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by Dilip Sarkar, MD, FACS, CAP, C-IAYT
[At a September 14th-16th program at Yogaville (Virginia), Dr. Dilip Sarkar presented a workshop on “The Application of Yoga Therapy into Healthcare,” highlights from which are presented below. To read the full article, see the Yogaville website at:
https://www.yogaville.org/2018/07/09/applying-yoga-therapy-healthcare/.]
Yoga is a stepwise practice for self-realization, during which a person can also incur health benefits that can be adapted as Yoga Therapy for chronic dis-eases. A daily practice of Yoga Therapy can foster Rogir Chikitsā (treatment of dis-ease), secondary prevention or therapeuticmedicine, and Swāsthya Rakshma (maintenance of health), as primary prevention or preventive medicine. It also helps in the rehabilitation of a dis-ease with better management of the dis-ease, less pharmaceutical support, and better quality of life.
In addition to bringing back our health, the practice of Yoga Therapy encourages wellness in all realms: physical, mental, and spiritual. Physical wellness provides strength and stamina, but mental and spiritual wellness provide healing.
As most chronic endogenous dis-eases manifest with an acute onset, standard evidence-based Western Medical therapy should begin at that time, along with personal lifestyle modification through Yoga Therapy. Yoga Therapy will gradually improve one’s underlying condition and the chronic use of medications can be slowly withdrawn to reduce negative side effects, resulting in improved, medication-free, dis-ease free, healthy living.