The Yoga rules

By Fred Field

Yoga is an ancient and extended system of psychotherapy. The points of difference between the psychotherapy of the East and that of the West are the emphasis laid by the East on body poise, breathing, and the objectification of the body. The spiritual aspect of Yoga is only in part frowned upon by psycho-analysts, as there is a school of psychologists who accredit their cures to the establishment in their patients of a renewed sense of well-being and of confidence in God. That Yoga is a system of psycho-therapy created over two thousand years ago and successfully practised ever since, with amazing results, is a fact that brooks no argument; that Yoga's system should be dissected and adapted for the Western world and practised by Western psychologists is my fervent hope.

This is not to infer that the medical profession never achieve satisfactory results in such cases. On the contrary, the doctors cure with consummate skill the majority of sufferers, but they fail lamentably with some who apparently suffer from the same functional disorders as the majority they have cured. Medical science, with its present curative devices, must then step aside for the psycho-analyst, a man whose specialized knowledge is ever becoming more frequently sought by those who are in danger of succumbing to the unnatural circumstances of modern life.

All this, though it is well in the domain of psychotherapy, does not constitute the main urge for the existence of Yoga-therapy. The main urge is one that Western psycho-therapy fights shy of absorbing, yet it is more general than any functional disorder; it is the urge for that knowledge whereby the individual may be brought to a full realization of his true self and his vast potentialities.

Few people can have the sincere conviction that they are exploiting to the full their physical and mental attributes, and the knowledge of this works insidiously throughout all they endeavor to accomplish in life. Half the sterile lives in the world are due to the unconscious (or sometimes conscious) realization of the inadequacy of the individual to reconcile his life with what he feels should be the true method of living. The result is a sense of frustration, for the individual wants something which he cannot identify. A knowledge of what a man wants is gained only after searching self-analysis, and the true Self is only revealed when its potentialities are made apparent. The postures, breathing exercises, and objectification of the body induced by Yoga therapy automatically bring into being a state of mind perfectly attuned to the world around. In other words, Yoga makes the patient his own psycho-analyst, and it is from the study of Yoga-therapy itself that a satisfactory system is cultivated, with its consequent poise and peace of mind.

The nervous diseases reflected in so many disorders of the body and mind are the outcome of straining and tension of the faculties in a conscious or unconscious effort of the individual to adapt himself to his environment. The psycho- and Yoga therapeutists endeavor by their own particular methods to relieve this tension and substitute a true relaxation of the mind and body disciplined to work harmoniously. The psycho-therapeutist discriminates from the flowing thoughts and ideas released in the main from the subconscious and applies those that will affect beneficially the ailment of the patient. In the majority of cases the application of these thoughts is the means of bringing about relief from repression in the subconscious.

Fred Field have a free website about Alternative Medicines and Natural Healing. Check it out today and receive a Free report. You can also read more about Yoga Therapy, Reiki, Aromatherapy Reflexology and much more.