Some excerpts from an interview with Ganesh Mohan

“Yoga therapy complements modern healthcare”

“A therapeutic Yoga session gives the patient a voice in his or her own healthcare. Yoga allows patients to do something for themselves, rather than having something done to them”

“the eye does not see what the brain does not know”

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Phys Ed columns from New York Times 2011.
“Perhaps the most inspiring exercise science published in 2011 involved the effects that working out can have on the brain. By studying both lab rodents and people, scientists this year showed that exercise increases cognitive sharpness, even if the amount of exercise is small.”

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January being imminent, many will be making New Year resolutions and looking at fitness from the perspective of body and mind. Yoga is a practice that encompasses both. The popularity of Yoga and the choice of classes available in Dublin has increased dramatically over the past 15 years. Reading a recent article in the Irish Independent titled ‘Is Yoga actually bad for you?’ my initial thought was ‘yes’ Yoga, as with many disciplines, may be bad for you if the practice being taught is inappropriate for the individual and being taught by a teacher who does not have a professional qualification.

As there is no formal regulation of Yoga teachers in Ireland, top of the list in terms of selecting a Yoga class is to look at the prospective Yoga teacher’s training and teaching background. Speaking with and/or emailing the teacher to find out more prior to signing up for a class will also help in terms of making a decision.

A number of Yoga teachers in Dublin now also offer individual lessons. However many of these lessons are taught ‘as if’ a group class for one, as opposed to being specific the individual. Yoga taught on a one to one basis provides an opportunity to tailor practice specific to your needs and personal situation. The Yoga teacher must have been taught the skills of appropriate application. There are few teachers in Dublin, indeed in Ireland who are sufficiently qualified in this regard.

Many current Yoga trainings do not provide a sufficient grounding for teachers in the skills fundamental to the application of Yoga to the individual whether it be from a developmental, a recovery or a therapeutic perspective. It is important here to check out the training background of the Yoga teacher. For individual lessons an initial consultation where both you and the Yoga teacher meet to discuss objectives and expectations, prior to committing to individual Yoga lessons is beneficial.

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The following is an extract from an article by Gary Kraftsow from Yoga International the Yoga Magazine published by the Himalayan Institute. The article demonstrates how Yoga teaches us to lift ourselves out of stress, anxiety and depression, and move towards a deeper sense of self.

“Yoga teaches us that we aren’t our feelings or our symptoms but live in multidimensional relationship with them. One way to grasp this paradox is to picture the Self (purusha or pure, undifferentiated awareness) as pervading all nine interlocking and interdependent spheres of influence without being any one of them. The first three spheres correspond to our moods, thoughts, and behaviors and, where they overlap, our sense of self or svabhava. These spheres profoundly affect—and are affected by—our memory, unconscious conditioning, and by the fourth sphere, our physiology, particularly our autonomic nervous system (ANS). The remaining five spheres represent our anatomy and our relationships with family, society, the world, and the entire cosmos”

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A summary of the details of a new Irish study has shown that a significant number of patients use alternative and complementary medicines without informing their GP, despite the fact that these may negatively interact with conventional medicines. The article is published by Irish Health.

"We found that a significant number of patients were using alternative and complementary medicines, with the majority not disclosing this to their GP and a significant proportion having chronic medical conditions for which they were also taking conventional medicines," the researchers explained.

I think if research was conducted on the disclosure by clients to their complementary therapist in relation to their use of conventional medicine the findings would be similar. My experience in the area of Yoga teaching and Yoga therapy, in Dublin, is that students/clients quite regularly do not disclose relevant information in relation to specific physical conditions and the taking of prescribed medication.

While clients complete a confidential health questionnaire, additional information is frequently revealed though dialogue and verbal questioning. Clients often do not appreciate the importance of full disclosure in relation to their medical situation. It is as if there is a perception that medical treatment and complementary treatment are separate and that what is prescribed by one may not relevant to the other.

The point is that they are mutually supportive.

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Have modern Yoga practitioners lost sight of yoga's deeper teachings? Gary Kraftsow & David Sunshine discuss how the culture of yoga has changed over the years at the 2011 Yoga Journal Conference in Estes Park.


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Mark Singleton author Yoga Body, the Origins of Modern Posture Practice (Oxford University Press, 2010) in conversation with Susan Maier-Moul - The Magazine of Yoga.

Part 2 of the conversation focuses on the evolution of modern postural Yoga and how it has been translated through time and transmission. The point is made that “ yoga traditions are far vaster than our modern translations usually give them credit for. And the range of benefits are also far wider.”

Read Part 2 of the conversation

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Mark Singleton author Yoga Body, the Origins of Modern Posture Practice (Oxford University Press, 2010) in conversation with Susan Maier-Moul - The Magazine of Yoga. Mark’s “writing and teaching provide a bridge between the concerns of academia and those of practice.”

