Inversions

Nice post from David Garrigues (Certified Ashtanga teacher) this week advocating the use of a 'pad' under the shoulders for shoulderstand. I found it interesting because I've noticed the difference between my shoulderstands in the morning and in the evenings over the last couple of days ( I'm practicing VK in the mornings, Ashtanga in the evening). I tried a blanket under my shoulder the other morning and my shoulderstand felt as comfortable as when I do it in the evening. David goes on to stress the importance of Shoulderstand and being able to remain in the posture for a considerable period.

This is something Ramaswami also stresses and he wrote an article in one of his newsletters that I've attached below, but first some videos.

In Vinyasa Krama we have many variations to explore while inverted, I remember Ramaswami telling a story about his teacher, Krishnamacharya. I think Krishnamacharya was in his 70's or 80's at the time, he mentioned to Ramaswami that there were 32 variations of headstand. Ramaswami, it seems looked skeptical enough for Krishnamacharya to get up and demonstrate them all (I'll try and hunt down the story. UPDATE: Madhu just added the actual story to the comments section, it was from Mohan not Ramaswami, my apologies to both).

Ramaswami recommends

• Some Shoulderstand preparation
• A five minute shoulderstand, the first three minutes of which are done with the legs relaxed.
• A backbend counter posture, I tend to do Urdhava Danurasana
• A ten minute headstand. I do the first five minutes focusing on breath and bandhas and then do five minutes of variations.
• Another shoulderstand for five minutes and a counter posture. I tend to go into the ashtanga finishing postures after the second shoulderstand, plough etc. so my backbend counter is Uttana Padasana

I do this sequence every morning as part of my VK practice.

This video gives an idea of the shoulderstand prep, which you can simplify a little, and some of the Shoulderstand and Headstand variations available in Vinyasa Krama. Useful too perhaps if you have an injury and can't do your full Ashtanga practice for a while.

And here, as promised ramaswami's article on the benefits and importance of inversions from his Aug 2009 newsletter.

HEAD AND SHOULDERS ABOVE ……

The two important inversion poses, Sirasasana and its better half

Sarvangasana, called the King and Queen of yogasanas are a unique

contribution of Yoga towards physical culture and physical therapy.

Several contemporary yogis have disputed the place of these poses and

have claimed that they perhaps are later day inventions. But in

Hatayoga they are considered as viparita karani mudras.

Hatayogapradipika refers to inversions as follows

“ There is a wonderful karana or procedure which helps to starve the

sun,( here the gastric fire). One may learn it only from a Guru, and

not from the books. If the position of the sun(stomach) is above and

the moon(the head) below (i.e., upside down) it is called

viparitakarani(inversion). Learn it from a Guru “

The pelvic area—kandasthana-, according to some yogis is a breeding

ground for many ailments. It is also the area from where 72.000 nadis

are said to emanate and also Kundalini. This area should be kept

clean. The dross should be burnt and blown away, figuratively

speaking. How does the Yogi do it?

We have an air principle in that area which is Apana Vayu. We have

also the fire principle in us in the abdominal area in the form of

gastric fire or Jataraagni. This flame is flowing upwards and in the

normal upright position the gastric fire is above the pelvic area,

flowing upward, sometimes when overactive, produces a burning

sensation in the esophagus producing the typical ‘heart burn”. The

Yogi by resorting to the inversions, as Headstand and Sarvangasana, is

able to place the pelvic area above the gastric area. Now the gastric

fire or jataragni,-- figuratively speaking—flows towards the pelvic

area and heats and purifies the Nadias and the Kandasthan, arouses the

Kundalini with the heat. The fire is further supposed to be fanned and

intensified by directing the air tatwa or apana by Mula bandh; it

draws the apana closer to the fire principle and thereby the apana air

also becomes hotter and in turn melts away the dross of the

kandasthana and arouses the sleeping kundalini. So headstand and

shoulderstand, the mulabandha and the intense gastric fire help to

cleanse the nadis and the rogasthana or the disease prone area is

cleaned and spruced up.

