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Subject PSYCHOLOGY

Paper No and Title Paper No.15, Clinical Psychology

Module No and Title Module No.33, Yoga and Meditation

Module Tag PSY_P15_M33

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Learning Outcomes
2. Introduction
3. A brief look at the history
4. Yoga – Search for salvation
4.1 Defining Yoga
4.2 Yoga and its types
4.3 Scientific nature of Yoga
4.4 Exploring the true human nature through Yoga
5. Meditation – going till the infinity
5.1Defining meditation
5.2 Meditation and its types
6. Yoga & Meditation – lifetime insurance policies with unlimited benefits
7. Yoga & Meditation – having their dark faces
8. Principles of yoga & meditation applied to psychotherapy
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8.1 Yoga psychotherapy – what is it?

8.2 Principles of yoga psychotherapy
8.3 Meditation & its alternatives applied to yoga psychotherapy
9. Summary

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1. Learning Outcomes
After studying this module, you shall be able to

 Know about the history of yoga & meditation

 Learn their definition & various types
 Identify the scientific nature of yoga
 Evaluate the true human nature via yoga & meditation
 Analyze yoga psychotherapy

2. Introduction
Yoga is a physiological, psychological & spiritual activity which has the ultimate goal to unite
mind, body & soul, along with a state of unity with the environment one is placed in. It is being
practiced from over 400 years & nowadays is used by people to stay fit, both mentally &
physically. Yoga can teach its followers to how to excite the internal organs & to pressurize the
glandular areas of the body with the help of both meditation & breathing strategies; forcing you to
change the way you feel, think & perceive. It is not just one exercise but a series of it. It is most
commonly practiced by the educated that can be seen daily in parks or clubs as practicing bend-
stretch activities along with deep breaths. It does not matter that in which age period you lie, it is
appropriate for children, adolescents, adults or even for the olds. Nowadays even physicians have
understood its importance & some of them prescribe it along with medication for treatment &
healing. Pregnant women use yoga as a method for prenatal care. Yoga has also been found
useful for people with mental disorders like depression, anxiety, phobias etc. Hence, one should
not have any difficulty in accepting yoga as a global icon of peace & serenity.

Meditation can be defined as an activity in which the mind is trained in a specific way & an
alternate state of consciousness is tried to achieve. Some practitioners of meditation defined it as
the deepest sleep when the mind becomes free from the negative emotions of hate, resentment &
agitation & in turn is filled with the positive emotions of love, joy, serenity & a high spiritual
experience. The traditional art of Raja yoga was used by the kriya yoga developed by Paramhansa
Yogananda in order to achieve the internal sacred experience of god. Thus both Raja & Kriya
yoga combined to form the core for the ‘yoga meditation’. In the today’s fast speeding world of
stress & conflicts meditation has gained popularity as a method to reduce stress & anxiety, be
happy & peaceful. It may be practiced in various forms like either concentrating mind on an
object or like Buddhists try to have a full awareness of the activity one is engaged in or using
prayer beads/mantras.

3. A brief look at the history

The yoga originally had its birth in India around 5000 years ago. It origin resides long time back
at the time of Harappa civilization. Excavations have found seals which had images of yogis.
Harappa & Mohenjo-Daro were two one of the most important cities of that time who are being
credited for the formation of Hinduism, Jainism & Buddhism along with other Harappan cities.
Most yoga writings are being found in the Sanskrit language & in fact yoga is related to Latin,
German, French, Spanish & Greek. It can be observed by the word yoga corresponding to the
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words of such languages like iugum, joch, yoke, zugos, joug &
yugo. Vedic yoga is the kind being found in the texts of Vedas.
Vedic yoga or also known as Archaic yoga was related to the ritual life of people of that time.
The word ‘sacrifice’ is at the core of the Vedic yoga, which helps people to connect the material
world with the spiritual world. At the Rig Veda age, the Brahmins performing the rituals had to
fix their mind fully for a large amount of time in order to perform it rightfully. This principle of
the focus of the mind lies at the core of the modern day yoga. Around 200 A.D. the pre classical
yoga emerged with the texts of the Upanishads, who did talked about the unity of everything. The
two pre classical schools – Ramayana & Mahabharata who urged to use various strategies aimed
at performing a thorough & intense meditation in order to achieve the true meaning of one’s life.
Bhagvad Gita introduced Bhakti, Jnana & Karma yoga. Than around 500 A.D. classical yoga was
formed, which was versed at the Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali. It is often called as Raja-Yoga & has 8
different forms. It emphasized that every being is composed of a purusha & prakriti, yoga being
the method to differentiate between these both & purify the purusha or soul of the person.
Postclassical yoga is comprised of the series of various schools that developed their own kind of
techniques. Vedanta which seeks the ultimate unity everything, developed on the basics of
Upanishad. Alchemy lead to the development of tantra yoga with hatha yoga as one of its branch
which focused on energizing one’s body to an extent that its basic elements gets changed
prolonging one’s life or even claimed to make one immortal. Swami Vivekanand, Indra Devi,
Swami Sivananda & many more yogis are being credited for the emergence & practice of yoga in
the west.

