Yoga as Medicine

Chapter 1

Yoga as Medicine

"Whether you are sick or weak, young, old or even very old,

you can succeed in yoga if you practice diligently."

—Svatmarama (Hatha Yoga Pradipika)

If you are new to yoga, welcome. Yoga can change your life. If you are currently practicing yoga but want to learn more, you probably already know something of yoga's life-changing potential. If you are sick, it can help you feel better. If you are depressed or anxious, tired all the time, addicted to drugs, or bothered by low back pain, yoga can set you on the path to recovery. For those with chronic health problems like arthritis, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, or HIV/AIDS, regular yoga practice can help you live better and, in all likelihood, longer. And for people suffering temporary symptoms—such as tension headaches, hot flashes, or sinus pressure—specific yoga postures, breathing techniques, and other practices can bring relief.

As someone who has been an MD for over twenty years, I can tell you that yoga is quite simply the most powerful system of overall health and well-being I have ever seen. Even if you are currently among what might be called the temporarily healthy, as preventive medicine, yoga is as close to one-stop shopping as you can find. This single comprehensive system can reduce stress, increase flexibility, improve balance, promote strength, heighten cardiovascular conditioning, lower blood pressure, reduce overweight, strengthen bones, prevent injuries, lift mood, improve immune function, increase the oxygen supply to the tissues, heighten sexual functioning and fulfillment, foster psychological equanimity, and promote spiritual well-being . . . and that's only a partial list.

Yoga has a decidedly different view from Western medicine's about what constitutes health—and this may be a big part of why it's so effective. The absence of symptoms is in no way equated with health in yoga. Health to the yogi extends far beyond not having a headache or knee pain—or even being cured of cancer. It is about optimizing the function of every system in your body from the muscles to digestion, circulation, and immunity. It is about emotional well-being, spiritual resilience, and buoyancy, even joy. Yoga teaches that only when these elements are aligned can you maximize your chance for health and healing.

Yoga envisions a web of causation that is much more complex than the limited number of factors most doctors consider. In the case of heart disease, for example, it looks beyond cholesterol and blood pressure to stress and the role of the mind in perpetuating it, your emotional temperament, your connections to other people, and whether you are living your life in accordance with some larger purpose. The idea is that a wide variety of factors can affect your well-being, and the most efficient way to remedy health problems is to work on many areas simultaneously. This is precisely what the practice of yoga does.

In yoga, you do your spiritual work and it affects the body. You stretch and strengthen your muscles and that affects your circulation, digestion, and breathing. You calm and strengthen the nervous system and it affects the mind. You cultivate peace of mind and it affects the nervous system, the immune system, and the cardiovascular system. Yoga says that if you look clearly you will see that everything about you is connec

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Title of ebook: Yoga as Medicine
ISBN: 9780553903942
parent-ISBN: 9780553384062
Publisher: Bantam Books
Pages: 600
Published: 07-2007
Released online for download: 07-31-2007
Author of eBook: Yoga Journal
Author of eBook: Mccall, Timothy

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Yoga as Medicine

The Yogic Prescription for Health and Healing
Chapter 1

Yoga as Medicine

"Whether you are sick or weak, young, old or even very old,

you can succeed in yoga if you practice diligently."

—Svatmarama (Hatha Yoga Pradipika)

If you are new to yoga, welcome. Yoga can change your life. If you are currently practicing yoga but want to learn more, you probably already know something of yoga's life-changing potential. If you are sick, it can help you feel better. If you are depressed or anxious, tired all the time, addicted to drugs, or bothered by low back pain, yoga can set you on the path to recovery. For those with chronic health problems like arthritis, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, or HIV/AIDS, regular yoga practice can help you live better and, in all likelihood, longer. And for people suffering temporary symptoms—such as tension headaches, hot flashes, or sinus pressure—specific yoga postures, breathing techniques, and other practices can bring relief.

As someone who has been an MD for over twenty years, I can tell you that yoga is quite simply the most power ... read full excerpt from: Yoga as Medicine ebook

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