Can yoga really treat what ails you?
Monday, March 10th, 2008The results of the studies have come in, do yoga and you will look and feel better.
It seemed but only a short while ago that yoga was a “new” trend in the minds of many in
These days, most people know that yoga is a meditative discipline and has a physical side to it. Still though, even some of my long-term students struggle with what yoga is precisely. It’s many things, with many people defining it, but really, it’s up to you how you want to approach it. Yoga can be used like a sport, a philosophy, and even a method of therapy. It is a multi-armed discipline but with a common goal: unity of oneself with the divine.
This remains elusive and highly subjective language of course. Like I said though, it’s important to “get in the door”, meaning, start with a simple class, or if you already know some yoga, just do some. Ten or fifteen minutes a day even and you’ll notice a big change in a short period of time.
The practice has a sneaky way of making you feel happy and mentally calm even if you just set out to do it to just get in shape. Along with encouraging a sense of well-being, yoga has been scientifically proven to aid in balancing weight, increasing strength and flexibility, and can be used to effectively treat or normalize a whole plethora of disease, including; substance abuse, emphysema, heart disease, eating disorders, depression, arthritis, asthma, back pain, cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome, diabetes, migraines, high blood pressure, infertility, insomnia, excess weight and much more.
Because we wake up each day in a body with an expiration date, sitting still only speeds up the entropy that is already going on. But by doing more breathing, stretching, and strength building, it’s likely we can avoid a lot of the malaise and hospital visits you see around you.I do a physical yoga practice each morning which gives me energy, a pain-free body, and has probably saved me lots of money in doctors’ bills. Although yoga for me is a lot about the way I live, as much time as I spend writing about yoga or with a book in my face, simply getting to the practice each morning is one of the best things I can do for myself. As one of my teachers likes to say, “crawl on your mat if you need to!” You can listen to a yoga podcast interview between Adrian Cox and Paddy McGrath.
Another benefit of the practice is that it requires next to nothing in terms of equipment. Your body and determination is really all that is required. As the owner of a yoga studio, by proxy I own hundreds of yoga mats, but me personally, I don’t own a single one. It’s me, my breath, and the floor. Once you learn some of the basics of yoga, you too can continue to practice by yourself at your own schedule. A short 15-20 minutes a day, 6 days a week and in a week or two, you’ll feel better than you have in years.
I hear “oh, I’m not flexible enough!” a lot when I talk about yoga. That however is precisely WHY people should do yoga. Among the numerous benefits which span from physical, energetic, mental, and spiritual, doing yoga is the solution for stiff people. Give it a try, with regular practice, it can indeed treat what ails you, while encouraging a whole new positive perspective on life.
Shane and I are leaving