Part 1 of the conversation focuses on the difficulty with translation of Sanskrit texts, with particular reference to the Yoga Sūtra of Patañjali and how it can be influenced by the prevailing belief framework.

“Words amplify and change their meaning according to the other words around them. Phrases amplify and change their meaning according to the other phrases around them. And paragraphs change their meaning according to the other paragraphs around them. A good translation is one that is aware of these contexts within and around the text in question, and self-critical with regard to the particular choices that are available to the translator.” Read part 1 of the conversation

To begin to appreciate the depth of knowledge contained within the Yoga Sūtra requires more than mere translation of the words, it requires intelligent interpretation with the guidance of a teacher.

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Some excerpts from an interview with TKV Desikachar, at a symposium on “Yoga and the XX1st Century, South of France, 1999.

“In Yoga we have this fundamental idea - anything that disturbs a person, including illness and disease, can be helped if we can act on the mind. What is so special about yoga is that it gives us a way to strengthen our mind. When the mind gets stronger, we can face illness and we feel healthier.” 


“…..ancient yoga texts have said that disease and mind are interrelated. If we are sick, our mind is disturbed. If the mind is agitated, we become sick. I am happy that modern science has recognised this. There is no incompatibility here.”

Download full interview

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Most common questions on Yoga relate to the health benefits associated with practicing Yoga, together with questions around how Yoga practice differs from conventional exercise.

Answers to these questions have been researched and are presented in a detailed article published on the IAYT (International Association of Yoga Therapists) website, providing interesting reading.

In terms of the health benefits the information is grouped under physiological benefits, psychological benefits, and biochemical effects. It is based on the regular practice of traditional āsana (yoga postures), prānāyāma (breath), and dhyāna (meditation).

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Forbes magazine discuss where Yoga is headed.

Some interesting points made by Gary Kraftsow.

“Having spent time in India learning yoga from the masters, as well as studying it academically, Kraftsow stresses that yoga was originally a received practice, transmitted from masters of prophet status to their students. The practice, he says, whose real origins were lost in antiquity, was an oral tradition, with the exception of a few texts here and there. These days, the many forms of the practice are morphing into other animals completely.

In the West, says Kraftsow, there are streams where this authentic transmission from living masters to students still exists. But there's a lot of yoga that's made up, modern stuff, with no understanding of depth and meaning of text. There's a real bifurcation happening." And what about the newer forms? "Some of it is ok and pretty good. But it's yoga populaire," he says. "It's about music, partying, outdoor sports, and yoga being hip and cool. This is moving away from authenticity of tradition. It's taken on another flavor. I mean, naked yoga? Yoga and wine?" Yoga's newer offspring are, if nothing else, imaginative.

What about the idea that the main-streaming is what draws people in? “I don’t buy it,” says Kraftsow. “It’s like ‘groupthink’ of the yoga world. It could work for some, but I know people in it for 25 years who aren’t going deeper than the physical. It’s cliché.”

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“The whole definition of Yoga is, Whatever quiets the mind, do it”

Read full conversation here

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“Yoga is so much more than mere physical postures. Sound, breathing exercises, meditation, personal attitudes are as much a part, if it concerns healing. The method has to be adapted to each person individually.” Download full interview with TKV Desikachar.

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The results of a British Government-funded trial on treatment of CFS, has recently been published in The Lancet. It was undertaken by researchers led by Prof Peter White at Barts and The London School of Medicine.
The research states that Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), in which patients discuss their fear and avoidance of physical activity, combined with Graded Exercise Therapy, helps sufferers gradually increase the amount of activity such as walking they can manage.

For more information read article published in the Irish Independent.

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Anxiety disorders are one of the most common psychiatric disorders. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), about 40 million American adults aged 18 and older suffer from them each year. Such disorders are highly treatable. However, for an anxious person to seek treatment can be a challenge.

The practice of Yoga for the treatment of anxiety is becoming increasingly affirmed by medical research.

Jason Eric Schiffman, M.D., M.A., M.B.A. a psychiatrist with the UCLA Anxiety Disorders Program and editor-in-chief of Anxiety.org says “When someone gets better from anxiety through a practice such as yoga, meditation or through therapy, they get better because they’ve learned something rather than getting better because a pill has made a change or caused a change to their neurochemistry.” Making an effort to change your lifestyle by learning ways to reduce stress and anxiety not only empowers individuals, but creates change that is “much more profound and long-lasting.”

To read full article on Alternative Treatments for Anxiety Disorders

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Yoga as a View, Practice and Tool

Published in Spectrum, The Journal for the British Wheel of Yoga’ the following is an excerpt from the THIRD of a three part article by Paul Harvey cYs.

