Yoga

Fitness with a Twist

Started as a spiritual discipline 6,000 years ago in India, the practice of yoga has newly emerged as a powerful remedy for ailments ranging from menstrual cramps to rashes and from mood swings to varicose veins, making it a valuable healing tool for women.

And don't worry--you don't have to contort your body into awkward positions to practice yoga. In a typical yoga routine, you clear your mind, breathe deeply and gently ease yourself into different poses.

After an hour, you feel renewed--almost as if you've done an aerobic workout. The result is better posture, increased flexibility and a host of other benefits, without the sweat and jolting of your joints and bones.

"Anybody can do yoga," says Carrie Angus, M.D., medical director for the Center for Health and Healing at the Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. "A beginner doesn't need to put her foot behind her head or twist herself into a pretzel. So don't worry that it will be too demanding."

Yoga is more than just a physical experience, emphasizes Larry Payne, Ph.D., director of the Samata Yoga Center in Los Angeles and chairman of the International Association of Yoga Therapists. "It quiets the distractions of the mind, so it's very good for relieving stress and improving concentration."

Yoga is more popular now than ever, says Dr. Payne. In fact, he says, more people in the state of California are doing hatha yoga, based on poses and breathing techniques, than in the entire country of India.

"Yoga is the mind-body fitness for the 1990s," he says. "It was the original non­impact aerobics--the original mind-body workout."

FINDING YOUR INNER PEACE

The term yoga comes from the Sanskrit word meaning "to yoke"--joining the mind and body together, says Richard C. Miller, Ph.D., a yoga instructor and psychologist in San Rafael, California, co-founder of the
International Association of Yoga Therapists and founder of the Marin School of Yoga. "Some people interpret yoga as the union of different forces or energies," he says.

In India, the sage Patanjali compiled the following yoga sutras, or eight steps to spiritual enlightenment.

1. Physical practice of a wide range of yoga poses, or postures

2. Breath control

3. Focusing the senses (sight, sound, touch, taste and smell)

4. Concentration

5. Meditation

6. Cleansing disciplines like cleaning, washing and bathing

7. Moral practices like truth and nonviolence

8. Enlightenment (the culmination of all the steps)

Different branches of yoga may focus only on specific aspects, says Dr. Miller. For example, some kinds of yoga, such as Desikachar yoga, emphasize breathing, while others, such as Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois yoga, focus on physical poses.

The physical, spiritual and psychological aspects of yoga make it a useful therapy for health ailments, says Dr. Angus. Physically, yoga can build strength and improve flexibility because it stretches and strengthens the muscles, she says. It's good for the spine because it loosens the back and aids good posture, like correcting slumped, rounded shoulders. Correcting posture misalignment helps free the rib cage, allowing you to breathe more deeply. Dr. Angus says that this strengthens the body's ability to heal itself.

Yoga can also counteract negative emotions such as anger, anxiety and depression, says Dr. Angus.

"Doing yoga postures and concentrating on breathing is soothing and relaxing. And it gives you something else to focus on," says John Orr, an instructor of physical education at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and formerly an ordained Theravadin Buddhist monk who practiced in Thailand and India.

After people start doing yoga to relieve stress or physical problems, they gradually discover the deeper psychological benefits, says Orr. "In spending quiet time alone, you get to know yourself better. So yoga keeps you in touch with your physical, mental and spiritual self."

YOGA, FOR TOTAL HEALTH

"Tired of taking pills and tired of solutions that don't get to the root of the problem, more and more women are turning to yoga as a lasting solution," says Dr. Angus.

And practical, regular yoga can work wonders, says Lee Lipsenthal, M.D., medical director at the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California. "It can lower risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke."

To see what happens to a heart that's under stress, imagine this: You're sitting at your desk when suddenly you remember that tomorrow's deadline was bumped up to today. Inside, your adrenal gland releases adrenalin and other glucocorticoids--chemicals that increase blood flow to the skeletal muscle system, decrease blood to the internal organs and increase tone in the muscle of the blood vessel walls. The result: a higher likelihood that the artery will spasm and close, causing a heart attack.

The calm and well-being that yoga creates has been shown to counter that stress reaction, says Dr. Lipsenthal. "What we find is that with yoga, the heart disease begins to regress and blockages in the arteries shrink," he notes. "The goal is to get people to slow down, which in turn lowers their blood pressure and their heart rate."

