These days, different Medical Schools and doctors are urging people to practice yoga in these times of COVID-19. Many Ethiopians are taking Yoga Classes here in Addis Ababa intending to restore inner peace and happiness which mostly required for maintaining long lives of men and women in the society. While people urged to stay at home due to coronavirus outbreak, practicing Yoga has currently become means of protecting oneself from depression and stress that will further leave people defenselessness against COVID-19.
In this regard, various Yoga practitioners have been pronouncing their witness about the importance of practicing Yoga at global level. Through his film, Yoga for Health & Global Harmony, filmmaker, art historian and photographer Benoy K. Behl found that the ancient system has helped practitioners to restore a sense of balance and happiness.
“One of the greatest challenges facing the medical world today is mental health. The stress of modern life has been taking a great toll on the peace and inner happiness of the human beings. Modern life and the pressure of material acquisitions have taken away the sense of deep harmony and values which once pervaded the lives of men and women in society.”
As Sujata Chatterji and I travelled across the world to 10 countries for shooting our film Yoga for Health & Global Harmony, we saw how this ancient system has helped to restore a sense of balance and happiness in practitioners. Truly, in a world being torn by mental ill-health and an all-pervasive sense of dissatisfaction as well as disorientation, yoga appears today to be the one workable solution.
In an interview with Dr. BN Gangadhar, Director of National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences, Bengaluru, he says, “Yoga research at NIMHANS has shown very impressive results with respect to the biological changes in the brain and other organs of the body. It should be conducive for better emotional recovery as well as mental health promotion. Yoga can help repair the brain. There is an inbuilt system by which the brain could dynamically keep getting ‘repaired’ and one of the chemicals required for this is called the ‘brain derived neurotropic factor’. We have demonstrated that the practice of yoga produced an increase in its level. So it means that the brain started developing some inherent strength to repair itself.”
Esther Seegers, Teachers Training Course Student, Sivananda Yoga Farm, USA, explains, “I have seen the chaos among teenagers, especially the substance abuse in high schools. They need help. They have no idea about whom they should turn to and they are basically numbing their feelings and their true nature because they feel that they are not able to be who they are. And yes, there is not enough compassion or it’s just that they need help at the end of the day. It is yoga that can give us that.”
Yoga researcher and expert, Dr. Sat Bir Khalsa from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, USA, believes that yoga has relevance. “It provides skills and outcomes that society currently doesn’t have. These are essentially behavioural skills that allow us to manage our minds, bodies and emotions in very effective ways,” he shares.
In another interview, Landon Gallant, sportsman and Teachers Training Course Student, Sivananda Yoga Farm, USA, says, “I played soccer for 28 years and the last half of that time was very aggressive. The physical nature of game called for a certain body type. So as I have slowly evolved away from that, I have completely surrendered to the practice of yoga. I was able to transform myself from an animal warrior to a spiritual warrior. This allows your ego to soften and become like water. Your life, your heart will open up and so will your mind.”
Likewise, Yoftahe, founder & CEO of Khul Holistic Development Center, is an internationally Certified Yoga & Meditation Instructor and Personal Excellence Trainer. He requests everyone, “While you stay at home (or generally at these times) it is important that you find peace of mind, health and strength of your body and ease of your emotions.”
Keeping social distances, it is useful to practice Yoga, Meditation and Pranic (Energy) Healing lessons, powerful breathing techniques, and diet recommendations that can boost our immunity in folds, he advises.
The Ethiopian Herald June 27, 2020
BY ZELALEM GIRMA
