Returning to Yoga

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Hi, I am returning to yoga after a long absence from it. I certainly missed it. I have some health issues (increased weight, on blood pressure medication) that I want to remedy with yoga. When it did it some years ago, I always felt better and more fit. I am 55 and luckily do not have any serious menopause symptoms (hot flashes and night sweats) but I want to make a committment to better health.

My husband and I are finally getting out of a very stressful work enviroment which I am sure affected both of our health overall. At my recent annual exam, my blood profile was not awful but in need of improvement and my blood oxygen was a bit diminished. Doctor thinks maybe sleep apnea. If that is the case, did anyone have apnea and found it went away with Yoga? Certainly don’t want surgery.

Hope to hear of your success story of moving out of stress and health issues and onto good health and well being with Yoga.

Thanks
Joyce

#2

joyce,

I think everyone that has a flourishing practice has moved out of some stressful states in order to be where they are.

It sounds as though you are making change which is also transformation.
Good for you for choosing a different, growing way of life.

Enjoy your yoga practice with great devotion.

#3

I am also returning after about a year off, whilst trying to find the best thing for my body. Little did I know I’d left it behind–it was yoga. It feels good to move my body in this way again. (good—and stiff! :lol: but I’ll get there.)

#4

Joyce, in regard to the sleep apnea I would suggest you try learning yoga nidra, this will most likely also help reduce your blood pressure to a more suitable number and will bring both you and your husband some much needed TRUE relaxation. For learning I would suggest you buy Yoga Nidra - Swami Satyananda Saraswati (amazon buy it from an amazon seller not from amazon itself, they tend to overprice many things) and make yourselves tapes of the practice. This way you can personalize what you would like to gain from your practices and progress over time versus buying a CD with a prerecorded lesson.

As far as asana goes I would keep away from inverted and other strenuous postures until your blood pressure normalizes(which I firmly believe it will with the use of yoga nidra).

Edit: Sorry I forgot to mention that I believe yoga nidra will definately help rid you of sleep apnea and help you have more restful nights of sleep. In addition to a daily practice it is one of the best ways to put yourself in a state of utter relaxation before you choose to go to sleep.

All the best,
Justin

#5

Not to create a tizzy but just to straighten out a misconception…

And pardon any dust that I might stir.

Inversions, by their nature are not strenuous.
Just as one example, the energetics in Sirsasana are dramatically different than they are in Sarvangasana. Yet both of these are inversion.

Strenuous is something the practitioner brings to the mat. Strenuous is not a built in component of asana practice. In fact the lone mention of asana in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali backs this up.

Recent investigations indicate that students in Sirsasana do have a higher blood pressure reading in the pose than they did before the pose. Howeverrrrrrr, those same studies show that the blood pressure readings AFTER sirsasana are lower than the pre-sirsasana measurements.

To be certain it is always best to over engineer safety. Students with high or low blood pressure (even if they are medicated to “normal”) should not do Sirsasana but Sarvangasana is absolutely beneficial for HBP. Either way those with this sort of issue whould be doing an asana practice under the guidance of a skilled instructor.

#6

Joyce,

I have only been doing yoga for two years. In that short amount of time I have undergone kidney surgeries, the loss of mate through divorce and the diagnosis of cancer. I am confident to say that I know Yoga has helped me on all levels of my life.

It is great that you are making that commitment to self to invest time and effort doing activities that will ultimately help you live a longer, healthier life. I do not believe any doctor or even Yogi would suggest that yoga essentially replace all other forms of physical activity. However, yoga can assist in all other areas of physical endurance and agility.

As you are most likely aware, a strong yoga practice has even been known to assist in individual personal empowerment. That is another story… lol Exploration into Self is the last frontier - IMHO.

blessings

#7

more than 12 years of yoga, and as it says in the upanishads, yoga comes and go. and the stress also comes and go.
So, Im swimming in the sea of life, trying to surf the high wawes.

#8

colojd, I’m returning to yoga, too, after a few years of workaholism. it’s time for me to get rid from this obsessive compulsive suicidal behavior. (well, I wish I was joking, but I’m not…)

my plan is to begin with Hatha Yoga: simple asanas, until I regain flexibility of joints and the free flow of energy through the body.

as a second step, I intend to add, in my daily practise, concentration exercises - like shambhavi mudra -, in order to re-teach my mind to stay still.

as a third step: laya yoga.

only after these, with purified and energized body and mind: pranayama.

May God help me to stick to this plan. :slight_smile: