More information

Australian Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine Association www.acupuncture.org.au
British Medical Journal www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/319/7215/973
www.lifestages.com/health/tinnitus.html
American Academy of Medical Acupuncture: www.medicalacupuncture.org/

YOGA

What Is Yoga?

Yoga combines breathing, exercises, relaxation, meditation and visualisation.

1) Breathing is the basis of your whole existence; it provides energy and controls your health. Learning correct breathing strengthens all the body’s internal systems, reduces stress and blood pressure, and prevents illness by boosting your immune system. By controlling your breathing you can become less anxious and more relaxed.

2) Exercises, such as stretching, bending and twisting improve your flexibility. Stretching releases tension in the muscles. Bending and twisting strengthen the spine.

3) Relaxation helps to calm the body and mind and restore the body’s normal energy flow.

4) Meditation helps you to calm and control your mind. By practising meditation regularly you become less concerned and upset by things. Nervous tension and stress are removed.

5)Visualisation is like playing a game, where you can bring about success after creating a positive feeling or picture in your mind.

Is Yoga Difficult?

No. If an exercise feels difficult you should stop, or don’t bend, stretch or twist as far. You work at your own pace and only do what you are able. In time, as you become more flexible, you will find that you can reach parts of your body that had been unreachable.

Yoga Can Help You

Yoga can help you no matter what your state of health. Yoga can be fun and is easy for even children to learn. Many exercises follow animal poses, like the cat, dog, lion or cobra and children can make the animal noises while exercising.

Depending on your health and flexibility you may need private lessons, or you can join a yoga class. There is no competition in yoga. You will find that practising yoga gives you more self-confidence and more self-discipline. As you learn to work with your mind and body, you will become more in control and feel more independent. Yoga is one of the many ways that can help you discover just how much we are capable of.

Yoga cannot cure tinnitus or disability but it can help to stabilise it. Because yoga works on the whole body (your mind, your body and your inner self, the spirit) you gain more confidence and become more relaxed. Also, by tuning-in to your body you learn how to listen to your body rather than your mind. Yoga encourages positive thoughts.

(Adapted from: Virginia Sambucco, Yoga Practitioner)

4. Sound Therapy

Sound Therapy is a portable self-help program that uses specially recorded audio- tapes or CDs of highly filtered classical music to “rehabilitate the ear and recharge the brain”. Sound Therapy presents constantly alternating sounds of high and low tone. This, it is claimed, “exercises the middle ear muscles and stimulates the receptor cells in the inner ear”.
There are no controlled trials of Sound Therapy as a technique for managing tinnitus, but Sound Therapy claims to have the following effects (most of which are unproven):

New vitality and sense of wellbeing
Obliteration of tiredness and stress
Deep relaxation and relief of anxiety
Heightened creativity and mental capacity
Increased energy, focus and performance
Deep, beneficial sleep and an end to insomnia
Improved hearing for those with industrial deafness or hearing loss due to ageing
Relief of tinnitus(ringing in the ears)
Better balance and recovery from Meniere's vertigo
Improved concentration and learning ability
Recovery from learning problems such as ADD, dyslexia etc.
Improved behaviour and communication in children
Increased voice quality and vocal range
Better relationships and greater family harmony

(From: www.soundtherapyinternational.com/pages/sound_therapy.htm)

MORE INFORMATION

Joudry R. (2001) Triumph Over Tinnitus. Sound Therapy International, Sydney.
www.soundtherapyinternational.com/info_sheets/tinnitus.htm

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