Yogatherapy: A Stretch Toward Healing for Chronic Pain

[Guest guest]

Yogatherapy: A Stretch Toward Healing for Chronic Pain and More

Meeting Small, shaking his hand and looking into his eyes, one would

never know he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis about 50 years ago.

Photographs in his yoga studio show him in complex poses, the kind that take

years of study to perfect.

Small's almost lifelong dedication to yoga has given him the stamina, strength

and confidence, he says, to live medication-free. Now in his early 70s, he has

symptoms of relapsing-remitting MS, including loss of vision, fatigue and

occasional numbness. But he's also able to sustain a daily two-hour practice

in addition to teaching --- most notably others with MS, even some who must

use wheelchairs.

This yoga niche, called therapeutic yoga, is not limited to people with MS.

Such therapy incorporates poses (asanas), breathing ( " pranayama " ) and

meditation techniques to improve quality of life and manage symptoms of

various diseases, chronic conditions and illnesses --- including asthma, back

pain, fibromyalgia, depression and cancer.

Although conventional exercise --- walking, bicycling --- is recommended for

many people with health problems, yoga goes a step further, say its

proponents. The mind-body connection that yoga can create serves to heal

the mind and spirit as well as the body, they say.

A study in 1998 showed that yoga, more than conventional treatment, helped

reduce pain and improve hand strength for people with carpal tunnel

syndrome. That same year, yoga was shown to be effective in improving the

quality of life for people with asthma.

A study in the June issue of the journal Neurology showed that MS patients

who practiced yoga for six months had significantly less fatigue than those

who didn't practice it. Current studies are evaluating yoga's effectiveness in

treating symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, depression and

breast cancer.

Although Small needs no convincing of therapeutic yoga's positive effects, he

stops short of seeing it as more. " It is a really good management tool for

something that medical science doesn't know that much about, " he says. " I

don't ever proclaim that this is a cure. " He urges students to confer with their

doctors before deciding to stop medications.

One of yoga's greatest benefits is an increase in stamina, often needed by

patients recovering from surgery or dealing with chronic conditions.

Pam Bridger had a successful recovery after quadruple bypass surgery two

years ago but a year later found herself with persistent fatigue. The 55-year-

old medical transcriptionist from Richmond, Texas, walked regularly but

showed no signs of making physical progress. Her doctor recommended the

For Your Whole Life integrated medicine program at Memorial Hermann

Hospital in Houston, which has a cardiac rehab program that includes

aerobics, nutrition counseling and yoga.

" I think the one thing you learn, " she says, " is body awareness. They showed

us how to slow down and take the time to pay attention to the moves you're

making --- what you feel when you do something. That was quite new for me. "

Bridger says yoga has made it easier to do things that most people take for

granted, such as getting up from the floor. She also feels stronger and better

equipped to deal with stress. " At this point, " she adds, " I have more hope

about my condition. "

Source: The Los Angeles Times.