How to Use Yoga as Medicine

There are entire books written about yoga’s application as medicine. Among many other labels, it’s widely considered a form of alternative medicine.

I prefer yoga as medicine over taking pills; both have the ability to change your body on a physiological level, but the former is much safer in the long-term, gentler in the short-term and much more permanent. Plus, I prefer the high you get from practicing yoga as opposed to the daze you experience when taking pills.

Yoga is a funny medicine. Rather than covering up symptoms of pain, it will let you know where exactly the pain is located – if you listen close enough, your body will even tell you what caused the pain and what you need to do to fix it. Pills aren’t so magical. They just trick you into feeling better while the festering continues inside.

As we enter into Spring blooms, blossoms, rain showers and flowers, allergies and colds prevail. If you’re a spring allergy sufferer, don’t let sinus pressure clog you up and keep you down from enjoying the outdoors. While the following sequence I’ve created will help you feel better temporarily, I make no promises of a magical cure-all.

What this sequence will do for you is offer up a space in your day where you can quiet the mind and listen to what your allergies, throbbing head pain and body is telling you. Your body will give you the answer if you trust and listen. First, you need to remove all the distractions and noise in your daily life.

So take a moment (it’s less than 10 minutes) and find some relief – from the pain, from the suffering, from your day. Do this for you, first and foremost, not for the pain. You deserve better than that.

Here’s to spring-long relief!