Changes

Jump to navigation Jump to search

Yoga and Its Impact on Emotional Intelligence (view source)

Revision as of 12:50, 12 April 2020

13,629 bytes added ,  12:50, 12 April 2020
Content Added
Line 35: Line 35:     
Chakraborty and Chakraborty (2008)<ref name=":6" /> see the human personality as a composite of four subtle variables: reason, will, emotion and conscience. In order to integrate the personality, these four factors must be habituated to work in harmony instead of working at cross purposes, and this requires effort. Further, the expression ‘integrated personality’ is often employed to imply the same characteristics that are expected of a holistic, self-possessed Personality.
 
Chakraborty and Chakraborty (2008)<ref name=":6" /> see the human personality as a composite of four subtle variables: reason, will, emotion and conscience. In order to integrate the personality, these four factors must be habituated to work in harmony instead of working at cross purposes, and this requires effort. Further, the expression ‘integrated personality’ is often employed to imply the same characteristics that are expected of a holistic, self-possessed Personality.
 +
 +
An analysis of the work of several religious and other scholars provides a basis to conclude that the yoga way of life significantly impacts leadership traits and improves EI and EC. Swami Vivekananda averred that the highest man is calm, silent and unknown (Swami Vivekananda, 2006). The highest man as a leader is calm in order to understand situations, and to think and select the best option for his followers’ development. He is silent in order to listen to himself and to his subordinates, to control his prejudices and conditioning, and to meet others’ hearts. Finally, the leader chooses to remain unknown in order to be free from possible egotistic benefits. According to Sri Aurobindo (in Chakraborty & Chakraborty, 2008), ‘The more complete the calm, the mightier the yogic power, the greater the force in action’ (p 201).
 +
 +
According to Swami Tapasyananda (1984), man is an inte- grated whole, his mind being a complex of feeling (emotions), will and intellection. In the four spiritual disciplines (i.e. the four types of yogadRaja, Karma, Bhakti and Jnana), one of these dominates, while the others, though subordinate, complete the discipline. This is the integrated yoga of the Bhagavad Gita. Swami Vivekananda too, in his interpretation of Vedanta, gives an equal place to all the four yogas.
 +
 +
The role of yoga in the development of impersonality or the spiritual personality has been well explained by Sri Aurobindo in his classic work, Essays on the Gita (Sri Aurobindo, 1942). According to Sri Aurobindo, yoga and knowledge are the two wings of the soul’s ascent. He states, ‘By yoga is meant union through divine works done without desire, with equality of soul to all things and all men, as a sacrifice
 +
 +
to the Supreme, while knowledge is that on
 +
 +
which this desirelessness, this equality, this power of sacrifices is founded’ (p 191).
 +
 +
Awareness of self within and self in others, leads us towards ‘something higher than the ego, an infinite, an impersonal, a universal existence . In other words, man’s way to liberation and perfection lies through an increasing impersonality.’ There are certain signs which are indica- tive of the development of impersonality. These are: the absence of personal egoism; freedom from desire; the awareness of an impersonal force of love or will; perfect equality between the soul and nature; and fullness of inner joy and peace (Sri Aurobindo, 1942, pp 121, 123).
 +
 +
Dwelling on the art of meditation, Swami Anubhavananda and Kumar (2007, p 283) hold that it ‘strengthens our muscles of awareness and choice’, helps in training our mind and changing our attitudes. Proposing ‘emotional maturity’ as another attribute to be cultivated, the authors posit that it can be cultivated through self-contemplation, which constitutes evaluating one’s emotions, and identifying and expressing feelings in a poised state of heart and mind. This is a state where an individual recognises his inner self and responds accordingly (p 298).
 +
 +
Relating the philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita to making work an enjoyable experience, Swami Bodhananda Sar- aswati (2007) reiterates the need to engage in the world but remain detached from the fruits of one’s work and to not react to the results of one’s work. Further, he stresses that it is very important to live in constant awareness of oneself so that one has power over one’s thoughts, and can choose responses to the world as per one’s values. This is the power that Patanjali’s Ashtanga yoga enunciates
 +
 +
through the principle of controlling or mastering the thought modifications of the mind (Swami Bodhananda Saraswati, 1998).
 +
 +