Despite of debates many archaeologists agree to the view that meditation is just as ancient as
yoga, & in fact it is a part of the yoga. In some wall paintings of the time of Harappan civilization
humans had been found meditating. Some argue that meditation was a principal practice of the
Rig Vedic people who meditate by focusing their concentration on the fire. In ancient texts of
Ramayana & Mahabharata principally sanyasi used this strategy in the form of tapasya in order
to earn moksha, while it was been used by some to ask for a favour or boon from god. Around
500 B.C. lord Buddha (see Figure 1) introduced meditation as a method of salvation, which later
on lead to the development of Zen, Tibetan etc. In Islam from 8-12 century various forms of
meditation emerged – dhikar (it involved recapitulation of 99 names of lord), Sufism (controlling
one’s breath & recapitulating the sacred words) & taa-faak-kur (involved thinking &
contemplating about the world). during this time Greeks practiced hesychasm which involves
recapitulation of the Jesus prayers. However at around sixth century, in West, reading Bible was a
form of meditation. Now from the twentieth century meditation has been adopted, both in India &
West, as a method of stress/anxiety reduction, method to relax & improve one’s personal self.

4. Yoga – Search for Salvation

4.1 Defining Yoga

The word "yoga" emerged from the Sanskrit root yuj, which means "to join" or "to yoke". Thus it
can be understood as a ‘connection’, ‘unity’, ‘oneness’, ‘integration’, ‘accord’, ‘cohesion’ or
‘harmony’ between one’s body, mind & soul. The continued practice of yoga will lead one to a
sense of peace and well-being, and also a feeling of being at one with his environment. Panini, a
Sanskrit grammarian proposed that the word yoga has 2 roots – yujir yoga which means
combining & yuj samadhau which means concentrating. Patanjali, who developed Yoga Sutras
claims the yuj samadhau as the real meaning of the word yoga while Bhagvadgita supports yujir
yoga as the root of the word yoga. Yoga seeks to reduce the materialism which exerts pressure on
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the human soul, & to use the method of introspection in order

to attain stillness in the fast pacing world.

Hence, practicing yoga can be explained as a continuum of unbreakable postures that purports to
achieve the ultimate calmness, peacefulness & equilibrium of the spirit. Some have defined it as
an internal protection from the worldly havoc & upheavals. Patanjali proposed that daily
practicing yoga can even break those habits, thoughts & actions which represent corruption,
negativity & materialism in a person. Broadly, it can be defined as a composite system of spiritual
disciplines which are basic to Hinduism, Jainism & Buddhism that were formed early in Asia.

4.2 Yoga and its types

There are various types of yoga that are developed over time across the world. Some of them are
discussed below:

Hatha Yoga – one of the most popular type of yoga in the west, to deal with stress, anxiety &
depression. It includes positions of body (asanas), regulation of breath (pranayama) & focusing
of concentration (dhyana).

Bikram Yoga – the type which involves intense workout. It aims to increase one’s persistence,
muscle strength, pliability & to achieve an optimum weight.

ISHTA – Integral Science of Hatha & Tantric Arts, which seeks to unblock energy channels via
poses of the body, concentration & imagination.

Integral Yoga – it involves poses of the body, control on one’s breath, servicing selflessly,
meditating, chanting, praying, and exploring self.

Ashtanga yoga – it is the type of yoga which requires high physical labour. Ashtanga yoga
requires one to control breath along with formation of a progressive, incessant chain of body
postures.

Jivamukti yoga – jivamukti yoga is a type of yoga which affects the spirit of its practitioners,
due to its emphasis on reading scriptures, praying & being non-violent & vegetarian along with
physical activity.

Kripalu yoga – it’s the yoga type which emphasize on being in a body posture for a while until
it gets changed by itself. Thus it focuses on the consciousness of a person.

Kundalini – kundalini emphasizes on the arousing of the energy at the spine’s base & gradually
dissipates it to the other parts of the body.

Restorative yoga – it is the type of yoga used principally for relaxation of muscles. The person
lies down on carpet, rug, pillow, block etc. for a long stretch of time in a passive manner.

Lyengar yoga – the slower version of yoga which uses materials like pillows, carpet, belts etc.
in order to make it comfortable for the injured, physically disabled or old-aged people.

