Yoga practice enhances spiritual well-being and life skills among professional practitioners. In-depth interviews with twenty-one trained yoga practitioners in Nepal and Thailand revealed that yoga promotes heightened self-awareness, sustained stillness, focused attention, moral sensitivity, detachment from materialism, a sense of sacredness and connectedness, and felt closeness to God. Improvements in life skills include emotional regulation, clearer decision making, conflict resolution, social empathy, and resilient coping. The findings suggest yoga functions as a traditional therapeutic tool supporting holistic health.
Banjhakri is a supernatural shamanic entity whose presence extends from West Central Nepal to parts of North Eastern India. The article draws on extant scholarship to offer a composite assessment of folklores and symbolism surrounding banjhakri, discussing his physical and behavioral attributes, his status as the root guru of shamans, and his symbiotic relationship with his consort and antagonist, banjhakrini. It examines the phenomenon of abduction of mainly young boys by banjhakri, which marks their initiation into this arcane world. Banjhakri serves as a therapeutic ally, a social equalizer, and a tool that allows shamans to interpret woes and maladies. His place in Nepalese society has been tied inextricably to his utility in Nepalese social life, and his legacy is discussed amidst unprecedented changes in social dynamics.