We all want to live with ever new joy and, at the same time suffering in various form steps into our door of life almost daily. It is believed that suffering is our own creation due to our own past karma, fate or destiny. Sometimes, we lay blame on others or external conditions. Whatever may be, we start finding out the cause of suffering and try to alleviate it either externally through medicine, diet, exercise, astrological aids, advice, or internally through self-acceptance, yoga and meditation etc. And all these measures are taken only after we suffer sufficiently.
One proverb says, ‘prevention is better than cure’. What does it mean? It means, before we get trouble, better prepare or strengthen ourselves that problems are either nipped in the bud or we have sufficient physical immunity power, mental will power and spiritual wisdom to address any form of suffering that is inevitable in any life, more or less. But mostly we learnt the hard lesson through mistakes or suffering only.
On socio-economic scenario most people undertake external measures to reduce suffering such as putting hard work to earn money that will take care of physical health. Now, science is saying most of the physical diseases (60% or so) are the reflections for the stress and tension of the mind, called psycho-somatic. Thus, mind has to be kept calm and controlled while addressing these stresses, so that physical as well as mental suffering is reduced.
For mental and emotional health, psychiatric involvement or psychological counselling are able to curb suffering in a limited way that might be genetic or hereditary. Here comes spiritual wisdom to face existential suffering that undertake measures to empower self through various postures, pranayama and peace inducing activities. As we know in electronic configuration, electron moves or works that is negatively charged and proton-neutron stays in silent in the nucleus/ center. So for acquiring peace we have to take our attention to core or center of our being i.e. consciousness.
Thus, along with all outer measure, unless yoga/ meditation like inner peace inducing self- transformative measures are undertaken, suffering cannot be tackled in more permanent manner. Here holistic yog principles/ approaches takes care both aspects of inner and outer causes as per individual time, temperament and tendencies to alleviate threefold suffering (physical illnesses, mental illusion and absence of spiritual illumination).