Tibetan YOGA
Why everyone’s talking about ...
Is it yet another form of trendy yoga?
APPARENTLY tibetan or yantra yoga is a ‘new way to balance mind and soul by stimulating your body’s seven energy centres’ — so you decide.
Seriously, though, it’s been around since the 8th century, but has come to wider public attention thanks to a major university study into ways of helping breast cancer patients cope with chemotherapy.
Who’s making these claims . . .
RESEARCHERS at texas university were intrigued that monks in tibet have practised it for 2,500 years and claim it keeps them healthy and young (well, 2,500 years IS quite an age). the u.S. team discovered in tests that cancer patients who practised tibetan yoga at least twice a week suffered less fatigue and fewer sleep disturbances — common side-effects of chemo.
Does the Dalai Lama do it?
OF COURSE. the 82-year-old (right) recommends ‘the highest yoga tantra’, which involves ‘the power of imagination’ and meditation during which ‘you bring the vital energies into the central channel . . . and the clear light will manifest’. Simple.
Is it a breakthrough in cancer sufferers’ treatment?
THE report in Cancer magazine says short- term results were ‘modest’, while long-term benefits emerge ‘over time’.
Not concrete scientific evidence, then?
WELL, in the world of yoga, everything is fluid. Stress the positive at all times and let the ‘prana vayrus’ (vital energy) flow freely so you meet the force within, expunge negativity and avoid bad karma. yikes!
What’s it all about?
LIKE many forms of yoga, it’s all to do with co- ordinating breath and movement, but with this version, you keep moving rather than hold a position for several breaths. So it should be easier (We hope).
Ooh, is it like Ashtanga (Madonna’s favourite) or Bikram (the one beloved by Jennifer Aniston and Lady Gaga)?
IN a word ... no.
Is it a high-intensity work-out, a bit like Zumba, but done in saffron robes?
NOT really. It’s slow and low impact, though it involves 108 sets of movements and several types of breathing. according to a book called tibetan yoga Of movement, it will ‘profoundly benefit anyone seeking authentic balance, harmony, and the understanding of our true nature.’
Okay, so is it like the tantra yoga that pop star Sting and his wife Trudie do?
ER, NOT quite, but Sting does 90 minutes of yoga a day — performing ‘asanas’ (yoga poses). So maybe he and trudie do it on their tuscan estate already?
Where can I do it?
that’S easy. the Shang Shung Institute (london Institute of tibetan Studies) has a beginners’ course on September 30 and October 1.
I’m keen, but I expect it’s pricey?
THERE’S no set fee to release your inner chakra (psychic energy), just a ‘suggested donation’ of £150 (£120 concessions). But as the ancient Chinese philosopher lao tzu said: ‘the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.’