Celeb Fitness: Kiki Vijay

I have been conscious of my fitness for a very long time. I used to attend yoga and dance classes and also go walking in the nearby ground. But after the lockdown, I have gotten into a different exercise routine. We live in an independent house that has four floors. I climb the stairs from ground to the fourth floor for 10-15 times every day. After that, I do yoga - since I know all the asanas, I keep changing it daily. It is very important to strengthen the body’s immune system and to achieve it we have to do chest opening poses. I practice mermaid pose (eka pada rajakapotasana) - it will open and free your chest area. This pose helps in strengthening the core. Another asana that opens the chest is anjaneyasana. This pose helps in creating a better flow of breath and also improves blood circulation. If I am doing surya namaskars on a day, I won’t be practicing any other asanas. In my yoga class, we used to do group surya namaskars - the group exercises have a different energy. After the main asanas, I do side stretching using sticks. I wind up the yoga session with headstand which is a very important yoga posture. It improves our body’s overall functionality and if you do it daily, you can strengthen the upper body and core. Finally, I do breathing exercises like kapalabhati and pranayama (for 5 minutes). Kapalabhati is active/forceful exhalation and I do it for 60 counts. It increases blood supply to the body and is also good for the abs.