Success is in the blood. There are men whom fate can never keep down they march forward in a jaunty manner, and take by divine right the best of everything that the earth affords. But their success is not attained by means of the Samuel Smiles-Connecticut policy. They do not lie in wait, nor scheme, nor fawn, nor seek to adapt their sails to catch the breeze of popular favor. Still, they are ever alert and alive to any good that may come their way, and when it comes they simply appropriate it, and tarrying not, move steadily on.
Good health! Whenever you go out of doors, draw the chin in, carry the crown of the head high, and fill the lungs to the utmost; drink in the sunshine; greet your friends with a smile, and put soul into every hand-clasp.
Do not fear being misunderstood; and never waste a moment thinking about your enemies. Try to fix firmly in your own mind what you would like to do, and then without violence of direction you will move straight to the goal.
Fear is the rock on which we split, and hate the shoal on which many a barque is stranded. When we become fearful, the judgment is as unreliable as the compass of a ship whose hold is full of iron ore; when we hate, we have unshipped the rudder; and if ever we stop to meditate on what the gossips say, we have allowed a hawser to foul the screw.
Keep your mind on the great and splendid thing you would like to do; and then, as the days go gliding by, you will find yourself unconsciously seizing the opportunities that are required for the fulfillment of your desire, just as the coral insect takes from the running tide the elements that it needs. Picture in your mind the able, earnest, useful person you desire to be, and the thought that you hold is hourly transforming you into that particular individual you so admire.
Thought is supreme, and to think is often better than to do.
Preserve a right mental attitude the attitude of courage, frankness and good cheer.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Jacobsen's relaxation technique ........!!!!
The Jacobsen relaxation technique - also referred to as progressive muscles relaxation - is a technique to manage stress. It was developed in 1920s by Edmund Jacobsen. He proposed that muscle tension goes hand-in-hand with anxiety, and by reducing the muscle tension, anxiety can be reduced as well. This famous method of stress control is used by many therapists.
You can follow Jacobsen's methods of handling and managing stress, and relax your muscles, right from the comfort of your home. Jacobsen's technique is basically a 2-step process, and involves relaxing and tensing various muscles. With continued practice, you will understand which muscles are directly linked to relaxation, and which have a close connection to stress and anxiety. You will also come to know which muscles you need to relax to overcome stress.
Deep breathing is an exercise that can be used simultaneously with the Jacobsen's techniques of relaxation. The primary concern of Jacobsen's relaxation technique is to tense and then relax the muscles at a point of time. Deep breathing can be performed while you inhale while the contraction of your muscles take place, and exhale while they are being relaxed.
You should take care that your clothing is comfortable and you should remove your footwear for better relaxation. Relax yourself, and take deep breaths. Try to think of ... absolutely nothing! Once this is done, you can commence Jacobsen's relaxation technique.
It is generally recommended to begin from the feet and move upwards. Start with right foot, then proceed to the left, and then to the calves, thighs and so on. Tensing and relaxing each muscle in turn. To gain the most out of this exercise, as you tense those muscles, also inhale steadily for about 10 seconds; and then slowly start exhaling as those muscles are relaxed. Continue doing this until they feel loosened up.
This process should be repeated on each muscle working your way right up the body to scalp; working with the muscles in your feet, calves, thighs, buttocks, stomach, lower back, biceps, triceps, hands, neck and face, i.e., from the bottom to the top.
Meditation - this simple ancient practice provides stress relief for many folks today. You don't have to be of any particular religion or be religious at all to do it. Just spend about 15 minutes a day in a quiet place to sit down, close your eyes, calm your mind, and focus on your breathing. You will feel refreshed and more relaxed afterwards.
Try using this technique every day for just one week and you will already begin to feel better. Make it a part of your life and you will manage stress quite naturally.
