By Rukhsana Mirza

“Through Yoga, the body attains attractiveness to others, beauty, firmness and unusual physical strength”

-Yoga-Sutra 111:46

Interest in yoga is at an all time high – and with good reason. The benefits of Yoga are very great. Not only do they far surpass those of any system of self-improvement for the body (calisthenics, salon programs, jogging, isometrics, competitive sport) but they also extend to the emotional and mental aspects of the individual. Yoga is concerned with the health and beauty of the organism as a unified whole.

Physiologically each yoga posture has specific structural and functional effect. By systematically placing pressure on the organs, the poses massage and help tone them. Adopting yoga postures, and flowing between them, opens and closes different areas of the body. Blood circulation improves and lungs respond with a more efficient breath. Increased oxygen reaches the tissues, and every cell, tissue, organ and system reaps the benefits. As the stretching, flowing postures massages the lymphatic ducts, disposal of wastes is facilitated and becomes more efficient, the system is detoxified and the immune response enhanced. The body becomes physically stronger and excess tension is worked out of the system.

Many poses act on the endocrine glands by bathing them with fresh blood, which carries oxygen and vital nutrients to enhance overall functioning. Other postures and breathing techniques are believed to regulate the nervous system.

If one practices yoga asanas, one can momentarily boost the sympathetic nervous system (involved in the ‘fight or flight’ response) and therefore practice a safe, controlled way of responding to stress. When these poses are followed with poses that boost the nervous system, the ‘rest and repair’ response is activated and the system is calmed and relaxed. The heartbeat slows, respiration steadies and blood pressure decreases. Levels of stress hormones decreases and healing mechanisms are turned on. In addition, when one becomes fully immersed in the sensation of the body, one takes a mental holiday and becomes less preoccupied with little worries of day-to-day life.

Relaxation techniques are considered deeply healing on many levels. Pranayama, like meditation, also has profound effects. Both assist the mental and emotional response of a person to their health condition, increasing the ability to detach from the disease and to identify, if only momentarily, with a higher level of existence. Yoga practice also tells us that the path is important as the end result – a reminder to savor the journey through life, whatever it brings.

Weight control, slimming, firming, relief of tension and stiffness, improvement in general health, emergence of hidden beauty, emotional stability and a positive mental outlook is experienced when a yoga plan is inducted into one’s lifestyles.

New yogis find how stiff, tight and tense the body may have grown in “key” points of their bodies. The stiffer the body, the greater the need for the gentle stretching movement of Yoga. A stiff, inflexible body cannot be a truly healthy and beautiful one. Because of the gentleness of Yoga and the fact that one never has to strain or jerk or fight to achieve the extreme position, the flexibility and elasticity is achieved in time regardless of age or physical condition.

Yoga attaches great value in terms of health and beauty to a strong and elastic spine. An ancient Yogic adage claims ”You are as young as your spine is flexible.”

The Chest Expansion, Back Stretch, and Cobra exercises are not only loosening techniques but they help to release energy that can be trapped in the spine and joints. The Complete breath utilizes in their entirety and extracts the most life-force possible. Increased prana improves the quality of the blood, complexion and general health. A secondary objective of the Complete Breath is to help make breathing slow and rhythmatic whenever possible. People who are breathing in a rapid and erratic fashion develop nervous bodies and minds and shorten lives. Yogic breathing will result in almost immediate and positive effect on emotions and minds.

In almost all methods of exercise the emphasis is placed on the muscular system, while the endocrine, nervous and circulatory systems are sadly neglected. A major value of Hatha Yoga lies in the fact that it takes into consideration the methodoligical stimulation necessary for organs and glands of the various body systems. For example, the brain and pituitary glands are affected by the Head Stand, which is one of the finest natural ways to restore and maintain alertness by increasing the supply of blood flow to the brain along with being responsible for improvement in hearing and vision as well as for added beauty of the hair and complexion. The Shoulder Stand involves the heart and the thyroid and helps to promote the correct functioning of thyroid by bringing an increased supply of blood into the throat area. The Locust strengthens the reproductive organs and glands and the kidneys are stimulated through the Cobra and Bow. The Abdominal Lift provides a type of natural “massage” for the stomach, colon, intestines, liver, kidneys, gall bladder and pancreas – all with one movement!

