YOGA AND THE 21st CENTURY

3. Yoga and Psychology

Question:
Was Yoga considered in ancient times as a therapy, and do you believe that it can be so in the 21st century?

Desikachar:
I am not really sure what “therapy” means. However I will say this – Yoga has answers for different situations. The basic idea is that if our system is better organized there will be fewer problems.

It is like a house which is well managed – everything works well. Further, if our system is better organized, even if there are problems, we will know how to find solutions. I feel this is an important point about Yoga – it gives us access to better solutions.

– TKV Desikachar – Yoga and the 21st Century 1999

TKV Desikachar was in France in 1999, for a symposium on “Yoga and the XXIst Century”. The purpose of the symposium was to consider the role of Yoga for the coming century in the three fields of Health, Psychology and Spirituality. These Posts are from an introductory interview around the Relevance of Traditional Teaching, Yoga and Health, Yoga and Psychology and Yoga and Spirituality.