What Yoga and Louise Hay can do ..

In Aug 2013, we went to Hampi along with Manish and Swati. Once there, we climbed the 600 steps to go and see Hanuman’s birthplace … How could we miss it, with Hanuman being Mom’s favorite God :). Climbing up was fine, but my knees gave way while climbing down. There was swelling around my knees and yes, I was hopping mad that at 44 I can’t have knee pain. Then in Sept 2013 we went to our favorite Dr. Bharat Inder Singh who suggested a set of exercises and confirmed that I wasn’t getting arthritis !!

As am a big fan of Louise Hay, I immediately looked up the psychosomatic reasons behind knee pain and she clearly stated that it’s because one was being stubborn and inflexible. Well I was stubborn and inflexible at that point in time over several issues :):). Ok, stop smiling, my friends – I am stubborn but not inflexible. Grant me that.

We got back to Gurgaon in April 2014 and I went and joined the Sivananda Yoga classes in June. I also re-started my regular long walks. Just couldn’t restart the cycling :(. The yoga provided great relief, but the pain was still there. Then in November, the Sivananda yoga centre (yoga shows the way) launched their signature Pranayama course. Am so glad I did the course because just four classes of the Pranayama course and my knee pain was gone … Just gone !

I do hope there are scientific studies undertaken on the effects of Yoga and Pranayama on the human body and the skeptics are silenced. I do wish Yoga becomes compulsory in the schools and people start practising it everyday. The corporate flavor of the season seems to be meditation … Everyone from Daniel Goleman to Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev is writing about the benefits of meditation on Linkedin and everywhere else. So ancient Indian science may not be as irrelevant as many would like us to believe. Don’t go on faith, but on evidence.

Coming back to Pranayama and yoga’s effect on me – for the past two days I have been slllllloooooowwww jogging for 1.5 kms ….. And am able to do it without any pain in the knees. Hoping to get back to my favorite cycling soon.

Thanks to Louise Hay and Arun Pandala, Yoga Acharya at Sivananda Yoga centre, Gurgaon. Extra thanks to Arun for bringing the ancient practise of yoga within easy reach to folks like us in Gurgaon. Happy me.