Constipation is a serious and frequent problem for many people, particularly for those who must spend a great deal of time in a sitting position. Long periods of inactivity cause peristaltic action to grow sluggish. A good solution to this problem is observing Yogic dietary suggestions and regular practice of the Abdominal Lifts in both The Standing and All-Fours positions. These exercises greatly strengthen and firm the abdominal wall, preventing it from sagging. Good muscle tone in this area helps to maintain the organs and the glands of the viscera in their correct positions. And this eliminates the unsightly and unhealthy result of a “dropped” abdomen.

The priceless techniques of Yoga as spelt out above are a few of many that are worthy of most patient practice since it can be utilized during one’s entire lifetime for positive health benefits.

Now we focus on Yoga for children. One can undoubtedly not question the wisdom behind starting Yoga at an age which builds a strong foundation, which enables growing up fit and strong.

In recent years there has been much scientific research into the effects of yoga on children’s health. Evidence shows that regular Yoga practice can keep children’s health by boosting their immune systems and keeping their muscles, organs and glands functioning at optimum levels. Yoga also helps children to develop strong, flexible bodies, an excellent sense of balance and coordination, and feeling of confidence and grace in their movements.

The reason that regular Yoga practice is so beneficial in an all-round way is that postures and breathing techniques are designed to encourage and maintain the flow of prana – a basic life force energy that flows through all living things. When prana (breath) flows freely, one feels healthy and fit, but when the prana is blocked, one becomes ill.

Yoga also instills good postural habits in children. These days it’s common for school-age kids to carry heavy bags and satchels on a daily basis (often over the same shoulder for years), to spend long hours at a school desk and to sit on chairs that encourage slouching and rounding of the lower back (it’s interesting that in India there has been a huge rise in the number of back problems since people started sitting on chairs instead of the floor). Combined with habits such as walking on the outsides of the feet or standing with all the weight on one leg, it’s hardly surprising that posture related problems, most notably backaches, are among the most widespread afflictions of modern society.

The best way to prevent back problems in later life is to learn good posture at a young age. Practicing Yoga is an excellent way of doing this – it not only develops a core of strength around the spine and keeps the spine supple and well supplied with blood, but it also teaches children to be aware of the way they carry their bodies, to correct bad habits and prevent new ones from forming.

Yoga teaches children how to breathe correctly by inhaling slowly and deeply through the nose and drawing the breath right down into their lungs. This type of breathing creates a calm, focused and receptive state of mind (fast, shallow breaths that only get as far as the upper lungs produce a state of agitation that makes it hard to relax and concentrate). Nose breathing in particular helps to lengthen the breath and calm one down – it also warms and filters the air before it gets into the lungs.

If a child suffers from asthma, yogic breathing techniques are specialy helpful. The child will not only learn an awareness of how to breathe – which will help them to correct destructive breathing patterns- but specific techniques can help them to strengthen their respiratory and immune systems and to cope better in the event of an attack. As the incidence of asthma increases (it is estimated that in Australia one in every eight children has asthma) and controversy grows about the safety of conventional drug treatments, parents are turning more and more to natural methods of managing the condition.

Calming down the nervous system is another critically important role for Yoga in children’s health. We often, unwittingly, subject children to sensory overload from TV, video games and electronic toys, stress from hectic, fast-paced lifestyle, and inadequate nutrition from convenience and processed food. The net result is kids who are chronically over- stimulated and who lack the ability to concentrate for sustained periods of time. Behavioral disorders such as attention deficit (ADD) or attention deficit hyper activity (ADHD) are extreme examples of this.

By working with breath and movement, Yoga can slow down a child’s heart and breathing rate and strengthen the central nervous system. This has a profoundly calming influence on a child’s mental and emotional states. Once children have learned how to be still and quiet, they come to enjoy this feeling and to seek it out for themselves. On a practical level, if a child is prone to tantrums, clumsiness, poor memory and antisocial behavior, regular Yoga practice can gradually help these problems.

We conclude by stating that as we nudge our physical boundaries with yoga postures, we become fully focused on the body, breath and mind. We become absorbed in the present moment. It’s a break from our usual mind status. Like a holiday, it refreshes us. Yoga practice helps us from distress to de-stress, for dis-ease to ease, from passion to compassion. And the greatest beauty of yoga is, it can benefit all ages, including the elderly (chair yoga) no matter how late in life they start.

“Having mastered the body through Yogic teachings so that it becomes a fit habitation for the soul; having the senses, emotions and mind under control, the wise person discards the worn out sheaths of desire, fear and confusion and passes into a state of enlightenment and freedom.”  -Bhagavad Gita

Rukhsana Mirza is currently training to become a Yoga teacher.