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Breathe In, Breathe Out
The Art of Yoga By Greg Downs
"At 61 she got married for the first time," says Kout. "Not only did she change her body, but she opened herself up emotionally. She's now happily married and very attractive and limber. As she was getting older, she was actually getting younger. Miracles do happen."
O'Bannon, the product manager who takes yoga classes at the Chicago Bally's, has suffered from asthma for years. "Yoga has really helped me a lot," she says. "It helps you take in more air and relax. I don't have strong attacks anymore. I attribute that to my yoga. I don't use my inhaler as often on days I do yoga."
In the last 10 years, yoga groups for people with HIV have become common. Studies have shown that yoga practitioners are less likely to develop full-blown AIDS, says Hotep.
"One of the things about an illness is that you feel out of control," says Kout. "Yoga helps you bring the locus of control back into yourself. There's less of a victim mentality. You don't need someone to do something for you when you're in pain. You know you can do it yourself. I've seen people heal old injuries. I've seen people rehabilitate things like breaks and strains. I've seen people able to sleep because they're breathing more correctly."
While yoga doesn't usually burn as many calories as some high-impact workouts, the discipline -- by stressing self-knowledge, control and nutrition -- can play an active role in helping people lose weight. Hotep says he recently ran into a former pupil who had lost 35 pounds while taking yoga. The student said she also no longer suffers from stomach pains that had stumped her doctors and plagued her for years.
