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'Yoga and football are connected': Kashmiri footballer Afshan Ashiq

Yoga helps us recover from injuries, she said

Afshan Ashiq | Instagram Afshan Ashiq Aaa

When I was in Kashmir during the lockdown I used to have an hour for myself, dedicated for meditation and yoga. Most people think that yoga and football are not connected, but it is. Yoga helps us to recover from injuries. It helps us to stretch our body and to open up muscles. Being a goalkeeper, it is very important for me to be flexible.

Yoga helped me in many ways. Being a sportsperson we travel a lot, play a lot of matches. So, the body always needed personal recovery and stretching. I believe yoga is the best possible medium to recover, apart from meditation. Yoga stays with the person for the longest time and over time people have started valuing it a lot.

Yoga can play an important role in everyone’s life. [So I suggest that you] at least give half hour every day to keep yourself fit. If you don’t want to run, there is yoga, which is the best thing to do at home.

Ashiq is a goalkeeper in Jammu and Kashmir’s women football team.