Sadhguru Is Interviewed By Times Now

On International Day of Yoga 2020, Sadhguru is interviewed by Times Now where he addresses diverse issues such as recent research from Harvard that shows 300% increase in BDNF markers in Inner Engineering practitioners, how Yoga can bring about fundamental chemical changes and help overcome depression, especially during the COVID-19 times, and how Yoga helps you stay intoxicated without consuming harmful external substances, thereby eliminating stress and increasing productivity.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to this very special episode with Sadhguruji,

Which we are doing on the occasion of the International Yoga Day.

Sadhguruji,

Namaskaram and I want to ask you Sadhguruji,

Yoga has become a very,

Very important part of people's lives.

In fact,

A study has recently shown that about two billion people across the world have gone to practice yoga,

That means one out of every three people in the world.

Is yoga the latest fad or does it really have the kind of empirical backing that we are now seeing through studies by Harvard University and other such studies that have come up?

I want to ask you,

Is there a scientific reason that the world is adapting yoga as a lifestyle?

Sadhguru – Namaskaram and on this International Yoga Day,

It is very important that first of all,

How did this International Yoga Day come into existence?

Because when this was proposed by India,

By the Prime Minister when it was presented,

One hundred and seventy-two countries said an emphatic yes to it.

Never before in the UN anything has gotten that kind of support because everybody was literally waiting for India to do this all these years,

It's now that we have done this.

Having said that,

Why is this so important?

If you look at anything that's happened in human history,

Nothing else has lasted as long as yoga.

Twelve to fifteen thousand year history it has and it has lasted.

This has not been propagated forcefully.

Never it's happened holding a sword to your throat,

Somebody said do yoga.

But it has happened only because it has worked,

Only because of its efficacy it's on.

So do we have empirical data about it?

One hundred percent.

But empirical data as you know it,

As it is being collected in today's scientific jargon and the university levels is only let's say thirty to forty years or fifty years old.

But we have enough experiential data in this country that we know it works.

One hundred percent it works,

Millions and millions of people have benefited from this,

No doubt.

So having said that,

Today you know the two things that everybody is worried about is one thing is a virus,

Staying alive physically is one big challenge right now.

And the next thing is because people are in lower levels of activity,

They are cooped up in their homes because of the lockdown,

It is an established factor that when the necessary physical activity is not there,

There is a decreased level of BDNF or the brain derived neurotropic factors.

When that happens,

This will bring anxiety,

Depression,

Alzheimer's,

Decrease in emotional I mean emotional exhaustion,

Burnouts,

All these things happen.

This is an established understanding in the medical science.

But now with the yogic practices,

With the inner engineering practices we have established that University of Indiana professors from Harvard University,

Rutgers and Florida University have done a comprehensive study where they are showing that the BDNF levels are three-fold higher than a normal person or it increases three-fold within ninety days of practice.

So one hundred percent people are out of their depressive modes and other anxiety situations and all this.

One hundred percent they are out,

There is now blood markers clearly showing this.

This is not just sociological studies.

These are actually very intrusive blood markers being studied and we are clearly seeing this and even genetic dispositions are changing by the yogic practice within ninety days period.

Dr.

Prasoon Joshi,

I don't mean to joke about this but in recent research by a group of scientists including professors from Harvard and Rutgers,

They have mentioned there that there are really high number of anandamide released after yogic practices.

The Orientation today was obligations not 182 million,

I don't understand this.

Do they changed the plate and came and talked about the AT&T little competitor of Opinion or I don't think he hated the pa around one hundred percent.

So,

One is there is what is called as endocannabinoids that is produced in our body.

There are cannab… cannabis receptors… receptors in our brain and right through the body.

We have receptors.

Why are they there?

Because it's expecting that you produce this endocannabinoids.

When you produce this,

Everything is at ease.

Your experience of life both physically and mentally is very pleasant.

When your experience of life is pleasant,

You naturally function at a higher level of efficiency and capability.

Human potential is fully realized simply because you are not a issue in your life.

There are thousand issues to handle in our lives outside,

But you should not be issue.

If you yourself,

Your own thought and emotion is one big issue,

Right now people are going about as if it's your right to have a mental problem.

They're saying it's our right.

Oh,

Why are you saying it can go away?

