YOGA AND HEALTH

MEANING :

As per dictionary meaning health means” The condition of the body and the Degree to which it is free from illness or state of well being” it also means” the level of functional metabolic efficiency of a living organism. In case of humans it is the ability of individuals or communities to adapt and Self manage when facing physical, mental or social challenges”

According to WHO health is defined as” a state of complete physical, Mental and social and spiritual well being and not merely absence of Disease or infirmity” it also states that, there is no health without Mental health.(1948)

In 1984 WHO, it revised the said definition considering the overall change, and redefined it as “ The extent to which an individual or group is able to realize aspirations and satisfy needs and to change or cope up with the Environment . health is the resource of life and not the objective of living.

It is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources and not only Physical capacities”

Thus mental health and chronic physical conditions are fundamentally linked, that significantly impact peoples quality of life, demands on health care and other publicly funded resources and generate consequences to the society

HEALTH AS PER AURVEDAMEANING: “ SAMDOSHA SAMAGNICA SAMDHATU MALKRIYA PRASNNAATMENDRIYAMANAHSVASTHYAITIABHIDHIYATE”

Thus it means a balanced state of tritoshas( vata, pitta and kapha),

Digestive enzymes, saptadhatus and excretory systems along with contended state of mind and sense organs, is called health.

It is a science of health and hygiene guiding us to live a healthy and Happy life till our death.

The word svasthy or health has two elements

1 SVA = SELF 2 STHY= TO STBILISE. The one who is stable at

physical, mental , emotional, intellectual and spiritual level and who has no disease is said to be stable.

AS PER UPANISHADA (TAITTIRIYA UPANISHADA) As per the said upanishada it is

the holistic view of human organism,

Wherein an interdependence of gross body, prana, mind, intellect and inner bliss, has been indicated. The said interdependence is classified into 5 koshas or sheath.

 1 Gross Body = annamaya kosha

2 Prana = pranamaya kosha 3Mind = manomaya kosha 4 Intellect = vidnyamaya

kosha 5 Inner bliss = anandamaya kosha A balanced state of all these

koshas is a total healthy situation.

AS PER YOGA: As per sage PATANJALI HEALTH MEANS: “ YOGASCITTAVRITTINIRODHAH” Citta is conglomeration of mind ,

intellect and ego. There are 5 kinds of modifications of

citta (vritties) 1 Right cognition ( PRAMANA) 2 Wrong cognition ( viparya) 3 Imagination (vikalpa) 4 Absence of cognition ( sleep-needra) 5Memory ( smtiti)

These vrittis are associated with painful or pleasurable experiences,

They are called kleshs. They are: 1 Ignorance ( avidya) 2 Egoish (asmita) 3Attachments ( raga) 4 Aversion( dvesha) 5 Fear of death ( abhinivesha) A person who is able to get over all

these modifications of citta is only a healthy person

AS PER BHAGWAT GEETA “ PRASADE SARVADUKHANAM

HANIR ASNO PRAJAYATE PRASANNACETOSHI ASU BUDDIHI

PARAYAVTISHTATE” MEANING: IN the purity of spirit,

there is produced for him an end of All sorrow. intelligence of such a man of pure spirit is very soon established.

cc It is a blessed state where all

sorrows vanish and power of discrimination grows strong and steady. Lord Shrekrishna further states that a man without faith can never get peace of mind and the resultant happiness.

In short purification of physical body, proper flow of prana through the pranik energy net work of nadis, balanced state of mind leads to a disease free body and mind.

CLASSIFICATION OF HEALTH

Health is classified in following 4 segments

  PHYSICAL HEALTH MENTAL HEALTH EMOTIONAL HEALTH SPIRITUAL HEALTH

PHYSICAL HEALTH : It is judged by some parameters using tools or techniques of modern medicine

MENTAL HEALTH: It is a “ state of balance between the individual and the surrounding world, a state of harmony between oneself and others co existence between realities of self and that of other people and that of environment”

EMOTIONAL HEALTH : Emotions are nothing but reaction to thinking process. It is different from mental health. A person with higher emotional health can handle situations better than a person with better intelligence quotient.

SPIRITUAL HEALTH: In the recent past this new dimension of positive health has been given a serious consideration. A person on this path is trying to find out the basic purpose of human existence and practical realization of truth.

Spirituality makes a person live life with awareness, follow ethics, With an attitude of surrender to the almighty and lack of ego.

FACTORS AFFECTING HEALTH  A) PHYSICAL HEALTH DIET ( AAHAR ) EXERCISE ( VIHAR) REST (VISHRANTI )  B) MENTAL HEALTH THOUGHTS ( VICHAR ) AILMENTS ( VIKAR ) CONSCIENCE ( VIVEK )

Good health presupposes the existence of the aforesaid factors

THE CLOSE KNIT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ABOVE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL FACTORS  

PHYSICAL FACTORS: 1) DIET : The most important aspect of our existence is diet,

which Is essential for our physical and mental activities. However present scenario is not encouraging because A) we have no time for eating due to work schedule B ) improper timings for consuming food C ) fast changing Dietary habits and tenting toward junk

food D ) The quality of food is beyond our control E ) imbalanced diet

The aforesaid factors certainly affect the physical health which is Conveniently overlooked.

As per upanishadas “ YATHA ANNAM THTHA MANAH” It thus clearly indicates that your mind and food are closely Associated.

For GOOD HEALTH Balanced diet is needed,( which includes all Ingrediants) and it should be basically pleasurable to mind.

Yoga advocates SATVIK FOOD as the best diet

2) EXERCISE : apparently it relates to physical level but in reality It is different . it is more concerned with the mental involvement physical exercise or activity for fitness or otherwise should have more mental involvement to give positive results than a mere ritual.

Its relevance is more prominent in YOGA, because

People do practice yoga but with no contenment

People only concentrate on physical perfection without mental bliss

With no mental involvement may bring frustration

More predominantly yoga, as understood by large section of people as AASANA AND PRANAYAM, be done with mental Involvement to get positive results else YEARS OF PRACTICE WILL PRODUCE NO RESULTS.

Corelation between physical body and mind be maintained.

3) REST: It is very important in our life. But what is rest? Even after a sleep of 7 to 8 hours we are at time not really fresh. It is matter of thought. The obvious reason behind is the distorted mind . sleep is natural phenomenon yet we lack a good sleep. The timely rest to the body and to the mind must be natural without any external support

YOGA HAS A REMEDY FOR REST AT BOTH PHYSICAL AND MENTAL LEVEL THROUGH PRACTICE OF “ SHAVASANA”

IN SHAVASANA ( LYING DOWN LIKE A DEAD BODY) THERE IS WITHDRAWL OF MIND FROM PHYSICAL LEVEL, WHICH LEADS TO REST AT MENTAL LEVEL. THIS TECHNIQUE ENSURES IMMEDIATE ATTACHMENT OF MIND AND BODY

PROPER REST ALSO TAKES CARE OF THE FIRST TWO FACTORS AFFECTING OVERALL HEALTH

MENTAL FACTORS

These factors are unseen yet they are very important as it has a direct impact on , not only on mental health but physical health also.

1)THOUGHTS : It’s a continuous and constant process until we breath our last. The quality of thought decides the quality of mental health. Positive thoughts will enrich us with positive mental health and vice versa

Thoughts though unseen gets reflected through actions. In other words the action decides the quality of thought. Our mind and thoughts are rarely separable. This we might experience in sleep too.

Can we improve the quality of thought? YES

BY 1) SATSANG, 2) BHAKTI YOGA, 3) PRACTISING DHYANA AND OBVIOUSLY

BY THE EDUCATION. YOGA BEING SCIENCE OF MIND ENSURES

CONDITIONING AND DISCIPLINING THE MIND AND THE THOUGHTS THROUGH BAHIRANGA AND ANTARANGA YOGA

2) AILMENTS : It predominantly considers mental ailments or

manovikar. These mental ailments disturb our mental health

due to unwarranted or distorted thoughts. It is said that empty mind is devils workshop. The six enemies are the devils which act on our mind continuiously, without our choice ( kama , krodh, madha, moha,lobha, matsar) . They work on our mind through emotions.

E.G ANXIETY, PHOBIA, NEUROSIS are nothing but mental ailments. Since these elements lie in the mind they are very rarely cured by medicine.

Relentless Yoga Practices will certainly help in getting rid of these ailments.

3)CONSCIENCE: This element like thoughts is again unseen and it relates to rationality. It is within us right from our birth and has a greater impact on our mental health.

Rationality relates to analyzing our thoughts, before we act. Our mental health gets disturbed because we either do not rationalize our thoughts or deliberately overlook it.

It is necessary to use our analytical skills before we take any action or decision else it may at times prove to be an costly affair

Yoga will be an immense help for developing analytical skills, by practicing antaranga yoga viz pratyahar, dharana and dhyan.

It needs tremendous self commitment along with awareness for developing conscience.

THE PYSICAL FACTORS AND MENTAL FACTORS ARE PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER AND AFFECT OUR HEALTH IN EITHER WAY POSITIVELY AND NEGATIVELY

THE CORELATION OF PHYSICAL AND MENTAL FACTORS CAN BE EVIDENCED AS FOLLOWS

  PHYSICAL FACTORS DIET : NURISHES THE

BODY

EXERCISE: TUNNING OF BODY AND MIND

REST: MENTAL PEACE THROUGH BODY

MENTAL FACTORS THOUGHTS: NURISHES

MIND

AILMENTS: MENTAL TUNNING WITH BODY

CONSCIENCE: RATIONALITY IN THOUGHTS

PANCHAKOSHAS We have seen the definition of health as per

upanishadas classifying our heath into 5 koshas or sheaths, Annamya, Pranamaya, Manomaya, vdnyamaya and anandmaya.

According to yoga a balanced state of all these koshas is total health

However very rarely they are in balanced state. Imbalance in these koshas leads to distorted health

Most of our psychosomatic diseases have its origin in Manomaya kosa, it then percolates down to Pranamaya kosa and then to Annamaya kosa manifesting the signs and symptom of the disease.

In todays world the life style has undergone a tremendous change inviting most of the diseases. The life is very hectic and stressful.

This leads to physical, mental and emotional imbalance, apparent through diseases.

It predominantly affects our S-E-M-H-P-O axis.

SEM-HPO axis stands for 1 Spirituality 2 Emotions 3 Mental state 4 Hypothalamus 5 Pituitary 6 Organ ( target organ)

Thus the process of ill health or disease has the following path

1 Stress and emotional imbalance 2 It has an impact on hypothalamus 3 A disturbed autonomic balance 4 Pituitary stimulation 5 Unwarranted steroid secreation 6 Physical disorder

MAMAGEMENT OF SEM-HPO AXIS Spirituality gives a firm foundation of thinking.

If a person develops a spiritual attitude, he tries to go nearer to his own self. As we have already seen, an attitude of introspection makes person egoless.

‘E’ stands for emotions, we have discussed about effect of emotions. Emotions are a result influence of either internal or external environment. Emotion act upon the mind and mind act upon the body. This is S-E-M-H-P-O AXIS. Only perfect balance of physical, (HPO) axis, mental, emotional, and spiritual [SEM] axis, that can bring a perfect homeostasis or harmony in body.

In addition to the above, individual find out some superfluous ways to combat the situation, like untimely eating, smoking, alcohol consumption, iritic behaviour and unpredictable decision making. It must be understood that these ways may give symptomatic relief to some extent but overlook the basic cause i.e. Stress which cannot be detected clinically. Moreover these means lead to some side effect adding fuel to the situation, which may go beyond control. It can be said that under this situation STRESS works as Obstruction rather than Motivation.

Person goes away from his self and prefers to remain aloof, detached and indifferent from the system. Instead of changing himself he tries to change the situation, which is beyond and more difficult than he feels.

HEALTH MANAGEMENT YOGIC WAY………

 Sage Patanjali has propagated 8 limbs Of Yoga called as Rajayoga also. It tries to correct the basic reason of ill health, both at Physical and Mental level. It ensures stability to an individual at Intellectual level and enriches the Spiritual level. It reflects a composed personality of the person on all sheaths or KOSHAS, as understated

YAMA and NIYAMA : Ensures correctness at disturbed Manomaya kosa and strengths mental capacity

ASANA : regains natural homeostasis on physical level

PRANAYAMA : stabilizes disturbed Pranik energy due to agitated mind

PRATYAHARA : starts journey beyond mind and emotions

DHARANA : Enables to use intellect more (Vidnyamaya Kosha)

DHYANA : A start towards Anandmaya Kosha

SAMADHI : it can be any situation which gives us blis

CONCLUSION: An religious observance of yama and niyama will reduce

the imbalance at mental and emotional level, which In turn will give relief from physical disturbance

A consistent and moderate practice of asanas will bring thefunctional balance between physical and organic levels and in turn will give us a physical stability thereby correcting disturbed Manomaya Kosha

Pranayama will help at both physical and mental level, by chanalising the pranik energy throughout the body, will ensure stability of mind.

The stable mind can control the extreme emotions. With this stability Vidnyamaya kosa will start working. Then the practice of pratyahar, dharna , dhyan will

bring the changes within effectively and will reinforce the balance achieved through bahiranga yoga.

“ THE BEAUTY OF YOGIC PRACTICES IS THAT, IT NOT ONLY CORRECTS THE IMBALANCES BUT REDUCES THE FREQUENCY AND THE INTENSITY OF DISEASE”

WISHING YOU ALL A GOOD HEALTH

THANK YOU…. C.A. GIRISH KULKARNI (M.A. YOGA)