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March 2000
Loosening the Fear: Yoga Classes for People with HIV/AIDS

 

 

Niranjana Ron Zisa is a certified yoga teacher who has taught at the Integral Yoga Center in New York for five years. Satya asked him about his yoga classes designed for HIV positive people.

What inspired you to teach a yoga class for people with HIV?
The reason I chose to teach these classes is that shortly after graduating as a yoga teacher, I was diagnosed as HIV positive, in June 1995. There were already HIV yoga classes at Integral Yoga, but some of the students requested a more challenging, deeper class, so I volunteered to teach it. Now we have two levels of HIV classes here that enable us to cater to a wide range of students.

How do the HIV classes differ from the regular classes, if at all?
In HIV or any other life-threatening illness, the issue of life and death is so much more immediate, more relevant. I give a strong emphasis on being in the present moment. I encourage everyone to focus on the breath and on the structure of their back to help them loosen any fear they are holding onto, and to help deal with the challenges they face each day. In the postures themselves I may put more emphasis on the form than in other classes. However, it is never the same class twice. I focus on the students’ needs, attuning my energy to theirs so that I can instruct them in movements that will benefit them.

In a terminal illness, one’s timespan is perceived as very limited, and this is something that may surface at any moment. Therefore, these students really need something to take a hold of.

Is meditation an important part of the class?
Yes, I begin the class with meditation. I encourage them to be aware of the structure of their backs and of their breathing. This guides them into a meditation that they can hopefully maintain and carry with them in their movements during the rest of the class.

Do you ever pause the class to have discussions about HIV and yoga?
Yes, sometimes completely spontaneously. We can talk about things directly; it’s never an issue. Students can come right out and say it. Someone might have a question—in fact I positively encourage questions. They may want to know which posture is good for which ailment, or what the benefits are of a posture we are doing at the time.

At times, a discussion may come about as a result of a student reaching a kind of deadlock in their practice. At that point, we may have a talk, either one-to-one or as a group if I decide to pause the whole class. Together we might try to find the key that can help to unlock our capabilities, to open deadlocks.

What is the demand like for the HIV class?
Demand varies. Sometimes the class is crowed, at other times it is not. I have found that it very much depends on the weather and season; it is busiest in spring and fall.

I have noticed one interesting and sad correlation: since the introduction of the protease inhibitor drugs, attendance has dropped—some students have let go of their practice.

Do you know how the students’ doctors react when they tell them they are doing yoga to help alleviate their condition?
My own doctor thinks it’s great; the clinic I attend encourages an integrative approach to healthcare. But with regards to other people’s doctors, I don’t really know. Some are open and some aren’t—it’s an individual thing, like so many other things in life.

Is the class only open to people with HIV?
Actually, anyone is welcome. Other yoga teachers often attend. Students can bring their friends, family, partners. The class is good for anybody, especially those who feel they would benefit from a particularly focused session.


If you have AIDS or HIV and want to attend a yoga class, you can of course go to a regular session. But Satya discovered that yoga classes for people with HIV/AIDS are springing up all over. It seems that yoga helps with the tension—mental and physical—caused by a terminal and often frightening illness. In these classes you can meet people in the same situation as yourself, and benefit from an instructor who has your needs in mind. Most if not all of these classes are inexpensive or by donation only, so it’s an affordable mission to shop around until you find the one that best suits you.

Yoga centers in New York City that offer classes for people with HIV include:
Integral Yoga Institute, 227 W. 13 St., tel: 212-929-0586
Iyengar Institute, 27 W. 24 St., tel: 212-691-9642
Jivamukti Yoga Center, 404 Lafayette St., tel: 212-353-0214

 


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