Yoga For Weight Loss: My Experiments With The 100 Suryanamaskars

My Dear Readers

I personally experiment with as many popular theories (my profession related) as I can. For those who are still unclear about “What I do”, please look up the previous blogs. I have decided to share some of my experiences andachievements as well as my mistakes and short-comings.

Suryanamaskar – a rhythmic series of various yogic postures is the most complete and holistic form of exercise. It simultaneously works on the over-all stamina and the flexibility of the entire body without making one go out of breath. The known benefits of practicing suryanamaskars include regulation of digestion, menstrual cycle, sleep-pattern, metabolism, weight, stress response and an improved skin tone and memory. Weight Loss, Fat Loss and Inch Loss however remain the most sought benefits.

Due to all the hype about “size-zero figure - the 100 -Suryanamaskar remedy” and a zillion questions from clients, patients and colleagues, I decided to put the theory to test (2010).

Having been a yoga student, therapist and practitioner for almost 10 years, I had the pre-requisites - a flexible body, a good stamina and a kind of consistency in my practice of yoga in its various aspects. Also, being well-aware of my nutritional needs, my diet till date usually consists of 1800-1900 calories per day. Being 5ft 5 inches in height, 58 kilos in weight and with a BMI (body mass index) of 21.2 kg/m², my aim was to come down to 50 kilos so that my BMI would be close to the size zero BMI of 18 kg/m². 

The golden rule of yogic practices is to go about them slowly and steadily. I started with my warm-up, stretching routine and on the first day itself I found it quite easy to do about 36 suryanamaskars continuously. By the end of the first month I could maintain the continuity for 50. By the end of 50 suryanamaskars I would be drenched in sweat but never out of breath. Doing 50 wasn’t really a big deal anyway. During my Masters’ training we used to practice 4-7 sets (12 suryanamaskars = 1set) but not in continuity. We also maintained many yogasanas, each for at least 2 minutes if not longer. 

Anyway, by the end of the second month, I built stamina for 65 suryanamaskars at a stretch. After that I found myself pushing harder for every extra-suryanamaskar. I remember the day I hit 75 and experienced a peculiar strain in my back. My back strain surfaced time and again. More often than not I would find it hard to persist beyond 60 – 65. I used to practice 5 days a week on an average. Whenever I took a break for a day or two, I found it easier to do suryanamaskars. By the end of the 3^rd month, I had lost 2 kilos but I had also started to feel washed out after my yogasana practice. I took week’s break.

In the meantime, I came across an extra-ordinary yoga practitioner from Poland, who was pursuing PhD in physical education. He was55 years of age then, didn’t look a day older than 40. He told me that he could do 1008 suryanamaskars at a go, in 2 hours 50 minutes. He demonstrated over 150 suryanamaskars in about 25 minutes before my eyes. Although I found it hard to believe that he could do 1008 (isn’t that a little over the top?), but the ease with which he performed 150 or so, was quite incredible. He also told me how, at once, he had been almost obsessive about attaining Padmasana (the lotus pose) and ended up with broken knees and a year of rehabilitation.

I noticed that as this gentleman increased his speed post 10^thsuryanamaskar or so, he switched to moderate stretching while bending forward and during spinal extensions. I adapted this in my practice and managed 80 suryanamaskars without back-strain. Also, if I practiced sets of suryanamaskars rather than practicing them at a go, I could do 100 without any strain.

By the end of 4^th month I remained 56 kilos. I did not lose any additional weight. I think one’s diet has an integral role to play if one wants to attain size zero. Probably one needs to go on a diet lower than 1800 Kcal. Being in one’s ideal weight range (BMI = 18.5 – 24.99 kg/m²), it becomes difficult to shed extra kilos for the “fashionablyideal” size zero target, by suryanamaskars alone. An overweight person can drop kilos and inches faster till a certain point, but to make the transition from medically ideal to fashionably ideal BMI definitely poses a challenge. Also, an overweight person with a background of sedentary lifestyle requires at least 6-8 months of regular yoga practice for significant changes in flexibility, weight and inch-loss.

So, I did not become size zero in 4 months. Maybe I needed to persist for longer. Probably I needed to couple suryanamskars with a different diet plan. Will keep you posted about my future experiments.

Until Then…..CIAO!!

Pranayama and Stress: A Breather for the Symptomatic Soul

Well, you are stressed! It’s a long story, there are too many complications and you are confused or helpless. The situation may be out of your control, but your breath is not.
So, Breathe!

Do you raise those eyebrows when I say the “B” word? More often than not you can’t breathe away your problems. You’ll not find instant solutions either. Neither will you experience a “miracle”. You can, however, prevent and manage many symptoms that sustained stress has already made you vulnerable to. Also, you might be pleasantly surprised when your painful conditions get alleviated.

Do you have tense muscle groups around your neck and shoulders? Is your blood pressure on the higher side? Does your back-pain worsen when you are worked up? Do you have trouble going to sleep?Are you prone to indigestion in general?  
Then, you need to check the way you breathe without waiting for your symptoms to first make their presence felt or worsen.

Physical as well as mental stress affects the body the same way. The former is characterised by fight or flight. In other words, the body girds itself for immediate action when danger is perceived. Stress response leads to sympathetic activation that automatically, involuntarily, inhibits the digestive processes but increases activities like our heart rate, blood pressure, pulse-rate, respiratory rate etc.When the danger subsides, the body restores its original balance.

Mental stress translates itself the same way but tends to linger around for much longer. One can literally experience the heart beating rapidly, sweaty break-outs etc. under pressure or due to fear and anger. Even recollection of stressful or emotionally charged events can trigger a similar response in the body.

Whereas our blood pressure and heart rate are not in really in our control, our breath is. Although we generally breathe without awareness, we can, at any given time, control our breath rate at will. 

Breath acts as a bridge between the involuntary and voluntary activities in the body. Mental Stress translates into sympathetic activation that increases involuntary activities like heart rate, blood pressure, pulse rate, breath rate automatically. These can be stabilized by voluntary breath regulation. By consciously regulating your breath, you can influence your blood pressure, heart rate and the rate at which adrenaline is being pumped into your blood-stream. Once the breathing slows down the body systems automatically switch to the “relax” mode.

Pranayama is translated as rhythmic regulation of breath. By regular practice of pranayama one can reduce one’s breathing rate. Just like an athlete/marathon runner has a lesser heart and a pulse rate at rest compared to a normal person, a pranayama practitioner has a lower breathing rate in general. At rest, an adult breathes on an average, 12 – 18 times per minute. With regular practice of Pranayama one can reduce the number of breaths to 7-11 per minute.Consequently, one becomes less prone to sustaining the stress response.

By practicing pranayama regularly, keeping a check on the breathing pattern and breathing speed, and by regulating the same a few times a day, it is possible to alleviate, manage and prevent many symptoms of mental stress. So, Breathe!

One can start with simple non strenuous diaphragmatic breathing by placing hands on the abdomen and observe it inflate and relax. Simple humming, M-kara chanting with each exhalation regulates the breath indirectly.

For a detailed description of simple diaphragmatic breathing technique for relaxation and to know if you have the correct breathing pattern, please click on 
 http://missperfectwoman.com/?p=519.
 

Try it a few times. If you feel refreshed in less than 10 minutes, you know you are doing it right.

That’s all Folks!

How does Energy Healing Work? (A humble attempt!)

Here’s an attempt to demystify how Energy healing modalities bring about changes in the physical body. 

Energy healing is an umbrella term for many therapies some of which are, Pranic healing, Reiki, Qi-gong, Distance healing, Sanjeevani healing etc. The common principle being the ability of the healer/practitioner to modulate or direct the energy flow in the body of the person seeking help or in their own bodies, to bring about a therapeutic effect.