You can follow Jacobsen's methods of handling and managing stress, and relax your muscles, right from the comfort of your home. Jacobsen's technique is basically a 2-step process, and involves relaxing and tensing various muscles. With continued practice, you will understand which muscles are directly linked to relaxation, and which have a close connection to stress and anxiety. You will also come to know which muscles you need to relax to overcome stress.
Deep breathing is an exercise that can be used simultaneously with the Jacobsen's techniques of relaxation. The primary concern of Jacobsen's relaxation technique is to tense and then relax the muscles at a point of time. Deep breathing can be performed while you inhale while the contraction of your muscles take place, and exhale while they are being relaxed.
You should take care that your clothing is comfortable and you should remove your footwear for better relaxation. Relax yourself, and take deep breaths. Try to think of ... absolutely nothing! Once this is done, you can commence Jacobsen's relaxation technique.
It is generally recommended to begin from the feet and move upwards. Start with right foot, then proceed to the left, and then to the calves, thighs and so on. Tensing and relaxing each muscle in turn. To gain the most out of this exercise, as you tense those muscles, also inhale steadily for about 10 seconds; and then slowly start exhaling as those muscles are relaxed. Continue doing this until they feel loosened up.
This process should be repeated on each muscle working your way right up the body to scalp; working with the muscles in your feet, calves, thighs, buttocks, stomach, lower back, biceps, triceps, hands, neck and face, i.e., from the bottom to the top.
Meditation - this simple ancient practice provides stress relief for many folks today. You don't have to be of any particular religion or be religious at all to do it. Just spend about 15 minutes a day in a quiet place to sit down, close your eyes, calm your mind, and focus on your breathing. You will feel refreshed and more relaxed afterwards.
Try using this technique every day for just one week and you will already begin to feel better. Make it a part of your life and you will manage stress quite naturally.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Hrithik - A True Hero........!!!
Whenever someone used to say that Hrithik had a stammer, I used to think that may be he must have stuttered till the age of 5 or 6 and then with the help of some speech therapy, got over that...but this is not the case. What I learned in the program was completely different. Here is a man who is a Bollywood superstar, super busy and still works for one hour on his speech daily. When the host asked him, for how long did he had this problem, he said since age 6 to till date, which was really surprising to everybody. But he has accepted for what he is and has not stopped at that but has worked hard to achieve whatever he wanted to be in his life. He said he had no option, either he wanted to become an actor or die trying becoming one.
When the host asks him to share one of the embarrassing moments due to his stammer..he shares only one, but then continues with really amazing fact that he always wanted to become an actor; Whenever someone asked him what he wanted to become, he used to say a-a-ac-tor! So how can someone who can't say the word 'actor' did become an actor! The turning point in his life came when once while walking on beach, he saw a group of youngsters doing somersaults and he too wanted to learn it. He tried and tried and finally managed to do it after a lot of practice and struggle,and this thought struck him : Why can't he do the same with his speech!
Other than that he had all the experiences which any person who stammers has gone through..like not being able to order food in a restaurant on his first date. Once he was not confident enough to say the word 'Dubai' on stage while receiving the award for the movie-'Kaho na payar hai' and had to practice it for some time and as he said, finally took the "leap". Just compare his motivation level to any of us and ask yourself: are we ready to work so hard..Are we ready to let go of our lame excuses like shortage of time, family reasons etc.
I know I may be sounding too harsh or strict or preacher-like but thats what these are. How can one reach office or an examination center or to a cinema theatre on time even during rains but cancel their plans to go to self help group meetings to practice their speech goals due to the same? Just be true to yourself and ask what do you want out of life and go ahead and live your life the way you want. All the best!
Hrithik said that he started it right from the scratch like A,B,C,D..........so on. Then he used to practice all the sounds of every letter or alphabet. for eg : all the sounds of the letter A.(aaaaaaa,aaeeeeee,aiiiiiiii etc). After that he used to combine the letters and practice them. Like, if we stammer on the words P or B or T etc. then practice it like paaaaaaa,peeeeeee,poooooo,puuuuuu for P and similarly for rest of them also.
