Yoga  is one of the oldest (5,000 years) yet newest forms of healing therapy. No longer regarded as the theatrics of Indian fakirs sitting on spikes, the amazing results of yoga are now being studied scientifically. 

All over the world, teams of doctors are researching the results of yoga. At the L.C. Yogic Health Centers in Bombay and Lonavla, India, detailed records are kept of patients treated for diabetes, respiratory ailments, digestive complains and obesity. In Krakow, Poland, Dr. Julian Aleksandrowicy, Director of the Third Clinic of Medicine, has examined the effects of yoga postures on the composition and quality of the blood. (With 10 percent less oxygen inhaled in the headstand pose, there was found to be 33 percent more oxygen utilized in the blood.) At the Veterans Administration Hospital in Sepulveda, California, Dr Barbara Brown, researching brain waves of yogis, said, "Eventually, most diseases may be treated by establishing healthful brain wave patterns, either 
by self-training or by mechanical means."

People in every walk of life whose lives are under constant strain and who must maintain a high level of mental and physical fitness have discovered the value of yoga's effectiveness. In New York, an investment broker relates how yoga had restored his health after the collapse of his career. A harpist with San Francisco Symphony speaks of his increased stamina and creative energies. A Florida dentist who feared he'd die at 52 from accumulated tension
has gained a new lease on life. 

The Primacy of Relaxation

Yoga therapy  begins with relaxation. Living in an age anxiety, we are often unconscious of our tensions. With normal bodies, why are we depressed, tired, prey to disease? because tension is invisibly draining away our health energies!

Ruth Rogers, M.D., of  Dayton Beach, Florida, who has studied yoga therapy, says, "in undesrstanding the healing process, relaxation is of supreme importance. You feel pain and you don't want to move, so you tighten up. You're tense. Your muscles contract, constricting the blood flow. Swelling begins. More circulation is cut off, creating a vicious cycle. There's more pain, more tightening, more stiffness, more swelling... This is also what happens in many back problems." She adds: "But if you can relax, fresh blood can circulate nourishment to the afflicted tissues and relieve pain-loaded nerve endings. Healing can begin."

If you practice yoga postures, you are strengthening the body. If you control your breathing, you are creating a chemical and emotional balance. If you concentrate your mind in affirmations, you are practicing the power of prayer. But
if you synthesize all three, you are entering the most powerful mystery of healing: the basic harmony of life.

"The benefits of the postures are greater," says Dr. Rogers, "if the patient concentrates on the healing action where it is happening. In other words, you should mentally see the affected area as receiving fresh blood circulation, oxygen and physical massage. A diabetic should visualize the healing energies to the pancreas, near the stomach. A rheumatic can concentrate on the release of synovial fluid. Synovial fluid is a lubricant and also disperses waste matter that can cause stiffness at joints.

A Guide from India

Most of the following common disorders, scientifically treated at the Yoga Research laboratory at lonavla, India, have also been treated successfully by Dr. Rogers. Eachposture should be preceded by relaxation and deep breathing. Direction for each posture are given later.

Asthma: Corpse Pose, Mountain, Shoulder Stand, Fish, Complete Breath.

Visualization: Lung expansion, renewed strength.

Backache: Corpse Pose, Locust, Plow, Knee to Chest.

Visualization: Fresh circulation to nourish back muscles.

Bronchitis: Mountain, Shoulder Stand (drains out
                   secretion), Fish, Locust.

Cold: Lion, Shoulder Stand.

Constipation: Corpse Pose, Fish, Twist (loosen spine), Plow, Knee to Chest (reinvigorates liver, spleen, intestines), Posterior Strength, Uddiyana, Yoga Mudra.

Visualization: Increased circulation to tone intestines

Depression: Yoga Murda, Should Stand, Plow, Pose.

Visualization: New energy from increased oxygen, pending new joyous activity.

Diabetes (not a cure!): Corpse Pose, Shoulder Stand, Plow,  Twist (flexing the spine stimulates nerve impulse to pancreas, massages the pancreas), Kneeling Pose. 

Visualization: Activation of thyroid gland (shoulder Stand, Plow), which affects the whole metabolism.

Emphysema: Complete breath, Locust, Grip, Shoulder Stand.

Visualization: Healing circulation to lungs.

Eyestrain: Neck and Eye Exercises.

Visualization: Absorb invisible energy from the air (prana) into the eyes.

Headache: Corpse Pose, Neck and Eye Exercises, Shoulder Roll.

Visualization: A summer blue sky. No thoughts.

Hemorrhoids: Fish, Shoulder Stand, Plow. 

Indigestion: Corpse Pose, Mountain, Locust, Shoulder Stand, Plow, Twist, Posterior Stretch, Cobra, Uddiyana.

Insomnia: Corpse Pose, Mountain, Locust, Shoulder Stand, Posterior, Cobra.

Visualization: Blue Sky, Enjoy the Yoga, No thoughts.

Menstrual Disorders: Shoulder Stand, Plow, Fish, Uddiyana, Posterior Stretch.

Obesity: Locust, Shoulder Stand, Plow, Posterior Stretch, Cobra, Yoga Murda, Bow, Sun Salutation.

Prostate: Kneeling Pose.

Rheumatism: Mountain, Shoulder Stand, Twist, Knee to Chest, Posterior Stretch. 

Visualization: The dispersal of water matter causing stiffness at the joints.

Sexual Debility: Shoulder Stand, Plow, Uddiyana, Kneeling Pose, Twist, Complete Breath.

Visualization: Youthful vigor from fresh blood circulation.

Sinus: Neck and Eye exercise, Corpse Pose, Shoulder Stand.

Skin Disease: SunSalutation.

Visualization: A general physical tone-up, regulating and balancing any irregularity.

Sore Throat: Lion.

Visualization: Constriction of blood vessels in the throat; the relaxation brings fresh circulation to sore area.

Varicose Veins: Shoulder Stand.

Wrinkles: Shoulder Stand, Yoga Murda.