Yoga & medicine:- It is essential that before undertaking yoga therapy a full medical examination be performed by a qualfiied prectitioner. This is imperative in other to: 1. Sort out exactly which condition we are dealing with. 2. See if there are any complications, for example, high blood pressure complicating diabetes, which completely modify the yogic approach to the disease and make a relatively simple and safe therapeutic program more difficult and dangerous in untrained hands. 3. Decide whether yogic or medical treatment should be the first line of approach. Many inexperienced therapists jump in with medical therapy would preve the faster and more effcient means to cure, and vice versa. This is the typical one-sided approach of a closed narrow mind. Only a qualified professional in the healing or medicable to the therapeutic he is skilled in. Anyony who has experience in yoga therapy will concur on the necessity of a guru or qualified guide. For example, it is often necessary to continue medical treatment for some time before the yogic practices are established & working effectively. Only an experienced individual or doctor can indicate when medicines can be reduced and yoga practices relied on for the maintenance of health. The guru instructs the patient or student on the necessary preliminary practices which prepare one for the yoga techniques specified for each individual condition. Short & long-Sightedness:- “The eyes are the mirror of the soul and reveal much of our essential nature. At the same time, vision is our precious sense. We rely on the eyes for a large percentage of our information about the outside world and our understanding of life.” The phrase “Do you see what I mean?” implies that a large part of our meatal functioning relies on the visual sense. At the same time it has been reported by yogic that they do not need the eyes to see, being able to know in detali, thourgh the higher strata of consciusness, of events which take place at great distances from their physical bodies. Vision is indeed a mysterious thing. Structure of the eye:-The eye is the only part of the brain which projects outside the cranium, the bouy box which protects the brain. The which ares of the eye is called sclera. This becomes transparent centrally and is called the cornea. Behind the cornea is the iris, which gives the eye its characteristic colour. The centre of the iris is a hole, called the pupil, which allows light into the eye. The iris constantly contracts & dilates in order to adjust the amount of light coming into the eye. Behind the cornea is lens which adjusts our vision to distance. The inside of the eye is filled with fluid. Thyroid Disease:- We all know people who can eat & eat & never get fat, while other need only to think of food to put on weight. Some people fly through the day with energy and vitality to spare while others have to drag their bodies around like dead weights. These are all examples of variations in metabolism, the energy system of the physical body. Hyperthyroid or thyrotoxicosis:- In this condition the gland secretes excess hormones. It is more common in women than men (ratio 8 to 1), whose ages range 30 to 50 years. Thyrotoxic individuals becomes thin, tremulous, irritable, anxious and even hysterical. Because the metabolism is raised, they experience rapid heart rate and palpitations, rapid shallow respirations, frequent bowel motions and diarrhea, flushing , heat intolerance, sweating, menstrual disturbance, and sometimes bulging of the eyes (exophthalmos). Such people suffer the paradoxical situation in which they feel fatigue and lack of energy and yet are compelled to move about, talk and do things. They are constantly restless and fidgeting and the slightest remark may set off an inapporopriately angry response. Conventional medical management of this condition includes drugs, such as carbimazole, radioactive iodine and surgery. The Heart & Circulatory System:- Cardiac (heart) disease and also arteriosclerosis (blood vessel degeneration) are the largest killers in the affluent segments of world society today. Every year, many millions of people die from the complications of cardiovascular degeneration – including hypertension, chronic heart failure, stroke (cerebro-vascular accident), and kidney disease. In addition, many more experience anguish of chest pains known as angina pectoris, which indicate cardiac strain in the activities of their daily life. The causes and effects of heart strain are many and complex, involving both the nervous system, through which mental & emotional processes influence the cardiac function, and also the metabolic, digestive and reproductive systems, which frequently place excessively heavy demands upon the heart. The coronary arteries:- All main arteries of the body branch off from the aorta. The first two branches are known as thw coronary, which are about five inches (12 cms) long and 1/8 inch (3mm) in diameter. These arteries are reponsible for supplying blood to the ledt & right sides of the heart muscles itself. If one of them should become narrowed, the whole of the circulation system may fail, as the muscle fibres of the heart itself are deprived of nourishing oxygen. In a healthy person there is always sufficient blood flowing into these arteries to meet the needs of the heart, but sometimes these arteries become partially or totally blocked because of hardening of the vessel walls, clotting of blood in the vessels or nervous spasm constricting the vessels. In these cases, heart attack & heart failure can occur. Degeneration of the blood vessel walls is termed arterioscerosis. It is related to an animal fat diet,cigarette smoking, lack of exercise and excessive mental stress and strain.The seat of human emotion:- The heart’s function is intimately related to our emotional metabolism. Our emotional states directly influence the behaviour of the heart, and heart disease is often as much an emotional disorder as a physical disease. An anxious, overtense mind, always gripped by worries & problems or an unruly mind, constantly bursting into habitual states of anger, passion or sorrow, causes wild, uncontrolled activation of the sympathetic nervous system and floods the circulation with the stress hormones, adrenalin and noradrenalin. The heart muscles are strained and the heart beat accelerated, forcing it to beat beyoud its reating capacities. Similarly, the stresses of interpersonal relationships, encompassing the expression of the whole of human emotions, instincts & desires which must be experienced as we evolve, place constant demands upon the heart and endocrine glands. When the expression of the passions and unruly emotions is uncontrolled and unmangeable, hormonal secretions become imbalanced and wayward, and the heart labours excessively. Sympathetic activation is also responsible for sending the small arteries into a state of spasm or permanent contraction. Consequently, the heart must pump against a high back pressure of blood in the arterial tree, and hypertension (high blood pressure) inevitably results. Disorders of the Respiratory System:- The respiratory system consists of the nose, pharynx, epiglottis, trachea, bronchi and lungs; also the ribcage that protects the lungs, the diaphragm and intercostal muscles which work pumping air in and out of the chest, and the nervous connections to the brain which activate and control these muscles. For descriptive purposes, the respiratory system is divided into the upper and lower respiratory tracts. The arbitrary dividing line between the upper and lower tracts is considered to be in the larynx or windpipe, at the level of the Adam’s apple (thyroid cartilage) in front of the neck. However, this division should not be allowed to obscure the intimate relationship between diseases of the upper respiratory tract and diseases of the bronchi and lungs in the chest. For example, an upper respiratory infection such as the common cold or sinusitis may, under certain conditions, give rise to bronchitis, or even pneumonia in the lungs themselves.