In recent days I've been learning more and more about Yoga Therapy and the benefits it has over western medicine which these days doesn't always get to the root of the problem. It's becoming more often that people are being told the only option to fix a certain problem they have is surgery, whether it be a drastic hip/knee replacement or removal of a bone spur somewhere in their body. This has become more apparent in the past few days as we have studied X-rays and examples of problems that can be solved with yoga therapy. It's a real pity that the entire world doesn't know that yoga therapy is a real option out there and that we are relying and trusting the doctors we see back at home, without looking into other alternatives. People may laugh when you suggest that they try yoga to help a certain problem but its incredible what yoga has helped people with, even people who were told they would never walk again. I remember a girl in my yoga teacher training last year, telling us her incredible story at the beginning of the course about that exact thing and how yoga literally turned her life around. Yoga can truly defy the odds and more people need to know this.

Our doctor went on to tell us about some amazing things in our life which we probably never realised before for example how we should eat according to the region, season and our nature. He explained that we should eat what is in season wherever we live because mother nature knows what our body needs and what it is lacking at that time of year and so it provides us with a fruit/veg etc with the specific nutrients we need. Fascinating stuff. He went on to explain that if we live in hot country's we should eat more spicy food (eg. South India) because in the heat, our blood rushes to our skin and away from our organs so by eating spicy food we bring the blood back to the digestive system to aid digestion. The same goes for the cold parts of the world. In the winter, our blood rushes to our vital organs to keep them healthy and warm and so we don't need to add anymore hear for digestion there. Our incredible body holds 5L of blood and 1.5L of that is in reserve in the calfs. He told us that if your body requires blood to the head or other parts of the body for instance you can lay with your legs up against the wall to let gravity aid the blood in that direction.

We went on studying the muscles and relating them to poses and in turn relating them to disorders that someone may present to you. Its incredible that by knowing which muscle is the culprit in the disorder, you can stretch it over time and bring balance back to your body. We also talked about the different types of yoga and benefits and though there are some superficial benefits to faster yoga like vinyasa flow/ashtanga or Hot yoga, these styles aren't in synergy with the original philosophies of Hatha Yoga. Hatha Yoga is the basis of Yoga and here we hold static poses for a longer period of time which calms our mind, works into the organs and strengthens the muscles

He explained the differences between Yoga and exercise (which many people believe are the same) such as the efect on our mind and personality. Gym bunnies tend to have a faster pace of life, ready to respond quick and will have an active Sympathetic nervous system (which causes stress/anxiety) whereas yogis tend to have a calmer mind, take time to decide and use the para sympathetic part of their nervous system which keeps us calm and relaxed. When it comes to sweating it is even different. Yoga sweat tends to be cool and clammy whereas exercise leaves you hot and sweaty. Yoga is static in nature and exercise is dynamic in nature. If someone comes to a yoga class with the mindset of 'wanting to lose weight' or 'wanting to be flexible' without 'wanting to balance the mind' number one, then they have lost the philosophy of yha in the first place. Exercise focuses on the peripheral body and Asana (yoga postures) actually focus on the organs and the body as a whole creating peace within.

To sum it up, Yoga Therapy is a relatively unknown option for medicinal purposes in the west and this needs to change. It's all about going back to nature and nature has everything our bodies need. There is no need for drastic surgery or suffering from high blood pressure, stiffness, pain, bad digestion etc when you have the answer right in front of you. I urge you to research this concept and go and find a Yoga practictioner/therapist near you. It will turn your entire life around.

Namaste :)

This is a blog topic I've wanted to write for a while now and what better time to write it than straight after practicing Yin at my current yoga school. As most of you probably know already, I have returned to India and better still, to Rishikesh Yog Peeth where I studied in Aug/Sept 2013. I am taking my 300hr teacher training course this time and nearing the end of my 4th week right now, I can safely say that I have learned heaps of new things and everything seems to be falling into place finally.

Some of you may have heard of Yin yoga, have even taken a class or two before or some of you may never have heard of it before which is why I'm writing this piece. Prior to Sept 2013 I hadn't heard of Yin yoga myself and it wasn't until a 300hr student named Steph used this style during her teaching our with my 200hr class and I nearing the end of her course. We loved it so much in fact that we requested to have her teach us a few more times after that until she had to leave to return home to Canada. After leaving India, I made it my mission to attend Yin classes wherever I could, in Bali and in New Zealand etc which furthered my knowledge of the style. It wasn't until returning to Rishikesh this time round that I realised I wanted to focus on this style as I felt it suited who I am and what I feel comfortable doing.

