Yoga Therapy
By Dr. M.V.Bhole
Introduction:
I. 1 ) What is Yoga Therapy?
Yoga Therapy helps the individual to establish contact, union, (Yoga) with the self.
. 2 ) How does union with the self is established?
The contact with the self can be established through one's body, breathing, emotions and feeling states, thoughts and behaviour.
. 3 ) Are we not working with these parameters/entities in our daily life?
Yes. However we remain in contact/union (Yoga) with the outside world or within the body. The process of union is used for discharging our duties and responsabilities in professional, family, social life and in our hobbies.
These develop functional disturbances at all these levels of one's existence giving rise to the experience of stresses, tensions, disorders, anxiety, frustrations, depressions, etc. which can make the individual more susceptible to infections and organic disorders.
How do we work in Yoga Therapy?
II. 1) Working with the self at the level of the body.
a - Experiencing different part of the body at rest.
practice - shavasana, experience, explanation.
b - Learning to release tensions (superficial and deepseated) through simple body positions developing into postures.
Different groups of muscles are used with different motivations, thoughts, decisions and ambitions in our daily activities which tend to develop tensions, spasms, tremors, rigidity in them if they fail to relax efficiently.
c - In Yoga we work through "stretching" of different muscles through simple body positions
leading to "postures" (asana) while the opposite groups of muscles are kept in relatively relaxed condition.
practice - to work with the leg muscles (passive part) with the help of the muscles of the arms
(active part). Practice, experience, feed back.
d - Playing the role of a "spectator" (drashta). One is educated to play a role of an observer/experiencer/spectator of the events that take place in the muscles of the leg (passive part)
e - Working with other parts of the body: vertebral column, arms, legs, neck, etc. in lying down position, in standing, in sitting.
f - Explanation of "tonus muscularis as undisturbed condition of the self at the level of the body.
II. 2) Working with the self at the level of breathing:
1. a) experience of one's breathing
b) how did you experience it? through air movement or through body movement?
c) relationship between air movement and air movement.
2. a) experiencing breathing movements in different areas of the trunk from 8 to 20 different areas).
b) understanding one's pattern of breathing movements.
3. a) influencing breathing movements through simple body positions becoming postures, related with the horizontal segments and vertical planes of the body.
4. a) understanding the nature of voluntary breathing movements:
1) during voluntary deep inspiration,
2) during voluntary deep expiration.
b) realising the necessity and importance of correcting voluntary breathing movements, if they are wrong.
c) experiencing the body cavity in relation to breathing and its getting filled and emptied.
d) experiencing breathing movements and filling/emptying of body space in different lying down positions.
e) explanations, if required, about the therapeutic importance of working with breathing movements.
II. 3) Working with the self through the air movement involved in
breathing.
1. a) experiencing the touch of air on the upper lip and on the inside of the nostrils.
b) getting guided by the touch of air leading to the perception of air low.
2. a) using different areas of the body to experience touch of air and direction of air flow: mouth, glottis, one nostril at a time, olfactory area, etc.
b) active exhalation followed by passive inhalation leading to kapalabhati.
c) active inhalation followed by passive exhalation.
d) working with breathing movements without air-movements (agnisara, uddiyana).
3. a) importance of working with air movement, stimulation of the brain related with different sensory-motor activities.
b) working with illuminated screen and sound vibrations.
4. Integrating all these concepts in our daily routine (in Shavasana).
II. 4) Working with the self through one's emotions, past memories,
thoughts and behaviour.
1. a) In shavasana, recollecting past memories, emotionsand feeling states related with any particular part of the body (one's own as well as other's) and to witness them as if you are watching a film without getting involved or identified with what is coming up from the sub-conscious mind.
b) To understand the need and importance of re-editing the dialogues in the film as the shots cannot be re-taken.
c) Coming back to body and breathing awareness and correct them if found disturbed.
2 a) Working with one's thoughts, decisions and execution through different part of the body.
3. a) Understanding one's overall behaviour in day to day life and living (negative and positive).
b) Need to give a meaning to one's live and survival.
II. 5) Concept of Shanti at an experiential level.
Practice: in shavasana or in sitting position, from recitation to experience at phisical, respiratory, mental and behavioural level.
III.Scope and Limitations of Yoga Therapy
A conscious human being in contact with oneself with the desire to overcome one's sufferings with one's own efforts without developing dependence on external agents and/or persons, is the ideal individual for Yoga therapy.
However, initially most of us want to be treated throughmedicines or drugless therapies and only through experience one decide to do something on one's own.
Acute infections, malignancies, accidental cases, burns, fractures, emergencies, cannot be tackeled through Yoga techniques.
Yoga therapy is a kind of education cum treatment programme and has limitations as any other therapeutic systems.
In short, functional disorders of psycho-somatic nature and stress disorders are aminable to Yoga.
IV. Can we understand Yoga Therapy in other suitable terms for
westorn mind colture?
Yes, we can call it Psycho-Physiotherapy (P.T.T.) or, if there are no objection, Psycho-Spiritual-Physio-Therapy (P.S.P.T.).
25/07/11
Dr M.V. Bhole - © Copyright 2011