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The heart, which has always believed to be a symbol of life and love, of joy and happiness, of courage and faith is usually put through relentless abuse. Nevertheless, it functions incessantly at its best capacity beating all odds. Hence, in yoga, we say that the heart can be thought of as a karma yogi – an individual who puts in the best effort in the task at hand expecting nothing in return. After all the pain that heart endures, it starts showing warning signs which we ignore and then when it eventually starts giving put when are in a state of shock and despair. In today’s times we take better care of our belongings than of our health and that is where the root trouble lies. Also Read - International Day of Yoga: Surya Namaskar for a happy heart

Understanding Heart Troubles:

We must first attempt to understand what really affects our cardiac health in order to be able to prevent or control such issues. I would say that there are modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors. Natural aging process and genetic make-up of an individual play a crucial role. I call them non-modifiable because in this case therisk of the disease can only be reduced to a certain degree. One can greatly control these factors by maintaining a good lifestyle.

Modifyable factors are those that can be completely eliminated by us since they are under our control. High blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol level, obesity, lack of exercise, stress and such other agents are what I would classify as modifiable.

How Can Yoga Help:

Yoga helps an individual build up notable qualities like a sense of duty, knowledge, detachment and self-confidence. The philosophy, techniques and teachings of yoga help people separate wheat from chaff to get rid of the undesirable patterns. People are taught to cultivate and nurture desirable and beneficial habits that help them live a good healthy life. So, an individual undergoes positive changes at all levels from eating a nutritious diet to following fixed routines and being optimistic. Yoga trains and empowers people to take charge of their body and mind to combat diseases.

Cardiac issues can be prevented by following a yogic lifestyle and by practicing asanas regularly. Yoga also helps individuals psychologically. It helps reduce feelings of depression and anxiety which are known to affect one’s cardiac health negatively, lifts up one’s spirit and promotes a sense of well-being. The yogic lifestyle also establishes homeostasis which helps in healing the heart. Yoga helps in maintaining cholesterol level at optimum. Stress is known to increase coronary spasm. Yoga techniques can help prevent and control spasms in blood vessels, bring down blood pressure and normalize heart rate.

For those who already have heart troubles, I would firstly say please minimize your stress, bring about conductive lifestyle changes and practice yoga techniques like meditation and asanas regularly to maintain your heart function at the best possible level and to prevent further risk. Yoga teaches us to become aware of ourselves, of our feelings, of our thought processes and our routine patterns. Awareness of ourselves and our environmental factors which influence our health combined with a philosophical approach can help significantly reduce modifiable risk factors like stress etc. An aware person will understand his body better and is cautious about his lifestyle and hence tends to keep under control external circumstances that can cause trouble.

Let us now look us some very important concepts that can help you all care for your heart better.

AnityaBhavana:

Anityabhavana helps a practitioner develop a ‘bystander’ attitude towards life. One must learn to develop a certain level of detachment, be objective, know and understand that everything is impermanent and will pass. When you face a difficult situation stay calm, think right and be patient. Bad times won’t last forever. If you get too excited, involved or attached then you are not maintaining the necessary objectivity required to make life a matter of joy. This attitude will help us face the challenges of life. But then at the same time detachment doesn’t that one can withdraw completely. Anityabhava doesn’t imply inaction. Meditation can help people develop anityabhavana. Take some time off your daily schedule for moments of quite and silence.

Utkatasana The Chair Pose:

Steps:

Stand erect with feet one foot apart
Stretch your arms out at shoulder level, parallel to the ground, palms down
Inhaling rise on your toes
Stay for 5 seconds
Exhaling lower your body to the squatting position, thighs touching your calves and knees parallel
Hold your breath for 2 seconds
Inhaling rise up again and return to the starting position
Repeat the asana twice

Sthitaprarthanasana The standing prayer pose:

Steps:

Stand erect with your feet together, both toes and heels touching
Join your hands together at chest level
Draw your abdomen slightly inwards, keep your back straight, elbows and shoulders relaxed
Close your eyes and observe your breath
Maintain the pose for 3-5 minutes

Dradhasana The firm pose:

Steps:

Lie down on your back and turn to your left side
Fold your left arm and cushion your head on it
Align your body in one straight line and keep your legs one on top of the other
Rest your right arm on your body
Close your eyes and relax in this pose for 5 minutes

Details Of The Caring Heart Project:

The caring heart project is a focused effort in the field of cardiac research undertaken by the yoga institute, Santacruz (E) to study the effects and benefits of yoga in cardiology.

From 2000-2004 Dr. SherkharAmbardekar, Cardiologist, volunteered to assess the work of The Yoga Institute,Santacruz (E) in the capacity of an external auditor. The project was spearheaded by Dr. Jayadeva, President, The Yoga Institute and HansajiJayadeva, Director, The Yoga Institute.

The studies were conducted on two groups one under only under intensive medication and the other on necessary medication but complemented with yoga training at the yoga institute to incorporate suggested lifestyle and attitude changes. All the investigations were conducted at The Yoga Institute or by BYI Nair and Lilavati Hospital.

Some of the findings of the program are as follows:

By the end of one year, nearly 85% of all over-weight patients achieved the ideal body weight
90% of all overweight patients in the study group had the right Body Mass Index
26% in study group compared to 2.6% in the control group cholesterol reduced
Mean score of over anxiety was 17.50 in the study group at baseline. After treatment, at the end of 12 months, the mean score showed 7.5% reduction
Mean score of covert anxiety was 17.10 in the study group at baseline which showed a slight increase of 3.8% at the end of one year
Only 4.2% of the total cases were discordant with MPI report in the study group. Remaining cases were concordant with MPI findings

After treatment 68.6% of total lesions showed improvement, 14.4% status quo in the study group. On the other hand in the control group 39.8% improvement, 22.6% status quo and 37.6% deterioration among control group.

Source: The Yoga Institue

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Published : March 7, 2014 12:47 pm | Updated:March 10, 2015 6:45 pm