Yoga as a medicine

Yoga Therapy is working on yoga as a medicine. The practice of yoga is a multi fold path with many limbs or tools. A yoga therapy should include: meditation, breathing exercises, poses, focus, moral and ethical observation, chanting, etc. These all methods have their own unique and great medicinal capacity to encourage the body. Some methods are there to make you stress less others increase breathing capacity, calm the mind, boost the immunity system of our body, promote weight-loss, balance the blood sugar, and even reduce nervousness. 

In yoga therapy there are many misconceptions. Most of the asana and Pranayam techniques are classified as if they are for particular physical or mental problems. For example, Matsyendrasan is beneficial for a diabetic patient or Savasana is good for controlling high blood pressure problem. However, many patients suffer from multiple problems. If the person is overweight and can’t even sit on the ground, how you are going to teach him Matsyendrasan?

Any one posture or Pranayam cannot cure any particular physical, mental problem!

As a matter of fact, only asana or Pranayam is not going to help if it is done in a mechanical form. There are other factors, which are playing an important role in all this process. The Yoga trainer must and should tell about the technology and philosophy of this science while providing the training to their patients. Plus the traditional poses are not appropriate to the needs of the man of this age where our life style is completely different from those of the old days! It is very important to teach more simplified versions as Yoga is non-specific when it comes to effective and positive results, especially if other factors are not incorporated, for example, diet, routine, positive attitude, openness to accept the changes and learning new healthy habits etc.

These other factors are:

 Alertness:  It is not important that the pose should be perfect in order to get its benefits but more important is the awareness of the body and attitude.

Notion: The scientific concept of the pose and Pranayam must be explained and should be very clear before its practice.

Obligation: There has to be a commitment from both the sides, one is the therapist and other is the practitioner.  

Commitment: Quite often people are taking up Yoga as an experiment. So it should be done with proper dedication.

Hope and faith: Just as a patient trusts his doctor or any other health practitioner, in the same way there has to be a faith & trust in whatever the patient is practicing during Yoga therapeutic sessions.

Approach: Frequently, people who believe in other faiths or religions are not ready for certain yoga practices when it comes to the philosophy and devotional practices for meditation. The attitude is that ‘I want to learn yoga but I don’t want to learn the philosophy; I’m here to learn only poses and breathing.’ In other words, ‘I want to learn dancing but without getting moving from my place!’ This attitude is very much wrong for the yoga practice.

In yoga therapy there are many misconceptions. Most of the asana and Pranayam techniques are classified as if they are for particular physical or mental problems. For example, Matsyendrasan is beneficial for a diabetic patient or Savasana is good for controlling high blood pressure problem. However, many patients suffer from multiple problems. If the person is overweight and can’t even sit on the ground, how you are going to teach him Matsyendrasan?
Any one posture or Pranayam cannot cure any particular physical, mental problem!

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