Mechanical Miracles: the explicable healing power of yoga

Today, in the ashram, I met a girl from Quebec who shared her story about how she got into yoga. A year ago she was in a horrible bike accident which resulted in her voice box being crushed in. The doctor in hospital told her she would never be able to speak again. She spent the first few weeks going out dancing at night; because she couldn't talk, it was the only way she could express herself. Completely at a loss about what to do next since she couldn't work, she went to the Sivananda ashram just outside Quebec for a sense of calm. On arrival she discovered they were starting a teacher training course in a few days and so she signed up. During some of the asanas (poses) in the physical component of the course, she starting coughing a lot, and was concerned she should stop, but the yogi told her to continue. Upside down, in fish pose, her voice box punched back into shape and she could speak again. Back in Quebec the doctor at the hospital wanted to know exactly what had happened, in order to help heal future patients; he asserted that if it had happened much longer after it wouldn't have been possible because her larynx would have stuck in the malformed shape. When you start getting into yoga you hear a lot of stories like that. I wasn't particularly interested in yoga until I heard that it can help relieve people of chronic fatigue.

The Sivananda ashram here in Kerela is a carefully constructed environment of health and wellbeing based on ancient wisdom. In the beautiful environs of large tropical trees and a lake, it offers tranquility and peace from the outside world. Each element of the daily routine encompasses an important component of wellness, teaching people discipline and the correct way to live in order to be healthy.

The day begins in the early hours and ends with Satsang, a group sitting in the large open air hall with half an hour of meditation, followed by singing songs in Sanskrit. Singing is good for the health because it releases endorphins and oxytocin and boosts the respiratory system, immune system and reduces the risk of heart disease.

There's a two hour yoga class before breakfast. It's traditional yoga, or Hatha yoga, in the Sivananda tradition. The warm up routine is repetitive, followed by the same sequence of Asana (poses) and is eventually done meditatively with eyes closed. Each move is taught correctly before moving on.

Breakfast is then taken sitting on mats on the floor and served on tin trays, with compartments for slices of raw fruit or vegetable, curries and rice.

Everyone is expected to do some karma yoga (a chore) during the day. There's a philosophy lecture. Then in the afternoon there's a second yoga class just before dinner at 6pm.

A sign in the dining hall reads "eat in silence, save your energy for digesting your food" and in the first yoga class we were instructed to close our eyes to save our energy for the Asana (physical postures). I feel like I am in a special place, where energy is not only acknowledged, but given centre stage.

In yoga, energy is called prana and it's your life force. We know that's true, because when things are going well in your life and you are happy and healthy, you have lots of energy. If things are awry, you won't have much of it and it's a good indicator something is wrong. I guess total inertia would mean death.

There is also a small Hindu temple if people are interested in finding out more about the traditions and spirituality. It's probably well worth getting stuck in, because even a fictitious God has the power to heal through faith, and help you live longer.

However, before I paint too frilly a picture, the unfortunate truth is, I haven't been able to partake in much of the timetable. The style of yoga is a bit strong for me (it's hard to find an ashram that offers "restorative yoga"). I spent a lot of the first few days alone in the dormitory on an uncomfortable bed with a hard pillow beneath a noisy fan and mosquito net near the toilets. Internet is only available one hour a day and I finished the audiobook I was enjoying. I also found it unexpectedly a more lively environment than I imagined, with over 250 people from all over the world as well as India, including holiday makers, travelers, health seekers and a teacher training programme; something more tranquil might benefit me more... However, after initial teething trouble, things have improved since I moved beds and discovered the library and got into my own rythm. One of the books I took out is called "Yoga for better health" by Acharya Bagwan Dev.

To practice yoga fully is to be healthy, "It is a complete exercise system for the mind, body and spirit". Yogic exercises, he explains, are both preventative and curative of a vast range of medical conditions.

The first section scientifically details each of the body's seven systems and explains how "Yoga exercise is unique in that it aims not at developing muscles but at toning up the whole body system so as to effect proper blood circulation, nourishment of tissues and cells, removal of waste product and restoration of metabolism. Regular practice of yoga keeps the muscles healthy, joints and spine supple, strong and flexible. Deep abdominal breathing and pranayama (breathing techniques) make lungs ecstatic and healthy, increase their intake capacity and also keep the air passage clear. The vertical Asanas (postures) direct the blood circulation towards the thyroid, resulting in massage and stimulation. The pituitary is at the centre of the central nervous system and it regulates the secretion of all other glands. The Asana like Sirshasana stimulates the pituitary gland, thereby providing proper balance between the body and the mind".

The book then details some of the postures and lists their health benefits, ranging from lowering high blood pressure, removing pain in the spine, relieving constipation, reducing fat, eliminating nervous tension to toning up your sexual organs and curing diabetes.

Just one pose, Sirshasana, or the headstand, is known as the king of all poses because it supposedly cures diseases of the liver, spleen, lungs and the genito-untinary system. It can gradually cure colic, deafness, diabetes, pikes, phyorrhea and constipation. The digestive power will improve and many uterine and ovarian diseases can be cured. Memory and eyesight improve, grey hairs disappear. Spinal cord and spinal nerve routes receive an abundant supply of blood. Sexual energy is increased. Nerves of the body are energised. And he finishes with "many incurable diseases are cured by this Asana."

Then there are other yogic practices that I hadn't heard of before called Kriyas and Bandas that purify the body and ensure the absence of toxic material, for example by clearing your nasal passage and cleaning the digestive system and there are other exercises to improve concentration.