There is another interesting concept associated with the inversions of

which I may have referred to in one of the earlier letters/articles.

It is said that our head contains a liquid called amrita which may be

translated as nectar. This nectar gives us life and drips drop by drop

through the uvula into the stomach where it is consumed by the gastric

fire to provide the life energy to live. This reservoir of nectar is

slowly used up and with its total depletion comes the end of one’s

life. The Yogi tries to ration the flow of the nectar, by remaining in

inverted position for a length of time every day—say between half an

hour to an hour or so. During the period of time the yogi is in head

stand and shoulder stand, the amrita remains stored in the head

without dripping down.

The Hatayogapradika has this to say

The Hatayogapradipika explains the inversion mudra as follows. “The

cool nectar that flows from the moon (here the head) is swallowed by

the hot sun (the gastric fire). Hence one’s body becomes aged. There

is a wonderful karana or procedure which helps to starve the sun,

(here the gastric fire). One may learn it only from a Guru, and not

from the books. If the position of the sun is above and the moon below

(i.e., upside down) it is called viparitakarani(inversion). Learn it

from a Guru. Do abhyaa of this inverted pose and increase the duration

every day. One who practices this for a yaama (3 hrs) daily will

conquer death”. When I was young I came across a Yogi who was said to

be practising sirsasana for three hours every day. His face had a

unique bluish tinge. He also practised Mouna or silence.

So by this daily practice, the Yogi is able to increase, so to say,

his/her lifespan by 5%, or say between 3 to 5 years. Normally after

Headstand the yogi is supposed to spend equal time in shoulder stand

as well. In shoulder stand, amrita while still confined to the skull/

brain portion, now is allowed to flow to the entire head portion above

the neck and nourish all the sensitive sense organs, the two eyes, the

two ears, the mouth and the nose (shanmukha). This is also considered

necessary to maintain the acuity of the sense organs

as they are way up in the body and may not get the full nourishment .

Sarvangasana therefore is considered good for the sense organs whereas

the headstand is good for the brain.

The normal upright position and the chin up position in which we keep

our head, both result in a wasteful free flow of the limited amrita in

the head down the uvula to the gastric fire, like a free flowing tap.

The Yogis found it necessary to constantly control the flow of this

nectar and even temporarily stop it. They developed a simple technique

called Jalandhara bandha to temporarily stop and control the flow. The

term Jalandhara-bandha itself indicates the effect it is said to

produce. Jala means water and here it refers to the amrita or nectar

which is said to be in the liquid form. Dhara is to hold, here holding

the amrita in the head itself and bandha is the lock, the procedure

which helps to achieve the holding operation. So Jalandharabandha

means the lock that enables holding the nectar in the head. Of course

while we do asanas and pranayama we adjust the bandha in such a way

that we allow only a small and necessary amount of amrita to flow and

also maintain a good ujjayi control over the breath. That is why the

default position of the head in asana practice whether it is tadasana

or the seated Padmasana or Vajrasana is the head down position. One

could see the pictures of my Guru doing asanas and one could see his

head down position in most of them—even in asanas like urdhvamukha

svanasana or the well known upward facing dog pose. In the entire

vinyasakrama one would find the relaxed default head down position is

resorted to control the flow of amrita and the ujjayi breath.

Some contemporary yogis may read these metaphorical narrations with a

wry smile. However these inversions should be considered as unique

contributions of Yoga, for health. Within the first few minutes of

Sirsasana practice, the leg and thigh muscles, the gluteal muscles,

relax. The chest, back, shoulders and neck muscles also relax as all

these are not required to maintain the postural tone as in the upright

position. It has been found that due to the relaxation of the leg

muscles, the blood pressure in the legs drop to about 30mm.There is no

great rush of blood to the head among the adept yogis due to auto

regulation; yet the gravity helps to open up many capillaries in the

brain, head and face which may otherwise remain partially closed.

