Lucknowites take the plunge into aqua yoga

Aqua yoga is a relatively new form of exercise for Lucknowites, where it requires a person to perform the asanas in and over water. The yoga gurus and followers from the city feel that though the fitness form is already quite popular in other cities as well as globally it still needs to pick up in Lucknow.

Aqua yoga is a relatively new form of exercise for Lucknowites, where it requires a person to perform the asanas in and over water. The yoga gurus and followers from the city feel that though the fitness form is already quite popular in other cities as well as globally it still needs to pick up in Lucknow.

Aqua yoga instructor Rajni Mandhya guiding students during a session.

“An adult human body has 70 percent water. It helps with cleaning and flushing. Aqua yoga is derived from Palavani, a pranayama technique, which helps to lighten a human body to an extent that it can float over water. It works best in healing and de-stressing a body. No denying limitations that are there, still whole body can be covered with postures like water squats, shavasana, pranayama which largely helps breathing pattern to get better,” says naturopath and yoga expert Rajni Mandhya, director of C3 Physio and Yoga Services, who has been into yoga for over two decades and also promotes aqua sessions for quite some time now.

Shikha Srivastava performing aqua yoga

City-based yoga expert Vineet Saxena adds, “Postures are often tweaked, according to what can be done in this medium like any other aqua exercise. For instance, the standing poses are not altered majorly but due to the water level in the pool, seated, prone and supine poses can’t be performed as they are. We use the wall and aqua noodles to support balancing while performing sitting postures. It greatly helps in core engagement, increasing concentration and strength building.”

Fitness enthusiast and educator Sarvesh Goel, who recently organised an aqua session for city folks, shares, “In Lucknow people prefer taking one step at a time. Being into cycling and running for long now I have seen people here waking up to other exercise forms other than gym. Aqua yoga and scuba diving too are finding takers but slowly. One doesn’t need to be a swimmer as aqua yoga is more about balancing in water where the level hardly exceeds over three-feet for an adult and is even lower for kids who can participate that is above eight years of age.”

Lucknowite and homemaker Shikha Srivastava, 56, resident of Ansal Celebrity Garden who of-late tried her hand at the practice asserts, “I joined yoga a year back and gradually shifted to power and now aqua. It’s a practice one should surely try, especially in summers. The effect of water on a human body is magical.”