“Health is wealth. Peace of mind is happiness. Yoga shows the way.” Swami Vishnudevananda
To enjoy good health is to have received, and be able to relish one of the greatest gifts in life. The first wealth is health; the second – the mind that is under our control. We see today less and less people who can pride themselves on being healthy, physically, emotionally and mentally. Life without health is truly no-life, or at the best, life wherein freedom of a person is greatly limited and curtailed. When we are sick or unhealthy, it becomes difficult to give to others, thus depriving ourselves of one of the greatest joys of life, that of giving; when we are unwell we are the ones that have to constantly receive, and be taken care of. However, we can be the authors of our health if we were to align ourselves with Mother Nature. Even for spiritual life, in order to penetrate the hidden depth of the vast ocean of life and spirit, we need the highest standard of health.
Why are then witnessing such a decline in human health in spite of the progress of our science, and specially medicine? Our living reality has changed dramatically over the period of past few centuries and more so in the past couple of decades, and our communion and relationship with Mother Nature has deteriorated to its lowest level. Yet there is a hope. Millions of people across the globe are waking up to the power of many traditional systems of health and spirituality, one of the most important and prevalent being – the tradition of Yoga.
Our health is the result of making choices. Many of our choices whether for better or worse, were made in our previous lives.
What governs health?
Swami Sivananda says, “The whole universe from the mightiest sun to the tiniest atom is controlled by law. There is a perfect order in the whole creation. The sun rises at the proper time and sets at the proper time. The stars and planets revolve in an orderly manner. They are all governed by the laws. There are laws on the mental plane too. There are laws of health which govern our being.”
All these laws and many others are all manifestations of the great law called Dharma. Dharma is the law of sustenance and integration. It comes from the Sanskrit root “dhr” which means “to hold together”.
In this vast universe, human being, which has to a great degree free will, and can choose the best actions from his or her existent potential, breaks and violates all laws. The animals, birds, trees, wind, rain and the whole of nature never break the law. In Ayurveda (the traditional Indian medicine) there is an excellent term that explains how diseases arise. They are caused by what is known is in Ayurveda known as prajnāparādha. Prajnā means “discernment, intelligence, wisdom” and aparādhaḥ means “offence, a fault, crime”. The term is often translated as “the crimes against the wisdom”.
If we smoke and do not exercise, if we take recreational drugs and eat inappropriately and irregularly, snacking on sweets or salty chips, eat more or less than we need, or we don’t dress properly according to the weather, if don’t take care of our emotions and thoughts – these sorts of “crimes”, however small at times they may be, ultimately create the condition of disease in our system.
Let us remember that health does not mean the absence of disease, but it is rather a condition of perfect balance. When healthy, we can be active and peaceful, we laugh and smile, we are sensitive to our needs and those of the others and we see life as a gift and opportunity.
“Health is a gift from Mother Nature who is the power behind life. Swami Sivananda
How can yoga help?
Yoga is one of the oldest systems of philosophy, exercise and rejuvenation. Yoga means living in harmony with Nature, and listening to her guiding voice. Swami Vishnudevananda simplified the basic principles of yoga and health into the five points:
Proper Exercise – Yoga Asana
Proper Breathing – Pranayama
Proper Diet – Proper Diet
Proper Relaxation – Proper Relaxation
Positive Thinking and Meditation (Dhyana)
Our structure as human beings is rather complex and our health and spiritual progress depend fundamentally on how we relate to our body, mind and spirit.
Whether you are a yoga practitioner or a person in search of health, the integration of the above five points is essential to our healthy, long and happy life. If each point values 20%, then the practice of all five points will make you a 100% a yogi or a healthy person. That means that if you practice only yoga asanas, you are practicing 20% of yoga and your health is only 20% benefited by it. The total health must include the whole person – the body, mind and spirit.
As we get older our body starts to slow down and the first sign is the deterioration of the complexity of our physiological processes. Young body has a complex metabolism; in the aging body the metabolism becomes simpler and less complex, the result being that most of the physiological processes slow down and become simpler.
The practice of yoga postures and pranayama restore the metabolic complexity and in addition, supply a great amount of energy or prana to all the organs and systems of the body. The next point, the proper relaxation is a powerful restorative, and a wonderful way to keep the balance within our body and the mind so we don’t ‘burn out’. The proper food is the fuel that ultimately nurtures even the mind and positive thinking and meditation are the practices that heal the mind and reveal to us the purpose of our life.
To be healthy:
Be judicious in your habits. Bask in the sun and open air. Let your food be simple. Stay away from the harmful radiation of modern technology for at least some time during the day. Let your life be immersed in serving others. Speak your best and the most beneficial words. Think your best thoughts. At times, free yourself from thoughts too. Always stay a little hungry, physically and mentally. Remember that all diseases take their origin first in the mind, in the form of negative thoughts. Transform fear, anger and worry into courage, patience and trust. Let your life be an embodiment of positive effort, positive thought and positive realization.
“Yet the best medicine for any disease is the constant thinking and meditation on the idea:
I am free, independent, diseaseless and eternal Spirit or Atma.
I am neither this body nor this mind.”
Prem Sadasivananda
