When Science meets Yoga and Yoga meets Science
By Dr.Mukund V.Bhole - Lonavla (Pune) – India
Introduction
The international medical and psychological databases contain references to Yoga and meditation. Apart from these, we have the following important publications, which contain bibliography of works, done on Yoga.
Science studies Yoga, a review of physiological data by James Funderburk, Himalayan International Institute of Yoga, Science and Philosophy, U.S.A. 1997.
Medical and Psychological scientific research on Yoga and meditation, general effects and possible applications, by Peo, Scandinavian Yoga and Meditation School, 1978
Abstracts and Bibliography of Articles on Yoga from Kaivalyadhama up to 1985, Ed. M.V.Bhole, Kaivalyadhama S.M.Y.M. Samiti, Lonavla, India, 1984.
Part 2 of the above book, Ed.by Swami Maheshananda and T.K.Bera, 1999.
International Meditation Bibliography, 1950-1982, Howard R.Jarrel, Screcrow Press, 1985.
Yoga Research Bibliography, Ed.Robin Monro, A.K.Gosh and Daniel Kailash, Yoga bio-medical Trust, Cambridge, U.K., 1989.
Some preliminary obstacles
When Science meets Yoga:
The yoga language and techniques appear to be higly abstract and mystical. How to make it suitable for scientific experimentation in laboratory conditions?
What is the objective of Yoga and how to verify that the objective is being achieved through the techniques practised by the person?
What is meant by terms like Maha Prana, Five Pranas, Ten Vayus, Five Bhutas, Six Chakras, Kundalini, Chitta, Asana, Pranayama, etc.?
When Yoga meets Science:
When the results sought in Yoga are highly subjective in nature how can one demonstrate or show them in an objective manner outside the body?
When the Yoga experiences are without the involvement of the sensory-motor faculties, how to present them in the framework of sensory-motor faculties and modalities?
When the yoga experiences are related with one’s consciousness, how to show them in laboratory animals or in an unconscious person or in a dead body?
When Yoga and Science meet each other with
a spirit of co-operation
The approaches in Medical Science and Yoga may be different, but both the systems are working in the interest of the human beings. Therefore, sooner or later, fruitful communication can be established between them.
Medical science start with the study of the dead body and go to the functions of the mind. The medical language is related to anatomical structures and is more objective in nature.
Yoga starts with undifferentiated consciousness and then goes down to differentiated individualized consciousness in the human beings. The terms, concepts and language are associated with the consciousness.
As medical science have started to recognise human consciousness, their interest in Yoga disciplines have increased and interaction between the two are yielding good results, especially in the field of treating psycho-somatic and stress related illnesses.
For mutual understanding, suitable modifications will have to be made in the approaches of these two systems after realising the objective nature of medical science and the subjective nature of the yoga sciences.
One cannot investigate Yoga techniques on the line of “double blind studies” followed in medical research. On the other hand, one has to follow the path of “double sighted studies” on the following lines:
the subject should be able to explain the investigator about what one is doing and experiencing at the level of the body and the mind as these are not observable from the outside.
The investigator should also be aware of these actions and happenings so that proper experimental design and approaches for studying techniques and states of consciousness could be formulated and/or worked out.
Some Aspects of Pranayama in the Light of
Modern Medical Science
I Medical understanding of respiration not found in Yogic Literature:
the diaphragm is the most important muscles responsible for one’s most natural and spontaneous breathing.
The nerve centres responsible for spontaneous breathing are present in the Medulla and Pons.
Respiratory system is responsible for gaseous exchange detoxification, regulation of body temperature, blood PH and water balance.
Neck muscles and muscles of upper chest are the accessory muscles of inspiration.
The muscles of the lower abdomen and the perineum are the accessory muscles of expiration.
II Yogic understanding of breathing not found in medical literature:
svasana is one of the important indicators of life.
There are channels of “vayus” and “pranas”, which can get blocked and can influence breathing in an adversed way.
There are ten kind of “vayus”, out of which we work with prana and apana vayus in pranayama while other vayus have to be kept in proper order so that they should not create disturbances.
Sme times these vayus can get vitiated and they require to be corrected or purified
In ideal situation, one should experience one’s breathing right up to the tips of the hair and the nails.
