YOGA PROMOTES HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

Jul 01, 2018 Consumer Concerns, Features / Columnists

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By PAT DIAL

One of the greatest concerns of consumers is their health and well-being and accordingly, this column has from time to time touched on this subject. This week we will touch on Yoga, the great value of which Western Medicine and other health promoters have discovered only comparatively recently.
On 21st June, International Yoga Day was promoted worldwide under the auspices of the United Nations. Some four years ago, the international community became conscious of the value of Yoga and the UN General Assembly resolved to recognize the 21st June, the Summer Solstice of the Northern Hemisphere where most of the world’s population live, as World Yoga Day.
From pre-historic times, the Summer Solstice had always had a spiritual significance; for example, the Stonehenge in England, a pre-historic temple, is associated with the Summer Solstice.
Though Yoga has its roots in India, many of the most well-known gurus (teachers) are from the West. In other words, Yoga is becoming like the number system we use: Though it originated in India, it belongs to the world.
Western Medicine tends to concentrate on curing ailments of either the body or the mind; Yoga deals with both mind and body simultaneously since its approach is holistic.
The human mind often oscillates between the Past and the Future and this results in anticipation and worry, desires, fears, cravings and aversions. These worries and stresses come about because neither Past nor Future exists and are illusory; only the Present exists and Yoga brings the mind to the present moment.
In this process of bringing the mind to the Present, Yoga cleanses the mind and body of accumulated stress and negative impressions. With regular Yoga practice, the mind achieves clarity and balance, flexibility and alertness, and the strength of the body improves. The practitioner’s day to day life will reflect yogic gains.
A very simple example of the holistic way in which Yoga acts on the mind and body is the practitioner being able to breathe through difficult physical postures and this results in the mind being capable of overcoming the most difficult pressures and problems. Or physical flexibility leads to mental flexibility and equally, mental flexibility leads to physical flexibility.
One of the great advantages of Yoga is that it makes meditation easier. One could then begin to meditate and one’s meditation would bring peace and happiness. But Yogic meditation could move deeper into the mind and psyche where one’s Being tastes the Infinite and one experiences Oneness with all Creation. In other words, one becomes all and differences disappear and with the disappearance of differences comes the end of all tensions. People of Religion describe such a state of Being as “realizing God.”
In Yoga practice, Sanskrit words are used because they encapsulate concepts which would require several English words or phrases to describe or explain. The Sanskrit expressions are therefore a short-cut and in any case, have been absorbed into English. The practice consists of many asanas or postures leading up to deeper spiritual dimensions.
One of the first asanas which could be done without the help of a teacher is merely sitting comfortably on a mat with legs crossed, spine erect, gaze on wall or some object in front and bringing one’s palms together in the middle of one’s chest. This placing of the hands together is called the “Anjali Mudra” or Salutation Seal.
The Anjali Mudra is symbolic of the balance and harmony of the left and right united in the centre and also the balance and unity of the physical, mental and emotional. With that asana or posture and mudra, it is easy to begin contemplation and meditation.
Minister of Public Telecommunications Catherine Hughes, speaking at the World Yoga Day celebrations which was held at the Everest Sports Club last Sunday observed that more Guyanese were embracing Yoga which not only helped to cleanse the mind but that diligent practitioners could be a light in a world of darkness. She felt it a very positive thing for one’s development if one took an hour out of one’s schedule to do Yoga.
Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, a few months after the UN General Assembly had declared 21st June as International Day of Yoga, gave a good description of it: “Yoga is an invaluable gift of India’s ancient tradition. It embodies unity of mind and body; thought and action; restraint and fulfillment; harmony between Man and Nature; a holistic approach to health and well being. It is not about exercise, but to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and Nature”.

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