Complete Yoga Workbook

INTRODUCTION

A doctor sets a broken bone or brings together the edges of a wound and secures them with sutures. Another doctor prescribes a medicine to halt the progression of a dreaded disease, but it is the body, not the doctor, that brings about the actual healing.

Regardless of the cause of damage, healing follows a predictable course that may be divided into four phases: vascular response, inflammation, proliferation and reconstruction. Within seconds of an injury, the body begins the first of these phases to control bleeding and limit the spread of infection. Blood vessels constrict, clotting begins and various protective and healing processes are set in motion. The other three phases follow the first in a beautifully synchronized fashion until the structure and function of the damaged tissues have been repaired and restored, and the equilibrium of the healing system has been re-established.

The healing system is composed of all the body’s systems (such as the immune and nervous systems) and also of physiological components such as our mind and our breath. And when treatments work (such as those prescribed by a doctor), it is because they activate the healing mechanisms that are within us.

When we are injured or experience a breakdown in health, collaboration between us and our health-care provider (doctor or other qualified professional) usually offers the best chances of a satisfactory outcome. Therefore, let us not underestimate what we, as individuals, can do to contribute to this working relationship. For no matter where we are, we have within us (although often underutilized), natural resources that can promote health and healing: our body, our mind and our breath. These three components of the whole person have been part of the focus of the centuries-old discipline of yoga, and Complete Yoga Workbook will show you how to make them work for you – safely, efficiently and enjoyably.

More than 5000 years ago in India, a philosophy known as yoga came into being. The word yoga comes from Sanskrit and has various meanings, including yoke and unity. It implies an integration of every aspect of the human being into a harmonious whole.

The principles of yoga were passed by word of mouth from master to student. About 3000 years later, an Indian sage named Patanjali finally recorded these teachings in a now-classical work called Yoga Sutras. This guidebook provided the framework for modern-day yoga practice.

The book has something to offer everyone, whatever their age or sex. Yoga can be very beneficial for pregnant women, but they should first seek permission from their doctor.

Health educators and fitness instructors will also find it a useful resource. And even if you are not recovering from an illness or injury, you can use the exercises and procedures to enhance your performance in sports, professional dancing and other activities, or to acquire stamina for increased productivity and fulfillment in any endeavour. Enjoy the exercises and savour their resulting health benefits.

Tree of yoga

In ancient times, yoga was compared to a tree with six branches: bhakti, hatha, jñana, karma, raja and tantra. Each branch represented a particular approach to life. Most people in industrialized societies worldwide now practise hatha yoga. Ha means sun and tha means moon.

Hatha yoga, then, may be considered a union of opposites to create balance. The system of hatha yoga (which will be referred to simply as yoga from now on) may be divided, for convenience, into five parts: asanas, pranayama, meditative practices, relaxation practices and cleansing practices.

1. Asanas

Generally regarded as physical exercises, yoga asanas are more accurately poses comfortably held. They involve movements or series of movements by which muscle groups are put into action and energized. The manner in which this is done is economical: high levels of physical performance can be achieved with a minimal expenditure of energy.

Each asana involves the contraction of some muscle groups and the relaxation of their opposing muscles. Done slowly and with control, it heightens one’s awareness of faulty postural habits and unnecessary muscle tensions.

Once the posture (exercise) has been completed, the practitioner is encouraged to visualize the beneficial effects, at first in the muscles and other structures on the outside of the body and then, in time, in the internal organs and tissues.

Each posture brings into action all the muscles and joints of a given part of the body. Consequently, muscles that tend to atrophy (waste away) through lack of regular exercise are now conditioned and receive an improved blood supply, while joints move freely as they lose their stiffness.

In many of the asanas, the vertebral column (spine) is subjected to gentle traction, thus releasing pressure on spinal discs and nerves. Increased spinal flexibility can lead to a reduction of pain and other discomforts, and posture is also improved.

The synchronized breathing required in the execution of all the exercises ensures good oxygen delivery to the working muscles. The full focusing of attention on the performance of the exercises has a tranquillizing effect on the nervous system, leading to a sense of calm and control.

These combined benefits, through regular practice over time, result in a strengthening of mind and body and a maintaining of wellness. Should health be disrupted, however, regular practice of the asanas will greatly contribute to reinforcing your healing system to help bring about recovery.

