Ms. Namita Nayyar:
You have also studied yoga academically when your parents wanted you to take a more professional career, please share your area of specialization and problems you have observed to heal with yoga practice.
Ms. Paloma Gangopadhyay:
I hold my master’s degree in English literature and a gold medallist in the same. I went abroad, studied sports medicine, and science because there was no opportunity to study yoga. One fine day, I walked into a yoga studio in Los Angeles where my trainer from Australia, taught a yoga class so different from all the classes that I practiced in the past. Her knowledge in anatomy amazed me and I was inspired to study yoga therapy and science. I studied the concepts of hot yoga, anatomy, yoga therapy. I went to the self-realization fellowship, USA, and understood the philosophy of Paramhansa Yogananda. I started learning the science behind yoga. My studio was pragmatic yet philosophical, spiritual yet scientific. The west taught me to use yoga as a tool to help people to recover from so many diseases.
But sometimes people believed in medicine, more than naturalistic healing. It took me years to make people realize the true benefits of yoga and my journey is still on.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Share with us any 3 favorite yoga poses for women targeting weight loss and build body strength
Ms. Paloma Gangopadhyay
3 best yoga postures, especially for women to lose weight, are :
- Ardha Chandrasana with Pada Hastasana
- Trikonasana
- Virabhadrasana
These postures work on multiple benefits that give weight loss, core strengthening and toning.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
According to you what is the best time to practice yoga, also should it be done in combination with HIIT workout? Ideal duration of a class.
Ms.Paloma Gangopadhyay:
Yoga is practised and benefited at its best early morning and twilight, when the mind, body and soul is calm and away from the hustle of everyday life. Yoga is best in the purest of its classical and traditional form.
A yoga practice can be anything between 40 minutes to an hour depending on the stamina of the practitioner.