YOGA TODAY YOGA YESTERDAY

If you are happen going downtown you may see there are some yoga courses there, teaching yoga classes, and sometimes with lux facilites. This phenomenon maybe is something usual in our mind, and we take this as a matter of course. Many people has truly enthusiasm for yoga. Yoga today is respectable discipline practiced by many educated persons.

Historically speaking, the matters was different from this phenomenon. There was a time when people saw yoga just as an exotic thing and strange thing. Yoga was viewed just like freak things practiced by undercivilized people of some country.

Gradually, people wanted to know the hidden things behind yoga. And this process was not always in right ways. Some (western) people was right to be somewhat confused in their ideas concerning the Yogis and their philosophy and practice. Travellers to India have written great stories about the flocks of fakirs who fill the roads of its cities, and who claim the title 'Yogi.'

Sometimes Yogi was seen as a thin man, dirty, ignoramus, who either sits in a fixed posture until his body becomes become inflexible, or else holds his arm up in the air until it becomes unbendable. Those opinions are scarcely to be blamed. However, these strange people exist, but their claim to the title 'Yogi' seems as absurd to the true Yogi as does the claim to the title 'Doctor' on the part of the man who peels one's corns seem to the reputed surgeon.

After long periods, people progressively understood the mean of yoga and Yogi. And now many people all over the world confidently practice yoga, having a truly spirit to appreciate yoga in their daily life. Then, what's all about the meaning of yoga, etimologically speaking, and how was it built as a discipline through ages? That’s the next thing we will discuss.

SUN AND SUNBATH

As in the case of other life elements, man cannot do without sunlight. The sun is the source of light and heat. If there was no sun, there would be neither light nor warmth. Unfortunately, we do not make full use of sunlight and consequently we are unable to enjoy perfect health.

Sunbath is as useful as ordinary water bath though the two cannot replace one another. In cases of delibity and slow circulation, exposure of the uncovered body to the morning sun acts as an all-round general tonic and accelerates the metabolism.

The morning sun has the largest amount of ultra-violet rays which are a most effective component of the sun's rays. If the patient feels cold, he should lie in the sun covered up and gradually expose more and more of his body as he gets used to it.

One can also take the sunbath pacing up and down in the sun without any clothes on, in a private enclosure or in any other place away from public gaze. If such a place is not within easy reach, one can just cover up the private parts by tying up a piece of cloth or a langoti and expose the rest of his body to the sun.

I know of many persons who have been benefited by sunbaths. It is a well-known treatement for tubercolusis. Sunbaths or heliotherapy is no longer confined to the sphere of naturopathy. Orthodox medicine has taken it up from naturopathy and developed it further. In cold countries, special glass buildings have been constructed under medical supervision, so that the glass lets in the sun' rays and at the same time protects patients against the cold.

Sun treatment often results in the cure of intractable ulcers. To produce sweating, I have made patients lie in the sun at about 11 a. m., i. e. a little before midday. The experiment has been successful and the patients are soon bathed in sweat. In these cases the head should be protected from the sun by means of a cold mud poultice. Banana or any other leaves can be used to cover up the head and the face and thus further help in keeping the head cool and well protected. The head should never be exposed to strong sunlight.

Source: Key to Health (M. K. Gandhi).