Become a pretzel and find inner peace
By: Jason Boyd
Posted: 1/29/07
Pretzel shapes and limber joints aside, yoga has applicable benefits for life in a physical, spiritual and mental capacity – even improving grades – according to Eastfield yoga instructor Ike “Dada” Theo.

In addition to teaching the positions, Theo teaches some of the holistic and philosophical aspects of yoga.

The word comes from the original Yuj, which in Sanskrit means “link or connection,” Theo said. The connection is between the physical, spiritual and mental.

Positions, according to Theo, compress or relax certain glands, thus balancing hormonal distribution. For example, a position of laying on one’s back with feet straight in the air above the chest will compress the neck and the neck’s thyroid gland. A consecutive position will have the neck arched, which relaxes the neck and the corresponding gland. It’s through this, and meditation, that the mental state is improved.

Meditation is not sleeping, Theo said, it’s actually much more focused thinking.

The mind can only think of one thing at a time, but through rapid and chaotic thoughts it seems like our minds are split among several things, he said.

Haleen Sookoor, SPAR receptionist and yoga practitioner, takes lessons from Theo. She described the meditation as her favorite part of the class.

“The instructor told us to lie still, shut the eyes, take deep, slow breaths and imagine floating on clouds,” she said. “The lights were turned down, there was soft, soothing music playing, and the voice of the instructor encouraging us to relax, relax, relax, feel the body floating on clouds, feel the cool breeze, listen to the sounds of water, hear the birds chirping.”

The need for meditation may be more prevalent in the United States, Theo said.

Theo said he was born in Malaysia and grew up in Asia. Compared to America it was easier to calm down, he said. He said our culture is partly to blame, with its focus on the fast-paced lifestyle, and so it poses a problem when it comes to relaxation.

“It’s harder for an American to calm the mind,” he said.

But meditation focuses the mind on one thing for an extended period of time, giving the mind time to relax, he said.

With a relaxed mind, Theo said, it’s easier to absorb studies.

He first began yoga when he was in final exams for high school in Malaysia. He said before he began yoga it was very stressful to cram and study, but yoga helped him relax and focus. It was also helpful in his college years at Dresden University in Ohio.

He said he believes yoga made him a better student and could help others do the same.

It doesn’t matter if students are not limber to begin with, he said. When he first began he couldn’t even sit cross-legged correctly by yoga standards. He’s had students who were inflexible, due to health concerns or otherwise, but he worked with them and their individual talents.

Sookoor also encourages students to put an hour aside if they can spare it to practice yoga, even if it feels strange at first. She said she doesn’t practice every day, but when times get rough it helps her relax and now she suffers from fewer headaches than she did before.

Also, Theo wants students to know that yoga is not a religion and does not go against Christianity or any other religion. Actually, he said, through the calm and peace you achieve it can be easier to divine meaning from scriptures and feel better connected to your religion.

In addition to being more in touch with your religion, according to Theo, it can put you in better touch with your humanity. He said emotions like anger, jealousy or hate are reduced because you’re less burdened by stress and confusion. This can improve every aspect of your social life.

Sookoor found a spiritual benefit in addition to her increased calm.

“It taught me to be at peace with all beings, and by doing so, it taught me to be one with the entire universe – like a piece of a jig-saw puzzle fitting into the whole picture,” she said.

Similar to a jig-saw puzzle, yoga is split among five different schools: Hatha, Raja, Karma, Bhakti and Jnana.

Hatha Yoga is the most popular form of yoga in America, according to Answers.com. It consists of over 200 positions, movement and breathing methods.

Raja Yoga, according to Wikipedia.org, is focused on the cultivation of the mind through meditation, so as to become better acquainted with reality and through doing so find liberation.

Karma Yoga is more philosophical. On Wikipedia it describes it as the practice of focusing on the “disipline of action,” and is concerned with the adherence to duty detached from the reward and as a result receiving love from God or salvation.

Bhakti is another philosophical branch of yoga, according to Wikipedia. It is primarily focused on becoming closer to God in whatever way the devotee views him or her.

Jnana Yoga, while philosophical, is more about finding one’s self. Wikipedia lists the four means to that end as: discrimination, dispassion, long for liberation from temporal limitations and six virtues. The virtues are control of the mind, control of the senses, renunciation of activities that are not duties, endurance, faith and perfect concentration.

Theo is willing to teach any class size and has taught as few as one at a time. A class he taught last semester at Brookhaven had zero students at the beginning and slowly grew to 17, so he wants as many students to come and enjoy the experience, even if it’s just one at a time.

Every Thursday, from 4-5 p.m., Theo instructs whoever comes to room P-208. It’s free, open and casual. The class itself is not a credit class but is offered courtesy of the Eastfield yoga club. http://media.www.eastfieldnews.com/media/storage/paper1070/news/2007/01/29/OnCampus/Become.A.Pretzel.And.Find.Inner.Peace-2684057.shtml