WELCOME – Vol. 8, No. 1 (Apr. 2020)

Greetings!

Abha Gupta, PhD
YSN Editor

YogaSetu Newsletter (YSN) aims to contribute to a culture of sustaining healthy life styles among the members of our global community through the science of yoga. At present, the foremost concern for humanity is survival through the COVID-19 pandemic, directing our focus in this issue to preventative and restorative health and wellness of all beings through yoga.

Since the corona virus attacks the very lifeline (our breath), the current issue of YSN includes a synopsis of a research paper on pranayams, particularly, the “bumble-bee breathing” and “alternate nostril breathing,” by Eddie Weitzberg, MD and PhD, of the Karolinska Institute.

Meditation is also key during trying times like this, as the first step in learning to focus on being the best you can be — not only for your own good, but also that of the people around you. We have included on our website below a link to a sample guided meditation on abiding calmness, as an example. Please enjoy this audio podcast by Dr. Ajmal Sobhan, as he guides you in his serene voice to your inner space of stillness and tranquility.

Dean Ornish, MD, president and the founder of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute and a Clinical Professor of Medicine at UC, has long devoted his work on “lifestyle medicine to reverse heart disease.” See the article on the Ornish lifestyle program by Dr. Panigrahi, Medical Director of Ornish Lifestyle Medicine, Sentara Princess Anne Hospital, Virginia Beach, VA.

Remember to lie low, stay calm, check in on your parents and grandparents, and enjoy this breather. Spend some creative time making personal protective masks as gifts for loved ones or healthcare workers (see Pat Deepak’s compilation of reference materials below). We’re all so busy all the time, what will it be like to have nowhere to go to for a while? To have time for self-care, meditation, yoga, reading, and guilt-free Netflix marathons?

~ Abha Gupta, PhD – YSN Editor

~ GUIDED MEDITATION FOR ABIDING CALMNESS ~

by Dr. Ajmal Sobhan

Meditation is the first step in learning to focus on being the best you can be, not only for your own good but also that of the people around you, especially during these trying times. The following link leads to a sample of guided meditation for calming. Please listen, as Dr. Ajmal Sobhan guides you in his serene voice to your inner space of stillness and tranquility.