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YOGA AND AIDS-RELATED DISEASES
Swami Pragyamurti Saraswati
AIDS is not a trickling stream. It is spreading like fire all over the world. Although I have absolutely no medical training and even less medical knowledge, I would like to share with you my experience of the last three years working with people who are HIV positive and/or living with the various manifestations of AIDS.
It is an honor and a privilege to work with this particular group of people, and I can assure you that I am learning quite as much as I am teaching. When young men, who could be my sons, can look me in the eyes and tell me that they are glad that they have AIDS because without it they would not have started to look within, they would not have started to look at the deeper aspects of life, I can only feel humble and privileged to be with them and to be close to them.
About three years ago I was asked by a support group in London for people living with AIDS to start a yoga class. As I said, I have no medical knowledge, I rely entirely on the inner guidance of my beloved guru, Paramahamsa Satyananda. So, the class started and I have taught them nothing other than I teach everybody else, starting with our wonderful techniques of pawanmuktasana, shaktibandha and yoga nidra. The students in the classes vary from being HIV positive and healthy, to people in the later stages of AIDS-related diseases. I would say that nearly 90% of my students are homosexual males. There are some women and one or two drug addicts, but the latter do not usually complete the course.
All of these three groups of people are in some way marginalized and alienated from the main society. So the first thing we have to think about is bringing about a balance. Of course, this happens through the various yoga practices. Through pawanmuktasana the body is made stronger and more supple. But fairly quickly I have moved onto some of the major asanas, particularly those which work directly on the thymus gland, which plays an important role in the immune system. So, we
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