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4.3 Scientific nature of Yoga

Earlier yoga was considered as a part of religious or spiritual activity which helps one to achieve
the unity of mind, body & soul & having oneness with the god & environment. But with
increasing establishments it is being considered to be more scientific in nature. Science can be
defined as something which is objective, universal (with some exceptions) & involves a pre
planned series of methods or strategies. Yoga can be viewed as a science which seeks to help one
to systematically explore his own self in a process of self realization & creating a harmony
between the spirit & the body. It involves systematic techniques of meditation, controlling of
breathing pattern & a chain of series of bodily postures. The ultimate goal is to help the humans
practicing it in one way or another, just same as that of science.

4.4 Exploring the true human nature through Yoga

What yoga teaches us as a human being is to have a relation with our ‘true nature’. It states that
our true nature is our highest potential which is endless & surpasses our minds. The word yoga
literally means to unite or combine our self with our true nature. This integration can only be
done via following various yoga principles. Before this integration we are insecure, fearful,
separate from our self, doubtful & more or less incomplete. According to Samkhya the spirit can
neither be created nor be destructed, it is never attached to anything, neither it is free, nor it wants
salvation. The only relation that self has is from itself. Thus yoga helps a person to have an
insight of this self, which is clear, endless, and infinite. According to the Patanjali there are 5
prerequisites which decide a person’s psychological condition or cittavriti – avidya or disregard,
asmita or one’s personal identity, raga or enthusiasm, dvesa or rage & abhinivesa or desire to be
alive. These entire 5 states join together to form the psychological condition of a person, but they
are as a rule responsible for all the sufferings of human. Thus human life is a suffering. It is the
yoga which leads to the suspension of cittavriti & thereby terminates the sufferings. Vasana, the
preconscious sensations serves as an obstacle in the road to salvation by constantly feeding
cittavriti. The vasana is represented by the person’s preconscious mind, which seeks to actualize
itself via human behaviours in order to prove its existence. Yoga is thus a strategy to have a check
on vasana & seeks to burn the 5 states of consciousness of a person in order to purify & liberate
self.

5. Meditation – going till the infinity

5.1 Defining meditation

Meditation can be defined as a method in which a person teaches his mind to enter into a specific
state of consciousness. According to Roger J. Walsh & Deane H. Shapiro meditation refers to the
chain of strategies that involve a deliberate attempt to concentrate one’s attention in a non-
judgmental way so to achieve a stillness of mind & thoughts, & to avoid vague & deep forms of
thinking.

Thus defining the word meditation requires definition of 4 of its components. Firstly meditation
includes the purpose to concentrate on a specific object, state or whatever it requires. Secondly
meditation does not requires to be necessarily be defined with reference to a religious activity.

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Thus practicing meditation may involve continuously

reiterating a specific word or paragraph, but with the aim to
achieve oneness, peacefulness, & stillness; & not with the aim to please god (as in praying).
Thirdly, it also includes a deliberate effort to control the mind from wandering here & there & to
maintain a continuous focus on the practice. There are different instructions in order to face such
a situation. Like, according to Benson one should take no notice of the arising of alternative
thoughts, Deikman proposed to just eliminate such thoughts, some Buddhists proposed to put &
press tightly the tongue between the teeths & grip, break & destroy the arising thought, Vipassana
proposed to just note & identify it as your thinking while Zen proposed to note, watch, get bored
& let go the thought. Fourthly, it is not significant that what is the thought, it just may appear &
disappear, what important is the conscious attention of the continuum of the appearing &
disappearing of thoughts.

Hence, initially meditation may had originated as a religious activity but gradually it turned as a
means of attaining calmness, tranquility, serenity, stillness along with the aim to build an inner
energy filled with warmth, kindness with a forgiving, generous & patient nature.

5.2 Meditation and its types

There are various types of meditational practices that have emerged over time. However here we
will only describe some of the basic ones.

 Transcendental meditation – it is a concentrative type of meditation which involves

