Dr. Parveen Kumar
Yoga has known to be beneficial since ages, and not just for weight loss, but also to keep the mind calm. Said to be a natural immunity booster, yoga also serves the dual purpose of helping keep stress at bay in these uncertain time. A number of studies back up the idea that regular practice of yoga and meditation can help increase lung capacity and manage health conditions that put us at risk of contracting COVID-19. There are over 300 asanas in the physical yoga practice. We can narrow down these asanas to few easy poses to start the daily yoga routine. These are Tadasana (standing pose), Vrikshasana (tree pose), Utthita Trikonasana (extended triangle), Marjaryasana and Bitilasana (cat and cow pose), and Balasana (child pose). In present time rife with uncertainty, Yoga is a holistic approach with long-term impact on overall health. It helps relieve muscle tension and calms mental stress. As people are working from home, anxiety has been a major concern. It helps to strengthen our defence system, stay positive and bounce back with more confidence. Anxiety or stress usually triggers the sympathetic nervous system which has manifestations such as increased blood pressure, tensed muscles, lack of concentration, faster breathing and yoga helps to calm that down. Yoga is a great tool as the stretching poses help to reduce tension in muscles and joints, and this can, in turn, help relax the sympathetic system. With sudden closure of gyms, people who were used to heavy-weight routine are focusing on yoga due to lack of equipment at home.
Regular yoga improves lung capacity, clears mucus in the air passages and relieves congestion. It reduces bloating, clears the nadis (subtle energy channels), aids in weight loss, stimulates abdominal organs, resulting in a flat and toned belly, promotes digestion, improves blood circulation and helps you get glowing, radiant skin, refreshes the brain and calms the mind. It can also help manage lung conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). By doing Pranayama breathing exercise we can increase our oxygen intake up to five times. The more oxygen-rich blood to the brain, heart, lungs, and digestive organs can help to improve the functioning of these organs and improve our overall health. Yoga works at three levels. Firstly, it improves immunity, second it avoids depression and third yoga helps to set new goals for the global community so that we can be stronger.
Coming to agriculture, after five decades of green revolution the environment is in shambles. The unscientific and crude practices particularly the use of synthetic chemicals have rendered ground poisonous and contaminated with harmful chemicals, air has become toxic, and soil has become unfit and barren for cultivation. The Cancer train running from Bathinda in Punjab to Ganganagar in Rajasthan is a glaring example of how we have lost so many lives to the excessive and indiscriminate use of chemicals in our lust to increase the yields. The only way out is to adopt farming practices that does not have any associated health hazards. One such way is the application of Yoga practices in Farming.
Yoga in Farming: Yoga in Farming means applying power of thought. Power of thought is believed to be a new fertilizer that leads to food security. It is a unique form of farming that combines thought-based meditative practices with methods of organic agriculture and is bringing clear economic and social benefits to smallholder agrarian communities in India. It is based on the principle that in the same way as people can feel good or bad vibrations from one another; seeds will also react to thoughts exposed to them. The practice of Yoga, when taken seriously in one’s life sponsors attachment with plants. Yoga nurtures a person in the finest manner when one practices it in a serene environment. In the same way, a plant grows in the finest fashion when supplied with all the necessary ingredients. Mantra Yoga is said to benefit both the farmer and his crops. Plants respond to Mantras vibration that creates a tranquil atmosphere to help these green creatures harmonize. Apart from these, love and respect affect the dynamics of a plant’s growth in the same way as they do humans. Yoga practices like Pranayama, Surya Namaskar, Pranamasana, Meditation, etc. makes us humble and respectful. When we show modesty towards your crops, they return us back with the maximum productivity.
Power of Thought: Farmers have to give seeds the power of positive thoughts through a higher state of consciousness through meditation. This is done through practiced meditators which focus thoughts of peace, non-violence, love, strength and resilience on the seeds for up to a month before sowing. Regular meditations are conducted remotely and in the fields with specific thought practices designed to support each phase of the crop growth cycle from empowering seeds and seed germination, through sowing, irrigation and growth, to harvest and soil replenishment. Plants are as sensitive as humans and animals are. When they are given ideal conditions, plants tend to grow smoothly. The development of a plant is largely affected by the conditions around it. For example, when you nurture a plant with kindness and love, it flourishes but when you neglect it or fail to provide the required attention, it dies. That is the result of a harmonious environment.
Positive thoughts have an impact on nature and even livestock and peoples’ around. Nature reads our minds and power of thoughts can be effectively used in farm sector. Presently, nearly one thousand farmers throughout India are combining organic farming with meditation, which is showing remarkable results. It has also improved farmers’ emotional well-being and enhanced community resilience. The meditative practices have been designed for each phase of the agrarian cycle, from seed to harvest.
The Evidence from the Ground: While the concept of Yoga farming originated in India, it has now spread to Europe and other countries where it is practiced in a big way. In the country, ‘Yoga Farming’ is being revived by the Raja Yoga Education and Research Foundation, a sister organization of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University, a non-governmental organization headquartered at Mount Abu, Rajasthan. The organization has been teaching methods of personal empowerment based on Brahma Kumaris Raja Yoga Meditation (BKRYM) techniques for the last 77 years.
In this regards, a bonafide research was conducted at the G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology (GBPUAT), Pantnagar, Uttarakhand in 2012-13 and on a farmer’s field in Gagsina village of Karnal, Haryana (2011-12) and at the SD University of Agriculture and Technology (SDUAT), Dantewada in the state of Gujarat from 2009 to 2012 to see the effects of yogic farming through BKRYM on the different aspects of seed and crops as well as its feasibility in agricultural transformation. Results revealed that seeds exposed to BKRYM enhanced germination, seedling growth, and vigor.
The quality of groundnut and wheat improved, along with increased soil microbial population. After three years of experimentation, the yield of wheat and groundnut obtained with organics + BKRYM was found to be comparable to that obtained with chemical inputs. BKRYM works best under organic farming. The Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University (BKWSU) is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) of the UN, in General Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council. It is also affiliated to the UN Department of Public Information and has Observer Status with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC). Farming through Yoga comes with a social aspect too.
The increasing income further increases farmers’ self-esteem reducing the frequency of farmer suicides and lessens the social violence in families and villages. The country’s leading agricultural universities including Govind Vallabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pant Nagar and Sardar Krushi Nagar Dantewada Agricultural University Gujarat are working on sustainable yogic farming practices. A scientist in Annamalai University has found that there is impact of music on plant growth and foreign scientists have found proof of thoughts on seed germination. On Yogic farming Sunita Pande from the division of Agronomy in GBPUAT Agronomist also told of the positive results obtained by the research work being carried out on wheat that showed higher protein content.
International Day of Yoga: Every year, on June 21, the world comes together to celebrate the International Day of Yoga. The day aims to spread awareness about the benefits of the spiritual and physical practice that had first started in ancient India. June 21 was suggested to be the date to celebrate yoga as it is also the day of the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere.
The summer solstice holds significance across many cultures. International Day of Yoga was first recognized by the United Nations General Assembly in 2014. The proposal was submitted after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the General Assembly about setting a day for the celebration of Yoga and its benefits for all. The resolution found 175 other co-sponsors, the highest ever for a resolution in the United Nations. As a result, the proposal was passed within 90 days of submitting it. With the passing of the resolution, the first International Day of Yoga was celebrated on June 21, 2015.
In fact, the relationship of yoga with health and farming has been time tested and proven. Yoga helps people to nurture their true ‘self’ whereas farming nurtures the soil which in turn blesses the plants so that they grow and flourish.
(The author is a Scientist at
SKUAST-K, can be reached at
[email protected]).
