2. Maybe it was predestined that I should have had asthma as a kid, discover Yoga
and its principles as an adult, correct my respiratory health with it and now be able
to write about my experiences in alleviating my asthma symptoms.
I guess they say thing happen for a reason. If the first paragraph is correct, then I
am honored and will the best I can to live up to what may be expected of me.
Friend, let me say this: Based on my experiences, one helpful exercise for
alleviating Asthma symptoms and dealing with its many inconveniences is Yoga.
Most asthma patients may be able to relate to the fact that they oft-times may have
been told to be careful when engaging in physically demanding activities that
involve heavy breathing such as sports, running etc, but the irony may lie in the
fact that virtually everyone has to exercise not only for physical health, but for our
mental and emotional well being.
Well, when using yoga as a an exercise or part of a therapeutic measure for Natural
Asthma treatment, one need not worry about the common exercise-induced asthma
attacks that may come as a result of vigorous activity as these poses are very calm
and involve very little motion.
Plus you do get the added benefits even in most if not all the components of fitness
such as strength, flexibility, balance, coordination and endurance.
Owing to its gentle poses and stretches and the deep breathing involved in Yoga,
certain poses-when used correctly-can be very helpful for smoothening the chronic
inflammation of the bronchial tubes (airways) that causes swelling and narrowing
(constriction) of the airways as is the case in Asthma patients.
Sounds intriguing?
Well, let me give you the poses you should pay close attention to.
3. 1. The Sun Salutations: This sequence used as a warm-up for most Yoga styles
consists of 12 unique and easy poses that virtually anyone can do in
synchronization with the breath.
The sequence corrects bad breathing habits, gently, yet effectively exercises the
entire body and in conjunction with the other measures to be addressed after the
suggested poses, go along way in helping to clear the respiratory tract of excessive
and cumbersome mucus, the main cause of all disease, including asthma.
2. Inversions: The main ones are the head and shoulder stands respectively. Now,
I will be the first to say, if you happen to know how to do the headstand from a
gymnastic, martial arts or yoga background (or otherwise), great. Definitely keep
the head stand in your routine of yoga exercises for asthma control (heck, overall
body training…this pose is king!) but if you cannot do it or are simply not to keen
on performing a pose that involves standing on your head/neck. Do not be worried,
you can still benefit from the significant other of the headstand, the Shoulderstand.
How is this so? Inversion poses in yoga drain excess mucus from the lungs and
balance the immune system. Furthermore, they are very helpful in regards to
relieving excess encumbrances in the respiratory organs and owing to the deep
breathing involved in executing inversions and all perhaps all yoga poses,
inversions increase the lung’s airflow, capacity, stamina and efficiency.
That said, although the shoulder-stand may be the easiest of this group of poses to
execute, it is one of the best poses any human can and will benefit from.
The Shoulder-stand truly is one of those things in life where you are getting a
WHOLE lot for very little effort, especially when it comes to Asthma.
In addition, based on the use of its counter-poses, (being the Bridge and Fish
Poses, both being backward bending exercises have a tendency to open up the
chest improving both lung and heart functioning.
It is noteworthy of mention that the very last pose (the fish pose) is one of the
specific poses mentioned in most yoga circles, literature and text as being
specifically useful for removing spasms from the bronchial tubes and thus relieving
Asthma.
4. Some other helpful poses that you would do well to incorporate into your yoga
routine when being used for a natural asthma treatment will include the forward
bends which include the plough and head-to-knee-pose, their counter-poses
(Bridge and Inclined plane pose), the Backward bends such as the bow and wheel
pose, the spinal twist restorative pose and of course the Relaxation pose.
In addition, it is noteworthy of mention that Yoga in itself as a therapeutic limb
towards healthy living does call for a healthy diet in its use.
Most circles lean towards the mucus free or mucus removing diet of the drug-less
fraternity, which happens to be vegetarian in nature and consists mostly of fruits,
vegetables and whole grains.
Friends, it should come as no surprise that giving up all processed foods and
animal products such as meat, milk, eggs and the like from your diet is a must and
a fact that has been in effect in several programs aimed at correcting respiratory
health such as the "Breath Retaining Program For Asthmatics" developed by the
Russian, Dr. Buteyko.
Within weeks of adhering to this advice, many a chronic asthmatic has been able to
give up the use of ventolin inhalers!
Thus far, with a proper diet and exercise, it’s safe to say we have covered about
80% of the battle.
However, we still do live in an imperfect world, by our own making. Nonetheless,
these hindrances to superior respiratory health can be altogether alleviated by
adding the following tips to what has been provided thus far. The include making
sure you
1. Avoid extreme temperature alterations in your home.
2. Try to keep a neat home, office or otherwise designated area by dusting and
vacuuming as the case may be with specifically allergy free products if needed and
/or the use of face masks and of course all the while making sure the place being
cleaned is properly ventilated.
3. Use a humidifier and a heater in the cold seasons.
5. 4. Ensure your home, office or otherwise designated areas are properly ventilated.
5. Use a shower filter when showering and you should be advised that now may be
the time to look into fragrance-free, hypo-allergenic shampoos, facial and body
washes.
They do say Yoga means union, well try to unite all the tips provided above for
this gentle, yet powerfully effective exercise to work towards helping you with a
natural asthma treatment.
Here’s to freer breathing.
Aje
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Foras Aje is an independent researcher and author of “Fitness: Inside and
Out”, a book on improving physical and mental health naturally with a BibleBased Diet and Exercise. For more information on this book or other natural
health tips, visit his site at http://www.bodyhealthsoul.com/
