Yoga For Asthma

What is Asthma?

Asthma is an ancient Greek word that means "panting, gasping or short-drawn breath." It is one of the most discomforting of respiratory ailments, known to affect around 5% of the world’s adult population and 10% of children. Asthmatics suffer from periodic attacks of breathlessness interspersed with bouts of complete normalcy.

When normal people inhale, their air sacs fill up with air like small balloons. In exhalation they deflate expelling air. Airways are clear and open in healthy people. In asthmatics, the reverse takes place because their airways and air sacs have lost their shape and have become floppy. Their bronchi and alveoli collapse, rather than expand when air flows through them. As a result, they can inhale and exhale less.

Symptoms of Asthma

1. Dry cough
2. Difficulty in breathing
3. Shortness of breath
4. Feeling of lightness in the chest
5. Wheezing (hissing or whistling sounds during exhalation.)
6. Sometimes an attack is preceded by a running nose, irritated eyes, or an itchy throat.

Two peculiarities of asthmatics:

1. Almost all patients suffer more attacks at night, in their sleep.

2. Asthmatics have more trouble exhaling than inhaling.

Causes for Asthma

Factors that precipitate an asthma attack are called triggers. They cause the air passages to get clogged and constricted, making it difficult for the patient to breathe. The inflamed bronchioles generate more mucus and also cause the muscles around them to tighten and get irritated, constricting the airways. This is called a bronchospasm.

However, asthma has a variety of causes.

1. Allergy: For most it is an allergy to foods, perfumes, scents, body sprays, deodorizers, the weather, drugs or any other irritants. They vary from person to person. However, dust allergies seem to be the most common factor.

2. Combination of Factors: For others, it is triggered off by a combination of allergic and non-allergic factors including stress and tension, air pollution or infections.

3. Abnormal Body Chemistry: Asthma may result from the abnormal body chemistry involving the body’s enzymes or a defect in muscular action within the lungs.

4. Heredity: In 75 to 100 per cent cases it has been found that when one or both parents suffer from asthma, the children have similar allergic reactions.

Yoga Therapy for Asthma

Tests carried out at Yoga Therapy Centers, across the world, have shown remarkable results in curing asthma. In some cases it has also been found that attacks can actually be averted, without the aid of drugs, just through yogic practices. There is ample research evidence to substantiate the fact that Yoga Therapy makes the treatment so much more successful. Nowadays, even allopathic and homeopathic doctors have arrived at the consensus that Yoga is an excellent alternative therapy for Asthma.

Since Yoga believes that the mind is central to a diseased condition, pacifying and placating it would, in itself, help cure the disease to a great extent. The practice of yogasanas, yogic kriyas, pranayamas, relaxation and meditation calm down the whole system. This, in turn, facilitates proper assimilation of food and strengthens the lungs, digestive and circulatory system. Over a period of time, that checks attacks and even cures the condition.

This is because Yogic practices result in more anxiety reduction than drugs do. Yoga gives patients access to their own internal experience and helps them pin-point the cause of their ailment, i.e find their own triggers. This comes through increased self-awareness. Simple Yogic practices help regulate breathing patterns, as well as enhance lung functioning. Result: Most patients are able to manage their condition by simply allaying their fears and anxieties.

Yoga also has a stabilizing effect on the body’s immune system. It is now proven that the regular and consistent practice of yoga raises the body’s tolerance to infection as well as its local resistance to infections in the respiratory tract. Yogic rest and relaxation reduce the nervous system’s overall activity, leading to remarkable recovery. Only Yoga offers resources like Abhyasa (regular, constant practice) and Vairagya (detachment) as means of holistic healing.

For best results, do all the practices prescribed in our sections on Yoga Asanas, Cleansing Techniques and Pranayama. Lay more emphasis on cleansing techniques like Jala Neti and Sutra Neti, Vaman Dhauti and pranayamas like Kapalbhati, Anuloma-Viloma, Ujjayi, Surbyabhedana and Bhramari. All yogaasanas prescribed are highly beneficial without exceptions or emphasis on any. However, Shavasana, should be practiced for as long as possible and whenever possible, lying down, sitting or standing

The practices work best on an empty stomach, but you should continue to sip water from time to time, to help keep your airways moist. Wear light, loose-fitting clothes and practice in a comfortable, well-ventilated, airy room or outdoors, with adequate room to lie down. If you experience any symptoms lying down, sit on a chair for a while and rest your head on a table, either on your folded arms or on one cheek. If you feel nauseous, anxious, or short of breath in any of the practices, stop immediately, get up and walk around. You are probably just hyperventilating and need to burn off some energy. Don't resume your practices right away. Rather give them a break for about a day or two.

