Blogs

What is Yoga?

A couple of years ago Yoga was merely asanas for me. But then after a couple of more years later, I learned that it's asanas & breathing practice.  I couldn't be more wrong.  Then I learned Asanas & Pranayamas are not Yoga, but part of Yoga. That's when my curiosity developed to dive deeper into the subject and find out for myself "What is Yoga?" 

You'll be surprised it was not easy to understand it in the beginning as there is a lot of literature written on the topic since it's the oldest subject. The literature says the word Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit word “Yuj” usually defined as a union: the union between the limited self (Atma) and the Divine Self (Paramatma).  It was a satisfactory start as I still couldn't understand a lot about it. Like what is Atma & Paramatma really. After reading from different sources, listening to learned men, and a couple of years later I have a satisfactory understanding now. The aim of Yoga is not really to unite us with anything for we are already united in the sense that we are made out of the same material as all other living & non-living things and the consciousness that guides us all. Yoga is to help us realize our identity with the Divine Self, to make us know and tune into our intrinsic nature. In short, it is not the process of just knowing but of realizing that we are all connected.


There are a few more notable definitions of Yoga below worth knowing.


According to Bhagavad Gita



According to Patanjali, the author of the classical Yoga text, The Yoga Sutras, defines Yoga as, “complete control over patterns or modifications of the mind.” This definition is very interesting and practical in the treatment of Psychosomatic disorders like Diabetes, Blood pressure, Asthma,  Cancer, Mental disorders, and many more.


I don't wish to stop here as I know there is a lot to learn and more importantly to realize.

I wish a happy Yoga Journey to all.




Top 5 Asanas for Diabetes-2

What is Diabetes? Why is India becoming the diabetes capital of the world? Why is it happening to young kids? Can yoga help reverse diabetes?


Diabetes is a chronic disease also commonly referred to as sugar disease. There are 2 types, Type-1 & Type-2. Type-1 is the inability of the pancreas to produce sufficient amounts of insulin (Insulin is a hormone that assists cells of the body to change food into energy or to store it for future use). It’s common in the younger population and the symptoms are weight loss. On the other hand, Type-2 is the inability of body cells to utilize the insulin produced by the pancreas. It’s common in elder people and the symptoms are obesity, frequent urination.


It’s good that we understand the symptoms and role of the pancreas in a good health, but it’s equally important to understand the root cause of the problem.


Following are the root causes for lifestyle disorders, in this case for Diabetes. 


Stress is the leading root cause of type-2 diabetes. The above statement explains why people with healthy habits, nutritious diets & no bad habits fall prey to diabetes type-2. It’s the stress. Stress kills. 


We want to achieve more in less time, which causes multiple stressful situations at home, work, even on the road while travelling. These long-standing, persistent emotional surges & suppressions go on triggering the loop of intense activity in the limbic cortex with no time to reset. This creates an imbalance in the sympathetic & parasympathetic nervous system and confuses the immune system leading to autoimmune diseases like cancer & Type-1 Diabetes. 


Getting up late, eating junk food, no form of exercise & developing habits like smoking & drinking add to the problem by reducing the body's ability to manage stress and repair the body rapidly. This accumulation of stress day by day puts a great amount of pressure on various organ systems and as a chain breaks at the weakest link, some people develop diabetes. 


Unfortunately, there is no cure available with allopathy and currently, it only manages the symptoms with pills creating side effects.


By now you all would guess the diabetes solution is the elimination of stress, but that would be partially correct because It’s a problem that has affected multiple layers of our existence and therefore the solution has to be a multi-prong approach. Mind & body are closely interlinked and any disturbance in either of them is bound to affect the other. Mental worries do lead to physiological problems and bodily discomfort does impact the mind. 


Therefore the solution is: 


How does asana work?

During practice, a couple of principles need to be followed to achieve maximum benefits from an asana. They are as follows:


Top 5 asanas to treat Diabetes. 


Pranayama: 


Meditation: 


Kriyas: