Here are first person narratives of three patients with serious medical problems, who have found much reprieve by practicing yoga at ‘Yogakshema’, the Iyengar yoga centre in Delhi.

Mythili Bector

“Diagnosed with Hereditary Neuro Pressure Palsy (HNPP), the world around me just crashed and crumbled. HNPP is a debilitating disease where the myelin sheath, the protective substance that covers nerve cells, gets eroded. As a result, not just the motor nerves but the sensory nerves and the autonomic nervous system get severely affected. That is to say that the body’s electrical wiring simply breaks down.

This ailment manifests symptomatically in many ways: there are recurrent episodes of numbing, tingling and loss of muscle function get chronic. Medical science has little to offer. I was advised to take steroids since there was no cure. I was further warned that the symptoms would simply go from bad to worse as age progressed.

Age? What Age! I was barely in my 30s. And here I was already unable to hold and grip even a pen , let alone stand, teach or for that matter use the blackboard. I could not use a knife in the kitchen or fasten buttons, or for that matter, use the spoon to eat a morsel of food or stay balanced my feet…….. The list was endless. If day time wasn’t terrible enough, nights were traumatic as I could not lie down without the arms and legs going numb and intense pain searing through them. Year after year, I braved the illness .The physical deformities were evident but none could gauge the psychological impact. My confidence was shattered and I was looking for succor. That is when my colleague suggested that I take up Iyengar yoga With hope in my heart, I approached Ms. Nivedita Joshi who took me under her tutelage. There has been no looking back since then. Within three months I could sense an improvement. No longer were the mornings an ordeal overpowered by fatigue and pain. Nivedita Ma’am put me on a ‘rejuvenating yoga sequence’ that soon infused energy into me. Slowly but steadily I regained strength. Six years into the programme, I have nearly forgotten the pain. Instances of tripping and falling, extreme fatigue, incessant pain in the limbs, migraines are a thing of the past. I am able to go about the daily chores with ease. I continue to use several props in my asana practice but the remarkable thing is that I now have gathered the courage to let go of them.

I quote Guruji, “Change leads to disappointment if it is not sustained. Transformation is sustained change, and it is achieved through practice.” Under the able guidance of my guru, Nivedita Joshi, I am working towards this transformation. The essential element in the magnetic personality of my guru, Nivedita Joshi ji is her all consuming passion for knowledge and it is with this overpowering conviction that she has drawn us all into her fold in her relentless pursuit of perfection. I bow to the Almighty for having shown me and many others like me the light of Iyengar Yoga.“

Neha Grewal

It all began with an ordinary chest x-ray eight years ago, when I came to know of my medical condition- Scoliosis. In utter daze, my anxiety stricken parents ushered me around from one doctor to the other. After many more tests, consultations with doctors, and education on Internet websites, we came to understand it as “a musculoskeletal disorder due to which the spine curves in abnormal ways”.

As a teenager, it was difficult to accept this definition as a part of my existence. Scoliosis manifested on my physical body as a hump on my back, a slight protrusion of one rib and uneven shoulders - a definite embarrassment at that age. Over time, this embarrassment led to low self-esteem, fuelled by constant feeling that something was wrong with my body. It was more than just about the cosmetic appearance: I would suffer from stiffness and gnawing pain after working or sitting in one position even for a limited period of time. The medical condition stood in the way of my ambition to become an artist, for an artist’s job is too strenuous for someone with my back condition. So, what then? Surgery? Bracing? Or just waiting and hoping that it didn’t get worse?

With a lot of ambiguity surrounding Scoliosis in the medical world, my father continued his search for an enduring solution. In the course of his research, he came across the philosophy of Iyengar yoga two years ago. At that time, it seemed unbelievable. Even so, the human desire to seek a cure when in pain is a very powerful one. And so, we pinned our hopes on Nivedita Ma’am’s institute. The truth, the solution, the answer all remains in the yoga practice; yet, the day it all started, a sense of relief and calm finally enveloped us.

