The weather had been extremely sultry all the week when I had left my house early- a typical Memphis summer morning. Then, the storm suddenly broke out, and I was forced to maneuver my car through a white wall of rain. Thunder and lightning were frequent, and the rain came plunging down like a sack of nails let loose somewhere up in the sky.
Within an hour, I managed to get into my hospital, rushing to see the first patient.
An older gentleman was ushered in, and a young lady held his hands with care as if she held a masterpiece just drawn by Van Gogh. "This is Mr…. and his daughter Milly," said the ushering-in nurse with her staple staccato speech as she helped the gentleman sit on the patient's bed with his head inclined.
It was still raining, as I could see through the greased glasses of the large old Victorian window. The wind was still perceptibly strong, bent the trees, and drove the rain before it like a cloud of smoke.
We discussed his condition. "He has been having palpitations since he was diagnosed with heart failure," the daughter retorted to my questioning the old man about his symptoms. Then, as we finished with the patient and it was time for them to leave, the daughter turned back from the door. "I have one question for you, though I am not sure if it would be right to ask!"
"Please go ahead," I said as I saw a storm hitting the window with more fury and thunderous claps, splitting the sky with streaks of violet light. What could she ask, I wondered? Diet, medicine…we spoke about everything. I even promised to send his cardiologist and primary care a letter updating my plans.
"My father was an athlete and very healthy," She looked at me with a matter-of-fact tone, "Can he at least do Yoga to keep his fitness?"
"Yoga?" I burped; that frankly took me by surprise. Not a common question that I get asked every day.
"Who will teach him to do yoga?" I asked her while trying to gain time to answer her real questions.
"I am a trained yoga therapist," she looked back at me, throwing her hair back as if it was not a big deal. "I run a yoga studio." Then, she looked at me pointedly.
I have been a yoga practitioner for some time now. So, with an elementary knowledge of the subject, we discussed what he could do and avoid till he got his cardiac ejection fraction better.
She was visibly surprised at my comfort in answering her. "I had asked both his primary care and cardiologist," she complained, "they proposed that I see a complementary medicine practice."
Yoga is a non-religious, spiritual, therapeutic, scientific, and inclusive process for humanity of every color, creed, sex, and culture. It is a practical philosophy for health and wellness. Although yoga is occasionally misconstrued as religious, mystical, esoteric, and occult, it is anything but that. The "Yoga Sutras," written by sage Patanjali around 1000 BC or even earlier, is the only definitive yoga text delineating this. The author defines yoga as controlling oneself to be successful, happy, and healthy. There is no requirement to believe in God, do sacred chanting, or even be prayerful to benefit from yoga. Thanks to scientific discoveries and medical research, yoga has been an integral part of what is now called "integrative medicine. Most chronic non-communicable diseases like heart disease, cancer, and rheumatic diseases can be both prevented or attenuated using yoga in addition to modern medicine. Yoga works internally to reduce stress, brings about changes in the brain that decreases anxiety and depression, and overhauls the autonomic nervous system, accentuating the parasympathetic function protective of the heart. Yoga has also been found to increase immunity that protects against various infections and certainly Covid 19.
With millions of purported daily Yoga practitioners in this country using yoga to stay healthy with their own pocket money, physicians need to understand the basics of the system and its scientific and medical relevance.
"International Yoga Day was on the 21st of June," I asked the patient's daughter; "did you do anything special?"
"Yes, I took a yoga session online,” She retorted with her eyes glowing, “we had over a thousand participants."
The door closed behind them. I looked outside; the rain stopped so has the wind. Golden streaks of sunshine bathed the universe. The footpaths were glowing.
"Modern medicine is astoundingly efficacious in acute care medicine," I thought, reflecting on my one and half decades of training in India and the US to be a cardiac electrophysiologist. "Combining yoga makes it so even in non-communicable chronic diseases."
Within an hour, I managed to get into my hospital, rushing to see the first patient.
An older gentleman was ushered in, and a young lady held his hands with care as if she held a masterpiece just drawn by Van Gogh. "This is Mr…. and his daughter Milly," said the ushering-in nurse with her staple staccato speech as she helped the gentleman sit on the patient's bed with his head inclined.
It was still raining, as I could see through the greased glasses of the large old Victorian window. The wind was still perceptibly strong, bent the trees, and drove the rain before it like a cloud of smoke.
We discussed his condition. "He has been having palpitations since he was diagnosed with heart failure," the daughter retorted to my questioning the old man about his symptoms. Then, as we finished with the patient and it was time for them to leave, the daughter turned back from the door. "I have one question for you, though I am not sure if it would be right to ask!"
"Please go ahead," I said as I saw a storm hitting the window with more fury and thunderous claps, splitting the sky with streaks of violet light. What could she ask, I wondered? Diet, medicine…we spoke about everything. I even promised to send his cardiologist and primary care a letter updating my plans.
"My father was an athlete and very healthy," She looked at me with a matter-of-fact tone, "Can he at least do Yoga to keep his fitness?"
"Yoga?" I burped; that frankly took me by surprise. Not a common question that I get asked every day.
"Who will teach him to do yoga?" I asked her while trying to gain time to answer her real questions.
"I am a trained yoga therapist," she looked back at me, throwing her hair back as if it was not a big deal. "I run a yoga studio." Then, she looked at me pointedly.
I have been a yoga practitioner for some time now. So, with an elementary knowledge of the subject, we discussed what he could do and avoid till he got his cardiac ejection fraction better.
She was visibly surprised at my comfort in answering her. "I had asked both his primary care and cardiologist," she complained, "they proposed that I see a complementary medicine practice."
Yoga is a non-religious, spiritual, therapeutic, scientific, and inclusive process for humanity of every color, creed, sex, and culture. It is a practical philosophy for health and wellness. Although yoga is occasionally misconstrued as religious, mystical, esoteric, and occult, it is anything but that. The "Yoga Sutras," written by sage Patanjali around 1000 BC or even earlier, is the only definitive yoga text delineating this. The author defines yoga as controlling oneself to be successful, happy, and healthy. There is no requirement to believe in God, do sacred chanting, or even be prayerful to benefit from yoga. Thanks to scientific discoveries and medical research, yoga has been an integral part of what is now called "integrative medicine. Most chronic non-communicable diseases like heart disease, cancer, and rheumatic diseases can be both prevented or attenuated using yoga in addition to modern medicine. Yoga works internally to reduce stress, brings about changes in the brain that decreases anxiety and depression, and overhauls the autonomic nervous system, accentuating the parasympathetic function protective of the heart. Yoga has also been found to increase immunity that protects against various infections and certainly Covid 19.
With millions of purported daily Yoga practitioners in this country using yoga to stay healthy with their own pocket money, physicians need to understand the basics of the system and its scientific and medical relevance.
"International Yoga Day was on the 21st of June," I asked the patient's daughter; "did you do anything special?"
"Yes, I took a yoga session online,” She retorted with her eyes glowing, “we had over a thousand participants."
The door closed behind them. I looked outside; the rain stopped so has the wind. Golden streaks of sunshine bathed the universe. The footpaths were glowing.
"Modern medicine is astoundingly efficacious in acute care medicine," I thought, reflecting on my one and half decades of training in India and the US to be a cardiac electrophysiologist. "Combining yoga makes it so even in non-communicable chronic diseases."
Indranill Basu-Ray is a Cardiologist and a Cardiac Electrophysiologist. He is also a Professor of Cardiology and Public Health. He is the President of American Academy for Yoga in Medicine (AAYM). He is the author of the book “The Principle and Practice of Yoga in Cardiovascular Medicine.”
