Yoga and mental health: A dialogue between ancient wisdom and modern psychology

BACKGROUND Many yoga texts make reference to the importance of mental health and the use of specific techniques in the treatment of mental disorders. Different concepts utilized in modern psychology may not come with contemporary ideas, instead, they seem to share a common root with ancient wisdom. AIMS The goal of this perspective article is to correlate modern techniques used in psychology and psychiatry with yogic practices, in the treatment of mental disorders. MATERIALS AND METHODS The current article presented a dialogue between the yogic approach for the treatment of mental disorder and concepts used in modern psychology, such as meta-cognition, disidentification, deconditioning and interoceptive exposure. CONCLUSIONS Contemplative research found out that modern interventions in psychology might not come from modern concepts after all, but share great similarity with ancient yogic knowledge, giving us the opportunity to integrate the psychological wisdom of both East and West.