Yoga can provide a cure for all the illnesses of the body and the mind.
When you practice yoga regularly – not only is it effective as a cure for illness, but also as a preventive medicine.
Life has four characteristics, it exists, evolves, expresses and extinguishes. For this, it depends on five elements: the earth, water, air, ether, and fire. To make it easier to understand we can bring in the five senses and its objects: sight, smell, taste, sound, and touch.
According to Ayurveda, life or existence is not a rigid compartment, but a harmonious flow. Even these five elements of which the whole universe is made of, are not tight compartments of defined objects. They flow into one another. Each one of the elements contains the other four.
The subtlest element in us is space, which the mind is made up of, and the grossest is the earth element, which our bones and marrows, and the skin and the structure are made of. This is further divided into three Doshas — Vata (air element), Pitta (fire element), and Kapha (water element). It is a way to understand the physiology, its characteristics and its reflection on the mind. Imbalance in any one of the element in the body is termed as dosha.
When a disease arises, it comes first in the thought form - the subtlest aspect. Then the sound form, and then the light form, that is, in the aura. It is only then that the disease manifests in the body.
Simple symptoms arise in the fluid form, which can be eliminated, and then the disease manifests in the grossest form, where it needs medication.
In treatments such as aromatherapy, a disease can be cured just through fragrance. Aromatherapy mostly focuses on the preventive aspect.
The holistic approach of Ayurveda includes exercise, breathing, and meditation. It is very interesting to notice the relationship between breath and the different doshas in the body, namely Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. These three doshas affect certain parts of the body more than the other parts.
For example, Vata Dosha (air element) is predominant in the lower part of the body, such as stomach, intestine. Diseases like gastric problems and joint aches are caused due to the Vata imbalance.
Kapha dosha is predominant in the middle part of the body. Cough is mainly a result of Kapha imbalance. (Perhaps the word cough has come from the Sanskrit word Kapha).
Pitta, affects the upper part of the body, i.e. the head. Short temper is a sign of Pitta.
Yoga or breathing techniques such as Sudarshan Kriya (The Art Of
Living Healing Breath Technique) and the three-stage pranayama (channelising Prana or life force to different parts of the body) have an effect on these three Doshas.
Among different pranayama and other breathing techniques, there are specific pranayamas (breathing exercises) for the lower, middle, and the upper parts of the body which help bring balance to the respective areas.
How do we bring good health to our system?
First, by attending to the Ether element — the mind. If your mind is bogged with too many impressions and thoughts, and it is draining you of your resistance power, that is where it is preparing your body for some disease. If the mind is clear, calm, meditative, and pleasant, the resistance in the body increases and it would not allow a disease to come into the body.
The first remedy is calming the mind, coming from the subtlest aspect of creation, the Ether.
Then comes the air element - the breath. Aromatherapy and some other techniques come in this category.
Next is the light element; here comes the color therapy. Before a disease manifests in the body you can see it in the aura of a person. By energizing our system with the prana or life energy, one can clear the aura and prevent the illness.
That is what yoga does. The purpose of yoga is, to stop the sorrow before it arises. To burn the seed of sorrow before it sprouts.
Then comes the water element. Fasting with water or purifying the system with water can bring a lot of balance in the system.
The final recourse is different medicinal herbs, medicines, and surgery. All this comes when everything else fails or when we neglect these other steps.
Quiver-free breath,
Stress-free mind,
Inhibition-free intellect,
Obsession-free memory,
Ego that includes all,
And Soul which is free from sorrow.
~ H.H. Sri Sri RaviShankar
It is this wisdom of Yoga that transforms one from arrogance to self-confidence, from meekness to humility, from depe ndence to interdependence, from a limited ownership to oneness with the WHOLE.Sri Sri |
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