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A Bit of Yoga You Can do Right Now
The Lion's Pose
Speaking as a person who recently experienced one of those transitory illnesses that occasionally disrupt life's flow, bugs are everywhere. You can't avoid them even if you have the elaborate germophobic habits of Monk. Not only are they on every doorknob, every faucet handle and every hand you shake, they are already in your system as well, waiting for an opportunity to proliferate and inhibit your enjoyment of life -- or even to knock you out of commission for a week.
I acknowledge the right of germs to exist. It's a right I claim for myself, after all. I even acknowledge their right to do what they have to do to survive. That doesn't mean I need to make it easy for them any more than a mouse has to make it easy for the fox. Neither do I need to set up endless anti-bacterial defenses. Like arms proliferation, any protection they appear to provide is an illusion.
The trick is to cultivate health within oneself just as a monk (not Monk) cultivates peace within him or her self as a response to conflict. We cannot control others (people or germs), but we can enhance our own strength, health and general well-being to a point where the dangers in the world (whether from other people or from microbes) have the smallest possible impact on our lives.
As far as enhancing our physical health goes, good strategies are: get plenty of sleep; laugh daily; hang out with supportive, positive people; eat healthy, real foods (preferably while laughing and hanging out with positive people); pump fresh air through your lungs several times a week; and do yoga regularly. Ongoing yoga practice enhances the immune system automatically (my hayfever, once a yearly ordeal, is gone now) but there are a few exercises that are specifics for the immune system.
The lion's pose is a powerful enhancer of the immune system, and it drives dogs wild and embarrasses, or amuses, children (depending on their ages). The laughter it provokes around the office or among your friends is an additional immune enhancer.
Sit toward the front edge of whatever chair you're sitting on (or kneel on the floor) with your hands resting on your knees. If your chair rolls around, brace its back against something steady.
Take a deep, deep breath. Inhale, inhale, inhale . . .
When your lungs are full enough that they feel like they might explode, spring forward like a jungle cat with your hands extended like ravening claws as you forcibly exhale every molecule of air in your lungs. Pretend any weird sounds that come out are your fierce roar. Even if you are not physically capable of leaping forward, do as much of the reast as is possible. Remember, you can always laugh!
At the same time, stick your tongue out as far as it will go and turn your eyes to look at the spot on your forehead right between your eyebrows. Yes, you are likely to look cross-eyed.
If you're just not ready for the lion's pose, try spending five minutes a day laughing. If you think that doesn't sound like yoga, I assure you, there is a guru straight out of India who promotes laughter meditation. You don't even need something to laugh at. The physiological effect of pretending to laugh is the same as genuine laughter, and it can inspire genuine laughter. Every time the bug du jour is going around, I make my yoga students laugh for a few moments during class. Some experience acute embarrassment. If that is you, get over it! If others laugh at you, you've enhanced their immune systems as well as your own. If they look down their noses at you, they've made an unconscious choice to compromise their immune systems.
Your truest obligation is to keep yourself healthy both for your own sake and for the sakes of those who depend on you, from goldfish, to family, to employer.
The spirit in me salutes the spirit in you. We're all in bodies together.