Yoga

Yoga!

It is exactly two months since I started practicing yogasanas as part of “Therapy Yoga” at Rashrottanna Yogic Sciences and Research Center at their Jayanagar 5^th Block unit in Bangalore. I joined this center with the hope that I would find an answer to my vexed problem of numbness in the toe region of both my feet. I was told by quite a few friends, acquaintances and doctors from alternative medicine that Yoga was ‘THE’ answer to reducing the bulge in my herniated vertebrate column in the lumber region. While I am yet to discover any improvement in the farthest point to the brain, the lumbar pain has reduced considerably, and that certainly is a relief!

This Center is located in the prominent South Bengaluru area called Jayanagar and is a sprawling 3 floors complex, built in an ‘L’ shape format with six large halls – some medium size and some large. The good thing is the non-slip linoleum flooring that helps people get a firm grip while doing the yogasanas. The other plus point is the constant temperature this floor lining maintains despite the varying seasonal temperature outside. The center also provides thick cotton fabric mats instead of the synthetic yoga mats available in the market. Some of the other ancillaries or aids provided are the rectangular and one side curved bricks, coasters, foldable steel chairs. One can also purchase a two meter flat belt and a length of knotted rope which helps in getting the yogic postures correctly for beginners like us.

Our batch consists of folks aged 50 and beyond and generally the instructor is aware that this composition of people in their post retirement period come with all kinds of aches pains and stiffness in joints. Flexibility is pretty pathetic and most yogic postures seem a sorry reflection of an elastic teenager doing the same.

As I reflect on the recent past, it must have been a pretty comical site for an observer on my first day. I was the only new person in the team of 25 with two dozen of them seasoned folks practicing Yoga for the last 5 to 7 years. And, like in any classroom, each participant finds and sticks to their favorite spot and these people don’t like it at all if someone takes away their spot, even though unknowingly. I got into that situation…I must have encroached and the person came in 5 minutes early the following day to edge me off that position. For me staying close to the front side was a necessity as I just cannot see without my spectacles.

Having got edged out, the next day I took the safer bet of hovering at the far end of the room and decided to do my yogasanas with my spectacles on. It is pretty confusing in the beginning. One doesn’t know which sensory system to follow. The default instruction to the brain is from the eyesight. We tend to ignore the verbal instructions of the Yoga instructor and initially attempt to copy whatever they are doing. Unfortunately, the brain gets confused as the instructor is a mirror image of us. She says turn right, but visually we see otherwise and confidently turn left. You realize the mistake and then look to your left and right to see what the others are doing and try and sheepishly correct yourself and create a lag. Subsequently you end up doing a catch-up with the rest! Most of the time is lost in watching what the others are doing and you end up messing with all the asanas. The breathing sequence goes for a toss absolutely. Yogasana is all about postures and synchronized breathing. If not done correctly an asana just gets relegated to a simple physical exercise, incorrectly done and benefits none.

Conscious effort is necessary to keep your eyes open, but not watch what the others are doing. Keep your ears absolutely tuned to listen to the Yoga instructor and blindly follow it. Believe me, this works…any other method will certainly fail. Yoga is not about competing with the others. It is what you can do with your body and mind. It is okay not to be as supple as the others…it is okay not being able to do it as correctly as some of the others can do…It is only about what you can do with yourself. Should you bring in a competitive spirit into your yogasana, you might end up over stretching and injuring yourself. A fellow Yoga practitioner on my first day had told me this…he had taken a break for a month as he had sprained his left arm trying to stretch beyond limits and paid the price.  He had told me, “don’t ever copy from the best in your class – you will only hurt yourself”!

