Yoga

What could be more natural than taking a deep, easy breath? Or stretching gently from head to toe? Or lounging in bed on Saturday morning, letting thoughts of the past week drift quietly in and out of your mind?

Simple as it sounds, that’s yoga. It’s not about body-wrenching positions or secret Eastern philosophy. It’s about gently bringing your body and mind back in touch with each other—and giving yourself a chance to heal.

“One of the big benefits of yoga is that it releases built-up tension and stress, which burrow into the muscles of the body,” says yoga instructor Lilias Folan, whose television shows “Lilias, Yoga and You” and “Lilias!” have appeared on public television for more than two decades. “Spending time on the body is the key to being a healthy, contented human being.”

In many ways, yoga is the most basic of natural remedies. You don’t need anything but a quiet, comfortable place and a few minutes each day to practice breathing, stretching and meditation. Experts say yoga offers specific exercises and techniques that you can do by yourself to help with a variety of ailments.

Yoga can become a calming, friendly addition to your hectic daily routine. “You’ll soon begin to enjoy the stillness. You’ll welcome it, instead of trying to shut quiet and calm out of your life,” says Folan, creator of the audiotape series Rest, Relax and Sleep, used by hospitals and wellness programs.

“In these ways, it can help you become a happier and healthier person.”

Limbs of the Tree

The term yoga comes from the Sanskrit word yuj, meaning “to yoke.” The purpose of yoga is to yoke—to join or balance—the mind, body and breath. Too often, Folan says, we view the three as separate parts of us, unconnected and unrelated. “But they’re intimately connected,” she says. “A change in one will reflect in the others. When the mind is disturbed, the breath and body are affected. When the body is active, the mind and breath change right along with it. You can quiet the mind by quieting the breath; you can quiet your breathing by slowing down your activity.” Proper yoga poses, or asanas, will bring about this desired balance, she says.

No one knows exactly how long people have been practicing yoga. The earliest mentions of it come from small stone symbols in India that are thought to date from 3000 b.c.—nearly 5,000 years ago. About 2,300 years ago, the sage Patanjali compiled this passed-down knowledge in the Yoga Sutras, which include the eight steps that lead to spiritual enlightenment.

Some of the steps, which include poses and yoga breathing techniques (called pranayama), form what is known as hatha yoga. These, plus meditation, are the parts of yoga best known in the Western world. Other steps include moral codes such as dedication to nonviolence and severe simplicity.

How does yoga heal? Classic texts say that it works by increasing the body’s stores of prana, or vital energy. If prana is blocked by stress, emotional troubles, poor diet or other factors, your body is left vulnerable to sickness and disease.

Western experts believe yoga heals in two ways. The first is through relaxation. “I really feel that the most powerful healer of all is deep relaxation,” says yoga teacher Judith Lasater, P.T., Ph.D., author of Rest and Renew: Quiet Yoga Poses to Reduce Stress and Tension. “Yoga allows everything to relax. That aids your muscular system, your circulatory system and other parts of you that suffer from the effects of stress.”

Yoga poses also help cleanse organs through what Dr. Lasater calls squeezing and soaking. Moving your body into different poses forces blood out of vital organs, allowing fresh blood to take its place. This gives your organs more nutrients, making them stronger and more resistant to disease. And as you practice pranayama, you change your normal patterns of breathing, which in turn calms your state of mind, reducing the disturbances and impurities in your body.

Dr. Lasater and other experts say they have witnessed firsthand how powerful yoga can be. They say they’ve seen improvements in conditions such as infertility, arthritis, high cholesterol, back pain and many more. Scientific research is proving many of these claims. For example, researchers in Britain studied yoga’s effects on 18 people with mild asthma, who ranged in age from 19 to 54. The result: All 18 reported more improvement in their conditions when they used yoga-style breathing. The researchers also found that the people had greater resistance to the effects of histamine, a body chemical that can trigger an asthma attack, while they were doing their breathing exercises.

Yoga can apparently lift your spirits and reduce stress, too. Scientists at the City University of New York in New York City studied 63 students who had volunteered to take a beginner yoga class. The students reported feeling less anxious, tense, depressed, angry and fatigued immediately after class. And the results began to kick in after the very first class.

The news on other health problems remains mixed. A study from Holland, for instance, found that relaxation therapy that included yoga had no significant effect on lowering blood pressure. But individual cases still show promise. U.S. government researchers report that a 46-year-old air force pilot with high blood pressure lowered his readings from 138/92 to 122/82 in six weeks after stopping traditional medication and starting a relaxation program that included daily yoga practice.

Breathing It In

Daily yoga routines come in four parts: breathing, relaxation, meditation and poses. Together, Folan says, they relax the body and focus and clear the mind, giving you more energy and vigor with a sense of inner contentment and peace.

