Excerising the Trunk

Author(s): Sitadevi Yogendra
Publisher: Z_Umravkunvarji_Diksha_Swarna_Jayanti_Smruti_Granth_012035.pdf

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अर्चनार्चन
Excercising the Trunk Smt. Sitadevi Yogendra
Unbygienic Overweight
Quite in contrast to slimness, suppleness and elasticity is the problem of unhygienic overweight. Aesthetically, the slim figure is the aim and desire of all women-and properly so. For not only is the slim figure a thing of beauty but it is also a sign that the owner is careful about her health and its civic and social implications, and further more that she is adhering to some sound principles of living. Of course, all women may not have slim figures of exactly the right proportion, but, certainly, all women can have figures free from the unbeatiful rolls of flesh which sometimes gather above the hips and from thence spread to other parts of the body.
Corroborated by biostatistical evidence, it is now generally recognized that every pound of flesh above the approximate normal weight-especially in persons over the age of forty-proportionately shortens a year of solid living from the tenure of life. The redundance of fat-the exact opposite of what is commended by Hathayoga as the delicate slimness of a lotus-stalk (Mrnalakomalavapu)-should, therefore, be dreaded for two simple reasons: first, because it is unlovely, and, secondly, because it is detrimental to good health and longevity.
Added to this fact, during recent years, slimness has come in fashion; and, as a consequence, the feminine public has decidedly become weightconscious. To the modern woman, therfore, the Hathayoga ideal of a slim figure must have a special apeal whether for good health, beauty or longevity-let aside its higher and psychic perspective.
Unfortunately, however, the beauty aspect in health has been so much over-emphasized in recent years that quite a number of queer measures are resorted to by fat people to acquire a slim figure. The treatments extend from strict dietary to swallowing of patent remedies. In a majority of cases these slimming measures have not only proved useless but even injurious. In countries where at present fashion rules the feminine vanity, even deaths have been reported through undernourishment and misadventure.
(a) Overweight: Its Causes and Treatment: In the first place, it may be observed that the abnormal accumulation of unhealthy fat should be considered more a symptom rather than a disease, especially in view of the recent findings which ascribe the