SSIAR’s focus of research is to investigate the impact of ancient knowledge systems on all aspects of the human experience : our mind , body and behaviour ; the society we comprise of; and the world we live in.

We aim to understand the impact of ancient knowledge systems on human beings as a whole : on their physical and mental health , how we behave with each other in society and how our choices impact the world we live in.

Our specific focus areas encompass studying the changes in mental health of adults and children with the practice of ancient knowledge based techniques. It is necessary to find holistic effective solutions to mitigate the poor mental health and stress , and equally important to investigate ways to enhance the positive mental health attributes. We study and share ancient knowledge based solutions to address global health challenges like non communicable diseases, gut health and insomnia.

The studies under this research area investigate the effect of ancient knowledge systems on mental health and behaviour of human beings.

The World Health Organization defines mental health as not just the absence of mental illness, but rather a state of well-being in which individuals are able to cope well with the normal stresses of daily life. Good mental health enables a person to recognize their abilities, work productively, and make meaningful contributions to their community. Mental health is like physical health - everyone has it to varying degrees, ranging from a spectrum of very poor to very good, and it requires care and attention to stay mentally fit.

Mental health is a complex phenomenon. In the past, mental health has been confused with poor mental health. For several decades, the sole focus of mental health research was around mitigation of mental health disorders like depression and anxiety. SSIAR is conducting several research studies with its partners that investigate the impact of techniques like yoga , meditation and pranayama on mitigating stress, depression and anxiety in a myriad of populations.

This pillar of research focuses on the impact of ancient knowledge systems on our physical body. Human body is unique; made up of trillions of cells and nine major systems. The focus of SSIAR is to study the impact of ancient knowledge & techniques on these systems.

Humanity is facing several challenges when it comes to physical health. Although our life span has increased, our health span has not increased proportionally. Due to the modern lifestyle there is a greater incidence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) which create a major burden on the quality of life and health care systems. According to WHO, non-communicable diseases comprised 7 of the 10 leading causes of deaths in 2019 globally. The world’s biggest killer is ischemic heart disease, responsible for 16% of the world’s total deaths.The economic toll of these diseases is huge, in trillions of dollars per year. Modern science is not able to cope with the explosion of NCDs and hence alternative modalities for prevention and management of these diseases are being explored. Mind body interventions are being explored in a large way to mitigate the negative impact of NCDs.

NCDs is just one of the challenges concerning physical health. There are many such challenges that need to be addressed like lack of sleep, poor Gut health, how to increase health span for an aging population.

Humans are social beings. We are dependent on people around us , not just for our existence but also for our happiness , peace and economic stability. Our quality of life is determined by the collective quality of life of those around us, i.e our society.

The ancient knowledge systems contain several techniques and practices that may hold low cost , effective solutions to address critical issues that societies face across the world. Through scientific research , SSIAR brings forth unique solutions to common problems in the areas of women empowerment, education, increasing peace and reducing violence.

Specific areas of focus include understanding the impact of yoga , pranayama and meditation on incarcerated individuals , surrendered militants and those suffering from trauma. We have also initiated several research projects on those affected by the recent pandemic. Another focus area is to understand the the role yoga and meditation can play in the field of education.

The ancient knowledge systems hold the vision of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” which means everyone is a part of one world and we are one world family.

We are all interconnected, and choices made in one part of the world can impact another part of the planet that we inhabit. If we look at the practices of ancient culture, Vedic culture or first nations, there was lots of reverence for nature and there was a lot of harmony in the world that they lived in. Obviously now this has changed.

At SSIAR, we are addressing questions like “Can the ancient knowledge systems bring about a change in the world we live in?” “Can a solution be found in the ancient knowledge system for human behaviour which has caused problems like climate change & unsustainable consumption of resources?”