Yoga not of any religion, but straight way to health, says young trainer, dietician Hina Khan

By Naz Asghar

Jan 10, 2019

New Delhi:Yoga is a human endeavour to learn from nature, and is not associated with any religion, says dietician and physical fitness trainer Mirza  Hina Khan, while recommending all women, especially from the Muslim community, to benefit from the ancient Indian body and mind fitness system.

Hina, who successfully runs a nutrition counselling and yoga centre in Sarita Vihar area of South Delhi, relates the level and awareness of physical well being with empowerment of women, and finds Muslim women lagging behind as compared to women in other communities, though noticing that health consciousness was slowly increasing as more and more women from her community get educated and society becomes sensitised about their rights.

But, she feels it is still a long way to go. Physical fitness of women is least priority of Indian households in general.

”Since the day I realised the importance of Yoga for good health, I have been convincing women from my community to shed any misconception about the system as something part of any religion. I tell them that when we produce a prolonged ‘Ohm’ sound during the yoga, it is simply a vibration which activates dead cells, and is not to be confused with any religious practice,” she said in a talk with India News Stream.

Like all women, Muslim women have a right to health and right to do what they think fit to achieve their goal, says Hina.

She says she was lucky in having full support of her parents, her husband and in-laws in doing whatever she wanted but not all women enjoy such support, and struggle a lot to make a place for themselves and chose a career of their liking.

Hina started with a course in holistic health, having initially no plan to make a career out of it. She soon got married at an early age. But her interest in health persisted and she went in for a diploma from Southt Delhi polytechnic.

But she soon found that the course was not enough and she had to delve deep into the subject, and that led her to Acharya Prem Bhatia Yoga Institute in Preeti Vihar. She completed her course but could not take it up professionally
as soon after she passed out of the Institute, she had a son, which kept her engaged for a few more years.

”One day, my neighbour in Jauhari farm house in Jamia Nagar came to  me with some pain in the neck and waist for which I told her to some exercises and she did and was cured of her problem. Then they would with another friend do yoga together and she finally decided to open a yoga centre in Jauhari farm but none came for weeks. However, slowly the word spread about what she was offering and women started coming. But in the meanwhile, she and her husband shifted to Sarita Vihar where Hina set up her soul fitness centre with very encouraging response from the very beginning.

”I had a great sense of fulfilment when a number of women were cured of their problems through yoga exercises and diet regime I recommended,” says Hina.

Besides teaching yoga, she also does counselling about wellness through naturopathy. She has also participated at a number of health events abroad.

While a strong believer in the efficacy of Yoga, Hina is open to any other system of physical exercise that can benefit her clients. Along with Yoga, her Soul Fitness Studio in her Sarita Vihar house also has sessions of fitness dance Zumba. This dance is an exercise fitness program created by Colombian dancer and choreographer Alberto “Beto” Perez during the 1990s. ” Zumba is performed to energising music, and yielded very good results to those wanting weight loss,” says Hina.

From a teenage bride, Hina has traversed a long way to a successful health entrepreneur. And the reason lies in her realisation at an early stage that physical exercise and nutrition was crucial to health which in turn was crucial for
realising the full potential of a human being.

”My husband Sharique Khan has been my best companion in this journey, and of course there was full encouragement from in-laws too,” says Hina.

Yoga comes on top of all for her when it comes to physical exercise, and eating food in its most natural possible form and avoiding processed food is her mantra for her clients when it comes to nutrition.

”Avoid brown bread, eat simple home made roti with unsifted aata, and also discard sausages, bacon and all kinds of processed meat, white sugar and refined oil to stay healthy,” says Hina.

She advises cutting down on meat, because in today’s life physical actvity has declined.

For the most common problem of Indian women–the bulging belly, she recommends yoga, and strictly forbids doing crunches in gyms, which she leads to back pain.

The thing which is most strongly on her ‘Don’ts’ list is three whites–sugar, rice and ghee. For those fond of sweets, she recommends plant sugar which is available by name of Stevia in all big stores today. Stevia is plant sugar which is least harmful, and it was this sugar which Japanese used for sweetening their food and drinks, she said.

But, she cautions, taking stevia should not be a routine affair. ”You should use it when you a very strong craving for a sweet dish or drink. In my health regime, there is a place for indulging oneself once in a while,”.

Hina hopes to open more branches of he Soul Fitness Studio ”to spread health and happiness”. After Sarita Vihar, she has already set up her centre in Jauhari Farm area of Jamia Nagar.

She is going to be the subject of the cover page story of  the popular health magazine Doctors’ Hub in its next edition.
(India News Stream)