Experts say your routine should last at least a half-hour and should begin with breathing. Deep breathing draws energy into your body, provides you with precious oxygen and calms your muscles and organs, according to Alice Christensen, founder and executive director of the American Yoga Association.

Unfortunately, most of us take very shallow breaths, not allowing our lungs to expand and soak up oxygen. The proper way to breathe is by using the diaphragm, the thin muscle underneath your lungs. When the diaphragm flexes, it pulls down and opens the lower lobes of your lungs, allowing more air inside. Christensen calls this type of breathing the belly breath because your belly, not your chest, expands as air enters the lungs.

The belly breath is simple to learn. Start by sitting comfortably in a chair or on the floor. If you sit on the floor, sit on one or more firm cushions so that your hips tilt slightly forward, to reduce the strain on your lower back. Place one hand on your stomach. Then breathe out slowly through your nose, contracting your stomach muscles and lightly pushing on your stomach. To breathe in, relax your stomach muscles, arch your back slightly and let the air flow in your nose. You should feel your hand push out as your belly expands.

Breathe slowly and evenly, taking at least three seconds to inhale and three to exhale. Try to make the two parts equal. You’ll find yourself taking deeper, slower breaths without even trying. After you get the hang of it, you can remove your hand from your belly.

“This is the way to breathe all of the time,” Christensen says. “Chest breathing comes from stress; it’s a reaction to stress. But breathing from the belly is a natural way to relax and spread more oxygen to your entire body.”

Yoga offers many different advanced breathing techniques: some designed to clear the sinuses, some to go with meditation and others to strengthen stomach and chest muscles. The best overall stress reducer is called the complete breath. Christensen says this is the one you should practice for a few minutes each day as part of your yoga routine.

The complete breath starts like the belly breath, except your hands are in a different position. Place them on either side of your lower rib cage, with your fingers touching slightly. Begin breathing from your abdomen, letting the air fill your lower lungs. Now let the breath begin to fill the lower part of your chest. Try to make your ribs expand sideways as your lungs fill; you should feel your fingers spreading apart as your chest grows. Keep drawing in more air, working toward the top of your lungs. Straighten your shoulders and arch your back, letting the air “top off” your lungs. Be careful not to breathe so deeply that you feel straining in your stomach or chest muscles.

The entire inhalation should last up to ten seconds, and the exhalation should last about as long. Always breathe through your nose, because this helps you control your breath better. Do the complete breath for at least five minutes at the start of your yoga routine—but don’t stop there. Christensen recommends doing it any time during the day that you feel high stress.

Fill Your Mind with Empty

You can’t be relaxed if your mind is racing, worrying about clients at work, leaky plumbing at home and spats with your spouse. That’s why yoga experts say you need to set aside a few minutes a day to think about absolutely nothing.

Meditation helps you focus on what’s important and lets you explore yourself. And that can be very healing, says Folan.

Relaxation gently guides you into meditation. Anyone can do it, provided he has a warm, quiet room with few outside interruptions. “Meditation is something you do by yourself without children or pets in the room. No telephones,” Folan says. “Eventually, you’ll be able to stay centered and calm when there are distractions. And when you get off base, you’ll know how to return to the center through the use of your breathing and relaxation techniques.”

In advanced meditation, people usually sit upright in one of several poses. But the American Yoga Association offers a simple meditation program that you can do on your back in a position called the corpse pose (see the illustration on page 612). Christensen says this position allows you to relax completely, since there’s no pressure on any of your limbs.

Find a dimly lit, warm room with no drafts. Place a mat or blanket on the floor and lie on it faceup. Don’t use a pillow unless your doctor says you need to keep your head raised for medical reasons. Relax your arms at your sides, with your palms facing the ceiling. Straighten and relax your legs. If you have back pain, you can bend your knees to take the strain off of your lower back (or put a small cushion under your thighs).

Now spend about five minutes unwinding. Focus your mind on different body parts, feeling them release their tension. Begin with the face, then move to the shoulders, arms, hands and chest, focusing on your heart and lungs. Notice how your breathing becomes slower and deeper. Then move on to your stomach and other organs in your abdomen. Finally, work down to your hips, legs and feet. Christensen then suggests going back to your face to make sure that it is still calm and relaxed.

Once you’ve scanned your body, it’s time to begin meditation. It can help to start by silently repeating a mantra, a phrase that focuses your attention. Christensen suggest the word om, pronounced “ohm.” Repeat this silently for about a minute to help draw attention from your body to your mind.

Now lie quietly. As thoughts enter your mind, observe them—but don’t dwell on them. This is the tricky part about meditation. We’re used to thinking about things, not thinking about nothing. Try to gently move your thoughts to the edge of your mind, but don’t force them. Just let them drift away.

