While the world’s scientists still seek to unravel the mysteries in which are enmeshed the causes of many diseases, yoga has the solution that can salvage many lives. Despite the many preventative treatments which are available, we are not able to immunize ourselves against mental and physical disorders due to a lack of self-discipline.
For many years I have talked about the Western theory of health. Though scientists have advanced appreciably, they are still unable to come face to face with the real problem of health. People don’t want to face the real problem. Why do most degenerative diseases such as arthritis, strokes, cardiovascular disease and many others occur? It is not because of some virus or bacteria. They result from an undisciplined life. An uncontrolled mind and turbulent senses are ruling your life; you only cater to these two masters. There is no medicine for an undisciplined life and the very doctors you go to are no different from you in the way that they live and in their thinking habits or in the amount of self-discipline they have. They can dissect a body and know the functions of organs. But how much can they really help you? They practise medicine—not health.
The improper functioning of the body is caused by improper living. Most people in our society are like drivers who don’t care for their cars. If you drive constantly without rules and regulations, without proper fuel, oil or lubrication, how long can you go without breaking down? People understand this principle when it applies to their cars, but for some reason they cannot make the connection to their own bodies.
Let’s look at the heart. The heart starts pumping in the uterine life, and continues for a few moments even after a person dies. It can be transplanted into another living person. This heart, weighing approximately seven pounds, pumps an average of seventy times per minute. For how long can anyone—even an Olympic athlete—pump any other muscle? Half an hour? An hour? A long distance runner can go for a few hours before exhaustion sets in. But the heart muscle works even when you are sleeping. It can’t afford to stop. The heart pumps blood through the arteries, which expand to take the surge. Healthy arteries are like elastic hose, flexible. Over the years, while you are busy eating hot dogs, hamburgers and such like, two important things happen. Your arteries harden, losing their natural elasticity, and cholesterol builds up, clogging them. The heart will continue to pump blood through the arteries with the same volume of force. But as the arteries become occluded there is less room for the blood to pass, so the pressure goes up. This condition overworks the heart. Often it cannot get its own quota of oxygenated blood because the coronary arteries are occluded, filled with plaque. A common answer to this problem wrongly taken up by many people is to go jogging or to exercise vigorously. But a heart that is already overworked as a result of years of stressful living, of meat and alcohol consumption, smoking, etc., cannot take the additional punishment. The heart itself needs a lot of oxygen. If the arteries are hard and narrow, the heart cannot get the supply it needs. The heart works harder to try and get enough supply, but by doing this uses up more than it is supplied. Then the heart starts running into trouble. This is when people run to the doctor, claiming their hearts are attacking them!!! But the heart is a simple muscle. How can it attack you? Rather it is you who have been attacking the heart for so many years by your unhealthy lifestyle. You have attacked and successfully deprived your heart of nourishment.
Yes, exercise for the heart is essential, but not over-exertion. Moderate exercise will bring more venous return without causing the fatigue which results from insufficient oxygen. Proper exercise need not be strenuous. Yoga exercises (asanas) gently stretch joints and muscles to retain youthful elasticity and increase circulation.
Much research has been done on the effects of exercise on the body in recent years but knowledge of the use and abuse of the physical body has been well-known among yogis for thousands of years. Yoga is unique in its integrated approach, paying equal attention to all systems of the body, instead of developing one at the expense of another. Yogis have long followed the principle that proper exercise is designed not to develop muscles and exhaust our strength, but to gently stretch and tone all systems of the body. Proper exercise need not be strenuous. The difference between yoga exercise and ordinary exercise is that physical culture emphasizes violent movement of the muscles; whereas yogic exercises oppose violent muscle movements as they produce large quantities of lactic acid in the muscle fibres, causing fatigue. Instead of fatigue after a session of yoga, you feel relaxed and exhilarated. Rather than aiming towards muscular strength—as muscles get stronger, they also tighten, making them liable to sprains and tears and the accompanying danger of muscular damage—yoga looks to increase the efficiency of the muscular act. Asanas give muscles a slow stretch. Stretching a muscle before it contracts allows it to contract more forcibly. A stretched muscle, therefore, can perform more work than one only normally relaxed. The moderate movements of the asanas waste no energy. Deep breathing with mild retention during the practice allows for more oxygen absorption, less lactic acid is produced and muscle fatigue avoided.
The key word is moderation. While many exercise programs emphasize aerobic conditioning to boost the efficiency of the heart and lungs, yoga asanas work systematically on all parts of the body as well as increasing the flexibility of the spine and joints. In yoga, all movements are gentle, so there is only a gradual change in the body chemistry after doing asanas. And a session of yoga winds down slowly into a sustained period of final relaxation.
The life of a normal modern person is one long expenditure of vital energy. Eating, drinking, working, speaking—everything involves expenditure of the life force. You can recharge this inner battery of life force through the practice of asanas, pranayama and meditation. This is the way to enjoy health and long life.