2. Pranayama

Exercises in voluntary breath control are collectively referred to as pranayama. They take advantage of the fact that the respiratory (breathing) system is the only body system that is both involuntary and voluntary.

The primary function of the respiratory system is to provide oxygen for the body’s metabolic needs and to remove carbon dioxide from the tissues. Respiration works very closely with circulation. It is through the circulation that tissues receive oxygen and nutrients, and the body is protected from agents of disease.

Because of the close collaboration between the respiratory and circulatory systems, techniques that train you to breathe efficiently will undoubtedly help you to function at your best when you are well. And when you are ill, they will maximize your chances of a satisfactory recovery by boosting your healing system.

The connection between breathing and feelings is undeniable. It is most noticeable when feelings are intense. In anger, for instance, breathing tends to be rapid and shallow, and in grief it may sound like a sob. In anxiety, particularly if it is marked, breathing can be so rapid as to border on hyperventilation, with symptoms such as heart palpitations and feelings of lightheadedness.

During times of stress, or fight or flight, breathing accelerates and the heart races in response to sympathetic nervous system activation. However, by wilfully slowing down your breathing you can help to elicit a parasympathetic nervous system response and a corresponding sense of calm.

Yoga trains you in acquiring and honing skills in voluntary attentive respiration, to help you to exert a measure of control over a function once thought to be involuntary only. This is highly empowering. It will equip you to cope with a wide variety of stressors, including pain and anxiety.

Yoga trains you to breathe efficiently, with minimum effort for maximum oxygen intake. And so when ill health occurs, this skill will enable you to maximize your healing potential.

3. Meditative practices

Meditation is a natural tool for relaxing your mind without dulling your awareness. Doctors refer to the meditative state as one of restful alertness, which may seem to be a contradiction.

Simply put, when you are asleep, consciousness fades, oxygen consumption decreases and the heart rate becomes slower. When you are awake, by contrast, you are usually alert, oxygen consumption increases and your heart rate quickens. These opposite states are united during meditation, so that although you become deeply relaxed, you are nevertheless conscious and your mind is clear. A sense of peace ensues.

Meditative practices help to keep you in the present. States such as anxiety and depression, for example, represent concerns about and preoccupation with past and future events. Meditative practices help you to acquire a more reality-based perspective.

Meditation is also nature’s tranquillizer. Unlike the chemical equivalents, it helps you to go deep within yourself to identify the source of disturbances and to bring them to the surface for more ready examination and resolution.

Most meditative practices make use of the breath as a focusing device (see the Humming Breath). Many of the exercises also employ visualization, or the ability to form mental pictures. This is done in a purposeful way, unlike daydreaming, which is usually unfocused and passive. Visualization can influence functions formerly believed to be outside the realm of voluntary control, such as heart rate, blood pressure and blood flow to various parts of the body. It can also help to speed up the healing of wounds, sore throat and a variety of other ailments.

Yoga meditative practices also utilize imagery, which includes the use of one or more of the senses such as touch, hearing and smell, in addition to visualization. Imagery is sometimes used to prepare patients for certain medical procedures and to relieve pain and anxiety. For examples of the use of imagery, see the Pose of Tranquillity.

4. Relaxation practices

Relaxation is perhaps the most important prerequisite for healing any disorder. The muscles covering your body’s bony framework (skeletal muscles) are rarely in a state of complete rest. They always retain a certain variable degree of tension. This is known as basal tension or muscular tone.

Skeletal muscles, which are under voluntary control, have close links with internal structures by means of a nervous system network. Thus measures taken to reduce basal tension in the muscles can be effective in relaxing the internal organs. For example, a light massage of the abdomen can help to relieve pain or other discomfort in the stomach and intestines. This works by stimulating nerve endings at the body’s surface and blocking the perception of pain. It also helps reduce muscle tension and spasm which intensify pain, and improve blood circulation and the elimination of waste products.

Another way of reducing basal tension in skeletal muscles is through gentle stretching exercises such as those of the yoga asanas. This works much like when a spring is stretched and then allowed to return to a resting state. Stretching muscles and briefly sustaining the stretch removes kinks and allows a free flow of blood for the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the tissues. It also enhances lymph circulation to eliminate fatigue-producing substances. When the stretch is released, basal muscle tension is considerably reduced. Reducing basal tension in muscles conserves a great deal of otherwise wasted energy, thus combating fatigue and enhancing productivity.

Because muscular tension is influenced