Did you know that over 5.8 million people in the United States are currently suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia? This is projected to double in the next 20 years (per a Milken Institute report). If you know someone who’s living with this disease, you know the kind of struggle that this can cause to not only the person suffering from it but also their caregivers.
Sadhguru, a realized yogi and one of the foremost authorities on yoga, goes into the root cause of diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia, explaining how one’s life energy can deplete before its time and how this can be avoided and mitigated through yoga.
Sadhguru: In yoga, we look at life as two ingredients – time and energy. Our whole striving in life is we want our time to be over before our energy is over. But you will see a whole lot of people where their life energy is over, but their time is not over – which is not good. You call this by various names – Alzheimer’s, dementia – but essentially in life terms, your energy depleted before your time ran out.
Yoga Helps Manage Energy
Time is running at the same pace for everyone. But you can manage your energy. The whole system of yoga is to raise your energy so that your ability to be conscious is high and your energy is high. When your energy is high, time just rolls, and your time will run out before your energy. How long you live is up to you and so many other factors, but it is very important that a human being maintains the fundamental aspects of his life consciously. That is what sets us apart from other forms of life on this planet.
In terms of life, the spine is such an active place that you can very easily rejuvenate and regenerate the cells that have been lost there. It is also very easy to do that in your brain. If people who are suffering from dementia and the like, do the right kind of things, they could regenerate that. There is substantial scientific evidence for this. Even in your life right now, how many neurons are active or present varies in a big way, depending on how you are using your mind. When you are a little down or intoxicated or depressed, the number may be much less. By doing the right kind of things, you can enhance this. Definitely, this would be a boon for every human being, it does not matter who he or she is. The world could do with a little more intelligence.
Henry Markram has done a phenomenal amount of research on the brain in the Blue Brain Project. This is the first time that the human brain has been fully mapped. That is, they are creating a virtual, electronic brain. They will have a simulated human brain with a keyboard attached. Right now your problem is that you have a brain, but you do not have the keyboard –something works, something does not work. If you could have a full-fledged keyboard to your brain, if you could type out whatever you want, you would become a thousand times more capable than what you are, because this brain is capable of such complexity of action.
This brain is such a complex machinery, most people have never been trained in how to use it. It would take a certain level of dedication and focus to learn to use it. I think most people are only using a fraction of the capabilities of their computer. There are so many ways to use that machine, but not everybody knows how. The same is true with the brain. Everyone’s brain is capable of many things, but this is not at your fingertips – that is the problem.
Who is Sadhguru
Sadhguru is a realized yogi, mystic and visionary who has dedicated himself to the elevation of the physical, mental, and spiritual well-being of all people. He is an author and opinion maker who is regularly invited to speak at leading international forums. He has spoken at many prestigious global conferences such as World Peace Summit at the United Nations and the World Economic Forum.
Study Inner Engineering with Sadhguru
Sadhguru will be in California to offer Inner Engineering with Sadhguru in San Francisco on May 16- 17, 2020 at the San Mateo County Event Center. For more information, see www.innerengineering.com or email iecsupport@innerengineering.com
