Source: # Bhagavad Gita, yoga and Indian wisdom for mental peace What the Gita, Ramayana, Upanishads and yoga teach about the mind, anxiety, grief and steadiness – alongside modern psychology. ## Chapters on this topic ### Chapter 23: Integrating Mind, Body and Spirit Four rooms, one house : A practice supports a clinic. It does not cancel one. - [23.1 Holistic mental health](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/chapter/23#holistic-mental-health/) - [23.2 Mind-body connection](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/chapter/23#mind-body-connection/) - [23.3 Practices for mind-body integration](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/chapter/23#practices-for-mind-body-integration/) - [23.4 Spiritual wellbeing](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/chapter/23#spiritual-wellbeing/) - [23.5 Finding meaning and purpose](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/chapter/23#finding-meaning-and-purpose/) - [23.6 Integrative treatment](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/chapter/23#integrative-treatment/) - [23.7 Daily integration practices](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/chapter/23#daily-integration-practices/) - [23.8 The whole person](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/chapter/23#the-whole-person/) - [23.9 One companion verse](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/chapter/23#one-companion-verse-16/) ### Chapter 24: Gita, Ramayana and Hindu Traditions on the Mind Living texts beside a clinic, never instead of one - Krishna does not mock Arjuna. He listens, then guides. That is still the first clinical move. - [24.1 Why look at Hindu scriptures for mental health?](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/chapter/24#why-look-at-hindu-scriptures-for-mental-health/) - [24.2 The Bhagavad Gita: a dialogue on crisis, duty and the mind](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/chapter/24#the-bhagavad-gita-a-dialogue-on-crisis-duty-and-the-mind/) - [24.3 Key Gita teachings on the mind](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/chapter/24#key-gita-teachings-on-the-mind/) - [24.4 The Ramayana: grief, duty, and relational psychology](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/chapter/24#the-ramayana-grief-duty-and-relational-psychology/) - [24.5 Upanishads: self-knowledge and freedom from fear](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/chapter/24#upanishads-self-knowledge-and-freedom-from-fear/) - [24.6 Bhagavata Purana and devotional psychology](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/chapter/24#bhagavata-purana-and-devotional-psychology/) - [24.7 Regional traditions across India](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/chapter/24#regional-traditions-across-india/) - [24.8 Hindu practices as mental-health supports](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/chapter/24#hindu-practices-as-mental-health-supports/) - [24.9 Ancient Indian medical texts on mind](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/chapter/24#ancient-indian-medical-texts-on-mind/) - [24.10 Trauma-informed yoga](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/chapter/24#trauma-informed-yoga/) - [24.11 More bhakti voices](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/chapter/24#more-bhakti-voices/) - [24.12 Integrating scripture with modern care](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/chapter/24#integrating-scripture-with-modern-care/) - [24.13 Across the Hindu world — mind, sorrow, company, and help](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/chapter/24#across-the-hindu-world-mind-sorrow-company-and-help/) - [Reference register — every religious line used in this section](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/chapter/24#reference-register-every-religious-line-used-in-this-section/) - [24.14 A simple story](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/chapter/24#a-simple-story-12/) ## Stories from real life (9) - [The Headaches That Had No Cause](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/story/the-headaches-that-had-no-cause-91/) – Prakash Nair, forty-four, a bank manager in Thiruvananthapuram, had tension headaches, a tight stomach and sore shoulders for months. He had seen two doctors… - [Savitri’s Morning Practice](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/story/savitris-morning-practice-92/) – Savitri Bhatt, sixty-eight, retired from teaching in Vadodara. She felt restless after retirement, worried about her blood pressure, and woke each night around three.