The Yoga System Of Health And Relief From Tension

by Yogi Vithaldas

The Yoga system of health is a culture that has been practised by the yogis in India for thousands of years. Its roots lie buried deep in the past, but its message is ad­dressed no less surely to the people of to-day, living in the restless atmosphere of the modern world. Yoga lays stress on bodily and mental poise and produces an equanimity of spirit that is most beneficial to the whole nervous sys­tem. It trains the student in the basic principles of health, and creates a true placidity of nature that allows great intensity of activity of both mind and body, when such activity is necessary.
The question is whether the Western world needs Yoga and is ready to attach to it the significance the East at­taches. The Westerner must perforce admit that the modern world is one of agitation and nervous tension. Does he get along satisfactorily or does he just 'muddle through'? Life expectancy has certainly gone up in the last hundred years, but this has not been due to an innate development of resistance to disease, but rather to the inicrease in medical knowledge. Sir Farquhar Buzzard, Phy­sician in Ordinary to the King, maintains that in England one person in every fourteen suffers from nerves to such an extent as to warrant treatment, whether it is given or < not and that one million weeks of working men's time are lost every year because of nervous disorders alone. We have further his authoritative statement that one-third of all the ills that man is heir to in these days are due to nervous disorders, and are not organic breakdowns.
The need for Yoga therapy, which deals so exhaustively with nerves and their effects, is thus seen to be very real, for ill-nourished and uncontrolled nerves sap the vitality of a nation, and affect its physical condition and its mental outlook. Yoga is not advocated to teach the Western city dweller the Indian rope-trick or any other abnormal prac­tice (and among these false ideas must be included the use of Yoga to effect indefinite prolongation of life), but to expand his own latent powers, physical, mental, and spiritual, to their fullest possible extent.

162 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Malcolm Pinch]

My copy was first published in 1939- which makes the diet advice even more advanced!

[Brianna Bowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book on a public bench, so reading it was a matter of coincidence. I was curious because I recently became intrigued by yoga as a physical practice, but didn't know anything beyond that. I think it was published in 1958, which makes its theories on diet and peace of mind fascinating to me because they could easily be in an article pinned on somebody's Pinterest board today. It demonstrates how Western culture has opened up to Eastern approaches to health. The book was a good foundation for the philosophy of yoga, and I definitely learned some things that have never been articulated in any yoga class I've been to (for example: the reason inverted poses are seen as beneficial is that it allows blood to flow easily to the brain, potentially allowing for greater mental capacity). Some of it is a way too much for the average yoga practitioner (like 'cleansing' your stomach by swallowing a rope! I cringe just thinking about it), but overall it piqued my interest in delving more into the study and practice of yoga.