sitting rigid in a straight posture & repeatedly chanting a holy word (like OM). Main
focus is to achieve stillness, along with a control & manipulation of the breathing
process. The distraction by the alternative thoughts is prevented by actively first noticing
the thought & then returning back to the practice. Transcendental meditation may lead to
a feeling of the exclusion of the spirit from the physical body which ultimately leads to
the construction of a new form of energy. Its origins lie in the Vedanta school of
meditation, of Hinduism.
 Vipassana meditation – also known as mindfulness form of meditation which has its
origins lying in the Buddhism. It involves getting aware of each & every thought that
appears in the consciousness with being detached & non-judgmental. It is preferably a
process of observation of the breathing process, present senses, emotions, sounds or
images, the practice being implicated in the routine activities like eating, working,
drinking etc. It can be termed as a form of low-energy. Vipassana meditation is one of the
most famous forms of meditation.
 Zazen meditation – it is one of the most difficult forms of meditation having its origin
in Buddhism. It involves sitting in a straight posture & paying minimal or least attention
to any activity. It starts with focusing one’s attention to an immediate underlying thought,
turning it then to another level consciousness, the preconscious mind. Requiring higher
concentration it is thereby directed to the final level of consciousness i.e. the unconscious
mind. Some have argued that the unconscious is not the final level but the concentration
reaches to another level of ‘pure consciousnesses. The ultimate aim of Zazen is to
combine & to achieve oneness in all levels of consciousness.
 Kundalini meditation – is the branch of meditation that has its origins lying in the
Vedanta school of meditation. It focuses on the flow of energy from the bottom of the
spine towards the head, passing via the various energy centers of the body. The breathing
process is controlled in order to produce a continuum of energy & to take it to the
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infinity. However a major drawback of this type is that

if practiced inappropriately it may lead to a
psychological disorder named kundalini syndrome.
 Qi gong meditation – it is a form of meditation which was first encouraged in Taoism.
The energy is rotated in the body via the various energy centers & organ systems, in a
circle called the microcosmic orbit, principally by the process of controlling &
manipulating one’s breathing processes. The awareness is concentrated on 3 parts of the
body – navel, chest & head.

6. Yoga & Meditation – lifetime insurance policies with unlimited

benefits
So what are the benefits of yoga & meditation? Does one should practice them just to have a view
of our own secret spirit? Or one should accept yoga/meditation as a means to achieve oneness
with the world? Or one should perform it just because it is a new trend in fashion? Let’s have a
view of the various benefits of yoga & meditation. See Table 1. & Table 2. .

Table 1: Psychological benefits of Yoga and Meditation

Psychological Benefits
Improvement in retention & retrieval of
Improvement in Concentration
memory
Improvement in focusing of Attention Improvement of learning abilities
Stability in Mood Increase in one’s sense of positive well-being
Increase in Somatic and kinesthetic awareness Growth in self-realization
Growth in Self-actualizing tendency Boosting one’s Social abilities
Decline in depressive symptoms Increased control on anxiety level
Decline in hostile behavior Harmonizes mind, body & soul
Improvement in Depth perception Improvement in stability
Improvement in neurons activity inside brain Boost in cognitive abilities
Increased tolerant & forgiving behaviours Growth of compassionate nature
Increased Self-acceptance Expands wisdom
Enforce a peaceful, calm & serene attitude
Improvement in levels of happiness
towards others & towards life
May emphasize religious beliefs & relation with Increased motivation & goal directed
god behaviour
Improvement in flexibility & openness to
Increased inner spiritual energy
ideas & new experiences
Unity of consciousness Reduced drug/alcohol abuse
Helps in dealing with certain kinds of phobias Increased creativity & fearlessness

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Table 2: Physiological benefits of Yoga and Meditation

Physiological benefits
Provide a good sleep to insomniacs Higher functioning of immune system
Reduction in body pain Lead to a straight posture
Normalizes one’s Weight Growth of body flexibility
Boost one’s energy Growth in muscle power
Growth of stamina Regulates the process of excretion
Normalizes heart rate Increased endocrine organs functioning
Increased efficiency of respiratory system Lead to a good digestive system
Keeps a check on blood pressure Stability in nerves processes
Increased heart strength Improvement in Galvanic Skin Responses

Increased lungs capacity Regulate alpha waves of the brain

Growth in Respiratory amplitude Increased freshness in the body

Increased hair growth Improved joint movement

Rise of the strength of the grip Improvement in eye-hand coordination

Improved adroitness Increased reaction-time

7. Yoga & Meditation – having their dark faces

Every coin has two sides, yoga & meditation are also not have been spared by their critics. Their
adverse effects can be both physical & psychological. Most of the supporters argue that these
problems arise only if yoga/meditation is performed inappropriately or out of the recommended
sequence. Others propose that when these activities performed without any religious context or
without the appropriate supervision can lead to dysfunctional problems. Moreover performing
them more than the required amount i.e. over practice may lead to adversity. Some other suggests
that it is a certain class of population which may lead to disadvantage rather than the advantage
with these practices, like people with certain mental problems (schizophrenia, depression),
physical injuries, either old age or children under the age of 15, cardiovascular problems or
respiratory problems; thus it will be a specific type of yoga/meditation that may benefit these
while other will not. Being over-ambitious, competitive & going beyond one’s limits can also
cause problems.

