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Kareen's Yoga by Kareen Zebroff
It's virus and bacteria time again. Man, are those little critters
smart!
Papa, a physician, knew all about that, for he loved Mother Nature. He used to
cackle with glee at all the "pranks" she pulled on us
devastating little human parasites and predators crawling all over her skin:
some of them trying their mightiest to abuse and exploit her and to wreck her
beautiful complexion. He loved to watch nature-shows and couldn't
wait to tell us of his delight in discovering more of the utterly miraculous workings
and adaptations of the various species.
Only days before he died of the massive coronary he was expecting, though his
children were not, Papa called from Europe to talk to me for an hour about how
elephants are the most perfect of creatures. Matriarchal and nurturing of orphans
and each other; no natural enemies and do not fight. The elephant does not eat
its young or kill those of a previous mate as the lion does; it recognizes the
bleached bones of a long-dead herd member when running across them years later;
it is a vegetarian that neither kills nor harms any other. What Papa did not know
was that one of the most revered Hindu deities is Ganesh, the god of good fortune,
who is portrayed in human form but with the head of an elephant.
Bacteria and viruses were of especial interest to Papa. "They can assimilate
information and change accordingly within one generation," he used
to say and shake his head with wonder at such extraordinary talent. I was reminded
of that when visiting one of my daughters in Tanzania, third-poorest country in
the world where we saw women walking eight hours to haul water every day. After
doing the laundry in a tiny amount of water in the bottom of a tilted pan, they
then had to attend to all the rest of their chores, while the men sat idly in
front of their huts. I did not understand such apparent "laziness,"
until I had a conversation with a British diplomat who worked in the capital of
Dar es Salaam. "It takes human beings three generations or more to
be able to adapt to a new situation," he said. "These
men are disenfranchised because their raison d'etre used to be the
hunting they did to feed their families. We Europeans have taken that away from
them and now they need time to adjust."
But since we are apparently only one antibiotic away from a huge global health-crisis
such as SARS, we have to do something about strengthening our immune-system to
fight off infections so we don't have to take drugs with side-effects.
When school is in and the weather starts to get colder, we are exposed to many
different microscopic organisms in close quarters, especially if we occupy centrally
heated or sealed buildings. What to do? You guessed it ... yoga to
the rescue!
The practice of yoga ought to vary slightly during the two main seasons. In hot
weather it is best to do the reclining, resting or slightly inverted legs-up poses
to conserve energy. In the fall / winter months it is best to stimulate the body's
immune-system and improve blood-circulation, the better to fight off flus, colds
and respiratory infections through the standing, back-bending and strongly inverted
poses.
For preventing colds, practise twist-variations such as Marichi's
pose for initiates and the congestion-preventing poses below. Yoga novices should
do any of the simpler twists, bringing both hands to the left to stem yourself
against chair-back or floor and twist as far as possible. As with all poses, go
only as far as is comfortable, hold while breathing normally and repeat on the
other side.
For congestion in the chest, do a full-boat / staff (Paripurna) and plow (Halasana)
variation. Novices should practise the boat by sitting on the tailbone and making
a "V" with the outstretched legs, or by propping them
up on a stool. For the plow, lie on the floor and attempt to bring hips and straight
legs up and over the head by using your tented hands to help push.
For coughs and colds, novices should do a simple shoulder stand (Sarvangasana)
and a "pretend" headstand (Salamba Sirsasana) in a corner
of the room by tiptoeing up towards the head.
To best increase your resistance to disease in general make your day-to-day thinking
positive, reignite your passion to know your purpose / intent in life, breathe
deeply as you walk fast in fresh air (Viloma Pranayama), eat healthily, sleep
enough, rest after any exertion and practise simple meditation.
Kareen Zebroff's classic, revised book, The ABC of Yoga (Foulsham
title: A Gentle Introduction To Yoga), as well as her Yoga-Over-40 video, may
be ordered from her website: www.kareenzebroff.com.
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