Curing Athsma through Yoga Part Two

Sandra is a quiet girl. I to have to pry the information from her. "How is your asthma?"

She shrugs her shoulders. "Fine."

"What do you mean your asthma is fine?"

"Yoga has helped me. I am down to squirting from one inhalator a day. I don't use the stronger one at all anymore."

"When do you squirt it? I asked.

"Before I go to sleep."

It was during savasana one night when all my students were dutifully concentration on breathing, that I leaned over Sandra. "Why do you use that inhalator?" I whispered.

"I'm afraid of not breathing at night." She whispered back.

All of a sudden I had an idea. "Have you ever tried holding your breath for a short time?"

I told her to inhale, and hold her breath, two seconds--kumbaka. This would clean out the air sacs of her lungs, clean out the memories of her little sister dying, give her the feeling she was in control and ease her fear about not breathing. Kumbaka is supposed to be the secret of long life, mental health and longevity. Soon she could hold her breath 15 seconds. Sandra was thrilled with her accomplishment.

"See? Not breathing a little bit is not frightening. When you go to bed, think of this." I told her.

Wanting to cure herself of asthma, every night before she went to bed, not only did she do deep breathing from her belly, she increased her breath retention to 25 seconds. And you know what?

Just last week, six months after she began Yoga, Sandra stopped using an inhator altogether! Better than that, Sandra is cured of asthma!

Curing Asthma through Yoga Part One

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/