Yoga teaches you to take responsibility for your health. It has little time for external factors that are beyond your control. The concept of prevention and self-healing certainly provides food for thought. We've definitely taken distance from the idea that we can fix our bodies ourselves and have become overly reliant on the medical system to fix us. Big advancements in science, along with the marketing of drugs, have led us to believe cures always lie beyond our control. 20% of the US GDP is spent on healthcare.

We also have a cultural preference for cures over prevention. At work we supported the charity, World Cancer Research fund, which funds research into the causes of cancer and its prevention. The charity is vastly underfunded by comparison to charities that look to find cures. We received complaints from colleagues that we were supporting a charity that didn't do "real research".

As an aside, the dietary recommendations of World Cancer Research Fund align with a yoga diet - avoid processed foods, red meat and fatty, sugary foods, take protein, carbohydrates and fats as well as vitamins and minerals from natural sources. Ancient wisdom has had the key to the good life all along. A yogic diet is simple, natural, non-stimulating, tissue-building, energy producing, light, nutritious and easily digestible. It advises that you fill your stomach half full of food, a quarter with water and leave a quarter free for digestive gases. There is further detail around the timing of drinking and eating as well as the temperature of drinks to improve digestive function and optimise health.

Yoga also improves your mental life. Regular practice of hatha yoga actually alters brain chemistry. It slows down the action of the sympathetic nervous system. This means your body does not get flooded with stress hormones as quickly, your blood pressure does not rise every time you have an argument, and your heart does not start pounding if you miss the bus. Regular practice also improves the functioning of the parasympathetic system which controls your ability to relax.

One of the most energising yogic practices is Pranayama (a wide range of breathing techniques). The exercises actually detox your respiratory system and flushes out the carbon dioxide and toxins, bringing in fresh air and the oxygen needed to regenerate cells. Lungs have a capacity of inhaling at least four to five lites of air, but we seldom inhale more than a sixth of this amount.

The book also explains that you only need to do about 25 minutes of yoga a day to achieve a good regulation.

With a touch of faith that my organic algorithm wants to correct itself, provided the conditions are right, I feel I can get better. M.E. / chronic fatigue isn't a disease, but all seven of the body's systems are affected. For example, a recent blood test revealed that I'm not absorbing enough nutrients from food, showing digestive dysfunction. The condition can be triggered by mental or physical stress, such as being overworked, another illness or a food intolerance (or all of the above combined), either over time or very rapidly, as in my case. This has led researchers at the privately run Optimum Health Clinic to theorise that the body develops a mal-adaptive stress response. If I can summarise correctly (I don't have the material to hand), neurotransmitters in the brain cause the body's systems to malfunction. The autonomic nervous system malfunctions, causing the sympathetic nervous system to be activated, and your new normal is fight or flight mode, where you then start to respond more sensitively to stress. This inhibits recovery because the body produces adrenilin and stress hormones and can't regenerate. Rather, the normal state needs to be parasympathetic (known as rest and digest state, which slows the heart rate and conserves energy). Other factors can inhibit recovery such as non-optimum diet, alcohol, food intolerances or other health conditions.

In theory, if their theory and the book are correct, the practice of gentle yoga could help to boost the body's systems, whilst simultaneously calming the nervous system and eventually body and mind can stabilise. This is only possible if other internal adjacent problems are found and dealt with, such as food intolerances or past trauma.

It's worth noting that the NHS advice around graded exercise doesn't work and can be harmful, because daily increments in exercise put even more strain on already depleted systems and trigger further stress response.

I think I have enough info to start to come up with a recovery plan:

1. Change the chemical functioning of the brain through meditation so neurotransmitters​ no longer send stress signals to the body, and have as few negative thoughts as possible.

2. Activate the parasympathetic nervous system as much as possible through deep relaxation exercises such as yoga nidra (sleep yoga) and yin yoga (restorative yoga that achieves meditation through deep stretching).

Athletes have started practicing yin yoga in the evenings because they understand how important restorative rest is for the body to regenerate.

3. Pranayama (breathing techniques) which expels toxins from the body and increases the circulation of oxygen, helping cells to regenerate and relieves stress or improves breathing throughout the day. I'm guessing since my sympathetic nervous system is activated then I'm not breathing deeply enough.

4. Asana (postures) to boost the functioning of the body's other systems and prevent muscle wastage, also providing gentle aneorobic exercise.

5. Increase the body's digestive functioning by only ingesting foods with the highest nutritional value and supplement with multi vitamins. Furthermore, not putting stress on the system by overeating or eating bad foods. Further investigation into food intolerances.

6. Relieve stress from other areas of weekly routine by avoiding rush hour, working less or improving work habits. Cease forms of aerobic exercise since they put too much strain on the system.

7. Optimise positive influences. Maybe I will take up singing for endorphins! Singing is also a type of pranayama since you expunge air completely from your lungs and increases your lung capacity. Kills two birds with one stone.

8. Get into a routine and then stop obsessing about any of it, and leave room for error so you'll still be friends with me.

There won't be any miracles overnight. Goenke (who spread Vipassana meditation from Tibet) said that you need to do one hour meditation in the morning and one hour in the evening in order for it to make a substantial difference to your life and to properly affect brain chemistry.

Getting up at 6:00 would mean I can do an hour and a half in the morning and then an hour and a half in the evening - and I'll just do whichever combo of activities I feel like. I will go to bed early.

On the one hand, it seems unlikely or an unpleasant degree of commitment, on the other hand, discipline​ with a sense of purpose can be invigorating. And, after all, learning how to live well is surely the key to life.