Seattle Yoga Class--The Body and the Breath of Life by Dylan Frazier, MSW

I have long believed in the value of meditation for relief from anxiety and stress and activities such as yoga which have additional physical benefits. I have used hypnotherapy and guided imagery with clients to help them relax. Now there is evidence that meditation helps the immune system and "produces measurable biological changes in the brain and body."

The Readers Digest reports a controlled study by psychologist Richard J Davidson and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin. Forty-one people received a flu vaccine. Divided into roughly equal groups, one group was taught to meditate and the other group just received the vaccine.

Eight weeks later "the mediators had higher levels of flu-fighting antibodies than those who didn't meditate. They were also better able to deal with stress and had increased activity in the area of the brain linked to good moods. The results weren't temporary: The feel-good effects lasted for up to four months after the meditation training sessions ended." [Medical Update, RD, November 2003]

The following information is intended to provide a foundation for understanding the basics of yoga as a lifestyle guide. The key to fitness and health is a shift or re-thinking of established daily habits. Stress is the problem. Well-being is the answer. Patience is required as you learn to change old ways of thinking and behaving.

Yoga was first understood and practiced over 40,000 years ago, pre-dating written history. It was an integral part of daily living and was passed on as a tradition by word of mouth. Today, it is thought primarily as a physical practice to “keep in shape” or to “stay balanced”. It is however much more! It is in fact maximizing the experience of being human.

During the last Golden Age, Yoga was widely understood and commonplace. At this time of great knowledge, only three forms of yoga were practiced: Kundalini Yoga, Laya Yoga, & Tantric Yoga. All three forms were practiced together. Kundalini Yoga consisted of exercises and meditations for healing and expansion of the capacity of the self. Laya Yoga was the technique of altering consciousness and the total health by the use of sound and rhythm. Tantric Yoga was the yoga of polarities (light & dark, day & night, man & woman) practiced with couples of men and women. White Tantric was the primary yoga used to cleanse the subconscious of all phobias and psychological problems.

Kundalini yoga is both an elegant and simple system that focuses on becoming a whole human being. It is the mother of all yogas and known as the “Yoga of Awareness.” The challenge is using it and integrating the practice into our various lifestyles.

The first thing to remember is go slowly. Take it one step at a time. Yoga is a state of consciousness that comes through experience and practice.

It is normal for the mind to wander and feel frustrated in first starting out. Be kind to yourself and patient. It is an experiential union of the subtle and the gross, the finite and the Infinite. It is not a posture, person, place or religion.

Today’s marketplace offers many different versions of yoga styles and teachers. Yoga is now a mainstream form of fitness that has always influenced other forms of physical exercise and conditioning. The important thing is to find the practice that works for you.

It is strongly advised that you begin with at least one yoga class with instruction from an experienced practitioner prior to individual practice. Yoga is much more than a collection of exercises. The practice of yoga is about unlocking blocks and utilizing the energy within to maximize human radiance. Kundalini yoga instructors understand the importance of using consciousness to elevate participant experience.

When starting your individual practice always use the basic yoga class structure to get yourself started. The format over time will begin to feel like a warm supportive friend. The time you create to practice will benefit you beyond belief.

Remember, in the beginning no exercise should be practiced longer than three minutes. Find a comfortable time and a place where you can begin practicing some of routines introduced in classes. The ideal practice times are in the morning prior to breakfast or just before bed at night. Do not attempt too much too soon. It is often a struggle to fit one more thing into your daily schedule, so start with a 15 - 30 minute routine. A once weekly class with daily follow-up is an excellent beginning.

Be compassionate with yourself in approaching this new routine. As you slowly loosen up, make sure you pay attention to the subtle changes and experiences that present themselves. Realize the impact your practice is having on all aspects of your life and be grateful for it all. During the difficult times consult with your yoga teacher as much as you need. Learn to relax deeply and completely. Remember the peacefulness of solitude and the blessings of being good company.

This site is intended to aid and assist persons seeking tools that support healthy lifestyles. Hopefully, you will find it a useful guide. Please remember that this site is merely an online resource guide. It should not under any circumstance be mistaken as medical advice.

Persons seeking specific health information should first consult a primary care practitioner. If you have any personal questions related to integrating the practices recommended in this site or recommended products, it is advised you speak with a health care professional.

The Body & Breath of Life

Human beings can be viewed from many perspectives, as we are multi dimensional creatures. And many things can be learned from the study of interpreting human behavior by observing our structural and movement patterns. Our patterns of movement become an accurate roadmap of our personality and character.

