It is customary on International Yoga Day to remind the world of the all-around physical and mental well-being that this ancient Indian system engenders. But perhaps few know that a band of devoted selfless yoga gurus have been using yoga-asanas to help hundreds of Parkinson’s patients slow the unfortunate degeneration of their muscles and, in some cases, even reverse the degeneration somewhat.Dr Rajvi Mehta, a senior Iyengar yoga teacher, is the driving force behind this move and is ably supported by a band of equally selfless yoga teachers and students. Every year, Mehta organises an eight-day yoga course for Parkinson’s patients at their centre in Lower Parel, Mumbai. The fee of ₹1,500 won’t even cover a tiny portion of the many props that Iyengar Yogashray has acquired for the patients and the many hours these teachers spend helping the patients.
Post the eight-day programme, most Parkinson’s patients, who continue practising the asanas regularly have reported much freer movement, and at very least some peace with their own selves when in the asanas. Dr Mehta has authored a beautiful book, “Imagine if”, which is an accumulation of real-life stories of people who persevered through various adversities- physical and emotional traumas- and found the strength to survive and thrive, because of Iyengar Yoga.
“Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured.”, Mehta told her class of Parkinson’s patients, which I attended with a young relative affected by this disease. “These classes are organised in the spirit of this quote of BKS Iyengar,” she said.I can personally vouch for the dramatic improvement in the mental confidence and physical improvement of my relative after the classes.
But what moved me was the selfless devotion of Mehta and her team of teachers and how they literally carried some of the patients to the props, helped them sit, lie down, get up, get into the ropes, chairs, and other props to do their asanas.So many patients told me they discovered that they could stretch their tired limbs to limits they never imagined they could. Most of the patients were not even accompanied by relatives. And even those of us relatives who were present could not help our loved ones as much as these young teachers did. Hence, mentioning and thanking these teachers by name becomes important. They included: Mehul Mamania, Anaita Vesuwala, Bhadrabahu Shah, Machindra Dhound, Rupal Jasani, Rajesh Dulani, Rajesh Jain, Mandira Dutta, Aarti Mehta.Besides yoga for Parkinson’s, these teachers, along with others like Savio Athaide, Bharati Kale and others, have been spreading the lessons of guru BKS Iyengar through a network of classes in Mumbai, Pune and other cities. Among the more well-known students of this school is industrialist Rajiv Bajaj.On the International Yoga Day, this piece is an effort to recognise and thank these selfless teachers for helping patients and keeping alive this wonderful gift of ancient India to the modern world. More importantly, this piece is also to spread the word so that those afflicted by Parkinson’s know that there is hope.
