During the pandemic and due to my lifestyle - working at desks all day long with no exercise - I started getting acidity. Acidity can cause a lot of problems like burping, post-meal heaviness, indigestion, bad breath, restlessness, and many other things.
I casually told this to a friend who is now almost a monk - meaning he has left his career and lives an austere life in the Himalayas. When I expressed this discomfort in our ongoing chat, he recommended the following.
“Kedar, you should practice Iyengar Yoga.” Iyengar Yoga is a form of yoga as an exercise with a focus on the structural alignment of the physical body through the practice of asanas. It differs from other styles of yoga in three ways: precision, sequence, and use of props. Precision is sought in body alignment in every asana. Over 200 asanas and 14 breathing exercises are in symbiosis in Iyengar Yoga. The precise execution of each pose, using aids in some cases, is of the highest importance in Iyengar Yoga. Only in this way can the unique relaxing and therapeutic effects be achieved.
He said, “I think do a couple of sessions and continue if you like it”. To this I asked, “Sounds good, but how long do you think it will take the acidity to go away?” He chuckled “I can’t predict that. Just like any allopathy doctor can’t predict in one dose. That’s why they give you a prescription for a few days and ask you to come back a week later. They are aware of bigger (and common) problems but narrowing it down to precise dosage might take some trial and error, which depends on a case-to-case basis.” I never noticed this behaviour of an allopath.
I further asked, “Why Yoga, and especially, why Iyengar Yoga?” To this, my friend replied, “It has a lineage; a tradition. It has its own credibility that has stood the test of time.” Sage Patanjali has penned the ancient Indian heritage of Yoga through his treatise the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which is an encompassing study of the subject which consists of 196 sutras (aphorisms). In the present century, Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar has made it possible for ordinary people to experience the wisdom of these sutras in the midst of living a life.
Iyengar Yoga became an institution when they established Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune in 1975. Named in memory of his wife. Soon after that, they set up the first Iyengar Yoga Institute in America in San Francisco in 1976 by Mary Dunn, Judith Lasater, and others. Later they made, Iyengar Yoga Institute (IYI) in Maida Vale, London, in 1983. In Los Angeles, 1984 and in 1987 in New York. They have official institutes in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czechia, Chile, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, and New Zealand.
All the above made me curious and perhaps due to acidity also restless. “This is so cool. Have you done their course?” He laughed, “No. But more importantly, it’s not a course or a workshop. It’s a way of life. It’s the lifestyle you have to live and not a treatment that you undergo.”
I, forgetting the bigger picture interrupted to ask, “But any timeline the teacher can give me to get rid of my acidity? How long do you think it will take?” Taking a short pause my friend said, “Ummm. Maybe 12 years?”
I was aghast and exclaimed. “What! 12 years for my acidity to go?” I said, “Dude, we are living in 2023 and in the world of Tiktok videos. People become millionaires in 12 days How can you expect 12 years to just get rid of acidity? Tell me something faster” He promptly replied, “Take Eno”. Eno is an over-the-counter antacid. It is made with ingredients that dissolve quickly to create an effervescent solution, neutralising stomach acid on contact.
12 years is just number.
Typically for any action, we can compartmentalise it in 2 buckets. “Event” and “Routine”. Event is something that happens and goes away. It’s highly time bound. For eg: New year party, your birthday, graduation day, festivals like Diwali, Christmas, Eid and so on… We enjoy events because they are designed by making time as a constraint.
But if you talk about routine, it sounds boring, monotonous, and repetitive. But the secret lies there. You are clean because (hopefully) you bath daily. Your teeth are in good condition if you have brushed every morning for around last 10,000 days (if you are 30 years old). That’s the magic of routine. 12 years is just a number to establish the concept of routine. Until any action really becomes part of your bones and not even muscles.
Now after 2 years, I have recovered - not by Iyengar yoga but started exercising. In fact, I even ran one, 5K and two, 10K marathons. Preparing for a 21K. I agree that it has to be a lifestyle. There are no shortcuts like getting 1Million downloads overnight. I am sure even those 1Million downloads overnight are due to consistent and prolonged effort of something.
Be it a chef, a pop star, an Ironman finisher, or a designer. You have to undergo a lot of friction to make yourself shine like a diamond. If you want to get rid of acidity, do yoga. For quick results, take Eno. Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts.
p.s. Friction under a good Guru is equally important. But thats a post for some other time