The Roots Of Yoga

Place the palms of both hands on the ground. Place the navel on both elbows and balancing thus, stretch the body backward like a stick. This position destroys all diseases, removes abdominal disorders, digests unwholesome food, increases the appetite and destroys the most deadly poison.' In this kind of detail an ancient Indian text book, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, spells out the ways of purifying the body by physical and mental effort, in order to reach union with God. But this is only the beginning and the West has little idea of the truth about Yoga. Tonight's film, made in the Yoga training centres and hospitals in India, sets out to explain the intricate techniques, the philosophy and the purpose of Yoga - to escape the suffering and miseries of this world where the spirit is trapped in the flesh and bones of humanity. Photography TONY PIERCE-ROBERTS Film editor BILL WRIGHT