As yoga increasingly puts the world into contortions, a key challenge for would-be followers is choosing a style to adopt. In the Northern Rivers, there is no shortage of options, from the traditional to the upside-down. GP Speak editor and yoga enthusiast Robin Osborne investigates this increasingly popular form of exercise.
Cricket may be India’s national sport but it is the home-grown pastime of yoga that has been enshrined in the governance of the country where it was developed. After coming to office a year ago, India’s charismatic prime minister Narendra Modi established a ministry with a name as complex as a difficult yoga asana (posture) – the Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy.
Then, with the backing of the United Nations General Assembly, he announced that an International Yoga Day would be held annually on June 21, the solstice/equinox, depending on the hemisphere one inhabits.
Modi, a keen yoga adherent, explained that Lord Shiva, the first yoga practitioner, is said to have begun imparting the knowledge to the rest of mankind on this day.
"Yoga is an invaluable gift of India's ancient tradition,” he told the UN.
“This tradition is 5000 years old. It embodies unity of mind and body; thought and action; restraint and fulfilment; harmony between man and nature; a holistic approach to health and well-being.
“It is not about exercise but to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and the nature.”
The meaning of the Sanskrit word ‘yoga’ is to ‘yoke’ together, or unify, the body and mind. One wonders how Modi’s sentiments resonate with the lycra-clad practitioners who flock to studios in the west, not least Byron Bay, which hosts yoga schools of every imaginable kind.
The day was a huge success, not least in central Delhi where 35,985 people (it is not know how they were counted), including Modi and foreign dignitaries, performed 21 asanas, and in so doing set two Guinness world records.
While yoga’s ancient roots are a far cry from such modern settings as custom-built studios, local halls, or football training, a thread of connectedness runs through the technique, which encompasses physical postures and sequences (vinyasa), breathing practices (pranayama), meditation and relaxation.
Today, yoga is followed by as much as 10 per cent of the US adult population, which apart from anything else makes it big business.
While the numbers in Australia are not known precisely, up to a million could do yoga in an average week, and the figure is growing exponentially.
Perhaps more interesting is who is doing yoga, who isn’t, and why not?
The first question is easy to answer – visiting any studio reveals that yoga is not a man’s world, even if all the well-known teachers have been (Indian) men.
The other questions are more complex. Presumably yoga is not viewed (by men) as being ‘tough enough’, although it’s a lot tougher than sitting on the couch, operating the TV remote.
A national survey found that 85 per cent of Australians doing yoga were women with a typical practitioner being a 41-year-old, tertiary educated, employed, health-conscious female.
Physical postures represented 61 per cent of the time spent practicing, with the remainder devoted to the gentler practices of relaxation, breathing techniques, meditation and instruction.
Respondents said they often started practicing yoga for health and fitness but continued practicing for stress management, with 1-in-5 doing yoga for a specific health or medical reason which was seen to be improved by yoga practice.
Of these, more people used yoga for stress management and anxiety than back, neck or shoulder problems, suggesting that mental health may be the primary health-related motivation for practicing yoga.
Yoga-related injuries occurring under supervision in the previous 12 months were low at 2.4 per cent of respondents.
One thing is certain: yoga is not a cardio workout, although the more vigorous styles such as Ashtanga and Power yoga can get the blood pumping, and beyond those there is Pilates, which incorporates yogic flexibility exercises with a fast moving routine – and often more men in attendance.
On the subject of styles, the choices seem almost infinite, mostly grouped under the general term of Hatha yoga, which is the predominantly physical form. They include Raja, Kriya, Ananda, Svaroopa, Sivananda, suspended Aerial yoga, now available locally, and two styles named after their founders.
Iyengar yoga is a precise style formulated by the legendary yogi BKS Iyengar, and immensely popular worldwide. More controversial is Bikram yoga, developed by a Rolls Royce driving, alleged sexual predator, Bikram Choudhury, first brought to the USA by the American Medical Association.
Still there, engaged in ongoing battles with aggrieved followers and the courts, he developed a system of yoga to be performed in a studio heated to sauna-like levels, with postures performed in a set order. The aim of the warmth is to make the body more flexible, although health concerns can arise.
Does yoga work?
Unlike, say, fish oil capsules whose benefits seem subtle at best, the regular pursuit of yoga does result in discernible improvement in flexibility, balance and the ability to relax, as well as, in many cases, physical strengthening and weight loss.
At least, th` my experience, having taken it up in 1970 while living in Hong Kong.
My un-guru like teacher was a humble man named Mr Wong whose tiny ad in the local paper, headed simply ‘Learn Yoga’, gained the attention of a group of dissolute Aussie expats. This was something we could learn at home.
As soon as the lithe Mr Wong was out the door we would be pouring gin-and-tonics, and saying how good we felt.
However, we kept at it, and I have no doubt that yoga, and another of its variants, the fusion method known as Yogalates (yoga + Pilates) developed by Bangalow-based physio and instructor Louise Solomon, has delivered priceless health benefits. But I keep up the long, early morning walks.