The initial part of the journey was perhaps less difficult for me, and perhaps more of a challenge for Nivedita Ma’am and the teachers at ‘Yogakshema’ Centre. The intensity of work done on me was monumental. When I positioned myself for the various asanas, I was constantly guided, with each breath, towards gaining the sensitivity of feeling and visualizing my body from the inside, a key aspect of the healing process. For me, this is what makes Iyengar yoga enduring.

Over time, I could finally gain control of my body, a refreshing feeling, since much of my teenage life was spent in experiences that let me to foster gloom and uncertainty in my mind.

All this would not have been possible without use of props, a unique feature of Iyengar yoga. The props allow anyone, in any situation to be able to experience the benefits of an asana in the event that the body does not allow for a particular movement. Once the body benefits from the asanas and recovers the movement, the props make an exit. This makes Iyengar yoga all the more accessible and approachable, offering a ‘soft landing’ for those with ailments. I have been fortunate to experience this shift. Recently, I graduated from the medical class to the regular class.

Even with all its beautiful elements, Iyengar Yoga is in no way easy. Crossing the hump is not easy; especially since it develops a sense that is dormant in the modern man – the sense of connecting mind and body in a cyclical smooth flow. After months of frustration, today I can see myself doing yoga for the rest of my life.

Yoga has amazed me for today I can attend the regular class and go at the same pace as everyone else, as I am now in control of my body, and utilize my mind for my body; without support, I can do the asanas that I had once needed support for. Best of all, there is so much to learn that the excitement would continue alongside the practice.

Neerja Pandey, 36 yrs

In June, 2009, I underwent surgery to rectify damaged ligaments in the left knee. A few months later, in January 2010, I began experiencing pain on the left buttock bone. I attributed it to the knee problem. Sometime in Feb-2010, I lifted a flower pot and thereafter the intensity of the pain shot up. Then again, since the problem was on the left side I thought the pain was related to Knee problem and consulted the doctor. The doctor advised me physiotherapy for one week. After three sessions of the physiotherapy, the pain worsened. So much so that I was completely bed ridden and could not even stand or sit even for 2 minutes.

I then consulted a doctor at AIIMS and after an MRI scan, it diagnosed as prolapsed slip disc (L5 S1). The doctor advised me to take complete bed rest for six month or undergo surgery. He cautioned about the risk of paralysis in case of surgery. At the same time he also informed that if surgery was not done, the prolapsed disc may lead to loss of control of excretion. I got the same feedback from Apollo hospital as well. Furthermore, the doctor at Apollo told me undertake additional tests, where it was found that the Hydroxyl Vitamin-D, Calcium Serum, Phosphorous serum and Lymphocyte levels were also low. Following this, he prescribed pain killers and medicines to make up the deficiency in calcium, phosphorous, vitamin-D and also advised hot water therapy.

I was completely bed ridden, dependent on pain killers as I went about hot water therapy for three months. I also tried acupuncture and homeopathic medicines. None of these treatments improved my condition. I was not able to stand or even sit for five minutes.

In desperation, we started to look for alternatives and we came through an article “Life-Positive”, a health magazine, about Ms Nivedita Joshi slip disc problem. The article talked about her long struggle with pain, her treatment with Yoga by Guruji (Shri B.K.S. Iyengar), her recovery and about her institution, the Iyengar Yoga Centre in Delhi.

Ma’am took me under her wings in the Medical classes, which began on April 22, 2010. Within three weeks of practice at the Centre, I stopped taking pain killers and never required to take the medicines thereafter. I continued my practice with the help of props and under the intense guidance of Madam for three months.

Since I began practice at the Yoga Center, the problem recurred only once (on June 02, 2010). Following completion of medical classes for three months, Madam has allowed me to join the regular Yoga Classes.

At present, I feel completely normal and free of pain and practice yoga without props. I lead a completely normal life, which I think is a miracle because I had lost all hopes of normalcy.