It was a Monday evening, and almost everyone at a Chicago-area Bally
Total Fitness club was frantic. As always, there were men leaning
heavily on stair climbing machines up front. In a back room a bass-heavy
soundtrack blared as a Tae-Bo
workout leader yelled instructions.
Only a few feet away, though, one room was almost entirely silent, and
the yoga workout leader, Yirser Ra Hotep, wasn't telling his class to
speed up. In his soft, insistent voice, he kept urging his pupils to
slow down. "Breathe in, and with your exhalation, lean over to the side.
Slowly, turn your heel from the side to the front," he told his class.
Behind him, three women and three men slid slowly but gracefully into
their next position.
These members chose yoga over the bustling class next door because they
wanted to improve their flexibility, to combat nagging injuries and
they were curious, but mostly because they had been busy all day and
wanted to find something to help them calm down.
While the benefits of yoga are plentiful -- and sometimes miraculous --
most students and teachers come back to that basic point. Yoga teaches
them how to relax and how to take control of their lives.
"It's really calming at the end of a stressful day," says Tracy
O'Bannon, a Chicago product manager who attends two classes a week.
"Usually I come in worrying about work, and by the end everything's just
kind of gone. You're releasing all your pressure."
The key to that relaxation, says Hotep, is yoga's emphasis on controlled
breathing. "Yoga helps you learn immunity to stress," says Hotep, who
offers video and audiotapes about yoga through YogaSkills.com. "You don't respond
in an inappropriate way. By slowing your breathing down, you can slow
your heart rate. By slowing your heart rate, you calm yourself down.
Then, you can make better decisions."
In small, specialized studios and large, comprehensive health clubs,
yoga practitioners are also reaping the other benefits of the ancient
art. Particularly, they say yoga helps them understand their bodies,
improve their confidence and combat long-term health problems.
"We use a three-foot skeleton in our classes," says Paula Kout, director
of
White Iris Yoga in
Evanston, Ill. "We show you what the skeleton looks like, so that people
are grounded in the actual reality of their body. This becomes a tool
you use ideally all the time. You think, how am I going to get out of
the car? How am I going to lift my groceries? What muscles am I going to
use?"
By focusing on understanding their bodies, yoga practitioners learn to
stop measuring themselves in the mirror "by these very bizarre standards
of airbrushed bodies," says Kout. As students practice new positions --
and learn their bodies' abilities and limitations -- they develop "more
of a friendly than adversarial relationship with their bodies."
Hotep, who has led yoga classes in Chicago for 24 years, says yoga "has
reversed my aging process. I'm 46 and I can still do things like when I
was 28. I have no aches and pains. I have a lot of energy. On days I do
yoga, I can run farther than on days I don't."
Many yoga students haven't stretched in years and initially find the
positions difficult. But with practice and encouragement, over time it
becomes easier to hold even difficult poses, such as the "spider." And as
their bodies change, so do their minds. For some people the results are
astounding.
"I had a woman who came to me when she was in her 50s," says Kout. "We
jokingly called her the Tin Man. Every joint in her body was stiff, and
she was filled with fear. Everything we did, she said, 'I can't do
that; it hurts.' Like water wearing away a stone, though, she came to
class week after week, year after year. Her body began to change, and
her clothing fit differently. People began to notice the change. She had
a much-improved posture.
"At 61 she got married for the first time," says Kout. "Not only did she
change her body, but she opened herself up emotionally. She's now
happily married and very attractive and limber. As she was getting
older, she was actually getting younger. Miracles do happen."
Almost all yoga practitioners notice health improvements. Pregnant
women, in particular, benefit from the emphasis on breathing and
muscular control. People with heart problems are able to control their
blood pressure by learning to control their breathing. Others find that
they don't sprain their ankles or bang their elbows as frequently. Some
find relief from digestive problems.
O'Bannon, the product manager who takes yoga classes at the Chicago
Bally's, has suffered from asthma for years. "Yoga has really helped me
a lot," she says. "It helps you take in more air and relax. I don't have
strong attacks anymore. I attribute that to my yoga. I don't use my
inhaler as often on days I do yoga."
In the last 10 years, yoga groups for people with HIV have become
common. Studies have shown that yoga practitioners are less likely to
develop full-blown AIDS, says Hotep.
"One of the things about an illness is that you feel out of control,"
says Kout. "Yoga helps you bring the locus of control back into
yourself. There's less of a victim mentality. You don't need someone to
do something for you when you're in pain. You know you can do it
yourself. I've seen people heal old injuries. I've seen people
rehabilitate things like breaks and strains. I've seen people able to
sleep because they're breathing more correctly."
While yoga doesn't usually burn as many calories as some high-impact
workouts, the discipline -- by stressing self-knowledge, control and
nutrition -- can play an active role in helping people lose weight.
Hotep says he recently ran into a former pupil who had lost 35 pounds
while taking yoga. The student said she also no longer suffers from
stomach pains that had stumped her doctors and plagued her for
years.
Most teachers believe yoga has its roots in the Hindu faith. Some
newcomers, aware of the spiritual writings of some yoga masters, are
fearful that taking yoga may conflict with their own religious beliefs.
Both Hotep and Kout, however, say yoga is compatible with virtually all
faiths and philosophies. "It's not a religion," says Kout. "It's a
complement to anything else that you may do in your life." While some
advanced classes may cover meditation and philosophy, beginning classes
usually focus on breathing and stretching.
Over yoga's 5,000-year history, many different styles have evolved. Both
Hotep and Kout say beginners don't need to worry too much about
selecting a particular style. "It's like going to a therapist," says
Kout. "Either you resonate with that particular person or you don't.
Just trust your own feelings."
Hotep advises beginners to make sure the teacher works with your
limitations. "I don't have a teaching style," says Hotep. "I conform my
style to my students."
Yoga need not be expensive. Fees usually range from about $8 per class
at larger health clubs to $20 at some specialized studios. Both teachers
recommend attending at least one class per week to make sure you aren't
developing bad habits. Students usually wear comfortable, loose-fitting
clothing. Most practitioners purchase inexpensive mats that are
available through health clubs and studios.
Even though yoga is an improbably complex art -- with as many as 840,000
possible positions -- students don't need to abandon all their other
commitments before they get started. "It's like playing the piano," says
Kout. "First you learn scales. You have to practice and build
incrementally so you can learn more. Five minutes a day every day will
mean more than spending huge blocks of time every once in a while."
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