Why Millennial Women Swear By Yoga

In recent times, the popularity of yoga as an exercise -- both for physical and mental balance -- has increased among women. Its benefits combined with its immense feasibility and ease makes it a perfect alternative to heavyweight or rigorous exercising. It is becoming the millennial women's favourite means of looking after their health and wellness.

Yoga's popularity is immense not just in India, but in countries like the US as well. In fact, yoga in itself is a $30 billion industry in the US. In India, the government is making consistent efforts to promote yoga as a healthy way of life. The government's AYUSH ministry, which is dedicated to Yoga among other traditional practices, has certified and trained over 734 yoga professionals. The government has previously estimated the size of the wellness sector at about Rs 490 billion. Thus, the popularity of yoga is only increasing with each passing day.

Health Benefits

Yoga is known to exponentially increase mind-body awareness, promote physical movement, and cultivate acceptance of one’s internal experience of emotions, thoughts, and overall increase the sense of self-awareness. For women, it comes with added benefits. Yoga is extremely helpful in maintaining female hormonal balance as well as for reproductive health, namely for processes like menstruation, pregnancy and post-pregnancy. For working women, yoga is gaining much attention for its stress reducing abilities. Yoga helps to introspect upon our thoughts and attain a basic level of mental peace, one which is hard to attain due to our extremely fast-paced lives.

"Yoga is like a journey of exploring our inner selves. It is not just about exercising, it involves radiating good energy to the world. Yoga is a kind of meditation where you can feel every body part of yours and every breath move. It has greatly helped me fight my health issues," said Ishita Chikkara, 22, working with British Council in Delhi.

Celebrities are an inspiration

As much as half an hour of yoga early morning can help pump up energy in an individual for the entire day. Moreover, yoga helps women beat the natural process of ageing.

Celebrities such as Shilpa Shetty, Malaika Arora, Kareena Kapoor swear by yoga. These actresses have often credited yoga as the secret to their energised and healthy lives. Their emphasis on everyday yoga for sustained health, beauty and mental wellness is drawing more women to the practice

Priyanka Arora, a housewife from Delhi, said,"There was a time in life when I realised my body was always full of fatigue and laziness. Even adequate hours of sleep would not give the required energy boost that I needed. Soon after, I joined yoga classes in the morning as advised by a friend of mine. Slowly, I began feeling its impact on my life. I genuinely started feeling a lot more fresh and calm after doing yoga for about 45 minutes every morning. Moreover, I have experienced a general increase in my stamina. I think yoga is a must for every woman these days to help them beat stress and anxiety."

Quick Means for a Healthy Life

Yoga is an internationally acclaimed form of exercise that uses almost every muscle in our body and heightens our awareness of it. While activities such as running, swimming or gymming may require a huge amount of commitment, yoga remains a quick and easy means for a healthy life. In less amount of time and causing virtually no exertion, yoga can work its magic on an individual's mind and body.

"My love for yoga is very recent and it stems from my mother's obsession with yoga. She has been doing yoga for about a year. About two months ago, she started asking me to join her. Initially reluctant, I soon got the hang of it and especially found it useful for the sake of my body flexibility. I have been doing the basics such as suryanamaskar and my body has undergone a huge transformation as a result of it. My body posture enhanced and my muscles are a lot more flexed now than they were before. Also, I think yoga is a good form of exercise for people who are always running out of time to actually look after their health," said Ayushi Yadav, 20, an engineering student from Delhi.

“My understanding of Yoga began as a child in boarding school. Yoga, by all means, is the most valuable addition in one’s life. I believe the practice has the ability to strengthen the body, mind and soul. Also, there is a greater power of healing that it tends to provide. Patience and ability to stay calm under pressure are two attributes that I aspire to derive each day from the practice now that I’m in my 20’s", Bhawana, 24, from Nainital.

More Stories by Nimisha

Nimisha is an intern with Shethepeople.tv

(With inputs from Charvi Kathuria)

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