Yoga is a classical Indian science dealing with the search for the soul. The word ‘Yoga’ signifies both the way to discovery of the soul and union with it. It is an ancient natural system of physical, mental, and spiritual culture designed to increase vitality, produce rejuvenation, attain spiritual awareness of one’s own perfection and to achieve harmony with all material manifestations as well as the subtle yet powerful unseen universal energies.

Philosophers and mystics developed and perfected yoga over the centuries in ancient India. Yoga is so comprehensive that it deals with every aspect of life and delves into the very nature of reality. It is a method by which we can increase the body’s supply of life force or bio-energy and remove any interference to the transmission of this energy, throughout the mind and body. Yoga has specialised in this subject for thousands of years and is an unsurpassed means of attaining your full, unlimited potential.

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Yoga is an ancient Indian science, which disciplines the mind and body in preparation for higher states of awareness. Yoga allows an actual experience of the interconnectedness of the whole being. One of the benefits of this discipline is the mind and body are brought into harmony creating a perfect environment for health and wellbeing. A proven side effect of this enhanced wellbeing is a slowing or even reversal of the ageing process.

This reversal of the ageing process is not due to any one aspect of Yoga. Yoga is a complete science and perfect harmony and wellbeing will only be attained when all aspects are practised regularly. These aspects include Self-purification, Asanas (postures), Pranayama (breath control), Relaxation Techniques and Meditation.

Self-Purification relates to motives, speech, action and care of the body.

Asanas are postures that increase flexibility, strengthen and tone the muscles, stimulate glandular activity, strengthen the nervous and immune systems, massage the internal organs, lengthen the spine, rejuvenate the skin and purify the blood.

Pranayamas are breathing techniques that expand the lungs, oxygenate the blood, balance the metabolism, help with cellular regeneration, aid in the digestion, create a healthy nervous system, control weight, align us with the energy of the Universe and help calm the mind.

Relaxation will reduce stress, release muscle tension, enhance the immune and nervous systems, relax the mind and allow a profound healing rest on a cellular level.

Meditation is a spiritual practise that brings about peace, joy, love, detachment and the realisation that all is one.
When all these aspects are practised you will start to feel and look younger. When they are mastered you will realise you are and have always been perfect.

A high level of pain and discomfort associated with the menstrual cycle often reflects a high level of physical and nervous tension in the body and mental and emotional opposition to the process. This is why some women who are habitually tense and on edge tend to have difficulty with their menstrual cycles, while those who have a healthy body and accept the menstrual process may have no abnormal symptoms.

Yoga offers natural and effective methods to help prevent and relieve premenstrual pain, without toxic side-effects. The benefits of yoga actually extend far beyond the physical body; yoga develops your awareness of menstruation as a useful part in your life. Yoga will also help you regulate your hormones and balance your system. Women who practise yoga regularly have found that period pain, and the tension and symptoms that lead up to your period, are eased and possibly eliminated with regular practise over a few months.

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Asthma is a distressing disorder of the bronchial tubes characterised by recurrent attacks of wheezing, coughing and a sense of suffocation resulting in difficulty with breathing. There is a narrowing of the bronchial tubes which makes breathing harder: it is usually because the contraction of muscle in the bronchial wall reduces its diameter, making it harder for air to pass. There is also a swelling of the membrane lining which causes the narrowing, often because of excessive amounts of mucus within the bronchial walls.

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Causes

There are many causes and factors to be considered with the condition of asthma: psychological; hereditary; allergic factors such as food, environmental and atmospheric pollution; and infection of the respiratory passages. These causal factors tend to overlap variably from one person to another.

On a psychological level, suppression of negative emotions such as jealousy, anger, resentment and hatred are often precipitating causes – as are loneliness, longing for affection, emotional hypersensitivity, fear of rejection and hesitation in life. In management of asthma through yoga, these psychic factors are brought before the conscious mind. The sufferer learns, through a heightened sense of awareness, to recognise and accept without self-judgement these emotional conditions that bring about disease, and to gradually resolve these difficulties.

