ROLE OF YOGA IN ACHIEVING MENTAL HEALTH: A REVIEW

Abstract

The mental health is the significant means of leading meaningful life filled with joy and inner harmony. It is a positive concept linked to the social and emotional well-being of individuals and communities. The concept is traditionally defined, but usually associated with the pleasure of life, capability to manage stresses and grief, the accomplishment of goals and potential and a sense of connection to others. The word ‘yoga’ is derived from Sanskrit and means ‘to yoke’ or join. The concentration is on the union of mind and body or the harmonic synchronization of body, breath, and mind. Yoga   is   an   ancient   Indian practice   and   a   mode   of   life   that   comprises regulated   breathing, maintaining   various postures   and   meditation that help to achieve, preserve and promote physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual health. It is gaining admiration globally as an accessible, acceptable, eco-friendly and cost-effective practice for mind and body. Yoga is a systematic technique of calming down the mind which   consists of - Yama (moral   disciplines), Niyama (purificatory practices), Asana (postures), Pranayama (controlled   nostril breathing), Pratyahara (self-analysis), Dharana (attention/concentration), Dhyana (meditation), and Samadhi (detached   awareness   of   self) intended achievement of self-realization or the inner divine state. This paper summarizes the effects of yoga on various components of mental health by emphasizing on the evidence stated in review articles. Yoga is testified to decrease stress and anxiety, improves autonomic functions by triggering neuro-hormonal mechanisms by the suppression of sympathetic activity. The consistent practice of yoga is an antidote for the several of the psychosomatic disorders.

Key words: Yoga, mental health, pranayama, stress