Kathmandu, Jan. 15: The uncertainty lurking over the world with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has left great many people across the world feeling stressed, anxious and depressed. According to yoga practitioners, doing yoga regularly can bring abiding mental peace and help manage stress, among other benefits.

“My anxiety reached all-time high after my business went down in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic,” said Ramhari Sharma, a businessperson.
“I started practicing yoga on my own with the help of YouTube. As I made a habit of doing yoga, my energy and enthusiasm level started remaining consistent all day. It helped in keeping all those painful and stressful thoughts in check,” said Sharma.

Aarogya Pant, 9, a second grader of Budhanilkantha, suffered from anxiety and fear when his school was closed due to prohibitory order imposed by the government to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
“It was so stressful time then,” recalled his mother Sangita Panta, “I was very worried about my son as he struggled to sleep during nights due to anxiety. After I persuaded him to do yoga on a daily basis, he started feeling good and he has a sound sleep now.”

The pandemic has devastating impacts on kids. It has taken away their natural instinct of being care free and impulsive. To get rid of constantly nagging anxiety and fear among children, they need to practice yoga, a natural healer, added Panta.
Being a teenager, Asna Singh, 14, was filled with negativity and fear. With uncertainty everywhere, she was leading to self-doubt. “At the urging of my parents when I started giving yoga a try, I started to connect myself with my body and breath. I started learning about self-acceptance and love,” said Singh. I started getting used to the new normal despite missing my friends and school, she added. “Life had gone completely out of control for me when I lost my mom to COVID-19,” said Januka Dhakal, 39, of Balaju.

Coping with the loss of loved one, handling daily household chores, as well as looking after my children had become a great burden for me, said Dhakal. “However, as I was habituated to yoga, it helped me accept things that were beyond my control.”
A yoga practitioner for more than 15 years, Balaram Khatiwada, 71, of Gongabu, said that doing yoga daily has boost up his immunity and enhanced longevity. With the help of various Aashanas, Pranayam and breathing exercise, yoga has always addressed all my physical and emotional issues, he said.

Yoga is an effective medicine during the tumultuous times of the pandemic, so it will in their best interest if they give it a try, she added.
The breathing exercises in yoga helps people face reality with a calm and controlled attitude, said Lila Lamichhane, a yoga teacher of The Art of Living, Kathmandu.
“I appeal to all to motivate each other to practice yoga in their daily life to accept the new normal,” she requested.

Practicing yoga on a daily basis increases mindfulness and has a positive impact on people of all walks of life. It rejuvenates, improves health, strengthens, empowers with proper balance in physical, emotional and mental status of human body, said Lamichhane.

As yoga is a combination of meditation, Pranayam, knowledge and breathing exercise, it helps control fear and anxiety by balancing hormones, she added. Meanwhile, a National Yoga Day is celebrated every year in Nepal on the day of Maghe Sankranti following a Cabinet decision on August 13, 2015.

According to Sanskrit literature, the literal meaning of Yog or Yoga is ‘to join’ or ‘unite’, which symbolises the union of body, energy, mind and consciousness.