Have you ever looked up from your laptop and felt like your neck just forgot how to be a neck?
You’re not alone. Across the country, doctors are reporting up to 40 per cent rise in young working professionals coming in with issues like persistent back pain, spinal misalignment, muscle stiffness, headaches, dry eyes, even early signs of heart strain. And it’s not just from stress—it’s from sitting. All day. Every day. In front of a screen. New-age problems now come with new-age names: Tech Neck, Text Claw, Sitting Disease, Digital Fatigue, Dead Butt Syndrome. I wish I were joking. But this is where we are—overworked, over-connected, and out of alignment.
The truth is, the body wasn’t designed to sit hunched in one place for 10 hours a day. And when we ignore what our body is trying to tell us—with little aches and creaks—those whispers can turn into real health crises. This is where I come in. Or rather, where Anufunyoga, or AFY, begins.
People often ask me how I became a yoga therapist. The real answer? I didn’t choose it. My body did. After my accident, I was bedridden—completely immobile. Even trying to stand up felt like climbing Mt Everest. It was during those long, still days that I began to explore what I now call AFY. It was slow, gentle, and intuitive. Step by step, breath by breath, I began to recover.
Later, when I started working with slum children, I saw the same thing. The first problem I noticed wasn’t poverty—it was posture. These little ones would sit with slumped backs, low energy, and no sense of grounding. That’s where I began—teaching them to sit straight. And slowly, I saw a shift in their attention, their energy, even their self-worth. Because when the spine is strong, the mind can breathe.
I believe this same shift is possible—and necessary—in workplaces today. Bankers, coders, creators, analysts—many are suffering silently from “screen fatigue,” not realising that posture is more than just physical. It affects focus, emotion, decision-making, and joy.
At the Anu Aggarwal Foundation, we’ve been integrating simple yet powerful techniques—posture correction, mindful movement, spinal awareness—and we recently received an award for excellence in community work and inner fitness, at the British Parliament, London. That recognition reminded me how something as basic as sitting right can create a ripple effect: better mood, better being.
I’m now looking at taking AFY to the corporate world—not as a class, but as a culture. Because this isn’t just about yoga mats and stretches. It’s about helping people reconnect with their bodies. So if you’re reading this slouched on a chair, maybe just pause. Sit tall. Breathe deeper. Roll your shoulders back. The first step to transformation isn’t a giant leap. Sometimes, it’s just… sitting up straight.