One should be able to experience that the body cavity is getting filled “puraka” during inspiration (svasa) and is getting emptied “rechaka” during expiration (prasvasa).
One gets introduced to the working of Kundalini Energy and various lotuses or Chakras through one’s breathing.
Some of the existing notions in relation with Pranayama which require to be modified
“Svasa-Prasvasa”, “Puraka-Rechaka”, sucking in and throwing out of air are all understood as inspiration and expiration.
Physical air or universal prana is responsible for breathing.
One inhales universal prana during pranayamic breathing.
Prana is oxygen and apana is carbon dioxide, likewise prana is negative ions and apana is positive ions.
The moment we start breathing through alternative nostrils, we start practising Nadi Shuddhi Pranayama.
Understanding Pranayama in the light of
Modern Medical Science
Emphasis has to be given on the first hand experiencing without the involvement of sensory-motor organs.
One works with Proprioceptive, Visceroceptive and Vestibular sensations which arise from inside the body.
This gives information, knowledge and experience of the internal self (subject) and not of the sensory objects (indriya vishayas) outside the body.
One should get established in the following understanding:
body movements, i.e. muscular activity is primary, while air movement is secondary.
Muscular activity takes place because of the nerve impulses released from the brain centres. These nerves impulses are usually called as “neural energy”.
One can view this “neural energy” as “Individual Prana” in comparison to “Universal Prana”.
The neuro muscular activity could be understood as “Vayu” and it could be differentiated into ten Vayus.
There are three ways of working with one’s breathing:
- Activity of the respiratory muscles
- Movement of the air
-Internally aroused sensations because of the pressure changes taking place in body cavities.
Various areas of the body can be studied and examined for the presence of absence of neuro-muscular activity in a systematic way as shown in figures.
These areas can be related with the concept of different “lotuses” and channels of “Vayus”. One can find out whether they are blocked, opened or closed.
Accordingly we proceed to open the blocked areas by assuming very simple body positions or postures “Asanas” where certain muscles are kept stretched for some time.
Respiratory movements should be experienced in the stretched areas for ten to fifteen breaths along with a let go feeling, “Prayatna Shaithilya”.
Once breathing movements start taking place in these areas without pain and tension, then one proceeds to intensify them in both the directions by voluntary effort.
In this way it could be understood the concept of “Pranayama” in modern medical language.
If the movements are taking place in the wrong direction, then the direction has to be corrected and this procedure can be understood as “Vayu Shuddhi”:
After working with the respiratory movements, one can proceed to work with the air movements involved in breathing. This practice will introduce one to the “Kumbhaka Pranayamas” of “Hatha Yoga” where one is guided by the touch of air experienced inside the body and tries to find the path adopted by it during inspiration and expiration.
One is asked to work with different sensory faculties without using the respective modalities. Air is employed as a non specific stimulus which activates brain areas.
For example, one works with gustatory and olfactory senses during “Shitali and “Sitkari kumbaka pranayama”, with the olfactory and vocal senses during “Ujjayi”, with visual/olfactory senses during “Bhastrika” and with auditory and vibrational senses during “Bhramari”.
This helps one to develop awareness of different areas of the brain in the skull cavity.
Explanation of what has been done in
physiological language
The diaphragm divides the trunk area into two cavities, thoracic and abdominal cavities.
In normal conditions, the abdominal cavity remains a closed cavity while the thoracic cavity remains an open cavity all the time.
During inspiration, the diaphragm contracts and descends down thereby increasing the intra-abdominal pressure and decreasing the intra-thoracic pressure.
If the muscles of the abdominal wall and the vertebral column are properly relaxed, the intra-abdominal pressure will start getting uniformly manifested everywhere and one will experience a kind of expansion of the abdominal wall taking place in all the directions.
Gradually one starts experiencing internally aroused sensations in different areas of the body right up to the hair on the skin and the tips of the nails. This is the ideal state of the pranic activity inside the body.
On this background, one stats working with different “Kumbhaka Pranayamas, Mudras and Bandhas”.
26/07/11
Dr M.V. Bhole - © Copyright 2011