People with high blood pressure and retinal problems will have to be

careful. However persons with mild hypertension and under control with

diet, life style change and even medication could benefit from this

posture if they had learnt it from early life. It appears to increase

pressure on the shoulders which would result in the brain trying to

reduce the blood pressure. Therefore if one would practice Sirshasana

regularly for a sufficient duration, one’s pulse rate tends to reduce,

thereby reducing the strain on the heart. Gradually there is a

reduction in the blood pressure.

What is equally important is that Sirsasana helps improve circulation

of the cerebro spinal fluid, which is helpful to the brain and also

for the spinal nerve bundles—the chakras. Because of the increased

pressure in the brain due to this fluid, the pituitary secretions

increase helping the better functioning of the sympathetic nervous

system which will help in many ways including the dilatation of the

bronchial tubes giving great relief to asthmatics. There is draining

of the bronchial tubes, giving some welcome relief for those with

chronic chest congestion. Many feel increased memory power and

general better brain capacity. There are cases of even some correction

of the eyesight. The vinyasas like the twists, Akunchanasana, the

backbends like Viparitadandasana in Sirsasana and Uttanamayurasana in

Sarvangasana help the spine considerably, by not only maintaining the

flexibility of this structure but also nourish the nadis and chakras

or nerve fibers and nerve bundles in the spinal chord.

In the inversions, as mentioned in earlier articles, the internal

organs get positional correction. Pregnant yoginis may find the

inversions help relieve pelvic congestion, oedema of the legs,

conditions that are prevalent during pregnancy. Practising the

inverted poses with the variety of vinyasas gives a complete massage

to all the muscles, organs and considerably increases the blood

circulation. Perhaps equally important is the effect of the twin poses

on the major joints-- the ankles, the knees, the hips and the spine.

The intra-articular space within the joints improves and hence the

joint movements when one does the various vinyasas also will improve.

Dorsal and plantar flexions performed in the ankle joints while in

these asanas help the ankles significantly. Asanas like Akunchanasana

in inversions give good relief to the knees, while inversions help

to open the hips by dragging the big pelvic girdle down a bit and

giving more space for the femur to move and rotate nicely within the

hip socket(pl refer to Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga for headstand and

shoulder stand vinyasas). Perhaps the most benefit accrues to the

entire spine. The inter-vertebral space is enhanced and person who

practises these inversions and the vinyasas like akunchanasana and

backbends will find the spine stretching nicely and becoming more

flexible. The narrowing of the inter-vertebral space can be tackled

positively and the low back pain reduces significantly. I would say

that the inversions are the best yoga postures to alleviate low back

pain. Overall these inversions and the vinyasas in them help to keep

the spine supple and strong. It is said one is as old as the condition

of the spine. Further, because of the relaxation of the lower

extremities Sarvangasana is a good pose to help overcome insomnia.

These twin poses are very good for health.

Contemporary Yogis find the other important inversion, viz., the

Handstand or Vipritvrukshasna very popular. This is a great pose, with

a number of variations possible. However since the head is not fixed

in this group of poses, some of the finer aspects of the other two

head- fixed inversions (sarvangasana and sirshasana) may be missing.

One finds it more difficult to maintain balance and also stay for a

sufficiently long time in viparitavrikshasana or inverted tree pose

(Hand Stand) and other similar poses like scorpion pose etc. These two

regal poses stand ‘head and shoulders’ above the rest in conferring

health benefits to the yogabhyasis.

Developing a home Practice Pt 27 Sept 09- Sept 10

It's my day off and I'm putting off practice in the hope that the DVD I ordered a fortnight ago might turn up today. It's the one of Jois leading Primary and 2nd series Ashtanga, filmed in 1993.

