Yoga – A Future in Education, Therapy, Research and more

Yoga for Education, yoga for a good physique, yoga is a stress-buster, yoga is a panacea, yoga is pranayama, yoga is meditation, yoga is union, yoga is social harmony, yoga is religious and so on.

Much has been said about yoga, more so in the last few years. Yoga has gained greater acceptability like never before. Amidst all this, Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (S-VYASA) has been carrying on research to validate yoga using modern scientific methodology. S-VYASA has now published more than 130 research papers in international, indexed scientific journals such as Medline and Psychlit/Psychinfo.

The curriculum at S-VYASA incorporates four streams of yoga including Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Jnana Yoga. Unity in Diversity is practiced here in which all or any of the streams of yoga take us to the highest states of bliss, power, knowledge and freedom. Participants include those in distress, those who are curious about the science of yoga, those looking to grow materially through yoga and those seeking knowledge! At S-VYASA, you will find an all-inclusive approach to life and the world around you.

Prashanti Kutiram is the campus and the headquarters of S-VYASA. Prashanti Kutiram means the Abode of Peace. Lying in the lap of nature amidst greenery, the campus lies sprawling over 100 acres. The campus is about 15 kms from the bountiful Bannerughatta National Park. Prashanti is a special mix of science and spirituality. There have been events such as ‘Quantum Mechanics and Consciousness’ followed by “Frontiers in Quantum Physics’ conducted by Nobel nominee for Physics, Prof ECG Sudarshan. And there are Spiritual Retreats conducted by spiritual masters including “Isavasyam idam sarvam” by Swami Dayananda Saraswati ji.

Prashanti hosts regular residential and non-residential courses under five main Divisions including a. Yoga and Spirituality b. Yoga and Physical Sciences c. Yoga and Life Sciences d. Yoga and Management Studies and e. Yoga and Humanities. There are in all 15 Departments under these Divisions which would cover all disciplines of academic importance.

Prof Ramachandra Bhat, Dean, Academic Programmes and Spirituality, says, “We have received overwhelming response for our Yoga and Spirituality – BSc, MSc in Yoga and Consciousness. It is heartening to see a Vedic revival. We are hopeful that these youth will be ambassadors to promote yoga and Vedic wisdom across the world.” Under Spirituality,
S-VYASA runs its most popular programme, one-month YIC (Yoga Instructor’s Course) and regular Spiritual Retreats.

A physicist of renown, Prof TM Srinivasan is the Dean of the Yoga and Physical Sciences. He says, “It is fascinating to understand the connection between the physical matter and the human consciousness. We at S-VYASA, are constantly trying to understand the subtler levels in physics and truths beyond the matter. Our courses are structured to address the physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual states of the human mind.”

Prashanti hosts Arogyadhama, the yoga holistic health home. The Integrated Approach to Yoga Therapy (IAYT) technique has been evolved and nurtured at the Arogyadhama. Dr R Nagaratna, Dean, Division of Yoga and Life Sciences and the Chief Yoga Consultant says, “We have launched BNYS courses which will include important components of Yoga, Naturopathy, Ayurveda and Medicine.” Dr Nagaratna is the chief designer of the IAYT. She adds, “At S-VYASA, we have disease-specific yoga therapy modules proven to be used in the management of lifestyle disorders and improve quality of life.” Under her Deanship, S-VYASA also conducts MD, PGDYT, PGDYTD, DNYT and DYNS.

Prashanti also houses Anvesana, the hub of yoga research activities. Anvesana has been duly recognized as the Center for Advanced Research in yoga and neurophysiology by ICMR. Anvesana has conducted research projects funded by National Institute of Health, USA, Ministries of H&FW and Defence, Govt of India. The focus of this center is to understand meditation using high-end neuroscience technologies viz., EEG and neuroimaging. Under the guidance of Dr Shirley Telles, neurophysiologist and the chief of the research, S-VYASA is a global leader in yoga research. S-VYASA has already produced more than 50 PhDs in Yoga and related fields.

S-VYASA has also started an MBA-equivalent MSc Yoga and Management and BSc in Yoga and Management under the Division of Yoga and Management Studies. Under this Division, S-VYASA has been conducting regular stress management programmes for corporate. Prof. Subhash Sharma, Dean, says, “We will add the Indian Management component to regular MBA stream. The Upanishads are a storehouse of great management principles and they will help the modern-day executive greatly.”

Prof K Subrahmanyam, Dean of Division of Yoga and Humanities says, “We are looking ahead excitedly at the times to come. Indian ethics and values have now been incorporated into Journalism courses which have launched at Bachelors and Masters Levels.” Many courses aimed at Indian Culture such as Classical Music and Dance, Fine Arts are being planned under this Division.

S-VYASA has also been eager to keep pace with technology trends. S-VYASA has Digital Library systems and Library Information Management Systems. S-VYASA has computerized its examination systems leading to greater efficiency in the evaluation systems. Course Content at S-VYASA is being digitized so the same can be made available to students as learning resource.

Dr HR Nagendra, the Vice Chancellor, S-VYASA, says, “The educational system in S-VYASA is holistic, based on the consciousness-based approach of yoga systems and spiritual lore. It is not merely a bread-earning educational system but a personality-developing and world-building tool through yoga.”

Dr HR Nagendra has been the guiding force behind the S-VYASA movement. In search of reality, Dr HR Nagendra found that the modern science has only touched the physical dimension. Nature has many subtle and causal dimensions which ancient Seers of India had fathomed, realized, documented and time tested for its usefulness. So he jumped into this wisdom contained in Upanishads of Yoga and spiritual lore.

He quit NASA and returned to India to practice Yoga. Many years on, he was asked by the UGC to bring the wisdom of Yoga to University campuses and the Kendra had 9 campuses in which Yoga centers were established. With the success story growing further the UGC accorded a Deemed to be university status in 2002 to S-VYASA for which he became the first Vice chancellor.

Contact:
Srikanth CS, Content In charge
SVYASA
Email: press@svyasa.org
http://www.svyasa.org
Yoga Research, Yoga Education, Yoga Therapy