… - [The Teacher Who Said to Stop the Tablets](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/story/the-teacher-who-said-to-stop-the-tablets-93/) – Harish Gowda, thirty-seven, from Mysuru, lost his job and began to feel hopeless and tired, and he stopped enjoying anything. A friend took him… - [Arjuna in the Exam Hall](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/story/arjuna-in-the-exam-hall-94/) – Rohan Deshmukh, nineteen, from Pune, was preparing for a competitive engineering exam. His family had spent years and savings on coaching. A week before… - [Dasharatha’s Grief, Rama’s Steadiness](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/story/dasharathas-grief-ramas-steadiness-95/) – When Gopal Iyengar, seventy-three, of Thanjavur lost his wife of fifty years, he stopped speaking at meals. His son Venkat found him staring at… - [Sita’s Courage and the Gentle Choice](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/story/sitas-courage-and-the-gentle-choice-96/) – Anjali Sharma, thirty-one, from Varanasi, left a harmful marriage after years of cruelty. She was physically safe now, living with her parents, but her… - [The Restless Mind of Mohan](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/story/the-restless-mind-of-mohan-97/) – Mohan Pillai, forty, a shopkeeper in Kozhikode, found his mind jumping like a monkey. He replayed an old quarrel with his brother, feared losing… - [Parvathi, the Healer and the Doctor](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/story/parvathi-the-healer-and-the-doctor-98/) – Parvathi Hegde, thirty-six, lived in a village near Udupi. After her second child's birth she became withdrawn, stopped eating properly, spoke to no one… - [Anita, Age 36](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/story/anita-age-36-176/) – Anita had severe anxiety and insomnia. She was on medication and in therapy, but still felt empty. Her grandmother suggested reading the Gita together… ## Shloks (49) - [Bhagavad Gita 2.50](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/bhagavad-gita-2-50-30/) – Yoga is skill in action. - [Bhagavad Gita 2.48](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/bhagavad-gita-2-48-31/) – Established in yoga, perform action, abandoning attachment, equal in success and failure. Equanimity is called yoga. - [Bhagavad Gita 2.62](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/bhagavad-gita-2-62-32/) – Dwelling on objects, attachment arises. From attachment, desire; from desire, anger. - [Bhagavad Gita 2.63](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/bhagavad-gita-2-63-33/) – From anger, delusion; from delusion, memory of values slips; from that, discernment is destroyed; from destroyed discernment, the person falls. - [Isha Upanishad 1](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/isha-upanishad-1-34/) – All this is inhabited by the Lord. Enjoy by letting go. Do not covet anyone's wealth. - [Patanjali Yoga Sutra 1.2](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/patanjali-yoga-sutra-1-2-35/) – Yoga is the stilling of the turnings of the mind-stuff. - [Patanjali Yoga Sutra 1.12](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/patanjali-yoga-sutra-1-12-36/) – That stilling comes through practice and non-clinging. - [Patanjali Yoga Sutra 2.4](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/patanjali-yoga-sutra-2-4-37/) – Ignorance is the field of those that follow — whether dormant, thin, interrupted, or fully out. - [Patanjali Yoga Sutra 2.5](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/patanjali-yoga-sutra-2-5-38/) – Avidya is taking the impermanent as permanent, the impure as pure, pain as pleasure, and non-self as self. - [Patanjali Yoga Sutra 2.6](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/patanjali-yoga-sutra-2-6-39/) – Asmita is as if the power of seeing and the power of what is seen were oneself. - [Patanjali Yoga Sutra 2.7](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/patanjali-yoga-sutra-2-7-40/) – Raga is that which trails after pleasure. - [Patanjali Yoga Sutra 2.8](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/patanjali-yoga-sutra-2-8-41/) – Dvesha is that which trails after pain. - [Patanjali Yoga Sutra 2.9](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/patanjali-yoga-sutra-2-9-42/) – Abhinivesha flows by its own juice; it is established even in the learned. - [Patanjali Yoga Sutra 1.5–1.6](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/patanjali-yoga-sutra-1-5-1-6-43/) – The turnings are fivefold, afflicted or unafflicted: valid knowing, error, fantasy, sleep, and memory. - [Patanjali Yoga Sutra 1.33](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/patanjali-yoga-sutra-1-33-44/) – The mind becomes clear by cultivating friendliness toward the happy, compassion toward the suffering, joy toward the good, and steadiness toward the unhelpful. - [Patanjali Yoga Sutra 2.46](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/patanjali-yoga-sutra-2-46-45/) – Asana is a seat that is steady and easeful. - [Bhagavad Gita 6.17](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/bhagavad-gita-6-17-46/) – For one measured in food and movement, measured in work, measured in sleep and waking — yoga becomes the destroyer of sorrow. - [Tirukkural 1](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/tirukkural-1-47/) – As A is first among letters, the Primordial One is first in the world. - [Tirukkural 121](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/tirukkural-121-48/) – Restraint lifts one high; lack of restraint throws one anywhere. - [Tukaram Gatha; cite by first line](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/tukaram-gatha-cite-by-first-line-49/) – Whoever calls the afflicted and crushed their own... - [Basavanna, Vachana tradition](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/basavanna-vachana-tradition-50/) – Work