KOCHI: One of the best ways to relax yourselves is by doing yoga. It also helps in building great flexibility for your body and imparts strength too. Many stay away from it feeling they can’t practise yoga at an older age and doubting their body flexibility. According to Sonal Joshi, a yoga instructor and mudra therapist who runs Samarth Yoga Darshan in Mattancherry, these are major misconceptions.
“I started doing yoga at the age of 50. People have a feeling that yoga can be done only if you have a fit body. Everyone should understand they can easily do yoga, irrespective of their body nature. I started practising yoga as I had many physical issues and I was cured,” says Sonal. Her stint with yoga started in 2012; she has been running yoga classes at Samarth Yoga Darshan for seven years.
“It’s unknown to many that yoga can cure any condition. Our speciality is that we address their mental health too. This is done through counselling, asana and pranayama. For instance, we breathe fast when are in anger. The breathe changes according to the condition of the mind. So through pranayama, we can control anger,” she says.
She has also taken sessions of Iyengar yoga. “In this, we make use of various props. I’ve installed various props in my place which gives assistance to the participants,” she says.
Sonal had completed her masters in yoga last year. She uses multi-layer therapies to cure issues such as asthma, thyroid issues and PCOD in women. “A majority thinks diseases can be cured only by allopathy. There’s a treatment for all conditions in yoga. Mental condition is also probed while treatment. The issues in mind lead to stress which affects the body,” she says.
Sonal will be conducting a women-centric free yoga workshop in connection with World Yoga Day at Sree Jalaram Dham, Mattancherry on Saturday and Sunday from 7 am to 9 am. “The workshop will focus on various health issues faced by women. The workshop is free and open to all. And I want to make people aware that yoga can be done by anyone at any age,” she adds.