Something else I've been putting off is updating my 'Developing a home practice' series. I had a look today as somebody had sent me an email asking how I went about teaching myself Ashtanga at home. I noticed that the last post in the series took things up to September 09, so a year out of date already. I've just spent the last twenty minutes looking through last years posts and am amused to find that I'm pretty much in the same place I was a year ago. Take this post that I titled What happened to Vinyasa Krama? from 6th Oct 2009, it begins

I actually do think I'm still practicing Vinyasa Krama. It's just that the asanas and sub-routines that I've chosen to practice every day are the same as in Ashtanga's Primary and Intermediate series. The daily VK practice routine I was honing was becoming more and more like Ashtanga anyway so why not go the whole nut roast.

See what I mean? I could have written that last week.

Actually I was going to post today on my latest practice approach, switching my Evening VK practice with my morning Ashtanga practice. The idea is to free up more time in the morning for pranyama and meditation. So, an hour in the morning of mostly core vinyasa krama asana (plus a couple of short rotating subroutines) followed by an hour of pranayama and meditation. Then in evening (as soon as I get in from work) Straight forward Ashtanga, Primary on Monday and Friday, Intermediate the rest of the week. So as you can see, still trying to balance the two practices, if I'm being kind to myself, or have my cake and eat it if I'm not.

But back to developing my home practice.

Part 26 ended with me in a Yurt having four days Vinyasa Krama Tuition, basically learning the sequences as they are in Ramaswami's book. I came away from that with a better idea of how the sequences went together, some suggestions of how to go about practicing them and the beginning's of a pranayama practice as well as less resistance to the very notion of chanting.

That was August 09, September I predictably became seduced, once again, by Ashtanga and Lino's full Vinyasa. It somehow opened up Ashtanga's 2nd series to me. I'd never really liked it ( I adored Primary series) but with full vinyasa I began to love the practice, everything seemed to make much more sense. By the time I dropped the full Vinyasa on account of time constraints, I was comfortable with Intermediate, my backbends and dropbacks had improved and I'd even started to look at 3rd series (Nov 09). My argument re Vinyasa Krama was that my ashtanga was a Vinyasa Krama approached Ashtanga with some variations, practiced slowly and with long exhalations.

3rd or Advanced A was a wake up call. As a guy, the beginning of 3rd series didn't appear so challenging. I was strong, arm balances weren't a problem for me and they just caused me to bulk up around the shoulders, something I'd been trying to avoid. It felt showy too and just seemed to feed that side of me that enjoyed the sense of play. I could see myself getting wrapped up in that potentiality of the practice rather than bringing out the more meditative side that I'd aimed at through introducing Vinyasa Krama. Recently, as it happens, I've been bringing a lot of the second half of 3rd into my VK practice and even been using the advanced arm balances for my short 'vigorous' pre pranayama/meditation practice, I've started to see too, that those arm balances can be very meditative taking a lot of focus and attention to do them well, but at the time it was a bit of a turn off.

In February I dropped 3rd and began to practice Vinyasa Krama again in the evenings (Ashtanga Primary and 2nd in the mornings). I began practicing pranayama more seriously and even found myself chanting mantras while cycling in to work. I started to think about attending Ramaswami's summer month long Vinyasa Krama TT course. I applied for it in March and spent the three months before it started preparing, working through all the sequences, learning the pranayama chant and worrying which mat to take. At the same time my ashtanga was improving, practicing both styles together seemed to compliment each other, leg behind head work was coming on, I grabbed my heels from the air in Kapo and was dropping back and coming up much more smoothly.

I chose my mat, managed to get through customs in LA and arrived late on the Sunday for course induction. Monday morning I got up at 5am practiced Primary in a stairwell and at at around 8am walked into my first ever led yoga class. Until that morning my 'public' practice had included two Sunday trips to Ashtanga Yoga London for mysore class and four private Vinyasa krama lessons in a Yurt. I was, I admit, a little apprehensive.

Still no post and DVD, time to practice.

Next: PT 28 Ramaswami's Five week Summer Vinyasa Krama Teacher training course in LA

Jazz and Ashtanga Vinyasa Krama; more form, more freedom.

