- Categories
- CATEGORY
- AGE
- TYPE
Yoga is a wonderful way to maintain a healthy body and mind. Here's how you can get fit with this wonderful physical and mental discipline.
I would love to blame all my gained weight on my two pregnancies, but then, who would I be kidding?! I have had my issues with weight for a pretty long time now and with it, its share of health complications. The usual crash diets have been tried with little results. What's worse about them is the minute you let go, the weight comes back faster, making you gain more than you lost.
I have heard it said a million times (and I am sure you have to) that it is not just the food, but your general fitness too that makes a huge difference to maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
So on International Day of Yoga, what better to choose than Yoga!
Simply put, yoga is a mix of controlled breathing, simple meditation and specific body postures which combined ensures health and relaxation. Originally from India, Yoga is now popular in the Western World too, and with good reason. The benefits of Yoga are many.
The best time to do yoga is of course early in the morning, before breakfast. You could also do it at sunset, another good time. But it would be totally fine to do it whenever it suits you without worrying too much about time. As long as you are working your way to fitness, you should be good.
Yoga is super beneficial. It helps improve flexibility, build muscle strength, helps you focus, improves the functioning of your immune system, helps you sleep better, helps you lose weight among other benefits. Overall, it helps you have a healthier and happier life!
Mandrita Ghosh, mother of a three year old toddler says, "I have been practising yoga from a very young age. It has helped me stay fit despite the weight fluctuations over the years. It helps me de-stress too and helps calm and relax my mind and body."
When my elder son bends over and touches his feet easily and expects me to do the same. I fall almost a half foot short. And if that was not awkward enough, he tells me to pull my stomach in and practise. Very soon I have to teach the boy the skill of not saying everything he thinks, especially when it can be depressing!
The good thing or rather one of the many good things about Yoga, is that it can be practised by almost everyone (unless you have a medical condition and your doctor advises you otherwise!) In fact during pregnancy, Yoga is one of the popularly advised means to staying fit as long as you are assisted by a certified trainer who understands and knows about prenatal yoga.
Chanchal Chakraborty, a certified yoga practitioner strongly advocates yoga for a healthy life. "Yoga ensures a fit and healthy body and a healthy mind too. With time, it becomes a way of life. It is suitable at any stage and age. All you need to do is ensure that you do the asanas in the correct way that they should be performed."
Pregnancy is a time when being fit is always beneficial, even if you lived a sedentary life right up to the pregnancy. Pregnancy is stressful and difficult and yoga helps make it less uncomfortable and also helps with the actual delivery and post delivery stages. It also helps keep you relaxed and helps you focus on you. There are numerous people who vouch by Yoga before, during and after pregnancy.
Staying fit and healthy is a lifestyle choice and the earlier you begin, the better. It also makes it easier to keep up with as it becomes a habit. It helps in increasing physical flexibility, helps with balance and coordination, helps the child focus and concentrate, etc.
Mandrita Ghosh feels, "I am going to arrange for yoga classes for my three year old daughter now. She will be able to maintain fitness which is now there already. You are never too young to begin to learn slowly."
You do have a huge range of books and cds and dvds available to help you learn the various asanas. It is definitely more beneficial though to have a trained practitioner to help you with the asanas and ensure that you do it right. The key though is to keep practising because the more you do the more intense are the benefits of Yoga.
So this International Day of Yoga, I choose Yoga as my way to fitness and losing that stubborn twenty kilograms which clings on after the babies. And also maybe along the way I shall get some inner peace in this chaotic world of mine!
What about you? Are you up for it?
Image credits: Yoga Journal
