By Dr Chandra Nanthakumar

Today, in every nook and corner of most reasonably-sized cities, it is not difficult to spot a Yoga studio. What appears to be stunningly remarkable is that people from all walks of life, regardless of age or creed, flock to these studios faithfully to indulge in the practice. Also, it is not uncommon to see enthusiasts practising yoga in open air in the absence of a studio. Moreover, schools, not all though, have incorporated Yoga as part of their physical education curriculum.

Why has Yoga gained so much recognition over the decades? Why is there so much hype about this ancient mind-body practice? Let’s take a deep dive into this discipline. Fundamentally, Yoga is a systematic practice that focuses on bringing harmony between the mind and body. The word “Yoga” stems from the Sanskrit root word “yuj” which implies to yoke or to unite. The Yogic Shastras (i.e. systematically organised body of knowledge or treatise) assert that this practice brings forth the union between the individual consciousness and Universal consciousness, thus signalling a perfect congruence between Man and Nature (Yoga History, 2026).

The same literature reveals that the practice of Yoga emerged with the dawn of civilization, way before any of the first religions were born. Originally, it was a methodology developed by the ancient sages for self-realisation and inner exploration. Credit goes to Maharishi Patanjali, the father of Yoga, who organised the existing traditions, philosophies and meditative practices into a text that we all know today as the Yoga sutras. This sacred text consists of four padas (chapters) – Superconsciousness (Samadhi pada), Practice (Sadhana pada), Powers (Vibhuti pada) and Absolute freedom (Kaivalya pada). The entire text encompassing a total of 196 aphorisms, not only serves as a basic guide for Classical Yoga, but also outlines the eight limbs of Yoga (Ashtanga Yoga) aimed at achieving Moksha (Wile, 2014). The eight limbs comprise Yama (universal ethics), Niyama (internal attitudes for personal discipline), Asana (posture), Pranayama (expansion of life force), Pratyahara (withdrawal of senses), Dharana (contemplation of one’s true nature), Dhyana (meditation) and Moksha (liberation). Hence, a Classical Yoga session will almost always incorporate most, if not all the limbs of Ashtanga Yoga for purposes of bringing harmony to the mind and body.

Intervention of Yoga as a complementary therapy has been widely studied on various kinds of sample population across continents amongst diverse age groups, creed and gender. Medical and physiological sciences have studied in detail the physical and meditative aspects of Yoga, and clinical research data reveals that consistent practice brings about stress reduction, improved cardiac health and better management of chronic pain (John Hopkins Medicine, n.d.). Extensive research has also shown favourable impacts of yogic practices on psychological health (Cuijpers et al., 2010; De Manincor et al., 2015; Bridges & Sharma, 2017; Butterfield et al., 2017). Nanthakumar (2018) studied the effectiveness of Yoga not only as a complementary therapy, but also as a viable option in the management of physiological and psychological disorders (namely anxiety and depression) in adults. The underlying notion is that Yoga has the ability to positively influence the biochemical and neurophysiological systems by simply normalising the autonomous nervous system (ANS), hence reducing the levels of stress, anxiety and depression in an individual (Salmon et al. 2009; Nanthakumar, 2018), and this has been proven in all these studies. Dhyana and Pranayama, key components in the practice of Classical Yoga, appear to be active ingredients to combat psychological conditions like anxiety and depression (Sengupta, 2012; Knight et al., 2014). Woodyard (2011) reported that the practice of Yoga is not limited to only enhancing emotional and psychosocial health, but also in increasing proprioceptive and interoceptive awareness. There have been suggestions that this ancient mind-body practice, if diligently performed, induces neuroplasticity i.e. transformation in the neural pathways of the brain (Brown and Gerbarg, 2005). It is crystal clear that Yoga is an evidence-based practice which aligns to the principles of empirical knowledge.

Hence, is Yoga a science? For a particular discipline to be categorised as science or scientific, it requires a systematic pursuit of knowledge founded on, amongst many other parameters, empirical evidence, rigorous methodologies, reproducible observations (repeatability) and peer review. Based on the comprehensive literature review presented in the preceding paragraph(s), Yoga conforms to these guiding principles and therefore, without doubt, it is a science. It is not only a science but also an art of healthy living.