Why is Yoga Important in Modern Life?
1. “Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self.”– The Bhagavad Gita an urban modern lifestyle is led and sought by several millions across the globe. A nine to five job, a corporate lifestyle and sleepless nights are the norm. in the scurry to lead a fulfilled life, one is detached from spirituality and tranquility that the mind seeks and the body desires. Taking time out for oneself is an unachieved luxury in the modern world for most. The need to balance family, work and take some time out for oneself remains unfulfilled. Stress caused by such unsettling worries often leads to a plethora of diseases which affect the mind and the body. This has led to the modern human seeking to flush out such toxins and achieve peace and self-healing. Thus, Yoga, an ancient discipline was reborn and popularised in the modern world. Yoga originated in ancient India around five thousand years ago. The Rig Vedas is the earliest known source of its documentation. Yoga comprises of physical, mental and spiritual practises and promotes self-healing. The word “Yoga” means to unite and it does just that with the mind, body and soul. A union with the universe can be attained as well along with a proper understanding and appreciation of the world one lives in. As Lord Krishna himself explains to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita, “Yoga is our intimate connection with the whole universe, with eternal realms even beyond the manifested universe, and with our own being’s endless capacity to love.” In a hectic sleep deprived world, Yoga is not just a practice, it is a lifestyle. Several countries have adopted and lived by it ever since. Apart from bringing about detoxification, Yoga also incorporates several health benefits, something the body of the modern human craves. In the chaos of establishing a loving family and attaining a well to do job, one barely has the time to lead a well-nourished lifestyle. A thirty-minute Yoga session is both enriching and fulfilling. The health benefits are plentiful. Yoga is also beneficial in fighting several diseases. The Pranayama exercises strive to cure asthma, several Yoga Asanas can help to contain cholesterol levels, induce good posture and elevate the body’s immunity. Yoga is a worldwide phenomenon and is widely practised in the modern world for its far-reaching properties. Yoga is an essential part of life for many who adore doing the Asanas and is being continuously adopted by many more.
2. “By practicing yoga, a spirit of oneness is created- oneness of the mind, body and intellect, oneness with our families, with the society we live in, with fellow humans, with all the birds, animals and trees with whom we share our beautiful planet……. this is yoga.” – Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Prime Minister The hustling metropolitan lifestyle to secure a standard life comes with its own opportunity cost- the peace of mind. It is here that yoga comes up as a bridge to narrow the gap between the mind and the body, a bridge made up of good vibes that heals and leads to the discovery of oneself. Simply put, the benefits of yoga are manifold- physical, psychological, social and spiritual which enables us to weave a more structured pattern of living. As Bhagavad Gita puts it, “yoga is the journey of the self, to the self, through the self.” Yoga combines strength and flexibility exercises along with relaxation and meditation. Hatha, one of the most popular styles of yoga focusses on pranayamas, followed by asanas and savasana. Yoga supports the healing process and thereby makes a significant contribution in health care, education, sustainable development issues. We have often heard about the benefits of yoga in the physical domain- like it improves posture of joints, helps in the functioning of respiratory, digestive organs, maintains flexibility of body, enhances oxygen supply but what goes unnoticed is the fact that yoga also plays a pivotal role in psychological well-being of a person. It calms the mind, increases concentration and brings emotional stability. It plays a significant role in reducing the emotional, stressful baggage and is also helpful in curing behavioural disorder, nervous breakdown, maniac depression. Even during the Covid- 19 pandemic, when there were limited options of physical and social activity and the feeling of being stuck in a constant loop seemed true, yoga acted as a channel to increase our personal power. Seeing the benefits of yoga as a simple alternative of harmonizing ourselves with the world, World Health Organization mentioned yoga as a means to improve health in its ‘Global Action Plan on Physical Activity 2018- 2030: more active people for a healthier world.’ As India celebrates its 75 years of independence, this 8th edition of the International Yoga Day celebrations come as a great feat in the sense of soft power for the Indian foreign policy. Given that yoga is a traditional practice developed in India, with its aim of self- realization popularised globally by Hon’ble Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, it has ushered an awareness for a conscious lifestyle across the world. It was on his recommendation that in December, 2014 International Day of Yoga was declared to be celebrated on 21st June, 2015 by UN General Assembly, for the inaugural commemoration of a thenceforth annual celebration of yoga. “Yoga is no longer just Indian, but rather India’s gift to the world, embraced with overwhelming enthusiasm and support.” -Jaggi Vasudev, spiritual leader and yoga practitioner (As a recommendation in panel discussion of India’s Permanent Mission to UN)
3. Brief about modern lifestyle and how it affects our life! Nowadays our life has become so handy and so easy that whatever we want is just a click away, order and it’s delivered same goes with the jobs we have, now we can work from office as well as from home but don’t you think that we are becoming more lethargic, ignoring our health and avoiding a better lifestyle because we have a technology that fulfills all the needs we have, we want and this we need to stop immediately because it affects our body and mind badly and we need to change this reality and shift to a better health through yoga. Adding YOGA to our lifestyle will not only give us the better health but also will benefit in “connecting back to our bodies and minds.” Why yoga is important in modern life? Yoga is a gift, that is given to us by our ancestors, sages to awaken the dormant abilities. If we practice yoga asanas in our daily life it will help us to strengthen our body and the practice of dhyana will help us to improve our focus which is the most needed for an individual in the MODERN LIFE. The daily practice of yoga for an hour will make a person to sweat and bring out all the impurities from the body, and the breathing rate will also be improved which will give the good uptake of oxygen, can improve the flexibility which will help our systems to work properly, efficiently and effectively. Yoga is not only beneficial for physical fitness But, Yoga can change our life and help us to live a better lifestyle Let us see why – 2 3 ways that tells us yoga is important for the modern life. Clears the mental clutter – We have reduced human interaction as we are so busy in completing our tasks that we have to complete before the deadline and if we get time, we are into our smartphones to see what’s happening in the world through Facebook, Instagram, twitter etc. this all things has made our minds more confused than ever. We don’t understand our minds well and we have lost control over it and it’s like we are not commanding our brain, our brain is controlling us, this results in mental issues and that becomes a global pandemic today. Also, the lack of foresight because of constantly being on smartphone and laptop can harm us badly! Yoga that can help is – Uttanasana (also called as Forward Fold Pose), Viparita Karani (also called as Legs Up the Wall Pose), Savasana (also called as Corpse Pose). Makes us more disciplined, more focused – Sometimes we tend to multi task things dur to workload or deadline of a given task or etc. which makes us miserable and a bit confused like which task should be completed first and we don’t list things or we don’t analyse things that needs to be done first. Yoga that can help is – Vrikshasana (also called as tree pose) ,Garud Asana (also called as eagle pose),Ustrasana (also called as Camel pose ).Lower the stress level – We have become less physically active and super active mentally, like thousands of things are going in our head and which can affect our health physically like may increase the blood pressure, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, increasing stress etc. because of the role of technology in our lives. 3 Yogas that can help –Sukhasana (also called as Easy pose),Balasana (also called as Child’s pose),Ananda Balasana ( also called as Happy baby pose).
[These are 3 different blogs collated as a single blog written by our MyGov Interns Ahana, Amisha and Yashasvee respectively.]
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