If someone missed that show, you can watch it on youtube. Here are the links :-
http://www.youtube.com/watchv=p7Bz_S1uBEA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watchv=rL51RXmZe6o&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watchv=oxkMYBiUZ2k&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watchv=ZgWyz52s8Hw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watchv=syz3Heqf1OE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watchv=DkoAxHVleNg&feature=related
This post is written by "Jai Prakash Sunda".He is also a recovering stammerer and Co-ordinator of Pune SHG.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
3rd meeting of Jammu SHG......!!!
On 19th sep(saturday), we had our 3rd meeting of jammu SHG. The main objective of this meeting was to face our fears and the feeling of embarassment that we PWS go through.It is often seen that the attitude of a PWS and fluency in his/her speech, often depends upon the listener reaction to his/her stammer and what kind of facial looks(mostly weird) one gets when he/she stammers.We know that we are suppose to think in a positive way and dont let our emotions to control us.But it is really hard to keep on that positivity everytime we stammer and get a weird look.
This time also, it was only me and Aditya(the other pws in the SHG).At first we sat down and shared our experiences of the last week.we talked for about an hour. Then we started doing our tasks.
As there were only 2 members in the group and we wanted to have a photograph together.So we were in need of a third person who could take our photograph.So our first task was to request someone to take a photograph of both of us.This task was given to Aditya but the condition was that while speaking one has to use the Bouncing technique.We saw three gentleman standing at some distance and smoking. Aditya was ready to do some voluntary stammering by doing some Bouncing while requesting them.He prepared himself and we went to them.But at the last moment I dont know what happened to him and he forgot all of the bouncing technique. He just spoke normally to them. I think this was his first time , so he might be having that feeling of shame and embarassment in him. And here is the photograph :-
Then we saw few boys coming towards us . Once again Aditya was made to go to them and request them to take a photograph of both of us. He again prepared himself and once again he forgot his voluntary stammering and spoke normally. But I jumped in and carried on with my Bouncing technique and did voluntary stammering while asking them a few more things in front of Aditya so that he gets familiar to it.And yes , one of the boy in that group started laughing and mocking on my way of speaking. But nothing bad happened . We also started laughing and we told them about our stammering. But still he was laughing at us and was hiding his face from us . Once again we said that "We people also laugh sometimes on the way we speak and you are also free to laugh my frnd".At last that fellow said sorry to us but then I started laughing and told him to keep on laughing and there is no need to say sorry.After this we felt that there was no feeling of shame and embarassment in us. And that was the objective of this meeting.
After this we saw a french couple with their 2 very sweet kids. I didn't paid much attention towards them and went passed them . But when I turned back, Aditya was shaking hands with them.So atlast he was having that courage in him to talk to strangers, thatz good. I also went to them. The Guys name was David and they came back from srinagar just 2 days ago.They were here on a tour. That french guy was not knowing english and called his wife to interact with us. We told them about our stuttering and our purpose of coming here. We also solved some of their problems bcoz they were not able to find someone who can speak English. Although the french accent of that lady was very difficult to understand but some how we managed to interpret what she was saying and solved their problems.
At last we came out of that place. I gave one more task to Aditya. He was made to go to a shop and buy anything but he had to use that Bouncing technique . Finally ,this time he used the Bouncing technique and stammered voluntarily.
We had a lot of fun in this meeting and we also learned how to tackle with different reactions of listeners towards our stammering.
This time also, it was only me and Aditya(the other pws in the SHG).At first we sat down and shared our experiences of the last week.we talked for about an hour. Then we started doing our tasks.
