Experience the peace and relaxation with regular practice of Yoga. Empower yourself physically and mentally and enrich yourself spiritually. Injury struck again.
Be it coping with every-day stress, tiding over injuries or just your daily requisite cardio, Yoga covers it all! I was 4 or 5 years of age when I first got fascinated by yoga. Watching my mother, who's a Yoga practitioner and instructor, and trying to make contorted shapes with my body was so much fun! My mother happily encouraged me looking at my enthusiasm. That I had a very flexible body just
fit the bill perfectly. What started as fun became a regular fixture in my daily routine. Yoga shaped my discipline, my concentration levels and made my body fit. But it was only as a young adult that I fully realized the effect Yoga could have on one's mind and body. I grew up very athletic and was a national level swimmer by 15 with ambitions of representing my country in swimming. That came to an abrupt end when I suffered an ill-fated back injury during a weight training session. I had to stay away from the pool and watched my swimming dreams wither away. Thankfully, board exams followed and I took my mind off my injury to study. It was Yoga and physiotherapy that helped me recuperate. The following year, I was fit enough and confident enough to indulge in competitive sports again. I chose rowing and practised diligently. In under a year, we set a meet record at the National level NCC rowing competition. I was diagnosed with sciatica and cervical spondylosis. That seemed like an end to my athletic life. I took a long break from competitive sports and practiced Yoga combined with strengthening exercises to stay fit. I was a motorcycle enthusiast for a brief period and every small fall I had seemed harder to recover from. I finally took a break from all sorts of physical form of exercise for a few years. Two years ago, the busy lifestyle that comes with the city life - the unending traffic, late hours at work, stress, limited exercise - took a toll on my back. I was bed ridden twice for weeks with severe back problems. When I could finally sit up on my bed I made a resolution to find a cure and fix this problem for good. And I placed my faith in Yoga again. I resolved to take up Yoga in all its aspects and hoped it will heal me. After thorough research, I decided Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari was the place to go. Its courses and content were pure and sincere, without any pretentiousness and grandiosity that most Yoga schools have come to assume of late. My journey towards understanding this ancient science began when I stepped foot into Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari, where I was introduced to Kriyas, Asanas, Pranayama, Veda chanting and different types of meditation. A year ago, I had gone with a complete open mind, ready to learn anything that was offered, ready to go through the rigours of the practice and the demands of the retreat. I was rewarded. I began to heal. Just under six months, I had healed completely and was doing Asanas that I had thought impossible to perform again! I was experiencing such peace and contentment that I had never experienced before. I strongly felt I had to spread this Ancient knowledge and enable people to benefit from Yoga. I subsequently took Yoga therapy. I also pursued AYUSH ministry's Yoga instructor certification. My journey had begun. Tapah - the literal meaning of the word in Sanskrit is "to burn". It also is one of the aspects of Niyama in Maharshi Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga. Here it implies the fire that burns the impurities within us - the fire that fuels us and helps in self-refinement. The fire that propels us to reach our fullest potential. This fire of determination is Tapah. Physical ailments can cast large shadows on one's mind and a stressed mind can give rise to several psychosomatic diseases. It's a vicious cycle. Mind has an incredible impact on the body. Sometimes we can address the issues of the mind by fine-tuning the body and sometimes by directly countering the negative effects with Asana and Pranayama. Yoga enables us to climb out of that pit we claim to have fallen into, if only we're ready to claw deep into the walls and climb back up again. With the regular practice of Yoga, one derives that inner strength to reach the target and develops a sense of harmony within. Asana and Pranayama form the popular and powerful practices of the ancient science of Yoga. Yoga helps fight depression, life-style-and-stress-borne disorders, several psychosomatic diseases and helps recover from certain injuries.
