One of my first Yoga pupils was a teenaged girl, Sandra, who had been suffering from asthma since she was a little girl. I vaguely knew her family. Her sister who had had congenital heart disease died about twelve years ago; I had seen the little girl being wheeled around in her oxygen mask. I didn't say anything to Sandra. I just welcomed her into my class.
I began by teaching her deep breathing from the belly; then showing her how to stretch the inhaled air up through her ribs to her chest. I saw she only breathed superficially,and was only filling the top of her lungs. The breathing exercises relaxed her; her concentration improved, and she seemed stronger. Once a week she would hitchhike to my house where I held the class. It didn't matter if it was raining, sleeting or storm, she would arrive hopefully at my door, breathing through her mouth in a loud wheezing way. Though she was dedicated, she continued to be asthmatic and to use two different kinds of inhalators.
The first breakthrough came when none of the other pupils that night showed up and I could work with her alone. I asked her when her asthma began. She told me when she was six years old. ' Was that when your sister died? " I asked her.
"I got asthma two years before she died," she responded.
I told her to lie down and do the deep breathing, and I propped pillows beneath upper back to open up her lungs. But this time I said to her, "You are lying on your bed, a little girl. You don't have asthma yet, and your sister is still alive." Suddenly her breathing became quiet, flowing like a stream.
The minute she came back to the present, her wheezing resumed, but she was glowing, as if she had made a discovery. The problem was emotional and deeply rooted. Over the next few months, we worked on this.
Stay tuned for Part Two and do have a look at my website!
http://www.spiritualityteaching.com/
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