I was sipping my watermelon juice at Fort Kochi last Sunday during the weekend trip along with few KCT alumni who work in KCT now like me. And suddenly Arun asked me, “what can we do to overcome the effects of boring day long sitting routine we have in our college! And is there any exercise which help us to study for a long time”?

I said him “Chair Yoga would be a great remedy”. We all discussed and decided to teach and promote chair yoga to KCTians which will improve physical and mental wellbeing.
The next challenge for us was the promotion and how we are going to present it to our students and staffs. Then we landed into an idea of doing chair yoga sessions at library. This is to crush the belief system and myth people have about fitness.

When someone is inviting you to the library for doing Yoga, what do you think? And how do you feel? You will be flooded with lots of Why and How isn’t it? that curiosity is what we expected, and it worked well. This is to give students and staffs the confidence, if they can do chair Yoga in the library which is filled so tight with chairs, tables and thousands of books around, why not during my work at office, during my class, during a journey!

Human Excellence – Agam – Library joined hands together and organized Chair Yoga Session for staffs and Students at KCT this morning in the A.MUSE Thought Lab at Mahathma Gandhi Central Library. It was an enjoyable experience for me to teach various stretches and exercises to the participants. And, when I say “Chair yoga”, isn’t it sound strange to you? For most of us it does. But not anymore.

Studies says we spend an average of 9.3 hours a day sitting. Have you ever thought or aware that, it is affecting our physical and mental wellbeing? Our body is not designed just to simply sit for long. Our body still expects us to jump, run, swim, climb, dive. But it never gets what it expected. Thanks to the new age working culture and lifestyle.
Without a doubt, just sitting in front of computer / TV with no other physical activity results lower metabolism, weight gain, hormone imbalances, weaker immune system, Tiredness, depression and many physical and mental disorders.

But Unfortunately, this have become an unavoidable part of our rapidly changing lifestyle and environment. Be it – in our office, Watching TV at home, eating, travelling, and if you are a student, needless to say about the boring day long sitting in classes no matter you are in a school or college. We are all doing the same.
Here comes the concept of Chair Yoga as an easy remedy. What if you can exercise at your workplace, sitting in your own chair without any additional effort for free! Feels nice to imagine right?

That’s what we do in Chair Yoga. Simple stretches, bends, twists for almost all the parts of our body will be done in the practice. You don’t even need a Yoga mat, any gears, separate attire, special place etc…

Along with some breathing techniques like diaphragm breathing, Naadi Suddhi or alternate nostril breathing, and Pranayama, Chair Yoga gives almost the same benefits which we get from other fitness activities. Yes, you can gain everything by losing nothing! And the interesting part is, those who are not comfortable or having some issues to do regular yoga stretches and postures, Chair Yoga is being the best alternate. Even grannies can do it regularly with no strain or pain. In the west, Chair Yoga is trending as post-surgical physiotherapy.

Being fit is your birth right
And You are just one decision away from Chair Yoga!
So why don’t you give it a try?

–  Kannan Ponnusamy

  Human Excellence Department

KCT, Coimbatore.

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