There
are many reasons to celebrate yoga, International Day of Yoga is just one!
I never
cease to be fascinated with the way our ancient yogis understood much more
about the human body ages before medical science could comprehend what was
what. The benefits of yoga (even those that go beyond the physical body) have
been expounded upon by many saints and sages, new age gurus and trendy
celebrities who have experienced them. But I'm not getting into all that right
now. I only want to share with you what I know for sure. And that is the fact
that I feel happy and alive when I do yoga.
I know
that when I stretch my body upto its optimal point I am pushing the boundaries
further. Although I am blessed with a naturally flexible body, I am very
grateful for the strength in my muscles and bones that allows me to stretch
into varied asanas. This reminds me of a wonderful quote I read recently: Do
Yoga Today So That You Can Do Yoga Tomorrow! Our body is meant to be agile
and healthy, no matter what our age. It is only when we stop short of
utilising the body’s optimal potential that we start diminishing our scope of
movement. When was the last time you could sit comfortably on the floor and get
up without any trouble? Do you feel out of breath after climbing a few flights
of stairs? Muscles and lungs are only a few parts of the body that benefit from
this lovely practice. We can’t even see how wonderfully the abdominal organs
are massaged during bhujangasana or how our nerves are soothed by bhramari
pranayama. Yoga has benefits that penetrate deep within the physical body and
impacts our overall being.
Although
it is an ancient practice, the relevance of Yoga is Now more than ever before. We seem
to be living in a world filled with toxins, right from the air we breathe to
the food we eat. The increase in lifestyle diseases is scary. And while we can
either succumb to the ill effects of our lifestyle or live in perpetual fear,
there is a way out. In the face of all the negativity and fear, yoga is one
tool with which you can actually do something about improving your health
naturally.
Coming
back to what yoga does for me: all the stretches and contortions into
asanas with complicated sanskrit names leave me blissed out. I can safely say
that the time spent on my yoga mat is the happiest part of my day. It makes me
appreciate the wondrous mechanisms of the human body that we have learnt not to
trust. In the larger picture it makes me appreciate nature for what it is. It
makes me realise that I am just a little dot in the vast universe that is
perfect just as it is, even with all the toxins and the negativity. In fact, it infuses me with an unmatched positivity. It makes me
realise that life is indeed beautiful and makes me want to live it to the
fullest.
I sincerely hope that you try this wonderful practice and let its magic hook you on!