As there were only 2 members in the group and we wanted to have a photograph together.So we were in need of a third person who could take our photograph.So our first task was to request someone to take a photograph of both of us.This task was given to Aditya but the condition was that while speaking one has to use the Bouncing technique.We saw three gentleman standing at some distance and smoking. Aditya was ready to do some voluntary stammering by doing some Bouncing while requesting them.He prepared himself and we went to them.But at the last moment I dont know what happened to him and he forgot all of the bouncing technique. He just spoke normally to them. I think this was his first time , so he might be having that feeling of shame and embarassment in him. And here is the photograph :-
Then we saw few boys coming towards us . Once again Aditya was made to go to them and request them to take a photograph of both of us. He again prepared himself and once again he forgot his voluntary stammering and spoke normally. But I jumped in and carried on with my Bouncing technique and did voluntary stammering while asking them a few more things in front of Aditya so that he gets familiar to it.And yes , one of the boy in that group started laughing and mocking on my way of speaking. But nothing bad happened . We also started laughing and we told them about our stammering. But still he was laughing at us and was hiding his face from us . Once again we said that "We people also laugh sometimes on the way we speak and you are also free to laugh my frnd".At last that fellow said sorry to us but then I started laughing and told him to keep on laughing and there is no need to say sorry.After this we felt that there was no feeling of shame and embarassment in us. And that was the objective of this meeting.
After this we saw a french couple with their 2 very sweet kids. I didn't paid much attention towards them and went passed them . But when I turned back, Aditya was shaking hands with them.So atlast he was having that courage in him to talk to strangers, thatz good. I also went to them. The Guys name was David and they came back from srinagar just 2 days ago.They were here on a tour. That french guy was not knowing english and called his wife to interact with us. We told them about our stuttering and our purpose of coming here. We also solved some of their problems bcoz they were not able to find someone who can speak English. Although the french accent of that lady was very difficult to understand but some how we managed to interpret what she was saying and solved their problems.
At last we came out of that place. I gave one more task to Aditya. He was made to go to a shop and buy anything but he had to use that Bouncing technique . Finally ,this time he used the Bouncing technique and stammered voluntarily.
We had a lot of fun in this meeting and we also learned how to tackle with different reactions of listeners towards our stammering.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Some Important Exercises .......!!!
Here are few exercises for vocal cord :-
1) Deep Breathing (through Diaphragm)-- Inhale from your nose and exhale from your mouth. But slowly .
2) Voice modulation ( aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa for 6 seconds eeeeeeeeeeeeee ... oooooooooooooo ....... uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu all at a higher pich .. than a bit lower and than only breathing and again slowly slowly go higher )
3) Vocal exercise ( Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaapple .... Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelephant .... strech the staring sound of every word for 6 seconds and than without stopping speak out the remaining part of the word softly )
4) letters on which you stammer most
Ka, ba, ma, pa, sa,Ta
Like ka…….,kaa…….,ki………ku……….ke…..,ko……….
5) Counting exercise
Say 1, 2, 3, 4, 5(1-5) in a breath (remember prolong 1st letter i.e v of one).you have to do counting upto 100 (1-5, 6-10….21-24, 25-28…96-100)
6) Slow reading practice ( Mmmmmmy naaaaaame iiiiiiiiiis Maaaanpreeeeeeet / iiiii aaaaam frooooooooom jaaamuuuuuu )
You can Practice each exercise for about 15 mins a day.
1) Deep Breathing (through Diaphragm)-- Inhale from your nose and exhale from your mouth. But slowly .
2) Voice modulation ( aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa for 6 seconds eeeeeeeeeeeeee ... oooooooooooooo ....... uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu all at a higher pich .. than a bit lower and than only breathing and again slowly slowly go higher )
3) Vocal exercise ( Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaapple .... Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelephant .... strech the staring sound of every word for 6 seconds and than without stopping speak out the remaining part of the word softly )
4) letters on which you stammer most
Ka, ba, ma, pa, sa,Ta
Like ka…….,kaa…….,ki………ku……….ke…..,ko……….