What you’re trying to find is stillness. Your mind should be quiet, concentrating, focused. You may not reach this point the first time you meditate. And if it doesn’t last long, don’t fret. “If you can get one to two minutes of absolute silence, give yourself an A,” Christensen says.

Meditate for ten minutes or so—more if you have the time. Then bring yourself back slowly, repeating the mantra again for about a minute. Don’t set an alarm, because that will jar you when it sounds.

Everyone has a different experience meditating. Some people feel their bodies go heavy, and others, light. Some fall asleep once in a while. Whatever happens, enjoy it. You’re beginning to learn how to relax, the first step in letting your body and mind heal themselves.

The Pose That Refreshes

The fourth part of your daily yoga routine is the physical one, the poses. There are dozens and dozens of them, and they have changed little over the centuries. Experts say the poses work in many ways. Some stretch and streng then muscles. Others improve posture and the skeletal system. Still others compress and relax organs and nerves. Together, the poses are a powerful weapon against disease, making your body more resistant, resilient and ready to heal itself.

Below is the Daily Routine of 16 expert-recommended poses, along with brief descriptions of the health benefits that experts say you might expect from them. Step-by-step instructions for each pose start on page 606. Be sure to check with your doctor before attempting these poses, especially if you have special medical needs or a chronic medical condition or if you are pregnant.

Christensen suggests picking three or four poses per day and alternating them every day to give your body a complete workout. Perform them in the order listed.

Throughout this book, yoga experts recommend combinations of these poses to deal with specific diseases and conditions. Those listed under specific diseases are in addition to your daily yoga routine, which should include breathing, relaxation, meditation and poses.

You should start slowly and work up to any difficult poses, according to Nancy Ford-Kohne, founder-director of the Yoga and Health Studies Center in Alexandria, Virginia. Some, such as the cobra and the spine twist, should be avoided if there are severe back problems. Add them when the back heals or is less stressed.

Always wind down and relax, ending with the corpse pose and five to ten minutes of relaxation exercises. And while attention to breath takes place throughout any yoga practice, Ford-Kohne suggests thinking to yourself “Inhale energy and healing, exhale fatigue and stress” or whatever is adversely affecting your well-being.

To get started, find a comfortable, warm place with a level floor. Wear loose clothing. And go gently—never push your body until it hurts. “The old saying ‘No pain, no gain’ doesn’t apply to yoga,” Folan says. “Yoga should make you feel good.”

1. Mountain pose. An easy standing pose that may help people with osteoporosis.
2. Standing sun pose. This pose may help relieve constipation and bladder problems, loosen hips and shoulders and improve nerve function.
3. Tree pose. A standing pose that tones your legs and improves balance, concentration and breathing.
4. Dancer pose. A standing pose that can improve balance, open nasal passages, stretch and strengthen hips and thighs and help beat fatigue. Use care if you have a lower back problem.
5. Windmill pose. If you tilt along with this standing pose, you may help loosen your hips and lower back and improve breathing. Use care if you have a lower back problem.
6. Corpse pose. The ultimate relaxation pose. As its name suggests, you lie still and let everything go loose. Experts say this may help with back pain, stress and even high blood pressure. Use this rest pose whenever you need it, and always end your routine with a few minutes in the corpse pose.
7. Knee squeeze. A simple pose, done while lying on the floor, that can relieve gas, increase circulation in your head and neck, ease lower back pain and strengthen stomach muscles.
8. Spine twist. Sit and turn for this pose, which may help constipation and bladder problems, loosen hips and shoulders and improve nerve function. Use extreme caution if you have spinal disk problems.
9. Head-to-knee. This seated stretch can help improve the function of your internal organs.
10. Seated sun pose. Another seated pose, this one can help with digestion and possibly with impotence as well as strengthen the legs and spine.
11. Baby pose. This kneeling pose limbers your lower back, improves digestion and strengthens and relieves stiffness in the knees, ankles and hips. If you have arthritic knees, this pose can be done in a chair.
12. Easy bridge pose. This pose, adapted from a more difficult pose, can help with back pain and fatigue, improve circulation to your head and face, bolster your endocrine system and maybe help with high blood pressure. Do not do this pose during the second half of pregnancy.
13. Half boat pose. An easier version of the boat pose described below. Use this until you’ve worked your way to the full pose.
14. Boat pose. Done while lying on your stomach, this pose strengthens your back muscles and spinal column, aids digestion and helps vital organs function better.
15. Cobra pose. This snakelike pose helps strengthen your entire body, aids digestion, makes your spine more flexible and might even help improve eyesight. Women should not do this during menstrual periods. No one should do this within several weeks of surgery or if they have open wounds.
16. Lion pose. A simple breathing exercise that relaxes facial muscles and eases tension.