The message from the International Yoga Day meeting in Parliament on 21st June, addressed by politicians, scientists, doctors and academics, and attended by over 150 invited guests packed into the largest committee room in Parliament, was that the National Health Service urgently needs yoga and other Indian Traditional Sciences in order to meet the changing health needs of the 21st century.
The meeting, held to celebrate the fourth UN International Yoga Day and 70 years of the National Health Service, was held in the Houses of Parliament, co-hosted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Indian Traditional Sciences, with the Indian High Commission, and the Sri Lankan High Commission.
Bob Blackman MP, co-chair of the APPG on Indian Traditional Sciences, who saw the role of the APPG as inspiring the NHS to not just treat ill people but to encourage them to live more healthily and thereby live longer, better lives. He was delighted to say that yoga is to some extent now recognised by the NHS. He recently told the Speaker of the House of Commons that he could usefully sanction over-excited or angry MPs and tell them to practise yoga. Speaking of Ayurveda, another health approach promoted by the APPG, Mr Blackman said: ‘My scientific background tells me that if something has been used for thousands of years it must have something going for it, even if it is not a product of modern pharmaceutical companies.’
Amarjeet S. Bhamra, Secretariat at APPG Indian Traditional Sciences underlined the progress that has been made since last year and the sincere support received from Bob Blackman MP and Virendra Sharma MP Co-Chairmen and all members of this APPG. He also spoke of the PM Narendra Modi’s visit to the UK on 18th April 18 and in the presence of HRH the Prince of Wales. A plaque was unveiled for the Centre of Excellence for Yoga Research and Indian Traditional Medicine. The setting up of the Ministry of AYUSH by Mr. Modi was also well commended and it is surely significant that the Prince of Wales comprehends the importance and far-reaching benefits of the Indian Traditional Sciences in a valid integrated health system.
Hon. Srinivas Gotru said that he was delighted to be part of the APPG Indian Traditional Sciences events, first this year at the Nehru Centre on Monday 18th June and this afternoon’s wonderful event in Victoria Tower Gardens and now here in the House of Commons. He offered many thanks to Bob Blackman who is such a staunch supporter of Indian Traditional Sciences. He lauded the vision of India’s Prime Minister Narindra Modi when he instigated the launch of Int’l Yoga Day at the United Nations and now a definite progress is being made, year after year referring to the APPG Indian Traditional Sciences yearly activity. Srinivas went on to share that today in one gathering of 50,000 people in India, the Prime Minister is celebrating Int’l Yoga Day; the commitment to Harmony and Peace has gone global now. He also congratulated The APPG Indian Traditional Sciences in expanding to include the Sri Lankan High Commission as a partner in this year’s events.
HE Mr. Sugeeshwara Gunaratna Acting High Commissioner for Sri Lanka in UK extended his gratitude for invitation. The knowledge of the benefits of Yoga are spreading in Sri Lanka and has been inherited as an Indian Traditional Science. As the world is such a complex place now, Yoga’s benefits to health are even more important, along with mindfulness and meditation which are in fact all part of the Yoga tradition, bringing people together.
Professor Madan Thangavelu of Cambridge University, spoke on the situation in the UK on Indian Traditional Sciences. Concepts of Indian Traditional Sciences are now being questioned in the UK. The rooted commitments of India and Great Britain along with the APPG Indian Traditional Sciences of course, has now resulted in the Centre for Excellence for Yoga and Ayurveda in London. The love story between our two nations continues… a true alliance between the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and the Prince of Wales. The dynamism and turbulence of our times can also and does bring with it, opportunities. The involvement of the UN which has 194-member states plus our oldest democracy, UK and our largest democracy, India is bringing in a new narrative, which is spreading to the rest of the world.
Endocrinologist Dr Kashinath Dixit, MRCP and MRCPI, a consultant physician at Manchester University Hospitals NHS Trust, defined some key aspects of the current crisis in the NHS – not only the needs of an increasing and ageing population, but also a changing spectrum of illness: a rise in obesity and mental illness among children and adolescents, and an unprecedented rise in cardiovascular illness and diabetes, especially among the British Asian population.
