Читать книгу Yoga Therapy as a Whole-Person Approach to Health - Lee Majewski - Страница 27

When we set out to practice yoga therapy, it is vital that we understand and teach the principles of this unique system to our clients in the following way:

1. Developing awareness of the body, emotions, and mind: Awareness of the body can be achieved by conscious bodywork synchronized with breath and awareness in order to qualify as a psychosomatic technique. However, being aware of the emotions and thought processes is a challenge, and may take a lot of practice.

2. Changing dietary habits: Most disorders are directly or indirectly linked to unhealthy dietary patterns that need to be assessed and then addressed.

3. Conscious relaxation of the entire body: Relaxation is often all that most patients need in order to improve their physical condition. Stress is the major culprit and may be the causative, aggravating, or precipitating factor in many psychosomatic disorders. The relaxation part of every yoga session is important as it produces rest, rejuvenation, reinvigoration, and reintegration of all of the body’s systems, down to the cellular level.

4. Slowing down the breath, making it quiet and deep: Rapid, uncontrolled, irregular breathing is a sign of ill health, hyperventilation, and an overactive mind. Slow, deep, and regular controlled breathing through the nose is a sign of health. Breath is the link between body and mind, connecting physical, physiological, and mental factors. When the breath is slowed down, the mind is calm and the metabolic processes are also slowed; anabolic activities begin the process of healing and rebuilding.

5. Calming down the mind and focusing it inwardly: Breath work is the most convenient and effective tool for training and management of the mind. Together with the practice of focused concentration during meditation, this will lead to bringing the mind under control.

6. Improving the flow of healing “pranic life energy”: Prana is the energy of life and it can be used effectively for healing. The various energies driving different physiological functions of the body (vayu)8 need to be assessed and corrected to bring about harmony. As an example, in those suffering digestive disorders, the focus may be more on balancing the functional energy of that area (samana vayu), whereas in pelvic conditions or in cases of constipation, it would be more on the functional energy centered in the pelvic region (apana vayu).

7. Non-reaction to omnipresent stressors: We have very little control over our surrounding environment and the stressors within it. So often the only way to reduce the impact of stress levels is by increasing our ability to deal with them. As the saying goes, “When face to face with the innumerable thorns in a forest, we may either choose to spend all our time picking them up or choose to wear a pair of shoes and walk through the forest.” The difference is primarily in the attitude that is consciously chosen. Practicing points 1–6 will result in effective management of our reaction to stressors.

8. Increasing self-reliance and self-confidence: The challenges we encounter every day should be reframed and understood as opportunities for change. We must understand that we have the inner power to overcome each and every challenge that life throws at us.

9. Facilitating natural elimination of wastes: The natural elimination of wastes from the body is facilitated by cleaning practices such as the upper gastrointestinal cleanser (dhauti), lower gastrointestinal cleanser (basti), and nasopharyngeal cleanser (neti). Accumulation and stagnation of waste materials in either the inner or outer environment always causes problems. Yogic cleansing practices help to wash out the impurities (mala shodhana), helping the process of regeneration and facilitating healing.

10. Taking responsibility for our own health: Perhaps this is the most important principle. This requires the client to examine their life and change the disease-forming factors that are in their reach. The current healthcare system fosters an attitude of victimhood and disempowerment, with the power and responsibility for our health entrusted completely to the medical profession. This relieves us from taking responsibility for our disease-forming habits. Yoga empowers clients with tools so they can experience their own power.