Theory and Application of Yoga and Meaning and Needs of Yoga.

Theory of Yoga

Yoga is a systematic practice of physical exercise, breath control,

relaxation, diet control, and positive thinking and meditation aimed at developing harmony in
the body, mind, and environment. The practice entails low-impact physical activity, postures
(called asanas), breathing techniques (pranayama), relaxation, and meditation. Most people
are familiar with the physical poses or yoga positions but don't know that yoga involves so
much more.

Yoga’s history has many places of obscurity and uncertainty due to its oral
transmission of sacred texts and the secretive nature of its teachings. The early writings on
yoga were transcribed on fragile palm leaves that were easily damaged, destroyed or lost. The
development of yoga can be traced back to over 5,000 years ago, but some researchers think
that yoga may be up to 10,000 years old old. Yoga’s long rich history can be divided into four
main periods of innovation, practice and development.

The beginnings of Yoga were developed by the Indus-Sarasvati civilization in

Northern India over 5,000 years ago. The word yoga was first mentioned in the oldest sacred
texts, the Rig Veda. The Vedas were a collection of texts containing songs, mantras and
rituals to be used by Brahmans, the Vedic priests. Yoga was slowly refined and developed by
the Brahmans and Rishis (mystic seers) who documented their practices and beliefs in the
Upanishads, a huge work containing over 200 scriptures. The most renowned of the Yogic
scriptures is the Bhagavad-Gîtâ, composed around 500 B.C.E. The Upanishads took the idea
of ritual sacrifice from the Vedas and internalized it, teaching the sacrifice of the ego through
self-knowledge, action (karma yoga) and wisdom (jnana yoga).

The physical practice of yoga postures focuses on the development of the strength,
flexibility, and endurance in the physical body, whereas breath awareness strengthens the
respiratory system and promotes concentration. Any of these practices may be used
separately, but within yoga philosophy, the physical postures and breathing exercises prepare
the mind and body for meditation and spiritual development. Based on these principles,
different yogic disciplines have developed, including Raja, Mantra, Jnana, Karma, and Bhakti
yoga.
Applications of Yoga

On a subjective level, the regular practice of yoga promotes strength, endurance, and
flexibility and cultivates a sense of calmness and well-being. Many yoga students also report
an improved sense of energy to lead life fully and with enjoyment (Mehta, Mehta, & Mehta,
1995). Changes in self-awareness and perspective, although difficult to quantify, can be
among the most important outcomes of sustained yoga practice.

The physiologic state produced by the regular practice of yoga postures and breathing
is the opposite of the fight/flight stress response (Schatz, 1992). With the stress response
interrupted, a sense of balance and union between the mind and body can be restored (Schatz,
1992).

Several studies report improvements in health status indicators in healthy volunteers,

including reduction in body weight (Telles, Nagarathna, Nagendra, & Desiraju, 1993; Walia
et al., 1992), level of autonomic arousal (Telles, Nagarathna, et al., 1993), improved somatic
steadiness (Telles, Hanumanthaiah, Nagarathna, & Nagendra, 1993), muscular strength (Bera
& Rajapurkar, 1993; Madanmohan et al., 1992), and cardiovascular indicators (Bera &
Rajapurkar, 1993; Madanmohan et al., 1992; Schell, Allolio, & Schonecke, 1994) . In other
studies, healthy women who participated in a yoga program reported higher scores in life
satisfaction, extroversion (Schell et al., 1994), lower levels of negative affect (Schell et al.,
1994; Walia et al., 1992), and higher levels of well-being and self-reported health (Walia et
al., 1992) No published studies were found that reported negative effects of a yoga program
on physiologic or psychologic outcomes.

One of the most intuitively obvious health applications of yoga is in pregnancy and
childbirth. In fact, many of the techniques of relaxation, internal focus, and systematic
breathing currently included in preparation for childbirth classes have their roots in yoga. The
gentle stretching that occurs during yoga asanas helps ease the musculoskeletal consequences
of pregnancy, while preparing the muscles of the lower body for use in childbirth. (Jordan,
1988; Lasater, 1995).Yoga also may be useful in promoting postpartum recovery and coping
with the stresses of parenting (Jordan, 1988; Lasater, 1995).

