The bare necessities
As daily life turns more and more into a rat race, Yasmine El-Rashidi checks out the art of sitting still
"Yoga actually means union," says Sandeep, a freelance yoga master, who notices that we all live our lives without really thinking about the body. When asked by Sandeep what they do to take care of their bodies, most people answered exercise, running or aerobics. "Think of a car, and think of a long road covered in rocks and holes. Now imagine taking your very expensive car and driving it full-speed down that road," he says of traditional exercise, explaining that it has a similar effect on the human body. The connections between the mind and body through breathing are essential and, according to Sandeep, they are what yoga focusses on. "We have gotten so used to this fast-paced rush that we don't take the time to just stop and focus on ourselves and our minds," he continues. "But I do see a change. Yoga is becoming much more popular here. There's certainly a change since I arrived in Cairo seven years ago."
To most people, though, for lack of information, yoga seems like nonsense -- the art of sitting, breathing, attempting to be more attuned to the universe and the soul. It is not surprising therefore that many don't take yoga seriously. Most of us, it has to be said, have a hard time sitting still.
"I felt I was running around too much, that I never really took time for myself," says Dina Sha'ban, a housewife and mother of a 12-year- old. "I thought I could relax by walking or by reading occasionally. But I was never 100 per cent relaxed. I never felt completely at peace."
Yoga, meditation and Pilates, Sha'ban says, were never an option. "You couldn't have paid me to do this kind of stuff before," laughs this now adept yogi. The activities she speaks of are, at their optimum, a lifestyle uniting the mind, body and soul.
Yoga groups have begun to infiltrate sports clubs, fitness centres and even the homes of some well-to-do families.
"I know of one woman whose yoga teacher gives a class twice a week in her garden," says Beatrice Awad, a 12-year Cairo resident from Denmark married to an Egyptian. "There are always at least 15 people there. I remember that the group started with four [people] a few years ago." On the other hand, at the Indian Cultural Centre downtown, three-month yoga courses are offered for LE60 per course, providing a reasonable alternative to the classes offered at venues likes sports clubs and fitness centres which only a small percentage of the population can afford.
As with many things, yoga and other holistic approaches to well-being gained fame in other parts of the world before hitting Cairo. But now, yoga is not only available through classes at the afore- mentioned venues around the city but also at beach resorts such as Dahab and Moon Beach in Ras Sudr, where "yoga retreat" packages are offered as a vacation option.
But what, many ask, is yoga?
"Yoga is a form of exercise based on the belief that the body and breath are intimately connected with the mind. By controlling the breath and holding the body in steady poses or asanas (exercises), yoga creates harmony," writes yoga master Chandra in The 101 Essential Yoga Tips, a publication of the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Centre. "Yoga practice consists of five key elements: proper breathing, proper exercise, proper relaxation, proper diet, and positive thinking and meditation. The asanas are designed to ease tensed muscles, to tone up the internal organs and to improve the flexibility of the body's joints and ligaments."
Practicing yoga involves the mind and its control over every aspect of our existence -- biological, mental, emotional and creative. The goal of yoga is to peel away the layers of obscurity that cloud our ability to see clearly. Clarity comes from a place within that is innate, immutable and perfect. When we operate from that perfect space of awareness, our actions will relate to reality rather than to our "clouded" perceptions of it.
Breathing is critical to the process.
"Breathing gives life," Chandra writes. "Without oxygen, no human cell can live for more than a few minutes. Many people use only part of their full breathing capacity, taking in about one-third of the oxygen that their lungs could use. This leads to stress and fatigue."
Through yoga, one is taught proper breathing techniques, including breathing through the nose, and one is encouraged to accentuate exhalation rather than inhalation to cleanse the lungs and eliminate toxins.
Pilates -- another form of mind-body- breathing union which is now all the rage at local gyms -- also stresses the importance of breathing. The Pilates method combines stretches and strengthening exercises to tone muscles, improve posture, increase both strength and flexibility, and simultaneously balance and unite the mind and body. The Pilates philosophy is based on the principle that traditional exercise regimens are insufficient because they are based on isolated muscles (for example in resistance training) and work each area of the body individually rather than as the integrated whole that it is.
"It makes perfect sense," says Sandeep. "What we do to our bodies is very unnatural. It's not to say that the gym and resistance training are bad for us, but human nature has a tendency to take things to the extreme. Of course, there's the same risk with yoga. The yoga principle focusses on relaxation, a diet consisting of wholesome vegetarian foods that are easily digested and a lifestyle centered around positive thinking."
Joseph Pilates, the creator of the Pilates method of body conditioning, coined the phrase "physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness". "If at the age of 30 you are stiff and out of shape," he writes in his book entitled The Pilates Body, "then you are old. If at 60 you are supple and strong, then you are young."
Based on this belief, Pilates, like other forms of holistic exercise, reduces stress and fatigue. It uses visual images to engage the mind and body, triggers instinctual muscle reactions through visual images and, above all, allows one to reclaim power by believing that one can.
"The first and biggest hurdle in exercise is combating the mind's self-deprecation," Pilates writes. "Many people come to my studio and instinctively begin reciting their shortcomings: I'm weak, I'm uncoordinated, I'm lazy.... The power each of us holds to take over our well-being is startling," he continues. "We were all born with that power. We were all children with active imaginations that continue to live inside of us. Believing in your innate ability to achieve is the key to changing your body."
Both yoga and Pilates have movements of their own. In Pilates, there is the "roll-up", the "hundred" and the "boomerang". In yoga, one can perform the "sun salutation" (a 12-step warm-up exercise that limbers the entire mind and body), the "headstand sequence" (aimed at supplying the upper-regions of the body with oxygen), and the "butterfly" (the sitting pose that remedies poor posture by stretching and strengthening the muscles of the legs and back).
Each method of conditioning works according to individual levels of flexibility and body union. Whichever method one chooses, the end-goal is the same -- uniting the mind, body and soul to focus one's thoughts, perspectives and energies, to attain unity with one's integrated self, and to achieve internal peace with the external world.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 12 - 18 June 2003 (Issue No. 642)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/642/li1.htm