The Key To Health is Within

Dr. Prathap Reddy, founder of Apollo Hospitals Group, asks Sadhguru if there is a key to good health.

Prathap Reddy: I have seen some of the impossible things you’ve done for people when they weren’t well. Is there something else to staying well beyond doctors and medicine?

Sadhguru: If we look at our body, we were not born the way we are right now. In your mother’s womb you started as two cells, then you came out as a baby and now you have become so big. How did all this happen? Whatever is the fundamental force that is creating this body – the basis of creation, which you refer to as the Creator – is functioning within the body every moment. The manufacturer of this body is inside. If you have a repair job to be done, would you like to go to the manufacturer or the local mechanic? If you had access, you would go to the manufacturer. If you’ve lost access, you go to the local tinker. I am not trying to belittle medical science, but if you had access to the source of that which creates this body, definitely every problem that you generate within the body could be handled.

There are two kinds of ailments: infectious and chronic. Infectious ailments happen because of an external invasion. You must go to the doctor. Don’t meditate on it! But 70% of ailments on the planet are self-created. Why I say self-created is because it happened from within you.

This body is essentially programmed for health. So why would it turn against you? Because somewhere, you are not keeping it happy. You must pay a little more attention. There is a systematic way of paying attention to this, because everything in this body was created from within. When that is so, you can also easily fix it from within.

For the things you create from within, running to the doctor is of no use. The medical profession can only help you manage chronic ailments, they can never rid you of them. When you are creating it, how can they rid you of it? Every day, they will put more chemicals into you but every day you will doggedly create more disease within yourself. Unless you change that basic pattern, health will not happen.

When it comes to a chronic ailment, the root cause for it is always on the energy level. As you have a physical body, you also have an energy body or Pranamayakosha. This is the energy infrastructure over which the physical substance comes together as a human body. If your energy body is disturbed – whether because of the atmospheres you live in, the food you eat, the relationships you hold or because of your emotions, attitudes, thoughts and opinions – this naturally manifests physiologically and psychologically.

The basic premise in yoga is that if your energy body is in full flow and properly balanced, there can be no chronic disease. If people are willing to do a certain amount of sadhana to balance and activate their energy body, they can definitely be free of all chronic ailments. Yoga is a means to build a pathway to the manufacturer so that health is not your business, it is his business.

Editor's Note: In a world of hectic lifestyles, desk-jobs and pollution, health seems a faraway thing. In this video, Sadhguru gives us the unique yogic perspective on health. By paying attention to a few simple fundamentals, you can ensure good health for yourself.