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Yoga Primer

N K Srinivasan [Iyengar]
Introduction
This article is aimed at providing you with much basic information about yoga and get you started with very simple yoga practice. If you are already practising yoga and are a beginner, you will find many useful tips here. I hope I will be able to inspire you to take to yoga ,whatever be your age. [I am in my seventh decade and had been practising yoga since I was in high school in India.] Yoga is for you Yoga can be practised at any age and you can start the yoga practice even at the age of 60 or 70. it is never too late to begin yoga. If you are past 50 years and if you are inflexible or obese or a bit heavy, the progress will be slow ,but you can practise a lot of yoga in about a month's time. Regular practice, almost every day and proper yoga teacher or guidance are required. Bette Calman is a yoga teacher in her eighties ,teaching

 several classes every week in Australia. B K S Iyengar, the yoga master and author of "Light of Yoga" teaches yoga at the age of 95 in his institute in Pune in India. There are many yoga teachers today who started late and went on to become yoga teachers after a few years..read about Mr Frank White and others in the USA. I am myself in my seventh decade and practise yoga daily for about an hour and teach yoga to seniors in my neighborhood.! What yoga does? The promises of yoga are well known but worth repeating. Yoga improves flexibility and enables you to move your legs,hands, hips and shoulders easily. It can prevent arthritis form developing and also improve flexibility if you are already suffering from arthritis...yoga practice for arthritis is quite tough but can be done slowly. Read Fishman's book "Yoga for arthritis". Many young persons and middle aged professionals come to yoga for relief from lower back pain. Back pain ,of all kinds,can be excrutiating and makes you lie down for weeks . This can be alleviated by simple yoga practice in a few days. There are plenty of yoga teachers and clinics for back pain

 relief through yoga. There are numerous books too: read Sandy Blaine's simple book "Yoga for back pain". You may also read Peggy Cappy 's yoga books. Let me track back a little and say that yoga is for attaining proper alignment and strength of complete set of vertebrae in the back bone or spine. Our spine is often abused and damaged with curvature, bent and even herniated because of wrong posture, bending over while working with computers, long driving and above all ,improper walking. Yoga is the best remedy for all these malformations of the spine and make your spine properly aligned. When this happens ,your lungs also function properly and with full efficiency. The lungs become flexible too. While we are discussing the 'back bone issues', let me add that yoga promotes better posture that you will breathe easily. If you are suffering from asthma, you may not be cured of this disease, but you will get some reprieve with better breathing cycles. Our sciatic nerve moves from the lower back and travels towards the legs. The dreadful disease called sciatica is associated with the misalaignment and damage to the nerve and the pain cause by this condition. Yoga can help a lot with

 changing your lower vertebrae and avoiding any damage or rubbing of this nerve. This condition often caused by long sitting posture and driving a car or sitting in air flights ,can be easily corrected by simple yoga practice. One of the common complaints of modern persons is constipation ,often due to bad eating habits, starchy foods with less fiber, lack of physical exercise, bloating stomach and sedentary habits--long sitting in desks or driving a car. You may have to change your eating habits, consume more fibre and above all, stick to eating at proper ,regular timing. Avoid in between snacks . You have to improve peristaltic action of your intestines and you have to do some form of exercise...the best here is YOGA. Walking for about 20 minutes a day can also help. Yoga specificlly churns or squeezes your intestines during various poses or asanas. This is often the result of your leg and hip movements in yoga poses or asanas. A simple gas relieving pose ,called 'pawan mukta-asana'['pawan' means gas and 'mukta' means release] can do wonders for your intestines. Simple leg lifting poses from lying down position offer great relief and reduces belly fat. Aha --- I should say a few words about the topic much talked

 about today---'reducing belly fat'--a topic dear to weight watchers and slimming persons. Belly fat is really ,really bad because it leads to obesity,overweight and often paves the way .for several degenerative diseases. Battling the consequences of belly fat is not easy and one should prevent this accumulation of fat in the first place. Daily practice of yoga will help you to control belly fat. Here is a simple yoga pose called "Ekapada hasta asana" --a simplified version for you: To Reduce Belly Fat --Lie flat on your back on the floor. -- Lift your left leg to a height such that the leg makes a 45 deg angle with the floor. ---- Hold for 3 to 5 seconds. ----- Slowly lower the leg to the floor. ---- Do the same with the right leg . ----- Repeat this 10 to 20 times. You should do this when your stomach is half empty--not immediately after a heavy meal or breakfast...say, after about an hour later do this. Daily practice will show you results in about a week.Be patient. If a pain occurs, relax and do massaging at that

 part. Stress reduction --the Yoga way Next to back pain, many come to study yoga for stress reduction --to avoid depression and achieve calmness and peace within. Yoga has been proven for many many decades for stress reduction.Here is a simple recipe for stress reduction and to avoid depression. Try "Cobra pose"---known as Bhujanga -asana. You can first practise a simpler,gentle pose called the SPHINX POSE" --This is what its name suggests. --Lie flat on the stoamch. --- Raise your face and shoulders and keep the elbows bent at the sides. --- support the front ,raised part of face and shoulders with the arms ,bent at the elbow. Your forearm rests on the floor. --- Stay for 10 seconds. ---Lower the body and stay for 10 seconds. --repeat this for four times. This pose will greatly reduce your tension and may lower your hypertension over a period of time. This is an easy pose and a preparatory pose of full version of

