Yoga, the Savior

In last 15 years, Yoga has proved to be the light of my life. It has helped me change my basic attitude towards life from that of being a mere spectator to a doer. It has pioneered the process of gaining faith in life. Yoga cured my lifelong trouble of sinusitis, which I had thought I would have to live with forever. Even though I do not have bodily flexibility to get into pretzel like poses, Yoga still bestows me with peaceful, healthy feeling and physical vitality. Most of all, it has taught me to trust my body to progress without deliberate attempt.

How Yoga helped me cure attack of hives

In the month of October of 2007, I suffered my first hives attack along with face edema. My face had blown up like a balloon. Instead of running to an emergency room and going on steroids since I had become highly allergic to Benadryl, I decided to self-heal. One of the three principles I applied was that of increasing blood circulation to get rid of the swelling of the face. In order to increase blood circulation, for next 2 weeks, I did Shirsasana (Head pose) twice daily for 10 minutes each. I also did my regular quota of other Asana everyday. The results were astonishing. My face, that had become the size of a watermelon, regained its normal shape after two weeks.

Curing sleeplessness and sinusitis with Yoga

In 1995 spring I had started teaching Yoga at a nearby gymnasium. At the end of the session I used to give instructions to go into Shavasana (the corpse pose). The class loved that pose. Almost everybody used to fall asleep during that Asana at one point or another. Soon I started using those instructions on myself when I could not fall asleep at night. It worked wonderfully. From that time, I rarely suffered from sleeplessness.

Yoga helped me in another great way. Since childhood I suffered from severe sinus trouble. Back home in India I used to take Aurvedic or Homeopathic medicines everyday to control my symptoms. After coming here, I was a bit concerned about my sinus trouble. Should I order a shipment of medicines from India or should I switch to over-the-counter drugs from US for this ailment, I was pondering on this question. Meanwhile for a month or so, I had increased the number of exhalations in Kapalbhati (Shuddhi Kriya or Cleansing process) from 100 to 300. One day I finished 500 exhalations and it worked like magic. All of a sudden my sinuses felt very light and I felt very fresh and I was able to breathe easily. The clogging and feelings of heaviness were completely gone. I thought it was a miracle. Till that moment, I could not think of a day when I felt this fresh and light.

Ever since then I started doing Kapalbhati for 15 minutes every day along with Udiyana Bandha (abdominal lock). I can now say that I no longer have sinusitis. I do get allergies occasionally, however not on a daily basis.

These two miraculous events did not just help me cure physically. They were kind of a mental bolster or an awakening for me. By nature I am a passive introvert type of a person who waits for things to happen to her rather than making things happen. These two events showed me that situation can be changed with persistent efforts and miracles happen.

Spiritual, moral and physical benefits of Yoga

I think that practicing Yoga for some time has prepared me for spiritual practices such as meditation, visualization and prayers. In fact this is the reason why the physical practice of Yoga is considered a step towards meditation, concentration and ultimate union with God in the philosophy of Ashtanga Yoga. Yoga has given me a boost of optimism and sense of control by curing my sleeplessness and sinus trouble. When I feel out of focus, I do Parvatasana (mountain pose). I noticed that in this pose, when the palms are held together in a prayer pose, it helps me calm down remarkably and there is better focus.In general, when I maintain an Asana for a long time, there is a cooling sensation in the eyes as if an air conditioner has started in the body and a pleasant taste in the mouth. It helps me relieve any kind of negative emotions I have. Whenever I feel tired or out of sorts, I do Yoga and I feel fresh and energetic.

After doing Yoga for a long time, my weight has stabilized considerably. Dhanurasana (bow pose) and Bhujangasana (cobra pose) help me control spondylytis symptoms. Regular practice of Pranayama and Kapalbhati helps me keep my blood pressure normal, relieves spondylytis pain in addition to keeping sinus trouble at bay. Since 1995 to 2005, due to an emotional trauma, my binge eating habit was gone out of control. I was 50 pounds overweight. My body fat ratio was out of whack. However, my blood pressure and pulse rate were astonishingly in the healthy range. I owe this to the Kapalbhati (Yogic cleansing of breaths) and Udiyana (Abdominal lock).

Precautions

I am assuming that you already have training in Yoga. If you do not have it already, you can take a class in the nearby gymnasium or learn it privately.

It's always better to go to a class initially even if you feel that you have learned all new Asana. The purpose of going to a class is not just to learn new Asana but also to have someone monitor your practice till you have enough understanding of the concept of stable and comfortable state of an asana. When practicing at home, there is always an element of overstretching yourself in order to get to a perfect stage. Going to class will keep a necessary check on the temptation to overdo. However if you have illness that makes it difficult to do any Yoga poses, please consult your doctor to know if you can do Yoga at all. In all other cases, I would say that if you practice Yoga at least for 30 minutes every day or every alternate day, it would help you considerably to stay healthy.

I wish you the best of health and peace.

For further reading, click on my website [healingwithalternativetherapy.com] and my blog [niveditasjournal.com]