Yoga for Neuropsychiatric Disorders

by Ram

"The demand for clinically efficacious, safe, patient acceptable, and cost-effective forms of treatment for mental illness is growing. Several studies have demonstrated benefit from yoga in specific psychiatric symptoms and a general sense of well-being." —Balasubramaniam, et al

Among the vedic sciences, Ayurveda is considered the healing side of yoga, and yoga the spiritual side of Ayurveda. Both these sciences are considered as two sides of the same coin, as they emphasize a complete approach to the well-being of the body, the mind, and the spirit. Both yoga and Ayurveda describe the disease process as taking its roots first in the mind. If we fail to recognize the disease process in the mind and continue to make wrong choices, the disease overflows into the physical body as specific symptoms. Thus, symptoms are simply the body’s voice communicating that we are living out of harmony. When we live out of harmony we suffer. When we change our life to bring greater harmony, our bodies reflect this change and there is less suffering.

Turn to yoga philosophy and one of the main tenets in the Yoga Sutras is:

Yogas chitta vritii nirodhah

yoga =union, to join; chitta = mutable thoughts of the mind-field; vritti = mental fluctuations/ modifications, nirodhah = coordination, regulation, channeling.

Swami Jnaneshvara translates this as: Yoga is the control (nirodhah, regulation, channeling, mastery, integration, coordination, stilling, quieting, setting aside) of the mutable thoughts/modifications (gross and subtle thought patterns) of the mind field. In other words, when you achieve a union of the body, mind and spirit, all mental fluctuations and turbulence cease.

The Shady Side of the Mountain by Brad Gibson

Dissect this tenet in more simple terms and this is the message: human being as a whole is a combination of body, mind and spirit, with physical, mental (psychological) and spiritual dimensions. When we just think of ourselves as a physical body and lose our connection with the mind and spirit, we become susceptible to mental and physical diseases. If this theory is hard to follow, understand that we share a close relationship with our environment, the world around us. If an individual is living in harmony with the environment, optimum health is possible. However, the further out of harmony an individual is living, the less likely it is that they will reach their full life potential in either length or quality of life. Healing is the process of returning to harmony by becoming one with our environment. Once back in harmony, the body and the mind have no reason to communicate symptoms. The body is at ease; the mind attains peace.

Mention the mind-body relationship to a scientist or a medical doctor and you will immediately notice their discomfort as this relationship lacks sufficient scientific backing. In addition, I have noticed that the general public is less likely to embrace some of these theories and alternative therapeutic interventions unless they have been proved by science. At one of the national Ayurveda/Yoga conferences, I had suggested some yoga modalities for ADHD patients but since I could not provide a scientific rationale, my suggestions were met with skepticism.  So does it surprise me now when a review published in the journal, Frontiers in Psychiatry titled Yoga on our minds: a systematic review of yoga for neuropsychiatric disorders by Balasubramaniam, et al describes yoga to be “highly promising” as a complimentary care to medication for psychiatric disorders (the authors examined the literature for a gamut of psychiatric illness) but without the negative side effects that come with pills? Not in the least. Because all psychiatric disorders have a mind component, a mind-body integrative program, such as yoga, can definitely assist people in their pursuit of peace and calmness, and bring greater wholeness and integration in their lives.

Unfortunately, if you just mention this 5000-year-old ancient practice as a standalone solution, you will have skeptics. Bring in statistics, scientific methodology and other modern applications, however, and people will start believing you.

"There is emerging evidence from randomized trials to support popular beliefs about yoga for depression, sleep disorders, and as an augmentation therapy. Limitations of literature include inability to do double-blind studies, multiplicity of comparisons within small studies, and lack of replication. Biomarker and neuroimaging studies, those comparing yoga with standard pharmaco- and psychotherapies, and studies of long-term efficacy are needed to fully translate the promise of yoga for enhancing mental health."—Balasubramaniam, et al

But whatever it takes, the mind-body connection definitely needs to be considered seriously!