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Yoga is incomplete without Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses), Dhyana (meditation) and Dharana (focused concentration)

The history of Yoga in Indian culture is more than five thousand years old. Many complex physical diseases and mental disorders can be cured by various yoga asanas, pranayama, deep breathing, meditation, and mindfulness. There is also improvement in the personality. Due to these benefits, the popularity of yoga as a preventive therapy is increasing progressively all over the world. Yoga counsellors have been appointed in allopathic hospitals in many countries around the world including India.

The global popularity of yoga is not without reason, psychologists and doctors themselves have wholeheartedly accepted its positive effects on the body and mind. In the transition period of Covid-19, one can lead a stress-free and happy life by practising yoga. This unique way of life of the Indian sages teaches a person to live happily and also provides liberation to those who move forward on the path of Yoga. The sages created this knowledge for self-welfare so that they can get freedom from the hassle of worldly traffic and lead a prosperous life.

Today, yoga is being spread more in the context of health protection than from a spiritual perspective. There are three stages of yoga education - medicine, immortality, and salvation. After the scientific interpretation of Yoga Vidya, it is being used significantly all over the world to make the body healthy as well as to get rid of mental diseases.

According to a research work published in May 2020, in a prestigious research journal, the 'Indian Journal of Psychiatry', the Lab for Molecular Reproduction and Genetics of the Anatomy Department of AIIMS and the Department of Psychiatry together concluded that the treatment of depressed patients due to genetic causes is also possible through yoga.*

Under this research, a comparative study was done by a group of doctors on 160 patients undergoing treatment for depression. They were divided into two groups of 80 each - One group was restricted to medicine only, while the other group was made to practice yoga asanas for twelve weeks along with medicinal treatment. On completion of the research work, blood samples from both groups were tested. The report gave astounding results. Only 29% of the patients taking only the medicines benefitted, on the contrary, 60% of those who practised yoga along with medicines availed benefits.

*The Corona epidemic resulted in a rapid increase in the patients of depression in all the countries of the world.

By the research of AIIMS, Dr Reema Dada suggested that practising asanas like Surya Namaskar, Mayurasana, Vrikshasana, Tadasana, Bhujangasana, Janushirasana, Pawanmuktasana, Shalabhasana, Paschimottanasana, Anulom-Vilom Pranayama, Bhramari, Kapalbhati can significantly help in curing depression and other diseases like arthritis.

Mayurasan and Ardhamatsyendrasan are considered a panacea for diabetes and abdominal disorders. Apart from physical and mental balance, yoga is also effective in maintaining efficiency, a well-organized routine, and a lifestyle. Yoga has special importance in changing the sanskaras of the mind.

Although India has had many sages of Yoga, the most famous and prominent among them is Maharishi Patanjali. Today, yoga is directly related to disease prevention, keeping the body flexible and healthy. In reality, this is not yoga but only a means of 'Ashtayoga' of Patanjali Yogasutra. Patanjali has specifically defined yoga in the Yoga Sutras 'Yogaschittavrittinirodha' i.e., restraining the violent and malevolent instincts of the mind by practicing Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dhyana, and Dharana respectively.

On International Yoga Day, emphasis is given to the practice of physical postures and workouts. There is hardly any discussion on Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses), Dhyana (meditation), and Dharana (focused concentration). Yoga is incomplete without imbibing these three steps of the Yogasutra. It paves the way to make a person's body, mind, subconscious and soul work smoothly in one rhythm. It is a method of establishing an interrelationship between man and nature. Patanjali was an intense psychologist; he observed that man's personal life is full of sorrows. These sorrows are directly related to the change in the mind and so, Patanjali talks about living a disciplined life by methodically practicing the middle way of meditation Ashtanga Yoga.

However, in today's era, yoga is associated with Hinduism, and there is also an attempt to take political advantage of it. But the concept of yoga was born even when the concept of religion was not clear and is used for thousands of years to get rid of physical distress and worldly sorrows. Thus, it is propagated today at the international level due to its positive impact on the health of human beings and the welfare of humanity.

(The writer is a Yoga Expert and Naturopathist. Views expressed are personal)

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