Yoga regulates digestion

August 11th, 2006

Just before I took an active interest in the discipline of yoga, I remember a book, written in Hindi, a non-descript publisher of yoga and ayurveda books sent me to write a review for my newspaper. It lay on my desk for weeks together gathering dust.My lethargy owed much to my ingrained disbelief that yoga could accomplish all that it claimed. I became quite irritated as the publisher phoned me almost daily asking me if I could get time to go through the book.

And on one bad morning I did tell the publisher in very clear terms that I neither had time nor interest in reading his book let alone writing a review on it. It was a bad morning because I would normally get up to a persisting flatulence and constipation, and spend close to an hour in the toilet reading the morning newspapers.

It was only once in a week and sometimes in 10 days that I used to feel good in the morning and respond nicely to the ‘good morning’ greetings of my colleagues and others.

Needless to say that morning I had disappointed the publisher with my negativity, however I was peeved at my own behaviour and knew very well that it was all because of my sick gastrointestinal constitution.

I decided that I had to do something about it. But I had no clue, what. The day went away like any other day of my profession as a journalist – eating a breakfast without appetite, rushing to my newspaper office to check up the story of the day, making dozen s of telephone calls to get facts, undertaking interviews to back up the story, hammering on my computer keyboard before having a late lunch at four in the afternoon, going back to the PC to finish the story for the late night submission, meetings and yapping away with my colleagues and returning home to a late dinner past midnight.

I followed that unhealthy routine religiously for a number of years.

That night I returned home to find that my mother was too sick to prepare food. She made me a sandwich instead, which was all I ate that evening, and as the TV wasn’t working, I picked up the yoga book that I was being asked to review and started reading.

Reading page after page, I went through the book which was about common digestive problems. There was one message that was repeated throughout - skip a meal and more often skip dinner to get your bowels in order.

The next morning I got up to a splendid bowel movement, which had been so rare previously. I spent just seven minutes with my ablutions and had time for a hearty breakfast.

Back at the office, I started writing the book review. Then I phoned up the publisher, apologized for my behaviour earlier, and informed him that the review was on its way.

I had had a memorably good morning.

Entry Filed under: Yoga