Many of us are familiar with the word yoga and correlate it yogasans. But yogasana is just one part among "Astanga yoga". What is yoga ? the word yoga means "Union" i.e., the union of "Atma" with "Pramatma" which is the ultimate goal of all the human being where in he will achieve "Moksha"-- the ultimate liberation. Yoga is that part of Ayurveda where in the principles of yoga is adopted to treat certain mental illness. Every branch of this "Astanga yoga" is adopted in a way to treat the diseases especially those connected with  "the mind".

The Mind is an important part of human psychology where in many thoughts are burried deep in--consciously or subconsciously. These thoughts reflects on the behaviour of the humans and in a way it plays vital role in producing Psycho- somatic diseases. In today's stress filled life more and more number of people are suffering from such type of diseases because "your body works according to your mind" And this is where yoga--the part of Ayurveda plays the role of controlling this stress. But before telling about the ways of controlling this stress and strain---let me tell in brief about this "Astanga yoga".
                                    1.  Yama
                                    2.  Niyama
                                    3.  Aasana
                                    4.  Pranayaama
                                    5. Prathyahara
                                    6. Dharana
                                    7. Dhyana
                                    8. Samadhi

"Yama" and "Niyama" are the preliminary process done to do "Shodhana of mind [manas]". "Aasana"  is done to make the body fit and strong & to maintain the body in a particular posture--to do meditation. "Pranayama" is that in which with regular practice a person can prolong the cycle of respiration. In "Prathyahara" the person wins over his "Indriyas" or "Sense organs". "Dharana" is the one in which the person tries to concentrate on a particular object and then completely concentrates on the object making it inseparable from himself is called as "Dhyana". And "Samadhi sthiti" is the last stage of "Astanga yoga" where the "Manas or the Mind" unites with "Atma", where in the person can stay in this "Sthiti" itself like a dead man for several hours to several days and even months,though the person will be respiring his respiration is so slow that it almost seems to have stopped which in the medical parlance can be correlated with "Suspended Animation".

Now among these 8 branches of Yoga---"Dhyana or meditation" is the one which can soothe your mind and reduce the stress and strain which is the root cause for many psycho-somatic diseases like peptic ulcer , hypertension , amenorrhoea , migrane etc. Some of the respiratory diseases can also be controlled by regular practice of "Pranayama". And by doing Yogasana regularly one can remain slim , healthy , and have a sound mind because "sound mind remains in a sound body".

Thus this Yoga -- the part of Ayurveda can be utilized in many ways for treatig the diseases. This Yoga is not just the Yogasana but it is a boon to the Indians to be proud of to treat the mental illness and some of the Psycho-somatic disorders efficiently.
 
 

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