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The Science of Yoga

The Science of Yoga

Titel: The Science of Yoga Kostenlos Bücher Online Lesen
Autoren: William J Broad
Vom Netzwerk:
Fishman wrote a book on the disease with Eric L. Small, a Los Angeles yogi who at the time of their collaboration had fought multiple sclerosis for more than a half century and had long found relief in yoga. Their recommended routine had nothing to do with fostering cures and everything to do with promoting a better quality of life—trying to reduce handicap and disability, increase safety, lessen fatigue, strengthen muscles, increase range of motion and coordination, improve balance, raise confidence, and promote inner calm.
    Teacher and patient began the session in a standing position. The workout was warm, informal, and quite different from the traditional rounds of yoga postures.
    The yogini, Rama Nina Patella, had the patient start by holding on to the top of a file cabinet and bending down, stretching her arms and back in a fashion similar to what would happen in Downward Facing Dog. It didn’t work. The left side of the patient’s body was beginning to atrophy, and her left hand had a hard time gripping the file cabinet. So Patella had her try again. Only this time the patient held onto Patella’s hips, and Patella clutched her arms. It worked. The patient was able to stretch down, long and slow. “Take your thighs back. Stretch this arm out as much as you can,” Patella said of the weakened side. “Keep breathing. Reach with this arm, the arm that’s kind of unwilling. Stretch that arm. That’s good.”
    After a minute or two in that pose, the patient stood back up, beaming.

    Mountain, Tadasana
    Patella had her do the Mountainpose, or Tadasana. From the outside, the pose seems simple and inconsequential. The student just stands there. But done right, it actually involves the subtle rearrangement and realignment of the whole body from head to heels, with muscles tensing and pulling and unbending the bones, the neck straight, the shoulders broad, the breath relaxed.
    “Press your feet into the floor and lift your chest,” Patella said. “You want a feeling in your feet like the roots of a tree growing into the earth and, from that rooted action, uplifting. Chest is open. Your shoulders are back. Let your breath flow as freely as possible. Good.”
    The patient had her eyes closed, concentrating, lifting and stretching. Her usual list to the left was somewhat diminished. She smiled.
    Elsewhere, the room pulsed. A man in the class had, like me, herniated the disk that lies between the fourth and fifth lumbar vertebrae. Fishman had him doing a series of spinal extensions and elongations, and had the visiting yoga teacher shower him with attention.
    As for himself, Fishmanworked with a group of three women who, he said, had various kinds of abdominal problems. One suffered from prolapse—a condition where the uterus falls out of place, descending from the pelvis into the vagina. Normally, the muscles and ligaments of the pelvic floor hold the uterus in place. Uterine prolapse occurs when the muscles and ligaments weaken and stretch, undoing the usual support. Treatments include surgery, exercise, lifestyle changes, and a device worn inside the vagina that props up the uterus. Fishman took a direct approach that addressed the roots of the problem by seeking to strengthen core muscles and abdominal support.
    He showed the women how to do a variation of the Warrior pose, or Virabhadrasana. From a standing position, he moved one foot forward and the other back, raised his arms straight up, and bent his forward knee. The result was the slow lowering of his pelvis as well as the stretching of his legs and abdomen. “Then you come down,” Fishman said, dropping the thigh so low that it formed a right angle with the back. “Like this.” He stretched his arms high up and his pelvis down low. Then the women tried.

    Warrior, Virabhadrasana
    Fishman moved among them,offering words of advice, encouragement, and—sparingly—praise. He exuded confidence and encouraged them to try hard. “Stretch up as high as you can,” he urged, “stretching way up, way up. Good.”
    After a pause, Fishman led the women into another Warrior variant. It required not only stretching but balance. From the first pose, he had them stand on one leg while raising the rear leg to a horizontal position and lowering the arms and torso. It was like Superman flying with one leg extended straight down. Fishman moved among the women, offering alignment tips. “Bring this hip down,” he told one woman, lightly touching the hip. She

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