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Post: an article on yoga therapy
Forum: Q & A on Yoga Practice and Yoga Therapy
Assigned Moderators: N/A
Posted by: keyinkey
Original Content:
Hi folks,
I just translated this article from Russian, but it was a tough one, and I need your help and editorship:)) Please, read it (hopefully, you know the subject very well) and let me know if some parts of it are unintelligible or sound funny. Thank you in advance… and enjoy!
[B]Working out an individual practice program according to the principles of Indo-Tibetan medicine.[/B]
By Sergey Agapkin.
Sergey Agapkin is a doctor, specializing in medical gymnastics, physiotherapy and traditional rehabilitation therapies. He is an author of various articles and researches on the neighboring fields of Aurveda, Yoga and Medical Tantra (Tibetan medicine).
First of all, there should be a certain clarification. This article deals with working out an individual program of exercises for beginners that should balance their main bodily systems and eliminate diseases. In Yoga Sutras by Patanjali ill health is the first obstacle on one’s way of yoga which should be overcome. Vyasa’s commentary on Yoga Sutras states that “An illness is an imbalance of humors (dosha), bodily secretions (dhatu) and organs”. It’s a pity Patanjali does not give any practical advice on combating diseases. But, luckily, we can find such advice in aurvedic teachings. Aurveda like yoga is based on the philosophical system of Sankhya, which clearly illustrates Vyasa’s definition of illness. As a matter of fact, a very similar definition is used by Indo-Tibetan medicine, but it is not purely theoretical there. It actually gives a guiding principle for their diagnostic algorithms and multi-compound recipes of their herbal remedies. These algorithms are supposed to diagnose your “heat - cold” syndromes and to find out if your bodily controlling systems (doshas) as well as your organs and tissues are in good order. After having received this information, they select herbs that bring optimal effects in these tree directions. For instance, a remedy called “rnam-rgyal-mkhris”, which has been used by Tibetan medicine to treat acute hepatitis, consists of hips, myrobalan and momordica’s seeds. Hips are used for curing many “heat” diseases, myrobalan berries are helpful for balancing doshas, and momordica affects the hepatobiliary system directly. Due to this complex action, affecting simultaneously various aspects of the pathologic process, such a simple remedy, consisting of only tree components, can bring deep therapeutic effects.
It is obvious, that using the above said algorithm to choose the appropriate exercises for one’s individual yoga practice can significantly raise its effectiveness, in general, and therapeutic value, in particular, which is especially important for beginners’ classes. Everybody knows that for most people who start practicing hatha yoga, the main and, sometimes, the only objective is to improve their health. Our algorithm consists of three stages, and each of them is divided into diagnosing and correction parts as below:
- а) Find your ratio between the “heat” and “cold” elements as they are present in your body.
б) Choose your exercises and your practice regimen that should balance the “heat” and “cold” elements.- а) Find your tri-dosha ratio.
б) Choose your methods of balancing the doshas, such as asanas and kriya practices.- а) Diagnose your ill organs or systems. If there aren’t any, find the “places of less resistance” (lat. locus minoris resistentia) in your body, because under unfavorable circumstances they will, most probably, become niduses of disease, “places of major reactivity” (lat. locus majoris reactivae).
б) Choose your methods of curing your ill organs and improving your vulnerabilities.
Further down, all these stages will be explained to you in detail, one by one, in a much simplified and easy to understand manner. I should note that some yoga teachers, whether they are aware of it or not, do use a similar algorithm. Certainly, an experienced teacher does not have to perform highly complex diagnostic procedures. He trusts his intuition and experience. A single glance or a short conversation can be sufficient to lay out an accurate exercise program which is optimal for this particular person facing such problems at the moment. However, not everybody gets the opportunity to learn from great teachers. As for various workshops and intensive courses, they are mainly designed for the people who are already very profound and confident on their way. As for the others, they have to do the exercises that they find in books or invent themselves. It, certainly, helps them to get their brains in gear, but may not altogether be very healthy. One of my teachers used to say that “There are two types of people: some will learn from somebody else’s mistakes, and the others, from their own. The latter are more likely to become Masters, the former are more likely to survive”. I have to admit that time proves it. I should note, though, that recently published books elucidate on the rules of combining exercises, but, mostly, from a technical point of view. Here we will dwell on the therapeutic aspects.