Should one do Yoga when sick? Traditional wisdom suggests minimal intervention at such times and of the kind that supports the body rather than depleting it.
Yoga practices during illness must follow this rule. They must only act to aid the body’s own healing and recovery, rather than divert energy elsewhere — similar to how the ‘patient diet’ consists of foods like porridge, light soups and moong-dal khichdi that are nourishing but easily digested.
Yoga asanas and poses may be gentle, but they still require energy, so they are best avoided in fevers and acute conditions.
The recommended practices after a surgery or when fighting an infection are: Yogic relaxation and pranayama or breathing techniques. Veteran Yoga guru Dr Hansaji Yogendra, director of The Yoga Institute, Santacruz, with her decades of experience of helping the sick, suggests practices that can be done lying in bed. Remember, these must be done after at least two hours of food.
DEEP ABDOMINAL BREATHING
This practice enhances oxygen saturation and, as the abdomen relaxes, so does the body. It distributes the prana taken in, helps build strength and aids healing. The activation of the diaphragm while breathing leads to improved digestion and reduced inflammation, nausea, and pain.
The steps: Lie on your back and fold the legs so that the knees point up, and the feet are comfortably apart and flat on the bed. Place one hand on the abdomen.
• Watch the abdomen rise up as you breathe in, and deflate as you breathe out.
• With each inhalation, take in prana — healing energy — and with each exhalation, try to visualise all the suffering leave.
• Do 10-15 rounds at a time, 4-5 times a day.
BHRAMARI OR THE BEE BREATH
The steps: Lie on your back, arms lying loosely at either side of the body. Close the eyes and adopt Cin Mudra i.e. let tips of the forefinger and thumb touch each other. Place the tongue lightly on the upper palate.
• Inhale deeply.
• Now, making the sound of a humming bee — a `nnn’ sound — in low-pitch, exhale completely. Feel the massaging effect of the vibrations throughout the body.
• Do five rounds of this pranayama at a time, three times a day, after Deep-breathing Pranayama.
YOGIC RELAXATION
To ease any kind of suffering is to learn to let go the body weight to the ground. Also, complete relaxation of the voluntary muscles at once transfers the energy to the involuntary parts and this produces an equilibrium that renews strength. Recovery at all levels — muscular, mental, parasympathetic nervous system, cardiac parameters and respiration — is aided.
The steps for the relaxation technique can be done either in a) Savasana, the Corpse pose i.e. lying on the back; or b) Makarasana, the Crocodile pose i.e. lying on the belly, where the head rests sideways, on a pillow made by the palms placed on each other.
The steps: Lie flat on the back, face upwards, and arms and legs kept comfortably apart. Close your eyes and breathe normally a few times.
• Collapse the body on the bed completely. With each exhalation, ease your body further.
• Next, without moving the body, consciously relax the parts in this sequence*: the tips of the toes, then the soles, heels, ankles, calf muscles, the knees, the thighs, pelvic area, hips; the abdomen and waist and all the organs within; the heart and chest area; the lower and upper back; the shoulders, arms, elbows and fingers; the neck, chin, mouth, cheeks, nose, the eyes and space between the eyebrows, the forehead, top of the head, ears and the back of the head.
• The deep relaxation may put you to sleep! If it hasn’t, enjoy the relaxed state, where the deepened, rhythmic breathing goes on automatically.
(Note: 1. *Migraine- and vertigo-sufferers can reverse the sequence, starting with the head. 2. Avoid this practice in case of depression)
STOKING APPETITE, REGULATING BOWEL MOVEMENT WHEN BED-RIDDEN
Focus on the abdomen, with a simple up-and-down movement of abdominal muscles.
Supplement with a few drops of lemon juice in warm water and honey. Ginger balances vata, pitta and kapha doshas and a little bit can be added in fluids and in food. A warm glass of water in the morning, with some lemon juice, amla or triphala powder and sonth (dry ginger) added, helps build immunity.
Have fluid foods like vegetable soups and of course, drink adequate water.
IN SPECIFIC CONDITIONS
After Orthopedic Procedures
The body is to be managed in a way that the affected part is given relaxation while the other body parts are mobilised. This way, energy can be effectively channelised and it will quicken the healing process. So, after a knee surgery, do loosening exercises for the upper body. In case of shoulder injury, mildly exercise the body below the waist, starting with the hip joint.
After a Major Surgery
After a major surgery, or where an organ was involved, the individual must do nothing for three days; there should be complete relaxation. Practise the above breathing and relaxation techniques only after that.
Positive self-talk, that the problematic area or part of the body has been dealt with and health will only improve now on, helps tremendously.
Extended Lying Down in Old Age
In old age, there need not be any aches and pains and people should feel fit. Ensure all parts are active by walking around, sitting in the sun, and intermittently taking 1-2 abdominal breaths. Even simply moving the hands about, while coordinating with breathing, would work wonders. Remember, it is okay to not be perfect.
Also see our article on Asanas for the elderly.
The author is a journalist, cancer survivor and certified yoga teacher. She can be reached at [email protected].