Yoga
in itself is a science of health management rather than a method
of treating disease. When yoga is combined with certain healing
and therapeutic modalities, it increases the effectiveness and
efficiency of those methods. Yoga can also increase health,
general wellbeing and longevity. It does this by removing tensions,
calming the mind, and improving vitality. Yoga generally enhances
our lives on all levels.
There
are clues to how yoga improves health in a number of yoga texts,
including the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Patanjali's Yoga Sutras
and the Bhagavad Gita. For example, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika
states in Chapter 1, Sutra 17, that “postures (asana)
give one steadiness (firmness) of body and mind, lightness (flexibility)
of the limbs, and absence of disease.” The Hatha Yoga
Pradipika also states that postures such as Matsyendrasana and
Paschimottanasana can increase the digestive fire to such an
incredible capacity that they can remove diseases.
However,
the study and treatment of specific diseases, which forms the
theoretical basis for yoga therapy, is derived from Vedic and
Tantric traditions, in the form of Ayurveda and certain Tantric
texts.
While
therapeutic methods such as medicines, surgery, herbs, acupuncture,
psychotherapy and body-work act on the body-mind, yoga empowers
the individual to take a conscious and active role in his or
her own healing. Yoga also super-charges each of these methods.
For
example, when yoga is used in combination with prescription
drugs in a medical situation, it is often possible to reduce
the dosage so that the side-effects are minimized and the drug
acts more efficiently. This is because yoga strengthens and
relaxes the body, making it more able to absorb and derive benefit
from the medication. When yoga is combined with psychological
forms of intervention it provides a practical, experiential
basis on which the patient can self-regulate themselves as they
move through often painful processes of self-discovery.
It
is important for a yoga therapist have thorough therapeutic
training, to be able to recognize diseases and understand the
'normal' development of each disease. For example, an experienced
psychologist can use yoga very effectively to treat psychological
conditions because the psychologist has in-depth training in
understanding the mind and emotions. Yoga adds a broader view
to the psychologist's previous knowledge base and provides powerful
techniques such as meditation. This allows both the psychologist
and the patient to experience the mind in a more direct way,
and to train the mind so that it becomes a tool for healing
and positive wellbeing.
When
combined with other healing methods, the process of yoga therapy
is synergistic and cumulative. Yoga therapy works on the basis
that relaxation leads to purification. Purification then helps
to strengthen the entire body-mind. A strong, whole body-mind
raises energy and naturally begins to heal specific problems.
This leads to the rebalance and restoration of the entire being.
Relaxation is the basis of all healing, as it allows the natural
intelligence and healing power of the body-mind to do its work.
--Dr.
Shankardev Saraswati
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