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How to Choose a Yoga Method:
Clues from Psychophysiological Research
Dr. James V. Hardt
Biocybernaut Institute
formerly of Langley Porter Neuropsychiatric Institute
University of California at San Francisco
Reprinted from Yoga Journal, 1975, 1(3), p23-24
Ideally the method should fit the student, should not be
impossibly hard, but should emphasize practice of that which will most help the
student to grow. The paths are many, their combinations and variations almost
numberless, and not everyone has a fully-realized master in attendance to
recommend the ideal Yoga for his or her changing needs. However
psychophysiological research suggests there may be a rational way of choosing
Yoga methods to suit specific individuals in order to maximize the
possibilities for growth and advancement. By combining the results of recent
experiments with the concept of the three gunas (14th chapter of the
Bhagavat Gita) it is possible to make, intelligently, such basic
decisions as whether Hatha Yoga or a Yoga of meditation are more appropriate to
one's current condition.
The three gunas are described as fundamental qualities or
sources out of which everything is manifested; and their varying proportions
determine an entity's observable attributes, much as the Platonic Ideals were
understood to determine the physically real world. The three gunas
are: Sattva (the quality of consciousness or illumination),
Rajas (energy and activity), and Tamas (inertia or
ignorance). There are many observable manifestations of sattva,
rajas, and tamas in the physical and psychological aspects of
a person. Perhaps the most useful in choosing a Yoga method are
gunas' manifestations in physiological activation level and the
resultant effects in the person's physical appearance. Why should this be so?
Biofeedback and psychophysiological research (Alexander,
Roessler, and Greenfield, 1963; Roessler, 1973; Hardt, 1974, 1975a) has shown
that some people are "stuck" at either a high or a low level of physiological
activity (i.e. a given activation level), while other people with more flexible
physiological systems are not "stuck". Growth involves change. If one is
"stuck", he cannot change and thus cannot grow. Furthermore, the meditative
state involves the ability to balance (physiologically) between the low
activation state of sleep and the high activation states like aroused
wakefulness. It is difficult to balance in the middle of one's physiological
activation range if one's physiology is stuck at one extreme or the other.
Meditation is practically impossible without the ability to both achieve the
middle range of activation and then to also balance there. To understand the
paramount importance of this balance, note how vigorously drowsiness (low
activation) is discouraged in Zen meditation. Those whose heads are seen to
nod, receive blows across the back with a stick! Persons who are stuck at a
low activation level are probably tamasic, and are often characterized
by a limp body where muscles and flesh are soft and sag. Motion and speech are
often slow and there may be a pattern of emotional depression.
Figure 1
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Those stuck at a high activation level are probably
rajasic, and often appear tense, talk rapidly and nervously, move
jerkily and have a tight musculature. In both Zen and Yoga meditation there is
enhanced EEG alpha activity. For a given person, the more exquisite his
physiological (and psychological) balancing, the more alpha brain waves are
seen during his meditation. Significantly, neither tamasic nor
rajasic people do well at learning enhancement of EEG alpha activity
with biofeedback, and tamasic people are clearly the least adept
trainees. An excellent insight into physiological activation and alpha
activity is given by Malmo (1959), who points out that one's naturally
occurring alpha activity is related to activation level by an inverted
"U"-shaped function. This function seen in Figure 1, is quite instructive.
With tamasic people stuck at low activation, and
rajasic people stuck at high activation levels, the middle range can
be assigned to the physiologically flexible sattvic persons. But how
does all this help one to choose a Yoga method? Well, if one is high in the
qualities of tamas, meditation is clearly not recommended.
What is needed most is some active physical practice to tone up the
musculature. Existing internal (neural) feedback circuitry from the muscles to
the reticular formation in the brain stem will then transform the increased
muscle activity (tonus) into a gradually more sustainable higher activation
level (which is more suitable for meditation than is the torpor of
tamas). Running, climbing hills and stairs, and Hatha Yoga with an
emphasis on asanas requiring considerable muscle exertion are probably
most useful for the tamasic person. Gentle or relaxing
asanas should be particularly avoided.
Rajasic people can also benefit from Hatha Yoga,
but their practice should emphasize loosening and relaxing asanas
rather than those requiring considerable muscle effort. Since rajasic
people sometimes succeed in alpha EEG biofeedback training when they cease
trying and "give up", they might also benefit from the practice of meditation,
- especially if they prepare for meditation with relaxing asanas such
as the corpse pose (savasana). Such relaxing asanas are,
however, inappropriate for tamasic persons.
Sattvic people are naturals at learning the subtle
physiological balancing needed to control alpha EEG activity with biofeedback,
and their flexible physiological states make them ideal candidates for
meditation. If one is not able to determine (from reading the 14th chapter of
the Gita) which guna predominates in oneself, Sri Krishna
Prem (1958) and Davis (1961) provide a wealth of description of the
gunas which will aid in classifying oneself. And a fuller discussion
of the usefulness of the three guna concept to consciousness growth
and consciousness research may be found in Hardt (1977). The ES (ego
strength) scale or the Welsh A (anxiety) scale of the Minnesota
Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) can also be used to aid in
self-classification. Sattvic people seem to be high in ego strength
and low in anxiety. Tamasic and rajasic people are both low
in ego strength and high in anxiety, but in addition tamasic people
may also be high in depression (the D scale on the MMPI).
It may be that one's karmic predisposition to
awaken is reflected in one's physiology, with sattvic persons closest
to and tamasic persons farthest from enlightenment. But with an
intelligent choice of a Yoga method to ensure that one's practice is within
one's physiological capabilities and is directed toward overcoming one's
weaknesses, it is possible for rapid growth to occur. Tamasic or
rajasic people may thus become more sattvic and more capable
of opening toward enlightenment.
References
Alexander, A. A., Roessler, R., and Greenfield, N. S. "Ego
strength and physiological responsivity: The relationship of the Barron
ES scale to spontaneous periodic activity in skin resistance, finger
blood volume, heart rate, and muscle potential". Archives of General
Psychiatry, 1963, 9, 142-145.
Davis, R. E. This is Reality, Lakemont, Georgia:
CSA Press, 1962.
Hardt, J. V. "Alpha EEG responses of low and high anxiety
males to respiration and relaxation training and to auditory feedback of
occipital alpha". Dissertation Abstracts, International, 1974,
35(4), Catalog No. 74-19309, 1912B-1913B.
Hardt, J. V. "Relaxation during breathing feedback, yogic
breathing, and alpha feedback: Effects on alpha EEG activity in low and high
anxiety males". Proceedings of the Biofeedback Research Society, Sixth
Annual Meeting, 6, 72, Monterey, California, February 1975 (a).
Hardt, J. V. "Psychophysiology and the three
Gunas" in C. Garfield (Ed.) Rediscovery of the Body, New
York: Dell Publishing Co., 1977. Mind-Body Relationship, (in
negotiations with Harper and Row), 1975 (b).
Malmo, R. B. "Activation: A neurophysiological
dimension". Psychology Review, 1959, 66, 367-386.
Prem, S. K. The Yoga of the Bhagavat Gita,
Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1958.
Roessler, R. "Personality, psychophysiology, and
performance". Psychophysiology, 1973, 10, 315-327.
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