It cannot go away.

Human beings have to live with this.

Why?

Because if people think their diagnosis is the nature of being human,

I'm very sorry for that.

The important thing is a human being is capable of having mastery over his or her system much more than any other creature on this planet.

So yoga is the science which explores this dimension and tell me if you were also,

You know,

When we talk about this,

We talk about three dimensions.

One is intoxication.

I'm putting that in the front,

But it's actually the last one.

Intoxication,

Intensity of our energy and our experience,

Intensity of our senses and stillness within ourselves.

These three dimensions,

If they are on every moment of your life,

You are never the issue in the world.

Within yourself,

You are never the issue.

There are outside situations that need to be handled.

We will do it to the best of our ability.

You tell me,

Navika,

You're doing whatever work you're doing right now,

It's demanding in these times,

This work that you're doing.

Tell me,

Can you do this better when you're feeling wonderful or when you're feeling stressed and depressed?

Obviously,

If one is feeling better,

One performs to an optimum capacity at that time.

So if you are generating your own endocannabinoids,

You will be feeling wonderful every moment of your life.

Your mood is at your best level,

You're joyful,

You're blissful.

When you are like this,

You will function at your best.

This is something that needs to happen.

Well,

You said two billion people,

I'm terribly disappointed with that because this was my mission when at the age of twenty-five,

When things exploded within me and I was dripping ecstasy,

I thought,

What is the problem?

On that day,

The population was 5.

6 billion people.

I thought in two-and-a-half years' time,

I will make everybody blissful.

But here I am,

Nearly forty years after that.

But two billion people,

Well,

I don't think that's a good number.

Seven billion people when you say,

I will say yes,

Because that is the purpose of International Yoga Day,

That everybody should have tools of self-transformation and well-being with them.

The tools of self-transformation,

The tools of being able to manage your own well-being from within should not be in the hands of an institution or a guru,

It must be in the hands of every human being.

That is when you will see a better world.

Prithvi You're saying that,

You know,

Doing yoga can actually make you anxiety-free.

But today,

Mental health is a real issue.

Sadhguruji,

We've lost a big Bollywood star and that's come as an eye-opener to many people in this world on what mental stress can do to you.

And mental stress has many dimensions.

Mental stress happens because most of the Indians today are living in fear of the virus infection.

There are some who are living in fear of losing their job.

There are some people who are living in fear because their salaries have been cut.

There are some people who are living in fear because they don't know the future seems absolutely uncertain.

Financial crisis probably is more evident now in virtually every other household than it ever was before.

Do you think there is… there is any scientific proof to tell us that mental health can be solved by yoga because the Bollywood star that I'm talking about was somebody who did a lot of physical exercises,

Was a very fit human being.

How does mental health relate to this yogic practice?

Well when you say is there any scientific evidence,

What scientific evidence means is that there are certain markers on the level of our physiological level which is usually the blood markers.

There are certain genome markers.

There is BDNF which is an important marker,

The neurotropic markers.

All these clearly show you can not only prevent these psychological ailments by doing the right practices but you can come out of it also if you do it the right way.

Only problem is when somebody is in a state of mental depression or other things,

Getting them to do the practice is a huge challenge.

It's a very big challenge unless there are dedicated people around them supporting them in every way to make them do it every day,

It won't happen.

That's what we do here.

I can show you thousands of people who have come out of various mental problems by doing that because we create a supportive atmosphere.

This may not be possible in every home to make it happen.

So the question is of application.

If we can apply will they come out of it?

One hundred percent it's possible.

There are some pathological cases which are very hard.

So there also we have seen such cases,

Whatever level of medication they were on,

We have brought down that level of medication significantly.

So about suicides that you're talking about,

Every year eight hundred thousand people are committing suicide in this world.

Can you believe that?

It's more than all the crime,

Murders,

Even wars put together that many people don't die,

That many people are taking their own life.

This means every forty seconds one person is taking his own life.

Only when somebody that you know dies or only when somebody who is popular or significant in a society dies,

Everybody sits up.

But every forty seconds somebody is committing a suicide.

We need to really look at this.

Why are human beings want to take their own life?

Simply because we have not inculcated anything in our education system,

Which tells us how to handle our physiology and psychological structure.

