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I observed that we have heard many things about muscles, bones, and joints. I chose the topic of the nervous system. Some people told me this was not a usual topic for our lectures, suggesting that, as an orthopedic surgeon, I should speak about back pain or joints. However, I believe this topic about the nervous system is very crucial for us. So, my motto for this small lecture is: "Don't be nervous when we are speaking about the nervous system." I am very happy to introduce Dr. Arati. She is not my translator; she is also a doctor. Everyone knows she was previously a neurologist and is now a gynecologist and obstetrician. That means she knows everything about a woman’s nervous system. I hope she will help me. I will speak in English now, and we will see how it goes. In the end, I hope there will be some questions from you. We mostly speak about the static movement apparatus—our bones and muscles. Sometimes we speak about the dynamic movement apparatus, like joints and muscles. But this is only one part of our movement; it is mostly passive. There has to be something that moves this apparatus, that provides information on how to move and what to do. This is very crucial and is part of our movement apparatus we call the controlling system. We are very happy to have a system like Yoga in Daily Life, which works with the whole body of a person and also with our mind. This means everything is harmonized, which is very important. I will start with small anatomical landmarks. Don't be worried about special terms. It was hard to get a translator because nobody wanted to translate medical terms for me. Everything will be very practical. Our nervous system is at the center of our being, meaning the body. It controls three main parts: 1. The movement apparatus. 2. Our inner organs. 3. Our endocrine system. All three systems are vital for our health. If someone does exercises only for their movement apparatus, thinking they are working just that part, it is not true. If we do all exercises in a very good way, we can influence all systems in our body. The movement apparatus is very important. How we move is the main part of our exercises. When speaking about it, we often discuss strengthening or elongating muscles. But this is only one part. Our nervous system starts in this movement apparatus. There are very delicate nerve endings connected to muscles, joints, and all these structures. From here, a signal goes to the central nervous system. There, the signal is processed, and a signal goes back to the muscles and joints. In this way, we are not only working with muscles but also with information. This is crucial. This information is not only about pain. Often, we are only aware of our movement apparatus when something is in pain; that is the normal status. But yogic exercises are something more. They try to know deeply what is inside these muscles. During our exercises, we try to get new information from within ourselves. It is very important to know the condition of the body parts under exercise. This vitalizes our consciousness about ourselves—not only about pain, weakness, or strength, but also about the normal status. All this information goes to the central nervous system—the brain and spinal cord—which controls and regulates every organ. In this way, this kind of knowledge allows us to regulate not only the movement apparatus but also influence other organs. The central nervous system is at the center of our being and has a very near connection to our mind. Pain in the movement apparatus can produce problems in our mind. In modern times, we are going back a little in our medicine. Ayurveda and other old systems always spoke about the holistic body. Nowadays, we have psychosomatic medicine, meaning an illness is not only a problem of the body but also of the psyche. Many illnesses today are called typical psychosomatic illnesses, like hypertension, ulcers, and some cancers. From this point of view, in the future, many more illnesses will be diagnosed as psychosomatic. Therefore, our yoga exercises, mainly from Yoga in Daily Life, are very up-to-date. Modern medical care thinks about complex treatment, finding a way to treat people in a psychosomatic way. It is not only a problem of movement, but through movement and other techniques, we can help improve the health status of the whole body. The system Yoga in Daily Life offers many possibilities. We can use yoga in medical care in three main ways: 1. Prevention. This is the best way to maintain complex health status. 2. Therapy. Some kinds of problems can be solved by yoga treatment. 3. Complementary Treatment. Adding yogic exercises to standard treatment can improve high-level healthcare. In my practice, when people heard I am an orthopedic surgeon and came to my yoga courses, they constantly sent me their problems: "I have pain here, I have pain there." At first, I tried to help directly, giving individual exercises from Part One, Three, or Four. The result was good, but not as good as I wanted. Then I tried step two: I acknowledged their problem but advised them to follow the yoga system step by step. It was like a miracle. After some time—say, six or eight weeks, depending on the person's activity—these people stopped telling me about their problems. I did not perform any special treatment or exercises. They only did the complex Yoga in Daily Life system. It was miraculous to see that many problems were solved by the complex practice of the system. We often think we know what to do, but people really need a complex way. From my side, Yoga in Daily Life is a very complex way for complex health. For people suffering from specific, sometimes severe illnesses, this system can improve the standard health process. We may not be able to remove the illness, but we can help patients greatly by teaching them how to breathe, how to move naturally, and how to relax. We can really release many pains. It is very good to perform these exercises for many illnesses. I am sure that in the future, the Yoga in Daily Life system will be used not only for prevention but also for treatment. Let’s go back to the nervous system. For good health of our movement apparatus, we need healthy movement. We know several kinds of movement: 1. Reflex Movement. This is simple and unconscious. A stimulus from a muscle or tendon goes directly to the spinal cord and back without brain control. It is hard to work with because we have healthy and unhealthy movement stereotypes fixed from childhood. 