Developed 5,000 years ago in India, the practice of Yoga, a spiritual and ascetic discipline has been accepted by the general population and medical practitioners alike.

With time, the health benefits of performing yoga asanas- breath control and meditation with adoption of specific body postures, is being practiced across the globe by a huge number of people. In today’s times, where lifestyle disorders are a major cause of a majority of health concerns, Yoga has been seen to cure or at least curb the effects to a great extent.

Dr. Ronen Roy, Director of Department of Bone and Joint at Fortis Hospital Anandapur, swears by the multi-faceted health benefits of practicing yoga on a regular basis. “The postures of Yoga help in stretching and strengthening of muscles and joints, reduce stiffness of muscle and also helps manage stress, which is very important for experiencing a sense of wellbeing," Dr Roy said.

He also stresses on the importance of yoga to help speedy recovery by keeping post-operative stiffness under check. With the increasing pollution in our surrounding air, the number of people suffering from lung disorders is alarming. “Yoga that entails stretching of muscles of breathing as in the intercostal muscles and diaphragm increases our breathing capacity, which in medical parlance, is called Vital Capacity or Total Lung Capacity.

Forced inspiration and breath holding results in stretching of inspiratory muscles and hence improves the capacity to improve work. Forced expiration and holding of breath in expiration helps in reducing the amount of trapped air in the lung, which is called residual volume and again, improves the lung capacity, in the background of diseases, where there is air trapping, for instance, COPD and Asthma, involving the small airways,” explains Dr. Raja Dhar, Head of the Centre of Excellence in Lung Care at Fortis Hospital Anandapur.

He also emphasized the positive impact of Yoga on pulmonary rehabilitation stating “There is good evidence to show that amalgamating yoga with pulmonary rehabilitation actually improves the quality of pulmonary rehabilitation. Patients with lung disease have rehabilitation involving exercising of these muscles.”

Not only does Yoga help in maintaining physical fitness, it also helps to avoid major health concerns like cardiac ailments in the long run. Dr. Shuvanan Ray, Director of Department of Cardiac Sciences at Fortis Hosptal Anandapur said, “Yoga is all about the coordination of the mind and body. It helps one to learn the art of relaxing, thus controlling Blood Pressure statistics and reduces the chances of occurrence of coronary events and also arrhythmia like sudden cardiac death which happens post a sudden surge of emotions."

" On the other hand, physical exercise is significant to reduce obesity, which is linked to hypertension and diabetes and thus by practicing yoga, one can prevent cardiovascular events in the years to come," he said. Dr. Dibyendu Mukherjee, Consultant-Internal Medicine at Fortis Hospital Anandapur, believes that Yoga is an ideal way to maintain overall physical fitness. He mentioned, “Practicing Yoga can ensure mobility of joints and also has the power to prevent Osteoporosis. It also acts as a Blood Pressure lowering agent and helps in improving mental health of an individual.

Diabetes can also be controlled well as Yoga Asana helps to increase insulin sensitivity in the body. It also has the power to reduce pain in any kind of inflammatory arthritis.” However, the yoga asanas should be practiced under proper guidance. “It is very important to practice yoga under an instructor, who knows what he/she is doing and is able to advise a person on the do’s and don’ts, keeping in mind his/her specific health concerns. If done inappropriately, yoga, just like any other physical exercise can do more harm than good, especially if one is above the age of 50,” cautions Dr. Roy.