“Swastha Manas: Mental Health and Well-being through Yoga” 57 UNDERSTANDING THE THIRD GENDER: A YOGIC PERSPECTIVE Dr Meena Ramanathan 1 7 & Dr Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani 2 8 Introduction: The concept of "Third Gender" is a contemporary concept in which individuals are categorized, either by themselves or by society, as neither man nor woman. It is also a social category present in societies that recognize three or more genders. (1) Biology determines whether a human's chromosomal and anatomical sex is male, female, or one of the uncommon variations on this sexual dimorphism that can create a degree of ambiguity known as intersex. ‘Transgender’ (TG) or ‘trans’ is an umbrella term referring to a heterogeneous group of individuals who do not identify completely with the sex and/or gender to which they were assigned at birth. They may identify as male, female, both, or neither. They may or may not experience distress related to their gender identity. The term trans- men (female-to-male: FTM) refers to individuals of female sex at birth but who experience themselves as men and are referred to as transsexual women. Trans- women (male-to-female: MTF) are individuals assigned to male sex at birth who experience themselves as women, often referred to as transsexual men. The various editions of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) have included trans-sexualism (American Psychological Association [APA], 1980, 1987) and gender identity disorder (GID; APA, 1980, 1987, 1994) as categories of mental health disorders. (2) A number of terms are used by ‘trans’ individuals who do not feel that male or female, man or woman, is a complete or accurate description of their gender and/or sex. Based on a choice of 36 descriptors (e.g., fem male, gender blender, sex radical, omni-sexual, butch, etc.) in which participants could circle as many terms as applied to them, the term gender-queer was endorsed most frequently. (3) There are many terms used interchangeably to describe this population such asTG persons, gender-variant persons, trans persons and so on. For consistency, we are using the term TG throughout this article. 1 Deputy Director & Associate Professor, Center for Yoga Therapy Education and Research,Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth, Pillaiyarkuppam, Pondicherry . 2 Director & Professor, Center for Yoga Therapy Education and Research,Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth, Pillaiyarkuppam, Pondicherry .