5) Counting exercise
Say 1, 2, 3, 4, 5(1-5) in a breath (remember prolong 1st letter i.e v of one).you have to do counting upto 100 (1-5, 6-10….21-24, 25-28…96-100)
6) Slow reading practice ( Mmmmmmy naaaaaame iiiiiiiiiis Maaaanpreeeeeeet / iiiii aaaaam frooooooooom jaaamuuuuuu )
You can Practice each exercise for about 15 mins a day.
Some Important Techniques.......!!!
Important Techniques :--
Bouncing :- When ever we pws are stuck on a particular word, we always force the 1st sound of that word out of our vocal chords by breathing improperly from our chest or sometimes we even stop our breath and force the first sound of the word to get out of our mouth.This increases the air pressure in our lungs and we start getting out of breathe.So instead of doing all this ,we can stop just before the word which is difficult to speak and bounce(repeat the 1st sound) very comfortably,easily and without any stress. And when we feel that now the rest of the word is also coming out , just stop bouncing and speak that word starting again from the 1st sound.for example:- I always get stuck on the word starting from P. So if I have to say "My name is Pawan". Dont struggle and dont stop breathing in order to speak "Pawan". Just repeat the first sound very softly like My name is P - P - P - P -P-a-a-wan.Now here the repetetion of the word is not like as we always do . Just speak it softly .
Diaphragm breathing :- This is the most important one.Untill n unless you dont allow the air to pass through ur Vocal cords, you cant speak.We use this technique bcoz most of the adults have developed a bad habit of breathing from our chest.I found that all the babies breathe properly from theri Diaphragm or abdomen. So when ever we stammer or get stuck, we always start to breathe from our chest or sometimes we even forget to breathe. So just try to breath from ur diaphragm.
Prolongation :- Prolongation is a technique that is suggested in most of the speech therapies. In this we have to strech the first sound rather than Bouncing on it. Now in case of "Pawan" ,we can say it as Paaaaaaaaaaawan. Actually we have to strech the first sound but when we say "Pawan", there is always the P sound followed by aaaaaaa.
Light contact :- Also we people often get blocked on P sound bcoz our lips are not opening up or seprating out. So there must be a light contact of ur lips when we are dealing with sounds like P,B etc.And if you apply this light contact method then you will observe that After the 1st sound of P there will be the sound of "hhh" rather than "aaaaa" in Pawan.
Easy on set :- In this we have to strech every vowel sound that appears in a word. for eg : Paaaaaaaawaaaaaaaaaan, Iiiiiiiiiiindiiiiiiiiiiaaaaaa.
Cancellation :- This is used if in case we forgot to apply our techniques on a difficult or feared word.And we are stuck on that feared word.In this we have to stop in between our block on this word , take a deep breath and then start again speaking out that word but this time we will use our techniques and speak out that particular word with ease and light contact etc.for eg :- my name is Pa-a-a- . stop here. Take a deep breath. Then start with the technique with which you are comfortable. Like I am comfortable with light contact in case of P . so I wud say Phhhwan. You need not to repeat the complete sentence again. Just repeat the word on which you get stuck .
All these techniques should be practiced in the company of other human beings for best results. In other words SHG is the best place - instead of doing it alone.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Joe Biden and Demosthenes: A tale of two stammerers
I was inspired by a stunning parallel between Senator Biden’s remarkable life story and that of the ancient Greek orator Demosthenes.
Both were stammerers in their youth. Both were taunted for it with cutting nicknames–”dash” for Biden, since he left his words hanging with a dash; batalus for Demosthenes, which meant both asshole and stammerer.
But both defined themselves by overcoming this impediment, and thus turning their greatest weakness–speaking–into their greatest strength–oratory. Demosthenes went on to become the single greatest orator not only in Greece but in all of history. Statesmen from Cicero to Disraeli and Churchill looked to him for lessons in how to move a political audience with speech. Joe Biden, too, became an effective–and, if anything, a garrulous–senator and is now the vice president of US.
