WHAT IS YOGA AND WHAT IS NOT YOGA?
Prof. B. M. Hegde,
Yoga
Shastra, the science of Yoga, first enunciated by Sage Patanjali, is one of the
greatest contributions of India to the world, in the sphere of maintaining good
health and peaceful living. This is once again the need of the hour today, in a
world torn into pieces by hatred, greed and strife. Yoga underwent many
transformations over the Centuries and is being practised in many different
forms in other Asian countries. The west has received Yoga in a much distorted
version and Yoga is made to appear very simple and easy to cater to the fast
moving western life style, mainly to make money for the seller. Whereas Yoga is
the panacea for the fast pace of life, its present avatar here might not serve the desired purpose.
Ayurveda,
the great Indian medical wisdom, that is the mother of much other medical
wisdom in the world, including modern medicine, was based on two basic
principles viz:
“Swasthashya swastha rakshitham.”
(Try to keep the WELL healthy)
“Prasanna Aatma, Indriya, Manaha Swastha Ithyabhideeyathe” (Keep the mind and senses happy and tranquil: good health will
be guaranteed)
Modern
medicine has realized, to its utter dismay, that the above truths are
scientifically correct even today. Recent studies, both in the US and Europe,
have brought to fore the confirmation that the most important risk factors for
major killers are in the human mind. Hatred, jealousy, greed and pride coupled
with anger, frustration and, depression are at the root of many, if not all,
major killers. Yoga, in its true form, should then be the logical panacea for
all major illnesses. Scientific studies in India, in the US and England have
again reiterated the above fact that Yoga and life style changes, based on the
science of yoga, could even reverse many damages to the body, including the
blood vessel blockages!
Human
mind, according to ancient Indian wisdom, has several levels of
development. One could develop one’s
mind to the highest level, Ishwara, when
one becomes almost divine in one’s approach to life. In between, there is a
level, the Chitta, where one brings
his/her ego to work. All problems start when one brings in greed into the
picture.
“Chitta vritti nirodhaha Yogaha”
(When the mind becomes tranquil,
one becomes a Yogi)
In
essence, Yoga is meant to make the practitioner’s mind tranquil under all
circumstances of sorrow and joy. Although it looks like a tall order, for one
who practices real Yoga on a regular basis, this state of mind is not difficult
to achieve. How does Yoga achieve its objective? Let us have a scientific peep
into its working in the light of modern science.
Yoga
has eight limbs- astaanga Yoga. They
are yama, niyama, praanaayaama,
prathyaahaara, dhyaana, dhaarana, samaadhi, and aasana. A real practitioner
will have to observe certain codes of conduct. Regular exercise, moderation in
food habits, preferably vegetarian satvic diet, truthfulness in dealing with
the world, overcoming desire for what does not belong to oneself, concentration
and meditation, praanaayaama, the
breathing techniques of various kinds and, Samadhi. The last simply connotes
the state of mind that the authentic practitioner attains if one follows the
other rules. Aasanaas, the various
postures that are sold to the gullible public as the be all and end all of
Yoga, are only meant to help one to attain constant ease, the pre-requisite for
practising the other seven limbs of Yoga. When one equates the postures, the aasanaas, to the whole science of Yoga,
the result could even be counterproductive, although muscle stretch alone might
produce mind calming endorphins from the muscles!
The
most important part of Yoga is the breathing technique-praanaayaama. This, in short, is simple belly button breathing.
Deep slow breaths make one fully use one’s diaphragm, the muscular wall between
the abdominal cavity and the chest. Normally, man uses only a small portion of
the lung (say, 20%) in breathing. If one gets angry even that comes down to 10%
and the rate of breathing becomes very fast with a faster heart rate as well to
compensate for the lack of oxygen inside. All these make the oxygen exchange in
the lung, between the atmospheric air breathed in and the un-oxygenated blood
coming from the right heart, to be less efficient. Deep slow breathing, the
essence of praanaayaama, would
immediately bring more than 90% of the lung area for oxygen exchange within
seconds.
This
quickly raises the tissue oxygen levels significantly. When every cell in the
body, of which there are one hundred thousand billion in all, gets better
oxygen supply the cell works very efficiently. This makes the human mind,
situated at the sub-atomic level at every human cell, become tranquil
automatically. This might sound esoteric to some but one only has to experience
to realize how easy it is for an ordinary person to attain that state of mental
tranquility. Charlatans teach some other methods of breathing that might result
in hyperventilation and give one a dizzy feeling. This dizzy feeling is sold to
the gullible public as the real effect of Yoga.
Unfortunately,
if one is past middle age and then gets into hyperventilating state, one could
even die of a sudden heart attack- a true meeting with the Maker, in a manner
of speaking. Hyperventilation brings on changes in the blood pH resulting in
alkalosis. The latter could produce severe constriction of blood vessels. If
that happens in the heart or brain, the result could be disastrous, to say the
least. Be warned; never try any other type of praanaayaama, other than the one described above, sukha praanaayaama, if you are not a
mature Yogi of the highest order. The latter could do many other feats, like
slowing their breathing and heart rates to abysmally low levels that would be
fatal for ordinary mortals. We can not attain those levels of the Yogis.
Conversely,
if one becomes tranquil, the breathing automatically becomes deep and slow,
just as in Yoga practice. The essence of Yoga, therefore, is true tranquility
of the mind at all times and not just for an hour or so daily during Yoga
practice. To that end, one must have a tranquil life style which makes one a
Yogi in the true sense of the word. Religiously practicing Yoga daily for an
hour and the rest of the time trying to be one up on others would be of no use
at all. One must follow the true Indian
culture to be good at Yoga practice. Yoga can not be practised in
isolation. True Indian culture is genuine authenticity-not doing anything that one
does not want the world to know. This, coupled with altruism, concern for others in distress, sarve janaaha sukhino bhavanthu- may
everyone be happy- makes life a true joy. In short, if you live and let others
live, life would be a bed of roses.
In
the present day world of cut-throat competition man has almost forgotten what
happiness is all about. Time was when the joy of hard work to earn one’s next
meal was sheer enjoyment. Today mass production of goods, coupled with aggressive
marketing techniques, have taken that joy away for the rich and the powerful.
It is still a joy for those that do not know where their next meal comes from.
For the rich now happiness is in one up-man ship. Power emanates from hoarding.
They are in the minority, though. But, in the present day world the less
fortunate poor are being daily exploited by the rich and powerful, making their
life miserable. The richer one gets, the more powerful he/she will be is only
an illusion. It still remains a mirage even to this day.
To
get rich people use all unscrupulous means. Truth and ethics become the major
casualties. Now the reader would
realize the greatness of the Indian culture of
not doing anything that one does not
want the world to know. It is in pursuit of imaginary happiness of
hoarding, man’s breathing changes to the fatal mode, creating all the maladies
that man has become heir to these days. In addition to trying to sell the
modern medical quick fixes for the
already broken glass of human health for what they are worth in an emergency,
one needs to go in for long term solutions of preserving the glass intact. It
is cheaper also in the present medical care system that has become
prohibitively expensive with the greed of those that want to market their
products and their skill. Yoga leads the way there. May all be happy and
healthy.