Check out 16 Return-To-Work Programs In India For Ambitious Women Like You!
Yoga has incredibly simple solutions for aches and pains that occur due to bad posture and the inflexibility of modern life. Here is how I harnessed 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 my neck and shoulder started occurring and recurring 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 cross legged 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; you feel relaxed and refreshed instead.
People think Yoga 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 amateur like me?
There is so much talk about Yoga being this and that, but if you ask me, Yoga brings you closer to yourself.
Published here earlier.
Image source: By Madhav Pengoria (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons, for representational purposes only.
A mother of two amazing kids and a teacher by profession, I have varied interests. Apart from being an avid reader, I dabble in gardening. My love for painting, cooking, travelling and jotting down my read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
Please enter your email address