I once came across a problem of a swimmer who had problem in balancing even though his body was flexible.\u00a0 Regular practice of yoga helped him have better coordination which miraculously helped him in balancing. If you have a better balance and coordination, it helps you have a better control of the body.\u00a0 Balance is essential in every sport \u2013 be it swimming stroke, golf swing, cricket shot or manoeuvring a football.\u00a0 Then there are sportsmen who are having flexibility problems. Yoga improves joint and muscular flexibility which enhances performance.\u00a0 Again giving example of the swimmer, with a flexible body, \u00a0a swimmer will be able to pull more water and as a result move forward with less exertion.<\/p>\n
For anything in life to be successful, first and \u00a0foremost you need to have a calm state of mind.\u00a0 I started playing serious cricket from the age of 12. Soon, I started playing professional cricket which naturally brought in the pressure to perform as there was lot of competition and there were many in the wings, waiting to be included in your place. Another thing which had started to haunt me was fear of failure.\u00a0 Moreover, whenever I got injured it became extremely difficult to recover because of stress.\u00a0 As a result, it started affecting my performance on the field.\u00a0 Pressure started to build up to such an extent that it started showing on or off the field.\u00a0 I was not getting sound sleep especially on the eve of big games.\u00a0 My coach counselled me since he knew me as a player but that did not change much.\u00a0 By the time I was 18, the coming 5 years were very crucial for me.\u00a0 Finally my coach decided that it was time to train me in Yoga and he asked a trained Yoga Acharya to start taking Yoga classes at least thrice a week post practice sessions in the evening.<\/p>\n
He used to make us perform certain relaxing Asanas and used to make us meditate also.\u00a0 Gradually, the Yoga Acharya started introducing few more Asanas.\u00a0 He also taught us to do Pranayama in the morning.\u00a0 As I started to get in the groove, I started feeling better. I felt that my nerves were calmer, and I was able to rationalise the things which used to bother me earlier. \u00a0I unknowingly got rid of the pre-match pressure which was affecting my sleep. I started getting sound sleep, because of which I woke up well rested and felt prepared to take up any challenge.<\/p>\n
I was impatient to ask my Yoga Acharya how the miracle happened.\u00a0 He explained that meditation and pranayama help us to reduce anxiety and blood pressure on one hand and on the other it increases immunity.<\/p>\n
After a month of consistent yoga practice, my body became more flexible, supple and fitter.\u00a0 I started performing better in the field and subsequently became more confident.\u00a0 Till date, I practise yoga and strongly recommend it to all sport-persons irrespective of the sports they play.<\/p>\n
To sum up, I would say that to perform better in any sport, you need to have a flexible body, concentration and a free mind.\u00a0 Yoga helps us to achieve these all. Consistent Yoga practise not only enhances performance of any sportsman but also makes a person a better and strong human being \u2013 both mentally and physically.<\/p>\n
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Gurpreet Singh<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yoga is an ancient asset to the entire mankind, which has been practiced for around 5000 years.\u00a0 Yoga has both preventive and therapeutic benefits and offers both physical and mental benefits to body and mind.\u00a0 It has been experienced globally that the benefits of Yoga can be enjoyed without any side effects, strain or …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":98918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-articles","category-english"],"yoast_head":"\n