As always, it is how they overcame that is the story. Joe Biden’s story is all over the news. But you may not know Demosthenes’ story. Here is the brief version, as Plutarch tells it:
Once, after Demosthenes was once again laughed out of the forum of Athens for his slobbering, panting attempts at speech, he was walking in dejection around the port. An actor followed him and caught up. He asked Demosthenes to recite passages from Euripides and Sophocles. Demosthenes recited them. As soon as he stopped, the actor would deliver the same passage, but with full force and feeling, with gesture and emotion.
Demosthenes was so inspired that he built himself a sort of cave underground where he hid for months at a time, just practicing his speech. He shaved one half of his head, then the other, so that he would be too ashamed to come out. With laser-like focus, he stayed in that dungeon and worked on his tongue, his vocal cords, his gestures, his cadence, his logic.
Eventually he came out of his cave and set his hurdles higher. He recited speeches while running up hills. He went to the shore and orated against and over the breaking waves. When even that became easy, he put pebbles under his tongue and then enunciated over the roaring surf. Here he is, as the painter Jean Lecomte du Nouÿ imagined him:
In time, he became the greatest orator, and then the greatest statesman, of his country and time, Athens in the fourth century BCE. It would be Demosthenes who roused the Athenians against the menace of Philip of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great.
Were the early failures, setbacks and shortcomings of Joe Biden and Demosthenes impostors, in Kipling’s sense? Stammering, for Biden or Demosthenes, was not a liberating event, as failure was for Steve Jobs, J.K. Rowling, or Hannibal’s nemesis, the great Scipio. Their stammer was more like a gauntlet that life threw before their soul. Success in life can be about picking such gauntlets up and then going deep, way deep, to find the strength.
Both were stammerers in their youth. Both were taunted for it with cutting nicknames–”dash” for Biden, since he left his words hanging with a dash; batalus for Demosthenes, which meant both asshole and stammerer.
But both defined themselves by overcoming this impediment, and thus turning their greatest weakness–speaking–into their greatest strength–oratory. Demosthenes went on to become the single greatest orator not only in Greece but in all of history. Statesmen from Cicero to Disraeli and Churchill looked to him for lessons in how to move a political audience with speech. Joe Biden, too, became an effective–and, if anything, a garrulous–senator and is now the vice president of US.
As always, it is how they overcame that is the story. Joe Biden’s story is all over the news. But you may not know Demosthenes’ story. Here is the brief version, as Plutarch tells it:
Once, after Demosthenes was once again laughed out of the forum of Athens for his slobbering, panting attempts at speech, he was walking in dejection around the port. An actor followed him and caught up. He asked Demosthenes to recite passages from Euripides and Sophocles. Demosthenes recited them. As soon as he stopped, the actor would deliver the same passage, but with full force and feeling, with gesture and emotion.
Demosthenes was so inspired that he built himself a sort of cave underground where he hid for months at a time, just practicing his speech. He shaved one half of his head, then the other, so that he would be too ashamed to come out. With laser-like focus, he stayed in that dungeon and worked on his tongue, his vocal cords, his gestures, his cadence, his logic.
Eventually he came out of his cave and set his hurdles higher. He recited speeches while running up hills. He went to the shore and orated against and over the breaking waves. When even that became easy, he put pebbles under his tongue and then enunciated over the roaring surf. Here he is, as the painter Jean Lecomte du Nouÿ imagined him:
In time, he became the greatest orator, and then the greatest statesman, of his country and time, Athens in the fourth century BCE. It would be Demosthenes who roused the Athenians against the menace of Philip of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great.
Were the early failures, setbacks and shortcomings of Joe Biden and Demosthenes impostors, in Kipling’s sense? Stammering, for Biden or Demosthenes, was not a liberating event, as failure was for Steve Jobs, J.K. Rowling, or Hannibal’s nemesis, the great Scipio. Their stammer was more like a gauntlet that life threw before their soul. Success in life can be about picking such gauntlets up and then going deep, way deep, to find the strength.
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