Above all, tell yourself from time to time – particularly when you get irritated or upset with yourself – that the way you breathe now is what is making you ill. It is conditioned behavior, which can easily be altered.

By: Kevin Pederson

Exercise And Yoga For Asthma

Exercise

Give yourself a break -- or two. Dr. Firshein advises everyone with asthma to engage in regular moderate exercise. "It strengthens the lungs, which helps prevent asthma symptoms," he explains. He prefers what he calls pulsed exercise-brief work-outs with rest periods in between. The breaks help prevent exercise-induced asthma attacks. Dr. Firshein's exercise of choice is tennis, but he also swims and takes aerobics classes.

Be the early bird. The concentration of air pollutants tends to rise from morning to early evening, then falls at night. So if you exercise outdoors, try to schedule your workouts for the A.M. Choose routes far away from traffic and automobile exhaust. If that isn't possible, consider joining a health club, so you can exercise indoors.

Yoga

Bend to break away from symptoms. The combination of deep, rhythmic breathing and slow, gentle stretching makes yoga an ideal activity for people with asthma. Indeed, many studies have proven yoga to be an effective asthma therapy.

In one such study involving 106 adults with asthma, half of the participants received standard treatment, while the rest received 2 weeks of yoga training. Afterward, they were encouraged to continue practicing on their own. Four years later, the people who had engaged in regular yoga sessions reported improved lung function, fewer asthma attacks, and milder symptoms than the people who hadn't learned yoga. They had also reduced their reliance on asthma medications.

Visualization

Envision your airways opening. "Visualization is a powerful asthma therapy," affirms psychologist David Bresler, Ph.D., L.Ac., associate clinical professor of anesthesiology and licensed acupuncturist at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine. "It can help many people, especially children, reduce or eliminate their need for asthma drugs."

If you want to use visualization as part of your asthma-management program, Gerald N. Epstein, M.D., director of the Academy of Integrative Medicine and Mental Imagery in New York City, suggests practicing the following exercise: Close your eyes. Take three slow, deep breaths. Envision yourself in a pine forest. Stand next to a pine tree and inhale its aromatic fragrance. As you exhale, sense your breath traveling down through your body and exiting through the soles of your feet. See your breath as gray smoke that becomes buried deep in the earth. Open your eyes.

Chinese Medicine

Get to the points. "In Chinese medicine, asthma represents the stagnation of qi, or life energy, in the lungs," says Efrem Korngold, O.M.D., L.Ac. "Treatment involves dispersing qi to eliminate stagnation." One way to do this is with acupuncture. In fact, acupuncture works so well as an asthma therapy that even the United Nations World Health Organization recommends it.

During a treatment session, an acupuncturist inserts needles at several specific locations around the body. If you prefer, you can try stimulating these points yourself with acupressure. Simply apply steady, penetrating finger pressure to each of the following points for 3 minutes.

Lung 7, located on the thumb side of your inner forearm, two thumb-widths from the wrist crease

Pericardium 6, located on the midline of your inner arm, two thumb-widths above the wrist crease

Stomach 36, located four finger-widths below your kneecap and one finger-width toward the outside of your shin-bone

Liver 3, situated on top of your foot in the webbing between your big toe and second toe


Read out for Vitamins. Check out arthritis treatment and home remedies.

Facing Asthma With Asthma Exercise

Asthma is a journey – a daily dose of unpredictability and a balancing act required to prevent attacks. For those who suffer from asthma, there is no end to the exploration of treatments that can possibly alleviate – and maybe even prevent – symptoms. Most have found a way to combine traditional medicine with a more holistic mind/body approach; the result is a very individual approach to a very individual disease.

One such natural approach that asthmatics are using in conjunction with traditional medical treatment is asthma exercise. Asthma exercise can encompass any form of exercise that brings about improvement in overall health thus lessening the effects of asthma.

