Mind-Body Equilibrium

A human body represents the highest form of order among the living beings. It is, in a thermodynamic sense, an open system which obtains free energy from its environments and seeks to preserve and increase its level of order. Yoga looks at this organisation, this order as a whole; it views the being as an organism. The health of the human being is, therefore, the health of the body and the health of the mind. Like all traditional sciences Yoga takes a holistic view of health, much in contrast with the fragmented mechanistic view of health which has prevailed in the modern sciences for quite some time. A critique of this fragmented view would not serve much purpose, for even in modern medical science the close link between the body and the mind has been recognised of late. The impact of psychological processes on physiological ones is the subject of more and more investigations, what with the emergence of 'stress' as a major phenomenon in modern civilisation. The new views emerging in modern sciences are converging, as it were, with those of the traditional ones—though perhaps at a different level of understanding. A healthy mind no doubt resides in a healthy body. But in Yoga the relative importance given to the two differs. The body is but an instrument, though its importance cannot be denied. All yogic practices, therefore, give importance to keeping this instrument in good shape—Hathayoga is perhaps the most vocal representative of this view.