Sanskrit: Union, a spiritual discipline based on an extremely subtle science, which focuses on bringing harmony between mind and body. Its 4 pillars include body, breath, mind and diet

What shall I say first? You guessed it – I know very little about yoga! BUT I know some things…I know I love it (little Game of Thrones reference for you all!). I used to think that yoga was something I just did every so often at the gym or watching Adrienne on Youtube at home. It made me feel stretched out and calm but that that’s essentially all it was – stretching. It was only when I was in a pit of ill health and looking for some self-care I truly discovered the beauty of yoga and the depth of its healing powers. 

As I sit in Saravanaa Bhavan writing this, having just scoffed 3 idlies, I think back to the time I was looking for options to bring my body back into balance. At that time, I felt like I was full of inflammation, my fight or flight response was constantly activated and I was having lots of pain in different areas of my body. I didn’t feel good, man. I was repeatedly told that, medically, there wasn’t too much wrong with me except for some vitamin D deficiency and a resolved dodgy appendix. 

I have previously put a lot of my faith in the medical sciences. I am a trained doctor after all. However, in this situation medicine had nothing to offer me. I spoke to friends and family and generally speaking, nothing they suggested (e.g. taking a lot of pain medication!) really felt right to me. That seemed to be looking at masking and adjusting to the pain rather than looking at the root cause. One day, I was on a walk in the local park with my Dad and I explained I felt really breathless and anxious a lot of the time and was having a lot of inflammation following a run of multiple viral illnesses. He stopped, turned round to me and asked me to alternate closing each nostril and taking deep breaths. I felt almost instantly calmer. 

I vaguely recognised this as pranayama, the yogic practice of breath control (Sanskrit: prana “life/vital energy” + ayama “expansion/control”) but following that walk I didn’t try it again bar a couple of times that week. Life got in the way, as they say. But things got worse. I started looking online for health-giving practices and was hoping that I would intuitively connect with something. I came across Sadhguru, a guru and yogi whose base is in my hometown of Coimbatore in India. I felt this was my path and started looking into courses he ran all over the world. 

The ‘Inner engineering’ programme markets itself as a transformative program, ‘offering tools to take charge of your body, mind, emotions and energies and live a joyful, fulfilling life’. This is a big claim but there were also countless testimonies from those who had tried it and really felt a change in their life. I remembered a man my husband and I met in Mauritius when we were on honeymoon many years ago followed Sadhguru. He said that Sadhguru had really turned his life around. I was thinking ‘what are the chances that someone from my hometown is having a positive impact on this island?!’. I felt proud. 

More and more things were encouraging me to start this programme and see where things led. There were 7 steps to the programme, with both lecture style videos and guided physical and breath work and chanting exercises. I must admit, I did not follow the programme with regular intervals; there were some hiatuses between sessions! However, every time I tuned into the sessions I felt like I was listening to truths. There was honestly nothing ground-breaking though, they were all human truths that I think we all deep down, instinctively KNOW inside ourselves but our external world often quashes them under meetings and childcare and holidays and whatever it is that might stress you out. 

The things that helped me the most were:

• Reconnecting with the fact that ‘I am not the body, I am not even the mind’. Remembering that there are 3 facets to existence – mind, body AND spirit was fundamental to my healing. There may be illness in your body, or even in your mind but these are not the only components of ourselves. Remembering that I have a spirit gave me the ability to experience a moment of detachment from my mind and body and made me realise that I needed to feed my forgotten spirit and reconnect with the divinity around us. This was hugely stress-busting in itself!  
• ‘That which you do willingly is your heaven, that which you do unwillingly is your hell’. This reminded me that I need to follow my instincts when searching for JOY!! It gave me so much enthusiasm for documenting my joy so I never forget what brings me joy again. 
• The introduction to Ayurvedic food principles were helpful to know which foods were considered ‘life-giving’ or ‘pranic’ and those which are life-draining or ‘negative panic’

Finally, the integrated breathwork, chanting, postures and meditation practice that is taught at the end is what really revolutionised my days! After completing the practice I felt so calm, more flexible and so much more connected with myself. 

This post probably reads like an advert for this programme and It’s really not. I think these effects could be achieved with any great yoga programme. If I’m honest, I think I am surprised by how great this has been for me. I don’t think its a magical fix – I think it’s a daily practice which requires dedication, commitment, and maybe just a little hope that it’s going to work. I am so inspired to learn more and do more yoga! Not right now – I’m nowhere near mastering this programme haha but when I have, hopefully I can pick up more.