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Do any ancient Hindu/Indian texts mention the importance/unimportance of physical activity/exercise in one's life?

hanugm
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2 Answers2

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Yes, the 'Yoga-Sutra' by Patanjali and other scriptures on Yoga lay emphasis on 'Asana', which are alternatively called yoga-Asanas.

The eignt parts of yoga are

yamas cha niyamascha eva Asanam cha tathA eva cha/prAnAyAmas tathA gargi pratyAhAras cha dhAranA/ dhyAnam samadhi retAni yogangAni varAnane// ( yogi-yagjnavalka,(1/45). So the eight parts are yama, Niyama, Asana, PrAnAyAma, pratyAhaAra, DhAranA, dhyana and samadhi.

Asana is defined as

sthirasukham Asanah (Yoga-Sutra,sadhana-pAda,46).. So what makes one sit comforably and being still is Asana.

Practice of Asana and PrAnayAma are both involved with physical activity/excercise.

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    But, If you are seated you are static where is there physical activities in it? :D – Rickross Apr 01 '19 at 04:44
  • @Rickross While doing different yogasanas and pranayams, physical activity is definitely involved. –  Apr 01 '19 at 04:45
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    For e.g to do dhyana we need to seat comfortbaly in some yogic posture.. is that a physical activity? So, IMO by physical activities OP is trying to mean activities like running, swimming etc .. – Rickross Apr 01 '19 at 04:46
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    Yogasanas are static postures .. you don't move .. that's what I meant – Rickross Apr 01 '19 at 04:47
  • @Rickross There are sixty four or more variants of the yoga-asanas and practising them or practising the three vandhas of the Hatha-yoga definitely involve physical activities. –  Apr 01 '19 at 06:34
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Physical exercise aka vyayamam is an important routine in everyone's day-to-day life. Scriptures of sananthan dharma, especially ayurvedic scriptures, do mention in detail the importance of exercise and also contains several other aspects related to exercises.

One should perform the exercise every morning before bath. The following are the lines about exercise

Exercise brings about lightness, it improves work capacity, increases digestion power, burns fat. It brings body into good shape. People with diseases originating from Vata and Pitta, children, elders, people with indigestion problem should not do exercise. Exercise should be done till one’s half strength. Exercise should be done compulsorily by those having full strength and who take oily food stuff, From December to May. At the end of the exercise, one should undergo mild massage (pressing the body parts with mild to moderate pressure.)

[10, Chapter 2: Dinacharya, Sutra Sthan, Astanga Hridaya]

Along with this, the next few verses give the side effects of over-exercise.

Since one needs to do the exercise every day, five verses about exercise have been given in the Dinacharya (daily routine) chapter of the scripture.

If you observe further chapters, exercise is also used as one of the treatments for some unhealthy conditions.

hanugm
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