Yoga – As I see it

I never really felt the need to exercise either to lose weight or stay fit. I was quite ok with my weight and only took to brisk walking during morning hours just to improve my stamina. (This routine too never stuck with me for more than a couple of weeks, as I found it difficult to stay motivated for long). Then slowly the aches and pains associated with neck and shoulder started occuring and reccuring more often than I could manage. A few tests and an MRI later, I was told that I have spondylitis and a few exercises to correct my spine were recommended. Then came along a mild pain in my hip joint which would occur only when I sat down on the floor. The pain was only in my left joint and it would slowly aggravate to a point that I couldn’t sit down any longer.  After shelling out a few thousands to different ortho specialists, the realisation that my body is not as flexible as it used to be dawned on me.

I traced back the root cause for this inflexibility to our modern way of life. From getting out of bed to using a western closet to sitting on chairs or sofas all day, we have completely lost the habit of sitting criss-cross on the floor. The thought of managing pain with medicines was not what I wanted as a long term solution.

That’s when Yoga came to my mind. Imagine all this wisdom lying around us for centuries and all we look for are quick fixes. We often come back to the basics only after everything else fails.

I turned to yoga only to increase my flexibility and as with anything novel, I was completely floored by all it had to offer. From breathing right, correct postures and simple asanas that stimulate our glands and improve bodily functions to self suggestion and active relaxation, yoga is all about treating our body right. And the best part is that you don’t feel exhausted after a yoga session, contrary to that you feel relaxed and refreshed.

People think yoga ideally means twisting your body to unimaginable postures (of course there are such complex asanas) but a few simple stretches and deep breathing with intermittent relaxation can be called yoga as well. The best part is, the simpler poses have almost the same benefits as the complex ones. What better news than that for an ameteur like me.

There is so much talk about yoga being this and that, but if you ask me, yoga brings you closer to yourself.