Yoga Psychology, Part I

[Guest guest]

Yoga psychology: Kristine Kaoverii Weber gets centered with this ancient/modern

science.

Feb-March, 2002, by Kristine Kaoverii Weber

 

 

Yoga has become very popular recently. People who participate regularly in

this

practice admit to feeling great both physically and mentally. What makes yoga

different from other exercise? What is the healing mechanism that occurs when

yoga

is practiced?

 

It is likely that long ago people observed the natural world around them and

started

imitating the stretches of animals, creating postures that helped them feel

better.

These exercises became known as asana, a Sanskrit word that means "position

comfortably held."

 

As yoga became more refined, practitioners found these exercises were

affecting not

only their bones and musculature, but also various organ systems and their

minds.

They discovered that in addition to easing their aching backs, the postures

improved

their digestion, respiratory and circulatory systems, helped to balance their

mental/

emotional states and made it easier to calm their minds and meditate.

 

This processes of balancing the mind/body through asanas was revitalized by

Indian

philosopher P.R. Sarkar, founder of Ananda Marga Yoga Society, in the latter

Twentieth Century. He called it biopsychology and explained that by doing

specific

postures (while following a yoga diet and meditating) a person could help bring

into

balance agitated states of mind such as anger, shyness, fear, jealousy etc.

 

What is the basis of biopsychology? To begin this explanation, some Sanskrit

words

need to be understood. Let's start with one most people have heard: chakra.

Chakra

means "wheel" in Sanskrit. According to the yogis, we have seven main chakras in

the

body.

 

Research has been done to confirm the existence of energy fields at the areas

of the

body the yogis have called chakras. Valerie Hunt, a researcher at UCLA, found

that

there are high frequency vibrations emanating from these seven areas. Another

researcher, Hiroshi Motoyama in Japan, found that when people directed their

mental

focus to individual chakras, they could increase the frequency of that

particular area.

 

Sarkar says that the chakras are related to plexi-nerve networks in the

autonomic

nervous system that run near the spine. These are places where nerves converge

and

form a network, allowing for complex communication between nerve cells and the

generation of more complex functional activity. These nerve plexi are the

physiologic

counterpart which help create the subtle energy of the chakras.

 

Chakras are also associated with endocrine glands. The yogis called these

glands

noble points. Contemporary science has shown that the hormones secreted by these

endocrine glands have a profound effect on our moods. The yogis understood when

these nerve plexi and endocrine glands functioned properly, the mind was

balanced,

the body felt better and meditation became easier. It was easier to be at peace.

 

In biopsychology, balancing the endocrine glands through yoga is the key to

balancing mental/emotional states. Excessive or inadequate secretion from these

glands results in triggering receptors in centers in the brain which exaggerate

emotional states. By doing specific yoga postures regularly, we can balance the

glands and more easily achieve mental peace. Each chakra contains various

vrittis. A

vritti is a mental tendency or propensity--a possible state of mind. You have

probably

seen drawings of yogis sitting in lotus position with their many-petaled chakras

depicted in various colors. This image gives us a symbolic idea of the energy

patterns

the chakras and vrittis create.