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Journalism of Courage
The scourge of heart attacks continues the world over unabated. About 17.9 million die every year globally due to heart diseases. A new twist in the tale is that women and younger people, who were earlier less prone to cardiac problems, are now dying of sudden cardiac arrest or suffering coronary problems.
Yoga can be both preventive and curative for heart-related problems provided you practise it under an experienced yoga teacher. This confident assumption on yoga’s potential is based on certain practices of yoga, which address not only the physiological aspects of the heart problems, but in the long run, help get rid of causes like addictions to smoking, alcohol or harmful diet, bad lifestyle, stress, lack of restful sleep, and emotional upheavals.
WHAT ARE PRECAUTIONS AND CONTRA-INDICATIONS?
Before proceeding, I would like to dwell on the precautions and contra-indications for your yoga practice. Heart patients, especially after a stent procedure, must not do most of the pranayamas or any strenuous asanas. Only after six months to a year of simple asana and gentle yogic breathing practice can they, in consultation with the doctor, start full-fledged yoga under an expert teacher.
One of my students had undergone open heart surgery, so I made him do 15-20-30 minutes of Shavasana or Yoga Nidra. He was doing the few exercises that his doctor had given him.
Following is the yoga capsule with a timeline that anyone who has had a heart attack, gone through some procedure for the heart or even open heart surgery can do with full confidence of getting back to a healthy and full life.
Yoga to be done one month after emergence of the cardiac problem
1. Breath awareness: This will relax the whole mind-body system and slowly wipe out the mental stress and shock of a health setback. Sit relaxed in a chair or on the bed. Gently close your eyes. Deliberately, consciously run your awareness throughout the body. Wherever you feel tightness, tension, just relax. Unclench your teeth, relax your jaws, leave your shoulders loose and relaxed.
Take your awareness to your breath. Merely watch the passage of air at the nose tip. Feel cool air touching your nostrils as you inhale and warm air coming out of your nostrils as you exhale.
Then shift your awareness inside the nostrils. Watch every aspect of your breath keenly. Is it heavy or light, sharp or soft, rhythmical or not, is one nostril more open than the other? If the mind wanders, gently bring awareness back to observing your breath and every aspect and quality of your breath.
Do this for as long as it is comfortably possible. Usually, one can easily do five rounds of inhalation and exhalation, then slowly stretch it to 10.
2. Shavasana practice: This is the most important practice for anyone recovering from any cardiac problem. It is a practice in which the person lies down on his back, feet slightly apart flopping to the side in complete relaxation. Hands a little away from the body, palms facing upward and fingers curled in relaxation. Head and spine are aligned. The whole body is relaxed and then the instructor calls out the different parts of the body in a specific order so that it connects with particular centres in the brain.
By the end of the practice sometimes the person goes off to sleep. At such times one must not touch, or loudly instruct to wake up. It is an indication that he needs restful sleep.
3. Yoga Nidra: This is similar to Shavasana but a much longer practice with a few crucial differences. The rotation of awareness through the different body parts is followed by instructions to visualise certain things which are archetypical or have primordial connections. Therefore, it relaxes at a deep level; eradicates deep rooted psychological complexes like neurosis, inhibitions; psychosomatic problems; rejuvenates the whole system. It addresses all the complex issues responsible for the cardio condition the person has got into.
Yoga capsule for 3 months
1. Pawan Mukta Asana ( Body Limbering Up practice): These are a set of limbering up poses of your whole body.
2. Bandha Hastha Uthanasna (Locked Hand Raising pose): This is an enjoyable practice which directly influences the heart and improves blood circulation. The whole body and brain get a better supply of oxygen. Stand with feet together, hands by the side of the body and relax your whole body. Cross your wrists and keep them in front of the body. Inhale and raise your crossed wrist from the front of your body over your head and tilt your head back to look at the wrist. Then as you exhale, spread your arms to the side with palms facing upward and look straight.
Then inhale again, cross your wrists over your head and look up. Exhale and lower your wrists to the starting position and look straight. This is one round. Start with three and build up to five rounds.
3. Makrasana (Crocodile pose): This is good for the heart as it increases oxygen levels in the lungs when done with deep breathing. Lie down, cup your jaws in your palms with elbows together in front of the chest. As you inhale, fold your right leg at the knee and move the heel toward the hips. With exhalation bring it back on the floor. Repeat with the left leg. Do five sets.
4. Advasana: This is a good relaxation pose and can be done in between asanas or any time in the day. Lie down on the stomach. Keep your hands stretched out with palms flat on the floor, forehead on the ground and feet together with toes stretched and the sole of the feet facing up. Relax your whole body. Practise a few rounds of relaxed deep breathing. If the forehead on the floor causes difficulty in breathing, you can put a pillow under your head.
5.Saral Bhujang asana (Easy Cobra pose): This asana opens up the chest, lungs and helps improve oxygen levels and blood circulation. It happens to be an excellent asana for the spine and nervous system. Lie down on the mat with the forehead or the chin resting on the floor and relax your whole body. Place your palms flat on the mat along the shoulders but a little away from them. Keep elbows close to the body.
As you inhale, raise your head gradually, then your chest area, taking support of the arms and come up to a little more than your navel, such that your pelvic area is still on the floor. Your arms may or may not be straight, depending on the flexibility of your spine. Remain in the final position for as long as you can hold the inhalation or the pose. With exhalation, slowly come down.
6. Matsyakrida asana: This is again a restful, enjoyable posture to be practised between asanas or by itself anytime of the day. Since forward bending may not be advisable for heart patients, this is a good asana as a counter pose to backward bending like Bhujangasana. Lie down on your stomach, interlock your fingers and place them under your head. Rest your head to the right on the palms. Then pull your right knee up as much as possible so that it is almost touching or close to the right elbow. The left leg remains straight on the floor. Close your eyes and feel relaxation in your whole body as you breathe in and out. Then turn your head to the left and pull up your left leg. Practise for five to ten rounds of breathing on each side.
After six months of these mild practices, under expert guidance, you can slowly up your practice by introducing some more simple asanas and also other pranayamas listed below:
1. Anulom Vilom pranayama
2. Ujjai pranayama
3. Yogic breathing
4. Brahmari pranayama
Along with your yoga practice, follow a good diet, lifestyle, free yourself of stress and maintain a positive outlook.
(Kamini Bobde is a Kundalini practitioner who follows the Swami Satyananda Saraswati tradition of yoga. She is the author of Kundalini Yoga for All: Unlock the Power of Your Body and Brain. Published by Penguin)