Nice practice this morning, wonder how many blog posts start with that. Just googled 'Blogger nice practice this morning' and it comes up with 12000 results.

I've been working on the Asymmetric sequence all week, sandwiched between Ashtanga Standing and finishing. Friday's I usually do a straight Primary no matter what else I'm up to, this morning I decided to have even more fun.

I play Saxophone, though less now than I used to. Those who don't know jazz often think of it as formless, an improvised sax solo say, as just noise. But when you learn to play jazz, you learn scales, loads and loads of scales, sometimes, strange exotic scales as well as the more obscure classical one (the other way to learn jazz is to listen to hundreds of recordings). You also learn patterns or licks and if you listen to the famous players you will often hear the same little patterns of notes come up time and time again. Guitar players call those riffs.

So pick a song, a melody, learn the chord structure it's related scales. Now strip the melody down to the bare bones such that the fewest number of notes that still give you a hint of the melody and play little patterns of notes from the same scales, the same chords. Elongate the space between the melody notes and chuck in a couple of quick patterns but come back to hit the melody note on time, go all Mingus and play with the time signature, try it by humming a familiar tune, My favourite things perhaps. Now forget the melody and just play the same chords or forget the chords and play over the appropriate modal scale but keep the same rhythm, or change the rhythm but keep the chords, the scales. It can sound a little Dionysian but there's still Apollonian form there, still structure and order.

Listen to Coltrane below pushing the boundaries, it's almost like he's trying to step outside language to express what cannot be said, he fails of course, as we all must 'but he tried goddammit he tried' .

'The Tao that can be said is not the Tao' , Wittgenstein should have been ashamed of himself for writing, 'That which can not be said should be passed over in silence', where would poets be if they listen to Ludwig. If you can say it that ain't it.... but for god sake don't stop trying.

What has this got to do with this mornings practice, well not as much as I wish, clearly I've gotten all excited about jazz and gone off on a tangent. What I wanted to do was substitute Subroutines for patterns, Sequences for styles and explore improvisation in practice.

Style = Ashtanga Vinyasa Krama

Chord Structure = Standing/Bow/Seated/Asymm/Seated/Finishing

Patterns = On one leg subroutines, Salambhasana Subroutines, Kapo subroutine, Dropbacks, part of Janu Sirsasana subroutine, some Marichi's, LBH patterns, Seated angle subroutine, Arm balance riff, inversion sequences.

So I had the basic idea, the form of what I wanted to practice along with some favourite patterns but after that I let it take care of itself, let the connections work themselves out and went with instinct for what felt right, for what my body seemed to want. Changed the tempo, lot of jump backs through the Asymm section but less through Seated. The magical thing is, the more familiar you become with all the different subroutine and sequences from Vinyasa Krama, with how asanas are linked to one another the more freedom you have, it's this the same paradox you have in jazz.

The more form the more freedom.

Clearly this post makes very little sense but it's a hell of an excuse to play some Coltrane. Here he is saying that which cannot be said.... almost.

and here's a nice link to an article on Coltrane and indian music.

from Srivasta Ramaswami's May 2010 Yoga and Bronchial Asthma

from Srivasta Ramaswami's May 2010 newsletter

In an earlier letter I referred to the use of Neti, Nadishodhana.

Kapalabhati, etc., for keeping the upper respiratory tract in good

condition and being able to deal with many upper respiratory ailments

like sinusitis, rhinitis, chronic sneezing, etc. Neti uses water or a

twine to cleanse the upper respiratory tract and Nadishodhana in a way

is neti using air as the cleansing medium. The lower respiratory tract

has its own idiosyncrasies. The air warmed and moistened in the upper

respiratory tract enters the trachea and flows through the bronchial

tubes to the lungs. The bronchial tubes are a sensitive pair and tend

to contract and dilate during the breathing cycle . Some yogis who

have one foot in yoga and the other in modern medicine have suggested

that the Kurma nadi mentioned in the yoga texts refers to the

bronchial section of the respiratory system—nadis are after all tubes.

