Note: This post is part of a series of articles to introduce you to Maya Yoga Samudraa’s mentor, Yogacharya H.A Rao, and our yogic heritage.
(reproduced from the Sunday Mail, November 4 1984, by Ng Peng Seng)
Veteran yoga Guru H.A Rao, 74, says smokers should get a closer look at yoga which has several exercises that can cleanse the lungs and body system.
A smoker can benefit through bastrika, says Guru Rao from Mysore, India, who has practiced yoga for more than 60 years, including having spent a long period in the Himalayas.
His recommendation consists of a yoga posture where the left hand is raised and the right nostril is covered. Fast rhythmic inhaling and exhaling then follows for about 12 repetitions, this being sufficient to flush out the left lung.
The same can be repeated on the right side with the right arm raised and left nostril closed.
The guru says a smoker should practice this every morning, afternoon, and evening to get the best effect.
“This procedure of internal flushing will keep his lungs fresh and lessen the chances of cancer or other diseases developing.”
There is another yoga posture called asana that should be practiced by the heavy smoker, says the guru. It consists of a slightly couched position with the hands on the thighs and rolling the stomach muscles.
It will result in the cleansing of whatever nicotine or other substances that cigarette smoking may introduce into the body system.
There are about 120 postures in yoga and doing a few everyday will keep a smoker from getting sick if he just cannot give up smoking, says the guru.
He, however, cautions that to do this in the right way, it is best to seek the help of a qualified yoga instructor.
“In fact, if a smoker takes up yoga on a long-term basis, he will find that his urge to smoke gradually reduces until he considers smoking an interference to his goal of pursuing inner peace and tranquility through Raja Yoga, the meditation stage of yoga.”
Yoga is broken down into 2 steps, he explains. The first being “Hatha” yoga, or physical, and the second step is “Raja” or mental yoga.
Even at the stage of “Hatha” yoga, apart from cigarette smoking, certain chronic diseases can be cured, he claims.
Healing
“Through practicing selected postures, diabetes, for example, can be cured without the use of drugs, but through the natural bodily processes,” he says.
“By flushing the internal system with regulated intake of water, and practicing the postures for some months, a cure can be effected.”
He is said to have cured many people of diabetes, asthma, rheumatism, and other ailments, including smoking and drug taking.
Another simple posture of sitting cross-legged and binding the stomach with one’s hands and concentrating the energy there will cure constipation and diarrhea, says the guru.
Over the period of 60 years in practicing yoga, he has acquired a method of healing called “pranic healing.”
He explained that prana is the life force which is dormant in our bodies but experienced yogis are able to control this force for healing by transferring it to a sick person.
He started to practice yoga at age 12. When he was 37, he went to study under a renowned teacher, Mahesh Raja Yogi, in the Himalayan mountains for five years and found a wealth of techniques, many of which he would not reveal as they could cause serious harm should they be misused.
Sponsored
Guru Rao was here visiting his daughter while enroute to Australia where a group has sponsored him to teach them the finer art and techniques of yoga.
When asked about the possibility of being sponsored by Pemadam or other authorities to train yoga teachers to rehabilitate drug addicts, he says he will welcome it and happily put his life-long experience to good use.
His daughter, Mrs Suleiha Merican, can be contacted at 03-443181.
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