Busting The Business Stress With Yoga Entrepreneurs share what yoga means to them.

This would be the last place to tell you about the benefits of yoga, however, we can guarantee that every entrepreneur we've talked to boasts of this ancient practice.

Yoga remains one of the oldest activity humans have been following and the numbers of people practicing have only increased with years. Even the most accomplished ones make time for yoga in their busy lives, and yogis like Baba Ramdev have become a true yogapreneur with his successful ayurvedic business "Patanjali'.

We asked some entrepreneurs how yoga has been helpful in their entrepreneurial journey.

Yoga is a way of life

Year 2010 was the stepping stone for Dr. Smita Gautam when she founded Health First to demystify homeopathy and yoga making it accessible for everyone particularly people suffering from life challenging or life style diseases to experience how complementary therapies namely homeopathy and yoga can change the way of life supplementing with modern medicine.

Smita shares, "We believe Yoga is a way of life and does not comprise of only physical culture, as generally understood. Our practical applications of yogic ideals in daily life include the simple philosophies behind the techniques of yoga that contributes to better living."

She is a pioneer in therapeutic yoga that means one-to-one approach for individual specific conditions and purposes with a specific focus on health and healing.

You need an expert

Mr.Sujayath Ali, Co-Founder of Voonik believes yoga is an art and it should be done with the right training. he stresses on the importance of getting a trainer. He says, ''I think yoga is a holistic practice for both body and mind. I try to get up early to include a bit of Yoga to make my days productive. A couple of breathing exercises give me the right balance and clarity of thought. But I also believe that to get full benefit of Yoga, one should get a good trainer. Done right Yoga can be one of the most powerful workouts, so you need an expert who understands your body and can help you with the right asanas and breathing exercises, to achieve any of your health goals such as weight loss, increase in strength, flexibility and more.''

Takes care of exercise and stress

Umang Srivastava, JMD at Bonita India says yoga has given him the flexibility and ease no other practice has. He says, "Any lifestyle disease or condition, whether it is diabetes or heart disease, is aggravated by the poor lifestyle we lead. The lack of exercise, a poor diet, and stress are the major reasons for the onset of these diseases, and consequently, for their worsening condition. Yoga, I find, takes care of two of these three aspects: exercise and stress."

"The good thing about yoga is the flexibility it gives me. I can do it either in the morning or evening, or sometimes, at both times. I can use it to energize in the morning, and to calm my mind as I wind down for the day. As I travel frequently, it doesn't need me to carry any fancy equipment so I can do it in a hotel room, in a garden, or even on my living room floor. However, it is not a quick-fix. A yoga practice takes time to cultivate and to get attuned to, and thankfully, this is something I have been able to do, over the years regularly as an integral part of my life," he added.

It's about discovering your true self

Internationally certified in Yoga Training, Dimple has been an athlete all her life. She is a regular practitioner of not just yoga but other sports as well. She says,

"Yoga is not just asanas practice , it is about self-discipline, devotion , dedication to life…. It's about discovering your true self , about connecting with the universal divine forces - Journey to Self and beyond."

In an interview in the Entrepreneur Magazine April Edition, Dimple talked about her athletic life and said, "I have always been athletic ever since I can remember. All thanks to my mother, she got me to learn everything from classical dance, music, basketball to tennis. From a very young age of five-six years, I kept swapping between basketball, swimming, cycling, tennis and skating. Post-school, I started with weight training, kickboxing and yoga that I practice every day religiously till date. However, whenever I get a chance I swim, ride a bike (cycle), play tennis or go for a run. My own potential surprises me beyond limits – every day I beat myself, every day I am better and stronger than before, every day I can do something that seemed impossible before. In a nutshell, every session is a story by itself that touches me or enlightens me in one way or the other."

It is a powerful tool of healing

Mr. Manoj Agarwal, Co-Founder of Giftxoxo says, "Yoga for me is beyond exercise, it is a way of life which takes us to health and peace. It has helped me in exploring my inner self and have a positive perspective outwards. I have been an active believer and practitioner of Yoga for almost 10 years now. It is a powerful tool of healing and transformation gifted by our land to the world.''

Yoga is the exercise of the soul

Co-founder and CEO of YourDOST Richa Singh is a regular practioner of Yoga and considers it as a great method to effectively reduce stress at the workplace. She says,"To me, yoga is the exercise of the soul which helps me become the best version of myself."

Yoga is the most powerful gift from India to the world.

Mr. Sandeep Aggarwal, Founder and CEO - Droom says, "Yoga has helped me tremendously. In the beginning of 2016, I would frequently feel burnt out as I used to work 18-19 hours per day. Then I started practicing yoga and it increased my energy and concentration levels manifolds. I was so satisfied with my experience that I rolled it out at Droom also, wherein a yoga instructor comes to the office certain times a month and all Droomers can participate in a professional yoga session. While I still do not practice yoga as much as I would like to, I believe that the benefits far exceed the time spend. I strongly believe that Yoga is the most powerful gift from India to the world."