Over the years, what constitutes yoga has undergone change. Today, it has many takers, with forms like power yoga and hot yoga drawing today's youth.
Corporates getting instructors to take short sessions for their employees is another fairly new trend, says Chow Siddhartha, whose Siddhartha Yoga conducts many such sessions. Desktop yoga is a fall out of this sort of practice.
"Not every office, big or small, has the space for employees to spread out mats, and many companies ask if yoga can't be done sitting on a chair," he says.
And so it can. "Desktop yoga consists of activities and exercises — not limited to stretches — that one can do sitting or standing in their office cubicles."
Mindfulness, or a set of breathing techniques that draw from Buddhism, helps beat work-related stress. "It helps you focus on the present, setting aside anxiety about the future and baggage from the past," he elaborates. "It improves efficiency."
The third observation he makes is that many, post the declaration of International Yoga Day a couple of years ago, are looking at yoga from a therapeutic perspective — that it's a means to address specific health issues.
Karuna C, currently between jobs, recently joined a class in a studio to address the effects of having put in long hours on the desk.
"My back hurts and my knees are stiff," she says. "I used to run before but yoga makes me feel great too. I feel like my stamina is increasing, which is good because I dont want to feel old at 26."
She has noticed that a lot of studios that teach yoga have come up in Indiranagar, where she lives, in the past few years.
"I think yoga is becoming a popular pastime among the elite," she comments. "And I see a lot of women taking to it."
Archana M H, a software engineer, a was recommended surgery for sciatica in 2008. "But I decided to start yoga instead because I knew a lot of people for whom the surgery hadn't helped," she says.
She went for therapy classes for a few months but soon switched to the general
ones.
"It's great to practise yoga as a part of the group," she says. "Now, the pain and other problems associated with sciatica are under control."
Most people, when they start doing yoga, think of it, as a physical activity, according to IT professional and founder of Yogavijnana Vinay Siddaiah.
"But over a period of time, it becomes more than that — a means by which to explore oneself, delve deeper within," he says. "This is true in my case as well."
He started practising to ease back pain but in a year or two, he realised that in addition to the physical aspect, yoga encompassed two others — the mental and physical.
He believes that power yoga suited for a certain frame of mind — "perhaps, when one is very disturbed".
"But once you're over that, you will transition to something else. I don't think there are many kinds of yoga. To me, all yoga is one," the teacher says.
That said, he observes that though yoga went to the West from India, it is catching on here once more, with a touch of Western influence. "So you see acro yoga, artistic yoga and the like here as well," he adds.
![]( "Healthy route: More and more people are choosing innovative ways to practise yoga.")
Over the years, what constitutes yoga has undergone change. Today, it has many takers, with forms like power yoga and hot yoga drawing today’s youth.
Corporates getting instructors to take short sessions for their employees is another fairly new trend, says Chow Siddhartha, whose Siddhartha Yoga conducts many such sessions. Desktop yoga is a fall out of this sort of practice.
"Not every office, big or small, has the space for employees to spread out mats, and many companies ask if yoga can’t be done sitting on a chair,” he says.
And so it can. "Desktop yoga consists of activities and exercises — not limited to stretches — that one can do sitting or standing in their office cubicles.”
Mindfulness, or a set of breathing techniques that draw from Buddhism, helps beat work-related stress. "It helps you focus on the present, setting aside anxiety about the future and baggage from the past,” he elaborates. "It improves efficiency.”
The third observation he makes is that many, post the declaration of International Yoga Day a couple of years ago, are looking at yoga from a therapeutic perspective — that it’s a means to address specific health issues.
Karuna C, currently between jobs, recently joined a class in a studio to address the effects of having put in long hours on the desk.
"My back hurts and my knees are stiff,” she says. "I used to run before but yoga makes me feel great too. I feel like my stamina is increasing, which is good because I don't want to feel old at 26.”
She has noticed that a lot of studios that teach yoga have come up in Indiranagar, where she lives, in the past few years.
"I think yoga is becoming a popular pastime among the elite,” she comments. "And I see a lot of women taking to it.”
Archana M H, a software engineer, a was recommended surgery for sciatica in 2008. "But I decided to start yoga instead because I knew a lot of people for whom the surgery hadn’t helped,” she says.
She went for therapy classes for a few months but soon switched to the general
ones.
"It’s great to practise yoga as a part of the group,” she says. "Now, the pain and other problems associated with sciatica are under control.”
Most people, when they start doing yoga, think of it, as a physical activity, according to IT professional and founder of Yogavijnana Vinay Siddaiah.
"But over a period of time, it becomes more than that — a means by which to explore oneself, delve deeper within,” he says. "This is true in my case as well.”
He started practising to ease back pain but in a year or two, he realised that in addition to the physical aspect, yoga encompassed two others — the mental and physical.
He believes that power yoga suited for a certain frame of mind — "perhaps, when one is very disturbed”.
"But once you’re over that, you will transition to something else. I don’t think there are many kinds of yoga. To me, all yoga is one,” the teacher says.
