He is a yoga teacher. He was sent into space for research on yoga and space sickness. The cosmonauts who go into space develop many problems there, which are partially due to weightlessness. They have problems like nausea, digestive disturbance, nervous disturbance. Yoga is considered very important in this situation because in the practices of yoga, we try to control the negative aspects of weightlessness.
Therefore, this man was sent into orbit to work with other cosmonauts. They have been working on this project for a very long time and I am confident that the research results will be produced soon, and they will bring out a set of practices for cosmonauts. The main thing is, when the body becomes weightless, as it does during meditation as well, how do you manage? In yoga, this is one of the most important practices.
Many people who practise meditation don’t like it. There are many cases where people just jump up.
So, in meditation, we gradually train the mind to face that experience. Therefore, if a person who has already practised meditation and experienced lightness goes into space and experiences the same thing there, he won’t have any problem. There is another problem in space. When the body becomes weightless, you have many kinds of psychic experiences and you can’t face them. You may have nightmarish dreams. You may see shadows and lights, have hallucinations.
You see, this physical body has different reactions in different places. As you go high up in the mountains, you have different reactions. People who go on an expedition to Mount Everest experience different reactions. Gravity controls your experience; it controls the behaviour of your nervous system and brain. When you are out of the influence of gravity, you cannot handle it if you have not practised anything. So, the future cosmonauts will practise yoga and then go into space.
May 1984, Il Ciocco