In the allopathic system of medicine, a healthy person is one who is not suffering from any disease. Since it is claimed that almost every disease is caused by virus, bacteria or allergy which are infinite in number, every person is prone to some disease almost all the time and a healthy person is rare! The treatment is purely passive, you swallow the prescribed tablets or undergo surgery!
The sages of the Veda and Upanishads had a completely different view based on detailed observations of human beings. They declared that the human body has been designed so that health is its natural state; a disease is only an abnormality. Abnormality need not have a purely physical mechanism as in allopathy. The abnormality can be corrected only if the suffering person takes an active interest in his/her health.
According to yogis, the human body can be divided into three parts, namely:
- the various organs such as skeletons etc., made of gross matter
- the nervous system and the nadis
- the mental system
Even though the organs are made of the well known atoms having enormous amounts of material energies stored in their nuclei, this gross and material energy is not useful for the functioning of the organs themselves. The energy needed for sustaining the dynamic operation of each organ individually and their coordination is the subtle energy named prana. Prana is not the same thing as breath. Prana is a subtle energy, not gross, i.e., it cannot be observed or measured by any physical instrument like microscope, whatever may be its accuracy.
Prana is a cosmic energy pervading the universe. When we breathe-in the air, we take in not only the air but also the prana energy; similarly when we breathe out. The prana energy on entering the body becomes transformed into different types of energy named vyana, apana etc., and they are distributed by the subtle nerves or nadls which control the operations of the various physical organs like liver, intestine, heart, etc. and their coordination.
According to yogis when a particular subsystem like liver or intestine is not working properly the prana energy is not being properly distributed to the particular nadls controlling the operation of that organ. Just as water stops flowing in an ordinary plastic water-pipe when there is a twist or knot in the pipe, similarly vhc presence of knots or blockages termed as granthi prevents the complete and correct flow of the prana energy in the subtle nerves or nadls and thus the physical operation of the concerned organ is impaired, causing the disease.
The disease can be cured only if the blockages stopping the prana flow are removed, allowing the prana to flow freely. The exercises which break these knots are the pranayamas, literally the control of prana; yama means control.
Prana control can be effected by the modification of the breath. To cure a particular disease, the body is held in a particular posture, asana, so that the breath or prana can easily act on the specific area. The posture itself cannot cure any disease. The asana should be accompanied by the appropriate pranayama.
The asanas are given names of animals or objects indicating that the particular posture reflects the shape of the animal or object such as hala, plow or the posture reflects the pranic path in the associated animal like vyaghra, tiger.
Though there are several hundred asanas, only a few of them are described here.
While performing an asana, the body should be immobile except for the movement specifically indicated for the movement of prana Unnecessary movement of limbs will make the sadhana less effective. Performance of the pranayama or respiratory operation generates a certain amount of energy in the body. If the body has the capacity to hold or retain this energy, then the energy can be used for healing. If we move unnecessarily our hands or legs, then the generated energy is expended here itself and there is none for the healing operation.
Hence yogins insist that even when we are doing our everyday tasks like writing, washing dishes, reading, walking, lifting objects etc., we should limit the movement to the specific task avoiding jerks and shakes.