Page 30 - Time Special Edition Alternative Medicine (January 2020)
P. 30
Bend and
Be Well
Modern medicine is embracing the ancient Indian
discipline of yoga, which can help ease ailments
ranging from back pain to heart disease
BY LESLEY ALDERMAN
Hard to believe now, but yoga was once con- is a systematic way to improve the function of every-
sidered heretical, even dangerous. As recently as a thing in the body a little bit,” says Timothy McCall,
century ago, yogis in America were viewed with sus- author of Yoga as Medicine. “Keep up the practice,
picion; some were actually thrown in jail. Today, and those im provements tend to deepen over time.”
though, most gyms offer it, many public schools Some of those improvements, a growing body
teach it, and a growing number of doctors prescribe of research suggests, affect an array of particularly
it. Yoga studios are as ubiquitous as Starbucks. It hard-to-treat medical problems, including depres-
may have taken 5,000 years, but yoga has arrived. sion, multiple sclerosis and osteoporosis. And that
Although yoga means “union” in Sanskrit, there message is finally getting through. “M.D.s are in-
are widely diverse ways to prac tice it. There’s gentle creasingly comfortable recommending yoga for
yoga and power yoga. Iyengar and Ashtanga. Short conditions ranging from lower-back pain to stress,”
classes and long. But almost all offerings share core says Baxter Bell, a physician and thera peutic yoga
elements: challenging postures (asanas), fo cused instructor in Oakland, Calif.
breathing, self-acceptance. And no multitasking As we all know, chronic stress is no joke. Over
allowed. The poses challenge muscles, while yoga’s time it can exacerbate or increase the risk of seri-
meditative character calms the mind. Altogether, ous conditions including obesity, heart disease, di-
yoga activates healthy processes (such as the rest- abetes, depression and gastrointestinal prob lems.
and-digest response) and deactivates less healthy “Unfortunately, stress is one condition our culture
ones (stress), bringing the body into better balance. hasn’t found a good way to treat,” says Brent Bauer,
Turns out this ancient Indian practice is a one-stop director of the Mayo Clinic Integra tive Medicine
antidote to our modern, caffeinated culture. “Yoga Program.
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