The ‘miracles’ of bringing life into balance with yoga

The benefits of yoga have long been recognised in society with classes for adults, pensioners, children and even babies taking place all over the country.

Now experts in a specific form of the art, Dru yoga, are urging people to de-stress in the current credit crunch and pave a new way of life for themselves in the process.

Dru yoga looks at all aspects of the human being – the physical body, breathing patterns, emotions and mental state – all of which need to be balanced in order for individuals to achieve and feel happy.

Such is its power that participants have witnessed life-changing ‘miracles’ after practising the art – with stories of wheelchair users recovering the full use of their legs, and sufferers of depression turning their lives around.

Now advocates of the art believe it also holds the key to effective weight management.

And if the results of a special workshop held in Otley last Sunday are anything to go by, signing up to a class could hold the key to a positive and stress free future.

The class was run by local expert Mona Fairholme and was specifically aimed at weight balance.

Mona, 59, has been practising Dru yoga for 12 years having turned her back on a stressful job to become a yoga teacher.

She said: “I came to it through a friend. I had young children at the time and life was very stressful. I guess I was looking for something in life so I went along and noticed something happening to me through doing the movements. I immediately signed up to do the training course and it really transformed my life.

“It helped my relationships with the children and my husband and I became a much calmer person. Now I feel I could deal with enormous stress in a very balanced and calm way.”

Mona explained during her workshop that in order to balance weight, participants had to work on matters both physical and emotional.

The class was invited to warm up with some gentle, aerobic exercise in order to set pulses racing.

Within minutes of taking part my body felt sufficiently energised and ready for movement.

The group was of mixed ability but none of the movements were too difficult or strenuous for complete beginners like myself.

Mona said: “That’s one of the most wonderful things about Dru yoga. Anyone can do it. It is very accessible. Basically we teach you how to master your thoughts and not be a slave to your desires.

“As well as learning movements which will stimulate the body’s functions to work more efficiently, and increase the metabolic rate, participants can take away techniques which will work on the ‘inside’, supporting the diet that is helping you to work on the ‘outside.’”

All of the movements in the class were taught with gentle care throughout the workshop (Mona’s voice is both soothing and reassuring) so that no one was left feeling embarrassed or excluded.

One of the key components of managing weight according to Mona is the digestive system – a part of the body often neglected.

Mona showed the class how to ‘alight the fire’ in the digestive system to ensure that it was up and running effectively.

This would help to eradicate symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome – a common complaint of the 21st century – and lethargy.

Mona said: “It is incredible how many people have problems with their digestive system. The exercises we teach really help to get the intestines moving.

“If you think of a car, it can’t run without fuel but when topped up it runs efficiently. But if you put the wrong type of fuel into the car you run into all sorts of problems. That is what happens with our digestive system with modern diets. We need to eat simple nutritious food and make sure our digestive system is running effectively.

“Otherwise we get tired and lack energy – another common complaint in modern society. We aim to help people re-light their fire if you like, and get the energy in their gut to improve.”

In order to ‘light the fire’ students were asked to draw breath into their stomachs, pulling inwards and upwards before releasing the breath and the stomach to create a ‘wave type’ effect – massaging the intestines.

A number of the movements involved in the class generated a considerable amount of heat or energy in the body and worked on various internal organs such as the kidneys, colon and even the thyroid function.

But it was not all about movement. Towards the end we were all asked to lie face-down before entering into deep relaxation.

Mona said: “A key to Dru yoga is being in the moment, not in the past or the future but the here and now and accepting yourself.

“You can’t change until you accept yourself – then you can really discover who you are. Weight gain can be the result of emotional crisis or comfort eating. Many people are stressed and anxious in the busy modern world. Everyone is rushing about and doing. We need to take time out to stop and be. Dru yoga looks at ways to empower the mind and body and to help release unwanted emotions so that we can respond to life situations skillfully. It will not change your past but can help you break free from the effects of past experiences.”

The deep relaxation was incredibly refreshing and was followed up by a session of meditation and positive thinking by Dru yoga consultant Louise Rowan.

Participants were asked to focus on what they wanted from life, be it weight loss, personal development, or fulfilment and complete a sequence of empowering moves to help them achieve it.

Louise said: “Dru yoga gives you the skills to act skillfully. People don’t need to start worrying about doing it every day but if they come along to a session and just do one move for five minutes every other day they will notice a change.

“In the current economic crises attendance at yoga classes have soared with people looking for a way to relax. Often women are learning to become yoga teachers to supplement their income but find that their husbands start to show an interest too – especially in order to de-stress.

“But it also has a spiritual aspect to it, which is becoming increasingly popular. In order to effectively lose weight we need to also go on a ‘mind diet’ or to lose the negative thinking and replace it with something positive. We also need to examine our reasons for losing weight to give us some leverage. If you are not that bothered it won’t work but if you have a motivating reason to do it, it will.

“Doing Dru yoga can give you the inner strength and determination to stick with a diet and come up with reasons big enough to change.

“You can diet but the weight may not stay off if you don’t have the right kind of thinking going on.”

On returning home from the class I personally felt relaxed and invigorated and have already been told I look slimmer.

But the classes aren’t just about weight management. They can inspire all sorts of change, both physical, emotional and spiritual.

Louise said: “There are lots of true stories of people whose lives have been changed by trying Dru yoga. One woman I know of arrived at a class in London in a wheelchair. She was very resistant to the idea that the class could help her to change and she had all sorts of health problems.

“By her second class a few weeks later she was walking on two sticks. But she still wasn’t convinced. By her third class she was walking on one stick. Eventually she no longer needed the wheelchair.”

But readers who are not convinced by individual accounts of how Dru yoga works should perhaps pay heed to the results of a recent study into how it reduces stress in the workplace.

Carried out by a professor at Bangor University, Dru yoga was proved to be significantly effective for reducing stress and improving well being in the workplace.

The study found that those employees who practised the art for six weeks reported feeling significantly more energised and happy, more confident in dealing with stress and more satisfied with life than their colleagues who did not practise Dru yoga.

Classes run by Mona are held in Otley at the Salvation Army Community Hall at Newmarket on Tuesdays (6.30pm –8pm) and Wednesdays (7.15pm – 9.15pm). Alternatively there is a class at Otley Rugby Club at Cross Green on Fridays between 9.30am and 11am.