They are competent, versatile and successful - dynamic at work, and doting at home! They are the glue that hold many pieces of life together. Any tribute will fall short of the place women hold in our hearts and societies. But women are also stretched and stressed. While they look after everyone around them, who looks after them? The answer lies in Yoga - the balance that today’s ‘beauty with brains’ needs!
“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.” ― Nora Ephron
Many experts have recommended yoga for women to help them successfully cater to the multiple demands on their time. Women have always had it tough if they dare to dream big. They are expected to multi-task all the time, living like Superman – regular office worker by day and superhero by night. Women must, not only, take care of their domestic duties with efficiency and grace, but also work outside the four walls justifying their education and intellectual capabilities, at par with men.
Women, across the globe, need to be able to keep many balls up in the air at the same time ensuring that not a single one of them falls at any time. This is why yoga will seem like a blessing for women. Yoga is a means to achieving sanity and serenity in their trying and taxing world. Simple breathing techniques will help women calm down and handle their multiple responsibilities with proficiency and poise.
Yoga does more for women than just make their bodies supple. It lends balance to the mind and nourishment to the soul. That is why women should not consider yoga as another chore on their overloaded schedule but as a necessary activity that will help them handle their other obligations optimally. The logical question that arises in relation to yoga is when to start. This is the icing on the cake as far as women are concerned because yoga is suitable for all ages. Read on to see how women can make the most of the numerous benefits of yoga.
Yoga – Blessing for women in those beginning years
"Under the expert guidance of a Sri Sri Yoga teacher, I could learn poses and postures with simplicity and also understand their significance. The course is a unique energizing experience of the union of mind and body."
Anamika Khosla, HR, Admin & Finance Head, Kmass Pvt. Ltd., India.
Yoga is highly recommended for women in their adolescence. This tumultuous period shapes the entire lifetime of young girls as they undergo major changes in their body and mind. Various asanas of yoga are designed for women at this stage to ensure they adapt to these multiple changes easily and painlessly. For instance, the practice of Pranayama and meditation help calm the restless, fearful and confused teenage mind. The wandering and wavering mind is a result of the physical changes the adolescent body goes through. Asanas such as Dhanurasana and Vajrasana are among those yogasanas that are ideal for women to help them develop a regular and healthy menstrual cycle. Practising these asanas regularly will ensure that women develop muscular strength, avoid obesity and develop healthy reproductive organs by keeping their hormones in balance.
Yoga - Perfect for women’s peak productive period
Women go through various physical changes during the years of conception and motherhood. Yoga helps optimise productivity for women. Women experience various ‘alien’ feelings during their pregnancy time; it is important that they achieve and maintain good physical and mental health. It is a difficult task given the various hormonal changes that are sometimes not under their control. Experts have recommended some of the asanas of yoga for women to keep them in peak shape physically and emotionally. Yoga also keeps women flexible and fit to be able to deliver normally. It ensures that they give themselves an optimal chance to tide over any complications that may occur during pregnancy or delivery.
Pre-natal yoga has many benefits that can be tailored to suit the body's changing needs and capabilities. It also helps to strengthen women’s uterine muscles and support the spine, enabling the back to cope with additional pressure. Post-natal yoga in the form of pranayama and Yogic breathing will help women recover quickly post-delivery, restore firmness in their muscle fibres and increase lactation.
Yoga in the transitional period
This is one of the toughest ages for either sex but for women the complications are singular. Women experience menopause, weight gain, thyroid problems and other such conditions and ailments. The benefits of yoga for women during this time are substantial. Yoga has great healing powers and can help balance hormones, keep weight in check, help menopause pass smoothly and maintain a healthy digestive system. Pranayama and meditation will help women immeasurably in this difficult and rather tumultous time in their lives.
Sri Sri Yoga - A lifetime companion for women
The Sri Sri Yoga has important elements for these phases of women’s lives. Right from adolescence to motherhood, menopause and old age, women undergo many life changes. Yoga will offer relief for women from major mood swings that lead to disharmony and imbalance in their lives. A daily routine can be customised for women according to their age and needs. The asanas in yoga may be designed for women in such a way that it keeps them fulfilled. With this, they can achieve bodily poise and mental peace.
A Sri Sri Yoga course teaches a variety of yoga routines, which can be practiced anywhere – in the comfort of your home or even at your workplace. The Yogasana, Pranayama, and meditation techniques are taught in the Sri Sri Yoga course and can help a woman in the various, challenging stages of her life.
Yoga for the glow in women’s golden years
"Regular practice of my Sri Sri Yoga routine has provided me with both obvious and unexpected benefits for the body, mind and spirit. It has offered me solace, reflection, joy, acceptance and ease in my body. It has helped me connect with my inner radiance and strength in the most demanding times making me aware of my strengths and weaknesses while exploring the new horizons in my fast paced life", Anamika adds.
The golden years of women’s lives brings with it more unique challenges for women. Yoga for women, in this phase, would incorporate their reduced physical activities and hence include less complex asanas. These asanas aim at improving blood circulation. A healthy nervous system will help the body stretch and, eventually, completely relax. As, in all stages, yoga, at this stage, is meant to bring about both physical and mental health, thereby promoting balance and harmony.
The secret for women is to make yoga a part of their life – as much as breathing. With repetition and regularity, the practice of yoga will be ideal for women at any age.
The Sri Sri Yoga is a relaxing experience for women and carries with it an overall sense of well-being. Your Sri Sri Yoga routine is exclusively time for you. Take a break from the demands of being a career woman, wife and mother and be yourself !