Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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New Vision (Kampala) - November 4, 2002
Charles Wendo
Now, without spending a coin, he and his wife have got rid of the worries and tamed the pains though they still have HIV.
Oketcho achieved this through light exercising his mind and body while breathing in a special manner, a process referred to as yoga. "This itself is medicine," he says.
Prossy Namusoke, 33, became restless after her husband died. She lost weight until she became as light as a 15-year-old girl. Her body ached and she was worried all the time. She continued to lose weight despite receiving some medicines from Nsambya Hospital. But when she began yoga her life was refreshed.
"The pains and worries have disappeared. As I was taught to eat with a peaceful mind, I soon began to put on weight. Today I am back to my normal weight," she says.
These were some of the testimonies that beneficiaries of yoga presented during the National AIDS Conference last week.
Swami Kaushikroy, a yoga guru, says he has enrolled at least 520 persons living with HIV, for yoga at the Mbuya Catholic Parish in Kampala. While presenting a paper on yoga during the National AIDS Conference, he said the lives of the patients had improved a lot as a result of yoga.
Every Monday they get together at Mbuya for the yoga exercises and meditation.
In addition they have been taught simple but specific exercises that they perform at home daily to keep healthy.
Kaushikroy says the yoga exercises flush the entire body with fresh energy.
Besides, he says, the breathing style in yoga enables a person to inhale four times as much air as someone who breaths ordinarily, and this further enriches the body.
As they do the exercise and breathe carefully, they settle their minds and keep happy despite other problems that they might face.
"Without yoga your mind is like a drunken monkey jumping from tree to tree. You have no control over it. I might be here talking to you when your mind is moving from place to place," he says.
When people tame their minds, breathe more efficiently and exercise their bodies, he says, their immunity improves. As a result they do not become sick frequently.
"It doesn't cost you anything to do simple yoga exercises every day. Anybody can do it. It is simple, practical and scientific," he says.
Dr. Edward Katongole-Mbidde, Director of the Uganda Cancer Institute, says meditations like yoga divert attention from the body so that one may not feel the pain. He also says that by boosting immunity, it helps the body to contain HIV but cannot cure AIDS.
"For individuals who do not have money for anti-retroviral drugs, if they can take yoga at no cost, fine. That is the way to go. Sometimes they can break down and need treatment," he says.
Kaushikroy says people who are interested in yoga can go to Mbuya Catholic parish or contact him at the Kabira Country Club. He doesn't worry about being overwhelmed. He says when the number grows he can train people to start the activities elsewhere. He says yoga is not only for people with HIV.
"I am a Ugandan and to be able to share this out is the only way I can justify my existence in Uganda," he says.
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