Yoga And The CFS Sufferer
The gentle forms of yoga that put the most emphasis on breathing are the best types of yoga for patients of chronic fatigue syndrome to engage in. Yoga originated in ancient India and the word “yoga” stands for “union” in the language spoken in that country which is Sanskrit. Yoga is a union of sorts because it helps to bring together the mind, body as well as the spirit. Yoga in that way is all encompassing for health and well-being. The word yoga stands for “asana” in Sanskrit, which makes reference to the “practice of physical postures or poses.” Asana is one form of yoga that is considered to be one of the “eight limbs” of the ancient practice. It is important to note that most forms of yoga are primarily concerned with both mental ands spiritual well being as opposed to physical accomplishment or activity. The two words, yoga and asana basically mean the same thing and are for all intents and purposes, synonymous with one another.
Yoga involves stretching but there is so much more to it than that. The number one goal of yoga is to create and maintain balance in the body. Yoga does this by way of both developing and improving flexibility and strength. Strength and flexibility are developed by way of very well choreographed poses that each carries with it particular benefits to the physical body. Each pose can be done swiftly and in succession with each other. By doing this, heat is generated through continuous movement and this helps to improve stamina and improve the alignment of every pose done in yoga. Not all yoga instructors agree about the proper way to do each and every pose as some maintain that there is an “ideal” way to go about all of the poses.
Not only will a yoga class focus on particular poses but it will also include a number of other things such as meditation, instructions on the proper way to breathe, inspirational readings and chanting of the call and response variety. How much you learn of the above and to what extent primarily rests on the individual instructor and the particular tradition of yoga in which the person has taken their training.
Hatha is the term given to the type of yoga that comes to mind for beginners. It is also an all-encompassing term for a variety of the yoga practices that are physical in nature. Most often when a yoga class is described as being “Hatha-style” this means that it is gentle and very slow paced and thus excellent for those who are just getting started.
Kundalini yoga is concerned with how a person breathes in relation to their physical movement through the poses. Kundalini seeks to free energy that is trapped in the lower part of the body and allow it to move higher up in the body. All types of yoga are concerned with breathing however kundalini looks at the effect of breathing in relation to the specific poses. In yoga breath is referred to as prana, which means energy. Kundalini involves call and response chanting and it makes use of rapid as well as very repetitive types of movements.
