Yoga for ‘COVID 19'

QUESTION: COVID 19 is a disease of very recent origin, but the discipline of Yoga is more than 3000 years old. What is the link between these two which stand divided by thousands of years?

- YOGACARYA S. SRIDHARAN

ANSWER: COVID 19, which is the talk of the town now, is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered ‘Coronavirus’. The spread of the disease, the fatality, and the damage it causes to the internal organs is the cause of concern. The entire medical fraternity all over the world is singularly concentrating on finding a therapeutic solution to stop the disease from spreading and to contain the damages it causes that can range up to death. Over the last few decades, scientific research has validated the therapeutic value of Yoga making the discipline an authentic tool for therapy. Of course, Yoga Therapy is considered a part of ‘Integrated Medicine’, a branch that combines more than one form of Therapy along with ‘Allopathy’. Therefore, the link between Covid 19 and Yoga is at the level of ‘Therapy’.

QUESTION: Yoga is generally understood to be one of the Sad-darshanas, philosophical systems, whose aim is Kaivalya, liberation. How does Therapy find a part in this?

ANSWER: Yoga-Sutras of Patanjali, the most authoritative text on Yoga, mentions ‘illness’ (vyaadhi) as one of the nine impediments (antaraayaas) in the path of Self-realisation. Vyasa, the commentator, says illness is the result of imbalance in the three humours, bodily fluids and the organs of the human system. Patanjali offers nine solutions in the first chapter of his work. They are more like models of meditation and include total surrender to the Supreme Being, described by him as