Physical adverse effects may include bones fractures, spinal problems, head & knee injuries,
gastro-intestinal problems, abdominal pain, muscles & joint pains, internal bleeding, headache
physical exhaustion, respiratory problems, eye injuries or dysfunctional hearing, tissue breaks,
difficulties with sexual organs, complete loss of essential nutrients & water, complications in
pregnancy or even may end one to problems with cardiovascular system or cardiac arrest. Due to
the several researches suggesting the possible disadvantages of yoga, American Yoga Association
does not suggest yoga to be allowed for kids under the age of 16, practicing it may hamper the
physical, glandular and/or nervous development of their body. Results of some studies also
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indicate that improper practice of meditation may lead to

abrupt increase or decrease in blood pressure or breath rate &
even to chronic pain in some parts of the body. Inverted postures of yoga (like padahastasana)
are associated with head injuries, headaches, temporary blindness, back pain, spinal problems or
even a nervous breakdown. Bikram yoga & Ashtanga yoga which involves intense physical
labour may result in burnout, fractures or a crack in tissue or muscles; since they along with
pranayama involve holding of breath they should not be performed in case of infectious diseases.
Hatha yoga poses if not performed in perfect series may lead to gastro-intestinal problems, while
improper practice of kundalini yoga may result in muscle cramps. Some yoga practices may
involve one to vomit daily before the practice which can adversely affect the teets of a person that
may get eroded. Postures in yoga which requires one to bend forward may lead to the chronic
pain in spine & back. Overstraining of the less flexible joints may end one to bed for several
months of healing while the application of undue force on the abdomen may also result in its
inflammation.

Yoshikawa proposed 7 factors to consider while performing yoga postures that requires one to get
upside down (sarvangasan or sirsasan):

 Uneasiness – uneasiness may indicate overstraining on head area, which should be

avoided by slowly returning back to the normal position.
 Spinal spondylosis – any undue pressure on the vertebral column should be avoided in
order to avoid injury.
 Heart problems & blood pressure – inversion directs high blood pressure towards
head, so overpracticing should be avoided. People with cardiovascular disorders should
also take preliminary precautions & expert supervision.
 Diabetes – people with diabetes always have some amount of heart problems which
requires them to look for cautionary measures.
 Ablepsia – without prior practice a sudden inversion may lead to the bursting of retinal
veins of the eyes.
 Sinus/ ear infections – a precautionary measure for people with infections or
inflammations in the head region.
 Pregnancy – being upright down can result in complications in pregnancy, particularly
after the first three years of pregnancy.

Over practicing or inappropriate performance of yoga & meditation may lead to imbalance in
one’s mental state in the form of psychosis, vagueness, fear, nervous breakdown, depressive
symptoms, self harming tendencies, reduction in self esteem & self confidence, spiritual
disturbances, sleeplessness, decreased social skills, splitting of personality, tendencies to
hallucinate, mania, tendency to suicide, violent behaviours & agitation. Inappropriate practice of
kundalini yoga may result in kundalini syndrome which is a type of psychological disorder. Other
adverse effects of kundalini yoga may involve – a constant feeling of movement of heat in the
spine, sensations in the head, vibrations in the back, pain in internal organs of the body, irritation
inside the skin & unusually high sexual excitement. Hatha yoga & kundalini yoga if performed
out of their sequence may end one to autistic disorder; which can be referred to as a reduction in

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socio-emotional abilities; & disturbances in one’s unity with

the spirit. For schizophrenics or drug abusers meditational
practices are advised to be operated with precaution. Some studies have revealed that a person’s
body should be well prepared via yogasanas first in order to gain benefits from some kinds of
pranayamas like kapalbhati & bhastrika, otherwise it may lead to the production of intense
internal energy which ultimately can end up one to the problems in concentration, rapid shifting
from one thought to the another, agitation, acute mental trauma & even to the destruction of one’s
nervous system. Too long holding of postures may also lead to both psychological & physical
tensions. Some practitioners of yoga/meditation had also reported that they had experienced
paranormal activity in their life. While inappropriate practicing may also lead to one’s death. A
caution need to be taken during the practicing of meditation by people with severe mental
disorders. In mentally disordered patients, meditation may elicit certain feelings, thoughts,
images, temporary vagueness & depersonalization that may add up to their mental imbalance. A
study by the psychologist Otis revealed that longer the practitioner meditate more is he likely to
experience vagueness, sadness, unacceptability, boredom & reduction in social activities.
Moreover meditation has not been found to be effective in cases of constant continuous
depression & migraine headache. Meditating for a large span of time & allowing the passage of
thoughts without their analyses may lead to maladjustment in one’s behaviour, impairment in
attributional abilities & a loss of awareness of the reality. Some researchers found their
participants reporting an addiction to the transcendental meditation, i.e. on terminating the daily
practice of transcendental meditation they started experiencing feelings of hopelessness &
worseness.

