Practices of Yoga: Revitalize Mind & Body

All the orthodox systems of Indian Philosophy have one goal in view, the liberation of the soul through perfection. The method is by Yoga.

-Swami Vivekananda

Yoga is an ancient discipline designed to bring balance and health to the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of the individual. It is long popular practice in India that has become increasingly more common in Western society. “Yoga ”means union of our individual consciousness with the Universal Divine Consciousness in a super-conscious state known as Samadhi. The first book of humankind, Rig-Veda, mentions about yogic meditation by the wise, while Yajurveda exhorts us to practice yoga for enhancing mental health, physical strength, and prosperity. Upanishads are replete with yogic concepts. In addition, yoga-related terms like pranayama and samadhi occur repeatedly in Bhagavad-Gita. Ancient Indian Rishis understood that performing Rajayoga (procedure of concentration to liberate soul or atma from the bondage of maya into paramatma) always needs a healthy body-“Sharirmadyam, khalu dharma sadhanam. ”So they developed “Hatha yoga, ”which includes asana, mudra, pranayama, etc. “Gharanda samhita ”said there were 84 lakh asanas from which 16 000 were best and only about 300 are popular. “Hathayoga-pradipika ”again differentiates all asanas into four basic classes-sidhyasana, padmasana, sinhasana, and vadrasana. Besides, asana may be of two types-dhyanasana (a posture keeps spinal cord free and center of gravity shifts to other part like ribs) and shasthyasana (to get healthy body).

Many features and practices of Yoga deal with psychological disorders and for promoting psychological wellness. First, Yoga can induce harmony in mind-body functioning. Second, being experientially-rooted; it can be adopted considerably with much ease in comparison to the existing psychological practices. Third, since training and taking the service of yoga therapist is cost effective it has promising potential to address mental health concerns of the people. According to an estimate in India alone, by using yoga for treatment of mental illnesses in India, approximately $145 billion month may be saved which are spent to meet medication cost, doctor's fee, and travelling cost to meet the doctor. There are indirect savings also which accrue owing to loss of wages, disability, absenteeism and unimaginable substance abuse. Fourth, it can also alleviate multiple physical, emotional and social sufferings holistically. It may be noted that efficacy of any psychological therapy is multiply determined by factors either in the environment or in the attributes of the client or therapist but not by highly acclaimed theory-based techniques. Gradually demand for personalized, eclectic, and intuitive therapeutic approaches is on rise.