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Therapy
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Yoga Therapy
The therapy for asthma using yoga involves
four stages. These are:
Asana
Asana limber up the body and take away
stiffness. A lot of asthmatics have stiffness in their chests. Asana can
also be used as a mild form of exercise. However, they have more
powerful effects than this. They massage and directly influence the
deeper organs. Pawanmuktasana for example, circulates prana or life and
helps move the prana in the nadis when there are blockages. It also
develops an awareness of the physical body which is a key term in the
treatment of asthma.
Pranayama
Pranayama is not breathing exercises but a
method of generating prana. From the point of view of asthma, this is
probably the most important aspect, for prana reduces inflammation. The
basic underlying problem in asthma is inflammation of the lungs.
Treatment is not just a matter of opening the lungs, it is a matter of
getting rid of the inflammation. Prana generates vitality, and the more
vitality you have the more you can overcome and resist various stimuli
and the more strength and stability you have in your system. Vitality is
a common word and everyone knows what energy is; we know when our
vitality is low and when it is high.
The Hatha Yoga Shatkarmas
The six kriyas of Hatha Yoga, the
shatkarmas, are a powerful and often underestimated tool. These kriyas
cleanse mucous from the body and also have potent effects on deeper
levels of the human personality. The shatkarmas remove mucous from the
nose in the practice of neti and from the stomach in the practice of
kunjal, which has a reflex effect on the lungs. There are many
explanations for this principle in the oriental systems of healing. The
cleansing process balances the doshas, known in Ayurveda as the vata,
pitta and kapha (wind, bile and phlegm). Automatically you feel relief,
you feel lighter, happier and stronger if it is done correctly. In terms
of reducing inflammation in the short term, the shatkriyas are the most
important practices; pranayama removes inflammation in the long term.
Shatkarmas also
improve awareness of the inner cavities. In Vastra dhauti you put a
cloth into your stomach and churn it around, thereby becoming aware of
the space within your body. Generally we do not feel inside ourselves,
but when you are putting water or cloth inside your stomach, or somehow
putting pressure in your body, then later on you feel more sensitive to
the substances you put into the body. When you overeat you feel it more
acutely. If you put the wrong food or some poison into your body, you
know it immediately as the sensitivity and internal awareness of the
internal body has been improved. At the same time you gain control over
the basal part of the brain, the animal brain.
When you are
learning to vomit (kunjal), or learning how not to vomit (vastra dhauti);
when you are learning to purge from your intestines, then you are
descending into a level of the nervous system which is unconscious. At
that part of the the brain lies not just the control of the heart, the
blood pressure and the lungs, but many of the psychic conflicts which
are at the root of many illnesses. We start to probe very, very
carefully into the deeper, psychic body of our personality. Gradually,
as the mucous comes out, so does a lot of these complexes. So, control
over the nervous system is at three levels: physical, mental and
psychic.
Meditation
The first three stages lead to meditation.
Meditation affects the mental side of the personality as well as the
emotional and psychic sides. Initially we learn to relax the psychic
problems. We start with the mental problems, the over-active mind,
thinking too much. When we want to go to sleep we are thinking; when we
want to concentrate we cannot concentrate. This is the normal state for
many people because of the pressure and stress of daily living. So
initially, we relax those tensions through meditation and a balance
comes. Once the relaxation takes place, we begin to strengthen and
stabilise the mind.
Yogic treatment
is not complete without Yoga Nidra, a deep relaxation practice which
systematically relaxes on the four levels - physical, mental, emotional
and psychic. The Yogic practices serve to expand our awareness, giving
insight into the cause and effect. As your awareness develops you can
see what is causing the asthma. Then you become your own doctor, your
own healer.
Ongoing Therapy
It is important to be aware of the dangers
inherent in stopping drug therapy suddenly.
Stopping
drug therapy will lead to a deterioration of the asthmatic state and
prevent patients from either learning Yoga or practicing regularly
and consistently.
A negative
and inappropriate attitude to medications leading to hesitancy in
using drug therapy when required might lead to death. This
especially applies to the excessive use of bronchodilators and
insufficient use of steroid aerosols. In everyday management, modern
aerosol medication and education programs using peak flow meters
have reduced the dangers which previously gave drugs a bad
reputation. They have also improved the quality of life for many
asthmatics.
A patient using
Yoga for asthma therapy should be encouraged to slowly taper off
medications and gradually replace them with Yogic techniques, but only
under the advice of their physician. It is one thing to learn a
technique and another to be able to apply it effectively.
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