Another major cause of asthma is exposure to allergens such as food products, drugs, medicines, dust, animal hair, smoke, atmospheric pollution (either in the home or the environment) and changes in the weather (attacks of asthma are higher in winter and the rainy seasons). It is important to eliminate any allergens from the home. Unhealthy diet and lifestyle also play a role. A high mucus-producing diet of dairy food and refined carbohydrate products such as bread and cakes is excessively taxing on an asthmatic’s already weakened digestive system – not to mention, on the respiratory tract.

The hereditary factor in asthma is also recognised, for the disease frequently appears to be passed on from one generation to another.

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By Melissa Downes - Sunday Telegraph 20 April 2003

The Dalai Lama is into it and so is Uma Thurman's dad. Melissa Downes discovers an ancient secret that is finally out of the bag. If someone had told me I'd spin around in circles in a bid to grow younger I'd have laughed out loud. But the money-back guarantee that it would change my life intrigued me. So, here I am practising my "spin", the first rite in an ancient technique called The Five Tibetans. The Five Tibetans are best described as energising exercises that originated in the Himalayas. In the 1930s, a retired English army officer called Colonel Bradford heard of a monastery of remarkably old, yet healthy `ageless' monks and went in search of their "fountain of youth". Colonel Bradford studied the postures the monks performed each day. He dubbed them The Five Rites of Rejuvenation. In 1935, Peter Kelder wrote a book, Ancient Secret of The Fountain of Youth (Doubleday), based on the Colonel's findings and an updated version released 50 years later sold more than two million copies. The five postures require a minimum amount of daily effort but work by balancing and squeezing the body's seven endocrine glands (the endocrine regulates the organs and has been linked to ageing) and rebalancing the seven energy centres, also known as chakras. This, its followers claim, regulates the body's ageing process by detoxing and restoring life energy or Ki. Barry Hogg teaches the rites at Camp Eden on the Gold Coast. He claims they changed his life. "I'd fractured my spine and I had four years of pain until I tried The Five Tibetans," says Hogg. "In 29 years of trying different therapies, no one thing has given me more benefit for an investment of 15 minutes a day." Christopher Kilham, author of The Five Tibetans, (Healing Arts Press), says the postures tone and strengthen the major muscle groups, "contributing to a strong, resilient physique." No-one likes to look old and advocates of The Five Tibetans claim the moves will postpone if not outright reverse ageing. It's a big claim for five little moves but Kelder is adamant. "There is no doubt that for some people the rites generate a transformation that includes the disappearance of age spots, blemishes, facial wrinkles and flabby jowls," he says. "Posture improves and for many people, hair that was grey and white grew thicker and more lustrous." How is this possible? US-based Dr Charles Bowen believes the postures work because they effectively wake up the nervous system. "There is nothing mystical about it," says Dr Bowen, who is one of only 119 board-certified chiropractic neurologists in the world, with a Ph.D. in neurology. "One of the primary contributors to premature ageing and chronic illness is our sedentary way of life," says Dr Bowen.

WAKING UP YOUR SYSTEM

"Better circulation increases blood flow, especially to the face, bringing fresh oxygen and nutrients to the skin and carrying away waste products. Daily practise of the rites, which stimulate the nervous system, which in turn controls the circulatory system, contributes to a younger, better-looking appearance." Advocates of The Five Tibetans say they are a practical way to deal with pressure, stress and fatigue and improve overall health. Many devotees say the postures have enhanced their mental focus and helped them lose or gain weight. They say they feel younger and more energised and report lower stress levels. A shift in attitude also seems to take place. The routine is a modified version of Hatha yoga, so if you've never done yoga before, the postures may take getting used to. "Like any exercise routine, if you haven't been exercising you'll go through a bit of muscular discomfort," says Caroline Witt, who teaches The Five Tibetans in Sydney. So, how long does it take to get them down pat? "It took me three weeks to feel really confident doing them," Witt says. Anne Lewis has been teaching Hatha yoga for 20 years. She suffered from allergies and eczema until she started doing the postures. "Once I started I didn't get eczema any more - they were more powerful than any yoga I'd done. They are so simple but they really work." So what are you waiting for? I'm already wearing a circle into the carpet.