In Yoga class, students become aware of the importance of the breath. We hear it in our many yoga classes: "breathe deep to energize your body", or "mastery of the breath is mastery of the self." It is interesting that even with this knowledge of yogic science, students with years of yogic experience still demonstrate poor breathing habits. In order to change this pattern of breathing we must understand the mechanics of correct breathing and the most common errors that obstruct this process.

Breathing is the most fundamental of all our movement patterns, but our breathing habits are only as good as our posture. It is posture or our states of dynamic and static structural process that aids or restricts our breathing. Postural states develop from the pattern combination of the over six hundred muscles in the body.

Bodily movements create muscular tension, and that gives shape to the skeletal structure. The underlying determinant of how well we move is the degree of gravitational efficiency we have developed. The less sensitive we are to the constant pull of gravity, the more our bodies armor themselves in non-useful patterns of muscular stress. Because we remain unaware of these unconscious states of self imposed stress, we waste a great amount of energy just trying to function in our bodies.

Those who have been blessed with the opportunity to practice yoga are able to reduce and possibly eliminate the unreleased tension or "armor" of the mind and body.

As we increase the general flexibility of the body, our sensitivity increases because the "armor" decreases. In order to permanently affect a change in movement, and behavior, the navel center must integrate itself as the center for all movement-maintaining functions. This requires awareness of the breath in relation to all movement. We do this in all yoga exercise, yet as soon as the class ends, we become unaware of our respiratory behavior. That may sound like an overstatement, but the fact remains that the vast majority of people, including yoga students, maintain so much tension in the navel center, that relaxed respiratory patterns are difficult to establish.

The obstacle to correct breathing is caused by a lack of balanced mobility in the spine. If your spine is restricted from complete forward flexion, then exhalation requires greater effort. The more developed the flexion range of the spine, the further the diaphragm can ascend.

Diaphragmic assention (lifting the diaphragm up) is the mechanism for exhalation. The opposite is true for inhalation. Unrestricted extension range of the spine increases the diaphragm's ability to drop or distend, enabling greater ease for inhalation. Ideally, this flexibility can create in the body a state of balance that will enable the individual to move and breathe stress free.

Stress free, used in this context, implies an absence of excessive tension in movement. All movement requires tension, but stress occurs when muscular or mental tension cannot return freely to an un-contracted or relaxed state. The ability to return to relaxation depends on the movement range of the muscles used.

Good erect posture is not created by forced patterns of tension, but results from having the muscular range which allows the skeletal frame to become aligned by gravity. Easy navel point breathing is only possible if there is no obstruction in the mobility of the lower spine and in the absence of stress in the abdominal muscles.

Possibly the most common reason for abdominal stress is the self imposed habit of holding the abdomen in. We do this to maintain an appearance of being thin. Or we hold in the navel to compensate for poor postural habits. It is also common to pull in the abdominal muscles to project ourselves in a sensually attractive manner.

I am not suggesting that we should go to the opposite extreme and look like sumo wrestlers. The abdominal muscles should be relaxed in order for the diaphragm to easily move them in and out. One attitude to develop regarding breathing, is to inhale infinitely fat and exhale, returning the abdominal wall to the spine, infinitely thin.

Vanity is not the only reason we develop navel center stress. Emotional situations which create fear cause us to retain tension in the navel center. Allergic reactions to food also contribute to this form of stress. Any navel tension, whatever the origin, will restrict slow, correct breathing. It can be accurately said that the better our breathing habits, the better our glands function. And the glands, after all, are the guardians of our health.

Glossary of Yogic Terms

Ambrosial Hours. Early morning hours; specifically beginning 2 ½ hours before sunrise.

Hatha Yoga. Yogic path of balance of the sun (Ha) and moon (tha) energies using postures.

Ida. Left nerve channel (nadi): relates to the left nostril and receptive or moon energy.

Kundalini. Energy related to the nerve of the soul; translates as “the curl of the lock of hair.”

Kundalini Yoga. Yogic path of supreme awareness; known as “the mother of all yogas.”

Naad. Basic sound for all languages through all times originating in the sound current; the universal code behind human communications.

Pingala. Right nerve channel (nadi): relates to the right nostril and projective or sun energy.

Prana. Life force energy; essence of life; energy of the atom, primarily carried by the inhale breath.

Tri-Marga. Karma, Bhakti, and Gyan Yoga, referred to as the “Three-fold Path.”

Yoga. Union; the art and science of yoking or uniting the individual consciousness with the Infinite consciousness.

Yogi. One who has attained a state of yoga, a master of him/her self, person who practices the art and science of yoga.

The Body and the Breath of Life

Introduction

Glossary of Yoga Terms

Also: What is Naturopathy?

Seattle YOGA

The Body & Breath of Life

Glossary of Yogic Terms