Whenever people ask me the question, "Does yoga really help?", I always reply with an emphatic "Yes, it does". Then I go on to tell people how it changed my life. Till the age of 42 I used to be a bad asthmatic. Hospitalisation, steroids, and nebulizers were a way of life. After the complications of all the drugs and the stress on the body, I was hospitalized for close to 6 months. I had breathlessness, bp and a high heart rate. I was finding regular walking difficult. It was around this time that I met Mr. Desikachar, who took my pulse and told me not to worry and that I would be running in a few months, let alone walking. Over the next couple of months of yoga, my health improved dramatically and I did go back to jogging.
Today I hardly even use the inhaler and many times I find that it's past its expiry date. It has given me great strength both physically and mentally . As a visiting design faculty in a few colleges I find my approach to teaching has changed after yoga .
Somehow, my day feels incomplete without even a few minutes of yoga. And once I go through my session, everything changes for the better - the whole day ahead and even my outlook on life. I would recommend regular yoga practise to everyone as a key to good health.