The researchers had formulated a hypothesis to define the reason for the experience of negative
effects during meditation, especially the transcendental meditation – they proposed that the
experience of negative effects may arise due to 2 factors. First is physical by nature, related to the
sitting posture. The rigid straight pose of sitting may lead unconsciously to a feeling of insecurity
as if the person falls asleep during the meditation process he may fall leading to head injury. This
apprehension may result in feelings of anxiety & fear every time the person sits for the practice,
leading him to aversely conditioning these feelings with the sitting position. The second factor is
mental by nature, which indicates the suppressed feelings & thoughts of the mind. Especially,
when the person slides between sleep & meditation these alternative thoughts tends to lead the
individual from a lower state of relaxation to a higher state of arousal, thereby disturbing the
practice. If the individual deliberately ignores the thought via the process of self regulation to
return back to the lower level of relaxation or light sleep he will be emotionally balanced. But if
he fails to do so it may end up in feelings of anxiety, loss of control & emotional maladjustment.

Despite of a number of adverse effects produced by meditation & yoga they are being largely
emphasized by many of their practitioners & supporters possibly because their merits outnumber
their demerits & because the mental peace & oneness they provide us with in today’s fast pacing
technological world.

8. Principles of yoga & meditation applied to psychotherapy

Psychotherapy refers to the assisting the patient to deal with his maladjustment, behavioural &
mental problems via the psychological professionals (clinical psychologist, psychiatrist), with the
goal to change the patient’s problematic emotion, idea, beliefs and/or responses. Here we will
explain the use of meditation & yoga in the psychotherapeutic techniques, which are largely
studied by the field yoga psychology.
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8.1 Yoga psychotherapy – what is it?

The origins of yoga psychotherapy lies in Vedanta, a school of monistic Indian philosophy which
emphasize on the point that every person has a pure consciousness & it is this consciousness
which never changes in a person, as opposed to our feelings, ideas, values & physical body that
do continually fluctuate with time. It claims that if experiences of a person present in his
conscious awareness teaches him something valuable, than not only he can successfully manage
his life events may then fully experience the positive emotions of joy, faith, hope & love.
Personality is not just a bunch of habits or behaviours, rather it refers to the experiencing of these
limited & constantly evolving factors; it is just a context in which our consciousness & inner
energy floats. Yoga psychotherapy thus not only seeks to enhance a person at his personality
level, rather it seeks to do it at a very higher level of acceptance of our self & the reality,
happiness & peace. It seeks to provide the person with a sense of personal freedom to choose the
way he wants to live in order to have self attainment. It teaches one to accept the reality of
himself & of his environment, & maintain balance with it in order to grow; evolve; to achieve
goals, values & stability of emotions; liberate inner energy & potentials for action.

8.2 Principles of yoga psychotherapy

There are certain principles on which the entire therapeutic technique of yoga psychotherapy are
based, they are:

1. Yoga psychotherapy is empirical by nature i.e. it initially deal with only certain issues &
problems of the client that ended him to psychotherapy, however later on it may take a
more philosophical & intellectual view. The ultimate aim is to end the client’s problems.
2. Yoga psychotherapy not only aims to reduce the hardships of the person but also to
induce in him such powerful positive emotions of love, hope, joy, innovation & faith.
3. Yoga psychotherapy is an approach of the ‘whole’ i.e. it seeks to merge the cognitions,
behaviours, emotions, experiences, physiology, & interpersonal & spiritual aspects of the
person.
4. By operation, yoga psychotherapy is experiential & experimental i.e. clients are
motivated by the yoga psychotherapist to themselves assess the beliefs, strategies &
theories of the yoga psychotherapy in terms of their validity & efficiency; rather than just
accepting them with closed eyes or just because being forced by the therapist to do so.
Here there are two aims: first to provide the client with the freedom of personal choice &
right to decide. Secondly the methods of experiments applied help the psychotherapist to
decide the type of method & conditions best suited for the client.
5. Yoga psychotherapy has a ‘spiritual’ essence in the sense that it provides its clients with
the ideas & methods which can be used by him over his entire life for self attainment &
growth. It does not do a temporary job; rather it gives the client the required abilities to
continuously fly high to the divinity & an everlasting harmony & acceptance of reality.
Perhaps yoga psychotherapy is the only kind of psychotherapy which focuses on the
client’s spirit. It provides its clients with the polar attitudes & emotions like, good or bad,
anger or peace, hate or love etc. that helps the clients in the process of acceptance & self
actualization.
6. Yoga psychotherapy is ‘culture free’ i.e. its techniques & beliefs can be applied to people
of almost any culture or religion; no matter whether they are followers of Hinduism,
Buddhism, Jainism, Sufism, or any other.

