Do Yoga and Ayurveda Have Healing Effects?

The meaning of yoga is to unify the body, mind, and soul to discover a balanced, harmonious and happy life where there is no sickness and bondage. So yoga fundamentally concentrates for a healthy body. Ayurveda is a sister science of yoga as both of them has the same origin i.e. Vedas.

Yoga and Ayurveda have healing effects on the body, which is their primary function. Unless the body is healthy, one cannot enjoy the real happiness and real meaning of life. First of all Yoga and Ayurveda makes your body healthy and then they lead towards a higher goal.

Healing Effects of Yoga

The limbs of yoga like Asana, pranayama, mudra, bandha, detoxification etc. all are directly connected to healing the body. Regular practice of Asana improves flexibility, balance, and strength as well as cures many ailments. The pranayama or breathing techniques gives positive effects on depression, asthma, pain, memory power, etc.

Yoga, with the proper connection of aerobic exercise, meditation, and ayurvedic diet help cardiovascular disease, blood pressure and overall systems of human beings. Yoga helps to cope in a better way with daily demands and sound sleep.

There are various researches that yoga acts as anti-aging effects promotes immunity and has healing effects for various physical and mental diseases. Some of them are as follows:

·         Blood Sugar

·         Blood Pressure

·         Heart Diseases

·         Stress

·         Depression

·         Cancer

·         Menopause

“Psychology Today” gives the report,-“Yoga has the antagonistic consequence to suffering or pain on the brain than chronic pain.” Yoga Therapy slackens nervous system tension, chronic pain, headaches and migraines, chronic fatigue, disc problems, carpal tunnel, neck pain, glandular disorder, and many others.

There are many Western Medical institutes that have done researches and studies on health effects of yoga and Ayurveda. Timothy McCall, MD has prepared a summary of various professional medical studies named “38 Ways Yoga Keeps You Fit” which proves Yoga is the best way to cure multiple diseases like cholesterol, back pain, depression, blood pressure and circulation, abdominal diseases and much, much more.   

National Geography by Ohio State University reported on a study that “Cancer patients who practiced yoga for treatment were comparatively better than those who didn’t. The rate of Inflammation controlled was much better due to the effects of yoga.

Yoga is not merely physical but has a direct relation with mind creating balance in emotions and thoughts and uplifting consciousness. In fact, more than 90% of the diseases start in the mind and affect the physical body. Yoga practice eliminates the root of suffering and leaves no place to remain diseases.

Healing Effects of Ayurveda

Yoga applies yogic techniques to heal the diseases and provide the best health while Ayurveda uses different types of plants and herbs for healing the diseases and giving the ultimate natural health since they both have the same origin and similar goal.

One of the verses from the Yoga Sutra, “yogas chitta vritti nirodhaha”, betells yoga as the harmoniously settled state of the mind and thoughts which is the perfect state of mental health. There is a verse in ayurvedic texts, svasmin dishati iti svasthah, which means that one who perennially abides coalesced with the Self is a healthy person. These verses reveal that both yoga and Ayurveda focus on the perfect health- physically, mentally and spiritually.

We can understand that Ayurveda and health have healing effects in many ways. There are other many verses in the ayurvedic texts which focus to this self-mentioned state of the mind as the essence of health. A verse from the Sushruta Samhita states, “A person is said to be a healthy person whose doshas are in balance, whose appetite is fine, whose dhatus are working properly, whose malas are harmonized and whose Self, mind and senses remain full of bliss.

Unity of Mind, Body, and Consciousness

Yoga, a Sanskrit word, means “unification” or “to connect together”.  It is the yoking together to unite body, mind, and soul. Yoga makes the mind stronger by joining the mind with the Self, the Atma. The mind cannot be properly connected with the self if there are diseases or defilements in the body and mind. So, primarily yoga must have healing effects in the body.

The aim of Maharishi Ayurveda is also to experience this unity making the body healthy. The word ayurveda is a Sanskrit word which is derived from “ayu” which means “life” or “lifespan.”  Therefore Ayurveda is “the science and process of life and longevity.” Another meaning of ‘ayu’ is described in Charaka Samhita (an ancient ayurvedic text)

— sharirendriya sattvatma sanyogo. . . ayu. The verse states ayu as the integrated state of body, mind, sense, and soul. Thus both yoga and Ayurveda have common goal i.e. complete unification body, mind, and consciousness. To get the unity, the fundamental element is perfect health. Thus, basically, yoga and Ayurveda works for healing.

Yoga is the complement of Ayurveda for healing

Yoga is an inseparable part of Ayurveda. It is mentioned in ayurvedic texts like the Charaka Samhita. Since Ayurveda has healing effects, nowadays many ayurvedic hospitals are opened. Yoga is always in Ayurvedic hospitals for better healing effects. Yoga asana is important for dissolving physical stress, healing the body and calming the mind before meditation and focus at healthy lifestyle (dinacharya) the ayurvedic routine.

Yoga is the ideal ayurvedic exercise, because it enhances immunity power, rejuvenates the body, improves circulation and digestion, removes stress and in this way it heals the body.

Yoga has healing effects which balance all three doshas of an individual. Different yoga poses have different healing effects. For instance, forward bending poses cool Pitta Dosha. Twisting yoga asanas are good for Kapha because they promote digestion. Backward bending poses are warming and heating which balances Vata Dosha.

Yoga is always referred to as long as an individual has the strength to practice it. Yoga asanas tone all the parts of the body and purify the internal organs of toxins, which is one of the aims of Ayurveda.

Ayurveda is the complement of Yoga for healing

Yoga practitioners can get benefits from the ayurvedic activities along with yoga. For example, abhyanga (ayurvedic massage) removes toxins from the body, reenergizes the body and relaxes the muscles for yoga practice. Maharishi Ayurveda gives wide support for the better practice of yoga.

There must be a strong foundation of ayurvedic knowledge or hatha yoga runs the risk of becoming mere physical exercise. Yoga aims to purify the nadis (channels) with different postures. But for the cleansing process, only yoga is not sufficient. Ayurvedic principles have vital importance for removing ama (digestive impurities). So it is always recommended ayurvedic principles with yoga asanas by traditional yoga schools as they are too much interdependent to each other.

Along with this, the yoga practitioner needs to understand the way of detoxifying through lifestyle and dietary which will stop the accumulation of toxin in the body rather it keeps cleansing. With this purification, yoga, and Ayurveda give healing effects together.