27 of 29

Write now Article Tools

The benefits I have received from practicing yoga regularly have been enormous, and it is my passion to inspire other people to take up yoga too, so that they might enjoy these benefits.

The benefit I want to focus on is rehabilitation.

In January of 1992, at the age of 16 I had a spinal fusion to fix a herniated disc. While I was under general anesthetic, the surgeon removed the disc, and fused a portion of my hipbone in between the two vertebrae. I spent five days in hospital, a month in bed, three months wearing a restraining corset, and six months being unable to go to the gym, dance, or live freely, but the operation was deemed a success and I was pain free for nearly four years. At no time after this operation was any type of rehabilitation recommended to me, beyond walking.

Then one afternoon four or five years later, I was jogging along a beach and felt the same stabbing pain that had alerted me to the first herniated disc but this time in my right leg. I was terrified that I would have to have another operation, so it was back to the doctor. He examined me, lifting my leg this way and that to determine my range of motion. But he couldn't tell me what had happened, why it had happened, or what to do about it. The best the doctor could say was avoid sitting' and rest up'.

This was the beginning of my frustration with the medical profession as it dawned on me that doctors were not Gods, and are often as flummoxed by health issues as we are.

Fast forward to Canada 2000. My back had seriously bothered me on and off for 5 years now. I'd discovered - on my own with no help from doctors - that as long as I kept going to the gym, I was okay. But a particularly bad attack that had occurred at the end of a two month driving tour of America lots of sitting and no activity had left me with residual numbness in my right foot and my attacks were becoming more and more frequent.

I finally went for x-rays. They said it was "Degenerative disc disease". There was no cure and there was no hope. The best I could do was wrap myself up in cotton wool and get used to taking painkillers.

That night, contemplating my back, and the doctors' words, I made a decision that was to change my life. I wasn't going to accept what the doctors told me and I was going to complete responsibility for healing my back myself.

Previously a sceptic, I opened my mind up wide and started searching for answers. I delved into every healing book I could get my hands on, examining the emotional, mental, spiritual

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about The benefits of yoga?
We want to hear your view. Write now!