Patanjali’s Ashtanga yoga encompasses cognitive learning, moral conduct, physiological practices and psychological therapy. The first two stepsdyama and niyamadseek and shape external behaviour and thought patterns and thus minimise disturbances in the mind and the body. The handling of emotional contamination and the removal of negative emotions such as anger, jealousy, greed, attachment, ego, and an excessive desire for objects are very important in adopting the yoga way of life. The yama and niyama stages of Ashtanga yoga enable an individual to eradicate such negative contamination through sustained and conscious efforts. Through such a process, the individual attains a state of ‘chittasuddhi’ or purity of mind, which is considered to be the starting point of the yoga way of life. Sri Aurobindo too (Chakraborty & Chakraborty, 2008) stresses the need for the ‘chitta’ to be purified before clarity and right knowledge dawn.
 +
 +
On the behavioural side, abstention is sought from violence, falsehood, dishonesty, sexual excess and acquis- itive tendencies. On the cognitive moral side, the ideals prescribed are purity, contentment, austerity, self study and forbearance. The stages of asana and pranayama are meant for disciplining the body and regulating subtle energy flows. In the fifth stage of prayahara, secondary input is regulated so that the mind is not distracted. The stages of dharana, dhyana and samadhi are for uplifting one’s spiritual self and for heightening consciousness.
 +
 +
According to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras (Swami Satyananda Saraswati, 1976), asana and pranayama practices are supposed to make our body flexible and purify the subtle energy channels of our body. This paves the way for control of one’s mind, which consists of four aspects: random mind, intellect, subconscious mind and ego. Yoga works on all these four subtle aspects of our mind, and thereby makes one more self-aware, empathetic, motivated and self- regulated. These are the very qualities known as emotional intelligence.
 +
 +
Yoga and the work life
 +
 +
A series of techniques collectively known as ‘yoga’ present a rich source for generating indigenous organisational development techniques that may perhaps find better acceptance than imported intervention designs from the West (Srinivas, 1994). ‘Originally developed for personal spiritual growth, yoga offers a well formulated approach to planned change’ (Srinivas, 1994, p 271).
 +
 +
On the topic of spirituality in the workplace, Sangster (2003) reemphasises that ‘it is possible to lead a spiritual way of life without following any particular religious path’ (p 16). In Sangster’s opinion, spiritual workers are those who think cooperatively and/or altruistically; have a balanced, objective view of the world; listen as much as (or more than) they speak; apply three dimensional bigger picture thinking; believe in a higher driving force and purpose beyond humankind; find the time to think things through objectively; think laterally in order to promote realistic solutions; encourage and empower others self- lessly; work open mindedly with a wide range of people; consistently display integrity and trust; and, expect the best from people without being a soft touch.
 +
 +
Giacalone and Jurkiewicz (2003) stress yet another major advantage of nurturing the spiritual mindset within each worker in the organisationdethicality. They assert that fundamental aspects of workplace spirituality, such as meaningful work that provides a feeling of purpose, a sense of connection and positive social relations with co-workers, and the ability to live an integrated life in which the work role does not conflict with the essential nature of a person as a human being, may interact to create different perceptions of ethicality within the organisation (p 85).
 +
 +
Most of the work available on the subject of the impact of yoga on work life/management centres around the impact of transcendental meditation (TM) on various aspects of management. Transcendental meditation is the skill of effortlessly minimising mental activity so that the body settles into a state of rest deeper than deep sleep while the mind becomes clear and alert (Orme-Johnson, Zimmerman, & Hawkins, 1992). A review of over 500 experimental studies conducted in over 200 Universities in 33 countries (Orme-Johnson et al., 1992) revealed that TM helps expand consciousness, decrease oxygen intake and stress level, increase basal skin resistance and coherence in the electro encephalo gram (EEG) and virtually suspends breathing up to 1 minute.
 +
 +
At the University of Texas, Orme-Johnson et al. (1992) showed that meditators display a greater physiological equi- librium than non-meditators. They also showed that medita- tors maintain this equilibrium under stress more effectively than non-meditators. Frew (1974) completed a study that concludes that TM increases individual productivity. Frew found that meditators show increased job satisfaction, a decreased desire to change jobs, better performance, and better relationships with supervisors and co-workers.
 +
 +
