Yoga turns back the years

Shen Weide, 73, once tortured by diseases,turns out to be a yoga master after 10 years of practice.

"It is never too late to learn yoga. I started practicing after my retirement in 1989." Shen Weide

Shen Weide, 73, practises yoga at a fitness centre in Shanghai.

VIEWERS in Xintiandi that night kept bursting into exclamation when they saw 73-year-old Shen Weide easily prop his body up with his hands on the floor, legs sticking into the air against his back.

"I cannot believe my eyes. How could he do that?" said Edward Marti who is interested in martial arts. "Is it also Chinese kung-fu?"

"No, it is yoga originating in India," Shen said, changing his positions as easily as dough in the hands of a skillful cook.

"I am not a born yoga exerciser at all," Shen said. "You can do it if you really want to."

It is not as difficult as it looks, and it is a very effective way to keep fit if only the practitioner has enough perseverance.

"And it is never too late to learn yoga," he said. "I started practising after my retirement in 1989."

Shen's decision to practise yoga followed an incident on a bus, when he found that he could not move his legs for a long moment.

Later he was diagnosed with heart disease, arteriosclerosis, high blood pressure and gall stones.

Gastric perforation has sent him five times to hospital. The diseases and the heavy pressure made him depressed.

"I would have been confined to bed or even dead," Shen said. "Indeed at that time, I could find few things to cheer me up."

But last year, the result of a complete physical examination conducted by Shanghai Chinese Traditional Medicine University showed that he had the body of a man 18 years younger than his years.

Now he is in very good physical condition, which can be seen from his facial colour and breezy manner.

His legs and feet are strong and he walks faster than people half his age.

Now, besides practising by himself every day, he travels every Sunday morning from his home near Jinqiao in Pudong to Hongkou Park to give free lessons in the art of yoga.

Shen's seemingly miraculous transformation amazes many, but he said he had a very strong motivation.

"The only reason is that I knew I must do something to keep me alive and walking," he said. "But I had no money for medical treatment."

At first, he tried Taiji (shadow boxing) and did long-distance running, but he realized little benefit.

Taiji needs the right instruction from a good teacher to gain any progress, otherwise it is easy to go the wrong way. And long-distance running is not considered by medical experts to be good for people who suffer heart disease.

"My fate was changed in 1992 when a friend gave me a book about yoga and suggested I have a try," he said.

He was deeply moved by the Buddhist scripture in the book, which teaches people how to look through things to achieve tranquility.

"Many diseases result from people's worry," Shen said. "Especially under the increasing pressure from modern society, people are more likely to suffer various apparent or hidden diseases, either physical or mental."

Shen read the book, and imitated the positions using the written instructions.

Sitting while thinking about nothing but the melding of self and nature is the basis from which positions vary, but saying is much easier than doing.

"My body was very stiff at first especially because of my old age," Shen said. "But I knew that there is no way out for me but to continue."

Gradually, he found all joints, muscles and ligaments, main and collateral channels, were connected like a tree whose root, branches, twigs and leaves are full of life.

The positions started coming more easily and he was soon able to exercise more parts of his body.

Shen said yoga connects Qi (referring to vitality in the human body) and blood of the body as a whole, driving out viruses and turbid Qi through exercising.

People in the park showed great interest in this old man and more and more people followed his lead.

Shen is viewed by many as something of a miracle. In April 1996, China Today, a Beijing-based magazine, published Shen's story in six languages in over 150 countries.

"If only I could read their letters," Shen said. "But I have little education."

Shen is now writing a book about his experience in yoga.

"I want to see more people get happy and healthy, especially people who are not so young," Shen said. "Then life will become more pleasant and the hospital will not be so crowded."