This sensitive nadi causes problems in certain people. The bronchial

tubes tend to dilate and contract respectively during inhalation and

exhalation in normal people at normal times. But in certain people

they tend to contract during expiration but do not dilate sufficiently

or remain contracted even during inhalation restricting the free

passage of air. Because of the narrowing of this section of the

airway, we hear the unique whistling sound as we find among

asthmatics. These constrictions in certain advanced cases can be

continuous but with many asthmatics it is intermittent.

The cause of this is usually attributed to allergens. Some allergens,

like pollen, dust, peanuts, cat's hair or the spouse's dandruff,

produce a reaction in the respiratory center due to which the impulses

coming from the Vagus nerve which control the bronchial tubes tend to

produce bronchial spasm. While in most people this does not happen,

this overreaction takes place in asthmatics. The conventional approach

to deal with this problem is two fold. One is to find out those foods

and pollutants which produce this condition and develop vairagya

towards them. Avoidance, a yogic trait is recommended. .”Keep away

from the offending allergens” is the dictum. Another related approach

is to find out the various substances that one is allergic to and then

inject small doses of the allergens into the system. Hopefully over a

period of time the patient will develop some immunity to these

substances which she or he did not have. Related to this is to use

temporary medication to mainly dilate the bronchial tubes. Such

medications are available with allopathic doctors, ayurvedic vaidyas

and also as home remedies. My grandmother used to make a concoction of

several herbs (I do not remember the English names of them), turmeric,

black pepper, basil, cinnamon and a piece of dry date (to make it

palatable). So avoidance, developing artificial immunity and temporary

palliatives are the cures available for the millions of those who

suffer from the debilitating condition called bronchial asthma.

But the Yogis go one step deeper and say it is a functional disorder.

Even though allergens are the precipitating cause the root cause is

said to be sudden abnormal activity in the broncho-motor of the vagus

nucleus of the medulla. The external protein, the offending allergen,

excites reflectively in an asthmatic when the vagus motor nucleus is

irritable and unstable and produces the spasm of the bronchial tubes.

The lower tone of the sympathetic also contributes to this condition.

It is the malfunctioning of the respiratory center. In yogic parlance

it is the disturbance (prana prakopa) of the pranamaya kosa.

So rather than dealing with this problem empirically the yogic

procedures directly attempt to deal with and try to correct the

abnormality. One of them is a unique procedure called Ujjayi

breathing. In this the vocal cords are approximated using the deep

throat and vocal chord muscles and the subject breathes through the

constriction produced, creating a unique sound, the Ujjayi hissing

sound. Normally we do not use these muscles in this particular way.

While yogis are familiar with this breathing for many others it is

unfamiliar. But since we keep the vocal cords together for a

considerable amount of time, breathing in and out, we tend to gain

control over these muscles. Since the bronchial tubes are also

controlled by the same vagus nerve, one would gain control over the

muscles activating the bronchial tubes. In fact the effect is optimal

if one does the Ujjayi correctly by using proper jalandhara bandha. In

this the chin is brought way down and placed against the breast bone

and the whole rib cage pulled up by straightening the spine, giving a

very powerful bandha. In such a lock, one is able to breathe,

controlling the breathing way down in the respiratory tract, very

close to the bronchial tubes, the kurma nadi. A few days of attentive

practice of this unusual procedure will bring very good control over

the lower respiratory tract musculature. Ujjayi breathing will appear

very unusual for non yogis. Further the prolonged, deliberate

constriction of this area will also stimulate the sympathetic to send

impulses to open the bronchial tubes and tone of the sympathetic also

will be improved. A better tone of the sympathetic will help dilate

the bronchial tubes during normal breathing. Without getting much into

technicalities it may be said that this reprogramming done for a

sufficiently long time will help the asthmatic have improved breathing

and less severe and less frequent attacks, and in some cases complete

normalcy. With proper care of food, reduced stress levels and other

yoga friendly life style changes and regular practice one could,

hopefully, be free of the debilitating asthmatic attacks. Ujjayi

closely resembles asthmatic breathing. Another concomitant problem is

the dry chronic cough. For this Bhastrika, which simulates a cough,

should be practiced .

