. Salt attracts water which floods tissues and joints and prevents oxygen from reaching them. Oxygen-starved tissues and joints degenerate. So, stop fried foods, butter, ghee, oil, nuts, salty snacks, pickles. Have toned milk, curd, low-fat paneer, soya tofu, whole grains, pulses, fruits and vegetables. Ensure you have a large salad on your thali.

Get some vitamin C through citrus fruits, amla or tablets. Also, have a cod-liver oil capsule on alternate days for a month. It contains vitamin A which has an anti-inflammatory effect and omega-3 fatty acids which alleviate joint tenderness. Check with your doctor about these supplements to make sure they don’t interfere with your asthma medication.

Do relaxation meditation daily. Consciously relax your neck and shoulders by taking deep breaths with your eyes closed. Visualise white healing light entering the crown of your head and flowing into your neck, shoulder and left arm. Affirm, “My neck and shoulders are healthy and strong!”

Do the following exercises when not in pain and in consultation with your physiotherapist:

Turn your head toward the left shoulder, then the right — 10 times.

Place your hand on the left side of your head and push. Hold to a count of 10. Relax. Repeat 3 times. Then do it on the right side.

Hold light weights [2.5 pounds], keep your arms straight and shrug your shoulders up and down 10 times.

I’ve suddenly started finding my family too demanding. When somebody drags furniture, the scraping grates my nerves. I find I’m trying to out-guess my boss. I feel I have too many things to do and am snappish and irritable. I fear I’m not myself anymore. Please advise.

Amrita K.

You are not your whole self any more, that is why you are stressed out. The most doting mother, the most dedicated executive still needs time to relax and renew herself. You need to take time off every day to nourish your creative, aesthetic non-mechanical self. Cut down the superfluous tasks you’ve taken on and get back to the simple personal pleasures you’ve sacrificed to accommodate the mechanical chores that are crowding you.

For an hour daily, have no goal, be free. Watch the sun rise or set. Walk briskly on the beach with the wind in your face. Watch an ant. Climb a tree. Cycle in the compound. Read philosophy. Soak in music. Paint. When you develop your aesthetic, finer nature, you feel more alive and fulfilled, you integrate with a larger world that puts your smaller world in proper perspective. So, cultivate leisure like a sage. Relax in vastness.

Please suggest one or two simple exercises to tone up my upper arms, the kind I can do anytime, any place without needing a formal setup or weights.

Eenu Chandiramani

Do these exercises while standing:

Hold your arms out to the side, level with your shoulders. Rotate them in large circles 10 times clockwise, 10 times anti-clockwise.

In the same position, twist your arms backward to a count of 20, then twist them forward to a count of 20.

The writer is co-author of the book ‘Fitness for Life’

Queries may be sent to life@thehindu.co.in