therapeutic utilities of yoga

7/28/2019 Therapeutic Utilities of Yoga

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THERAPEUTIC UTILITIES OF YOGA

Yoga is not merely asanas, pranayama, meditation or

kriyas. Yoga is the science of healthy living featured by -Peace and poise.

Health and Happiness.

Knowledge and Efficiency.

Self control and service zeal.^^iwT;rs vusu bfr ;ksx%**

From Animal, to human ordinary, extra ordinary, superperson and divine person becoming a cosmic personality.

CosmicDivineSuper

SpecialHumanAnimal

Yoga is a conscious process to accelerate the

evolution into a single life. A few years orjust few days. -

Swami Vivekananda

Yoga uses the power to Elevate us to great heights.


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^^ eu ,oa euqI;kxka dkjxa cU/ku{kuks%AA

Concentrating - Focussing and calming and silencing.

^^eu% izkeuksiki% ;ksx bU;fHk/kksFkrs%AA

The trick to calm down the mind is yoga.

It gives us a power of discrimination. Yoga is a systematic

conscious process for developing health.


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State of Health Perfection

Divine

Super

Great

Normal

Illness Physical, Mental, Social,

SpiritualState of well being

This is possible due to yoga way of living -

Body is light.

Mind is calm

Breathing is slow

Blissful and relaxed feeling.

If we know yoga - we know peace.

If No yoga - No peace.

The integrated approach of yoga therapy


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Breath control - Calmness of Mind

Removal of Emotional

imbalances.

Relaxing the Body.

Stamina Building

(Taittraya Upanishad Yoga Vasistha)

The well being of the body depends on three factors -

Breathing eating, sleep. They are interrelated and

interdependent.

Breathing. In yoga breathing is considered as the intake

of vital energy and it establishes our connection to the

universe. The vital energy pervades all organic and

inorganic things. A rhythmical deep breathing brings us in

harmony with universe, to bring our mind to the breathingprocess. This can relax both body and mind. This is what

yoga teaches.

Eating. Food is very vital for our existence what we eat,

how we eat and how much we eat play a very important


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role in our life. Excessive eating and eating wrong food

causes lot of problems and incurable diseases.

Just as over eating makes a body fat and heavy, so

under eating makes it weak and nervous. The proper

balance must therefore be found between the needs

of the body and the quality of food absorbed

Ayurveda.

A well balanced diet contains a sufficient supply of

protein carbohydrate, fats, salts and minerals and the

quantity of food absorbed should correspond to the needs

of body. It is not only the quantity of nourishment the body

needs but also the quality which the body cells need.

What we eat should be fresh, clean and unadulterated

food. Fried and spicy food should be avoided.

Yoga has prescribed its own balanced diet of pure,

light and nutritious food, wholesome, fresh, alkaline and

medicinal.


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Types of Food according to Yoga

Sattvic Rajsik TamsikPositive Negative DevitalisingNon irritant Food Irritant FoodDecompose

FoodGood Moderate Bad

So yoga helps us to maintain our food habits to sattvic

and thus positive - Good for us.

Sleep Rest - Relaxation :

Patanjali has defined sleep as that modification of the

mind, which is maintained by the absence of new

knowledge.

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Patanjali yoga sutra. 1-10

Sleep is a wave of thought about nothingness i.e.

dreamless sleep is not an absence of thought wave in the

mind, but a positive experience of nothingness. If there


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were no thought wave in the mind during sleep, we should

not wake remembering that we know nothing.

Normal sleep requirement for an adult is between 7 to

8 hours a day. Children and sick people need more sleep.

Early to Rise and early to bed. Best time to sleep is

between 10 to 4 a.m. from 3.30 to just before Sun rise is

Brahma Muhurtha. Besides this between 10 to 3 the

cosmic position of the earth provides the most favourable

radiation for the re-generation of our nervous system. So it

is considered to be the best time to sleep.

Rest Recreation. Yoga helps us to rest and relax through

the practice of breathing and Shavasana. This helps to re-

charge the body with vital life force energy. Mind becomes

calm bringing inner tranquillity so we experience true rest.

It also helps in sleep also. Now let us analyse each branch

of yoga separately.

Raja Yoga helps us to gain mastery over mind

concentration and silencing the mind. It teaches usBahiranga yoga in which we gain mastery over mind in an


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indirect way through the set of yamas (donts) and Niyama

a set of (Dos) Asana - Pranayama (Mastery through

Breath) Pratyahara mastery through senses.

Antaranga Yoga is direct way to give the mastery over the

mind through Dharana focussing, Dhyana - Meditation,

Samadhi Super consciousness - from Tamas to Rajas to

Satva thus Raja yoga calms down the mind.

eu% izkeuksiki% ;ksx% Yoga is a way of life.

Bhakti Yoga teaches us to mastering emotions, which is

the main cause for many of our problems.

dke] ks/k] yksHk] eksg] en ekr;FkZ&

Six enemies of man.

But Bhakti Yoga teaches us to sublimate our desires

and not suppress them as it is a science of emotion culture

through devotional sessions, involving the awareness,

Surrender. God realisation is the real entry not the end.

Yoga purifies at all levels. Gain Mastery over emotions.

Eradicate all illness grow healthier happier and spread themessage of Love, Harmony and peace and spread the


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Fragrance of happiness, Bliss, silence every where at all

times by Anusandhana.

Jnana Yoga - The yoga of wisdom. Hearing, recalling,

analysing, smelling, meditating - realisation.

Use of intellect to Transcend.

Replace gross thoughts by questions.

Questions by deeper queries.

Queries by fundamental search.

Drop the search and it takes one to pure

consciousness.

Search for happiness and quest for reality. Jnana yoga

teaches us happiness is not in objects of enjoyment or any

external agents but silencing the mind and gain pure

experience. Thus it will change us, ennoble us and diviniseus.

Karma Yoga - The secret of Action.

Action in Bliss - The secret of Karma Yoga is ;ksxL;% dq:dekZfp%


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It teaches us -

Action in relaxation

Stress free action.

Blissful awareness throughout.

Increase in efficiency.

Fragrance of Love, Harmony and Bliss.

Through Karma Yoga one can lead a Healthy, Happy,

purposeful life.

Health is a state of well being at the physical, mental,

social and spiritual levels and not merely an absence of

illness or infirmary (WHO).

Yoga therapy is undoubtedly the surest means of

preventing illness or helping to cure it.

Yoga is an experience of complete peace of mind and

self knowledge. It trains the mind psychologically and

increases power of perception. Due to concentration. Yoga

help us perceive the subtle realities of life, illuminating our

existence and moral sense. It gives a direction to our life

and spiritual awakening towards a perfect self expression


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and helps us to merge with the universal self. When yoga

is followed correctly and with devotion it becomes a sure

way of restoring balance, helping us to develop a

determination and resistance and above all find serenity

and inner peace.

With regard to our physical body yoga acts both as a

curative and preventive measure. It aims at the

coordination between mind and body and mans

harmonious evolution.

If we wish to possess perfect health, be immune to

illness and live a long life, if we seriously wish to discover a

method that enables us to maintain our health and

recuperate our forces, if we are looking for real

development of the muscles and not just their external

appearance, if we want to stall old age and delay death. In

other words, if we want to make our lives happy, then we

should follow the Yoga method, for it is complete and

rational, both from the point of view of hygiene and that of

spiritual evolution. It satisfies the body, mind and soul

simultaneously.

therapeutic utilities of yoga

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