Abstract

TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF PRANAYAMA ON RAKTBHARA (HYPERTENSION)

*Dr. Vishal Sharma

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Abstract

A healthful long life of 100 years has been the cherished wish of human race from antiquity. Ayurveda is a comprehensive science of life developed to ensure 'Arogya' i.e. healthy life in all its dimensions, which was considered essential for achieving the four instincts of life- Dharma, Artha, kama, Moksha. Ayurveda deals with the total psychospiritual somatic entity and stands for the relief of all the three categories of miseries viz. adhyatimika, adhidavika and adhibhautika. Yoga and Ayurveda are allied disciplines. Both have advocated mantra, japa, samadhi etc as the mean of achieving their objectives. In the modern era, human life is full of various mental stresses and strains. Struggle for existence give rise to increased mental stress and the end results of all this is mental ill health diseases like hypertension, diabetes and other psychosomatic diseases. The 21th century is described as the age of anxiety and stress. The modern man is constantly facing symbolic stress. This stress and strain of day to day life affects one’s bodily organs through several psycho-physical mechanisms. The progress of medical science has helped us to eradicate disease like plague, smallpox etc., but stress related diseases are rapidly increasing. Among the several psychosomatic diseases, the cardiovascular disorder like Hypertension is quite significant. ‘Hypertension’ (persistent raised arterial pressure) although, the handy literature is not observed in Ayurvedic classic, review of previous theoretical and clinical works on this topic point out certain mode of involvement of dosha and Dushya in the genesis of it. Most of the efforts show a prime role of vata in association with remaining dosha pitta and kapha. Also, Charak opined to treat such disease without nomenclature by judging the involvement of dosha Dushya only (Cha.Su.20). The term Essential Hypertension is reserved for about 95 % A healthful long life of 100 years has been the cherished wish of human race from antiquity. Ayurveda is a comprehensive science of life developed to ensure 'Arogya' i.e. healthy life in all its dimensions, which was considered essential for achieving the four instincts of life- Dharma, Artha, kama, Moksha. Ayurveda deals with the total psychospiritual somatic entity and stands for the relief of all the three categories of miseries viz. adhyatimika, adhidavika and adhibhautika. Yoga and Ayurveda are allied disciplines. Both have advocated mantra, japa, samadhi etc as the mean of achieving their objectives. In the modern era, human life is full of various mental stresses and strains. Struggle for existence give rise to increased mental stress and the end results of all this is mental ill health diseases like hypertension, diabetes and other psychosomatic diseases. The 21th century is described as the age of anxiety and stress. The modern man is constantly facing symbolic stress. This stress and strain of day to day life affects one’s bodily organs through several psycho-physical mechanisms. The progress of medical science has helped us to eradicate disease like plague, smallpox etc., but stress related diseases are rapidly increasing. Among the several psychosomatic diseases, the cardiovascular disorder like Hypertension is quite significant. ‘Hypertension’ (persistent raised arterial pressure) although, the handy literature is not observed in Ayurvedic classic, review of previous theoretical and clinical works on this topic point out certain mode of involvement of dosha and Dushya in the genesis of it. Most of the efforts show a prime role of vata in association with remaining dosha pitta and kapha. Also, Charak opined to treat such disease without nomenclature by judging the involvement of dosha Dushya only (Cha.Su.20). The term Essential Hypertension is reserved for about 95 %

Keywords: Ayurveda, Pranayama, hypertension, Yoga.