Ganesh (right) with A.G. Mohan
Photo: Holly Nelson Johnson
April 2006
Yoga M.D.
In some cases, yoga can
be the best medicine
By Jonn Salovaara
What do you get when you combine yoga and medicine? One result is Ganesh Mohan, M.D., who is trained in Ayurvedic and conventional Western medicine. He is also the son of A.G. Mohan, the personal student for 18 years of the seminal yoga teacher Sri T. Krishnamacharya. With both his father and his mother, Indra Mohan, a yoga therapist who also studied with Krishnamacharya, Ganesh practices in Chennai, India. He helped his parents with their book, Yoga Therapy: A Guide to the Therapeutic Use of Yoga and Ayurveda for Health and Fitness (2004, Shambhala Publications). The Mohans are currently extending their reach through a visit to Singapore, and then all three will be coming to Chicago in April. In anticipation of that visit, we had this exchange with Ganesh Mohan about yoga and healing.
CC: How do you like to describe the relationship between yoga and conventional medicine?
GM: Conventional medicine is lifesaving in many conditions, and there is much depth and range of information available from it. Yoga should never be considered as being in conflict with conventional medicine. Personalized yoga is of value in almost any illness. Sometimes yoga may itself form the mainstay of the treatment. In other cases, yoga is certainly the best complement to any other form of treatment.
How does doing yoga change a person?
In a therapeutic or a fitness context, yoga allows people to look towards leading a more healthy lifestyle. Yoga empowers people to manage their health and, in fact, all of their life, more effectively. Classical yoga is an integrated spiritual discipline aimed at bringing calm and steadiness to the mind. We encourage practitioners to explore that dimension of yoga depending on their comfort with and readiness for it.
What are the most important benefits a reader can gain from your book, Yoga Therapy ?
A rational and authentic understanding of the principles of yoga practice, applied both as a therapy and for fitness.
What can yoga do that conventional medicine can’t do and what can conventional medicine do that yoga can’t?
All of us know that conventional medicine is largely irreplaceable in acute conditions. However, in most chronic disorders, there is a lot more that can be done in addition to and, in some cases, instead of the conventional medical solutions. Yoga can be of invaluable help in many such conditions. However, yoga must be personalized and applied in a sensible manner.
For you, what are the essential ingredients to a successful yoga practice?
Clarity in understanding, and steadiness in the practice. Yoga should not be followed blindly. A sound yoga practice will stand questioning.
Do you ever recommend yoga as a healing method for an acute patient who doesn’t already practice yoga? Can you give examples? Further, what are the most common illnesses that you successfully treat with yoga?
That depends on the nature of the condition. For example, if a person has acute appendicitis, only hospital admission and, very likely, surgery will be of help. Ignoring the disease in this situation is life-threatening. However, there are many conditions which run a chronic course with acute exacerbations, like asthma. In these conditions, yoga can be of limited use during the exacerbation, and of great value in the periods in between. It can decrease the frequency and severity of the attacks of asthma, for example.
In what way is yoga individualized for your patients ?
We look into what movements, breathing, meditation or other psychological tools, diet changes and lifestyle modification can be suggested to address their health condition. Depending on the illness, one may assume more importance than the other. For example, a personalized asana routine with correct breathing may be the main modality of treatment in a patient with chronic low back pain. Diet changes and one or two herbs, chosen carefully, may be the mainstay of the treatment in a patient with Crohn’s disease. However, it is certainly true that many people require attention to all these factors to make the treatment optimally effective.
What is the historical relationship between yoga and Ayurveda and how does your practice re-conceive the relationship?
Yoga and Ayurveda have co-existed for millennia. Ancient yoga texts use terminology from Ayurveda — like the Ayurvedic names for common disorders, and the model of the three doshas — to describe the health benefits of the practice of yoga. Ayurveda deals mainly with the use of food, medicines and lifestyle changes to address illnesses. Yoga explains how the body (asana), breathing (asana and pranayama) and the mind (meditation and many other practices as suggested in the yoga sutras) can be used to enhance health and heal illness. We have explained this in detail in our book Yoga Therapy.
Can you please explain the significance of Krishnamacharya for someone who may be somewhat familiar with Iengar, Bikram, ashtanga, and hatha, but unfamiliar with Krishnamacharya?
Sri Krishnamacharya was not only unparalleled in his mastery of hatha yoga in the last century, he was also unmatched in learning. He held the traditional equivalent of doctoral degrees in all systems of ancient Indian philosophy. His teachings in his later years, as they were passed on to my father, bear the stamp of his vast knowledge and keen intellect. Yoga has to be personalized to be optimally effective. It should also be completely sensible and time-tested. The yoga of Sri Krishnamacharya has all these qualities. One reason why other forms of yoga have become more popular is that the structured sophistication of Sri Krishnamacharya’s approach requires that teachers go through a steeper learning curve. But the content of the teachings of Sri Krishnamacharya are without equal. Over time, as the perception of yoga matures, I anticipate that more people will turn to it.
What kind of experiences and benefits are you offering to people in Chicago during your visit?
We will be conducting several workshops on a wide range of topics related to yoga and Ayurveda, apart from one longer intensive workshop on yoga therapy and Ayurveda. We will also offer private consultations for therapy, or for people who want to develop their yoga practice with a personalized approach. The main purpose of our visit is to try to make the teachings of authentic and rational yoga accessible to more people.
How does your own practice differ from and or complement the work of your parents?
I have learned my approach to yoga through the decades of experience in practice and teaching that my parents have passed on to me. The most important difference is, of course, my medical training, and the assistance it offers me in making decisions in therapeutic situations.
Where did you complete your medical studies and when ?
I studied Ayurveda first and then conventional medicine. I completed my training in conventional medicine last year at the Sri Ramachandra Medical College in Chennai.
The Mohans will offer their workshops and consultations through the Yoga State school and studio, 850 N. Lake Shore Drive, #130, from April 13 to April 25. Call 312-503-9642 ( YOGA ) for more information, or visit yogastate.com for full session descriptions and fee structure.
Jonn Salovaara teaches essay writing and literature at Columbia College Chicago and practices yoga less often than he’d like at the New City YMCA.
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