(MENAFN - Arab Times) YOGA balances the basic elements of existence to create harmony between body, mind and spirit. In this week's interview, Dareen Akkad, a certified yoga instructor, discusses at depth the intricacies of this ancient wisdom and how it can help bring discipline into your life. She traveled East to the land of its origins and practiced against the pristine backdrop of the legendary Himalayas to earn the certificate that entitles her to pass on this all-encompassing art to the benefit of the society. Read on and find out how a transcendental union with the universe can be achieved, not through a space odyssey, but by simply turning inwards into your own self.

Question: Yoga has become very famous worldwide in the last few decades. There are a lot of yoga teachers springing up everywhere, and often times there are conflicting methods in which they teach. How can you tell a genuine teacher from someone who has just picked up some Asanas from the Internet and pretends to be an expert?

Answer: You will have to find out if the person is certified yoga teacher. I have an Indian Yoga Alliance Certificate. This is a certificate from a worldwide yoga alliance, which is sort of an international yoga regulatory body. If I want to teach in Canada I will have to register with the Canadian chapter of the Alliance using my certificate. This certificate can be transferred anywhere in the world, where the Alliance has a chapter. However, there could be yoga teachers who may not be certified yoga instructors, but they would be certified in some other forms of physical training and qualified to teach yoga. In some cases, the instructor would have practiced yoga long enough to be able to teach yoga. It's actually your discretion whether or not you want to be instructed by a certified instructor.

Q: But is that advisable, because some of the postures you practice could have profound effects. There are postures which a pregnant woman or a person with hypertension is not supposed to practice. In that case, if an instructor is not a professional he could cause harm to his students. Isn't it? A: Yes absolutely. That's why I wouldn't advise you to go to just anybody and learn yoga. You have to be careful in choosing your instructor. But let's also not misunderstand that all teachers without a formal certificate are fakes. However, it's advisable to go to a certified instructor, because then you can be sure. Yoga is for anybody and everybody. From the beginning to the end, you have the same Asanas. If you take the Tree Pose for example, there are ways in which a beginner does it, and you can work yourself up to advanced levels in the same Asana. A certified instructor will be able to guide you in a manner that you can adapt the pose to your body's limitations. If you are not a qualified teacher, then you might do something that could cause injuries.

So, if I have a mixed class of students at different levels, I can teach one Asana to them considering the limitations of each student. It's important to listen to your body. Your body is smarter than you. It gives you signs that it's not happening. Yes, there's going to be some stress when you stretch your muscles, but everybody has a limit, beyond which it can cause damage. If you listen to your body, you will know what that limit is. Stop at that limit, or you could tear a muscle or injure a ligament.

Q: Does yoga actually help in losing weight? I am asking this because obesity is a growing health issue in Kuwait, like in so many other parts of the world. A: Yoga helps you do so many things, beyond just losing weight. It helps your lung capacity, it helps your circulation, it helps regulate your appetite... all the tissues, organs, glands in your body work together harmoniously to achieve the perfect balance.

Q: Before we get deeper into that, can you define yoga for me? A: Yoga in Sanskrit means union. It's a practice that aims at creating a harmonious union or marriage of your body, mind and soul. A lot of physical exercises work on improving your physical state, or regulating your body's fat percentage and such things. But they don't work on your spirit or your mental health. Yoga creates equilibrium, a balance of your physical, mental and spiritual health. So, all three important elements of your existence are addressed. For a person to feel fully healthy, all these elements have to be addressed. A person who is overweight has physical imbalance in his existence. A person who is depressed and stressed has a mental imbalance, and person who feels lost has a spiritual imbalance. If any one of those elements is compromised, then you are less healthy.

Q: How does yoga help to bring the balance of mind? A: Yoga creates balance of mind mainly through meditation. Hindu or Buddhist saints practice meditation for hours or days at a stretch. They believe they can attain enlightenment, which is becoming one with the universe. You lose your ego, and you become aware, and understanding of everything that happens around you. That's the ultimate aim of meditation, but at our common practicing level, meditation helps clear your mind, and be focused and calm. It helps to manage your frustrations and anger better. After meditation, the second thing you do is Pranayama, which is breathing exercises. Pranayama firstly helps in improving the relationship between your lungs and your heart. It improves your lung capacity; it helps clean out toxins from your lungs and body. It also prepares you for the yoga session ahead. Breathing exercises also helps you relax; that's why they ask you to take a deep breath when you are stressed or angry. Deep breathing also helps you achieve better meditation. And then comes the Asanas, which are different postures. There are some very common and well known Asanas in yoga, one's that are very commonly used. But Gurus tell you that there are hundreds and thousands of Asanas. The list never ends. The Asanas represent practically everything. A lot of times, it's the animals and insects. There are Asanas that are named after warriors, gods etc.

Q: Is it true that the Asanas have very specific objectives, like a certain posture reduces blood pressure, and another one helps in secreting a certain hormone and so on? A: Well, at the very fundamental level Asanas strengthen your body posture. An Asana can have very obvious physical benefits such as back strengthening, abdominal strengthening and so on. You will know and feel it as you do the Asana as your muscles tense. You will know that a particular Asana is working on your hamstrings, quadruplets etc. Then there are other biological benefits, which you can't necessarily perceive. You can have an Asana that can have an effect on your thyroid glands because you are compressing and relaxing it from the way you are postured. You are actually giving the gland a good massage, promoting circulation to your thyroid. Similarly, you can do something that extends your liver, and so the blood-flow to that organ improves. A posture that massages your ascending and descending colons can help in stimulating the process of digestion. The more you practice the Asanas and the better you breathe the more flexibility and strength you will gain. Eventually, you will be able to do the Asana to its full extent, and to its maximum benefit.

However, that's not to say that a beginner gets less benefit than an advanced practitioner. Even if you are a beginner, you are putting in as much effort as an expert in achieving an Asana, and both stand to gain equally. So, if someone can't do an Asana to the fullest extent, then that doesn't mean they will not get the full benefit.
As you practice more you will begin to feel more comfortable in the pose, until you can rest in a particular Asana. You can even meditate in that pose for ever and not feel any discomfort or pain. That's why you see Yogis in India who get into a Tree Pose or a Headstand and vow not to come out of it for weeks until the goal is attained. And they are comfortable in that pose. One more important thing to bear in mind is that the meditation you started your yoga session with should continue to the end of the session. You don't lose your focus. If your focus is to touch you toes, then keep that focus. A troubled mind affects your performance.

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Yoga helps achieve the perfect balance