Yoga for life

Googling through the Internet will give one a wealth of data and information on the status of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), which causes the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). There is still no known cure for it at present. In a nutshell, the number of people infected with HIV and AIDS has steadily been growing with our country’s profile from “slow and growing” epidemic shifting to “growing and concentrated.” This year, the Department of Health recorded the highest data, exceeding 6,000 cases, (although other medical and NGO groups report that it has exceeded 8,000) since it started collecting data way back in 1984. A number of cases have developed into full blown AIDS and death. Either transmitted through sexual contact or the drug usage, the alarming news is that the people getting infected (men and women) are getting younger and younger… now reaching the age group of the twenties (youngest one recorded is 19 years old). Legislation directions 13 years ago created Republic Act 8504, known as the Philippine AIDS Prevention and Control Act of 1998.

The HIV problem is overwhelming and challenging. And when we try to see how to make positive changes, we focus only on the little we can do, in small steps, towards addressing the issue. Moved by the need to do something, two yoga practitioners and HIV advocates, Charmaine Cu-Unjieng and Paulo Leonido, have come up with Yoga for Life. It’s the first ever community-based yoga class series, specially designed for the needs of people living with HIV and AIDS, but open as well to others who support them and want to experience the beauty of yoga. They have been running this for close to a year. Charmaine’s path has led her to become an HIV/AIDS specialist. For more than 10 years, she has worked on international development and global health issues after she took her Master’s degree in Epidemiology and Public Health from Yale University, and a Master’s degree in Medical Anthropology from the University of Amsterdam. With these credentials, she added on certification courses for the Ayurvedic lifestyle, yoga and massage therapy. Her vision: offer a complementary wholistic therapeutic approach to combatting HIV. She was joined by Paolo Leonido, who, with a group fitness instruction background, has embraced yoga with a certification for teaching now under his belt. Their commitment, passion and dedication has seen Yoga for Life grow into a steady community support group for those with HIV, AIDS and those who want to support the cause.

Charmaine Cu-Unjieng.

So it was a no brainer that Marilen Elizalde and myself, who run ECHOyoga agreed to offer the Yoga or Life group some space at ECHOyoga Community Center. “ECHO,” which means Empowerment, Care, Health and Oneness, paralleled everything that Charmaine and Paolo wanted to do. And so they have been running their weekly Saturday classes there, where participants are just asked to donate a small amount. Other yoga teachers now offer their “seva” or service by teaching the classes for free. Today, the group is also supported by the Positivism group, a movement of people of different genders, sexualities, ages, walks of life and HIV-statuses, united by the intense desire to ignite change. Positivism has become the spokesmedium for HIV in the Philippines.

While yoga has long proven its benefits to the health of the general population, yoga is quickly gaining ground as an important complementary therapy in the treatment of HIV, because of its adaptability, as well as its physiological and psychological benefits to those living with HIV. Yoga for Life offers a variety of postures, breathing practices and guided meditations that are directed towards alleviating the fear and stress associated with HIV and AIDS. Because yoga quiets the mind, improves breathing and circulation, and strengthens the immune system, among other physiological and psychological benefits, regular yoga practice can be an important complementary therapy to a comprehensive HIV treatment program.

Yoga for Life allows the transformative quality of both the yoga practice and group community building to come forth. This is exactly how we view Yoga for Depression sessions, which we also run at ECHOyoga. It allows us to see yoga from just a highly individualized pursuit to one that is socially relevant and where one can be socially engaged, committed to positive changes and re-affirm life and our humanity.

Paolo Leonido.

Come May 15, a new milestone for the group will be reached. In a public yoga event called “Yoga for Life — Touching Lives,” the organizers will launch themselves as an officially-registered NGO. This event is also to commemorate the 28th International AIDS Candlelight Memorial Day. The venue is at Glorietta 3 Park in Ayala Center, Makati City. It will be an afternoon that will gather yoga enthusiasts and HIV advocates alike in a candlelit sunset ceremony honoring the lives of people affected by HIV and AIDS. Yoga instructors will lead the community through yoga poses, breathing techniques and guided meditation to demonstrate how the discipline and community of yoga help those affected by HIV. More importantly, the event aims to unite the community’s energies towards igniting the flames of HIV awareness in the general public.

(Yoga for Life sessions are conducted twice weekly, on Wednesday evenings in the Ortigas area, and on Saturday afternoons in the Makati area (www.echoyoga.echostore.ph). For inquiries, you may contact: Charmaine at 0917-5404247 or Paulo at 0917-3889658. Check out the facebook sites “Yoga for Life” or Positivism at www.positivism.ph)