There are many ways to put this.

The simplest way to put this is just this.

Most human beings have not been taught how to handle their own intelligence.

If you had half the brain that you have,

You would have no mental ailments because you have a certain level of intelligence and you have no training,

You have no social situation where you're being taught how to use this to your well-being.

Now your own intelligence is turning against you.

When your intelligence turns against you,

It looks so hopeless as if there is simply no way out of it.

That is what leads to,

You know,

People committing suicide.

Some may be committing suicide because of their life situations,

But a whole lot of them are committing suicide just because of their psychological situations.

That can easily be stopped.

If there is a proper system right from childhood,

Everybody's taught certain processes where their endocannabinoids are on.

That means they are blissful by nature.

Their experience of life is pleasant,

Naturally.

When this is there,

Why would you think anybody would take their life?

Why would you think anybody would be depressed?

I know there's a whole lot of people who if you utter the word depression,

They're usually pouncing on me for that because they heard the word depression only probably from the diagnosis they got for themselves.

The word depression is not only clinical depression.

If two things go wrong with your life today,

You could be mildly depressed.

Well,

You will talk yourself out of it.

Otherwise you will talk to your friend or family and they will talk you out of it.

Otherwise you will seek professional help.

If there was no way out of depression,

Why would a psychologist sit with you and talk to you for hours?

Obviously he knows he can talk you out of it.

And otherwise,

Chemical help.

Right now when it comes to chemistry,

This human mechanism is the most sophisticated chemical factory on the planet.

The question is only this,

Are you a great manager of this chemistry or are you a lousy manager of this chemistry?

This all there is.

Yoga means you become a very efficient manager of your own chemical factory.

Sadhguruji,

The Harvard study also shows a fifty percent reduction is perceived in stress if this chemistry itself changes.

So I want to ask you,

What comes first,

The emotion of depression or the chemistry changes?

You know,

Chemistry changes occur after depression has overtaken us or do they take place before the depression emotion takes over us and how do we control it in a normal situation without paying somebody who's a professional in this huge amount of money for just stalking us out of it?

See,

I think a whole lot of people,

Majority of the people at one time or the other,

They will start getting depressed because of some life situation.

But within a few hours,

They will talk themselves out of it.

Either,

You know,

Some kind of inspiration they will use,

Either their love for somebody or love for the nation or love for something else and you know,

Work themselves out of it.

Whatever matters to them in their life,

They will use that to come out of it.

But whether the emotion comes first or the chemistry comes first?

Well,

This is yes and no both ways because for some people,

They have naturally come with a little volatile chemistry.

If I say something now,

I must be very careful because people will again perceive this as something against women and things like that.

Women have always a little more volatile chemistry,

Simply because their physiology has a larger responsibility of bearing a child.

Because of this,

There are more fluctuating things happening in her body than compared to your man's body.

So the chances of chemistry causing emotion is very much more possible,

Not that it's not possible in a man,

It is very much possible in a man also,

But it is more tilted towards women.

But thought causing thought or emotion causing chemical disturbances is more so in the male.

If you really look at it in terms of gender,

This is chemistry disturbing emotion and thought is more in the woman.

Thought because a man always thinks he's intelligent,

This is a big problem.

So he will work himself into a place where his chemistry gets messed up.

But a woman's chemistry is more volatile,

Because to facilitate a childbirth,

See,

We are just thinking childbirth means oh,

It just happens.

It is not a small thing.

It is like a whole new creation happening.

All right.

So the fluidity of her chemistry,

Sometimes when it doesn't function well,

This fluid chemistry can easily throw emotional situations off.

Many women pre childbirth or post especially post childbirth,

They experience like they get depressed,

They get hysterical,

But naturally they will settle in a few months or so they don't usually go for medication in this country.

Now,

They will create a protective atmosphere for that lady and she will come out of it.

So this is about chemistry causing emotional disturbance.

But emotional stress or even the thought process going in a certain way can very easily disturb the chemistry because they're not too far away.

One will reflect in the other very quickly.

Well,

Sadhguruji,

I completely understand what you're saying.

And I'm not one of those feminists who will question this because I've,

I've gone through childbirth and I think,

You know,

What you say is very,

Very real.

But I also want to ask you that the reasons are only increasing in the times that we live in.

