When you talk of a physical exercise the immediate conception one gets from the term is heavy exercises like running, jogging, moving the body from one side to the other which all are meant for body building and fitness.

This of course incorporates sports activities such as football, netball, athletics, basketball and boxing.

Little or nothing is said about light physical exercises like yoga which do not make one sweat but still yield the same benefits.

Yoga, initially is an exercise that targets at keeping the body free of diseases.

The coordinator of the exercises in Tanzania, Jayaram Thakkar says the main objective of the programme which is a free service is to help people especially the poor, get rid of various diseases without medical treatment.

“Our aim is to help the needy people get rid of the diseases without spending money, the majority do not have,“ he says.

It also strives to keep the majority of the people out of the traditional diseases like diabetes, hypertension, parkinson and stress.

Yoga was founded in India in the Middle Ages when civilisation began to take shape in the 16th century.

With its massive attraction, yoga was widely accepted registering millions of members practising.

However, the existing situation is like reviving the past, as thousands of people practising and getting its benefits.

It was introduced in Tanzania in June 2006 with 80 people rising gradually to 1000 with a branch in Mwanza. Between 35 and 40 members attend classes daily in Dar es Salaam.

Eighteen teachers have been trained in the period and plans are underway to open more branches.

The programme is being carried out in a two faced scheme geared at relieving the country of poor medical treatment coverage through physical and breathing exercises.

Physical exercise, as the term suggests, entails light exercises such as sitting on bare floor and pushing your stomach deep at the same time letting your chin touch the chest while holding your breath.

“When you hold your breath out, you get peace of mind and through physical exercise the muscles get gentle thereby keeping the body in good shape,“ the national coordinator elaborates.

Breathing exercise involves closing the nostril one after another, close the right nostril by the right hand thumb and likewise close the left nostril by the second and third fingers while keeping the palm of the hand in front of the nose.

By the exercise, oxygen is used as medicine. When breathing takes place that way, more oxygen is consumed, converting the blood into oxygenated subsequently making it circulate throughout the body creating immunity which protects the body from diseases.

There are seven approaches of conducting the exercises. These are bhastrika, a process of inhaling and exhaling through the nose, kapal bhati, breathing out through both nostrils while pushing the stomach in, and bahiya, a process of pushing the stomach deep in and letting your chin touch chest while holding your breath.

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