The concepts of Yin are relatively new but are incredibly interesting. Unlike some other styles of yoga, Yin requires the yogi to hold a static (passive) or active pose for a certain period of time ie. 3-5minutes generally in order for the stretch to penetrate the connective tissues, ligaments, fascia and muscle. This In turn helps increases blood flow to the area and synovial fluid which means your joints and ligaments etc will be more flexible and healthy. A lot of faster paced yoga (Yang styles) doesn't penetrate this deep because the poses are switched more often therefore Yin is a very beneficial style for everyone. There are not as many poses in this style of yoga than there are in Hatha Yoga for instance but some of the poses can be modified. It's said that we good a lot of emotions in our hips (issues in our tissues) and that when we hold a 'hip opener' pose such as 'the shoelace' (image below) for 3-5 minutes, breaking through the intensity of the stretch and the block in our mind then this can have very calming results. It's not unusual to start crying or laughing in a class and it is encouraged to let whatever comes to the surface, out because this is what will free us from the fluctuating mind and help us become more aware of ourselves and our bodies.

For my first teaching experience this time round, I chose to Yin and I got great feedback from my peers afterwards which was very encouraging and sweet. We are lucky enough to have a lovely and very wise older couple here with us teaching some lectures and classes whom have both studied Yin with Bernie Clark in Canada. I am planning to do my exam speec about the concepts of Yin yoga at the end of my course and considering I'm moving to Vancouver this summer, I could be lucky enough to do yoga with Bernie Clark too. Having studied Yoga Therpy intensively this week with an Indian doctor, I am more aware of the benefits of static postures on the body and furthermore the benefits that Yin can have on each and every body too. I'm hoping to gain more knowledge on this incredible style in the near future and hopefully be able to start sharing the concept and benefits with others.

So watch this space :)

Namaste

Not a lot of people may know but Yoga can be very effective with treating health problems or disorders in people. It gets right to the heart of the problem which always lies within the anatomy of the body, and it aims to focus on ways to help improve the quality of ones life. This is known as Yoga Therapy and is becoming more widely known in the western world these days. While studying my advanced 300hr yoga teacher training here in Rishikesh, India, my classmates and I have been privledegd enough to have a whole week of intensive yoga therapy training with Dr Deepak Sachdeva from Dr Deepak Sachdeva's Medical Yoga Centre in Delhi. (Link below) It came as a surprise when our teacher Roshan told us that we would have 18 hours of training with him which would then leave us with the minimum requirement to go on and study a diploma in Yoga Therapy if we so wished at a later stage.

For me, this was very exciting because having studied a two year diploma in Beauty and Holistic Therapies back in Ireland not so long ago, I knew that I had a keen interest in the body and the anatomy/physiology of the body itself. It was my favourite subject in college and I was excited to learn more. Today was our first day of the training and we spent 6 hours studying all of the bones and some of the muscles of the body whilst associating them to Yoga Asanas (postures). Yoga Therapy is fascinating in the sense that, Dr Deepak himself even said, that the diagnosis starts as soon as the person walks into the office because everything about them including their posture, can give you a clear indication of the problem they might be suffering from. For me, I got a glimpse of this during our Figure Diagnosis module in college, in which we analysed the body for postural deformities and aimed to give exercises and nutrition advise to help combat the problem. It wasn't yoga related but it had the same concept of being all natural and treating the problem holistically.

It's truly amazing that so much research had gone into Hatha Yoga and the therapeutic benefits it provides and considering in the west we have a habit to prescribe medication constantly to patients without getting to the root of the problem, I hope this will be the future of Holistic living and treatment of disorders. Personally I don't know if I will ever study towards a diploma in Yoga Therapy but this is an incredible link to join up my love of holistic living, my skills as a beauty and holistic therapist with my skills as a Yoga teacher and who knows where that may take me. But for now, I am going to absorb as much of this truly worthwhile information for both myself and my future yogis.

Namaste

X

http://www.medicalyoga.in