That said, he observes that though yoga went to the West from India, it is catching on here once more, with a touch of Western influence. "So you see acro yoga, artistic yoga and the like here as well,” he adds.
Corporates getting instructors to take short sessions for their employees is another fairly new trend, says Chow Siddhartha, whose Siddhartha Yoga conducts many such sessions. Desktop yoga is a fall out of this sort of practice.
"Not every office, big or small, has the space for employees to spread out mats, and many companies ask if yoga can't be done sitting on a chair," he says.
And so it can. "Desktop yoga consists of activities and exercises — not limited to stretches — that one can do sitting or standing in their office cubicles."
Mindfulness, or a set of breathing techniques that draw from Buddhism, helps beat work-related stress. "It helps you focus on the present, setting aside anxiety about the future and baggage from the past," he elaborates. "It improves efficiency."
The third observation he makes is that many, post the declaration of International Yoga Day a couple of years ago, are looking at yoga from a therapeutic perspective — that it's a means to address specific health issues.
Karuna C, currently between jobs, recently joined a class in a studio to address the effects of having put in long hours on the desk.
"My back hurts and my knees are stiff," she says. "I used to run before but yoga makes me feel great too. I feel like my stamina is increasing, which is good because I dont want to feel old at 26."
She has noticed that a lot of studios that teach yoga have come up in Indiranagar, where she lives, in the past few years.
"I think yoga is becoming a popular pastime among the elite," she comments. "And I see a lot of women taking to it."
Archana M H, a software engineer, a was recommended surgery for sciatica in 2008. "But I decided to start yoga instead because I knew a lot of people for whom the surgery hadn't helped," she says.
She went for therapy classes for a few months but soon switched to the general
ones.
"It's great to practise yoga as a part of the group," she says. "Now, the pain and other problems associated with sciatica are under control."
Most people, when they start doing yoga, think of it, as a physical activity, according to IT professional and founder of Yogavijnana Vinay Siddaiah.
"But over a period of time, it becomes more than that — a means by which to explore oneself, delve deeper within," he says. "This is true in my case as well."
He started practising to ease back pain but in a year or two, he realised that in addition to the physical aspect, yoga encompassed two others — the mental and physical.
He believes that power yoga suited for a certain frame of mind — "perhaps, when one is very disturbed".
"But once you're over that, you will transition to something else. I don't think there are many kinds of yoga. To me, all yoga is one," the teacher says.
That said, he observes that though yoga went to the West from India, it is catching on here once more, with a touch of Western influence. "So you see acro yoga, artistic yoga and the like here as well," he adds.
Over the years, what constitutes yoga has undergone change. Today, it has many takers, with forms like power yoga and hot yoga drawing today’s youth.Corporates getting instructors to take short sessions for their employees is another fairly new trend, says Chow Siddhartha, whose Siddhartha Yoga conducts many such sessions. Desktop yoga is a fall out of this sort of practice.
"Not every office, big or small, has the space for employees to spread out mats, and many companies ask if yoga can’t be done sitting on a chair,” he says.
And so it can. "Desktop yoga consists of activities and exercises — not limited to stretches — that one can do sitting or standing in their office cubicles.”
Mindfulness, or a set of breathing techniques that draw from Buddhism, helps beat work-related stress. "It helps you focus on the present, setting aside anxiety about the future and baggage from the past,” he elaborates. "It improves efficiency.”
The third observation he makes is that many, post the declaration of International Yoga Day a couple of years ago, are looking at yoga from a therapeutic perspective — that it’s a means to address specific health issues.
Karuna C, currently between jobs, recently joined a class in a studio to address the effects of having put in long hours on the desk.
"My back hurts and my knees are stiff,” she says. "I used to run before but yoga makes me feel great too. I feel like my stamina is increasing, which is good because I don't want to feel old at 26.”
She has noticed that a lot of studios that teach yoga have come up in Indiranagar, where she lives, in the past few years.
"I think yoga is becoming a popular pastime among the elite,” she comments. "And I see a lot of women taking to it.”
Archana M H, a software engineer, a was recommended surgery for sciatica in 2008. "But I decided to start yoga instead because I knew a lot of people for whom the surgery hadn’t helped,” she says.
She went for therapy classes for a few months but soon switched to the general
ones.
"It’s great to practise yoga as a part of the group,” she says. "Now, the pain and other problems associated with sciatica are under control.”
Most people, when they start doing yoga, think of it, as a physical activity, according to IT professional and founder of Yogavijnana Vinay Siddaiah.
"But over a period of time, it becomes more than that — a means by which to explore oneself, delve deeper within,” he says. "This is true in my case as well.”
He started practising to ease back pain but in a year or two, he realised that in addition to the physical aspect, yoga encompassed two others — the mental and physical.
He believes that power yoga suited for a certain frame of mind — "perhaps, when one is very disturbed”.
"But once you’re over that, you will transition to something else. I don’t think there are many kinds of yoga. To me, all yoga is one,” the teacher says.
That said, he observes that though yoga went to the West from India, it is catching on here once more, with a touch of Western influence. "So you see acro yoga, artistic yoga and the like here as well,” he adds.