With so much of noise in our internal and external environment it becomes really difficult to listen to our inner voice which we often mute or lose. Thus it becomes essential to shut our senses from external distractions in order to connect within. Consequently we are able to explore our true self and recognize the reason of our existence. Some people follow their inner voice and find their sole purpose of life. Dr. Deepak Sachdeva of Medical Yoga in Delhi is one such person who upholds the value of Sarvahit provides healing and empower people to lead a healthy and happy life. These values make him one of the most inspiring and revered yogi & healer. He not only heals but also creates awareness through his workshops emphasizing and explaining the importance of yoga to stay fit and young and how ancient yoga and medical science can do wonders in the field of Health and well- being. Dr. Deepak is just like that sailor who tries to steer his way against the stream and overcomes several high tides to reach his destination. hellomyyoga had the privilege to discover Dr. Deepak Sachdeva’s journey and his experiences which transformed him.
hmy: What made you so inclined towards yoga and what is yoga in your view?
Dr. Deepak : I have been practicing yoga since class VI. Even my parents wanted me to be associated with the field of yoga and physical education and therefore they enrolled me in athletics class wherein yoga was an integral part of their classes. After 12th I pursued three years Bachelors degree in Physical Education with yoga as one of the subject and thereafter sailed along the path of yoga unearthing various aspects of it in many ways. As I saw many people getting healed from problems like asthma, backache and many others, therapeutic aspect drew me towards yoga and made me inclined to further my professional journey in this field.
Dr. Deepak (cont.) : There are numerous definitions of yoga but one word to describe it would be “focus” in my view.
People think yoga is primarily done by renowned yogis like Swami Ramdev, Swami Paramhamsa, Iyengarji . Undoubtedly they are the yogis but other people too are yogis who have with focus reached the pinnacle in their respective fields like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Dhirubhai Ambani .
The essence is that whosoever can unite with his area of interest and delve fully in its depth discovering every aspect of it is a ‘yogi’. Moreover yoga is all pervasive and a form of energy – the atomic energy that can be channelized the way we want, be it in destructive or constructive way and allows to decode the mystery underlying the subject of focus to make it clearly visible and enlightening. People focusing on materialistic aspects somewhere do injustice either with their values or people in their lives just to reach the higher level of success. But yoga is taking along all the aspects of your life- physical, mental, emotional and spiritual and strike a perfect balance .Yoga is optimally utilizing your energies and directing them towards positive outcomes with focused and balanced approach.
Hmy: What is Medical Yoga?
Dr. Deepak: Medical Yoga is more scientific in approach. The postures are customized and based on MRI films of the patient. Eg. If 5 persons having problem of slip disc and are at same level but reasons might differ like the driving, post-delivery, sitting for long hours etc. therefore after diagnosing the degree and position of disc and the grid in each patient, the treatment and postures are customized for individual patient considering the degree of each posture. All these scientific inputs make medical yoga more customized and personal as per the problem and the reason of the problem of the concerned person. It is different from other yoga forms. Even after enriching my knowledge about physical education and yoga through courses at graduation level and diploma, still the medical dimension required in treatment was missing. The medical input about the detailed knowledge about the human anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, treatment and surgeries was provided after I did PG in Therapeutic and Restorative Yoga. This made me realize that people seeking treatment for any health issue must enroll for Medical yoga which best suites their condition rather than enrolling in general yoga which is for physical fitness and flexibility as the postures and practices of general yoga might not be suitable for people suffering from particular health issue and can also aggravate their problem.
Hmy: How did you start your own center at Delhi? What challenges you faced in realizing this dream?
Dr. Deepak: I never had a slightest intention to start my own center. But after working in several government and private hospitals I realized there was a difference in ideologies.
Somewhere, we were encroaching some people’s interests unintentionally by averting surgeries which are expensive and providing treatment through yoga which is quite reasonable as a result of which patients were not referred to me.
There was no challenge that I faced as I strongly believed in the power of yoga which speaks for itself and doesn’t require us to promote or publicize about our centres. But being from a middle class and service class family I wasn’t much acquainted with the entrepreneurial aspect. With the journey, I gained intellect for commercial aspect after I single handedly managed multiple roles in nurturing my centre and eventually spreading its branches from Punjabi Bagh to Pitam Pura and Lodhi road centres in Delhi and to Canberra in Australia in 2009 where my students are managing the centre and people from countries like London, U.S.A., Finland, Thailand and Indonesia come to learn yoga and practice yoga in their home countries.
Hmy: How was your experience working with Dr. Karandikar and what you consider as major takeaways that helped you in your journey?
Dr. Deepak: It was a wonderful experience working with our Acharyaji , Dr. Karandikar.
