Читать книгу Yoga Therapy as a Whole-Person Approach to Health онлайн

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This book serves a number of important purposes. The first part of the book is an excellent introduction to the philosophy of yoga therapy from a yogic perspective. As such it is much-recommended reading for those with a general interest in yoga therapy. It serves as a corrective to the drift of this budding profession towards becoming a sub-discipline of medicine and physical therapy, where yogic practices are applied prescriptively, solely according to a medical diagnosis. This is what Bhavanani calls “yogopathy.” Majewski and Bhavanani give a detailed account of what a “whole person,” yogic process of diagnosis would look like. It is not enough to simply criticize, and these authors have gone the extra mile to fill out how a yogic perspective might approach the work of healing. It is significant to remember that in English, as well as many other Indo-European languages, the word “heal” comes from the same root as “whole” and “holy.”

In addition to holding a respect for the depth of the practices of yoga, the book also maintains respect for the ancient Āyur-vedic medical system, authored, in part, by the same Patañjali who codified the yoga science. (This is the opinion of the oral tradition of yoga through my preceptors, Swāmī Rāma of the Himālayas and Swāmī Veda Bhāratī, not necessarily of Indological academics.) The practices of yoga have always been an important part of what an Āyur-vedic physician (vaidya) would offer people in addition to dietary prescriptions, herbal treatments and more. By looking at the whole person in context, the system provides not only holistic treatment, but, even more importantly, given the prevalence of chronic (habit-based) lifestyle illnesses today, a preventative focus that promotes long-term changes and improvement in the quality of life, particularly the cultivation of a resilient and joyful mind and heart.