Sep 11 - Indian Airforce

Goal Of YogaYoga is a philosophy and discipline appliedto the development of mind and body. Yogapractices consist of concentrated stretchingbased on prescribed sequences of body positions,or asanas. The movement patterns are coupledwith bringing attention away from thinkingand into the internal feeling space of the body,where breath is used to harness the mind andbody together. The practitioner increases bodyawareness, posture, strength, flexibility, andcalmness of spirit. Yoga helps to harness theenergy of the mind so that the mind and bodyare united. Yoga literally means “to yoke the mindand body together”, so that your thoughts are nota thousand miles away from what your body isfeeling and sensing. The ultimate goals may rangefrom reaching Moksha to physical immortality.Relevance In Indian Air ForceWith an increasing number of organizationstaking up to the wonderful practice of Yoga tofacilitate mental health, stress reduction, angermanagement and self-discovery it’s necessitycannot be overemphasized.Almost all the branches of the Indian Air Forceand specially the flying branch endure a largequantum of stress & fatigue everyday. Stressesrelated to promotions, meeting deadlines, longworking hours, etc may lead to reduction of focusand creeping of irritability amongst the personnel,thereby affecting the quality of work output. Iteven leads to deteriorating interpersonal relationsdisrupting the harmony within the organization.In an extreme case it may lead to development oftensions within the families also. All such troublescombined with the pressures of flying may pushan individual towards acquiring negative traitsand indulgence in activities detrimental to theinterests of the organization.Statistics show that health problems suchas high blood pressure, heart problems, andoverweight problems are on the rise in thesociety as a whole and armed forces are notimmune to it in any way. The number of cat Ccases is on a rise in the Indian Air Force bringingdown the productivity. Yoga has both preventiveand therapeutic benefits. It has been shown tooffer both physical and mental benefits to thebody and the mind. A near perfect fitness routine,yoga would provide the means for people of anyage not only to get and stay in shape but also todevelop balance, coordination, and a sense ofcenteredness.Circumstances linked particularly to armedforces such as field/hard area postings andfrequent detachments involving long separationsfrom the family add on to the daily fraction ofstress. Yoga would go a long way in acting as ade stressor in such situations. A consistent yogapractice can quiet the mind and refresh the body,bringing health, relaxation, and happiness.Zero error syndrome is another big stressplaguing us today. In pursuit of excellence mostof the personnel turn into Type A personalities.They get result oriented and are not ready toaccept any failures on their part primarily to keepup their prestige and secondarily due to the fearof the unknown. This habit causes heavy stressamongst the personnel as they are always tryingto achieve 100 % results. Yoga has been proved tobe extremely effective in reducing these kinds ofstress by calming the mind.In addition to various other types of stressthe stresses involved with flying can greatlyaffect the performance of aviators. With nearly80 percent of aircraft accidents being attributedto human factors, there’s an increasing need totake proactive steps towards reducing stress andfatigue amongst pilots.Increasing number of psycho-social problemsrelated to children, parents, property, finances,poor living conditions, etc are also irritantscausing stress amongst Air force personnel. WhileINDIAN AIR FORCE 2 0 1 1 S e p t e m b e r Aerospace Safety 11