The other exercises that may be beneficial are, as you can guess, the

inversions, especially head stand. Once the patient is reasonably

healthy and strong the head stand or its variants with or without help

or props may be attempted. Headstand as it has been mentioned in

earlier articles, helps to direct the CSF into the ventricle in the

brain to stimulate the pituitary the secretions which help produce

adrenalin, a hormone which used to be given in the olden days for

asthmatics. Further it nourishes the spinal nerves which will help the

proper functioning of the autonomic nervous system thereby giving a

healthy control over the bronchial tubes. A short stay in Sarvangasana

also is helpful as it gives a natural jalandhaarabandha and the

quality of Ujjayi breathing is also good. Assisted

sarvangasanaViparitakarani) can also be attempted

It is also a good practice to work on the accessory muscles to

breathing. In an asthmatic the chest muscles tend to be rigid and

breathing shallow. Arm exercises and thoracic exercises are very

helpful to free the tightness of the chest. Please refer to the hasta

vinyasas and the Parsva bhangi vinyasas in the Tadasana sequence in my

book “The Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga”. Many of these exercises can

be done even sitting, and some even lying down depending on the

condition of the patient. Singing (perhaps in the bathroom), full

throated chanting (prabalam adhiyita)and reading aloud (with or

without an audience) are also helpful.

Yoga can be very useful for asthmatics as an adjunct therapy, one may

continue with medical treatment one is undergoing like allopathic,

ayurvedic or any other. Normally it will be a good idea to start

treating an asthmatic during the season when the atmospheric

pollutants are the least troublesome and asthmatic attacks minimal.

One may start with the accessory muscle exercises and then teach

Kapalabhati, then Bhastrika and Ujjayi breathing with Kumbhaka withing

one's capacity. Some kind of assisted inversion can be attempted

after the participant feels more comfortable. Over a period of time

with regular practice almost everyone shows improvement. The

frequency and severity of the attacks come down.

When I started teaching way back in the mid seventies, with the

blessings of my guru, I taught yoga to a bunch of asthmatics in a

nearby hospital. The patients varied from about 8 years to about 60

years. I met each one individually once a week for about 8 weeks,

teaching them slowly and progressively. I did not keep any records but

later when I met the doctor he looked quite pleased. He mentioned that

many had shown improvements over a year and it was possible to reduce

and in one or two cases suspend medication. Their vital capacity

showed significant improvement. One important aspect of yoga therapy

is that the patient gets fully involved in it. When you give medicines

alone, the patient is a passive helpless participant. In yoga chikitsa

the patient is fully involved and when she/he sees improvement there

is a psychological boost-- a feeling of achievement is there which

will help them practice regularly and take care of themselves. They

are slowly able to overcome the despair and helplessness associated

with these attacks and start becoming more positive. They start

feeling equal to the challenge.

When anyone asks me if yoga cikitsa works for bronchial asthma, I say

yes. Because I was an asthmatic as a teenager. Since I started

studying with my Guru I have been—touch wood-- free of attacks, for 50

years now. Children from families who have asthmatic members may

benefit immensely from relevant yoga practice if they could start

appropriate yoga early in life.

Developing a home practice Parts 1-26

I received an email this from A. this week asking me how I started and I guess developed my home practice. I was going to direct her to the link to these Developing a home practice posts but it tends to link to the most recent first. This then is an attempt to put it all in the correct order. Bit awkward doing this so let me know if I've screwed up any of the links.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11a Part 11b Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15a Part 15b Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21a Part 21b Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26a Part 26b Part 27

The last of these is from September 09 so need to do a few more to bring my things up to date.