Cobras, cats and the pain in my back

YOU DON’T have to be a pretzel to do yoga. Finally, I can say that, after making it through a six-session (thrice a week for two weeks) program for back pain held recently at the Pure Yoga studio at the Mandarin Oriental. It took a lot of reassurance and encouragement before I got enough courage to sign up for the P2,000 class (that’s for the full course).

We were 12 students in the class, a nice baker’s dozen including teacher Prakash Singh Bisht, who made sure and locked the door at the start of each session, as much to avoid interruptions as, I suspect, to keep us from making a mad dash out of the studio in the middle of the hour-long class.

The first day’s exercises–or rather, asanas or poses–were easy enough: a lot of stretches, and our all-time favorite, the dead man pose, which involves the difficult task of lying flat on the floor and not moving a single muscle. This is one of four rest poses, to be done in between asanas.

We do the full-body mountain stretch lying flat on our backs, which is really nice, like what you’re supposed to do first thing in the morning, before getting out of bed. We do the same stretch lying on our side, both left and right, stretching so that we curve like a boat, which isn’t as easy as it sounds. We also do the mountain stretch while sitting in lotus position, or as close to it as our legs will allow. Later, we do the same stretch standing, which means going up on tiptoes–and that is by no means easy when you have to hold the pose for a full minute.

The stretches of the first day progress into more complicated and problem-specific poses, like a five-stage spinal twist that ends with a very soothing knee-to-chest spine stretch which more than makes up for the fact that making both your knees go to one side while your head and shoulders go to the other is not a natural position.

As essential–or perhaps even more so–to yoga as the asanas is proper breathing: in through the nose, out through the mouth in full, deep, rhythmic breaths in cadence with the movements leading into and out of the asanas. But that is easier said than done, because the tendency is to hold your breath, especially when going into a difficult pose. Breathing then becomes a deliberate act that–believe it or not–takes practice to perfect.

"The practice of yoga is most essential for keeping a balanced life," says teacher Prakash, who holds a master’s degree in economics aside from a first class diploma on yoga education from the Kaivalyadhama G.S. College of Yoga and Cultural Synthesis in Rishikesh, India, where he was born. Rishikesh is a small city in the foothills of the Himalyan mountains known for its yoga tradition.

Yoga is a Sanskrit word that literally means "integration". The system of yoga was discovered some 5,000 years ago and has remained one of the most important facets of Indian culture. As it developed, yoga came to be associated with the development of Hinduism and its philosophy. "But," Prakash explains, "in its essence it has always remained separate from any religious practice. It has always remained as a pathway for all people professing different faiths and belonging to different religions and races."

Since yoga encompasses the body, mind and spirit, its benefits are not merely physical, Prakash points out. As the postures and breathing techniques are mastered, yoga has the power to calm the mind, increase concentration and enable one to better cope with tension.

Prakash’s orientation is both on hatha (physical practise) and raju (meditation) yoga. He clarifies that "the physical aspect of yoga is merely taught as an aid to this process (meditation); it is therefore not enough to focus only on yoga’s physical orientation". Aside from regular daily morning and evening classes at Pure Yoga, Prakash holds periodic special therapeutic classes, such as this one for relief of back pain, plus classes on stress and weight reduction, control of hypertension and asthma, and meditation.

By the second week the class is down to a handful, and the asanas are getting interesting. The five-part spinal twist has not gotten easier, and there is now the sitting twist which, at first glance, looks like something out of the carnival. The good thing about yoga is that you’re encouraged to keep your eyes closed and to focus on your body and your movements–which means no one is looking around to see how stiff and awkward the other one is. We go through our increasing repertoire of asanas, waiting for Prakash to say those three little magic words: dead man pose.

We do the half and full locust, the half and full cobra, the upward cat and the downward cat...it’s a veritable zoo of asanas. We learn to sit with legs folded, not quite a lotus but good enough, hands on knees, middle finger and thumb touching to form a ring, looking properly meditative.

At the end of each session we do the dead man pose for the duration of one track of the relaxation CD, with the lights turned down low. It’s very tempting to fall asleep at this time, to take the comatose man pose. But soon enough the music ends, the lights come back on and the door is unlocked.

Since "graduating" from the class a couple of weeks ago I practice my asanas at home every other morning, despite a bad cold that makes proper yoga breathing difficult. I must admit I cheat a bit, avoiding the more difficult asanas until I reach a more comfortable level of flexibility, and until each breath can last till the count of eight.