Findings on the TM technique relevant to organisational performance include improved cognitive performance (see Orme-Johnson, Alexander, & Hawkins, 2005 for a recent summary of studies), increased self-esteem and higher levels of self-actualisation and development (Alexander, Rainforth, & Gelderloos, 1991), and more effective mana- gerial performance (Torbert, 1987). Previous case studies suggest that large proportions of organisation members practising the TM technique contribute to improvements in organisational performance (Schmidt-Wilk, Alexander, & Swanson, 1996).
 +
 +
Parde and Naidu (1992) report empirical evidence to show that people with a strong orientation to working sincerely without being preoccupied with the outcome experience less work-related stress. Misra (1989) found that effort orientation rather than concern for outcome leads to greater intrinsic satisfaction. Chakraborty (1987, 1993) provides experimental evidence that practising yoga, meditating, controlling breathing and stilling the turbulent mind can enable workers and managers to purify their mind and make it spiritual, expand their self to include others around them, and help them grow and transform them- selves without expecting anything in return.
 +
 +
One of the issues that researchers could confront while using a spiritual and philosophical concept such as yoga to address issues on a materialistic plane is whether yoga should be used for the utilitarian purpose of enhancing
 +
 +
a company’s performance, and whether a path of individual realisational quest (mukti) can be used to enhance mana- gerial performance. When yoga is interpreted as ‘a way to unite with universal consciousness’ (yujjyate anena iti yogah), it emphasises the individual realisational quest aspect of yoga. However, there are other definitions of yoga which point to the possibility of using it as a method of improving one’s quality of living and responses to events.
 +
 +
Yoga is defined as ‘skill in action’ (yogah karmasu kau- salam) in the Bhagavad Gita (Swami Tapasyananda, 1984, Chapter 2, Shloka 50) which discusses yoga explicitly, and further states that one must strive for the state of yoga where ‘One (is) endowed with . unperturbed evenness of mind (that) abandons the effects of both good and bad actions’ even in this world. The original shloka is as follows:
 +
 +
Buddhiyukto jahati’ha ubhe sukrta-duskrte Tasmad yogaya yujyasva yogah karmasu kausalam
 +
 +
This shloka clearly suggests that yoga can be applied to day-to-day living, which seems largely utilitarian. Sri Aurobindo, (in Chakraborty & Chakraborty, 2008), stating the power of yoga, reiterates that right knowledge becomes the infallible source of right action (yohgah kar- masu kaushalam) (p 201). To quote Sri Aurobindo fully, ‘The more complete the calm, the mightier the Yogic power, the greater the force in action. In this calm the right knowledge comes. The activity of the mind must cease, the chitta be purified, a silence falls upon the restlessness of prakriti; then in that calm, in that voiceless stillness, illumination comes upon the mind, error begins to fade away.clarity establishes itself in the higher stratum of the conscious- ness, compelling peace and joy in the lower. Right knowl- edge becomes the infallible source of right action. Yohgah karmasu kaushalam.’ (p 201).
 +
 +
In the light of the many definitions and descriptions of yoga, referring to the spiritual and the secular quest, we submit that the realisational vs utilitarian divide is artifi- cial. A truly realisational objective has to be all- comprehensive. It is in this context that we have chosen to do empirical research on this subject.
 +
 +
Hypothesis
 +
 +
So far no systematic attempt has been made to conduct a controlled study to identify the impact of adopting the yoga way of life on the emotional intelligence (EI) of managers. We would therefore like to study the relation- ship between them by hypothesising the relationship between the yoga way of life and its impact on the EI of managers in a business organisation.
 +
 +
Goleman (2000) opines that far too many training pro- grammes intended to build leadership skills, including EI, are ineffective because they focus on the wrong part of the brain.
 +
 +
Emotional intelligence is born largely in the neuro- transmitters of the brain’s limbic system, which governs feelings, impulses, and drives. Research indicates that the limbic system learns best through motivation, extended practice, and feedback. On the other hand, the neocortex, which governs analytical and technical ability, grasps concepts and logic. It is the part of the brain that figures
 +
 +
36 H. Adhia et al.
 +
 +
out how to use a computer or make a sales call by reading a book. Not surprisingly it is also the part of the brain mistakenly targeted by most training programmes
 +
 
==References==
 
==References==
    
[[Category:Education Series]]
 
[[Category:Education Series]]
 
<references />
 
<references />
Retrieved from ‘https://dharmawiki.org/index.php/Special:MobileDiff/124369’

Navigation menu