How yoga can help during stressful time of corona virus? Yoga is that source of energy and motivation that will keep us moving , keeps us rejuvenated .
‘The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you Dont go back to sleep’-Rumi
Everyday waking up in the morning, looking at the sunrise, silently walking past the bed and looking at the wall clock….. and quietly switched on the news channel. The death toll increases. The voice of the health minister echoes out….. ‘ the recovery rate is slowly increasing and ‘today’ looks better than yesterday.
The Mind of the yogi watches the news and slowly heads to the yoga mat and with folded hands bends down to the Surya(sun). The yogi starts the ‘ suryanamaskar ( sun salutation). Surya ( sun) represents renewed hope, vigour, strength, prosperity and knowledge. Every individual during the times of darkness should start the day with suryanamaskar which will provide him strength and vitality and belief that we will live and humanity will stand the test of Time.
Regular practise of yoga makes strong:
Regular practise of yoga opens Up the mind and makes us strong not only physically but emotionally as well. Each drop of the sweat during the yoga practise opens up the pores, detoxifying us of all toxic and negative thoughts… the stretching of the body opens up the major joints and works on the flexibility . The continues home feeling makes us lazy in body and mind, so practising the yoga keeps the body in shape, toned and strong and mind is calm.
The sun salutation comprises of movements back and forth, thus stretching the spine, enhancing muscle movement . The Cerebrum is connected to the lumbar spine, and the suryanamaskar works beautifully strengthening the spine and gives us stressfree thinking. Then the yogi moves into many postures which tends to work on the body, mind and soul … the holistic process .
The Corona have drowned the humankind into a sense of fear, anxiety and depression. Covid 19, in its physical form has taken toll on human body but, more so as a psychological trauma that’ haunts us day and night . Yoga practise is the hope that calms this sense of fear and moves us into the acceptance of death with a fearless mind. About sixty long days of being indoors is indeed challenging but more challenging is to be bound by so many fears like losing our near and dear ones to the war waged by corona , the faceless enemy .
Yoga practise in the morning as well as evening , not only helps one to keep the stress level under control but also grow the immunity level considerably . The various kinds of breathing exercises like anulom vilom , kapalbhati, and bhastika helps your body to fight Corona effectively .
Anulom vilom or deep breathing is a must practise. It helps to fight Corona virus as it pumps in fresh oxygenated blood to the lungs which enriches the immunity level. The Cardiac muscles functions rapidly. Even performing this exercise for 5 mins helps to reduces stress and depression and gives you a calm mind.
Benefits of deep breathing exercises:
1. It lowers your heart rate, blood pressure there by helping you to cope with post traumatic stress disorder .
2. It resets the autonomic nervous system through stretch induced inhibitory signals and hyperpolarization currents propagated through both neural and non neural tissue which synchronize action of heart, lungs, lambic system and cortex.
3. The vital capacity of the lungs is enhanced with increase ventilation efficiency.
4. The deep breathing exercises interferes with sympathetic activity and there by helps in cellular metabolism which is regulated by oxygen provided during breathing .
Thus, yoga is that source of energy and motivation that will keep us moving , keeps us rejuvenated ….. because at the end of the dark tunnel there is light. The yoga teachers are those gardeners in the garden of humankind who keeps you strong , harness you with mental stamina , and waters the ‘faith ‘ that keeps us strong during these difficult times . So let’s stay calm and practise .
Paloma Gangopadhyay
Yoga Instructor and Meditation expert.
