Yogic Therapy – Its Basic Principles and Methods

‘Yogic Therapy – its Basic Principles and Methods’ is in the hands of our esteemed Yoga Sadhakas, Yoga Lovers, Yoga Experts and above all Medical men, who have been mainly considered as its end users by the authors of this book – Great Pioneer of Scientific Research in Yoga and Founder Director of Kaivalyadhama Yoga Research Institute, Swami Kuvalayanandaji and the then Joint Director of Research Late Dr. S. L. Vinekarji.

While taking up the work of its publication, we received several suggestions to improve upon the book from our well wishers. The suggestions were praiseworthy and institute expresses its heartfelt thanks for their concern for the publications of Kaivalyadhama.

But, while re—planning its publication as per suggestions, we felt that very essence of the book is getting diluted and hence, we decided to publish the book material in the same manner as it was written by the original authors. However, in order to make it at par with the International Publications, following features in the book can be noted by our readers –

l. Cover page has been redesigned
2. Color illustrations have been provided.
3. Various figures containing handwritten pointers have been provided in typed form for unambiguous reading.

We express our heartfelt thanks to Shri Nevatiaji and his family Members for their initial donation towards setting up of the Publication Fund, so that the book like these could be published. We are thankful to all our Kaivalyadhama members, for their various supports during its publication. Our sincere thanks are also due to Sri Tanpure, Prop. Ace Enterprises, Pune for excellent printing work.

Introduction

Really speaking, therapy is not a field of Yoga in its proper sense. Even so, Yoga has necessarily to do with health activities. How these two are related, and in what way, we shall try to see in the following pages.

The term ‘Yoga’ is used to indicate both the ‘End’ as well as the ‘Means’. In the sense of the ‘End’, the word Yoga signifies ‘Integration’, at its highest level. All the means that subscribe to help reach this goal also constitute Yoga, – in the sense of’ Yukti’, the means or technique. All the practices, whether high or low, that are calculated to help the progress of the aspirant towards such an integration are together known by the name ‘Yoga’ . Yoga is thus an integral subject which takes into consideration man as a whole. It does not divide him into water-tight compartments as body, mind, spirit, etc.

As a process of integration, it has necessarily to find ways and means to counteract the influences that are likely to contribute to any sort of ‘disintegration’. Ill health of mind and body is one such. A healthy mind and healthy body are, in fact, considered as essential per-requisites to the higher practices of Yoga. To ensure the health of body and mind, Yoga Sastra (the Science of Yoga) has laid down certain positive hygienic methods, both of mental as well as physical hygiene. These constitute what is kown as Kriya Yoga in Yogic parlance. It is considered essential that every Yogic aspirant who has not attained at balance state (true health) of body and mind must first go through a course of Kriya Yoga before he starts the higher practices of Yoga proper.

The aspirant is warned that unless he does this, he is likely to meet with great many pitfalls in his path, and may even become a physical or mental wreck. Cases are not lacking of those that have suffered thus owing to their rash undertaking of the higher practices of Yoga without preparing their body and mind for them, as laid down in Yoga Sastra.

The word ‘Kriya’ or ‘Karma’ (literally, action) has got a technical sense in Yoga. It means a purificatory and reconditioning process. Even in the Gita, the term Karma Yoga seems to signify the same. There appears to be a pun on the word Karma. It is meant to show that the ordinary duties oflife and one’s normal actions could contribute to purification of mind, provided one changes one’s attitude towards them. In Ayurveda, too, the word ‘Karma’ is used in this same technical sense, i.e., ‘Sodhana Karma’ – cleaning process – as can be gauged from the well-known branch of the Ayurvedic treatment called ‘Panca-Karma-Cikitsa’.

Though, in Yoga too, the word ‘Kriya’ or ‘Karma’ is used specifically for its various cleansing processes, i.e., lavages with water, air, etc., the word Kriya Yoga, as such, signifies a preparatory stage as a whole which envisages a complete reconditioning of both mind and body, so as immensely widen the range of their adaptability, as also raise the threshold of the re-activity.

Perhaps it would be better to make this more explicit. In Kriya Yoga, due consideration is given to the environmental influences, both external and internal, on the physical as well as mental processes. The attempt is to cultivate a sort of strong immunity which is capable of offering an effective resistance to the various impingements on body and mind, both from within and without. Such a fortification of body and mind is considered highly essential to bring about a balanced behaviour and stable personality which every true Yoga aims at.

It is now being recognised that positive health and feeling of well-being both have their levels and degrees, though these cannot be defined to-day in exact terms. Kriya Yoga is meant to raise this level of health and feeling of well-being to the highest degree possible. In order to obtain the same, certain principles are laid down regarding diet, residence, and conscious cultivation of helpful and healthy positive attitude towards social and personal surroundings.

The idea is to create a congenial atmosphere during the period of training for higher Yoga. This achieved, certain hygienic psychophysical exercises are prescribed to recondition the body and mind. In case the system is highly clogged with waste material, certain accessory lavages (Kriyas) are specifically advocated. All these are aimed at bringing about an equilibrium not only of all the systems of the body, but also between body and mind.

Thus, any training of Kriya Yoga proper submits a person to a way of life which is conducive to the organization of his psychosomatic personality in such a manner as to develop within him a capacity to withstand a considerably wide range of environmental variations, without initiating any disorder in the process of his reactions. This seems to be achieved by bringing about an altered adaptability of the tissues forming the various systems and organs, which would not readily undergo any functional disorder or pathological changes when exposed to trauma.

Autonomic and proprioceptive neuro-muscular reactions seems to have an important bearing in bringing about these results, along with certain changes in the secretions of endocrinal glands. But the stress laid on regulation of diet, respiration and cultivation of positive attitudes goes to show that the aim is primarily to bring about a beneficial change in the metabolism of the body as a whole. These metabolic changes, through the body fluids, may act on different systems, such as glandular, circulatory, nervous, excretory, etc., and bring about a complete change in the total personality of the individual, before he takes to the higher practices of Yoga.

Thus, Yogic Therapy does not consist of mere lavages and exercise treatment but lays great stress on control of diet, social attitudes and personal habits so as to bring about beneficial changes in the whole of the metabolic process. It is truly an integrated approach, treating man as a whole, and, as such, should be expected to yield better results than any other system which tends to give predominance to a single manifestation of disease, ignoring the other less manifest concomitant changes, which are as important as the overt ones.