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8.3 Meditation & other techniques used in yoga psychotherapy

There are various attitudes & techniques of yoga which are applied in yoga psychotherapy,
meditation being one of them. Others are vairagya, self-acceptance, mindfulness, pranayama &
viveka.

8.3.1 Vairagya

Vairagya is one of the most effective & basic tool used in yoga psychotherapy, on which various
other tools may also depend. It teaches one to be emotionally detached i.e. neither like nor dislike
anything whether it comes from inside (feelings, perceptions, ideas, beliefs) or from outside
environment. It leads to the ultimate freedom & a sense of freedom. According to some neo-
Freudians a person’s response to another person, idea or object may take 3 forms – attraction
(moving towards), aversion (moving away), & both aversion & attraction (oppose them). Yoga
psychotherapy offered a fourth way – vairagya i.e. ‘simply be with such stimuli’; just co-exist
with them so that a minimal amount of focus is paid to them. Vairagya helps the person in the
process of acceptance; openly accepting & appreciating the realities of his life in their pure &
fullest form, no matter how many hindrances are there. Application of the tool of vairagya in
clinical practices specifically involves the treatment of anxiety disorders. For example in
treatment of panic disorders vairagya suggests one to clearly accept his undesirable idea without
escaping from it or thinking it as something worst. In treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder
(OCD), the therapist in a series of methods makes the client to face the stimuli of ascending
intensity along with suggesting him to try acceptance of the concurrently emerging undesirable
sensations. Due to a repeated practice of this approach of accepting attitude the client gradually
becomes tolerant/ immune to the stimuli.

8.3.2 Meditation

Meditation as described earlier, has an ample amount of mental, spiritual & physical benefits to
reason with oneself to practice it daily. It helps one with increase in self regulation & to achieve
self actualization & harmony in one’s life. Meditation is a technique to learn to focus attention on
an object or on a mantra in order to have an insight into the various levels of mind, to achieve
peace, integration with one’s environment, & mental growth. In clinical practices meditation has
been found to counter attack on depressive thoughts, anxiety & stress. Almost every client
undergoing yoga psychotherapy is advised to daily practice meditation primarily due to 4 reasons.
Firstly, it induces a sense of relaxation, calmness & peacefulness for both mind & body.
Secondly, it leads its practitioners to an increased sense of self awareness that ultimately helps
them to deeply investigate their own mental processes & problems & find an appropriate solution
for them. Thirdly, meditation helps its practitioners with an increased alertness of the various
events of their surrounding world, thus helping them to deal with such daily events on their own,
with increased efficiency. Fourthly, meditation is related to the attainment of vairagya. With still
posture, controlling of the breathing process, focusing on a specific object or mantra, the client
acquires the skill to get aware of a thought, view it in a non-judgmental manner, accept & letting
it go results in the emotional detachment aspect of vairagya. Various researchers have found a
positive correlation between the time span of practice of meditation & the level of happiness &
mental well being.

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8.3.3 Self-Acceptance

Unconditionally accepting oneself is an important tool of yoga psychotherapy which has replaced
an earlier conditional tool of self esteem (related to the level of convergence of the real & ideal
self). Here clients are suggested to exclude the ‘middle man’ i.e. various norms & specifications
& accept themselves as they are with all of the demerits or failures they may have. Loving,
respecting & caring oneself unconditionally leads to a happy & prosperous life; while disliking,
hating, disrespecting & even abusing our self more than often leads to a disturbed mental &
physical health. According to yoga psychotherapy recurrently abusing & blaming our own self
may result in a terrible habit of disliking our self even if we have now beaten our every faulty
thought or behaviour, that ultimately ends one to psychological & adjustment problems.

8.3.4 Mindfulness

Mindfulness involves a deliberate effort aimed to fully concentrate on the present reality. Yoga
psychotherapy trains its client to be aware of the inner & outer experiences without conjecturing
or using their high cognitive abilities. These inner experiences may include one’s feeling, idea, or
physiological sensation while the outer experiences may include one’s responses, sensory
observations etc. By increasing his consciousness towards these inner & outer experiences the
client becomes sensitive for the complicated relation existing between these experiences; thus
allowing him to analyze, interpret & change the distress producing thoughts, emotions &
behaviours. Mindfulness thus seeks to increase the self control & self regulatory habits of the
client providing him with greater adjustment, happiness & well being. Practicing mindfulness
ultimately helps the client to increase self acceptance & vairagya.

