– From Niroga’s Cardiovascular unit.
Our heart is nestled in the left lung region … at the Anahata (the 4th, i.e., the “heart”)chakra. Recent studies have reported that the heart to be approximately 60 times greater electrically and up to 5,000 times stronger magnetically than the brain. !!! Going from last months Cardiovascular module, now we are onto the Respiratory system module. Appreciating this logical sequence as we journey the physical kosha of this human body.
I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
― Maya Angelou
Pranayama … physiology and anatomy of breath, revisited.
Mantra chanting and a beautiful meditation practice … lead by Saraswathi Devi. What a treat !
Progressing onward and inward, this month’s focus is on the Respiratory System. This particular module is taught by Saraswathi Devi, RYT-500. What I most appreciate about this program is the emphasis on the 5-koshas. It’s not all about the “physical” aspect of yoga that heals. It’s more complex than that … us humans. Saraswathi Devi, a graceful and elegant yogini has been teaching yoga since 1976 (that’s 40 years!). She is another treasure trove of knowledge and the depth and range to that wisdom is extraordinary. She calls upon the resources of all other so called alternative medicine and weaves them all into sharing the kind of yoga that heals … Another great teacher and us students are so blessed.
She is right – We are each beautiful piece of work… we are each ENOUGH. No one is broken. No one needs to be fixed. Each one who stands before you is WHOLE and Divine in the same circumstances of living this particular Karmic life and tending to this rented body. While therapist is knowledgeable of what to do and what not to with certain predispositions or conditions, she never identifies or labels the being who stands before her with a disease, diagnosis or a disability. Each one, a whole, complete human being just like yourself. Saraswathi shared various stories, all which took us from darkness to light – and spoke of how even a most troubled person, the kind who inflicts harm to others, deserves our love and compassion for underneath that hatred is great pain … horrific pain … shame, anger … fear … and underneath that fear is … ignorance. Sadly. Ignorance of the divine love that shines within all of us. She is first and foremost an amazing being … and an amazing yoga teacher. I would liken her to Mother Teresa of yoga … with humor and wit of a yogi.
One of the reasons I look up to her with awe is how she puts into action, what she truly believes in; that, yoga heals and that yoga is for everyone. She is a founder and president of Yoga on Wheels and HERE IS an interview with Saraswathi Devi on their website. When you are in the vibrational energy field of someone as inspiring like her, you cannot help but to up a notch yourself. Here is someone who is really providing Yoga for All People and offering this yoga for everyone, meeting the student at where they are at … empowering them to find the light within. There’s so much to be learned from her.
One of which is to
Lighten up and get over yourself. There are others with more pressing needs, who are truly in need of healing “yoga”.
Learning from Saraswathi Devi how yoga therapy can help those suffering from all kinds of respiratory ailments, from Asthma, Bronchitis, Emphysema, etc. While all the pranayama techniques we went over would certainly help, most important above any and all techniques would be the ability to empathize and allow the client to tap into the healer within. And pranayama techniques learned for ourselves as part of the self-care we have to have as a discipline and a practice. It is empowering to have the knowledge and the skill to self-prescribe the customized pranayama protocol that’s most fitting … depending on the condition, predisposition and the changing needs. The breath affects the energy, the mood …Everything. Breath is ALL.
