I am not a yoga expert. My knowledge is very limited but my experience so dramatic that 1 have been asked to write this article. No one could be less eager to discuss their disabilities and ailments publicly than I am, but I reluctantly do so out of sheer gratitude to the person who introduced me to yoga via the teachings of Swami Satyananda. I also hope it might help someone else with similar problems.

My basic trouble is that I was born with a spina bifida, which damaged the nerve controlling the muscles of the feet and the ‘plumbing’. Still, the situation could have been very much worse and I have managed to lead a full life punctuated by orthopaedic operations, which have kept me mobile. As 1 have grown up with these problems I am used to them, but a few years ago I began to feel ill which was rare for me. A fibroid tumour was eventually diagnosed and a hysterectomy performed in December 1976.

Nobody could have looked forward more eagerly to the operation that was to make ‘a new woman of me’. To cut a long story short, it didn’t. Indeed, it seemed to spark off all sorts of trouble and, when asked, all concerned (i.e. my doctor and three assorted consultants) admitted that they had not before come across a combination of hysterectomy and spina bifida.

The medical profession continued to do its best for me and some problems were solved, but 1 continued to feel ill. Life became a bore as I dragged myself around, unable to plan ahead, never feeling very well and for days on end I would unaccountably suffer abdominal pains or attacks of what I could only describe as ‘internal distress’. Added to this were pressing orthopaedic problems. I’ve always had backache if I’m on my feet for long, but I was now also getting it while sitting down. Since I do almost everything sitting down, this was a very serious setback indeed. X-rays revealed no deterioration and my orthopaedic consultant told me gently that my new problem was due to advancing years and I must expect it. I was fitted with a spinal jacket which seemed to me to spell defeat (didn’t help much either). The ‘plumber’ consultant was plainly baffled by my persistent internal symptoms, which I found impossible to describe. He assured me that there was no deterioration of my innards but I was getting older and must expect trouble. My gynaecologist and my local doctor also expressed the opinion that I couldn’t expect to feel the same at 52 as I had at 25.

I had better mention at this point that I have always had a fat face and rosy cheeks and look well even when I feel like death. I suspected my medical advisers of writing me off as a neurotic and who can blame them? I felt humiliated and isolated and prayed desperately that I would get better or die. Through all this my marvellous husband was endlessly patient, endlessly caring and endlessly worried- which was really the worst thing of all. I did my best to hide my distress and not make his life a misery as well but it wasn’t easy.

This state of affairs continued until May 1980 when an old friend from student days flew to England on one of her lightning visits. On this occasion she was fresh from a World Conference of Yoga Instructors in Japan and, noticing that I was creeping about in rather a subdued way, asked me what was wrong. Well, 1 thought she’d be off in a couple of days, so I could tell her. At the end of this dreary recital she said she was sure yoga could help me.

Because she had talked to me about yoga before. I had made enquiries locally in case it could help me but it had meant joining a class which was, for me, out of the question. I begged my friend to give me a lesson during her brief visit. She did and promised to send me a book when she got home. We also discussed the spiritual side to some extent. I do not find this difficult to comprehend as I have been aware of a power and a presence to which I have been able to listen and communicate since I was fourteen years old and lying with both feet in plaster casts, desperately wondering how I was going to live my life and unable to discuss my problems with anyone. Being brought up as a Christian in the Church of England I call this presence and power ‘God’, but the name seems to me to be quite irrelevant. The important thing is that you are never alone.

Some weeks later, Swami Satyananda’s book ‘Asana, Pranayama, Mudra, Bandha’ arrived. The first thing that impressed me was that each exercise was, if necessary, accompanied by a health warning under the heading ‘Limitations’ e.g. “Not for people with high blood pressure or a weak heart.” I read and reread the ‘Introduction to Asanas’ and practically learned by heart the theory of the backward bending asanas. My only ambition at this time was to strengthen my back, but I was intrigued by the possibility of additional benefits. With the blessing of consultants and local doctor I got started.

In the firm belief that I must follow the instructions to the letter if I were to give the book a fair trial, I rose at 6 a.m., went into the spare bedroom and lay down in front of an open window with the book on the floor in front of me. In these early days I practised the asanas very, very slowly and carefully, obeying all the instructions to the last detail and, miraculously it seemed to me, everything claimed in the introduction to the backward bending asanas was true. Not only did the back muscles become stronger, but that terrible feeling of internal distress’ began to go. So immediate were the benefits of the three asanas I performed consecutively every day (bhujangasana, ardha shalabhasana and sarpasana) that my one desire on waking each morning was to get into the spare room and practise them, (he book said that these exercises would give the internal abdominal organs a good massage, the mere idea of which astounded me. Yet this must have been exactly what was needed because I felt better every day. I soon got rid of my backache (and the spinal jacket), the plumbing is now more efficient than it has ever been and blinding headaches which had suddenly started to attack me were easily cured by short spells in advasana, the reversed corpse pose. I also added the leg lock posture to my daily program. As my friend said: “It is all so logical.”

