Relevance of Psychology
Psychology seeks to help people find happiness. It can therefore be applied to many modern fields, including sports, education, business, media and personal growth (Philippe, 2017). Within these fields, psychology seeks to understand motivations and behaviour to help people make decisions to improve stress management and decision-making. For example, by aligning goals in a business setting, people can improve collaboration, problem solving and employee well-being. Psychology therefore provides frameworks and knowledge to create the right environment (tegna2017, 2018). Another example is sport where success is linked to mental strength as well as physical prowess. Therefore, a sport psychologist has an important role to play by supporting athletes to develop self-belief and providing relaxation techniques to develop calm and reduce anxiety (Golding & Lippert, 2017). This complements yoga well making the relevance of yoga and psychology critical in modern life.
Yoga Focuses on Happiness
Yoga also seeks to help people achieve happiness. However, psychology uses more Cartesian and cognitive type tools whereas yoga has more spiritual and physical tools to help achieve the same goal. As a result, yoga is more accessible to everyone and is about understanding both body and mind and how they move together. As described by Dr. Swami Shankardev (2016), one of Australia’s yoga experts, ‘yoga psychology is the science of the embodied relationship between consciousness and mind’. Only through balance of these two can people find peace and harmony in their lives. In addition, in today’s fast-moving world of social media, this is increasingly important as people lose what it means to be human. People need connection with each other but as we now increasingly communicate through technology, for example social media, opportunities for developing deep and emotional connections are decreasing.
In conclusion, yoga can help us reconnect with ourselves and each other which can help us understand each other better. By approaching life with curiosity and peace, we can achieve better balance and harmony and therefore start aiming for true happiness. Yoga and psychology support this goal making their relevance important for all.
References
Golding, J. & Lippert, A. (1 January 2017) Sports Psychology: Mind And Body. Psychology Today. [Online] Available from: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/careers-in-psych/201701/sports-psychology-mind-and-body
Philippe, R. (9 September 2017) The Importance of Psychology. Owlcation. [Online] Available from: https://owlcation.com/social-sciences/Psychology-and-its-Importance
Pottratz, S. (2016) Humanistic Psychology in Sport. Believe Perform. [Online]Available from:
Shankardev, S. (2016) Yoga Psychology and Psychotherapy. Enlightened Events. [Online] Available from: https://www.enlightenedevents.com.au/yoga-psychology-and-psychotherapy-dr-swami-shankardev-saraswati-australian-yoga-therapy-conference
tegna2017 (7 March 2018) The Importance of Psychology in Today’s World. University of the District of Columbia. [Online]
