The art of performing Yoga and the science behind it, unites the body, mind and soul. It’s a blessing for the mankind to have known the true essence of yoga and the ways and techniques of performing it. Thanks to the ancient Hindu scripture the Rig Veda where we find the earliest references of yoga, the ancient and modern exponents of yoga, like Sage Maharshi Patanjali, Swami Vivekanand, Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar and many more. As we celebrate the ‘International Day of Yoga’ on a grand scale across the globe, it’s very important to know how to perform it in our day-to-day busy schedules, where we always find an excuse for exercises and skip it for some important meeting or daily chores. Is it important to have knowledge of all the asanas to begin our yoga journey?
What is extra-ordinary about this India’s gift to the world for enhancing wellness and health, is that yoga can be performed practically anywhere and everywhere depending on one’s situation and circumstances and also the time one has. Meditation and pranayama or the breathing exercise is the most important section of yoga which can be performed anytime, anywhere. Due to any reason, if you cannot sit in the ‘padmasana’ or the lotus position, you can normally sit on an office chair and perform meditation and pranayam or even while travelling in a vehicle.
There are no hard and fast stringent rules to yoga. This sets us free to perform it whole-heartedly without getting bogged down by the pressure of performing all complicated asanas one by one thoroughly at a time. While this is true, some rules need to be kept in mind for safe implementation like yoga should never be performed hurriedly to save time, or you should never extend the time you are in a particular position, beyond limit. Mostly one should maintain a posture for about 15 to 20 seconds or counts and that’s enough when one is a beginner. You must never over exert or feel painful while performing. If you feel so you must stop and take a break. A 10 second gap between two asanas is most important.
Yoga is performed with patience and serenity of mind. Once you study carefully how to begin the particular asana you want to perform, how to hold it in position and how to finish it and concentrate while performing it, you will see benefits sooner and thereafter you will start enjoying it and then your entire concentration is just on your mind, your soul and their unison. It’s a beautiful journey ahead.
Did you know, that a comfortable sitting posture is also yoga where you actually feel completely relaxed and peaceful? If one doesn’t know various complicated asanas, if one is an absolute fresher, there are just four to five very simple and useful asanas which can be performed to enjoy the benefits of yoga. When you feel like performing yoga, just get ready to start practicing it by laying down your yoga mats or any house mat and quickly begin. To embark on the journey, is the most important step, as yoga is so captivating, that soon before you know it, you will start learning more and more complex asanas because yoga will give you such a feeling which cannot be expressed in words but can only be experienced.
Isn’t it true, that the unity of body, mind and soul, which results in peace and positivity in life, vibrant energy and wisdom too, is the reason why we work so hard each day in our life and take all that pain to survive? Yoga does that to us in minutes. Simple but effective asanas like the ‘Padmasana’ (the cross-legged sitting meditation pose), the ‘Paschimotannasana’ (Seated forward bend), ‘Tadasana’ (the montain pose is a classic pose that acts as the foundation for all standing yoga poses), ‘Vajrasana’ (Simple sitting yoga pose), the ‘Shavasana’ (Corpse pose) and the ‘Suryanamaskar’ (Sun
Salutation) can be performed easily by anyone (kids and adults) and can be perfected with practice. Soon you will also find yourself learning and performing the ‘Sarvangasana’ (shoulder stand asana or the inverted yoga posture) or the ‘Shirshasana’ (Yoga Headstand) which are very effective and beautiful asanas, which helps to cleanse our body and is a full body exercise.
The quick benefits of a 20 min yoga session, just about thrice a week, gives us vital energy, positivity of mind, enhances our capacity to work thus enhancing the quality of work, improves concentration, strength, heart health and also rejuvenates us, so isn’t it worth a try?
There are of course many important asanas especially for women, men, and people healing with specific diseases, but to enjoy the benefits of pure yoga, you just need the basic knowledge of the very popular asanas to begin with, as it’s the key to your wonderful journey to meeting your pure soul, with your pure and clear mind and your flexible body.
“Beyond your darkness, lies your own ‘Sun’ full of incandescent spirit and glory, conquer the world with your own sword of victory.” – Rashmi Pitre