Why Yoga?

One very rarely comes across a fair and unbiased review of Yoga, at least in India. By Yoga, I mean  Asanas, Pranayams, meditation and some basic knowledge. Don’t worry- I will not bother you with enlightenment and mystical stuff. I am not going to write about something, I haven’t experienced.  

We see modern Gurus and their followers proclaiming Yoga, if practiced, will offer  health, piece of mind etc. Certainly, Yoga has a lot to offer for the mind and the body, more so in the fast paced modern world, if an individual can choose the right kind of  practices, suitable for him and do it.   Everybody is unique and what is good for one may not be so good for another. One should be aware that Yoga will backfire, if not done correctly.

By and large, the Indian masses are fairly ignorant and misinformed about Yoga. Things get worse, when yet another Godman’s  ventures are exposed. When the very same people,  seeming to represent and propagate Yoga don’t live up to what they preach, common man develops distrust towards not only them, but Yoga too.

Then, we have these self styled intellectuals who have to fight anything and everything Indian to confirm to their prejudiced definition of  rational thinking. It won’t be out of place to mention about the notion amongst many of us that Yoga is only for those who want to renounce everything. So, Yoga doesn’t get the acceptability, it very much deserves in the very land of its origin. Despite of all these odds, one must agree that Yoga is finding more and more followers with every passing day, thanks to the acknowledgement of the Western world of its efficacy and usefulness.

My date with Yoga was facilitated by Insomnia and anxiety in 1993.

I was in the middle of  twenties with big dreams of that age about life and career. My dear and near ones were going through difficult times, about which I wanted to do something, but couldn’t. Quality of sleep steadily suffered and soon I couldn’t sleep at all.

 There were many nights, when I wouldn’t have slept at all. My job demanded me to walk continuously around the workplace for 10 hours, which means I had been walking  at least 25 kms a day. That was not good enough to let my body sleep.

Head was exploding with too many disturbing thoughts about the worst consequences, we will have to endure, if  things don’t get better.

I had to wake up at 5.00 AM in order to catch the Bus an hour later to go to the Company, I worked for. Getting up from the bed was almost impossible. Only the fear of losing the job made me wake up. Stressed up and fatigued mind residing in a body, crying for rest  ensured that waking up and getting started for the day were always excruciatingly painful.

I met a leading Doctor and explained. He diagnosed that I am suffering from Anxit Neurosis and prescribed Anxit(pill). One of my friends was a Medical Representative. He cautioned me against consuming that pill at such a young age. I took the medication for just one day.

On the next evening, walking by the roadside, I saw a hoarding, about meditation being the medication for insomnia. I met the organizers of the meditation program  and got enrolled for the very next course, scheduled a week later.

We were taught some simple Asanas and  Pranayams (breathing exercises) on the first 3 days of the Program. On the third day, Mr.Guruva Reddy, a senior teacher initiated us into Transcendental Meditation. During meditation, I didn’t get any superhuman experiences. After a month or two of extreme sleep disorders,  I really slept well for the first time, that night and woke up with renewed energy, the next morning. That is when it dawned on me that in my case the reasons for the problem originated in the mind. So the solution must also be in the mind.

I regularly did my Asanas and Meditation. My problems vanished in thin air. Twenty years down the line, I believe that it was one of those few right decisions, I made in life.

P.S.  A situation may arise, wherein you will like Meditation, but not the Institution and the people over there. In that case, keep your distance with the Institutions and the guys over there. Keep meditating, if you find it useful.