Thanksgiving

Medical Yoga Therapy, with its effective work that started from a small rented mezzanine floor of 7-feet height and carpet area just enough to accommodate 10 patients at a time, is now available across the globe in more than 100 cities. It is helping people from all walks of life, from a roadside homeless man, to the union health minister, to doctors of AIIMS hospital, to the CEOs of billion-dollar companies, to Governors of States. From India to 15 countries. To whom does this credit go?

The journey so far has been incredibly decorated with achievements and honors, be it an award from the President of India, or being a speaker at the Australian legislative assembly in Canberra. To whom does this credit go?

I enjoyed my army attachment camps, leadership camps, map reading training sessions, scuba diving training, and weapon training, in my NCC days so much that I could not imagine myself without a uniform on. Just when I was on the verge of following what I had decided for myself, there was a Higher Force making its own plan. The series of events are so interesting that it will probably take one full writeup to narrate the story.

To cut a long story short, I would say that I did not choose Yoga therapy as my career; some higher energies have bestowed yoga therapy upon me, as my career path. At times I say that, I did not choose this field, I was chosen for this field. The physically-demanding, continuous, tireless, 15 to 20 hours (even more on many days) of work a day, for months and years together, without any break, one meal a day, and that too without any expectation of windfall gains. All of this energy and grit to produce results is a combination of both repetitive physical training in NCC & Physical Education college, plus, the stillness and focus I got from Yoga practice.
 

Both these have gone hand in hand from the very beginning. When my loving father, Shri Surinder Nath, sent me to get coached under Major Shankar Sharma when I was 6 years old, there, I started both Yoga and Physical exercises. This journey continued when I got admitted to my Physical Education college, and Yoga remained a regular subject and practice.

After my college graduation, they again went hand in hand when I underwent 1 year of traditional Yoga diploma studies, and simultaneously spent that one year for my SSB interview, and met Prof. Hartirath Singh. He shaped a not-so-confident man into an award-winning orator, a gold-medalist book reviewer of health-related books.

During postgraduate studies in Pune, Acharya Yoganand Dr S V Karandikar (previously from the army medical core) assigned me the task of making an amalgamation of Sunjeevan Yoga therapy and sports. It was the time when Medical Yoga therapy (combination of yoga asanas and physical exercises, based on medical principles, started taking shape). Further, during MPhil and PhD studies and research, when I wanted to take up a subject related only to Yoga, physical education again got into the picture, the education system only allowed research in Yoga in relation to Physical Education. Everywhere the Universe pushed me in a direction that I was not eyeing. So, I put it this way – “it’s a higher energy which has assigned me this task for this lifetime”. First it put me on this path at a very young age; secondly, it trained me in tough physical situations, to be able to work tirelessly for hours. Thirdly, it then put me into scientific explorations of the therapeutic application of Yoga.

These three phases have been shaped by Major Shankar Sharma, Professor Hartirath Singh, and Acharya Yoganand. I am profoundly grateful for the ethereal blessings bestowed upon me by an unnamed mystic guide—the Master of masters. His enigmatic influence has woven a realm of extraordinary wonders into Life's journey, transcending the ordinary with a touch of the mystical, making each step truly exceptional.

My father made me take major life-altering decisions – he not just connected me to all my three Gurus but when the entire extended family denounced my efforts and said “such therapies come and go”, his undeterred support, encouragement, and nourishment helped grow this seed into a tree.

Silent sacrifices from my mother – she would wake up at 4am every morning, before I left for the day, to prepare my breakfast, and would still be awake, with a smile on her face, when I came back home at 11pm.

I give thanks to over 18,000 saadhaks (patients/students) who have shown trust in me. Because of their references and support medical yoga therapy has reached worldwide has directly and indirectly touched over 500,000 lives so far.

I feel that there is a ‘Prarabdh karma’ connection from a previous birth as well. My ’Ichha’ (personal desire), my ‘Anichha’ (with a higher force guiding) and ‘Parechha (desires of others), have all taken deep cosmic roots. To all those who have been a part of this journey so far, I would give thanks over and over again. 

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!  _/\_