Countering obesity

The human body is a combination of cells, they combine in various permutations and form different systems responsible for all positive and negative effects which ultimately influence the whole body.

A problem that plagues everyone today, irrespective of age is the need to lose weight. And so fad diets, liposuctions, excessive workouts and other alternative body-harming solutions/therapies are resorted to. What one needs to understand, is that obesity isn’t always the by-product of excessive food intake or unhealthy lifestyles, but also emotional congestion.

According to Ayurveda, obesity manifests itself in different forms in your body depending on your predominant dosha. And while for some it’s easier to lose for others it gets very tough.

A combination of prescribed herbs, asans and change in diets will only attend to the physical body, scratching only the surface rather than eradicating the root cause.

Here I detail to you from my book, ‘Sanatan Kriya-Essence of Yoga’ an effective pranayama, which will work on the body from the core to the periphery, removing any blockages, congestions which form the basis of such problems in the body, obesity being one such manifestation of imbalance in the body.

Sit with a straight spine. Close your eyes and become aware of your breath at the tip of the nostrils and watch the rhythmic pattern of the breath

Gently take your awareness to the navel and as you inhale, inflate your stomach and as you exhale, contract it. With every breath, make your breath deeper and longer. This is abdominal breathing.

As you get comfortable with this breathing pattern, take a long breath and as you exhale open your mouth and with the abdominal exhalation let out a sigh of relief. If you have done this exhalation with awareness you will realize that the air went out touching the interiors of your throat with a gentle hiss.

Follow the same process now with your mouth closed. Feel the air travelling through your throat with a gentle hissing sound without apparently touching your nostrils.

Slowly practice the abdominal inhalation as well with awareness of your abdomen but with the air flowing through your throat gently making a rustling sound through it.

Continue with abdominal breathing with this modification with the mouth closed.

If you’re breathing in for 5 counts then breathe out for 10. Continue for 5-10 min, increase gradually.

Breathing in the right way has a direct effect on our health and state of being.

During the respiration process, a lot of energy is produced, but as an equal and opposite reaction, a lot of toxicity is also generated in the form of ‘ama’. These toxins corrode the cell and lead to ageing and associated diseases in the body. The faster one breathes, the more are the toxins produced and the faster is the rate of deterioration of cell.

Ujjai Pranayama, is a complete balancing and purification technique, that rids the body off toxins (released during the respiration process), by heating it to a temperature where toxins are removed and simultaneously cooling it making for a complete balance.

The effects of this pranayama are not felt instantly, but takes 2 months to manifest completely.

Yogi Ashwini is the Guiding Light of Dhyan Foundation and an authority on the Vedic Sciences. His book, 'Sanatan Kriya, The Ageless Dimension' is an acclaimed thesis on anti-ageing. Log onto to www.dhyanfoundation.com or mail to [email protected] for more .