YOGA FOR HAPPY LIVING

VETERAN ACTOR AND ARTIST SIVAKUMAR HAS BEEN AN AVID PRACTITIONER OF YOGA SINCE MANY DECADES. SIVAKUMAR IS KNOWN AS THE 'MARKANDEYAN' OF THE TAMIL FILM INDUSTRY. HE STARTED DOING 38 YOGASANAS DAILY AT THE AGE OF 16 AND STILL HE CONTINUES TO DO THESE ASANAS, BUT VERY 'SELECTIVELY'. HE NOW GIVES PRIORITY TO PRANAYAMA OR BREATHING EXERCISES. ON THIS INTERNATIONAL YOGA DAY, HE SHARES HIS YOGIC JOURNEY WITH US

- Vinitha Venkatesha

How it started

"I started practicing Yoga when I got belly fat at the age of 16. I did not have a yoga guru when I was a painter in Chennai. A popular weekly magazine used to publish an article about the art of yoga with a weekly film. They were dated and piled into a single book and kept in the Connemara library. I became a member there and picked up the book written by PM Sundaram and VL Kumara Swamy. I would wake up by 4.30 am to practice Yoga and learnt 38 asanas in six months. Later, I started practicing and perfecting every asana. Within a few months of starting to do without any Guru, I realised I was getting benefits from my yoga practice. Then I decided to learn yoga from a guru. So, when I started learning yoga under the guidance of my guru, my body and mind gained a lot of strength."

Prana Vayu and Pranayama