Our first session used to start at 6 in the morning and till 12:30 at night we use to continuously work with two breaks of 30 minutes each. We used to work for around 18-19 hours regularly. The course is designed in such a way that it generates interest and keeps us spell bound with new learnings with every patient.
The 18-19 working hours has become our normal working hours today which in my view is the major takeaway that keeps us working with zeal. When I go to Australia my first appointment starts at 6 in the morning which continues till 11-12 at night. I play multiple roles from front desk to president of the centre with quite ease as we have learned to work for long hours which is imbibed in our personality and lifestyle. Apart from knowledge of Medical Yoga we learned diligence, sincerity and dedication from Dr. Karandikar which no other college or University can ever teach. This is the reason behind the growth of Medical Yoga in past 15 years.
Hmy: What is the major cause of serious health issues people have today? What advise you give to your patients to stay healthy and happy?
Dr. Deepak: The major cause of health issues today is overuse of different parts of our body like sitting for long hours straining neck tissues and muscles of your body, overeating, working for long hours on mobile phones and computer systems. In order to cope with problems related to neck pain and backache especially working professionals who commonly encounter such issues can take a break of 30 seconds after 25-30 minutes during work. Short breaks can be of much help in delaying and preventing the problems. No matter what activity you do but keep taking short breaks and do not continue any activity for long hours at a stretch like sitting in wrong posture because it is the main cause of musculoskeletal problems like backache, neck pain and frozen shoulders. The nerves get pressurized and muscles develop spasms which later result in major health issues.
Maintain a balance in your lifestyle and diet and avoid excess of anything. People with physiological problems must exercise and take a balanced diet. Every person in order to stay healthy must listen to the signals of their body, respect and respond to them.
If intake of any particular food or activity creates a problem in any part of the body then it should be avoided. It will help you to stay healthy and the lifestyle disorders will remain at bay.
Hmy: To what extent yoga is successful in healing problems or is it a complete cure to all problems?
Dr. Deepak: Yoga has immense power and can treat any problem through yoga. Medical yoga is objective in approach and we work on those problems which is scientifically proven and documented like diabetes. Some problems like cancer and HIV and certain viruses are there which are treated differently and much literature is not available about them. In Medical yoga we work majorly on seven health problems like backache, Cervical Spondylitis Sciatica and Slip disc, frozen shoulders, arthritis, diabetes, Asthma and heart problems for which documented studies are available along with some others. Though yoga can be a panacea if a person can reach to the level of meditation where he can control his mind and regulate his internal system of the body. One can heal himself completely and can stay healthy for long. On the other hand if we take yoga as a therapy and work only on certain aspects of it and not work on holistic yoga then it is difficult to heal yourself completely.
Hmy: What is the role of diet and medicine in treatment?
Dr. Deepak: I personally believe that until we set Ahar, Vihar and Vichar in order we cannot cure our problem from roots. So diet plays a pivotal role in treatment and medicine too is very important in certain cases like diabetes which requires diet, exercise and medications to keep it under control. The requirement of medicines is required in cases where a person tends to discontinue the exercise or unable to follow a normal routine and diet owing to stress or due to personal or professional responsibilities and cases where emergency medical situations occur which can be controlled through medicines only. Medicine is not necessarily allopathy it can be Homoeopathy, Ayurveda or Unani.
Kitchen is the best Chemist shop which has many ingredients for healing various health issues like intake of cinnamon in food is good for diabetic patients, black pepper helps in curing infections and inflammation of joints, turmeric, clarified butter, seasonal fruits provide required nutrients to our body, green leafy vegetables provide iron and vitamin A .
Take a balanced diet with changes from time to time to ensure that essential nutrients are provided to our body in adequate quantities. Listen and respect the signals of the body by avoiding foods that cause any problem in the body. Equally important is the exercise and one must take medicines where it is necessary along with other practices to follow for treatment thereby keeping a balanced approach.
Hmy: How much awareness you think people in India have about yoga and what more needs to be done?
Dr. Deepak: People in India and all across the world are quite aware about yoga and view yoga as an alternative treatment method. People should know that if you are coming to heal any health issue then you should go for medical yoga and for fitness go for general yoga. A lot more needs to be done mainly the standardization and categorization of yoga – power yoga, Iyengar yoga, Sunjeevan yoga etc. based on the type and utility of each. Further there should be a classification of yoga teachers based on their qualifications and experience rather than viewing all yoga teachers alike. People should know about different forms of yoga, what they can expect from each form and what is suitable form for them like yoga form for health issues, yoga for meditation, yoga for weight loss, yoga for spiritual upliftment and yoga for fitness. Basically which form can fulfill the need of the person and what one can get from different forms of yoga that awareness needs to be created and I hope hellomyyoga will do something in this direction.
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