Mental Health and Yoga: A Philosophical Outlook (Hardbound-2022)

The book tries to find out the relation between yoga and mental health which in turn relates to psychotherapy in philosophical point of view. It tries to define the concept of mind in view of philosophy of yoga and psychotherapy. It strives to search the philosophical meaning of yoga and summarizes the applicability of yoga in mental health and tries to search out relation between tantric yoga and mental health.

The book has six chapters covering a wide discussion on yoga and mental health. The first chapter provides a brief overview of yoga and psychotherapy in special concern with philosophy. The next chapter defines the concept and nature of mind and establishes the relation between mind and brain. It also analyses mind as independent existence and/or coexistence with brain/body and searches the view of samkhya philosophy on mind. The third chapter deals with mental diseases and searches the philosophical point of view on mental health. The next chapter describes the meaning of yoga in different philosophical schools and thoughts. The fifth chapter searches out the applicability of yoga in mental health overly and psychotherapy in specially. The final chapter searches the possibility of tantric yoga in mental health. It also tries to establish relationship between tantric yoga, philosophy, and psychotherapy. Overall, the book deals with the wealth of Indian knowledge in the context of physical and mental health.

Dr. Gaurav Kumar Rai, M.A. (Psychology), M.A. (Philosophy), Ph.D. (Psychology), Post-Graduation in Yoga and Science of Living, Post-Graduate Diploma in Human Rights, Certificate Course in Guidance, Certificate Course in Yoga, has more than ten years of teaching and sixteen years of research experiences. Presently, he is working as a Scientific Officer at Forensic Science Laboratory, Lucknow. He has also worked as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Psychology, Banaras Hindu University. He has got ICSSR Post-Doctoral fellowship and worked in two research projects funded by UGC. He has published several research paper and book chapters as well as presented more than 70 research papers in national and international conferences and seminars. He has to his credit fourteen best paper presentation award, IAAP best thesis award, Rashtrapati Rover Award, and ISCA best poster presentation award. His areas of interest include Health Psychology, Ergonomics, Forensic Psychology, Yoga, and Psychotherapy.

Dr. Priyesh Kumar Singh, M.A. (Psychology), Ph.D. (Psychology), Post-Graduate Diploma in Guidance and Counseling, Post-Graduate Diploma in Vocational Guidance and Career Counseling, is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Psychology, Banasthali Vidyapeeth, Tonk, and formerly employed as Counseling Psychologist at Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Gorakhpur. He is a certified counselling psychologist as well as behaviour therapist. He has published several research papers/articles in various journals of repute. His areas of interest include Cognitive Neuroscience, Health Psychology, Indian Psychology, and Psychotherapy.