WHY YOGA
Staying fit seems to be the mantra of the young brigade in the city, who want to remain in shape and be fit to endure the stress and tension of everyday life.
“Our lifestyle is very inconsistent when it comes to sleep timings and food. Going on binges and chatting till late are taking their toll on my fitness. Yoga helps me be focused and remain in shape,” said college goer Ankita, who is a regular at a camp in IG Park.
Not just students, people dealing with the stress of corporate life are also taking to yoga.
“Our lives are quite busy and stressful. So, we need to maintain a regular fitness regime to keep our mind and body relaxed. I make it a point to exercise for at least half an hour daily along with regular yoga sessions,” said
Gayatri Swain, a corporate employee.
Yoga also helps deal with health issues among corporate employees, the middle-aged and the elderly. From blood pressure and sugar problems to bone and joint-related pains and even anger management, numerous health issues are motivating city residents to join yoga classes.
CUSTOMISED YOGA
Many yoga centres are developing customised routines for individuals to suit their needs. “The asanas differ for different health conditions. It is not right to follow television and blindly start doing whatever is being shown because the kapalbhaati process, if rigorously done, may adversely affect a high blood pressure patient,” said a yoga practitioner at Satyananda Yoga Vidyalaya.
Another yoga practitioner at the Unit-IX Prayas Yoga Application Research Institute (PYARI) said problems are unique to each individual and it required different asanas to address them.
“We have come up with a common minimum programme that include general postures suitable to everyone, while new ones are developed at our centre through research to suit ailments such as sinus, back or knee pain and so on,” said Narayan Nanda, a yoga teacher at PYARI.
“The customised yoga is designed not according to age, but for therapeutic use,” he said.
SOCIAL MEDIA TOUCH
Social media plays a major role in keeping participants informed about the latest developments in yoga, health tips, pictorial description of poses for stress relief or certain regular body pains. While WhatsApp has emerged a major tool, Facebook is also used often to inform people about special yoga camps or class timings. “We get messages on WhatsApp every day from our yoga centre in form of detailed tips to practise certain yoga postures to feel stress-free,” said Pradip Mohanty, a 50-year-old bank employee.
?Text by Namita Panda
