 
Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth (SBV) is one of India’s top-ranking healthcare universities with more than three thousand students enrolled in the streams of medicine, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, and allied health sciences. Its salutogenic orientation towards wellness, well-being, and programs towards this goal has received wide acclaim.
We at SBV have high regard for the ‘Father of Salutogenesis’ Professor Aaron Antonovsky and for his magnificent creation, the Theory of Salutogenesis, a focus on factors enhancing wellness and health promotion. This has been a source of inspiration for us in integrating health promotion and wellness through Yoga and music therapy into the modern medical system for over a decade and a half.
Since its inception, Yoga Therapy and Music Therapy have been part of SBV and through these two modalities we have focussed on manifesting salutogenesis through traditional and indigenous systems of therapy. Dedicated centres for the same in the form of Centre for Yoga Therapy Education and Research (CYTER) and Centre for Music Therapy Education and Research (CMTER) have enabled more than 100,000 care seekers to manifest wellness while taking the message of salutogenesis to all students who pass through SBV.
On the 22nd of August 2022, these two centres were amalgamated into the Institute of Salutogenesis and Complementary Medicine (ISCM) thus heralding a new era of Wellness Focussed Medicine in our country. ISCM is unique in that it is the only salutogenesis focussed institute within a healthcare university in the whole country.
The SBV Policy on salutogenesis implementation and SBV Standard Operating procedure for salutogenesis (2018) reiterates our commitment toward the creation of a health promoting environment that can be understood as a salutatory extra-person factor promoting positive health.
We have explored Yoga therapy and music therapy as part of Generalised Resistance Resources (GRR) development through YOGABHYASA and MEETS programs for our student community. Yoga therapy and music therapy have been utilised extensively in the clinical setting of our hospitals as a part of Specific Resistance Resources (SRR).
Numerous research projects and publications have documented these innovative efforts to integrate traditional systems of healing and wellness with modern medical approaches in patient care.
Following the high recommendations from the NAAC peer-review committee during their accreditation visit in 2021 (where SBV was accorded the top grade of A++), CYTER and CMTER were upgraded into the ISCM on 22 August 2022.
While acknowledging those responsible for the creation of the ISCM, we must place on record our intense gratitude to our esteemed Chancellor Shri MK Rajagopalan whose holistic vision, commitment to wellness and benevolence has enabled this to manifest with excellence.
All faculty of ISCM have joined the Society of Theory and Research in Salutogenesis (STARS) and we are looking forward to delving deeper into its concepts and applications in healthcare settings.
We plan to do extensive research in the near future with the SOC scales and hope to network with experts in the field to upgrade our levels of competencies and knowledge. We recently had the pleasure of having Dr Avishai Antonovsky grace the unveiling of Commemorative Plaque of his illustrious father and hope that he and other eminent experts will join us as advisors to further wellness for all.
The ISCM recently organised from 9th March to 27th April 2023 an International Webinar Series on Salutogenesis and Holistic Health to facilitate the propagation of this concept in the medical/paramedical circles of SBV and amongst the faculty, staff, students and alumni of the ISCM Family Worldwide.
The webinar series was inaugurated on the 9th March by the respected Vice Chancellor of SBV, Prof NR Biswas who delivered an inspiring Inaugural Address followed by felicitations by the Registrar Prof AR Srinivasan on the occasion.
Eminent guest speakers from around the globe enlightened more than 200 registered participants with their wisdom along with the extended ISCM Team of Faculty and Adjuvant Faculties.
The eminent external speakers included:
- Dr.Avishai Antonovsky, Department of Health and Well-Being, Medical Corps, Israel.
- Prof Bengt Lindstrom, Professor Emeritus at Nordic School of Public Health, Norway
- Prof Georg F Bauer, University of Zurich, Switzerland
- Yogacharya S Sridharan, Senior Mentor, Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram, Chennai
- Prof Ingunn Hagen, Norwegian University of Science & Technology, Norway.
- Prof Marguerite Daniel, University of Bergen, Norway.
- Prof. Claudia Meier Magistretti, Lucerne University, Switzerland.
- Dr.Srinidhi K Parthasarathi, Principal, Indian Academy Degree College, Former Registrar, SVYASA deemed-to-be University , Bangalore.
The ISCM team led by Prof Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani also presented various talks on Yoga therapy and music therapy as means of attaining, maintaining and regaining wellness. Yogathilakam Dr Meena Ramanathan, Yogachemmal G Dayanidy and Yogachemmal Dr R Balaji presented on different factes of Yoga therapy for wellness and the efforts at the School of Yoga Therapy. Prof Sobana Jaiganesh, Smt Bhaneshwari Ramesh, Ms Jenita Caren Rajkumari and Dr Baishali Mukherjee presented on salutogenesis through music therapy and the work at the School of Music Therapy.
We wish to place on record our deep appreciation to Dr Avishai Antonovsky who has enabled us to reach so many through STARS and the Global Working Group on Salutogenesis (GWG-Sal). It is noteworthy that all our faculty are now members of STARS: Society for Theory and Research on Salutogenesis.
We thank the Indian Yoga Association — Puducherry Chapter for supporting all activities of the ISCM which is an Associate Member of the Indian Yoga Association, World Federation of Music Therapy, and the International Association of Yoga Therapists.
The full playlist of the sessions can be accessed from the YouTube channel of ISCM
| Salutogenesis & Holistic Health: An International Webinar Series Recordings of the sessions from 9th to 27th April 2023 | |
| Day 1 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkJB3TjaKjQ&t=7756s |
| Day 2 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK-E-NFU5NQ&t=10s |
| Day 3 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dD0NOv89BJI&t=7029s |
| Day 4 | https://youtu.be/jEhF1cRZX8Q |
| Day 5 | https://youtu.be/Q536m5MzZUE |
| Day 6 | https://youtu.be/AeofJOp1BdY |
| Day 7 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otqw2OGecdE |
| Day 8 | https://youtu.be/FXLq3_ZCQTM |
