There are individual sports, such as athletic sports. There are team sports, such as football and rugby. There are examples of winter sports, such as skiing – which is fraught with danger, and there is also skating. But there is also the gripping “electronic” sport, or e-sport involving video games, that become obsessive and that unleash sinister addiction in many human beings. Only Swedish gymnastics somewhat cultivates the ideal of a healthy and natural body, but this gymnastics is centred around the body and only around that.
A closer look at the way in which performance sport is practised today shows that the long-established ideal of “a deeply transformed and beneficially oriented consciousness that is integrated in a fruitful, harmonious way into a healthy body” is not being promoted at all.
Present in different forms in different cultures
The ideal affirmed by the quoted fragment is found in the history and culture of humanity in various, nuanced forms. This ideal has also been summarised in the saying, “A healthy consciousness can only exist in a healthy body”. This is a proverb that originated in Latin antiquity, by the Roman writer, Juvenal.
Juvenal, also known as Decimus Iunius Iuvenalis, was a Roman poet and satirist who lived in the late 1st and early 2nd century AD. Juvenal is best known for his collection of satires criticising the mores and problems of Roman society at the time. Born in Aquinum, now Aquino, Italy, Juvenal lived in an era marked by great political turmoil and significant social upheaval, including the reign of several emperors and cultural and economic transformations in the Roman Empire. Juvenal’s satires are remarkable for the vigour and acuity of his criticism of Roman society, including corruption, hypocrisy in the elite of the time, moral decadence and excesses of all kinds. Through his works, he laid the foundations of the satirical genre in Western literature, influencing many subsequent authors. His style is characterised by sarcasm, irony and a deep moral indignation at the vices of his society. Although biographical details about Juvenal are limited and largely unknown, his work provides valuable insight into life and social problems in ancient Rome. His satires have remained relevant and influential throughout the centuries, being studied and admired for their literary quality and their insight into human nature and society.Some of Juvenal’s sayings have become proverbial, such as the statement quoted above, the value of which can be expressed in the phrase, “A healthy consciousness in a healthy body”.
„The greatest blessing one can ask of the gods”
This expression appears in Satire X, which is part of his collection of satires written around 100 AD. In the original context, Juvenal discusses the importance of bodily health and consciousness, arguing that the greatest blessing one can ask of the gods is a healthy consciousness in a healthy body.
The specific Latin expression, “Orandum est ut sit mens sana in corpore sano”, roughly translates as “It is necessary to pray for a healthy consciousness in a healthy body”. Juvenal stresses here that a healthy consciousness and a healthy body are essential for a fulfilled and happy life. This idea has remained relevant for people characterised by intelligence and common sense from then until today.
Exclusive focus on the body, a derivative of the present
Over the centuries, this proverb has been adapted and reinterpreted in various contexts, in some forms retaining its fundamental essence, while in others it has moved away from its profound meaning. The proverb has been used to emphasise the importance of exercise in the context of a balanced life, which is necessary for maintaining a healthy consciousness. In education or public health policy the statement has served as a guiding principle for promoting a healthy lifestyle.
However, over time, interpretations have come to vary, so that the essence of the statement has not always been understood and respected.
Today, performance sport has come to turn one-sidedly towards the physical side of the ancient statement, away from the ideal that this famous statement aims to convey.
Hatha yoga leads us to balance and connects us to universal sources of beneficial energy
The statement “A deeply transformed and beneficially oriented consciousness that is integrated fruitfully and harmoniously into a healthy body” remains a very valuable principle of life, emphasising the interconnection between the health of the body and that of the consciousness, and the importance of paying adequate attention to both aspects to achieve overall well-being.
The ancient hatha yoga system responds fully to this desideratum and even goes much further. Within the hatha yoga system, each posture, each bodily attitude (asana in Sanskrit), by approaching it in a state of complete stillness and appropriate relaxation, but above all by an excellent focus of consciousness, of attention, triggers eminently beneficial phenomena of occult resonance with enigmatic, huge, endless foci of power that exist within the Macrocosm.
Body and consciousness work together for fruitful transformation
In this brilliant, occult way, the practitioner acts fruitfully on the body through consciousness, but at the same time, he or she acts constructively through the body on consciousness. In this way, beneficial, marvellous psychosomatic connections emerge that rapidly and definitively transform the microcosm of the human being.