By: Debra Janosko

“The proof is in the pudding.” I’ve heard that saying all my life and never has it proved more true than when pertaining to my personal Yoga experience.  Remember the good old days when the folks worked their 9 to 5′s and had plenty of time for family, friends, and even hobbies. Ahh! Life was good and the livin’ was easy. Today the economy is taking a beating and so are we.

Those of us who still have our jobs are having to work harder to almost make ends meet. Our work week is getting longer. Family? Oh yea, those strangers I bump into around my house from time-to-time. Sound familiar? This hectic pace is leaving many of us feeling spent and wondering how to manage the stress of it all. Our physical, mental, and even spiritual health and well being is suffering. Thankfully some of us are realizing that an ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure. We’ve started exercising and even eating better. While that is certainly a huge step in the right direction, it is not the complete answer.

Enter–Yoga. Yoga has entered the mainstream. It isn’t correct to say that yoga has come along way, seeing as how it is thousands of years old. Yoga is what it has always been. A Life Science. (Not a religion.) Yoga practice has the capability to help bring an individual back to a natural state of health both mentally and physically. The medical field, now more than ever, is louding the mind, body, and even spiritual benefits of yoga practice. The proof is in the pudding!

I was first introduced to yoga in the mid 1970′s through a T.V. program called “Lillias Yoga and You”. I’d rise early to practice with Mrs. Lillias Folan every morning before school. Of course, I was completely unaware of all the benefits of my new found passion. I just knew I felt good doing it. I’d breathe when Lillias said breathe. Move into postures with strange sounding names with Lillias as my guide. I loved it! I was hooked. I didn’t get a lot of positive feedback from other people. Here in the so-called, “Bible Belt”, I was told I was practicing a weird eastern religion and that I should not dabble in such things. Here it is 30 years later and while some people may still have that limited notion, thankfully more and more people are becoming educated to what yoga is and isn’t.

People are beginning to understanding that this ancient practice can not only help deal with stress but restore mental and physical health. Today there are more than six million Americans practicing yoga in one form or another. Health care providers are indorsing it and even prescribing it to their patients. Yoga has been proven helpful in treating headaches, high blood pressure, heart trouble, anxiety, and much much more. Dr. Dean Ornish, who is widely known for his work with heart patients, prescribes yoga exercises, breathing and relaxation techniques to reverse symptoms of heart disease. Research proves that stress-related diseases respond favorably to this approach. Renowned physicians Michael F. Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet C. Oz, M.D. proclaim the limitless benefits of yoga practice in their books and television documentaries.

Cutting back to my personal yoga experience. I had let go of my yoga practice for a time. I believed the bad press that I had received concerning yoga. I finished high school, went to college, got married, had two wonderful boys, and jumped on the fast track in pursuit of the “American Dream” just like my parents before me. Oh, I should interject here that my dad had his first of three heart attacks at the age of 42. My mom died of colon cancer after suffering with heart disease for many years. She was only 62 years old when she passed. Looking at my parents medical history, I’ve realized that I have to take responsibility for my health. Yoga has become a huge part of that decision. I want to be whole mind, body, and spirit. The more I read and study yoga, the more I practice.

The more I practice, the more I learn that yoga is so much more than just a physical exercise. 15 minute sessions of Yogic breathing, (pranayama), brings such a sense of alertness and sharpness of mind. Prayerful meditation has awakened me spiritually. Just sitting quiet and still focusing on my breath tears begin to flow. In the deepest part of me God is helping me work through issues I’ve never delt with or in some cases didn’t even know existed. I feel a spiritual and physical healing taking place from the inside out. I’ve stopped trying to confine God to some preconceived traditional idea I once had. I find God to be so BIG that he fills every atom in the universe around me and inside of me.

My body is stronger and healthier. I am convinced that I will never know the illnesses that plagued my parents. Yoga has yielded such great rewards in my life. Yoga practice introduced me to myself. I am learning to love and accept myself and in doing so, love and accept others without judgments.

The mental, physical, and spiritual benefits to that alone are huge. It’s amazing. My first introduction to yoga was thirty years ago. I never could have imagined what was in store. I have found proof of health and wellness in yoga practice. I have found a life’s purpose in sharing yoga’s health benefits with others. There’s proof in the pudding. MMM, Sweet Yoga Pudding. Come to The #1 yoga studio in Northeast Mississippi and taste for yourself. I’ll have a mat waiting for you.

Mineral Springs Yoga and Health Center
Debra Janosko, E-RYT, CYT-500, Yoga Therapist
Owner/Instructor
Luka, MS 38852

http://www.mineralspringsyoga.com