There are reasons due to the kind of pressures we feel because of the COVID virus situation.

But there are also reasons that are extraneous,

Reasons we have no control over.

For example,

The China situation,

The India-China situation.

I want to ask you,

Sadhguruji,

This country has been a country that has wished and prayed for peace from times immemorial,

Yet this country has been ravaged by wars again from times immemorial.

Today,

When we stand at one such cusp,

How do people really think about the uncertainty that is currently prevailing?

There is anger which is directed towards a country,

There is a whole lot of heightened emotion from people in the country.

How do you think we have to manage this and how do you think we need to look at this entire issue of China?

This is not only about China.

First of all,

Let's understand this,

What we call a nation.

Well,

We like to say India is a cultural entity,

This,

That,

Everything.

Yes,

It's all true on one level,

But essentially a nation is a piece of geography.

So except on the oceans,

Except in the oceans,

None of our other borders are properly defined.

East,

West,

North,

Nowhere is it properly defined.

How do you make a nation like this?

Is your western border clearly defined?

No,

You have LOC.

Northern border,

You have LAC.

Eastern border,

You know all the trouble,

The perforated borders that you have.

So after seventy-five years of independence,

Why have we not defined it?

Because somebody did not understand what is a nation.

We have fancy ideas,

We will pray for peace.

I don't know what's the other word you use,

Pray and what?

We wish and pray for peace.

Peace will not come that way.

We must do the right things so that the ambiguity is reduced and the reason for any kind of confrontation is reduced.

And then once that is done,

Rest,

Peace must be enforced.

This is the way the world works.

Peace within myself I can achieve in a different way.

But I would say that is also enforced.

I am peaceful and joyful because I enforce it.

Otherwise if I look at the outside situations,

I can also get depressed.

I have decided such things don't happen to me,

I enforce it in myself that I will never be disturbed.

I will never be unhappy,

I will be peaceful and joyful.

This is an enforcement within myself.

The same thing is needed as a nation,

We must enforce peace.

Whether it is at the border or on the streets of our nation,

We have to enforce peace.

But enforcing peace is extremely difficult.

When there is ambiguity about what is our nation,

What is not our nation,

Who are putting our army out there every day losing men,

Either in the West or in the… now in the North constantly because there is so much ambiguity.

Because we did not understand what it means to be a nation,

That we have to secure what is the boundary.

Whether we lost something,

Gained something,

That's not the important thing.

The important thing is there should be no endless ambiguity about what is our nation,

What is not,

Because at any time somebody can rake up a problem.

Right now we need to understand this.

See,

We… our problems are in the West,

Now in the North,

Even with a small nation which is so much a part of our culture and absolutely like one nation it is,

Though it is a politically separate nation.

Even there we are having problems,

Simply because we have not clearly defined our boundaries.

This the earlier you do it,

The better it is.

Now after seventy-five years,

Nobody is willing to listen to you.

You should have done it.

The moment you get independence,

Within the first two,

Three years you must define your boundaries.

This is very,

Very important.

Someone did not understand this.

This is a serious flaw.

But this is a reality,

Now at least we should strive to somehow define the boundaries of this nation so that every day we don't have to kill young people on our borders.

Someone… well,

There is a political controversy,

A political slugfest that is on,

But when you say someone should have done it in the first three years of independence,

I think the world and the country will understand what you mean by those words.

Well,

Thank you very much Sadhguruji for joining me at a time when India is facing challenges but on a day when international yoga will… yoga day will tell us the importance of yoga to not only control our emotions within but also to get out of depressions and keep our body and mind absolutely fit and happy.

Namaskaram and thank you very much for joining us.

Sadhguru – Very… various,

Very simple and powerful practices being offered free to the entire world.

Everybody should make use of it.

This is not about controlling emotion,

This is about transforming emotion.

Either misery or joy is a choice.

We must exercise this choice.

Yes,

And from misery you can create ecstasy as Sadhguruji just explained to us.

Well,

With that,

Thanking Sadhguruji.

We'll take a short break.

This follows on the other side.

Reviews

Fabulous perspective! www.gratefulness.org, ahimsa
www.compassioncourse.org

Always an excellent source of inspiration whatever digital outlet it comes through.

Very good! Thank you!