Yash Moradiya is a 6-Time Guinness World Record holder, who has exhibited his fabulous yoga skills to achieve this milestone. A yoga instructor in Dubai at present, he had an interest in yoga and fitness ever since he was a child. His flexible body and impeccable attitude of hard work and determination, supported him in this journey, so far.
Yash Moradiya holds the record for holding the scorpion posture in Yoga for close to 30 minutes. His other records include holding the scale pose for 29 minutes, and 51 seconds, holding the eight-angle pose for 26 minutes and 26 seconds, the peacock pose for 30 minutes and 53 seconds, and the wheel pose for 55 minutes and 16 seconds.
While conversing with Icy Tales, Yash Moradiya spoke about his journey toward discovering his abilities, his experience of breaking world records, and the impact of yoga in today’s world. He also spoke on how yoga is slowly becoming an alternative to medicine and much more.
Q) Tell us about the time of your life when you decided to become a yoga instructor
Yash Moradiya: At the age of eight when I was in high school, I was the kind of kid who has more into fitness and physical activities. Then one day, my PT teacher recognized that my body is a little more flexible than others so he took me to a yoga teacher. Fortunately, my school had that kind of environment to support sports and co-curricular activities.
Then, I got the chance to get training under my yoga teacher and initially I was performing at the annual function of my school. Day after day, my interest was getting better, which pushed me into participating in championships and contests. Like everyone else, initially, I was losing the contests because I didn’t have a proper idea of how to perform, and practice back then.
After a lot of games and practice sessions, I started winning. I remember winning a bronze medal which was the first medal, I think. Seeing that I was winning and since people were appreciating me, I started to aim higher and work more. Through this, I gradually started winning more events and one fine day, I win a gold medal in a national championship. This is how the journey started.
After winning all the championships, I learned about the other aspects of yoga that yoga is not only about physical doing, and stretching my body; it has the power to change my life completely. Then I studied a lot about the philosophy of yoga and became a yoga teacher. Initially, I was teaching my colleagues, who also started participating in championships and were winning.
Then I got an opportunity to come to Dubai and the journey of growth started from there. Dubai gave me a very good environment which has helped me to practice more. The journey has not stopped, now I am giving an interview and I am sure that there is a lot more to come.
Q) What is the importance of yoga and meditation in today’s world?
Yash Moradiya: Whenever we feel tired or lethargic, it is a sign that our physical body is not connected with us. Lifestyle changes are definitely there; for example if you see a corporate company, employees are all day long sitting in just one place and doing their work without moving their bodies. So their body is becoming stiffer.
Psychologically, yoga leaves a massive impact. Nowadays, we get under so much pressure and every situation stresses a person, which in turn decreases the potential of their mental strength. These are some reasons why you should practice yoga.
If your body is flexible, you will realize a new energy and ignite a new freshness in your body that will help you to calm down and relax. It will make your body more active because blood circulation will increase, and your mind will be sharp enough to concentrate on one task at one time. It has numerous other benefits that will help you to be more efficient and more effective in your day-to-day lives.
Q) Tell us about your journey towards achieving your Guinness World Record milestone
Yash Moradiya: When I was in my school, we used to see many inspirational videos in class. One day, my teacher showed a video about the top hundred, Guinness World Record Holders. At that time, I was sitting in the corner of the class and I thought that these people are doing crazy things and we are just sitting here. I didn’t want to be the person who is just sitting and enjoying. I want to be that person who will be on TV. It was my dream to break a Guinness World Record.
A few years later, one of my teachers attempted a Guinness World Record for the longest time to give a marathon speech in 75 hours. I was at that event and it was just crazy. After that day, I got the dream and I committed myself every day to breaking a world record. I started practicing every single day and then realized that it is not as hard as I was thinking. Every single day when you practice anything for 2 hours, it will become easier.
I stuck to my routine and I also changed my diet by shifting to a completely vegan diet and avoiding other food. At some point in time, I realized that now I can break the record; I was trying to attempt the scorpion position. But one day, someone told me if you’ll break that record, what does it mean? Some other people will break it for your record. It is useless if you are breaking it for one more minute. I really had to set the bar high!
So I didn’t go for the record at that time instead I kept practicing more. Even if I made the most minimal progress of even 2 or 3 seconds or even if my body shivered, pained, or got numb, I didn’t want to stop practicing. One fine day, I went for the record and when I broke it, it was 29 minutes and 4 seconds. I was so happy that I became a Guinness World Record holder!
There are so many people out there who have that flexibility but they are not able to get a Guinness world record because of certain restrictions. To get into Guinness World Records, they ask for so much evidence and proof including good quality videos, medical team, timekeepers, nurses, etc. So to arrange all of this space, I feel like Dubai has been a blessing because it was not possible in India. This is the only reason why I practice in Dubai.
Q) Do you believe that yoga will become an alternative to medicine in the future?
Yash Moradiya: It has already become an alternative to medicine! Yoga doesn’t give you any side effects, because right now if you look at the medical or pharmaceutical industry, it is all corrupt which is the reality of this life. So many people are dying without any reason because of nothing but just fear.
There are so many benefits of yoga in today’s life. In today’s time, it has been proven that yoga can really help you to increase your immunity. And of course, if your immunity is good, then you can fight all of your diseases. At this time, yoga has not gotten that kind of awareness in people’s minds but in the future, definitely, one day will yoga get more inclusion.
Yoga in the form of exercise now is treating people, whenever they are suffering from any disease. So as a follower, I personally believe that in especially breathing exercises will really help you get out of something really bad.
Yash Moradiya aims to spread the word about yoga through his teachings. He aims to motivate people to stay healthy and be fit, as he believes that yoga is the key to a bright future.
Check out the whole conversation with Yash Moradiya on our YouTube Channel.
Last Updated on by kalidaspandian
