Yoga for Boosting the Immune System

Yoga increases the immune system

Yoga is a spiritual science that has a tremendous impact on our physical and mental states. Practicing yoga on a regular basis results in great benefits to our overall health. It especially strengthens the immune system and keeps one fit both internally and externally. So Yoga is a good to improve our immune system in order to be able to combat daily ailments such as colds and coughs, inactiveness, aches and pains in different parts of the body.

Yoga for preserving the vital force of our body

Our immune system is a defense system that guards the body from bacteria, viruses, and toxins. Without the immune system functioning properly, the body becomes subject to illness, infections and health problems. Generally the factors that weaken the system are - a toxin-heavy environment, consuming foods with toxins, bad diet habits, lack of exercise, leading extremely stressful lives, and wrong lifestyles. Here Yoga helps to improve the functioning of the immune system by expelling unnecessary toxins from the body. As Yoga is a form of exercise and it inculcates discipline, it provides the body the required amount of physical exercise and also helps in improving our diet and lifestyle habits. 

Finally, practicing yoga on a regular basis decreases the amounts of stress hormones released in the body. Moreover, some yogasans like the Kurmasan, if practiced regularly stimulates the thymus gland to produce antibodies, and chest and lung openers like Ushtrasan (Camel pose), Yoga Mudra and Bhujangasan (Camel pose) also increase lung mobility and flush out the lungs. The thymus gland is mainly responsible for producing the required antibodies that can fight with viral and bacterial infections. Yoga boosts the performance of the immune system by the following ways:

• Improves blood circulation and oxygen supply into the body
• Helps clearing out mucus from the lungs and sinuses
• Increases lung efficiency
• Stimulates and exercises all internal organs
• Soothes the nervous system and brings calm and peacefulness to the practitioners.

How to Control the Mind ?

Shree Krishna giving tips to control the mind.

1. Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad Geeta, “dhyayato visayan pumsah – By meditating (thinking) on the sense objects, one develops attachment for them and from such attachment lust develops”.

2. Mind is doing 3 functions – Thinking, Feeling and Willing. Mind’s main function is producing sense enjoyment thoughts. If one allows those thoughts to go further, then it will turn in to feeling. Once if it reaches feeling stage, then it is difficult to control it, automatically it will go to willing stage and then execution. What we should do is, as soon as any bad thoughts sprouts out then immediately we should chant God's Name with his remembrance continuously in the mind. Then those bad thoughts will be gone. This process should be done firmly whenever any bad thoughts originate in our mind. Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Geeta states, “abhyasena tu kaunteya – by constant practice one can control the mind .” Lord Krishna is talking about this type of practice only i.e., whenever any bad thoughts appears, we should chant God's Name with rememberance in the mind.

3. That is why Krishna is saying, “yato yato niscalati manah cancalam asthiram”. From whenever the mind fluctuates, one must withdraw it and bring it back under the control of the self. We should never allow the mind to go on a thoughts trip. That is dangerous. Results will be bad.

4. Mind’s is like a factory where whatever input we give, we will reap the output accordingly. We are also having a mental factory. Inputs are sense enjoyment thoughts. These thoughts are processed it comes out as desire. Like a commander General who is very vigilantly watching on top of the castle, for the progress of enemy’s camp. Similarly, we should be vigilantly watching our thoughts and change it to Hare Krishna chanting if it is bad thoughts.

5. That is why Krishna is saying “ mayyeva mana adatsra – just fixate your mind on me”.

Swami Mukundananda lecturing on how to divert the mind toward God

6. Also Krishna says, “tasmat sarvesu
kalesu mama anusmara - Always think of me”. Thinking is the action of mind. Thinking about Krishna’s pastimes and chanting Hare Krishna in the mind both are same only.

7. H. H. Swami Mukundananda says that mind is like a devil. In that story Yogi controlled the ghost by giving standing instruction i.e., climbing the ladder up and down permanently. Whenever any work is there, Yogi told the Brahman to use the ghost for the work. After the work is over, ghost will do climbing again. Similarly whenever any work is there, mind can be concentrated on it. When there is no work, mind should be engaged in chanting God's Name continuously. In this way, mind can be engaged constantly.

Rebirth

Life, Death and rebirth

Since the soul is eternal; it is neither born nor does it die. What we call death is the soul leaving the body that
had become too dysfunctional and uninhabitable for it. The soul is then given a new body to continue on its journey. This changing of bodies by the soul is called reincarnation. The Bhagavad Geeta explains this in a very wonderful way:
dehino ‘sminyathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā
tathā dehāntaraprāptirdhīrastatra na muhyati
(Bhagavad Geeta 2.13)
“The soul changes bodies in this life itself, from childhood to youth, to old age. Similarly, at the time of death, the soul changes bodies. The wise are not bewildered by it.”  The Western world believes that this is the only life we have, and the religions that have originated in India say that we keep taking births, until we are liberated from Maya. Since we have not seen the past or future lives, how can we be sure that the concept of rebirth is correct?, 

Swamiji clarifying on the topic of rebirth

The Nyāya Darśhan gives the following proof of rebirth:
jātasya harṣhabhayaśhokasampratipatteḥ (Nyāya Darśhan 3.1.18)
It says if you observe a little baby, you will find that without any apparent reason it sometimes becomes happy, sometimes sad, and sometimes fearful. The Nyāya Darśhan explains that the little baby is remembering its past life, and hence experiencing these emotions.
The Nyāya Darśhan gives another proof of rebirth:
stanyābhilāṣhāt (Nyāya Darśhan 3.1.21)
It says that a new born baby has no knowledge of language. How can a mother teach it to suckle the breast when it is inserted in its mouth? However, the baby has experience of drinking milk from the breasts, teats, and udders of innumerable mothers in infinite past lives, even in animal forms. Hence, when the mother puts her breast in the baby’s mouth, it automatically starts suckling from past practice.

Without accepting the concept of rebirth, it is impossible to explain the disparity between human beings. For example, let us suppose someone is blind from birth. If that person were to ask you, what did he do that he was punished in this way, what answer would you give him? If you said it was the result of his karmas, he would respond that if there was no previous life then there were no past karmas at the time of birth. If you said that it was the will of God, he would reply that if God is all-Merciful, why would He want someone to
be blind? The only logical answer would be that the person had had previous lives and it was the consequence of that person’s karmas from past lives.
Most of the Eastern religions accept the principle of rebirth. Actually, many famous intellectuals and thinkers in the Western hemisphere have also believed in it, for example Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Schelling,

Most early Christians accepted it, but in the sixth century, in the Council that took place, King Justinian rejected the concept of rebirth, and took out all reference to it. He banned belief in it, and said that those who mention it will be punished. The Sufi tradition of Islam believes in rebirth. The famous Sufi Saint Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi said: “I have had many many births before I became human.”
 Muslim, Khurasani, are other Sufi Saints who have also talked about rebirth. Also, the Shias amongst the Muslims believe that the soul is born repeatedly.