You and yoga

The practice of yoga unites the body, mind and breath. In the first of a two-part series FRIDAY speaks to yoga exponent Djoeke van der Werf, who is organising a workshop in Dubai next month, about the benefits of this system of physical and mental control


Yoga is a system of physical and mental control based on a philosophy which originated in India. The word yoga means 'unite' or 'fusion', which can be achieved through physical and mental discipline.
Iyengar Yoga is one of the effective methods which focus on the therapeutic effects of postures. Next month, Gabriella Giubilaro, a senior Iyengar yoga teacher from Italy, will be in Dubai to demonstrate the strengths of the Iyengar system. Giubilaro has a doctorate in physics and has studied with B.S. Iyengar in Pune, India, for over two decades. Giubilaro teaches yoga students how to practice the postures for a positive psychological and therapeutic effect.
The Asteco Yoga Workshop in Dubai is the brainchild of another exponent of the B.S. Iyengar system of yoga, Djoeke van der Werf, who started practising this discipline 20 years ago. "I found it changed my life, the way I looked and the way I saw things and the way I thought," he says. "Iyengar's yoga requires practice, but the rewards are quickly apparent. Even a beginner will get a feeling of well being from postures intended to exercise every tendon, muscle and ligament. As there are no quick and jerky movements, yoga is ideal for students of any age."
Djoeke explains that Iyengar Yoga is Hatha Yoga, which sets itself apart from other yoga methods through the therapeutic application of the yoga postures. "Iygengar has modified the postures for maximum benefit to people with disabilities," she adds. "Iyengar Yoga is all about positioning various parts of the body postures so that each individual part as well as the various physiological systems function at their best potential."
Djoeke says yogic techniques harmonise and balance our body. "We learn through yoga how to stretch and strengthen our weak or stressed areas and how to dissolve muscular tension," she says. "Psychologically, yoga involves being sensitive to the interplay of our psychological and physical state – through yoga we discover how our bodies carry the messages of our minds."
Our posture is influenced by our attitude and images about ourselves, she says. For example, a bad habit can arise from inattention to the way we sit which leads to muscular tension – discomfort manifests itself as a result of this. "Yoga is an effective way to regain balance and find relief." Djoeke goes on to explain how yoga helps alleviate common mental and physical problems.

Yoga and your back
Our lifestyle, with chairs, high-heeled shoes and soft beds has increased the stress on our backs. Therefore, back pain, specially in the lower back, has become increasingly common. The pain is generally caused by muscular tension and the compression it produces in the spine. This tension and compression can sometimes result from a simple physical accident, but psychological effects make it worse. Simple yet effective, yoga stretches for the back help to bring the vertebral column into correct alignment while relieving some of the psychological causes of back pain.
Yoga and your knees
Despite its remarkable design, the knee can be injured. Some common problems include 'runner's knee', hyper-extended knees, knee dislocation, cartilage damage and arthritis. Doing yoga correctly can alleviate knee problems.
Many of these problems are due to muscular imbalance, and yoga deals very effectively with the harmony of muscular action around the joint. Performing a wide variety of postures in a way that explores the knee's movement possibilities will help prevent and heal injuries.

Yoga and stress
Prolonged, unrelieved stress has been proven to cause organic disease and today, 80 per cent of all diseases are directly or indirectly related to stress. Illness or pain may be trying to tell you something – it is up to you to pick up the signals and get the message.
Yoga teaches you to breathe deeply again – deep diaphragmatic breathing is
the core of relaxation exercises. Yoga teaches you to visualise and to use positive suggestions in order to change a mental and physiological state. It also helps you to release excess muscle tension through physical activity.
Finally, yoga teaches you how to step back inside your body, how to change the pattern of neglect and how to treat the signals and messages as helpful guides and tools.

Yoga and depression
Research shows that hormones like dopamine, serotonin, melatonin and adrenaline produced by the endocrine glands play a significant role in our emotional state of well being. A specific programme of yoga postures can stimulate the endocrine glands that produce these hormones – the result will be a positive balance in the hormone output.
The same yoga postures will also improve the breathing pattern and
thus increase the oxygen supply, alleviating a depressed state of mind. Regular practice of the yogic postures will create physical space within the posture and thus create mental space and balance within the consciousness.

Yoga and the office
Office work requires a lot of forward bending not only for the neck, shoulders and back, but even the hands are in a forward-closing, gripping or writing position. Office equipment like computers can be the cause of headaches, shoulder aches, back pain and other computer-related symptoms. For those who have to cope with the pressure of office work, yoga postures will be an effective way to keep stress and fatigue at bay.
The yoga postures will realign the neck, increasing the shoulder mobility, relieve the back and stimulate the circulation around the wrists and finger joints, thus increasing their strength and flexibility.