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People must dispel the wrong notion that if you have been working all day, you don’t need further exercise. First works is not exercise and exercise should not be seen as a work. Yoga helps you distinguish that by emphasizing on the relief of stress.
It is important for the Yoga student to distinguish between ordinary activity and exercise. The housewife is often the classic example of one who confuses the amount of activity with the type of activity. She fails to distinguish between plain activity (housework) and the systematic manipulation of the body that is true exercise. Simply put: work drains you of energy while exercise—particularly yoga—regains you of energy. The duties of the housewife, as is the case with types of work, actually promote conditions of physical and emotional stress and it is therefore essential that she take the time to relieve this stress through proper body movements. If the activities of housework (cleaning, shopping, child care) constituted true exercise we would not see the housewife tense, irritable, overweight, flabby, depressed, and complaining of many types of aches and pains. Many office workers and professional women also mistakenly believe that they have had plenty of “exercise” during the workday and that what they should do after their day’s work has been completed is rest. Of course, this is true to a certain extent but rest will not work out those conditions of tension, sluggishness, and stiffness in the back, shoulders, and legs that have resulted from the day’s activities. Health and beauty must be renewed on a daily basis; you cannot play golf or tennis on the weekend, have an occasional massage or steam bath and expect to maintain true suppleness and flexibility of spine, joints and limbs. Yoga is the perfect answer, since only a brief, enjoyable period is necessary to overcome tension on a daily basis. Naturally, no worker has much of a desire to engage in the leaping about of calisthenics when she finishes work. But Yoga will not drain energy; its movements are pleasant and stimulating. Here is our suggestion to the housewife, office worker or anyone interested in gaining more out of life: at the end of the workday spend five to tem minutes in performing some of the simple yoga postures like chest expansion, back stretch, simple twist, and complete breathing. Stretching is the key to relieving stress and releasing energy. A few minutes, so spent before dinner, will revitalize you for the remainder of the evening. For example, if you are an office worker, take a minute or two during your coffee break or lunch hour to stretch the back and limbs with a modified chest expansion. Always remember that a stiff and tense body must detract from the efficiency of the mind.
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