“Yoga as a tool is more likely to be the starting point for most students these days in that we often choose a style or approach to Yoga as a starting point in our Yoga experience. There are many, many choices these days, although the common denominator now appears to be based around Yoga teachers rather than Yoga teachings.

For example we can choose from Anusāra, Aṣṭāṅga, Bikram, Dru, Gītānada, Integral, Iyengar, Jīvamukti, Kripālu, Kuṇḍalinī, Sahaja, Scaravelli, Śivananda, Satyānanda, Viniyoga, etc.

Which is fine in itself. However the question that arises is how much do the various ‘types’ actually apply the Haṭha energetic principles of Practice in order to realize the View of Yoga? My own field of expertise lies within the teachings often referred to as Viniyoga, so I can only speak with experience from this perspective.

The primary principle here is that the Practices of Yoga must be adapted to the starting point, potential and needs of the student. Within this premise is a further question how, or even how much, the tools of Yoga utilize the Practice principles of Haṭha, in order to realise the View of Yoga as presented in what is seen as the primary teaching on the goal of Yoga, the Yoga Sūtra.”

Read more on Yoga as a Tool - The Art of viniyoga for developing a Personalized Practice

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Yoga as a View, Practice and Tool

Published in Spectrum, The Journal for the British Wheel of Yoga’ the following is an excerpt from the SECOND of a three part article by Paul Harvey cYs.

“Another irony in the emerging role and identity of Yoga in the West today is with regard to the term Haṭha Yoga. The term is mainly used generically these days to identify and group ‘physically’ based Yoga practices. As a teacher I am often asked in connection with the question what kind of Yoga do you teach, is it Haṭha Yoga?

The irony is that when we look at what Haṭha Yoga really is we find that the physical elements are relatively limited with very few Āsana discussed. Furthermore within the few discussed, the largest group are concerned with sitting, in preparation for practice elements other than Āsana. Here primarily to facilitate a quality of being able to sit still and as if move beyond the physical body.

Here the primary concern and field of activity for Haṭha Yoga practitioners is with regard to the energetic or ‘Prāṇa’ body and its role in helping to facilitate a quality of energetic ‘clarity’ and energetic ‘stillness’ ultimately as a ladder to support the practitioners exploration of meditational states of being.

The role of Haṭha is to help take the student towards the View and to help refine the View. What is important also is that we understand the various influences that exist in the West today in terms of ‘Yoga’. What seems to be in danger of being lost in all of this are the ‘energetic principles’ that underpin Haṭha Yoga because people have become very focused on the physicality, or even gymnastic type influences. It seems that modern Yoga practice is dominated by Āsana and the words Āsana and Yoga appears to have become sadly synonymous.”

Read more on ‘Yoga as a Practice’

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Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease causing the immune system to attack joints. However it can also affect other areas of the body such as lungs, heart and bone marrow. It is a painful inflammatory condition that can lead to loss of mobility due to pain and damage of joints. It is known that the practice of Yoga can help people with rheumatoid arthritis. An article referring specifically to recent research in this area has been published on the Irish Health website.

The research was completed in United Arab Emirates. The details of the findings were presented at the 2011 Annual Congress of EULAR - The European League Against Rheumatism, in London. The findings state that “....individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who practice yoga showed significant improvements in disease activity....” Their view is that the practice of yoga long term could result in further significant improvements. They are continuing their research into the benefits of Yoga in the context of RA.

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via Centre for Yoga Studies (cYs) Bristol
“Yogi science is harnessed to the cause of beauty culture. Business and austerity go hand in hand.” Dated August 9th 1941, the now defunct UK Magazine Picture Post published a feature on Yoga from a studio in New York called the House of Prana, using amongst other things metronomes to regulate the breathing and back bending benches as posture aids. Given that this article was published in 1941 it has a strangely familiar and even prescient ring to it given what we can find ‘posing’ as Yoga some 70 years later.

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Important new guidelines were issued in July 2011 outlining the amount of exercise adults and children need to do to stay healthy. They are based on a comprehensive review of the latest scientific evidence regarding physical activity and health. The new guidelines include the following points:
• The intensity at which we exercise is key, heartbeat must be raised
• The more exercise you do, the better
• Sedentary time (time spent sitting down to watch TV, use a computer, etc) is bad for your health

The guidelines, which are now much more in line with those used in the United States, also include recommendations for muscle-building and bone-strengthening, for which lifting weights and Yoga are recommended activities.

For more detailed information

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I like this post from ‘Paul’s Musings on Yoga Today’. Paul was recently asked to provide ‘expert quotes’ in response to three questions for a media article by a freelance journalist for MSN on a Yoga related issue. The questions are questions that are often asked in relation to Yoga. His reflections are thought provoking and reflect the intelligence and solid principles underpinning the application (viniyoga) of Yoga.

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