Experts believe that exercise triggers the opening of bronchial tubes; the result can be extended relief from the irritated and constricted airways of those suffering from asthma attacks.

Some asthmatics turn to aerobics for their forms of asthma exercise. Walking, dancing, and any other exercise where your heart rate is increased can be healthy for your overall health and can go a long way towards lessening your symptoms of asthma.

Others concentrate on those exercises that establish a mind/body connection. Yoga can be an excellent asthma exercise; allowing your body and your mind to relax in unison. Additionally, yoga uses breathing patterns as a component of the exercise itself. Those who practice yoga must learn to hold certain postures while focusing on deep and cleansing breaths. This can be an enormously helpful asthma exercise for those who suffer from this respiratory system disease.

Get online for access to a multitude of resources developed for the asthma sufferer. Updates on asthma treatments, guides to keeping you healthy, and an online community of support will keep you feeling proactive and positive about managing your disease. Find out what asthma exercise has made improvements in the lives of other asthmatics. Try them out experimentally and take careful mental notes on what asthma exercise made you feel well and what was less successful.

Asthma exercise can be a fantastic tool that you can use to keep control of your symptoms. But nothing replaces the guidance of a medical professional in keeping you healthy. Be sure to check with your doctor before embarking on any new exercise program.

With proper medical supervision and a commitment to improved overall health, you are likely to see an improvement – and maybe cessation – of many of your asthma symptoms. Asthma exercise can leave you feeling happy, healthy, and in control.

By: Michelle Bery

Yoga For Asthma Cure

Yoga has helped in curing and preventing many diseases. The poses and asanas stimulate the required organs and help you with your ailments. Asthma is a very common problem. It is basically shortness of breath due to the chronic lung condition. Even kids are not spared by this disease. You suffer wheezing, coughing, heaviness in the chest causing blockage in your lungs. During asthma attack lack of oxygen can lead to death too. By doing the required asanas you can fight back.

Yoga betters your asthma condition due to the free flow of air. By continuously practicing yoga you can leave your medications at bay. Asthma attacks would lessen with the increase of yoga practice. The breathing exercises are very useful to open up your lungs for fresh air.

Back bending postures are very good to open up your chest to improve your heart and lung condition. Practicing upper back bends and chest opening postures helps, in exhaling during asthma attacks. Forward bends and lower back bending poses help in inhaling, during the attack. Mucus can be removed by inverted postures.

Pranayama is an excellent way to have a controlled breath to avoid any asthma attacks. According to the triggering factors for asthma attacks, one should practice pranayama. Dirga prananyama is a multi-purpose asana and helps in slow and deep breathing exercise. Nadi Sodhana can help you with stress and emotional turmoil.

Asthma triggered by cold can be helped by Ujjayi pranayama. Allergic trigger patterns can be avoided by Sitt Kari or Shitali pranayama. Kapalbhatti pranayama is very good to reduce the mucus congestion.

These breathing exercises are very good to strengthen and relax the muscles of lungs. During the asthma attack this proves to be very useful. It reduces the nerve activity in the airways causing fewer bottlenecks during the attack. It helps cleanse the air passage to breathe easily. It helps in stabilizing the autonomous nervous systems.

Pranayama if practiced regularly can do lot of difference to your health. This would help you to have asthma free life. Props used while doing these asanas may help you better. Breathing helps to soothe the lining of the bronchial tree and helps in preventing the external allergens. It is said that the single and long inhalation is very good for relaxation.

Some Asanas which would relieve Asthma from your life

- Dandasana
- Baddhakonasana
- Upavista Konasana
- Virasana
- Supta Baddhakonasana
- Supta Virasana
- Setubandha Sarvangasana
- Adhomukha Svanasana
- Uttanasana
- Tadasana Samasthithi

Warning: The reader of this article should exercise all precautions before following any of the asanas from this article and the site. To avoid any problems while doing the asanas, it is advised that you consult a doctor and a yoga instructor. The responsibility lies solely with the reader and not with the site or the writer.



Sharon Hopkins handles sites related to yoga, which opens a new door of knowledge towards yoga and its health benefits Yoga for Asthma Cure - These yoga asana help you live an asthma free life.