The principle of yoga therapy

The principle of Holism. 

In the eastern medicine and therapy the individual is always perceived as a unified whole hence the whole philosophy and the science of treating a person becomes very much holistic and complete in itself. The underlying principles of yoga therapy are based on the assumption, “treat the individual not the disease”. In yoga therapy the therapist treats the person by paying considerable attention on the environments (internal as well as external) of the individual. We find the similar theme throughout the process of the Client centered and the Existentialistic approaches of the contemporary psychotherapy. In the above two systems, for example, the primary concern of the therapist is to look at the individual from the holistic perspective and try to understand the problems from his perspective so the individual and the level of functioning of the individual become the pivotal point in the process of treatment. The main role of the therapists here becomes to facilitate the right healthy environment around the individual, which provides the opportunities to the individual to flourish and grow. Therefore the aim of yoga therapy is not restricted alone to the cure or the treatment of the diseases but it focuses on the overall growth of the individual concerned. In modern psychology we do not seem to have a comprehensive theory and methodology which considers all of the facets of human functioning and explains their proper place in the total person. But in the ancient psychology of yoga, such a comprehensive approach exists. Modern psychology seems to divide the individual into different parts, each to be worked with by a different school. Thus each school or the approach is incomplete and partial. But in yoga, teachers have for ages tried to understand and treat the whole person. Neither behavior, the unconscious, interpersonal relations nor one’s emotional life is taken as the sole or primary target of intervention in leading the student towards growth. All are seen as important and are systematically dealt with.

Together these techniques become an integrated therapy to help the individual free himself from all those limitations.

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