The Role of Bhakti-Yoga Practices in Pain Management: A Hypothetical Review

Abstract

Bhakti-Yoga which can be understood as the "Path of Devotion", is the path of selfless love and complete devotion with great faith towards a personal Deity or the God. The end goal of this path has been understood to be Moksha or Liberation, as per the scriptures. This blissful path immerses a devotee in Ananda or divine ecstasy, gives inner satisfaction, knowledge and peace. It is believed that various stresses on the physical and mental level get alleviated as the devotees indulge themselves in devotional worship, mantra chanting, rituals, etc. Since Bhakti-Yoga has been told to have such profound effect on the mind, it might prove to be quite helpful for pain management, which we have tried to explore in the present paper based on the previous research. The scriptures give us instructions on the ways to deal with pain. Relief from pain, whether it’s mental or physical, has been shown to be possible through devotional practices in various studies. The practices done for Bhakti-Yoga can be helpful in pain management in many ways. Dissociative states of the mind achieved while being immersed in devotional practices seem to work by shifting away the attention from the painful stimuli. Also, the meditative states of mind seen during mantra chanting, congregational prayer sessions, etc. help in lowering stress hormone levels, muscle tension, etc. which alter the ways in which the brain processes pain signals. Likewise, this paper aims to explore and explain hypothetically the way Bhakti-Yoga practices might be useful for dealing with mental and physical pains by reviewing the findings of various studies.