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Show Page 8 The OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Volume II, Issue V February 2000 Hatha Yoga Today By Rachel Jones With all the changes and advances of a modern day society, you might wonder how an ancient Eastern philosophy can apply to today’s world. As modern mediums increasingly expand our knowledge, the general concept of yoga still somewhat escapes most Americans. With a hazy understanding of the subject, it is most likely that the relevance of its application is unclear also. Although, most of us don’t conjure up images of smoky, incense infused rooms with meditative mantras being chanted by students twisted in pretzel like fashion, many still consider yogic science only for those who still retain the flexibility of youth and the ability to meditate for hours on end. Others view it as restrictive or conflicting with present lifestyle choices such as diet or religion. Perceived in such a way, yoga seems difficult, intimidating and esoteric. Really, nothing could be further from the truth. Today, yogic principles are widely discussed, enhanced and explained in various texts, schools and periodicals. Research is conducted on the benefits of yoga in various fields ranging from physical therapy to psychology. In a recent poll, an estimated six million Americans claimed to consistently practice yoga while an additional 16 million more expressed interest in the topic. These individuals have put common misperceptions aside and found a system that is exact and accommodating, physically challenging and simple, mentally stimulating and soothing, spiritually enhancing and supportive of individual beliefs. It is understandable why an approximately 5,000-year-old study may seem confusing and strange to apply to the modern individual. Yoga was strictly an oral tradition passed down from teacher to student until about 2,000 years ago. An Indian sage named Patanjali systematically transcribed a type of guidebook to yoga titled the Yoga Sutras. With that precedent set, other texts were henceforth written. Different paths of yoga developed along the way, in the same manner several schools of thought evolve out of any science. The first appearance of yoga in America was primarily philosophical. Intellectuals such as Emerson and Thoreau drew inspiration from an Indian text titled the Bhagavad-Gita. The physical aspect (hatha yoga) arrived in the 1920’s. An Indian swami began a dialogue with the American medical community, notably the founder of Naturopathy, demonstrating the power of hatha yoga in healing. Even then yogic techniques were exposed to only a small number of Americans in the form of lectures or instruction by either visiting sages or a few Western Kids & Chiropractic By Dr. Lew Harper individuals that had traveled to India. When the sixties arrived full of free love and an interest in the exotic, many Americans experimented with transcendental meditation and the spiritual aspect of yoga took the forefront. Only recently, all aspects (mental, physical, spiritual) of yoga have come together under a relatively new paradigm for the West called the mind-body connection. The mind-body paradigm is a holistic viewpoint that considers what affects the body, affects the mind and vice versa. Mind-body activities emphasize development of proprioceptive cognition, the knowledge of the body as it moves through space. This awareness develops by focusing on the quality of movement and relying on the internal and external cues, such as breath and tension. In turn this physical awareness promotes a stronger mental awareness. When a person is more in tune with both their physical and mental capacities, their potential expands to create positive change. Hatha yoga draws on a repertoire of poses (asanas) that have a profound effect on the body, especially the nervous system and a connective tissue called fascia. Yoga places the body in dynamic postures, focuses on the breath cycle, and involves active relaxation; consequently, tension is released and the mind and body can heal intuitively. When the asana is used as a medium in which to explore the many dimensions of the self, tangible benefits occur and the result is a positive interaction between inner and outer awareness. It provides the practitioner with the ability to accept what is true in life and meet it with compassion and understanding. Yoga leads to a place of peace and balance. By explaining what yoga is, its application in today’s world becomes comprehensible. Since individuals of every age and ability can practice yoga and its benefits can be proven in analytical discourse, Americans have accepted it as a viable mind-body modality. Examples of Americans that utilize yoga advantageously include: the corporate executive who does a ten minute active relaxation before an important presentation, the parent who finds yoga calming and then better able to balance the many demands of family life, the child who develops the ability to concentrate and focus on the task at hand, the infirm who uses particular asanas to stimulate the immune system, the athlete who complements their main sport with yoga, the elderly who keeps back pain in check by movement awareness, the faithful who can release any last vestiges of attachment, hatred or greed. For a myriad of reasons, each person calls on yoga as a resource to enhance the wonderful gift of life. Additionally, yoga supports the comprehension that just as one’s mind and body is connected, so to are several other aspects of life. As more Westerners choose to incorporate mind-body modalities into their daily life, their cognition of the connection between the local world and the global one may grow. The populace may live more fully aware of its actions and intentions, more compassionate and forgiving, and more devoted to positive change and direction. It certainly won’t hurt hoping. How often have you heard people say, “One day I felt fine, and then the next day I was just…?” Probably enough that you do not even recognize the absolute absurdity of that statement. Except for severe traumas, such as car accidents, major falls, gunshot wounds, poisoning, etc., people do not suddenly become ill. Disease does not occur spontaneously. Small traumas, long-term abuse and negligence, though unnoticeable at first, take their toll on the body over a period of time. By the time the first symptoms appear, the body has already been malfunctioning for some period of time, often years. This is the primary reason to have children under regular chiropractic care. Studies have shown that 80% of children receive their first subluxation (misalignment of the vertebra) during the birthing process. Many of them will go 20, 30, or 40 years or possibly the rest of their lives with that interference to their nervous system. Even those who are not subluxated upon birth will have a variety of stresses put upon their spines as they grow. How many times does a child fall while he or she is just learning to walk? And after they learn to walk, don’t they run, skip, stomp, jump, and hop? Don’t they fall out of bed, fall out of trees, fall off their bikes, fight with their brothers and sisters, stand on their heads, play football, basketball, hockey, dance, gymnastics, wrestling, and on and on and on? Any one of these things is enough to cause a subluxation. Left uncorrected, these will also begin to take their toll on the body. Lowering the ability of the body to be well will make it less able to concentrate, less able to fight off disease, less able to coordinate and harmonize, less able to make the food that is eaten into a useable form, and less able to clean the blood of toxins. It will make the body less able to make the proper chemicals in the proper amount to control all the body’s functions and less able to be strong, flexible and healthy. It is important to note that the mechanism that originally brought two cells together and created the miracle that is you is still at work in you as is in every other living being. It continually creates new tissues and maintains your existence. The very mechanism by which we are able to be well, is the same mechanism at work in the child. It is no less effective in the child than it is in the adult. Therefore, if it is important for you to be adjusted to remove interference in your nervous system, isn’t it equally important to have your children checked for the same interference? Many people are concerned about the forcefulness of an adjustment for a growing child. That would be a legitimate concern if all patients received the same adjustment. Thankfully, they do not. Each person is adjusted according to their age, their size, their health condition and their subluxations. Men may not be adjusted the same as women, the same as children, the same as older people, the same a tall, or short people, or a mother-to-be. No two adjustments on the same person are even necessarily the same, let alone on two different people. Children, on the whole, require far less force than adults do and far fewer treatments, mostly because time and the results of the abuse and negligence have not yet taken their toll. Who better than children to be under regular chiropractic care? Who could profit more than those who have not yet developed long-term problems? Please call the OGDEN VALLEY NEWS to have your event or acvtivity listed in the calendar of events. Call 745-2879 or 745-2688. |