It is now November 1981 and I have not once missed my morning yoga since the book arrived from Australia in July 1980. I dare not as I am convinced that its effects are both remedial and preventative. I boast loudly and at some length, to anyone interested, about the virtues of Swami Satyananda’s book and the miraculous improvement that yoga has wrought in me. My husband backs me up enthusiastically with the story of how I cured his ‘almost slipped disc’. He has had this trouble before and it has taken much time and physiotherapy to put it right. On this latest occasion Swami Satyananda’s book and I got him back to normal in a week. I keep a spare copy to lend out and often supply the address of the ashram in London to people who wish to buy a copy.

I cannot imagine that I will ever meet Swami Satyananda, much as I would wish to, but I hope that he reads this because it is my ‘thank-you’ to him.

(Courtesy : Yoga Magazine, Sep, 1982)

At 6 p.m. on the 15th July 1979, Mrs. Sarita Bhandari, aged 30 of Monghyr, was driving along the Patna-Monghyr highway with her husband when the car skidded and hit a tree. The impact caused her great pain to the left shoulder while her husband received a mild shock. They then drove to Patna in search of a hospital, and to distract herself from the pain she used breath awareness techniques she had been taught at the Bihar School of Yoga. Despite the numerous jerks and bumps of the car caused by the poor condition of the road she felt little pain and was quite relaxed when she reached Patna hospital at 8.00 p.m. The other people in the car who were not injured took tranquilizers but she decided not even to take a painkiller until doctors had seen to her injury.

At Patna hospital, no doctor could attend to her as it was a Sunday and they were off duty. That night she slept with the help of Novalgin and yoga nidra and the next morning was admitted to the hospital after her X-ray report revealed a fracture with slight displacement. The next evening at 5 p.m. it was reduced under general anaesthetic and she was advised to take 6 weeks of bed rest. During this time both her arms developed oedema (swelling) forcing them to be suspended by a sling.

After 6 weeks, the bones had still not set and an X-ray on the 28th September showed non-union. She was suffering from pain at the fracture site and the left shoulder joint could not be raised more than 45 degrees. She could not use her left hand either for lifting or for simple jobs such as holding a glass. From September to mid-December it was recommended that she perform some physiotherapy, however, there was no change on her X-rays or in her subjective symptoms by the 27th December.

She then went to visit a leading Delhi orthopaedic surgeon who recommended surgery followed by a consultation with a second opinion in the hope that she might gain a reprieve. However, he told her that as union had not taken place after so many months, there was no hope apart from bone graft surgery- a radical procedure.

On the 1st February she came to visit BSY and we advised her to postpone surgery for two months and practise pawanmuktasana part 1 with emphasis on the hand, shoulder and neck exercises. At the end of March she returned to Patna for X-rays. Much to the surprise of all concerned, union had taken place and her subjective symptoms of pain and stiffness had subsided.

We feel that the dramatic improvement in Mrs. Bhandari’s condition after she started the correct sequence of yoga practices occurred for the following reasons:

1.  Her 6 weeks of immobility in bed caused her blood circulation to become sluggish and thus oedema occurred. Then her arms were placed in a sling which further constricted blood flow flow to the affected area.

2. There is no provision in medical science for adequate relaxation of tension, let alone to reduce the severe muscle spasms which accompany traumatic injury.  Physiotherapy is insufficient and mind science is not developed in this line.

3. The pawanmuktasana series of exercises allowed gentle exercise to be given to the surrounding area releasing tension and thereby decreasing the excessive sympathetic nervous system activity which had been initiated by the pain and preceding trauma. Blood flow to the site was enhanced.

4. The process of healing was aided by the use of other yogic practices such as prananyama and yoga nidra.

The fact that yoga had a significant role to play in this fracture of the clavicle should alert doctors and specialists in the field of orthopaedics to utilize the principles and dynamics of yogic therapy for other forms of fracture and for trauma in general.

Yoga’s ability to exert considerable influence on the mental sphere and to improve relaxation at both mental and physical levels has the added advantage of inducing greater calm in the face of injury and this in itself helps to speed up the healing process. Yoga can also eliminate, to a certain extent, the fear component of pain. People with fractures (and especially those of the neck of the femur) may be saved considerable pain and suffering, if yoga is used as an adjunct to their therapy.

(Courtesy Yoga Magazine, March, 1981)

Yoga nidra relaxation therapy has been successfully applied on patients suffering from chronic medical problems, report doctors at Davis Sacramento Medical Centre, University of California, USA. They have adapted the technique so that it can be easily and effortlessly practiced by hospitalized patients, and have found it effective in relieving many of the special problems associated with chronic illness. They reported success in the following areas :

1. Relief of insomnia and sleep disturbances.

2. Holding moderately severe pain out of conscious awareness, allowing patients to fall asleep.

3. Providing partial relief from the feelings of hopelessness and depression so commonly asociated with chronic illness.

4. Lessening the requirements for hypnotic and sedative drugs in hospitalized patients, thereby reducing the dangers of long term drug dependence and undesirable side effects.

