YOGA (You Ought to Give it an Attempt)

My association with Yoga is about 2 year old and within these two years, unless travelling, I have been kind of regular at it and have also read a lot about it from various sources. Here is my tribute to Yoga. I have tried to write this note more out of personal experience though I have gathered knowledge from various sources. There is no doubt that Yoga can make tremendous difference but different people have different mindsets and thus I have placed my reasoning basis the profile of people so that they can connect to it with much more ease:

1. Scientifically Inclined : Quite a lot of people fit into this category wherein they blindly rely on modern science findings, which though is only about 200 years old whereas Yoga is many thousands years old. If only science can let you form a belief then all your disbelief’s should also be be formed basis scientific evidence. Yoga is as good a science like Physics, Chemistry or Maths and by now enough research has been carried out around Yoga wherein its impact on key health parameters has been analysed and you better try on your parameters after 4-6 weeks of regular Yoga. You can go for a medical checkup before picking up Yoga and one after 4-6 weeks of Yoga regime and you would for sure notice that all the readings will tend to drop towards the lower range. Readings around the lower range means you have enough room to mistreat the body before it touches/crosses the upper limit.

2. Gym Lovers: Gym is as such an unnatural phenomenon because of machines and air-conditioning. Persistent gymming is for sure going to hurt the joints if you are not athletic type since childhood days. Also you need to walk/drive to Gym, hop between different machines to exercise various parts of body whereas the same can be achieved in Yoga at any place of choice. For Yoga all you need is 2 by 7 feet space to burn all calories you wish to. BTW, you can easily find calorie meter now-a-days for each Yoga asana. Sun salutations is an intensive calorie burning technique as one single iteration can burn plenty of them and imagine if you do 25 or 50 or say 108 iterations of Surya Namaskar!!!!!

3. Sports Lovers: I don’t know of many games or sports, which can be played solo. When played along somebody there is often a challenge finding player of your calibre as otherwise you really can’t enjoy any game if the opponent is too skilled or too unskilled. Above all any kind of sport is going to be harsh on joints particularly if you have picked it up midlife onwards. Also any game needs infrastructure, kits and recurring consumables.

4. Runners / Joggers / Walkers: Most often this category of people have preference towards it because it let them do talk and walk simultaneously. Well the same can be done in case of Yoga also as it can be done in a group as well as solo but unlike running/jogging which exercises only the legs and heart/lungs, Yoga is more wholesome for body and less strenuous. Most of the exercises like Gymming or Running emphasises on increasing your stamina only, which means they let you push yourself  towards upper limits of parameters like blood pressure or Heart rate. Because of that reason, excessive exercising could at times be fatal if you cross the upper range of your body. In case of Yoga, periodic rest is so finely ingrained in the form of breathing exercises that you would never feel tired.

5. Picture Perfect Types: There are quite a lot who feels that they are in perfect state and doesn’t need to pick or try anything new. Well as a human being we are capable of scaling bigger heights but we often get into comfort zone sooner or later. In reality none of us know our real potential and Yoga is the only thing which can enhance potential of every single person who attempts it. The enhancement can happen intellectually, health-wise, spiritually or in all likelihood in all directions. The crux is that unless you have scientific data to know the peak of your potential there is no point in limiting your potential by ignoring Yoga. Only humans have infinite potential.

6. Secular Types: If Yoga is an exercise regime then there is no need for looking with religious contours. By that account Cricket  and Baseball should be Christian as people in UK/US started these games. On similar lines Osho had said that if Yoga is Hindu then modern science should be Christian as it is mostly Christians who have worked on science. Leaving all that aside, I find Yoga as the most inclusive and secular format of exercise as there are postures/asanas in Yoga named after all short of animals and objects like Lion, Rabbit, Tree, Cat, Dog, Snake, Boat and what not. The underlying philosophy behind naming asanaa after practically everything is to let you be like that object for a while so that you can atleast experience life from different angles. If you do those asanas with perfection then you shall be able to visualize life as another creature and eventually you would fall in love with all those creatures. That is why they say Yoga means “Union with the Universe”. If Yoga has cared to include animals and objects then how can it be communal unless animals and objects also have their religion so that we can assume that the dog or cats included in Yoga were Hindu Dogs/Cats and not Christian/Muslim Dogs/Cats. Yoga can surely ground you well if you attempt towards perfection in Yoga, which means for a while everyday you would attempt to be like a Lion, Cat, Dog, Tree, Rabbit, Camel, Tree, Boat, Arrow, etc etc..

7. It’s all about Money Types: Almost all forms of exercise be it Gym or Games or Cycling or Swimming etc costs money on recurring basis as you need to pay for club membership as well as for kit. Yoga as an exercise can be done either at home or in park and you need bare minimum accessories to perform Yoga. In all likelihood in your neighbourhood you can find volunteers doing Yoga in park early morning and they would be happy if you too join them. So that way Yoga can be sustained for lifelong with no expenses involved and thus Yoga should appeal the socialist/communist the most :).

That’s for now. Anything more you need to know get in touch with me for in-person discussion. Trust me for now interpret YOGA as – You Ought to Give it an Attempt!!!!