 Cobra pose. I must tell you that stress reduction is a slow process; you take about a month for significant ,positive results. But keep doing. You will feel better every day. Can this help in anger management? I am not sure, but try and let me know by email.[ nksrinivasan@hotmail.com]

 Restorative, rejunevating poses Yoga is often presented as a set of intricate, twisted contortions ,pretzel like ,demanding very supple and flexible muscles and joints --meant for young people..Are there relaxing, restorative poses to do?.. Yes, Indeed. After a hard day's work or strenuous journey or heavy labor, you can relax into some poses. You need these poses as you grow older. You can read Judith Lesater's books. "Iyengar -trained", she is a pioneer in this type of yoga. You can also read Suza Francina's books meant for senior persons. [ You can get these books at low cost online from Amazon.com] I shall suggest simple poses for relaxation. Any sitting pose ,sitting cross legged or legs bent at the knee and feet touching each other.. is a relaxing pose. A standard pose for restoration is "Supta-baddha-konasana"...a simple variation is as follows: --Sit cross legged or legs bent at the knee and feet touching each other. ----make a stack of blankets or bolsters at the back for a height of about 2 feet.

 --- Gently recline on the stack, with your neck not bent backwards. You can do this near a wall. -- Breath slowly; be attentive to your breath cycle; breath rhythmically...say , inhale for 3 seconds and exhale for 6 seconds..DO NOT HOLD THE BREATH AT ALL. --You can cover your eyes with eye cap or a face towel. To get best results, stay in this pose for 5 to 10 minutes in the beginning and later for up to 20 minutes in one session. There is another great restorative pose for all the elderly--"the leg on the wall." Recline the legs on the wall, like a ladder. The legs may form an angle of 45 degrees to 60 degrees with the floor. Stay for 5 to 10 minutes. Those of you with varicose veins or swollen legs should do this "leg on the wall' daily for months. Yoga for Balance Balancing the body while standing or walking becomes difficult as we age. This may be due to loss of muscle tone or misalignment of bones in the joints or onset of degenerative diseases like Parkinson's and advanced arthritis. Yoga

 ,practised regularly from the age of fifty or so, can greatly reduce this problem or delay the onset of those diseases. But if you are already facing lack of balance, gentle yoga with guidance from a yoga teacher can help a lot. Make sure that you practise daily-- not just a few times in a week. I can suggest two simple poses---again not easy for those with balancing problems. if required support yourself with a wall or other props. A simple pose is the "mountain pose" or "tadasana" ,taught in the first yoga class. Stand tall, with the two feet parallel to each other [in "Iyengar style' of yoga] with your gaze on a spot in the wall in front of you. Remain for about a minute or two. Another great pose, loved by traditional yoga masters in India is for improving your balance and concentration of mind. This is calle "Tree Pose" or Vriksha asana. Stand tall, slowly lift left leg, rest it on the inner thigh of the right leg. You are now balancing on one leg! after a minute or so, do the same with right leg resting on the inner thigh of left leg. You look straight ahead. How long can you stay standing on one leg? Try for a few minutes. [Accomplished old-time yogis in India used to do the tree Pose

 for several hours with the mind concentrating on an esoteric topic!] Yoga and muscle tone Yoga develops muscle tone in a gentle manner. yoga poses are isotonic exercises in which muscles are tensed for a few seconds. If you are losing muscle tone due to aging, yoga will help you to get back lot of muscle tone or suppleness. Among the elderly, frequent falls and lack of balance are caused by lack of muscle tone. Yoga will prevent the tendency to fall and improve the reaction time of your muscles. Yoga Poses or Asanas I have mentioned several simple poses for daily practice. The details you can find from various books and tapes. Here is the list of these asanas : Mountain pose Tree pose Bound angle pose Single foot-hand pose Cobra pose/Sphinx pose Reclining bound angle pose Gas release pose

 Leg-on-the wall pose Concluding Remarks 1 I have mentioned several simple asanas or yoga poses in this article.Detailed information you will get from books or websites and video-clips. 2 I have mentioned several authors whose books are available at low cost online from " Amazon" or Yoga stores. 3 Be persistent and practise yoga daily at least for a few minutes. Yoga results come slowly, but surely; the results are lasting, enduring.. But you must practise for at least three months to perfect your poses and get full benefits. 4 One great thing about yoga is that you will see positive effects from the first few days. 5 Get the help of qualified, experienced yoga teacher to progress. Reading books or seeing video tapes might assist you but will not be adequate. There are many subtle things that you have to learn from a yoga teacher. By the same token, yoga classes done on a mass-scale with 50 to 100 students may not be effective, except for a few students. Small classes are the best for proper learning of yoga. 6 Above all, daily practice with full concentration on yoga, without numerous distractions of modern life, is required for

 substantial benefits from yoga. 7 Undergo proper medical examination and consult your physician before you start practising yoga. The suggestions given are of general nature and I am not in any way responsible for any damage or medical condition that may arise from adopting these suggestions. 8 Yoga is quite safe to do if done in small steps or stages and under the guidance of a qualified, experienced yoga teacher. 9 The best time to practise yoga is early morning ,before breakfast..You can take some snacks or liquids before yoga but the stomach must be half empty. Never do yoga after full meal.You can do yoga two hours after a heavy meal. 10 I have seen hundreds of elderly persons performing rather complicated yoga poses and remaining healthy for many decades. If done properly, yoga can confer healthy, long life for everyone of us. --------------------------------------------------