Before I explain how this happens, let’s look into some concepts.

There's matter and there's energy, interconvertible according to Einstein's theory of relativity
(E = mc²). If the theory is to be believed (the one's who don't, needn't go through the rest of this blog) consider our physical body as frozen energy. Apparently this lump of matter, solidified energy can be diffused or converted into its formless, expansive, invisible state. To put it simply, the visible, palpable “matter” has the ability to vanish into thin air.

Have you ever wondered what happens when an extremely fat person reduces in size? The accumulated fat "burns" away, shrinking the physical body. The previously large body, more matter, gets converted into a smaller body, lesser matter. Where does the excessive matter, the fatty layer, vanish? Does it get diffused? If so, into what?

What happens when we eat food? The food gets digested, energy is released, chemical processes take place converting food into other simpler substances which get stored in the body. Glucose is stored as glycogen, and when we are required to run or fight (or during the sympathetic activation) the glycogen gets converted to glucose which provides the body with energy to perform. By these examples one can understand in a simple way, the interconvertibility of energy and matter.

The vital energy layer which surrounds our body is called "Prana". At a gross level Prana enters our body through our breath which is why Pranayama has immense therapeutic significance (My next blog will elaborate the working principle behind therapeutic benefits brought about by breath regulation). Prana is what makes us alive, what makes us conscious. In Chinese it is referred to as "Chi", in Japanese “Ki”; One can usually feel Prana in forms of nerve-impulse like tingling sensations, pulsation, muscular contractions, heat wave on paticular areas or some sort of a magnetic field. Prana shouldn’t be confused with a nerve impulse as that travels only in a particular direction. Prana isn’t bound by direction.Too much Prana or too little Prana makes its presence felt in our physical body. Inflammation, spasms, pain (too much)on the one hand; Weakness, paralysis, numbness (too little) on the other; The fraternity of energy healers try to bring about a balance in the Pranic sheath to bring about equilibrium/homeostasis in the body.

Let's now look into the properties of energy in general. Energy is neither created, nor destroyed, it is only converted from one form into another. Potential to kinetic, electrical to mechanical, so on and so forth. Energy transformation takes place constantly in our body as well. It is easy to relate to this kind of transformation while we eat or move about. When we are stationary, externally we possess potential energy although internally our body processes are being carried out through energy conversions.

How does one explain the "thought-process" via the energy nomenclature? What kind of transformation could be possible? How does too much thinking induce a headache or a heart-attack?

Thoughts are usually understood as the potential possibilities or potential energy, however there's most definitely some sort of kinesis that they induce in one's own body.
For example, a good-luck wish, a compliment or a genuine smile from another elevates our mood. Another's attitude towards us affects our mood as well. So, another person's thought-energy can influence our own with or without our acknowledgement.

One of the working principles behind any kind of distance healing is similar (not exactly the same though). The healer channelizes the thoughts towards the healee. With the help of concentration and visualizations the healer manages to induce changes in another's body. Infact it is possible for one to heal oneself with the help of certain breathing techniques and visualizations. Also, with a bit of observation and practice one can develop the sensitivity towards pranic manifestations like tingling, pulsation, heat wave, vaccum sensation etc.

It’s thrilling to see the reactions and responses of the participants when I conduct workshops on Pranayama and Pranic energization.

One has to suppress the limited logical mind for a while for the para-rational to work (Let’s not call this a matter of faith, call it open-mindedness). Once you experience, you don't deny. Believe it only when you experience it, when you experience, try to explain. It isn’t always possible to verbalize what one feels, but if you can it might help many others who know you well to understand the same. Testimony from a trusted one goes a long way. Mine did!

Click on this link to know my first experience with energy healing-
http://www.pragatioswal.com/Story.html

That’s all folks!
(For those who find this sign-off lame, know that I loved the road runner show. LOL)