Yoga Against Covid

Asanas move from studios to smartphone screens as wellness enthusiasts rediscover yoga in a new online avatar

- Aditi Pai

THIRTY-FIVE PHONES, linked to a WhatsApp group titled ‘The Surya Namaskar Challenge’, beep every morning as members punch in figures declaring the number of sun salutations they did. The Mumbaikars, aged between 19 and 78, began exploring and learning yoga after the nation went into lockdown in March. With an instructor guiding them, the amateur yogis challenge themselves as they step up their count of Surya namaskars, hailed as an immunity booster. “It is 12 asanas in one,” says Ira Trivedi, author, and founder of Ira Yoga Wellness. “Do Surya namaskar for 10 minutes every day, slowly and with awareness, and watch it work its magic.” The “magic of yoga”, say, experts, works on both the body and the mind, making it the most practical wellness routine during the pandemic. With the sixth annual International Day of Yoga is celebrated on June 21, the decision by the United Nations to host a virtual event on its website to mark the day reflects a larger trend in how this ancient wellness practice is being taught at a time of social distancing and lockdowns. Yoga has gone online.

That yoga energizes, exercises, and heals the body and mind has been known to Indians for ages. But with fitness studios closed, no-frills, at-home yoga sessions, which require just a mat and a smartphone, are becoming popular among those who want to learn the correct breathing techniques and the various