New Delhi: Breathe in. Hold. Breathe out. Repeat. Breathe slowly and deeply through your nose, and let the air fill your lungs. Exhale slowly through your nose.
What seems like a simple breathing technique helps calm your mind and ease anxiety. Breathing is an essential aspect of yoga practice. And yoga can do wonders for your physical and mental health, says celebrity yoga instructor and internationally best-selling author, Ira Trivedi. She says,
When it comes to women’s health, there is nothing better than yoga.
On International Women’s Day, team Banega Swasth India speaks with Ira Trivedi to understand the impact of yoga on women’s health and well-being. She explains,
Yoga specifically works on our endocrine system which is sensitive for women and tends to go off balance. Women can begin their yoga journey by investing 10-15 minutes daily.
Ms Trivedi believes two of the best breathing techniques are Kapalbhati (skull shining) and Anulom Vilom. She explains,
Kapalbhati is great for detoxifying the body and a grounding effect. It also brings that lovely facial glow. On the other hand, Anulom Vilom is the gold standard of all Pranayama (breath regulation) practice. To begin with, you can do about 200 pumping of Kapalbhati broken in three rounds and around five to seven minutes of Anulom Vilom.
To relieve stress, Ms Trivedi recommends a three-step routine:
- Deep diaphragmatic breathing: Breathe in deeply and exhale completely
- Anulom Vilom or alternate nostril breathing: It involves inhaling through any one nostril and exhaling through the other, alternating between them.
- Child’s pose or Balasana: It’s a posture of surrender and restoration, known for its calming, grounding, and relaxing effects.
She enlightens,
When practising meditation or pranayama yoga, the brain relaxes and gets rid of stress. It is a great antidote for any sort of negative lifestyle choices that we can make. It’s a beautiful physical, emotional and spiritual journey.
While Yoga is beneficial for physical and mental health, there are certain lifestyle choices that women need to make for overall well-being. Here are five healthy habits women should invest in:
- Nutrition – fundamentals to good health
- Exercise – Yoga is great but try and incorporate a physical activity and exercise like walking or playing with your children
- Breathing right
- Resting and sleeping well
- Thinking positive – Looking at the world through rose-tinted glasses can help change your perspective on life. Try to dispel negative thinking.
Also Read: Dear Women, Breathe! Take Charge Of Your Mental Health
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which in its Season 10 is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Ayushmann Khurrana. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In a world post COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental well-being, self-care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
