In today’s world, stress from one’s surroundings has become a part and parcel of life. How each one of us deals with it differs and hence the actual results vary in their impact. The expert on today’s show was Dr.Krishna Raman, a follower of B.K.S Iyengar, who integrates the practice of yoga with modern medicine.

 

Dr. Krishna Raman said that when people come to consult with him they are initially sceptical of performing the asanas prescribed, but once they start realising the positive impact it has, they want to continue learning it at a higher level. Doc said that Yoga definitely helps with Anxiety attacks as it addresses both the Psyche and the Soma i.e. mind and body – it is holistic.

 

The show had a couple of callers. One caller had a nephew who had gone through a bad bullying experience in school which was still affecting his daily and college life.  Dr.Raman said that such an individual needs both medication and counselling for a period of time along with yoga and pranayama. In time only yoga and pranayama, practiced regularly, would be required to calm him, giving inner stability and hence help in dealing with social pressures.

Another caller wanted to know if yoga could help an 80 year old arthritic patient with Bipolar disorder. Dr. Raman advised him to bring him for a consultation while saying that yoga can be practiced by people of all ages. He also said that the patient has to be willing and also make an effort from their part to be open to this multi-pronged treatment.

Dr.Raman also spoke about the perceptions of yoga and that people think it can cure everything. He said like all things yoga has a specified scope and its set of limitations. For example, it cannot cure Cancer, but it can help in the treatment of various other problems such as anxiety, gynaecological problems, breathing disorders etc. One needs to understand that yoga first helps with the problems of the body which gives feedback to the mind and hence helps the mind.

He said that ideally yoga has to be done under supervision. A wrong angle can change the blood flow to a part of the body causing problems. However simple asanas like Apanasana, Shavasana, simple hand stretches and child’s pose can be done at home.

Medical knowledge is very important to prescribe yoga postures also. Most yoga teachers nowadays do not know this. So be careful who you learn yoga with. Yoga used to be a way of life and should become line that again he feels. It can be primary form of medicine instead of secondary like it has become now.

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