itself is Kailasa. - [Narsinh Mehta, Vaishnava jana to](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/narsinh-mehta-vaishnava-jana-to-51/) – Call that person a Vaishnava who knows the pain of another. - [Charaka Samhita, Nidana Sthana 7.5; types at Nidana 7.3](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/charaka-samhita-nidana-sthana-7-5-types-at-nidana-7-3-52/) – Know unmada as derangement of mind, intellect, consciousness, knowledge, memory, inclination, character, activity and conduct. - [Charaka Samhita, Chikitsa Sthana 9.6](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/charaka-samhita-chikitsa-sthana-9-6-53/) – Perverted intellect, agitation of sattva, restless eyes, impatience, incoherent speech, and a vacant heart-mind — these are the common marks of unmada. - [Charaka Samhita, Sutra Sthana 11.54](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/charaka-samhita-sutra-sthana-11-54-54/) – Medicine is of three kinds: daiva-vyapasraya (ritual and meaning), yukti-vyapasraya (reasoned diet and drug), and sattvavajaya. Sattvavajaya is restraint of the mind from unwholesome… - [Charaka Samhita, Sutra Sthana 1.58](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/charaka-samhita-sutra-sthana-1-58-55/) – Disorders of the mind are met with knowledge, skilled knowing, courage, memory, and collectedness. - [Vagbhata, Ashtanga Hridaya, Sutra Sthana 1.26](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/vagbhata-ashtanga-hridaya-sutra-sthana-1-26-56/) – Discernment, courage, and knowledge of the self are the highest medicine for disorders of the mind. - [Bhagavad Gita 18.66](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/bhagavad-gita-18-66-57/) – Leaving all rigid duties, take refuge in Me alone. I will free you. Do not grieve. - [Bhagavad Gita 12.13](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/bhagavad-gita-12-13-58/) – Unhating toward beings, friendly and compassionate, without possessiveness or I-making, equal in pain and pleasure, forbearing. - [Shankara, Bhaja Govindam 1](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/shankara-bhaja-govindam-1-59/) – Worship Govinda, worship Govinda, O foolish mind. ## More topics - [What is mental health? A simple guide to the mind and who can help](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/topic/mental-health-basics/) - [The brain, hormones and body chemistry behind your moods](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/topic/brain-and-body/) - [Emotions, anger and mood swings – understanding your feelings](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/topic/emotions/) - [Stress – causes, symptoms and how to reduce stress at work and in exams](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/topic/stress/) - [Anxiety, panic attacks and fear – signs, causes and what helps](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/topic/anxiety/) - [Depression and low mood – signs, causes and the way back](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/topic/depression/) - [Trauma, grief and loss – healing at your own pace](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/topic/trauma-grief/) - [Children, teenagers and parents – mental health at home and school](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/topic/children-parents/) - [Sleep problems, food and daily routine for a healthy mind](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/topic/sleep-food-routine/) - [Counselling, therapy and psychiatric medicines explained](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/topic/therapy-medicines/) - [Helping a loved one with mental illness – family and relationships](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/topic/family-relationships/) - [Mental health crisis and suicide prevention – what to do](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/topic/safety-crisis/) - [The five senses, the five elements and the mind](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/topic/senses-elements/) - [Addiction to alcohol, tobacco, drugs and gambling – signs and recovery](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/topic/addiction/) - [Phone addiction, social media and screen time – digital well-being](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/topic/digital-life/) - [Ageing well, memory loss and dementia – caring for elders](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/topic/later-life/) [myadvisorfriend@gmail.com](mailto:myadvisorfriend@gmail.com) · [Contact](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/contact/) · [About](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/about/) · [Privacy](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/privacy/) · [Disclaimer](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/disclaimer/) --- *Psychology for Everyone – A Mental Well Being Series* by Satish Zope · free to read · Contact: [myadvisorfriend@gmail.com](mailto:myadvisorfriend@gmail.com) · [About](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/about/) · [Privacy](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/privacy/) · [Disclaimer](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/disclaimer/)