And because of its emphasis on joint flexibility, yoga also has orthopedic benefits, says Dr. Lipsenthal. A joint is a place where two bones meet, bridged by muscles and tendons. "If the muscles are tight, the bones are more likely to rub together, but if they're loose, they have more freedom, less inflammation and less chance of injury."

SPECIAL BENEFITS FOR WOMEN

Because of yoga's effect on stress, it can help with conditions that have both psychological and physiological components, such as fibromyalgia (painful "trigger points" in the muscles), arthritis and migraine headaches, says Dr. Lipsenthal.

Women especially can benefit from yoga. It's claimed to ease the pain of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) as well as help ease the discomforts of pregnancy, childbirth and certain changes associated with menopause, such as hot flashes. Your doctor may be able to advise you on whether or not yoga can help, says Ramanand Patel, a senior instructor of Iyengar yoga at the Iyengar Yoga Institute in San Francisco.

"It is believed that breathing through your left nostril, for example, creates a cooling breath. This can be used to cool the system down and ease hot flashes," says Dr. Lipsenthal.

Also, evidence suggests that women who practice yoga are better off emotionally--less irritable and more congenial--than others. One study compared 12 women between the ages of 27 and 55 who did yoga postures, meditation and breathing exercises to 13 women who had no experience with relaxation exercises and who didn't do yoga exercises. The women who practiced yoga scored much better on self-tests designed to measure both positive emotions (such as euphoria) and negative emotions (such as excitability).

Although yoga has hundreds of poses, most routines contain about 20 different ones, with specific poses used to help specific ailments. Poses that emphasize sitting on the floor with your legs spread or lying on your back with your open legs up on the wall, can ease cramps and PMS, for example, says Dr. Angus.

Poses that focus on your pelvis help direct energy to the area and ease menstrual problems, she adds. Bloating, for example, is said to be caused by stagnation of bodily fluids in the pelvic cavity. When you stretch that area, you get fresh blood pumping to the underlying muscles and tissues.

Citing another example, Patel says that back bends help lift your spirits because they open the chest, while bending forward from a standing position can worsen depression because it causes the chest cavity to compress and restrict breathing.

Which routine of poses should you choose? It all depends on your physical problems, says Dr. Miller. "There would be a different one for women with back pain than for women with bladder problems," he says. "When teaching yoga, I always individualize the postures to each person in the class."

