What is Coronavirus (COVID-19)?
Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a new dangerous virus, traced to its origin in Wuhan, China. This deadly virus has caused havoc around the world, with millions of infected persons and the death of more than 70 thousand people around the globe. The most favourable place to attack is the respiratory tract, which becomes more dangerous with co-morbid conditions. It is becoming alarming when it accesses community transmission.
Ways to prevent COVID-19
Since no medicine is still developed, the most important means to protect from the coronavirus is PREVENTION. Prevention can be done through:
- Maintaining social distancing at least one meter
- Personal hygiene
- Washing hands frequently, especially for 20 seconds
- Isolation
- Quarantine
- Lockdown
- Avoid touching one’s face, nose, mouth, and eyes.
Coronavirus (Covid-19) symptoms
- Dry coughing
- Fever
- Difficulty in breathing
- Pain and ache
How Coronavirus (Covid-19) Spread
- Through contact with an infected person when they cough or sneeze.
- Touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and followed by touching their eyes, nose, or mouth.
Combating Corona through yoga
When people are forced to isolate and stay in their homes, it creates a great deal of stress, depression, fear, and negative emotions, which may show cascading effects on physical and mental health. All these bring down immunity and make the body easily prone to infections. Fear, especially of the magnitude experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, might harm the entire body mechanism.
Yoga, breathing practices, meditation, mindfulness, positive emotions, and relaxation overcome stress and enhance our immune system. Regular practising of Yoga, such as cleansing techniques (Kapalbhati, Jalneti, Kunjal), some yoga asanas, Pranayama, Dhyana, and Yoga Nidra, helps to boost the immune system and also enhances the efficiency of the respiratory system, which ultimately helps to fight infections, including the COVID-19.
Yoga can also discourage fear and depression through a healthy lifestyle, viz. Achar: healthy physical activities; Vichar: right thoughts and attitude towards life; Vihar: proper recreational activities to relax body and mind; and Vyavahar: healthy interpersonal relationships for psycho-social health.
5 Yoga helps to fight coronavirus (Covid-19)
Yoga can improve immunity and respiratory tract functioning and help to cope with COVID-19 Infections. The most commonly seen symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are fever, tiredness, dry cough, and shortness of breath. Some patients may also have headaches, nasal congestion, running nose, sore throat, and diarrhoea. Yoga practices help to strengthen the immune system and make us ready to fight against viral and bacterial infections.
- Kapalbhati: Kapalabhati cleanses the respiratory tract, and facilitates the smooth flow of oxygen in the body thereby increasing immunity in the body. This body-cleansing yoga also helps to detoxify the lungs and respiratory tracts. Kapalbhati invigorates the entire brain and awakens the body cells. The robust cleansing cum breathing process increases the lung’s capacity and purifies the frontal air sinuses, and stimulates the brain too.
- Nadi Shodhana Pranayama: Nadi Shodhana Pranayama is known as a stress buster and mood elevator pranayama because of its calmness and steadiness in nature. It helps remove blockages and facilitates a free oxygen flow throughout the body. It is one of the most effective yoga poses to strengthen the immune system.
- Bhastrika Pranayama: This is powerful pranayama relieves inflammation of the throat, destroys phlegm, removes diseases of the nose and chest, and beneficial for asthma. It removes all infections from excess wind, bile, and phlegm and gives warmth to the body. The pranayama helps to increase nitrous oxide in the nasal region. This nitrous oxide helps to decrease blood pressure. It improves blood flow to the organs, which leads to an anti-inflammatory effect in the arteries. It boosts defence mechanisms, which aids in destroying viruses and parasitic organisms.
- Bhramari Pranayama: Bhramari Pranayama can calm the body and mind, a powerful weapon to combat stress. It is beneficial for pranayama to relieve tension and anxiety and reduce anger, helping increase the body’s immunity.
- Jalaneti: Jalaneti helps to cleanse the respiratory tract and helps to remove infection and toxins. It is suitable for the inner epithelial cell lining in the respiratory tract, which improves immunity by attracting more neutrophils in the respiratory tract. It also helps to remove infections from the throat.
Yoga reduces stress about coronavirus (Covid-19)
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has left people anxious, irrespective of age group, on various levels, physically, emotionally, and psycho-socially. Sleepless nights, quarantine, self-quarantine, social distancing, and COVID-19 patients’ misery all lead to a greater level of anxiety, stress, fear, and depression. Here, yoga asana (Ustrasana, Matysasana, Vipritkarni); Cleansing yoga (Kapalbhati, Jalneti, and Kunjal); Pranayama and Yuktahara(the proper habits of eating, sleeping, working, and recreation).
