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Every breath you take…
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Staying fit isn’t a new concept, yoga and tai chi have been around for centuries
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Yoga is proof that exercise as a health-promoting tool is not a modern idea. Our Palaeolithic ancestors realised that “exercise” was different from running to catch a prey or running for your life. Hunter-gatherer societies that still su
rvive, such as the Jarawa of the Andamans, alternate days of activity with days of rest.
After people gave up nomadic lifestyle and took to farming, faith healers and sages in settled societies taught the value of exercise in preventing illness.
Through civilisations
Ancient civilisations everywhere gave importance to speed, strength and martial skills. Nations grew by the sword, and the greatest nations had well-trained armies that performed feats of strength in peacetime. To this day, the Masai and the Samburu of Kenya regard running speed as an indicator of manhood and virtue.
Like their African counterparts, native American tribes valued running and hunting skills. They invented the precursors of the modern games of lacrosse and kickball.
Some of these traditional sports survive to this day. When the Tarahumarahe tribe of Mexico plays kickball, the game occupies entire villages for days on end.
Four thousand years ago, the Yellow Emperor’s Book of Internal Medicine started the Chinese fixation for health and fitness. Exercise acquired philosophical and mystical dimensions over the next two millennia. Two thousand years ago, Hua T’o laid down the basis for tai chi chuan, and its slow, deliberate and graceful movements still win over new converts everyday. Tai chi chuan, in a modern study, decreased the incidence of falls in elderly Americans.
In India, the physical aspects of yoga developed as a means of keeping the body fit for spiritual practice.
Hatha Yoga, which includes various asanas and pranayama, fortified the body for meditation. Seals discovered in the Indus valley depict yoga postures. Aphorisms related to yoga are in the Vedas, Upanishads, and especially in the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali.
The Greeks were the forerunners of secular philosophy, and their approach to physical fitness combined the spiritual with the worldly, culminating in the grandeur of the ancient Olympics.
RAJIV. M
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