Find out the correct statements about alternative therapies:
(A) Yoga is an ancient Indian technique detailed in the Ashtanga Yoga of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras.
(B) Alternative therapies are treatment possibilities to the conventional drug treatment or psychotherapy.
(C) Sudarshan Karma Yoga does not benefit individuals with anxiety and depression but helps substance abuse.
(D) There are many alternative therapies like cognitive behaviour therapy and rational emotive therapy.
(E) Vipasana meditation is also known as mindfulness based meditation.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → (A), (B) & (E) only
(A) Yoga is an ancient Indian technique detailed in the Ashtanga Yoga of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. Correct. Yoga is an ancient Indian technique described in the Ashtanga Yoga of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras; today the word usually refers to asanas (body postures), pranayama (breathing practices) or both.
(B) Alternative therapies are treatment possibilities to the conventional drug treatment or psychotherapy. Correct. They are called alternative because they are alternative treatment possibilities to conventional drug treatment or psychotherapy, for example yoga, meditation and acupuncture.
(C) Sudarshan Karma Yoga does not benefit individuals with anxiety and depression but helps substance abuse. Incorrect. Sudarshana Kriya Yoga (SKY), with its rapid breathing, is found to be a beneficial, low-risk, low-cost adjunct to the treatment of stress, anxiety, PTSD, depression, substance abuse and other problems. It does help in anxiety and depression.
(D) There are many alternative therapies like cognitive behaviour therapy and rational emotive therapy. Incorrect. Cognitive behaviour therapy and rational emotive therapy are forms of psychotherapy; they are the conventional treatment to which alternative therapies are an alternative.
(E) Vipasana meditation is also known as mindfulness based meditation. Correct. In Vipasana or mindfulness-based meditation there is no fixed object or thought to hold the attention; the person passively observes the bodily sensations and thoughts passing through awareness.
Note: Statement (C) is kept as printed in the original NTA paper, which names the technique ‘Sudarshan Karma Yoga’. The NCERT book calls it ‘Sudarshana Kriya Yoga’ (SKY), a yoga technique that uses rapid breathing to induce hyperventilation; NCERT says that it is a beneficial, low-risk, low-cost adjunct to the treatment of stress, anxiety, PTSD, depression, substance abuse and other problems. Statement (C) is judged the same whichever name is used, so the answer is not affected.
NCERT (2025-26): “Alternative Therapies … Alternative therapies are so called, because they are alternative treatment possibilities to the conventional drug treatment or psychotherapy. There are many alternative therapies such as yoga, meditation, acupuncture, herbal remedies and so on. In the past 25 years, yoga and meditation have gained popularity as treatment programmes for psychological distress. Yoga is an ancient Indian technique detailed in the Ashtanga Yoga of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. Yoga as it is commonly called today either refers to only the asanas or body posture component or to breathing practices or pranayama, or to a combination of the two. Meditation refers to the practice of focusing attention on breath or on an object or thought or a mantra. Here attention is focused. In Vipasana meditation, also known as mindfulnessbased meditation, there is no fixed object or thought to hold the attention. The person passively observes the various bodily sensations and thoughts that are passing through in her or his awareness.” “Alternative Therapies … The rapid breathing techniques to induce hyperventilation as in Sudarshana Kriya Yoga (SKY) is found to be a beneficial, low-risk, low-cost adjunct to the treatment of stress, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, stress-related medical illnesses, substance abuse, and rehabilitation of criminal offenders.…” |