Residents practise yoga on AN College campus in Patna. Stars like Shilpa Shetty, Sachin Tendulkar and Bipasha Basu, who all endorse yoga, have inspired residents to adopt the discipline in their lives. Picture on left by Jai Prakash

Patna, July 19: Sachin Tendulkar recommends it to everyone. Shilpa Shetty swears by it, as does Bipasha Basu. Now, residents of the state capital are also taking it up in a serious way.

If you are wondering what common factor binds the stars and us, it’s the age-old mantra of fitness and health — yoga.

The cricket legend took to yoga about eight years ago, along with his teammates, to improve his mental and physical agility. It did not take him long to get impressed. Actresses Shilpa and Bipasha adopted the discipline to relieve the stress of their demanding profession. Now, both stars have released their DVDs to help us de-stress.

Youths, especially students, in Patna have realised the importance of innumerable asanas in keeping them fit and fine.

If you have trouble believing it, take a walk around the historic Gandhi Maidan early in the morning and you will find several young and old men and women practising the skill.

Rishi Kumar, an assistant commandant in the BSF, took to yoga early to prepare for his job.

He said: “Preparing for a government job is not an easy task, as it involves a lot of stress. Yoga has helped me a lot in becoming what I am today.”

Several students and civil service aspirants, who have taken up yoga, also said that it works wonders for one’s concentration and memory power.

Sunil Kumar has taken the civil service examinations twice already. This time, his third attempt, he does not want to take a risk. “Practising yoga has helped me a lot. My concentration level and grasping power has gone up tremendously. I hope this time I will be able to achieve my goal.”

Mahesh Kumar, who has learnt yoga from Bihar School of Yoga, Munger, has been passing on the discipline to students for seven years now.

He said: “Yoga is for the body, mind and spirit. It is all about keeping fit and feel the blood surging through your veins. Since students need to have a healthy body, mind and spirit to achieve their goals, the best asanas for them are shashankasana (rabbit pose) and yoga nidra (a form of meditation).”

Explaining the asanas, Mahesh said: “In shashankasana, you have to first sit with your legs bent. Then inhale and slowly raise your hands above your shoulder. Exhale and slowly bend forward and try to place your head on the floor and rest your hands from the elbow on the floor. Remain in this position for 20 to 30 breath counts and slowly return to your original position and exhale. Practice the asana for around five minutes and it will be very beneficial, as it increases the blood flow to the brain and helps boost focus and concentration. People need to concentrate on breathing as they practice the pose.”

On yoga nidra, Mahesh added: “This is the most effective asana as it acts as a mental and physical tranquilliser. The relaxation you will achieve with five hours of sleep can be accomplished in an hour. This asana helps sharpen your memory, control your emotions and cure heart problems, liver cirrhosis and cancer.”

Mahesh’s yoga sessions are also not too hard on your pocket. For a week’s session, you will have to shell out Rs 2,000, while the monthly charges in a group and individually are Rs 1,000 and Rs 3,000 respectively.

Sumati Ganguly, mother of a 14-year-old who trained under Mahesh, said: “My son was academically poor and lacked concentration. It was a major concern for us, and my friend suggested I should arrange a yoga teacher for him. It has been six months now, and his concentration power has improved with the help of the different asanas. Now, he is concentrating on his studies and doing much better in class.”

If you do not want to pay money to a yoga trainer, you can always buy the DVDs of the fitness conscious actresses and practice at home or else turn on the TV early in the morning and learn the asanas from yoga televangelist-turned-crusader Baba Ramdev.