Yoga is an ancient practice for physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing. In the West, yoga is treated as a physical and mental health exercise. The spiritual part has been largely dropped. Shame.
Yoga incorporates mindfulness and relaxation techniques that can help reduce stress and anxiety, which are often associated with MS. Ever felt bad after a mindfulness session? Didn’t think so.
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Increases strength and flexibility
Gentle yoga poses can help improve muscle strength, flexibility, and range of motion, which can be beneficial for people with MS who experience muscle weakness or stiffness.It’s also just a case of just getting older.
Muscles dwindle without use and if you don’t use it, you lose it. Whether you have MS or not.
Develops better balance and coordination
Certain yoga poses can help enhance balance and coordination, which can be particularly helpful for people with MS who experience difficulties with gait and stability. I still find myself a bit wobbly sometimes. No shame!
Reduces MS pain
Yoga may help reduce pain associated with MS, such as muscle spasms, spasticity, stiffness, and joint pain.
Personally, when I’ve had a flare-up, guided meditations have helped me ‘escape’ my body. The gentle stretches and yoga nidra were my path through the acute discomfort.
Helps improve MS quality of life
Overall, yoga can contribute to an improved quality of life for people with MS by addressing both physical and mental wellbeing.This meta-analysis showed yoga really outperformed typical care.
Five or ten minutes of easy, gentle yoga asana and daily guided meditation is exactly what relaxes my mind and body and helps me feel centred.
How to do yoga safely
It’s always best to seek expert health advice before starting yoga. I’m forever a beginner, but that’s okay too.
Start by doing easy poses and slowly work up to more challenging ones. Most yoga poses are adjustable. Modify your routines based on how you feel.
You may perform poses standing up, lying down, or sitting in a chair.
It can be fabulous watching someone on YouTube who goes slowly and shows you exactly what to do. I recommend Laura Lemon Tree’s videos from MS Society UK who does exactly that!
With benefits to energy, mood, strength, reduced pain, and a better quality of life, what’s not to love about yoga?
The world’s largest peaceful congregation - 400 million people take a purifying bath in the Ganges. Maha Kumbh Mela 2025. Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad): Utter Pradesh
The Timeless Art of Transformation—A History of Yoga
Yoga is an ancient practice that originated in India. It’s mind and body practice with a rich history and philosophy.
What is Yoga?
It’s aim is to create union between the mind, body, and spirit.
Aims of Yoga
The ultimate aim of yoga, according to ancient texts, is to achieve liberation or enlightenment. The benefits of yoga include:
Physical Health: Improves flexibility, strength, balance, and posture. Can help manage stress, anxiety, and chronic pain.
Mental Wellbeing: Promotes relaxation, reduces stress and anxiety, and enhances mental clarity and focus.
Spiritual Growth: Cultivates self-awareness, inner peace, and a deeper connection to oneself and the world.
It is impossible to discuss yoga without touching on Hinduism because this is where it all began.
The ancient sages and yogis were concerned with the question, ‘Who am I?’
They used meditation, breath control, and simple physical postures to find the answers.
Revelations came in the form of mantras, hymns, chants, and philosophical understandings. It became known as Sanātana Dharma — the ‘path to eternal truth’.
First records of Yoga
It wasn’t until 5,000 years ago that Sanātana Dharma started being recorded.
The recordings became known as the Vedas.
The Vedas are the basis of Sanātana Dharma. Yoga is mentioned in the Rig Veda (one of the four Vedas).
The Indoos became the Hindus
Sanātana Dharma originated in the Indus-Sarasvati Valley. The people living beyond the Indus River became known (by the Persian and later Greek invaders) as ‘Indoos’.
The word ‘Hindu’ is a recent term. It was coined by British writers in the early 19th century.
Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras
Around the 2nd century BCE, Patanjali, a renowned sage, compiled the Yoga Sutras, a systematic guide to yoga practice. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali describe the eight limbs of yoga. (An excellent description is here.)
The principles included non-violence and harmlessness to all living beings, honesty, purity, generosity, forbearance, mercy, and goodwill.
It was not a religion or dogma, simply a set of rituals and philosophies by which to live the best life.
Aum – the sounds of the sun
The ancient yogis knew sound had a healing effect on the body.
At a physical level, the Aum addresses the whole of the human sound instrument, according to Iyengar Yoga London. “By chanting Aum we move the energy from the abdomen up to the brain.”
The sound of Aum is also the sound of our sun. This is according to sonification, which is the translation of the data revealing the sun’s waves into sound. This recording was made by NASA.
Listen to the sounds of our sun with Alex Young, the associate director of the Heliophysics Science Division of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
To understand the science behind Aum and how it calms the mind and clears thoughts, read The Science behind Aum.
Mixing with the West
The Greek invaders (under Alexander) followed Abrahamic traditions of punishment and reward systems (heaven and hell) with eternal damnation. They insisted on the truth of their way as the only right way.
Aum became Om and Amen.
The colonists described the ‘Indoos’ as followers of all different gods. In fact, they all followed the path of Sanātana Dharma, which envelops many different practices and ways.
Hinduism is a way of life followed by around 900 million people. The philosophy does not exclude other faiths.
Hinduism is better known as Vedanta and Sanātana Dharma. The core belief is that there is one supreme God. The deities (both male and female) represent God’s qualities and forms.
However, Hindus believe in honouring the equal worth of all people, regardless of their beliefs. Key values include truth, kindness, and generosity.
Today, yoga is renowned for its health benefits. The spiritual aspects have been largely dropped in the West.
Questions to consider
Have you ever practiced yoga?
Is it for your physical health, mental clarity, or both?
Do you consider yourself spiritual?
Do you feel that MS is happening for you or to you?
DISCLAIMER: Nothing contained in this website is intended to be used to diagnose, treat, or cure multiple sclerosis, nor should it be used as a substitute for a health professional’s advice. Read the full disclaimer
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