Heal Yourself with Yoga

PREFACE
I am not a professional exponent of Yoga or a guru
peddling spiritualism. The reason for my writing
this medico-yogic treatise was my father's 40-year
bouts with asthma and the general ill-health of the
family—afflicted by diabetes, rheumatism as age
advanced and, of course, asthma, among others.
Unfortunately, this heavy burden is carried on to
the present day in the different branches of the
family tree.
With some exceptions, like myself. If heredity
has a say, I should be spending sleepless nights,
wheezing and coughing, fighting with my bodily
system for the supply of every ounce of oxygen
down the trachea. Yet I enjoy blissful nights and
zest-filled days.
Paradoxically, I owe my general good health—so
far, what the future holds I know not—-to my father's
suffering and his final conquest of asthma. Ours
was a very orthodox Brahmin family; yet I remem-
ber my father gulping down chicken soup, powder-
ed crocodile liver, black-monkey rasayana—anything
and everything which was rumoured to bring even
temporary relief from those crippling asthmatic
attacks. Needless to say, he had tried all systems of
medicine—allopathy, ayurveda, unani, homoeopathy
and, of course, quackery—all in vain.
He had resigned himself to those asthmatic
attacks, when he came across a series of articles on
Yoga asanas in a magazine. Believing that he could
not lose—for his knowledge of Yoga then was confin-
ed to the belief that it should be strictly left to the
world-weary and the weird living in Himalayan
isolation or to the showman in the circus—he started
practising the Yogic poses, with the magazine
articles acting as guide and guru. Six months pass-
ed, and it seemed to him that the asthmatic attacks
had become less frequent, less violent.
Asthma had so far not claimed me for itself, and
father decided that notwithstanding my age — I
was in my pre-teens — I should be started on Yoga
practice immediately. Thus began my study and
practice of Yoga.
He had by then got hold of many books on Yoga
asanas. Among them I remember those by V. N.
Kumaraswamy, Bangalore Sundaram and Swami
Sivananda. We both avidly read them and practised
the poses almost fanatically. Within two years,
father could claim that he had finally controlled a
40-year-old demon which no medicine could kill.
If I can congratulate myself on anything in life,
it is my sticking to Yogic practice like a leech despite
the little inconveniences that cropped up occasion-
ally. And I may claim that it is to this steadfastness
that I owe my good health and energy.
Having gained something, I wanted to share. It
is this desire which goaded me into this venture of
writing. Though initially I wanted to serialise the
articles in a magazine, a casual reference about the
manuscript to a friend led me to approach some
publishers. To my pleasant surprise, more than one
showed their interest in it.
It is my good fortune that the MS finally found
itself in the able hands of Dr. R. J. Mehta of D. B.
Taraporevala Sons and Co. Private Ltd. and Dr. K.
P. Dave, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, both of
whom have done a thorough job of revising the text.
I owe them my sincere gratitude.
I should also mention my gratitude for the support
extended by my wife Uma, a teacher, and my
daughters Meera, a medical student, and Krishna,
all of whom practise Yoga asanas.
My efforts will not have been in vain if this book
helps alleviate the suffering of even one person.
Bombay E. R. RAM KUMAR

CONTENTS
Foreword
Preface
What Is Yoga
How To Do Yoga Asanas
The Body Machine
Padnlasana
Bhujangasana
Shalabhasana
Dhanurasana
Paschimothanasana — I
Paschimothanasana — II
Halasana — I
Halasana — II
Mayurasana
Sarvangasana — I
Sarvangasana— II
Sarvangasana — III
Sarvangasana — IV
Sarvangasana — V
Sarvangasana — VI
Sarvangasana — VII
Sarvangasana — VIII
Sarvangasana — IX
Matsyasana — I
Matsyasana — II
Sirshasana — I
Sirshasana — II
Sirshasana — III
Sirshasana — IV
Sirshasana — V
Sirshasana — VI
Sirshasana — VII
Aswini Mudra — I
Aswini Mudra — II
Vipareethakarani
Ardha-Matsyendrasana
Yoga Mudra
Padahasthasana
Trikonasana
Vajrasana
Uddiyana
Nauli Kriya
Shavasana
Pranayama
Time Schedule