It has been said by the Indian yogis that ‘life is the self. In its true nature, the self is shining, perfect, spotlessly pure and without sin. But when it took on material form — a body — it acquired the sin of matter, the sin of the world. The self, this eternal spring of life, in complete equilibrium and perfect harmony, uniformly radiates the energy of life into the body. If a person’s consciousness is developed equally in every direction, even if on a low level, life energy will flow uniformly into his body.
The body will remain well because of equilibrium between positive and negative currents. The condition of consciousness of the individual acts as a filter, which distributes the radiated life energy into various mental and nervous centres known as chakras, in the class of yoga. When, for any reason, the consciouness departs from a uniform balanced development, there is a shift in the life forces, and the equilibrium ceases. However, the radiation of the supreme self with its perfect balance endeavours to smooth out the irregularities, and with tremendous strength it forces its way past the irregular distribution of energy. This levelling out of irregularities,this struggle for the re-establishment of order, is the state of disease.
Health is the natural and prerequisite condition for the body. Life force is not only dependent upon the conscious will to live a happy and healthy life, but also active as subconscious life instinct. Life force is constantly active in us. It smooths out irregularities and preserves our health; though the mankind, day after day, defiantly tramples under foot the golden rules of healthy living. The urge for self preservation has only one purpose, and there can be no disagreement about it, this urge demands life and health.
Hath yoga teaches us how to utilize, store and promote free flow of life force to the maximum extent. Whoever follows the rules of Hath yoga will never be sick and will enjoy complete health until old age. One of the most important prerequisites, however, is to get acquainted with all manifestations of life force and to learn how these can be developed and shaped; in a word, how we can put these energies to work for our consciousness.
The unilateral development of consciousness or the stagnation of the latter can also be the cause of numerous serious psychosomatic diseases and disorders. Our body and mind remain healthy when the positive current of life force manifesting itself on the material plane — in our body — is in perfect equilibrium with the negative force, the force of resistance of the body. In such a condition, there is a balance between the life force and the resistance of the body that carries it. In an individual on a low level of consciousness, the tension of life force streaming into his body is low. His control systems are adjusted to the corresponding resistance.
With the expansion of consciousness, the tension of life force increases and consequently the power of the resistance of control systems must increase. If this is done step by step in complete equilibrium, the controls have time to strengthen themselves, parallel with the increasing tension of life current, and to develop corresponding resistance. If, however, the development takes place haphazardly the control becomes ill because of the lack of its own development. The aim of yoga is to make our own consciousness dependent on our will, to expand it systematically, intentionally, from one step to another, and at the same time to increase and strengthen the resistance of the circuit, which carries the constantly growing life energy.
Hath yoga exercises have a wonderful effect on the struggle against all kinds of fear. This provides the basis of physical self-control. It is well known that the body reacts to every mental impulse. Primarily this is done by nervous system and endocrine gland system, which are highly developed for the preservation of life. It has been scientifically proved that various vegetative functions depend primarily on the condition of the endocrine glands’ secretion, i.e. hormonal profile of the body. If this activity is some how diminished or becomes irregular, the result is serious diseases. Thus the emotions and passions, through their destructive effect on the endocrines, are the implacable enemies of health.
In the school of yoga the endocrine glands are the locations of chakras. These chakras are the connecting link between mind and body. If one knows the role these chakras play in the distribution of force and storing of energy, that means he knows the kind of reaction that the maintenance of a mental condition will cause in the body by acting on those endocrine glands. In this he can get acquainted with the more intimate relationship between various mental conditions and the different organs of the body, in turn he gains control over the body and health.
The prevention and healing of disease and preservation process of health begins in the mind. And here we encounter the important role of the inter-relationship of mind and body. Therapeutic role of Hath yoga is based on this relationship and it develops, in parallel, the individual’s abilities and physical health. Yoga teaches us how to keep order among the forces that animate our body and, in case we have sinned against our health through unnatural living, how we can restore our physical well being again.