Surya Namaskara or Sun Salutation is an important set of asanas that is done daily irrespective of which warm up exercises have been done or what will be done post Surya Namaskara, during the daily schedule. This is a combination of 12 asanas done in a particular sequence and repeated 13 times daily. One has to utter a mantra before commencing each sequence and they are the 12 names of the God Surya (Sun):

1. Om Mitraya Namah 
2. Om Ravaye Namah
3. Om Suryaya Namah
4. Om Bhanave Namah
5. Om Khagaya Namah 
6. Om Pusne Namah 
7. Om Hiranya Garbhaya Namah 
8. Om Marichaye Namah 
9. Om Adityaya Namah
10. Om Savitre Namah
11. Om Arkaya Namah 
12. Om Bhaskaraya Namah 
13. Om Shree Savithra Suryanaryanaya Namah   

  The key is the sequence of Inhalation, exhalation and retention as we go through the 12 asana positions. It took me a month to get the sequence correct. Also, this asana should be started with the right side leading with the first mantra and end with the right side on the 13^th time mantra.
 

Since our batch is a morning batch, the first 15 minutes are exclusively reserved for loosening exercises. Once the Surya Namaskara set is completed, we get a mini break for 5 minutes to recuperate and then we get into whole body stretching asanas. The various aids introduced is to help us get the correct form and over time, we should be able to perform all the whole body stretches without any external aid.

The last 15 minutes is reserved for Pranayama – the root! Prana means Life Force or breath sustaining the body. Ayama means “to extend or draw out”. Together they mean Breath Extension or Control.

This is commenced with chanting of “Om”. Take a deep breath and as you exhale slowly, chant “Om” and it has to come from deep within. One needs to feel and experience the vibrations from the chanting of “Om”.

The first pranayama is Nadhi Shodhan Pranayama: Alternate nostril breathing technique. Breathing from left nostril, Exhaling from right nostril, Inhaling from the right nostril and exhaling from the left. This is one cycle. This must be repeated nine times.

This pranayama has to be done softly/gently. But a few amongst our team are quite noisy. One of them sounds like a Heart-Lung machine and I have to fight the urge to let out a huge laugh!

Ujjayi Pranayama: Also called ‘Victorious breath’; Breath from both nostrils and exhale from both nostrils. It helps calm the mind and creates a feeling of warmth. One should ensure that during inhalation, you should completely fill your lungs.

Sheetali Pranayama: Also called cooling breath. Roll your tongue and push it out of your mouth. Breath through the rolled tongue and exhale through both nostrils. The basic purpose of Sheetali Pranayama is to cool down the body. This cool feeling is felt in the throat region instantly. This needs to be repeated 8 to 10 times.

Brahmari Pranayama: This is like applying brakes to the buzzing mind. Partially close your ears with thumb while keeping your index fingers of both hands on your forehead, Middle fingers below the nostril, ring fingers below the lower lips and the short fingers (pinky) below your chin. Breath in and as you exhale let a low frequency buzzing/humming sound come from deep within. The buzzing/humming sound from the throat will shut down all thoughts from your mind.

Our Yoga instructor specifically tells us to shut our ears to all external sounds and exactly at this point in time, the school next door commences their band for their prayers. Who’s talking of shutting the external noise…it comes with a big bang, loud and clear!!

Kapal Bhati Pranayama: Inhale strongly and exhale through short strong bursts from the stomach/naval region. This mimics sneezing and involves the stomach.

Bhastrika Pranayama: Also called ‘Bellows breath’, this is done through forceful exhalation through the chest and is hence different from Kapal Bhati Pranayama. Both Inhalation and exhalation are forced.

Lastly, we go into Shavasana – the corpse pose or Mrtasana. This is used as a relaxation at the end of the session. The art of relaxation is harder than one can think of. The technique is to concentrate on each part of your body starting from the toes right up to the head and then back to the toes and relax as you go from part to part. This relaxes the body and the mind. This generally needs to be done for a 5 minute period.

Post Shavasana, we return to Sukhasana pose, bow to mother earth, open our eyes and return to normal work.

What is bothering me off late is the return of pain in my left knee joint. Some Yoga postures can cause severe stress on the knee joint namely, Vajrasana. Not being aware and not being told by the instructor on the first day, I went ahead and did all the stretches in Vajrasana. This unfortunately marked the return of my ancient knee joint pain. On some days it is so painful that I take recourse to a painkiller. While I have stopped Vajrasana posture, the pain has become a permanent companion. However, I am doggedly pursuing with Yoga and hope that one year down the line, my toe region in both my feet become normal and the back pain disappears.