Preliminary studies have supported the effectiveness of select yoga postures in

reducing pain and inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis (Garfinkel,
Schumacher, Husain, Levy, & Reshetar, 1994; Haslock, Monro, Nagarathna, Hagendra, &
Raghuram, 1994), seizures rates in epilepsy (Panjwani, Gupta, Singh, Selvamurthy, & Rai,
1995), anxiety in obsessive compulsive disorders (Shannahoff-Khalsa & Beckett, 1996), and
exercise endurance and frequency of attacks in bronchial asthma (Jain et al., 1991; Jain &
Talukdar, 1993; Singh, Wisniewski, Britton, & Tattersfield, 1990).

Yoga is considered a mind-body intervention that is used to reduce the health effects of
generalized stress. Yoga is believed to calm the nervous system and balance the body, mind,
and spirit. It is thought by its practitioners to prevent specific diseases and maladies by
keeping the energy meridians open and life energy (Prana) flowing.

A new study by University of Waterloo found that practicing brief sessions of Hatha
yoga and mindfulness meditation can significantly improve brain function and energy levels.
The study found that practicing just 25 minutes of Hatha yoga or mindfulness meditation per
day can boost the brain's executive functions, cognitive abilities linked to goal-directed
behavior and the ability to control knee-jerk emotional responses, habitual thinking patterns
and actions.

Yoga, along with other massage, herbal medicine, and meditation, come under the
umbrella of; Contemporary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), which has been increasing in
popularity for many years. In 1990, a third of all Americans had used some form of CAM. By
2002, the number of people who had tried CAM had nearly doubled. The numbers, Su and
his colleague Lifeng Li report, remain on the rise. Their study compares data from the 2002
and 2007 National Health Interview Surveys, which are conducted annually by the CDC’s
National Center for Health Statistics, to track the health care status of Americans and their
access to the health care system.

More than a third of those who said they used CAM practices in 2007 also reported
that they had an unmet medical need or had delayed getting medical care. Su speculates that
this is due to the greater affordability of CAM, including provider-based CAM practices,
compared to conventional medicine. (Su, 2011)

Meaning of Yoga

The word “yoga” comes from a Sanskrit root “yuj” that means to yoke, to join, and to
direct and concentrate one’s attention. Yoga philosophy and practice were first systematically
described by Pantajali in the 2nd century in the classic text titled Yoga Sutras (Lasater, 1997).
 The goal of the ancient tradition of yoga is the stilling of the restlessness of the mind
and the joining of the mind, body, and spirit in the search for health, self-awareness, and
spiritual attunement. Although yoga developed from and within Indian philosophy and
religion, the practice of yoga does not require spiritual beliefs or religious observances
(Myers, 1997).

Pantajali and yoga masters since his time have outlined an eightfold path to awareness
and enlightenment (Lasater, 1997). These eight branches, or limbs, of yoga contain ethical
principles for living (yamas and niyamas), physical postures (asanas), breathing practices to
regulate the breath and balance life energy (pranayama), and meditative practices (pratyahara,
dharana, and dynana). The ethical principles describe the essential attitudes and values that
are needed to undertake the physical and mental practice of yoga safely.

Aims of Yoga

The main aim of Yoga is to know one’s self within and bring union between the
individual self (Atman) and Universal Consciousness (Parmatman), to attain liberation
(Moksha or Kaivalya) from cares and anxieties, pains and sufferings of worldly life and enjoy
Truth-Knowledge-Bliss-Absolute. That is possible only when the mind (Chitta) is made free
from modifications.

Aims may vary from individual to individual and styles of yoga, but the broad objectives of
yoga rare:

1) Broadly the objectives are bringing peace and tranquillity and freeing the individual
from stress and strain, worries, fears and anxieties,
2) bringing balance and harmony in the body-mind-soul complex; exploring and
unfolding latent talents,
3) gaining sound health by training the body and mind in a way to avoid rigidity and
bring flexibility,
4) to keep the internal body clean and detoxified,
5) developing immunity and becoming the Master of the mind and work efficiently to
one’s full potential.
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