[Symposium 71] Exploring the potential of Traditional Indian yoga as a psychotherapy based on clinical experiences from other countries

[SY-71-01] Assessment and Instruction theory & methods in yoga as a therapy

*Keishin Kimura (Japan Yoga Therapy Society(Japan))

Keywords:

yoga therapy,darsana,traditional medicine

It is thought that yoga was practiced in the Indus River basin during the Indus civilization, which flourished around 5000 years ago. For the past 100 years, there has been a movement to utilize this traditional method as a therapy (yoga therapy) for clients with mental and physical illnesses based on scientific evidence. Traditionally, the techniques of the yoga master and his disciples practicing darsana (a method of counseling) on a daily basis to assess the disciples' growth in humanity and the master's ability as a teacher have been passed down to this day. In particular, traditional yoga has attempted to modify the disciple’s cognition. Traditional yoga is a form of cognitive behavioral therapy that has been handed down in India for thousands of years. The theory and practice of this “assessment and instruction” technique, as well as the theory and practice of “5,000 years of cognitive behavioral therapy in India”, have been passed down over the years along with their own unique theories for understanding the structure and function of the human body and mind, and are now beginning to be used around the world as yoga therapy.The World Health Organization (WHO), which has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, held a “The Working Group Meeting about benchmarks for training in Yoga” in New Delhi, India, just before the new coronavirus infection spread. More than 20 yoga instructors and experts from around the world were invited to participate, and the author also attended as a representative of East Asia. The WHO is trying to include yoga as a therapy in the same category as traditional Chinese medicine and other 7 forms of “traditional complementary and alternative medicine”.In this presentation, I would like to outline the assessment theory and practical instruction techniques of yoga therapy, as well as these movements.