The patient is led into a state of deep systematic relaxation of body and breath. Then he is instructed to allow his mind to wander to a restful and pleasant memory, He is next encouraged to experience the memory as fully and completely as possible. This brings about an effortless attention without any sense of striving for concentration. In a report published by the American Journal of Psychotherapy they presented case histories for a number of challenging patients who proved amenable to this therapy.

Case 1: A sixty five year old man hospitalized with increasingly severe intermittent chest pain of over twenty years duration. He was subsequently diagnosed to be suffering from oesophagitis (inflammation and irritation of the lower end of the oesophagus). He was instructed in yoga nidra and found it very useful both for general relaxation and for relief of moderate pain. Over a six month period he acquired the ability to stop the pain or to forget about its presence, and found he could drop directly into sleep after ten to fifteen minutes practice at night.

Case 2: A twenty two year old man hospitalized for three months following extensive bullet wounds to the abdomen and hip. He suffered severe and continuing pain which only responded partially to sympathectomy (surgical severing of the pain fibres that travel with the sympathetic nerves). Due to continual pain he was anxious, depressed, irritable and occasionally panicky. His appetite was poor and he steadily lost weight. Using yoga nidra he was able to sleep in spite of his pain, and his general mood and appetite improved markedly.

Case 3: A fifty three year old man with widely disseminated lung cancer requiring narcotics for pain relief was anxious, depressed and had difficulty sleeping. Using the preliminary muscular relaxation procedures of yoga nidra, he was able to sleep without the use of a sedative hypnotic preparation, provided his pain was controlled. His mental attitude improved markedly.

Case 4: A fifty year old man who had previously suffered a myocardial infarction and since that time had presented himself almost weekly for the past year at the emergency department complaining of chest pain and fearing a further heart attack. However, repeated electrocardiograms showed no changes. He was taking 120 mg. of diazepam per day and suffered from severe sleep disturbance. He was ultimately referred for psychiatric evaluation and introduced to yoga nidra. He responded well, acquiring the ability to relax when he felt an oncoming ‘heart attack’ and his panic stricken visits to the hospital ceased.

Discussion

This study indicates that pain is a complex matter influenced by our expectations and approach to life. Many people react to pain in a neurotic way making it much worse. A positive patient will suffer from and complain of pain far less than a patient whose overall attitude is negative. Yoga nidra progressively releases mental and emotional tensions from the mind and changes our unhealthy and unhappy outlook on life. Through this practice, the very pain of life here exemplified in the form of chronic intractable pain clue to illness, is lessened, and living, even in the face of tragedy and death, becomes more acceptable and fulfilling. Yoga nidra changes our way of life making us more positive and open towards our varied experiences – and pain is, after all, but another experience.

*
*1. Alfred P. French, MD and Joe P. Tupin, MD, ‘Therapeutic Application of Simple Relaxation Method’, American Journal of Psychotherapy.

(Courtesy Yoga Magazine, January 1979)

Finally, I decided to ask the boy’s guru, who was seated nearby, if he could explain the meaning of this. What he told me changed my entire outlook on life. He said that this feeling of familiarity was not at all surprising, because my subtle body had heard the boys chanting the same mantras many times while I was sleeping in their school. This was a great revelation to me. I knew that knowledge is transmitted directly through the senses, but from this experience I realized that you can also gain directly knowledge without any sensory medium as well. That was the birth of Yoga Nidra. The characteristic feature of Yoga Nidra was the systematic rotation of consciousness in the body, which originated from the tantric practice of Nyasa (meaning ‘to place ‘or ‘to take the mind to that point ‘)

Paramhansa Swami Satyananda Saraswati

Paramhansa Swami Satyananda is the first yogi in the world who discovered this technique from Nyasa Tantra. Later on, all over the world Yoga Nidra is propagated by his disciples, directly or indirectly.

Yoga Nidra, which is derived from the tantras, is a Powerful technique in which you learn to relax consciously.

Yoga Nidra is a systematic method of inducing complete physical, mental and emotional relaxation. The term Yoga Nidra is derived from two Sanskrit words, yoga meaning union or one–pointed awareness, and Nidra which means sleep. During the practice of Yoga Nidra, one appears to be asleep, but the consciousness is functioning at a deeper level of awareness. For this reason, Yoga Nidra is often referred to as psychic sleep or deep relaxation with inner awareness. In this threshold state between sleep and wakefulness, contact with the subconscious and unconscious dimensions occurs spontaneously.

In Yoga Nidra the state of relaxation is reached by turning inwards, away from outer experiences. If the consciousness can be separated from external awareness and from sleep, it becomes very powerful and can be applied in many ways, for example, to develop the memory, increase knowledge and creativity, or transform one’s nature.
In the raja yoga of Patanjali there is a state called Pratyahara where the mind and mental awareness are dissociated from the sensory channels. Yoga Nidra is one aspect of Pratyahara which leads to the higher states of concentration and Samadhi.