Finding anchor in asanas

Mona

You’re never too old, never too bad, never too late and never too sick to start from the scratch once again...said controversial ‘hot yoga’ guru Bikram Choudhury and practitioners of this ancient form validate the certainty of this statement...

Agreed, ‘yoga’ is a much abused word today, and can refer to anything from sipping ice cold beer or keeping company of your cat, dog or goat while striking some insane postures; the fact remains that it is one regimen to heal the body and soothe the soul.

Just like another 24-year-old in IT industry in NCR, Amandeep Kukkar fought impossible deadlines, cut-throat competition and office politics. He ended with balding (at 25), obesity and stress that he couldn’t cope up with. In the pink of health now, he is happy teaching martial arts in Chandigarh and credits yoga to turn his life around. “I was into this downwards spiral—physically, mentally, emotionally. Yoga brought me back to life.” 

Barely in her early twenties, Jassi suffered arthritis. So much so that she was to be carried to her first class. Starting with her first few exercises on bed, six months on, she literally flies to her morning class. “Earlier, I couldn’t sit. That was the condition of my joints and it’s hard to believe that life’s back to normal,” shares the girl pursuing her master’s from Panjab University. 

Chronic back pain, cervical and increased heart rate— Anu Sharma found it tough to sit straight till she tried yoga. “I could sense early on that the days I did yoga my body and mind were rather comfortable,” admits this banker-turned-homemaker. “It’s been about seven years and no trace of cervical,” she proudly puts forth.  

Surya Namaskar remains her favourite and she can do quick 30 in a succession. “Yoga is not just a physical exercise but also breathing right that builds you inner strength.”

On the path of recovery

Surinder Kaur was caught rather unaware with a rather severe diagnosis. She was already taking chemotherapy, and as her doctors prepared her for radiotherapy, on her daughters’ insistence she started yoga. Within days that she could see the change. “My breathing was so noisy that my daughter couldn’t sleep in the same room. That was the first to go,” she shares. The doctors were surprised to see her recovery, her radiotherapy postponed and chemo reduced to half. 

“It’s not just the exercise in the greens but also the vibrations of yogis and that cumulative energy that puts one on to recovery path,” says Surinder Kaur

Living life to the fullest

At dot 5:30 in the morning Nancy Kamboj makes to the green sprawling garden in Sector 42 with a bunch of regulars. It was an allergy that allopathy cannot curtail that led her to do yoga. Six years later, there is no trace of allergy but she finds herself among the most positive and sought after in her professional, personal circle. 

“Yoga not only made me physically strong but also emotionally secure. Gone are the days of morose me. I am living  now to my fullest and yoga has been rootcause of this transformation,” Nancy Kamboj.

Madness gives way to serenity 

Job, managing two clinics and kids, Dr Aman and Dr Priyanka Bhatia had days when everything seemed to go haywire. Not anymore. Rather than jumping into madcap routine each day to starting early with yoga has not only checked their weight and lifestyle diseases that had started to sh

ow signs but gained huge mind control too. “Suddenly that general irritability has been taken over by a calm that’s been all courtesy yoga,” they echo.