	Mountain Pose Stand with your feet close together so that the inner bones of your ankles touch and the edges of your big toes touch. Rock back on your heels and stretch the soles of your feet, then set your feet back down. Next, raise your heels to stretch your soles in the other direction. Standing with your knees gently locked and your thighs lightly tightened, breathe normally. Keeping your back straight, tighten your buttocks and stomach muscles. Then lift your rib cage and arch your back slightly while pulling back your shoulders. Turn your upper arms out and reach down, with your palms facing the thighs, as shown. Hold your head up and face forward, with your neck straight. Hold the pose for 30 to 40 seconds, then relax. Repeat the pose once or twice.
	Standing Sun Pose Note: If you have high blood pressure, consult your doctor before doing this pose. To begin, stand in a position with your hands at your sides and your feet together. Exhale.
Inhale slowly as you raise your arms straight out from your sides.
Continue raising your arms until they meet, thumb to thumb, over your head. Look up and gently stretch.
	Begin to exhale as you bend forward from the hips. Continue bending until you have completely exhaled.
Keeping your elbows bent, grab the back of your legs. Hold this pose for several seconds.
	Inhale slowly as you let go of your legs. Lift your body upright while raising your arms to your sides and over your head. Exhale and return to the standing position. Repeat this pose twice.
	Windmill Pose Note: If you have lower-back pain, use caution when doing this pose. Start with your feet shoulder-width apart and your fingers spread on both sides of your spine to support your lower back. Your hands will stay there for the duration of the pose. Point your toes slightly inward.
Begin breathing in slowly and twist your torso to the right. Keep your feet stationary.
	Bend forward at the waist while exhaling. Bring your forehead as close to your right knee as possible.
	In one continuous motion, swing your head and torso slowly toward your left knee. Exhale completely by the time you reach this position.
Begin inhaling as you lift your torso and face left. Finish inhaling when you are in a standing position, as shown. Hold your breath and twist back to the right. Repeat the entire sequence six times, three times in each direction.
Corpse Pose This pose requires little movement. You focus on the release of muscle tension. Lie on your back on a mat or the floor. Rest your arms at your sides with your palms facing up. Stretch your legs out straight with your feet in a relaxed position. (If you feel pain in your lower back as you do this pose, bend your legs by raising your knees and placing both feet flat on the floor and continue with the pose.) Hold this pose for 30 seconds to several minutes. Your eyes should be closed while you breathe deeply and concentrate on relaxing your muscles.
Head-to-Knee Pose To begin, sit on the floor or a mat with your legs straight out in front of you with your feet together. Keep your torso, head and neck straight. Bend your left knee and slide your left foot toward your crotch, resting the sole of your foot as high on the inside of your right thigh as possible. Lift your arms straight over your head as you take a deep breath, stretching as high as possible while you expand your chest. Bend forward as you begin to exhale, keeping your back straight and your head between your arms. Rest your hands on your right leg, making sure to keep the back of your right knee in contact with the ground. Relax, breathe normally and hold the position for five to ten seconds. If you want to stretch farther, keep this same position and stretch forward from the base of your spine as you take a deep breath. When you exhale, try to bring your head as far as possible down to your right leg, then breathe normally and relax. Wait for five to ten seconds before you begin to inhale and lift your head, neck and back. As you straighten to the sitting position, keep your arms in line with your head. Breathe out and slowly lower your arms. Repeat the stretch with your left leg, then do this sequence two more times.
Spine Twist Pose Note: If you have spinal disk problems, use extreme caution when attempting this pose, or skip it entirely. Begin the spine twist by sitting on the floor or a mat with your knees drawn to your chest and your hands resting, palms down, on the floor on either side of your body.
With your left leg bent, as shown, lower your right leg to slide it under your left leg. Your right heel should be tucked in front of your left buttock. Your right knee should be touching the floor while you raise your left leg over it to place your left foot on the outside of your right knee.
	After straightening your spine and lifting your rib cage, twist to the left, as shown. Put your left hand behind your right foot and bring your right arm under your left leg to grab the back of your thigh. Turn your head and shoulders so that they are facing left.
	With your arm bent, place your right elbow on the outside of your left knee. Use your right elbow to rock your left knee back and forth a few times.
Pull your left leg as far to the right as you can and extend your right arm. Keep your right arm on the outside of your left leg and, depending on your level of flexibility, grab your right knee or left ankle.
