The relevance of yoga in developing holistic health and holistic community

Abstract

The word “yoga” is derived from the Sanskrit root yuj meaning “to join”. It means the union of body, mind and soul. Yoga is also known as a spiritual science of self-realisation. The Indian sage Patanjali, in his Yoga Sutra, defines yoga as a practice to control the afflictions of the mind. Yoga goes beyond religion, beliefs, ethnicity, gender and health conditions. It is not a philosophy or ideology but rather an experiential practice which works on our cognition. Asanas, pranayama, dhyana etc. allow the practitioner to sense their state of existence. Health can be measured in many ways and is often broken down into a variety of numbers and diagnoses that don’t often provide the best picture of what a truly healthy body and mind looks like. While modern-day western medicine has brought many wonderful and life saving advancements, one of the downfalls of western medicine is the often siloed approach to health, which looks at the body in sections of individual symptoms and pieces rather that, the whole system it really is. This is why holistic health is so important, because to truly achieve optimal wellness in the physical, mental, and spiritual sense we have to be viewing and supporting the body as the incredible system it is.