WOGA
It’s all about fusion folks! And Yoga, an age-old practice
has borne the brunt of it. It has donned the avatar of a modern exercise form
to suit every need and body type. From unrolling a mat and using your body to
bend in every possible way you can now do Yoga in saunas (Soga), on paddle
boards (Poga), with your pet pooch (Doga), on a monkey’s back or in a bat cave,
while chugging beer (Boga) and call it whatever you want as long as it ends
with ‘oga’…
Or you could just glug beer and call it pubbing but then
where is the virtue in that? Anyway, after many drinks, with or without the ‘oga’
we do obtain a kind of Yogic nirvana without contorting our bodies into some
Asana – unless we are flat out under the table – also known as ‘Savasasana’
(the dead pose).
It’s a given that nobody has any time to spare – so we are
forced to multi-task even while exercising. Multi-task, fusion, whatever but
here’s what works for me – WOGA. It is ‘Walking Yoga’ and it’s a doozie.
So, this is how it works- I walk briskly while breathing
naturally but this is where I incorporate the ‘oga’- by holding one nostril
shut and exhaling from the other. Normally I would pinch both nostrils shut
while walking to shut out the stench of garbage and open drains but then it’s
not WOGA. It’s all about walking AND breathing slowly through one nostril and
expelling air through another…
Yoga in its pure form is silent except for the noisy
exhalations and the loud utterance of “OM” said with varying degrees of
intensity while rising to a crescendo and fading to a slow “mmm”. This is
easily done in WOGA.
As I walk, I draw in a big breath into my big belly
naturally and then I let it all out in a powerful blast of “Ohhhhmmmmm”. This takes about ten strides
during which my walking companion has scooted into another route with his hands
over his ears. Other walkers keep a respectful 10 feet of distance from me
which is what I wanted anyway.
Having carved out my own personal space in a public park I feel
smug in my take on Yoga. I happily inhale and exhale my thunderous ‘ohmm’s’ and
watch with ascetic detachment as a startled bird takes flight.
And that’s all there is to it – WOGA – the essence of Yoga compressed into its essential component –
breathing and my addition of breathing with
sound effects.
Asanas are for the body but yoga is about the spirit. And nothing
lifts the spirit as much as walking and breathing in symphony. Next on the
agenda is HOGA – getting husband to bend to my will. Watch this
space…
Nimmou Nilakantan