	Be sure that your back is straight and your left hand is as close as possible to the base of your spine. Look forward and breathe in deeply. Slowly exhale as you gently twist your spine to the left. Turn your head also and look as far to the left as possible. Do not use your hands and arms to move your body farther. They should only be used for balance as you hold the pose and gently breathe for several seconds. Unwind, and repeat on the other side.
	Seated Sun Pose To begin, sit on the floor or a mat with your back straight, legs out in front of you, your feet flexed and your hands at your sides. Exhale.
	Lift your arms straight out to the sides and over your head while slowly inhaling. Hook your thumbs together, look up and continue stretching upward.
	Exhale as you bend slowly forward from your hips, keeping your upper arms parallel to your jaw. With your elbows bent, grasp your ankles, as shown, and pull your torso toward your legs. (If you can't reach your ankles, grab your calves.) Hold for one or two seconds.
	If you can, touch your toes, with your elbows bent, and hold for one to two seconds, keeping your thumbs on top of your big toes and your index fingers on the bottoms. Inhale slowly as you lift your chest back to the starting position. Start with your hands at your sides and then, as you inhale, lift your arms straight out and over your head again with your thumbs hooked together. Look up and stretch slowly, exhale and lower your arms. Repeat twice.
Baby Pose Note: Do not do this pose if you have high blood pressure. To begin, sit on the floor with your knees bent and your heels beneath your buttocks. Keeping the tops of your toes flat on the floor, let your arms hang freely at your sides.
	Slowly lean forward at the waist and rest your arms crossways on the floor in front of you. Rest your forehead on your forearms, as shown, keeping your neck straight and relaxed. Breathe normally and hold this position for up to five minutes. Variation: If you have arthritis in your knees, vary this pose. Start by sitting in a chair with your hips pushed against the back of the chair and your feet flat on the floor and slightly apart. Then lean forward at the waist and let your head drop between your knees, keeping your neck straight and relaxed and letting your arms hang at your sides with your hands near your ankles.
Half-Boat Pose Lie flat on your stomach with your arms out in front of you on the floor or a mat. Both your forehead and palms should be touching the floor. Keep your legs together, with your muscles completely relaxed.
Slowly lift your arms, head and torso off the floor as you take a deep breath. Breathe evenly and keep your head between your arms at all times while you hold the pose for five seconds. Breathe out, lower your body back to the floor and relax. Repeat twice.
Return to the starting position and move your feet 12 to 18 inches apart, keeping your legs straight. Lift your legs and feet and keep your upper body and arms relaxed while you breathe in slowly. Hold the pose for five seconds while breathing evenly. Breathe out and slowly lower your legs back to the floor. Repeat this sequence twice.
Cobra Pose Lie facedown with your forehead and the tops of your toes touching the floor. Your palms should also be touching the floor with your hands placed on the ground next to your armpits. Note: Avoid this pose if you are menstruating, have open wounds in the abdominal region or have undergone abdominal or pelvic surgery within the past several weeks.
Look straight up as you inhale and lift your head slowly off the floor. Next, use your back muscles to lift your stomach and chest off the floor. As you rise, curl your spine and keep your hipbones on the floor at all times--don't try to push up with your arms. Close your mouth and jut your lower jaw forward to stretch your throat muscles. Keeping your elbows bent and your torso off the ground, as shown, hold the pose for several seconds. Then slowly lower your body back to the starting position, allowing your stomach to touch the ground first, followed by your chest and then forehead, while you exhale. Repeat twice.
Butterfly Pose Sitting on the floor or a mat, keep your back straight and draw the soles of your feet together and hold with both hands. Just like the wings of a butterfly, slowly raise and lower your knees several times.
Gently stretch the muscles on the insides of your legs by slowly leaning forward from your hips. Hold this position for about two minutes while breathing normally and keeping your back straight. Each time you exhale, try to lean forward a little farther.
Menstral Cramp Pose Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, spread apart. Hold your ankles firmly and arch your pelvis, as shown, as you inhale. Hold for a few seconds. Relax and lower your pelvis as you exhale. Repeat several times.
Premenstrual Syndrome Pose Begin by lying facedown on the floor with your arms at your sides. Bring your feet up to your buttocks by bending your knees and grasp first one foot and then the other. (Flex your feet, if it makes them easier to reach.) Then lift your head, elevate your knees and then raise your trunk as far off the floor as possible as you inhale. While squeezing your buttocks, hold the pose for 10 to 15 seconds, imagining that your body looks like a gently curved bow. To release the position, allow your chin to touch the floor first, then release your feet and slowly return to the original position. Repeat this pose five times.

