Yoga is various schools of meditation which unfortunately has been unfairly and incomprehensibly misunderstood by various religious views, based on vague notions that it is only and entirely Hindu prayer. Yoga is used in medicine and especially widely in the USA and Canada for treatment of severe stress that worsens pain. Also, stress causes or aggravates various pathological conditions, such as hypertension, tachycardia, gastrointestinal disorders, endocrinological disorders, etc.
Yoga is essentially a spiritual discipline, which focuses on achieving harmony between mind and body, it is the art and reason of healthy living and comes from the Sanskrit root “Yuj”, which means “to connect” or “to unite”. or “mate”.
The practice of Yoga aims to achieve a perfect harmony between the spirit and body of man and nature and according to the religious concepts of Hinduism the union with the universal divine being. Whoever experiences this unity of existence is said to be in Yoga and is called a Yogi, having attained a state of freedom, in all spheres of life, as health and harmony are the main goals of Yoga practice.
The main forms of Yoga derived from Hinduism are the so-called “four paths”.
- Karma Yoga (Karma Yoga), which is fulfilled strictly within the boundaries of castes (class classification of Indians) and is the path of action
- Jnana Yoga, which is the path of knowledge, the exercise of knowledge, and the expression of self-control and self-denial
- Bhakti Yoga, which is the path of devotion, allowing people’s emotions and desires to flow freely rather than being suppressed by the asceticism of Yoga.
- Raja Yoga, the method that includes special postures of the body, breathing methods, repetition of appropriate phrases for contemplation.
Yoga is about harmonizing ourselves with the universe, used in the Western Hemisphere and is not aligned with a particular religion, belief system or community. It has been approached as a complementary healing modality for inner well-being, reaping benefits regardless of creed, ethnicity or the culture.
In conclusion, Yoga is generally known as an exercise of self-concentration associated with posture and breath control. In modern medicine, various forms of meditation aim at absolute sobriety, calmness, gentleness and elimination of negative emotions, such as anxiety.
Konstantinos Kouskoukis
Professor of Dermatology
Lawyer
President Hippocratic Academy of Thermal Medicine
President World Academy of Chinese & Complimentary Medicine