8.3.5 Viveka (discrimination)

People with problems in their lifestyle tend to have acceptance of wrong & negative thoughts &
feelings as a result of inability to select the positive alternatives. Yoga psychotherapy provide its
clients with the tools to first let flow the thoughts in the conscious of the client & then to analyze
them in terms of their appropriateness, validity & accuracy. Thus yoga psychotherapy seeks to
develop buddhi of the client which provides the client with the ability to discriminate, which in
turn helps him to go deeper into avidya (wrong perception) & change it wherever necessary. For
example, if the client has a feeling or thought of one of his past behaviours as worse than his
viveka may enforce him to look about the possible mistake of the stimuli or the external
environment. Clients should be helped to get free from the delusion of inappropriately analyzed
conclusions. Sri Shankaracharya proposed that the maintenance of a delusion leads to the
perception of rope as a snake, while ending it leads to the end of the false perception. Viveka in
yoga psychotherapy seeks to develop pure infinite sat-chit-ananda (knowledge-existence-
happiness) & to make them aware of & change their inappropriate beliefs of being limited,
hindered & changeable. Hence via the tool of viveka yoga psychotherapy practically helps the
client in making a lifetime unity with their infinite spirit & in achieving enlightenment.

8.3.6 Pranayama

Respiring or breathing is the most important function of the human body. Yoga psychology has
enforced on the power of breath-regulation via breathing exercises in regulation of the nervous
system, ultimately leading the person to a peaceful & healthy body both physically & mentally.
Researches have shown that the breathing pattern of a person represents his state of mind.
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Anxiety leads to rapid, small & shallow breaths. Depression

leads to slow & non-continuous breaths. While feeling of
peacefulness & oneness leads one to the unhindered, smooth & easy breathing. Thus yoga
psychotherapy via pranayama seeks to change the physical condition of its clients & thus
changing their mental state of distress. For example, for clients with panic disorder the yoga
psychotherapist suggests him diaphragmatic breathing i.e. easy breathing via nose where the
processes of inhaling & exhaling are more or less same in their length without any breakage,
which in turn relaxes the autonomic nervous system & prevents over ventilation of air that is
responsible for the panic attack. To deal with depression yoga psychotherapist advices its client to
try kapalabhati in which breath is rapidly & forcefully inhaled & exhaled via nose followed by
natural, slow & calm breaths. Yoga psychotherapy also use other types of pranayama to help its
clients deal with insomnia &/or other mental disorders. Since some of the researches suggests the
adverse effects of pranayama, it should therefore not be practiced without the proper supervision
of professionals, & over practice should be avoided.

9. Summary
 Yoga is a physiological, psychological & spiritual activity which has the ultimate goal to
unite mind, body & soul, along with a state of unity with the environment one is placed
in. While, meditation can be defined as a method in which a person teaches his mind to
enter into a specific state of consciousness.
 The origin of yoga & meditation resides long time back at the time of Harappa
civilization. At the Rig Veda age, the Brahmins performing the rituals had to fix their
mind fully for a large amount of time in order to perform it rightfully. This principle of
the focus of the mind lies at the core of the modern day yoga & meditation.
 Swami Vivekanand, Indra Devi, Swami Sivananda & many more yogis are being credited
for the emergence & practice of yoga in the west. Now from the twentieth century
meditation has been adopted, both in India & West, as a method of stress/anxiety
reduction, method to relax & improve one’s personal self.
 There are various types of yoga – Hatha Yoga, Bikram Yoga, Ashtanga yoga, Kundalini,
Lyengar yoga etc.
 Earlier yoga was considered as a part of religious or spiritual activity which helps one to
achieve the unity of mind, body & soul & having oneness with the god & environment.
But with increasing establishments it is being considered to be more scientific in nature.
 According to Samkhya the spirit can neither be created nor be destructed, it is never
attached to anything, neither it is free, nor it wants salvation. The only relation that self
has is from itself. Thus yoga helps a person to have an insight of this self, which is clear,
endless, and infinite.
 There are various types of meditational practices – Transcendental meditation, Vipasana
meditation, Zazen meditation, Kundalini meditation, & Qi gong meditation
 There are various benefits of yoga & meditation – Stability in Mood, Improvement in
levels of happiness, Increased Self-acceptance, Harmonizes mind, body & soul, Growth
in Self-actualizing tendency, Reduction in body pain, improved reaction-time, Growth in
muscle power, Higher functioning of immune system & many more.
 Their adverse effects can be both physical & psychological. Most of the supporters argue
that these problems arise only if yoga/meditation is performed inappropriately or out of
the recommended sequence. Adverse effects may include bones fractures, spinal
problems, physical exhaustion or imbalance in one’s mental state in the form of

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psychosis, vagueness, fear, nervous breakdown,

depressive symptoms, self harming tendencies etc.
 Yoga psychotherapy not only seeks to enhance a person at his personality level, rather it
seeks to do it at a very higher level of acceptance of our self & the reality, happiness &
peace. It seeks to provide the person with a sense of personal freedom to choose the way
he wants to live in order to have self attainment.

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