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Introduction to Yoga
Therapeutics
by Debbie Grossblatt
Greetings!
Since this is my first article about this subject, I would like to
introduce myself. I have been a student of yoga for seven years and a
teacher for three. My training, from the school of Integrative
Yoga Therapy (IYT), was conducted at the Kripalu Center, a major center
for yoga teacher training located in Lenox, Massachusetts.
Joseph
Le Page, the founder of this school, defines yoga therapy (therapeutics)
as follows: “The application of yoga in the field of health and healing
was termed yoga therapy. This arose out of a focus by numerous schools (in
India) that focused on those aspects of yoga related to health and its
relation to various fields of science.” The concept of applying
yoga for health and healing has spawned an extensive menu of classes such
as yoga for: MS, osteoporosis, bad backs, stress reduction, cardiac care,
cancer, and for numerous other special needs populations.
Yoga
is a 5,000 year-old science of breath (pranayama) and postures (asanas)
that was used by ancient people in the Indus
Valley to prepare themselves for long periods of seated meditation. Yoga
was recognized by these ancients as having the ability to prevent the
chronic stiffness that comes from sitting in one position for hours at a
time. As I sit in my chair typing, I like to think that what I am doing is
similar to what those ancients were doing when they meditated. I too am
sitting static, with my hands extended onto a keyboard, hitting thousands
of keys to create words. So that my body can tolerate this
uncomfortable activity, which places stress on my neck and spinal column,
I know that I should do some yoga stretches during and after the writing
process to allow my body to recover. My yogic data bank tells me that a
series of simple stretches should help to release the tight muscles and
lubricate the joints to prevent stiffening in the spine, hips, arms, neck
and fingers. Using my knowledge about the primary asanas, I consider which
ones would be the best to release the tightness in my spine, hands and
neck since those are the places where I feel the most tension.
The
menu of asanas in yoga is extensive (84 primary postures and 840,000
possible natural bodily movements) so I choose a few postures to free the
main areas of stress. First I stand up in Mountain posture, with feet hip
width apart and toes forward, elongating my spine, drawing my leg muscles
up and then letting them go, to ease my hip flexors and quadriceps. Then I
side bend my neck gently to the right and then to the left, do some slow
shoulder rolls front and back and lastly stretch my fingers and open my
hands to their full extent. It’s that simple and oh so effective in
releasing the stiffness and tension in the parts of my body that are most
affected by sitting and typing. Lastly I remind myself to take a few deep
diaphragmatic breaths and relax. It’s amazing how much better I feel.
You can try this stretching series the next time you feel your body
stiffening. Notice if this helps to reduce the tension. Now that you have
a general idea, I would like to provide you with some interesting sites
you may wish to visit to learn more about yoga therapeutics.
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