movement, and improves digestion.
• Surya bhedana cures vata disorders, purifies the sinuses and blood, removes parasites, and rejuvenates cells.
• Ujjayi is said to remove the disorders of phlegm and structural elements (dhatus), increases stamina and agility, and alleviates nerve disorders, stress, and depression.
• Sitkari alleviates hunger, thirst, the need for sleep, or lassitude.
• Sitali balances pitta, relieves colic, spleen disorders, fever, tumors, and bile disorders, and neutralizes even the most dangerous of poisons.
• Bhastrika balances all three doshas (vata, pitta, kapha), pierces three granthis, has the capacity to cure phlegm, bile, and gas disorders, infuses vigor, stamina, and alertness, improves memory, removes depression, and helps increase the gastric fire.16
The practice of pranayama helps to regulate our emotions and stabilize the mind, which is said to be as restless as a “drunken monkey stung by a scorpion.” Emotions and breath are known to have a deep relationship. When we get angry, we can experience that our breathing becomes rapid, and it is slower when we are cool and relaxed. Thus the slow, rhythmic, and controlled breathing in pranayama leads to the emotional control seen in dedicated yoga practitioners. Conscious, deep, and regular breathing can synchronize and reinforce inherent cardiovascular rhythms and modify baroreflex sensitivity, which may be attained by practicing ujjayi and pranava.17 The sound-based vibrational breaths (pranava and bhramari18) enable the manifestation of an inner harmony that results in the attainment of a state of mental calmness.
According to Dr Swami Gitananda Giri, the inherent message of pranayama can be summarized as follows: “There is an absolute and direct correlation between the way the man breathes and his energy level, the length of his lifespan, the clarity and subtlety of the thoughts, and the quality of the emotions.”19
Deep, slow breathing is economical20
Many novices have a false notion before they begin pranayama as they think that slowing down the breath will limit the air they take in, and hence reduce the amount of gaseous exchange! This is, however, totally wrong as in fact we increase the efficiency of gaseous exchange by enhancing ventilation during deep breathing. The table below illustrates this concept, that shallow breathing makes us work a lot (30 breaths/minute) for very little (1500 ml volume of gas exchange) while slow, deep breathing gives us 40 percent more alveolar ventilation (5100 ml with just 6 breaths/minute). We must also remember that pranayama is concerned with much more than just alveolar ventilation; it also deals with the enhancement of subtle energies that will be proportionately enhanced by such slow and deep conscious breathing.
| Normal | Shallow | Deep | |
| Volume (ml) | 500 | 200 | 1000 |
| Rate (/minute) | 12 | 30 | 6 |
| Ventilation (ml) | 6000 | 6000 | 6000 |
| Dead space (ml) | 150 | 150 | 150 |
| Dead space volume (ml) | 1800 | 4500 | 900 |
| Alveolar volume (ml) | 4200 | 1500 | 5100 |
Shifting from individuality to universality
Yoga, which emphasizes the universal, is a perfect foil to those human activities that glorify the personal experience. The process of yoga therapy helps the individual to shift from an “I”-centric approach to a “we”-centric approach. Transformation from “I-ness” to “we-ness” is the core of spiritual healing.
The Bhagavad Gita says, “Yoga is skill in action” (2:50). The real yogi is conscious and aware at the physical, mental, and emotional levels of their being. They gain great control over all aspects of life, thus developing a real skill in living. They realize that their duty is to do their best, but that the ultimate result is not in their hands. The yogi performs the needed action not for the sake of the fruits of that action, but because it is good and necessary to do so for everyone’s benefit.
This belies the Western belief that the competitive spirit produces the highest skill. To this the yogic answer is: detachment from the fruits of the action produces the greatest efficiency. The beauty of yoga is that these abstract principles become concrete in the daily practice of the techniques available in the yoga system. Once the client practices yoga with discipline and consistency, these concepts grow naturally, slowly but surely taking root in all aspects of the client’s life.
“Yogopathy”21 vs. yoga therapy
We are part of the “instant” culture. We are used to instant food and instant solutions. These are attitudes we have grown up with in our life—as yoga teachers, yoga therapists, and clients. When we go to the doctor we are focused on solving physical problems with medicine—we then get medication that suppresses the symptoms and allows us to go on living the lifestyle that caused the problem in the first place. When we go to a therapist our focus is on fixing our mental or psychological problems through different techniques, so that we can feel better without changing anything. Our focus is on the problem, on the illness—this lies at the heart of pathogenesis. In pathogenesis we want to know what can we do to avoid the problem or cure the symptoms. Our stance is reactive—we only act when there is a manifestation of the problem. Most of us do not think of our health when there is no pain or loss. This is the majority of people’s state of awareness.
The word “-pathy” is the postfix to stress “feeling” or “suffering,” and is used in words such as antipathy or sympathy. In modern language it is often used with the meaning of morbid affection or disease, such as neuropathy, psychopathy, or arthropathy, and hence it is also used in the names of systems of treating disease symptoms—allopathy, homeopathy, hydropathy, osteopathy.22 Yogopathy describes the use of yogic techniques in treating the symptoms of the disease. It is based on pathogenesis, focusing on dealing with symptoms.
Modern yoga therapy’s focus on the physical symptoms can be useful at times. If facilitated skillfully, the client will experience to a certain degree the transformative power of yoga. This can be a stepping stone to motivate the client to accept more encompassing applications of yoga therapy, rather than simply recommending yogic techniques following the philosophy of “a pill for every ill.”
Managing and suppressing the manifested symptoms with yoga techniques is just as good or bad as modern allopathic medicine managing symptoms with pharmaceuticals. In such cases the focus is primarily on symptomatic management without
