Читать книгу Yoga Therapy as a Whole-Person Approach to Health - Lee Majewski - Страница 18

According to Shiva Swarodaya,23 a classical text on Swara Yoga,24 disease develops when smooth and regular airflow (swara) in the nostrils does not adhere to fixed timings and days. Normally swara flows in the nostrils in a certain pattern according to phases of the lunar cycle. In the case of a disease developing due to the erroneous functioning of breathing (swara), a correction of that malfunctioning can cure that disease. The use of different techniques is also advocated for changing swara to relieve various disorders.

In summary, it is worth mentioning that India is leading the way in accepting and using yoga as a therapeutic modality. The Government of India is currently promoting indigenous systems of health through the recently formed Ministry of AYUSH.25 Among other activities, it oversees research in yoga and yoga therapy through its Central Council for Research in Yoga & Naturopathy (CCRYN). A Yoga Certification Board (YCB) certifies yoga instructors and teachers at Level 1 and 2, while the Health Sector Skill Council has recently collaborated with the Indian Yoga Association to define and create vocational training for job roles in yoga therapy. The Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga is currently the only government-run institute for yoga, and has brought together all the major traditions of yoga. It was awarded the status of a Collaborative Centre for Traditional Medicine (Yoga) by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2013. The WHO recently held a Working Group Meeting with experts from all WHO regions to finalize a document regarding the setting of benchmarks for yoga training.

Most notably, however, AYUSH has recently (as of November 2018) announced a new initiative to address non-communicable diseases (NCDs, also called chronic psychosomatic diseases) that have become endemic with a large population of teenagers and a middle-aged population succumbing to lifestyle diseases. In an effort to implement lifestyle changes, AYUSH will include yoga and meditation and will teach certain asanas for patients with borderline diabetes, hypertension, and osteoarthritis.

The aim is to try to change the lifestyle of many who are becoming prone to diabetes and hypertension at an early age. It is mainly pre-diabetics and those suffering from borderline ailments who will be located and treated to prevent them from developing these diseases. There are 201 NCD centers across the state of Karnataka, one in each district, including 80 health centers and 121 community health centers. Besides diabetes, hypertension, and osteoarthritis, the centers also cater to patients with stroke, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer, with a focus on oral, breast, and cervical cancer.26

Another notable initiative is the Integrated Cancer Project (I-CAP)27 submitted by the Network for AYUSH Cancer Care, Standing Research Committee, and Indian Yoga Association to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. In an 80-page document it recognizes the need to improve awareness, affordability, and access to care for Indian cancer patients. It further outlines detailed comprehensive strategies to deal with these challenges, and recommends setting up a center for excellence in yoga in oncology, with the mandate to further evaluate and understand the mechanism of interventions of yoga for cancer patients.

India is perhaps today the most advanced country in accepting yoga therapy by its government body and applying yoga therapy as a complementary modality in preventing or healing NCDs. In the West the approach is notably different, with the profession still not well recognized or regulated by government. There remains much confusion and many misconceptions around yoga therapy, and we will now attempt to clear these up in the next chapter, which is dedicated to yoga therapy, its principles, and its application.