Professor Tony Nader, a medical doctor with a PhD from MIT in brain and cognitive science, described how the mind (consciousness) influences the nervous system (physiology), and cited published research showing significant and sometimes dramatic effects of Transcendental Meditation (TM) on physical disorders such as atherosclerosis, diabetes in CHD patients, as well as anxiety and depression. He presented research showing the difference in the activity of the brain during an automatic self-transcending technique (TM) as compared with open-monitoring techniques (such as Mindfulness) and added that a wide-ranging and comprehensive survey by the American Heart Association in 2013 had led the AHA to conclude that only Transcendental Meditation was sufficiently well documented to be considered a recommendable method of reducing high blood pressure. Prof T. Nader presented a recently published US study on people over 65 (which is the sector that in the UK is costing the NHS the most) showing a 70% reduction in health-care costs among people practising Transcendental Meditation, in relation to the costs incurred by the control group. Prof T. Nader finished by showing the societal effect of TM, e.g. reductions in recidivism (return to prison after completing one’s sentence) by nearly 40%, and in post-traumatic stress disorder among war veterans (highly relevant nowadays as more soldiers and veterans commit suicide than are killed on the battlefield). Finally, published research shows that TM, reduces crime, violence and conflict in society as a whole, when practised in large enough numbers, thereby directly bringing fulfilment to the defining quality of Yoga within the Indian Traditional Sciences, namely that Yoga is about unifying, and harmonising.
Sri M, a modern yogi with a mission to inspire mankind towards peace and harmony. He picked out three key qualities of mind described in the Bhagavad Gita (the timeless and universal message of the Gita is all-encompassing in its expression of truth) as being characteristic of the man established in yoga. First, having the senses under the control of one’s mind; second, having one’s mind tranquil under all circumstances, e.g. not bothered by the opinions of others, whether these are flattering or critical; and third, having the welfare of all beings in one’s heart. He pointed out that yoga asanas are known to have an effect on the endocrine system but added that yoga is more than just physical exercises.
Brittany Spence Chair at the British Complementary Medicine Association publicised on behalf of APPG Indian Traditional Sciences a recently tabled Early Day Motion (EDM) and encouraged all participants to ask their local MP’s to support and sign.
‘That this House recognises the fourth International Day of Yoga on 21 June 2018, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015; further recognises Indian Traditional Sciences, the aim of which is prevention of disease through truly conscious healthy living; notes that the ultimate goals of yoga is to unify individual consciousness with universal awareness, achieving a state of peace, good health and fulfilment; further notes that both Yoga and Jyotish have profound implications for health care; and believes that this needs greatly increased emphasis in the NHS.’
Dr James Mallinson is chair of the Centre for Yoga Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He said that SOAS is one of only four universities in the world offering a MA in Yoga Studies, adding that the EU recently awarded two of its largest grants for yoga institutions, at SOAS and in Vienna.
Padma Coram is a Meditation and Life Transformation Specialist. She spoke on stress when left unattended is a breeding ground for mental and physical illness. Transformation Yoga is a combination of basic physical yoga, mudras, pranayama and meditation, self-awareness techniques and Satvic eating.
Dr Sreekantan Gopakumar a visiting professor at Somatheeram Ayurveda Hospital & Resort in Kerala, India, passionately spoke about the integration of Yoga and Ayurveda integrated into conventional health systems and believes the oldest traditional systems of Indian sciences need to be better understood by the Western allopathic medicine.
Dr Natalie Tobert, a medical anthropologist and author of Cultural Perspectives on Mental Wellbeing, emphasised that an understanding of consciousness is essential in order to help with mental health disorders. She called on policy makers to learn about the phenomenology of psychosis and to come up with a broader approach to treating mental illness.
Dr. Shantha Godagama, is the former director of Tyringham Clinic, perhaps UK’s first multidisciplinary clinic. He is the founder of Ayurvedic Medical Association UK, College of Ayurveda UK, British Marmapuncture Association and member of MHRA Herbal Medicines Advisory Council. He referred to recognising the importance of Tyringham Clinic founded by Sydney Ross-Neil which accommodated 100 beds for naturopathic patients where Yoga was a part of each patient’s health regime. He stated that the practise of Yoga should not to be generalised, but personalised and geared to each person’s personal needs. Mr. Ross-Neil’s son, Philip is now the President at the British Acupuncture Association, who was awarded ‘Outstanding Commitment to Traditional Medicines’ on behalf of APPG Indian Traditional Sciences by Bob Blackman MP.
Jose Rodriguez from Nerja in Spain and Dr Gopakumar were awarded “Outstanding Commitment to Traditional Sciences” on behalf of APPG Indian Traditional Sciences by Prof Tony Nader.
