Health, as defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO), is “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Yoga is a physical, mental and spiritual practice to maintain good health.
The United Nations General Assembly adopted an India led resolution declaring June 21 as International Day of Yoga which is commonly referred to as Yoga Day.
Though Yoga originated in India, it is not meant for people of any one religion or region but for whole mankind. Lord Shiva considered to be Adiguru, is the father of ancient Yoga while some historians claim that Patanjali is a father of modern Yoga.
Last year’s Yoga event was held in the ground of the Forest Research Institute of our green city Dehradun. Nearly 50,000 volunteers took part in that event which was led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
It is universal law of nature that everyone wants to seek pleasure and get rid of pain. It applies not only to the humans but to the animals as well. Yoga could be one of the means to achieve it.
The importance of Yoga is becoming known in various spheres now. The scenario of orthopaedic practice has changed in last 40 years.
Earlier the patients were coming in OPD mainly for treatment of developmental deformity, paralysis due to infection like Polio and, TB and for fracture related complications.
But nowadays OPD attendance is usually the patients of chronic musculoskeletal pain, complication of the road traffic fractures and degenerative problems.
After recent advancement in medical field, the problems caused due to infection and fractures had been reduced significantly but not that of degeneration. As it is said if there is birth, there is development, disease, degeneration and death. Degeneration is a part of life. We cannot stop the degeneration but with conscious and unconscious effort we can reduce the pace of degeneration. Yoga can play an important role in this.
Stress is a new health problem. Around 70 per cent of the diseases are stress related. Stress has been reported as a cause not only of diabetes, hypertension, heart diseases, asthma, and many musculoskeletal problems but also of cancer as well.
Breathing exercise and meditation techniques have been proved to reduce the stress which has been proved by many bio feedback studies. The practice of Yoga not only helps to maintain better physical health but it can also be a tool for stress management. By changing our lifestyle we can change our health and ultimately our life.
The WHO has reported that the worldwide burden of musculoskeletal problems is increasing day by day. Most of the musculoskeletal problems are self created which are caused due to changes in lifestyle.
The modern change in lifestyle has created problems like obesity, diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, heart problems and stroke among others.
The habit of alcohol and smoking in sedentary work life style is working as fuel in the fire. It is not difficult to change the lifestyle. But it needs a change of the mindset. If we want to bring change in the society then target people should be children particularly adolescents and teenagers.
As it is said, it is easy to make any habit in childhood but difficult to leave that habit in adulthood. Therefore the goal should be to target the children to give them good habit.
A scientific study from JIPMER Puducherry showed that Pranayam at the rate of six breaths per minute reduced heart rate and blood pressure in hypertensive patients within five minutes of practice.
In another study, the practice of Yogasan and Pranayam for three consecutive months reduced the blood sugar level in diabetics.
Regular practice of Yogasan and Pranayam also reduced the blood cholesterol. It is reported that Yoga practice can take care of more than three dozen diseases. Multiple scientific studies proved that the Asanas, breathing and relaxation techniques used in Yoga are very effective.
In addition to Yoga, if an individual can abstain from lifestyle habit of alcoholism and smoking then result will be much better. If one does his or her household work and avoids sedentary work, does Yoga exercise and takes balanced diet then there is fair chance that one will have healthy and longer life.
The exercises are usually of three types-- aerobic, anaerobic and flexibility. All kinds of exercises help different organs of the body. Physical exercises do not need any kinds of tool to perform. Aerobic exercise consumes more oxygen. As other organs of body need exercise so does the heart. But heart cannot do any exercise itself but any exercise of the body will force the heart muscle to work more proportionately. As heart rate increases, so does the strength of the muscle which maintains the health of the heart muscles.
Indirectly it reduces of chance of heart attack, hypertension, diabetes, obesity and insomnia. Aerobic exercise releases endorphin which reduces the stress and restlessness. Anaerobic exercise can be performed in the absence of oxygen. They are usually fast activities for short duration. It increases the strength and endurance. The third is a flexibility exercise. All Yoga exercises are good examples of the flexibility exercises.
Pranayama is the formal practice of controlling the breath, which is the source of our prana, or vital life force. Pranayama is an excellent breathing exercise for good health. It is the perfect breathing exercise which increases the positive energy level in the body and removes toxins.Pranayama is of the three breath-exercises.
It refers to a particular system of breath control with three processes as purak (to take the breath inside), kumbhak (to retain it), and rechak (to discharge it).
Pranayama supplies more oxygen to the body and is the key to a healthy body.
Sometimes Yoga alone cannot solve the problem but Yoga therapy can be complementary to the other therapy.
Yoga can improve strength of the muscle, flexibility of the joint and calmness of the brain by controlling the respiration, heart and metabolic rate and blood pressure which are the important parameters to know the health status of any individual.
Not having the time to indulge in such exercise is a common excuse. But we should realise that the benefits of the exercise are manyfolds in terms of time and labour spent in Yoga exercise.
The advantages of Yoga are many. It does not need any extra equipment or extra space as most of the exercises need.
The habit of Yoga exercise, breathing and meditation should be part of the day to day activity of an individual to maintain one’s physical, mental, social, psychological and spiritual health.
Yoga needs little bit time and little bit physical exercises at regular internal to improve the general health of an individual. The Yoga practice of half an hour to one hour on daily basis is enough to maintain good health.
(The author is an orthopaedic and spine surgeon, and the founding president of State Chapter of Indian Orthopaedic Association)