Ancient societies used to practice yoga which was universally benefitting all the people. The practical philosophy of yoga was designed to bring about profound state of well being. It was the experience of oneself with one‘s inner being. The term ‗yoga‘ is derived from ‗Yugir‘-yoge which signifies coming together or union of any two or more things. Yoga is the seeking and the effort, conscious and subconscious, for a longer and fuller life for the plentitude of being for knowledge, power, love and bliss. It is for the unification of the human individual with the universal and the transcendent, for the growth of consciousness. Yoga is for development of the potentialities of human being, for the union of man with almighty and the manifestation of the divine on earth. (Inder Sen 1980) The major endeavor of yoga is integrating the body, mind & thoughts, so as to work for good results. Modern lifestyle of the societies made the human body sensitive so that it is easily affected by many diseases, mostly due to our food habits, daily routines, and also because of air and water pollution etc. Especially for the sports persons, systematic and regular yoga practices help keeping healthier and enhances resistance power to fight against the diseases. Amongst most of the sports, hockey players need to have sharpened mind and concentration in order to execute the skills and perform better. Normally, male hockey players suffer due to lack of concentration. Power of mind could be channelized for thinking right good thoughts through yogic exercises. Yoga paves the way for an individual to do any action peacefully and perfectly. The main objectives of the yogic practices are to make a player free from diseases, inorganic, egoism , miseries , the affiliation of old age, fear of survival and so forth.( Chandrasekharan, 1999)

It has been defined that yoga is not an ancient myth buried in oblivion. It is the most valuable inheritance of the present. It is the essential need of present days and the culture of tomorrow. World Health Organization (WHO) conducted a study and observed that the heart disease and depression are worst causes of deaths over the world. These are because of overstress which leads to some psychiatric diseases. For example, male hockey players suffer mainly from depression, inferiority complex, anxiety, and phobia, etc. Generally, for most of the games the persons suffering from other diseases such as diabetes, asthma, insomnia, ulcer, hypertension, etc., become unfit. When the player is enthusiastic in participating games, one has to overcome such diseases. Yogic exercise is helpful in this process. The major reason for these diseases is stress. In relating to this yoga is one of the strongest curative mean of these entire ailment. Yoga helps reducing the psychiatric disease like depression, anxiety by controlling the mind. By the regular practice of yoga, it acts on the body system a very prominent role and gradually helps to control the hypertension, heart problem, diabetes etc.

Stress is part of life. Australian Dr. Hens salye considered as the father of stress awareness and

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body. Stress causes the illness. Illness can also cause stress. Stress creates physical pain, missed activities feeling of isolation etc., so to improve overall health and longetivity exercise can help and its great deal of stress in the male hockey players.

1. External Factors: Individual game, selfness, loneliness, joblessness, family problems, stress in game, ups and downs in confidence, etc.

There are mainly two categories in stress.

Examples for positive stress are worrying about the game and skill executions, getting tension while taking some decisions in difficult situations, getting scared about the competition, tension before playing the game, these are all natural stress and in these situations the management of stress differs and it depends on the capacity of an individual. Stress, when properly regulated and channeled, is one of most positive energies of life. Positive stress maintains the harmony in life. It supports calming down the mind.

Spiel Berger defines stress as the interaction between coping skills of the player and the demands of his environment. When stress is excessive, extended and unfocused, it becomes distress, and can cause real damage to the player. High level stress disturbs the health and well being of the player and causes problems. For example, prolonged fighting and misunderstanding between players, egoism among the players playing under a captain, all these cause the overstress.

Increased perspiration, heart beat and pulse rate, tense in arm and legs.

Inability to concentrate, loss of self confidence, worry, anxiety and irrational fear come under this class. Hair pulling nail biting, increased or decreased sleep, over use of drugs and alcohol.

Head ache, dizziness, showering, tiredness, migraine and lack of interest in games.

• Recognize the reason for stress.

• Confirm the reason for stress.

• Recognize your strength and weakness.

• Share your feeling with others.

• Good time management.

• Healthy diet.

• Practice yoga and meditation.

In stress management proper dietary habit also plays an important role. Food is the basic necessity of all living individuals. Food habit will differs from individual to individual. Mainly we need food for the growth of the body and protection from diseases. Balanced diet means, the diet which contains all essential nutrients which are necessary for the above said body functions in right quantity will be called diet.

In reducing the consequences of stress, yoga is the excellent way. Many researches prove that regular exercise relegated entirely to one part the day is not very effective, if the rest of the day is spent largely in passive manner. According to Dr. Satyapal, normal exercises affect quite strong on health. But such exercises do not have much impact on the internal organs of the body as yogasanas. Yogasanas are very affective in throwing out all our body wastes and in activating our glands on the proper functions of which depends our health and happiness. Yogasana improves mental power and helps in controlling the sense organs better than exercise for the hockey players Yogasanas need little space for practice than exercise. Exercise causes tiredness to the body by the repetition of certain movements. But yogasanas performed very slowly keep mind fresh and are called non-violent exercises. So yoga is the best mean to reduce the stress of the both body and

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body and also provides the physical strength and stamina which are essential for a player. The regular practice of yoga is not only to feel physically better but it also gives happiness and peace to the mind. Yoga is the science of right living and as such is intended to be incorporated in daily life. It works on all aspects of the person like in the physical, vital, mental, emotional, psychic and spiritual. Yoga is power destressor. Stress ages very fast. Other exercise forms work by semblance of stress within the body. For example, in hockey sports and normal exercise forms, the muscle injuries occur first and as it scars it creates the tissue that gives you the tone, in yoga, this harmful stage of muscle toning is completely bypassed.

• Best performance in the game

• Reduced stress

• Sound sleep

• Reduced cortical levels

• Smoking cessation help

• Resting heart rate

• Spiritual growth and

• Sense of well-being

• When someone is confused and conflict status, yoga practice helps overcome them.

• Yoga clears out duality in mind.

• Practice deep breathing meditation.

• Practice hatha yoga.

• Breath the fresh air.

CONCLUSION

Yogic exercises release stress and heal injuries of the body of a hockey player. Generally, yoga also clears the mind and reinstates energy levels. Yoga is science and art of realizing the absolute, i.e., the ultimate reality or supreme consciousness. Holistic living, i.e., physical, mental, emotional, intellectual, social and spiritual wellbeing are science of health, harmony and happiness. K. Chandrasekhar an (1999). “Sound Health through Yoga” (Madurai: Prem Kalyan Publications,), p.07 Dr. Inder Sen (1999). Sri Aurobindo on Yoga: Vision Books Pvt. Ltd., p.5 Satyapal, Dholan Dass Aggarwal (1985). “Yogasanas and sodhana” (New Delhi: Bharatiya Yogic Sansthan, III rd edn,) p.25. Swami Satyananda Saraswati, (1997). Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandh, Yoga Bharati, Bihar, India, p.1. Swami Vidyanand (2007). “Learn About Basic Transformational Yoga”, (New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd.), p. 76.

Assistant Director of Physical Education & Sports, Malnad College of Engineering, Hassan, Karnataka