Yoga for Asthma: A Whole Life Practice

Asthma is one of the fastest growing diseases worldwide; the mortality rate has increased every year over the last decade; and it is the most common disease among children. Yoga has proven successful as a treatment for asthma, but has not been widely available or accessible as a remedy for asthma. Author and asthma survivor/thriver  Meta Hirschl describes her discovery of specific practices that can promote vibrant health.

For each sphere of power:

All detail in the Healing Triangle:

overview

1. Objective measurement of lung capacity: The key aspect to the program is to twice daily, at a minimum, monitor and record lung capacity as knowledge leads to subsequent control over health.  A peak flow meter for monitoring lung capacity is inexpensive and can be purchased without a prescription.
2. Yoga breath practices: Begin with simple three-part breathing, then at the end of the exhale, develop the use of retention, a natural bronchodilator.
3. Yoga poses: Practice poses to open the body and build strength, flexibility, balance, and lung capacity.
4. Yoga chanting: Practice simple English or Sanskrit chants that can be used as a calming technique during a decrease in breathing capacity.
5. Yoga meditation: Work with simple yet effective meditation techniques, both to calm the mind when the inevitable fear arises during an asthma attack and also to create a witness experience of some distance from the body, so that we remember we are more than out disease.
6. Nutritional choices: Consider foods that may contribute to asthma, and experiment with eliminating or lessening them, including gluten and dairy.
7. Physician support: Maintain a regular check-up schedule so your healthcare provider can evaluate your progress and help you with issues as they arise.
8. Environmental analysis: Evaluate indoor and outdoor pollutants that may be irritants contributing to your asthma and considering eliminating as many as possible.
9. Aerobic fitness: To quote Olympic athelete and asthma sufferer Jackie Joyner-Kersee, “Think of the lungs as a muscle and use them!”

With the help of these practices I am now living a life that would have been unimaginable twenty years ago. These days if I wake early, it’s by choice, usually to get up and chant, meditate or work out to an intense routine, like P90X. And I’m once again preparing for a hike to the Grand Canyon, this time spending an extra day at the bottom to explore the North Face.

By following the Nine Mode Model, I’ve uncovered a world of health and vigor. If you suffer from asthma, this is possible for you too. Take a breath and open your heart and mind to this approach. Your life may change forever, and you will be in charge.

Supportive Studies from the Medical Literature

The following recent articles as well as many others, have shown, through rigorous scientific testing that yoga can improve asthma:

• A Breathing Technique Offers Help for People With Asthma, in Personal Health (Nov 3, 2009), Jane E. Brody
• Yoga for bronchial asthma: a controlled study. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3931802, Nagarathna R, Nagendra HR, Fifty-three patients with asthma underwent training for two weeks in an integrated set of yoga exercises, including breathing exercises, suryanamaskar, yogasana (physical postures), pranayama (breath-slowing techniques), dhyana (meditation), and a devotional session, and were told to practice these exercises for sixty-five minutes daily. They were then compared with a control group of fifty-three patients with asthma matched for age, sex, and type and severity of asthma, who continued to take their usual drugs. There was a significantly greater improvement among the group who practiced yoga in the weekly number of attacks of asthma, scores for drug treatment, and peak flow rate. This study shows the efficacy of yoga in the long-term management of bronchial asthma, but the physiological basis for this beneficial effect needs to be examined in more detail.
• Yoga Helps Asthma Patients In 10 Weeks, http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/151558.php (May 27, 2009 ) This study followed twenty asthma sufferers between the ages of twenty and sixty-five who were beginning yoga students. They reported an increased quality of life and reduced asthma symptoms after ten weeks of yoga practice.

The Nine Mode Model is much more rigorous and expansive that the yoga performed for these studies and so offers even greater potential for healing.

The Nine Mode Model can be taught in a workshop or in individual sessions. Call 505-232-4717 or email for more information.

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