DEEP BREATHING: A REMEDY IN ITSELF

"Just relax and take a deep breath." Most of us have heard those words in times of maximum stress-ocity. But how often are you really making the most of each breath--drawing on oxygen supplies from deep in your diaphragm rather than in the shallow reaches of your chest?

One of the most important parts of yoga is how it teaches you to really breathe, notes Dr. Angus. "You learn to breathe with your diaphragm, which helps you relax and stimulates the part of the nervous system that calms us down," she notes. "And relaxing helps increase your immunity. It is incredibly healing."

Unfortunately, it's not as easy as you'd think. Most people breathe too fast, through their mouths, or not deeply enough, notes Dr. Miller. Instead, breathe through the nose, which filters and warms the air, and then let it out from your mouth. "You should use the whole rib cage as well as the abdomen and diaphragm," he says. "That kind of breathing helps distribute the body's vital energy throughout the body."

To get the most bang for your breath, take these tips from yoga experts.

Get down to basics. One neat way to learn how to breathe properly is to lie on your back on the floor with a book on your abdomen, notes Dr. Miller.

When you inhale, push up against the weight of the book and lift it. As you exhale, allow the book to drop down. The focus on raising and lowering the book will force you to breathe diaphragmatically. Try not to make the chest cavity expand, and put all the emphasis on the abdomen, Dr. Miller advises.

Try the hands-on method. Another way to make sure that you're taking abdominal breaths is to spread your fingers across your abdomen and stretch your thumbs toward your spine, says Dr. Miller. As you breathe, your abs should push out against your fingers and the back of your spine should expand as well.

Take your time. To work on making your breathing deeper and fuller, practice taking longer, slower breaths, suggests Dr. Miller. "Normal breathing is 8 to 12 breaths a minutes. I have people do between 4 and 8 breaths a minute," he says. "It's not unusual to be able to do just 2 in one minute."

By slowing down, the breath has time to enter all the spaces in the lung tissue so that the lungs have more air entering them, he notes.

Clear out the gunk. Learning to do a cleansing breath is a great way to clear out the body's toxins and breathe in more positive energy, says Dr. Angus.

"Lie on your back in the corpse pose (see page 316) and breathe so that your belly rises and falls," she says. As you exhale, she adds, "imagine breathing out from the top of your head and down your spine, then down to your legs and feet." When you inhale again, reverse the order so that you're breathing in through all those parts of your body--or at least imagine that you are.

Some people can exhale for nearly 20 seconds, while others can only do it for 6 seconds before they're gasping for breath, she says. Over time, your lungs increase their capacity and you can breathe out for longer and longer.

AN AT-HOME YOGA ROUTINE

Convinced that yoga is worth a try? Follow these directives from expert instructors.

Get an early start. You can do yoga at any time of the day, but Dr. Miller recommends doing it in the morning. "The effect lasts eight to ten hours, so you can enjoy it for the rest of the day."

Get comfortable. Using a mat, blanket, rug, cushion or chair, sit with your upper body erect but relaxed. Take a minute to check in mentally and put aside all the things that you've been thinking about.

Quiet your mind. Each yoga class begins and ends with a few minutes of quiet meditation to quiet your mind, Dr. Angus says. "It's about focusing the mind on one thing, like your breath or a word such as peace or love. In that stillness, you can have all kinds of revelations about what you need in life and what's true for you."

A quiet mind can help ease anxiety and depression. You come to realize that lots of things are uncontrollable and that you have to let go of what you can't control.

When clearing your mind for yoga, you should sit up either on the floor or in a chair, with your head, neck and trunk in a straight line, and take 10 to 15 deep breaths, says Dr. Angus.

Focus. Once your body starts to relax, focus on one sound or one object. "For example, think 'so' while you're breathing in and 'hum' as you breathe out. It takes patience, so if you can do it for one minute, you're doing great," says Dr. Angus. With practice, you will be able to focus
your mind for longer and longer periods.

Don't make it difficult. Although classes usually run 60 to 90 minutes, a home yoga routine could be effective at 20 to 30 minutes, notes Dr. Miller.

After doing deep breathing for 2 to 3 minutes, do varying yoga poses, synchronized with deep breathing, for about 15 minutes. Repeat this three days a week.

Don't push yourself. In yoga, the philosophy of "no pain, no gain" just doesn't apply, says Dr. Miller. "Trying to do more than your body can handle is the way that people injure themselves," he says. "You should be listening to your body the whole time."

Getting Started Yoga If you'd like to learn yoga from an instructor, or your health care practitioner has recommended yoga for a specific health condition, here's how to locate instructors in your area. Number of practitioners in the United States: Unknown. Qualifications to look for: No national standards exist for yoga instruction. Training standards vary from school to school and range from intensive six-week courses to two-year programs. Most, however, average about 100 hours of training. Ask your instructor where she was trained and for how long. Professional associations: American Yoga Association, 513 South Orange Avenue, Sarasota, FL 34236; International Association of Yoga Therapists, 20 Sunnyside Avenue, Suite A-243, Mill Valley CA 94941. Other sources: American Yoga College, P.O. Box 1746, Sedona, AZ 86339-1746; Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy, R.R.1, Box 400, Honesdale, PA 18431. To find a practitioner: Contact one of the professional associations listed above or consult a massage therapist or health care practitioner in your area. You can also check the Yellow Pages or the teacher's directory in the annual July/August issue of Yoga Journal. Approximate cost: