Health On The Blog

There are many medical conditions that can be improved and indeed healed by practicing yoga. It can be used to lessen the negative effects of infertility, lung disease, Parkinsons disease, multiple sclerosis, insomnia, cancer, high blood pressure, and joint pain. The beneficial effects of yoga practices are well recognized not only by the yoga community and alternative practitioners, but also by many mainline medical doctors.

One of the main elements that leads to an illness is stress. Being responsible for a huge number of sicknesses, this item, which we develop in our minds, can be reduced through a good usage of yoga techniques. Here are just some of the problems that are related to an over active stress response: depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, some types of diabetes mellitus, cardio vascular disease, several autoimmune diseases, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, reproductive problems, and an aggravated suppression of the immune system.

The response of the sympathetic nervous system can trigger stress in our metabolism. The reaction to various outside stimuli is also known as the fight or flight response, this is where the mind and body, faced with an endangering or disturbing element, prepares for one of the two options. Physically, this is manifested through an instantaneous heart rate increase, together with a high ascent of blood pressure. Breathing gets shallow and the muscles tense in anticipation of the following action. Internally, this response reduces the blood flow to internal organs and processes that are not essential in that particular moment (such as digestion and elimination) are shut down.

This state of increased awareness and readiness is beneficial on a short term, preparing our body to react to the outside interventions and stimuli. Both in a fight, and in a flight situation, the body is physically and mentally prepared to act. The problem arises when long term exposure to similar stress takes place. This fight or flight response is only meant to help on short periods of time, the longer it is activated the less resources will the body have to function normally.

There is a natural countermeasure for the fight or flight response. It is called the parasympathetic nervous system or the relaxation response. It is automatically activated when the elements that caused the stress are gone but it is also possible to increase its effects by breathing deeply and relaxing your muscles. By increasing the length of this process we allow our body to recover faster, enabling it to eliminate the harmful effects of stress in a prompt and efficient manner.

Yoga highlights the idea that by using breathing and relaxation techniques you can reduce the harmful effects of stress factors on your body. A lessened fight or flight response can also be achieved by looking at adverse factors as challenges rather than threats. This approach allows your mind to focus on finding a solution, rather than creating an abrupt response. Another concept employed by this technique is that of acting versus reacting, of taking initiative versus responding to outside factors.

The positive effects of yoga during a healing process are undeniable. However, these techniques should only be used as a form of support and the healing should not rely solely on them. The best results are achieved by combining yoga with traditional and modern medicine and by addressing a problem both from a mental and physical point of view.

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The Author: John Savage has a fascinating Blog all about Yoga. Please Click Here to visit.

The popularization of yoga in the West by yoga schools influenced by the Yoga Sutras Of Patanjali (2nd century BC), have almost led to the origins of yoga being linked with Patanjali in the Western mind. In fact, the earliest illustration we have of yoga is from the Mohenjo-daro seals. Mohenjo-Daro is the remains of an ancient city located in Pakistan, part of the Indus Valley civilization which existed along the Indus river and Ghaggar-Hakra river in north-west India and what is now Pakistan. Mohenjo-Daro’s parent city was Harrapa in India.

These civilizations have been dated from 3300 BC to 1300 BC. At one stage they were thought to have suddenly ended due to an Aryan invasion, though archaeologists now believe it was more likely due to climate change. Ultimately though, nothing is certain in the world of archaeology, at least until the next find, or developments in science.

The Mohenjo-daro seals show a figure standing on its head, and another sitting cross legged.

However, some see yoga’s origins as being from the Vedic shastras, or vedic religious texts, which are the foundation of Indian Hinduism. The Vedic texts were created from 500 BC, and the Rigveda is believed to have been completed by 1500 BC. The Rigveda is one of several principle early vedic texts. The Rigveda, Samaveda, and Yajurveda were used by the Brahmins, a caste that were usually priests, or allowed to be priests, in the days when the caste system originated.

A lot of these texts were concerned with sacrificial rituals. There are sacrificial prayers, incantations, and elements related to magic, to name a few aspects of the subject matter. These are now viewed symbolically, or philosophically, although they were presumably intended more literally at the time. But the word “yoga” was discussed in the RigVeda. In it, there is mention of ‘yoking’ our mind and insight to the ‘Sun Of Truth’ (David Frawley, a Vedic scholar).

Yoga is also discussed in the Bhagavad Gita, where Krishna describes 4 types of yoga:

* selfless action - in following one’s soul path, one’s dharma, first and foremost, and without thinking of the outcome, the end result, or being motivated by self gain (Karma Yoga)
* self transcending knowledge (Jnana yoga)
* psycho-physical meditation (Raja yoga)
* devotion - loving service to the Divine Essence (Bhakti yoga) (Source - Wikipedia)

The Bhagavad Gita is believed to have been written between the 5th and 2nd century BC. In the Gita, the goal of yoga is the realization of Brahman, or the Divine Essence. Whilst the paths to achieve this for individuals may be different, the essence of coming to an unequivocable knowing of the Oneness of the Divine, and oneself within this fundamental reality, is the same.

“The Gita addresses the discord between the senses and the intuition of cosmic order. It speaks of the Yoga of equanimity, a detached outlook. The term Yoga covers a wide range of meanings, but in the context of the Bhagavad Gita, describes a unified outlook, serenity of mind, skill in action, and the ability to stay attuned to the glory of the Self (Atman), which is of the same essence as the basis of Being (Brahman).” (Wikipedia)

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Article by: Rebecca Prescott
Read about the invocation to sage patanjali here. Learn more about kriya yoga, here.