Sunday, April 7, 2013

On World Health day - 108 surya namaskars


 ‘Hey A, you have lost weight.’ the statement by my friend  greeted me when I entered yoga class last Friday.  Although it is nice to hear such positive statements, I take it light, because I know my body weight is dynamic.  Anyways, I gleefully said “Oh really! Phir toh teri muh mein ghee shakkar” and she shrieked  ‘Naaaaaaaaahi…ghee shakkar nahi, par oat paratha zaroor dalna”. 

  Oat paratha?!!  Are you surprised why oat paratha?     Will let you know at the end.

Before that, I will justify my title ‘On World health day – 108 suryanamaskars’

My grand parents generation or even my parents generation did not allocate time/spend money on  physical exercises exclusively. It was embedded in their way of life while they went about their daily routine.My generation and the gen next  are forced to mark  time  and spend money  on this. Thanks to our sedentary lifestyle.

Already many of us are walking,swimming, gymming or hitting the various  wellness centers/sports center. Today, Wellness in India is a booming  industry but in ancient India too, wellness had taken many forms, connotations and techniques.   In oldendays, it is believed that the sadhus and munis  were able to control their body physiologies like weight, temp and even hunger through rigourous sadhna of mantras and yoga. From yoga to ayurveda the most famous way of keeping fit is yoga which is popular amongst every generation of fitness enthusiasts. The recent surge of different forms of Yoga like power vinyasa yoga, restorative yoga, theraupetic yoga, kathak yoga, acro yoga and many more are adding popurlarity in almost every generation of fitness enthusiasts and this  has also proved one thing.  India is going back to the roots and leading the world too.  To substantiate my point, i refer this article about the US prez Obama endorsing Yoga .

I too have subscribed myself to this form.  My yoga studio is directed by a Registered Yoga teacher She along with her colleagues makes this form an art. As one enters the studio, all one has to do is follow her powerful yet soothing voice for the next one hour. It leaves us energized, Physically and mentally fit  to handle the day and a regular practice has made  yoga - a way of living for many of us.  We are more than 200 people  and she  keeps motivating and charging us by organizing various events and creating platforms for our creative pursuits on the various earmarked days like ‘World breakfast day’, women’s day, and today like last year On World health day  we performed 108 suryanamaskars.

Keeping in mind the sizzling heat in the city, it was organized at the cool environs of a nearby resort.  110 of us participated in the event which was covered by the media , and  most of us completed the 108. (I of course, gave up on one round when the skin beneath my toe tore while brushing against the mat) I still completed 107 rounds.  It turned  into a huge success lapped by the media and many e-zines( even i gave my interview for one). 



Every now and then, when many of us were raining  sweat(  my mat was wet)  and  losing energy,  we were energized with  her pep talks like “Find your edge and push yourself a lil beyond your edge to meet new dimensions of your strength and energy”, "You guyz have come thus far, stretch yourself a little more"  etc...etc. It kept us going till the end.   And many of us on this world health day today successfully completed the 108.  We celebrated the event in the resort with a sumptuous breakfast. And we were all back home by 9 in the morning to see the world around  still sleeping  on a Sunday.  So far, none of my limbs are crying of ache. I am fit and energetic. I wanted to catch up on my lost sleep since i woke up very early. But sleep seems to elude me...... I am bubbling with energy while sharing this  post about a very fulfilling morning. 

Coming to the Oat paratha topic which i left abrupt in the beginning -  Green, oats paratha ( a paratha made with multigrain  and greens was my entry  for 'World breakfast day'  online contest held by the studio.  The theme was to create an innovative and nutritive breakfast recipe using oats as a main ingredient and I won the first prize which was given today. The contest was judged by a sports nutritionist and dietician.  Will share the recipe for you folks in one of my future posts.


6 comments:

  1. ithelaam ok..unga yoga studioku tamanna varuvaangannu epovo sonna nyabgam...stl coming? :d

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    1. Idhellam mattum nalla nyabgam irukkum. She came for a Zumba workshop. She was taught for two days.

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  2. Such a beautiful and a healthy thing to do on the world health day! Aah! You just missed one! But 107 is a BIG achievement. Kudos to you and your team! Oats parantha is very innovative!Looking forward to the recipe. :)

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  3. Thank you, Shilpa:) Yes, it was to spread the health awareness.

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  4. Congratulations Asha!
    You not only completed 108 SNs but also won the prize in the contest.
    I sometimes decide that everyday i must complete 100 Surya Namskars and i do it also. I think I had taken it as a challenge , and did 100 SNs everyday for 4 months with out giving up. I would not do it at a stretch, but would do 50 in the morning and 50 in the evening facing the sun accordingly.Now also I want to start doing it but i am a bit short of time what with aerobics class, Gym and general work in the house, i cannot bring myself to spend some more time on exercise. But i do manage to do 12 SNs and breathing exercises on most days, and sometimes when in mood I would also do a set of other asnas along with SNS.
    Can't wait to know about the oats paratha.
    Our parents days were different,they had do to do a lot of work standing sitting etc, not like today. Also very few people lived beyond 60/70, whereas now a days people are living longer with help of medicines

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  5. Wow! that's nice 1oo sn's for 4 months is a good practice. I missed one count in bwtween while changing my mat. It was a yogathon which went on continuously till we completed 108. It was a nice experience. Yes, our older generation were/ are healthy may be they saw less pollution, less adulteration of food and ate healthy food and could handle stress better.

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