Article by – Shishir Tripathi

Intern at Hariyali Foundation
In collaboration with
Educational News

In the present times, everyone is just running all the time. Whether the person works in an office, or he or she is a home maker or a student too, everyone is so busy in their daily schedule that hardly few people extract time for their physical and mental self. Along with advancements in the field of technology, there are advancements in the diseases too. New diseases are taking birth and troubling the humans.

Individuals post on social media and say ‘Back to Basics’, without even knowing its true meaning. People think that being back to basics means that living a life in a remote area and eating the forest products. But returning to basics in true sense means living in the same surroundings and adopting the good techniques in life to make it disease free and simple too.

For the Indian people, from the ancient times ‘Yoga’ was a very good way to explore the inner self and finding peace of mind. But, the mentality of the people is just going to an air conditioned gym and spending huge amount of money on gym and the protein supplements. Whereas, Yoga is such a simpler exercise that anyone can do it at their place just with a mat beneath them and some time.

Yoga evolves from the Yoga Sutras which were written by Patanjali. Patanjali was a sage in India who is the author of many Sanskrit works including the most important, The Yoga Sutras. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are a collection of 196 Sanskrit sutras (aphorisms) on the theory and practice of Yoga. The Yoga Sutras were compiled sometime between 500 BCE and 400 CE by Patanjali in India who synthesized and organized knowledge about yoga from much older traditions.

Swami Vivekananda was the first person to promote and encourage Yoga at the global level. He published a book called ‘Raja Yoga’ in America in 1985 where he wrote about the productivity and the benefits of yoga for an individual. He took references from the Patanjali Yoga Sutras and told the world about the physical, mental and spiritual influence of Yoga in an individual’s life.

Doing Yoga practices early in the morning at the time of sunrise or after it and in the evening too is so beneficial for the body. Asanas in Yoga helps to cure Vata, Pitta and Kapha defects of the Human body. In the physical body, Vata is the subtle energy of movement, Pitta the energy of digestion and metabolism, and Kapha the energy that forms the body’s structure.
The most beneficial Yoga Asana is the Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation). Under this asana, different other asanas like Pranamasana, Hasta Uttanasana, Hasta Padasana, Ashwa Sanchalanasa, Chaturanga Dandasana, Ashtanga Namaskara, and Bhujangasana. Various other Asana in yoga like Kapaalbhati, Anulom-Vilom, Brahmari,etc which are so helpful for the body.

There are various videos of Yoga teachers teaching Yoga Asanas on Youtube and there are students too pursuing graduation and post graduation in yoga who teach it to others around them. Practicing Yoga and doing it daily afterwards all by self will help an individual to get rid of different types of physical and mental disorders. There is OM chanting too in which the Yogi (person doing Yoga) chants OM, in which there is a practice of breathing along with acquiring spiritual peace at the same time.

At present, the most influential promoter and the best instructor of Yoga is Swami Ramdev. Swami Ramdev is instructing people Yoga in India and all across the globe since 2002. He is the co-founder of the Patanjali brand producing different Ayurvedic products that are useful for the Human body.

Yoga is being practiced by children right from the age of 3, and also by the elderly people of age 65-70 and even more. It is a symbol of Indian culture as it evolved from India. Indians should necessarily know that what Yoga is and how it is performed. It is the reason behind the sharp mind and a healthy body. Not only children, middle aged people and elderly people but the younger generation which is contributing each day a lot in the economy, should practice Yoga each day so that they can tell this precious art to the future generations.

“For a sound body, sound mind and a sound nation, Yoga is the only solution”