2. Fast (Ballistic) Movement. This movement is started consciously but not controlled. It is very speedy and quick. This type is dangerous, especially for older people, as it can cause ruptures because we are not able to control it. 3. Automatic Movement. This is consistent movement done without conscious control. We are not thinking about it. 4. Conscious (Yogic) Movement. In rehabilitation nomenclature, this is called "yogic movement." It is movement started from our mind, controlled throughout, and during which we get new information and can adapt. This is very important because we can change unhealthy movement stereotypes. Movement does not start from our muscles; that is only the second step. The first step is some form of this movement in our brain. We have features in our brain that coordinate all movement—a kind of formula. If movement is unhealthy from childhood, it is fixed in an unhealthy way and hard to correct. The most modern type of rehabilitation today is called neurodevelopmental. It works not only with muscles but mostly tries to change movement stereotypes. I think the origin of these modern methods is the yogic way of movement. We are going back to the ancient way of improving health. Of the four types of movement, we go back to the first three steps. In our exercises, we try to do something with our movement apparatus, but mostly we try to change something in our brain. In this therapy, we can improve our movement stereotypes and change the first three kinds of movement (reflexive, fast, and automatic). This is a great weapon in our hands. It is very important to know that the central nervous system is closely connected to all other organs. In the right way, we can influence problems with our organs and glands of inner secretion. From this point of view, we are trying to perform the harmonization of our body. In all our exercises, we mostly speak about muscles, and this work is done by many rehabilitation systems. But the Yoga in Daily Life system is like a diamond among them because we are also working with our mind. I have vast experience with patients. Orthopedic patients, like those with back pain, are mostly psychosomatic patients. Some start with pain from a mechanical problem in the spine, which produces more pain, influencing the locomotor apparatus. We must treat this pain quickly because long-term pain produces problems not only in the body but also in the mind, creating a closed circle. On the other hand, we have patients with no mechanical problem; the pain is produced by their mind. The nervous system produces pain signals even though the spine is healthy. Both groups suffer greatly. For both groups, we have our solution: Yoga in Daily Life. For muscle imbalance, we have two main muscle types. One type tends to be weakened (e.g., abdominal muscles); we must strengthen them. Another type tends to be contracted and shortened (often causing lumbar pain). If we start by strengthening these, there will be more pain. We must start with relaxation and elongation, and on the third step, we can strengthen them. This is just information on the border. You do not need to know this if you use the Yoga in Daily Life system as written. Naturally, the system goes in this way. Remember the steps in our book. We start with relaxation of the back, trying to elongate it. The same is true for the back of the cervical spine. These are two main parts that tend to contract. At the same time, we start strengthening our abdomen. From a rehabilitation point of view, our system, created by Swāmījī, is very complex and professional. If you do all exercises according to the steps, you cannot be wrong. We can recommend this system from start to end for all patients suffering from back pain. I return to my starting point: from my view, it is not necessary to be a doctor to help our patients. I am two weeks out of the hospital. I love my work and look forward to returning, but I am so happy here with you because I can see our system is something genial. I am happy for the opportunity to learn more about it from many lectures. I repeat: you do not have to be a doctor to help these patients. You only need to know that this system goes very gradually, step by step. We have a short time to speak about a big problem like the central nervous system. I tried only to inspire you that we are not speaking only about strengthening and shortening. We have to know that this way of practice is very complex in nature and is the best way to get real, healthy movement. Sometimes it is a little slow; people want results quickly. But it is very safe for us and for them. Q&A Question: What is the connection between the nervous system and the prāṇic system? These two are very close. Answer: Definitely, yes. I think there is a very near connection. The best way to know it is to do it. This is not written in our medical books, but everybody feels what is good health status and what is not. One day you can feel like this, another day like that, even though your body is the same. Why? From my point of view, doing it and getting our own information is a way to know. There is the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system (the neurovegetative system). We know about breathing through one nostril and then the other, working with specific parts of the neurovegetative system. That is definitely true. But there is also something that cannot be described by books: our own experience. Definitely try to do it to know the connection between the nervous system and the prāṇic system. Question: You speak about reprogramming brain information. But according to my feeling, Swāmījī is even trying to teach us how to redo the prāṇic information, how to change the stereotypes of prāṇa. Is this information really just brain information? It would be interesting to find a connection between the physical nervous system and the subtle level. Answer: I spoke mostly from the Western medical point of view. You are such a great audience; everybody knows that something is a little bit different. We know it. It is a little like our own secret because Swāmījī has done and learned everything for us. I tried only to speak about your work in your courses. You are the happy ones who can also work on this level, which was prepared by Swāmījī for us. Thank you very much for being here. Have a nice lunch.