YOGA IS MEDICINE!

Here are the notes from my YOGA AS MEDICINE lecture which I presented as part of UWM's Holistic Healing series. For more information check out the UWM's Student Union's Sociocultural Programming. http://www.aux.uwm.edu/Union/sociocultural/holisticHealing.html

The word yoga means “union” or “joining” in sandskrit. The practice of yoga is meant to unite the mind, body and spirit. There is also the belief that the practice of yoga is used to reunite the individual self with the absolute or pure consciousness. By doing the positions(asanas) we are lengthening, strengthening and detoxifying our bodies. The ancient yogis believed that only by a strong and balanced body can we then create a strong and balanced mind. With a strong mind will come a strong and balanced spirit.

                Yoga is not a religion. Even though yoga came out of ancient India it is not a form of Hinduism, Islam, Sikism, Buddhism or any other Indian based religion. Yoga is enthusiastically practiced by all faiths and denominations alike. Like AA, yoga has a spiritual dimension that can be focused on or totally ignored, depending on what’s most useful to you. Like AA, yoga allows you a “take what you can use and ignore the rest” approach. (The true latin meaning of religion is “to join the supreme”)

                The reality is that we expect our bodies to depreciate over time. We resign ourselves to the fact that our bodies will function less efficiently as years pass. Not enough people stop to ask themselves if this is really necessary. Why is it that animals seem to go on functioning well through most of their lives? It’s because aging is largely an unnatural condition. Certainly aging at the rate and with the typical ailments that we humans suffer from is unatural. Many of the yoga postures(asanas) are named after and reflect the movements of animals. Through observations the yoga practitioners came to understand how animals live in harmony with their environment and with their own bodies. They understood, through experience, the effects of particular postures and how the hormonal secretions could be stimulated and controlled by it. Other postures they found to balanced physic centers and allow organs to function better. Through keeping our bodies free of toxins, strong and balanced, we can significantly reduce the catabolic process of cell deterioration.

                Yoga can be done in your living room, on the beach, in your backyard or in large beautiful spacious studios. It can be done fast, slow, sitting on the floor, standing or sitting in chairs. You can make it deeply spiritual or not at all. Everyone will, however, benefit from reducing stress, strengthening and calming the nervous system, clearing the mental clutter, increasing blood flow to organs and bringing more oxygen to your cells.

“If you can bring your mind and thoughts under control, there is literally no limit to what you can do – since it is only our own illusions and preconceptions that hold us back and prevent us from fulfilling ourselves.” Taken from the Sivananda Companion To Yoga, written by Lucy Lidell

THE 8 LIMBS

YAMA-Social discipline

NIYAMA-Individual discipline

ASANAS-Postures and physical control

PRANAYAMA-Breath control

PRATHYAHARA-Sense, mind and conscious control

DHARANA-Concentration

DHYANA-Meditation

SAMADHI-Self-realization and divine consciousness

PRANAYAMA

Prana means life source of energy and yama means regulation or control. Pranayama is the regulation of incoming and outgoing breath with retention.

-Oxygen is the most essential element for all existence. Every last cell in our bodies requires oxygen for optimal functioning.

-Oxygen is energizing and detoxifying.

-Oxygen is alkaline forming contributing to a healthy pH in the body.

-Oxygen boosts our immune system and is essential for stress reduction.

-The adult human body has 5 liters of lung capacity. Most people take 550ml inhalations and exhalations…Less than one liter.

ASANAS

-Promote strength and flexibility. You are only as young as your spine is flexible.

-Engages muscles that are underused or not working properly and relaxes ones that don’t want to let go.

-Brings bones into better alignment, relieving compression of joints and soft tissue.

-Develops body awareness and alignment. The proper location of each body part effects all others.

-Activates and tones organs.

-Endocrine gland function and hormone balancing.

-Releases toxins in the soft tissue.

               

CHAKRA  MEDITATION

A Chakra is a center of activity that receives, assimilates and expresses life force energy. The worked Chakra literally translates as disk or wheel and refers to a spinning sphere of bioenergetic activity emanating from the major nerve ganglia branching forward from the spinal column. There are six of these wheels stacked in a column of energy that spans from the base of the spine to the middle of the forehead. The seventh is two fingers above the crown of the head beyond the physical region. By meditating on the chakras we are balancing ourselves as well as maintaining physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.

FRIDAY

Yoga Name: Mooladhara Chakra

Common Name: Root Chakra

Color: Red

Mantra: Lam/Lang

Planet: Venus

Element: Earth

Location: 2 fingers above the anus and 2 fingers below the sex organ

Endocrine Gland: Testicles and Ovaries

SATURDAY

Yoga Name: Swadhisthana Chakra

Common Name: Navel Chakra

Color: Orange

Mantra: Vam/Vang

Planet: Saturn

Element: Water

Location: 2 fingers above the root chakra.

Endocrine Gland: Adrenal Gland

SUNDAY

Yoga Name: Maipura Chakra

Common Name: Navel Chakra

Mantra: Ram/Rang

Planet: Sun

Element: Fire

Location: On the navel.

Endocrine Gland: Pancreas

MONDAY

Yoga Name: Anahata Chakra

Common Name: Heart Chakra

Color: Green

Mantra: Yam/Yang

Planet: Moon

Element: Air

Location: Middle of the sternum bone.

Endocrine gland: Thymus gland

TUESDAY

Yoga Name: Vishuddhi Chakra

Common Name: Throat Chakra

Color: Sky Blue

Mantra: Ham/Hang

Planet: Mars

Element: Space

Location: Pit of throat

Endocrine glands: Thyroid and Parathyroid glands

WEDNESDAY

Yoga Name: Ajna Chakra

Common Name: Forehead chakra

Color: Purple

Mantra: Om

Planet: Mercury

Element: Mind

Location: In between the eyebrows

Endocrine gland: Pituitary gland

THURSDAY

Yoga Name: Sahasrara Chakra

Common Name: Crown Chakra

Color: Violet

Mantra: Silent

Planet: Jupiter

Element: Divine Consciousness

Location: Top of the head

Endocrine gland: Pineal Gland

An excellent chart of the chakras, endocrine glands, and the physical, mental and emotional benefits of meditating on the chakras can be found at http://www.healthandyoga.com

 Suggested Reading:

THE SIVANANDA COMPANION TO YOGA by Lucy Lidell

YOGA AS MEDICINE by Timothy McCall M.D.

DR. YOGA: A Complete Guide To The Medical Benefits of Yoga by Nirmala Heriza

YOGA: A GEM FOR WOMEN by Geeta Iyengar

LIGHT ON YOGA by B.K.S. Iyengar

THE YAMAS AND NIYAMAS by Deborah Adele