Soulful sound of therapy

The humble flute has taken on a new avatar. Once used by Lord Krishna to woo maidens, it is now being used to ward off stress. Bansi Yoga is a new-generation alternative healing method to calm the soul and attain deep relaxation. An amalgam of yoga and flute, it guides individuals onto the path of physiological and psychological actualisation, using SMET—Self-Management of Excessive Tension and Cyclic Meditation, a model that attempts to deliver relaxation in 40 minutes, also equivalent to eight hours of sleep. And the man who introduced this new concept in India is Arun Budhiraja, founder of Krishna Prerna, an organisation aiming to restore Indian heritage in the form of culture, communities, food and architecture.

“I devised this form of healing about three years back after a lot of research and deliberation. During my study, I came across the fact that flute as a musical instrument has a lot of therapeutic value like yoga. It was then, I introduced Bansi Yoga. Along with SMET, the technique also incorporates the Instant Relaxation Technique (IRT) and Deep Relaxing Technique (DRT)—other powerful tools for relaxation.

While practising Bansi Yoga, one moves his limbs in a cyclic pattern, as the flute is played as an accompaniment. It results in an overall physiological and psychological clean-up. As the human brain is cautiously guided to come into resonance with healthy vibrations and sounds, one feels visibly peaceful. “Interestingly, even if one’s subconscious mind is focussed on another activity and they are unaware of the music playing in the background, they still feel relaxed. That is the magic of this therapy. It succeeds in revealing the deep and mysterious connection between the brain and sound waves,” he says.

Having been scientifically established that music can have a profound effect on the human body and mind, it has also been proven that it positively affects heart rates and releases muscle tension. “Music is also found to alter body temperature. Philosophers believe that music can heal both body and soul, and singing and chanting have been an important part of several healing rituals for ages. Some even believe that the universe has been created through various patterns of frequency and each human body has its frequency resonance,” says Budhiraja.

Connecting all diseases to lifestyle and lack of relaxation, he believes that just sleeping for eight hours is not enough. “Yogis in the past used to sleep for two to three hours, but remained healthy. That can be attributed to their total state of tranquillity. It’s the quality of sleep, not the quantity of sleep that matters, and the quality is directly influenced by how calm your mind is. If a person has a brain injury resulting in an inability to relax, doctors can only treat it with medication. But unless your mind is completely relaxed, medications won’t work. It’s like doing algebra without knowing mathematics. Bansi Yoga not only heals, but also prevents ailments from attacking your body,” he says.

India has the highest rate of head injuries across the world—approximately 100,000 lives are lost every year. In such cases, neurological damage occurs at the moment of impact and the damage worsens during the ensuing minutes, hours and days. “In such cases, immediate medical attention is a prerequisite to getting better. But a wholesome healing process is the only measure that will help you recover in the long run and Bansi Yoga is one such form of recovering,” says Budhiraja.

“A healthier society beckons with this little known therapy,” he says. And at the Jodhpur One World Retreat, to be held from March 8 to March 10, 2013 in Jodhpur, Budhiraja aims to generate awareness about this form of healing yoga. So get ready for the soulful therapy of flute.