Man of ninety-three practices yoga to fight tuberculosis

Dmitry Kulikov, 93, ignored doctors’ gloomy forecasts and defeated tuberculosis. He still goes in for sports.

Photo: Man of ninety-three practices yoga to fight tuberculosis

Since childhood Dmitry Kulikov was very weak and his heart was diseased. The boy was interested in sports but because of his poor heath his parents believed it would be better for him to practice music. Dmitry was really talented and mastered the flute, the violoncello and the bassoon very quickly. Soon, music became an essential part of his life.

After WWII ended, Dmitry joined a conservatory where he met his future wife who played the harp there. The couple lived a happy family life for about sixty years. Dmitry Kulikov was happy with his life; he had a family, a house and his favorite job at an opera theatre. He did not like to think about his health problems. Being tired of medical examinations in his childhood, Dmitry would not go to regular medical examinations when adult.

Once, the opera theatre administration insisted that all employees must undergo medical examination. As a result of the examination it turned out that three musicians including Dmitry had tuberculosis. Kulikov remembers that two other men diagnosed as suffering from tuberculosis died soon after the examination. He was panic-stricken. Doctors said the patient must switch to a moderate way of living, have more rest and little movement.

But Dmitry Kulikov disobeyed the doctors: he instead went to the popular Soviet resort of Sochi, sunbathed and entertained himself to the fullest. The disease did not stop because of it certainly. Once, Dmitry came across a publication by some famous professor who recommended treating lung diseases with the help of respiratory gymnastics. Within two hours every day Dmitry practiced the respiratory gymnastics. The man got deeply interested in yoga and absolutely forgot the disease. When he visited the doctor again it turned out that density in his lungs disappeared. Dmitry says that was like a miracle to him; he felt absolutely relieved of the anxiety that the disease caused to him.

Dmitry has been practicing yoga for about forty years already and feels perfectly well since he started it. He easily does the splits and other complex exercises. He wakes up at 6 a.m. and devotes an hour between 7 and 8 in the morning to yoga. Then he is active all the day long and in the evening again practices yoga for an hour. He says it is enough to feel fit being about one hundred years old.

Dmitry Kulikov thinks it is important for him to help other people cope with their ailments. Even doctors sometimes ask Dmitry for advice, and the man readily helps other people. ‘Do exercises and anything that you plan only when you are in good spirits which guarantees a positive effect,’ this is the basic recommendation that Dmitry gives to all people asking his help.

Today, many doctors, physiologists and physiotherapy experts are still suspicious of yoga. However, we should not reject the great experience of the ancient physical culture. First consult your doctor before you begin to practice yoga and go on if there is no contradictory evidence. It is better to have a good yoga instructor to achieve success with the exercises.

Oksana Anikina

Translated by Maria Gousseva
Pravda.Ru