The Application of Yoga Psychology

It seems that the psycho therapeutic values of alternative forms of psychology have yet to conclusively demonstrate their ability to integrate into traditional forms of Western psychology. This may be due to the degree of sophistication of procedures designed to assess and report therapeutic success, but it is most likely due to therapeutic incompleteness that is implicated by the more common practices which have become obsolete. While some may consider the statement presumptuous, many of the therapeutic and psychological practices implicated today are antedated and in one form or another influenced by ancient systems of yoga. All, however, are only partial simulations of the system outlined in the yoga sutras by Patanjali some centuries before the birth of Christ. Even the philosophical contexts which help to define philosophy like those constructed by Plato and Aristotle had significant influence from Eastern religions and philosophies including those from India. Recognition of this fact suggests that a closer examination of the original yoga system may be fruitful in designing and testing psychosomatic therapy. While some similarities between the yoga system and psychoanalysis have been noted, no attempt has yet been made to systematize yoga methodology as a form of psychotherapy. This is an exceptionally difficult task for a number of reasons: one, the yoga sutras are subjective and can be interpreted in a variety of ways; two, a number of schools or traditions employing different techniques have evolved from the sutras; three, some of the techniques derived from the sutras are not in written form, and if they are, can only be understood by means of training with a spiritual master.

Despite these obstacles, if attention be confined to their original sutras, it is possible to isolate, at least in part, some of the principles which are operative in yoga, to assess them experimentally, and if proven effective, to apply them therapeutically.

Below are some philosophical contexts which outlined the practice of yoga psychology which can be applied, perhaps one day in the future, as the therapeutic design. The basic point of the yoga sutras, in brief, are as follows:

To help continue our contextualization and understanding of how yoga psychology can be applied in a practical and systematic form, we will also discuss the methodologies which can be used for psycho therapy. Patanjali has outlined a methodology which, if followed with diligence, is said to lead, eventually, to a continual state of samadhi. The method involves eight steps, known as the eight limbs of yoga. While it is stated that mastery of each step requires mastery of the preceding step, in training, all steps are an attempt at the same goal, and can be practiced at the same time. The first five steps are known as the indirect aides, the remaining, as the direct aids. These methods are as follows:

There have been a number of reports by people training in the above techniques or similar ones of a feeling of bliss, serenity, and timelessness during the actual concentration practices. This has also been reported by scientific experiments conducted by universities in the United States with the assistance of Tibetan Buddhists in which they used neurological impulse maps to trace the effects of meditation on the brain. Psychophysiological research has indicated that meditation is accompanied by an increase in the duration of EEG alpha frequency and in its amplitude, and decreases in other indices of CNS and ANS activity.

Reaction to external stimulation also appears to be altered during the meditative state. It has been reported that stimuli even of an aversive nature may go unnoticed. When stimuli are perceived, they are apparently perceived more vividly, this vividness being accompanied by altered EEG activity, suggestive of an inhibition of the generalized orientation reaction and enhancement of the localized orientation reaction. Many of these findings from the few available studies remain speculative, however, since experienced subjects have been used and concentration techniques have not been operationalized or have remain unreported. What is required as a first step is a systematic investigation of the psychological and psychophysiological effects of these methods upon naïve subjects over prolonged training periods. Long-term effects are unknown, at least to scientific research which has yet to constructively analyze the effects of meditation over extended periods of time. If the above speculations are verified, some implications for psycho therapy follow.

It would be anticipated that introduction to the above procedures would be beneficial to the population at large in promoting feelings of well-being and altruism, and in lessening anxiety and aggression. Such a program of psychotherapy or psychosomatotherapy may be particularly applicable to treat and address various mental disturbances including hypertension and a variety of psychosomatic disorders, anxiety neurosis, phobias, and problems of addiction and delinquency. Recent attempts to apply yoga or yoga derive techniques in India, United States, and throughout the world’s are also inadequately tested, but are nevertheless encouraging.