Pt Radheshyam Mishra and Gary Mckenzie-Mcharg.
B-1, University Campus, Ujjain, M.P., India.
www.yogaclassic.org

Abstract

Yoga has existed in India since very ancient times. The yoga-life program includes developing a positive belief system, identifying immune stressors, learning Yoga postures, breathing techniques and healing meditation practices, incorporating nutrition as a living philosophy, practising group support, developing hobbies, practising responsible living, regular cardio vascular exercise. All components of the Yoga-life program are considered as being equally important, and each one is taught separately. Prayer, diet, hobby and exercise are practised daily. The psychological components teach coping methods and program adherence. Each person’s contribution to those around them is a vital part of the program for developing self-esteem and is termed “responsible living”. Normally, such programs using Yoga and natural healing therapies are taught to affluent populations who can afford expensive retreats and costly consultations. The Yoga-life program is designed to be community based and is therefore cost efficient. Furthermore, because a ‘mentor model’ is established, this program is affordable to HIV/AIDS affected participants who are unable to work or have other financial difficulties.The ‘mentor model’ is an essential element of the Yoga-life program because it provides continual guidance to the student in their daily Yoga practice. The student’s health improvement is considered not as a contained event or simply a training exercise but as a lifestyle ambition. In order to maintain the healthy lifestyle, it is considered helpful to continue practising it with others. A certain way of thinking is cultivated, which needs to be continually reinforced. Good habits need maintenance or unhealthy behaviours will gradually creep back into student’s life and again become the norm. The higher states of consciousness attained through meditation demand a lifetime of daily practice not just three months of training which ceases at the end of the course. Just as the mind becomes purified by intense practice, it may also lose its purity by recurring unhealthy behaviour.

Finally, the ‘mentor model’ encourages each one to develop a strong life purpose for society and a daily personal health routine for themselves. People who have a genuine reason for living tend to live longer because they lead a more robust and purposeful life.