Is yoga a form of medicine?
Is yoga a form of medicine?
Yoga has an ancient history dating back over 2,500 years and its teachings can be referenced in many different texts. Today yoga is practiced by millions all across the globe, and each person steps onto their mat for deeply personal reasons. Some practice to heal, treating yoga as a form of medicine while others simply want to test the physical limits of their bodies.
Where it all began
According to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, yoga is the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind. This is one interpretation of a line written over 2,000 years ago. It is just as with any translation the meaning may become obscured. Breaking it down to the truest essence, yoga is all about being in the present moment. It is not worrying about the past or the future being still. If you’ve ever tried to balance in yoga while thinking about taxing your car, you may have discovered how this works. We can’t cultivate balance in a yoga asana if we are not in the present moment to tend to each tiny movement within the body. We need to be present and to still the mind in order to practice balance within the body.
This is also true when we step off our mats. Creating balance between in life is near impossible with constant access to work emails while you’re out of the office. The focus of the mind is elsewhere, even while the body is physically at home with the family. Taking this lesson from Patanjali’s teachings we should be striving for moments where the mind is elsewhere. In these pockets of time we can be right here, right now!
If depression is living in the past and anxiety means dwelling in the future, yoga offers the antidote to both. Through the encouragement to remain in the present moment we can experience calm and peace. That sounds like medicine which could treat 2 of the largest mental health issues facing us in the modern age.
A war within
The Yoga Sutras are only one text which references yoga. The Bhagavad Gita is another text familiar to all yoga students. It tells the tale of Prince Arjuna and his inner conflict when faced with a war fighting his own kin. Arjuna is counselled by his charioteer in the form of the Hindu God Lord Krishna. Here the lessons are about doing the right thing, for the right reasons. It’s not simply enough to step onto our yoga mats each day and move, we must approach it for the right reasons, with intent and purpose. Only then can we really practice yoga.
We’re all a little bit like Prince Arjuna, only the war we are facing is one with ourselves. It’s the battle between watching Netflix and scrolling on our devices and stepping away from the modern world to tend to our wellbeing. Living in the 21st century is demanding, with 24/7 news and everyone else ramming their opinions into our faces. It’s hard to keep a steady gaze on what is truly important – this is when we need yoga most. We need to make time to step away from it all and look after our own wellbeing.
Yoga as medicine
The philosophical teachings of yoga are a fundamental part of the journey towards uniting our minds, bodies and spirits. That’s what yoga is all about and sometimes we can loose sight of this as we become caught up in our daily worries. Taking a moment to learn about the history of yoga offers a valuable insight into how yoga can be a medicine to soothe our modern souls. Stepping onto your mat offers more than the chance to move, it gives you the gift of stepping away from stresses unique to our technologically enhanced lifestyles.
So for today why not make yourself a promise to practice some yoga – to step away from scrolling and to do something positive for yourself. But remember it’s all about balance!
