When yoga united residents in city

Manav Mander

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, June 21

To support Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative, the health and industrial sector held various yoga sessions in the city today.

District Health Department held various yoga sessions across the district to mark International Yoga Day. Early morning sessions were held at civil hospital and all community and primary health centres across the district.

For Ludhiana city, the workshop was held at civil hospital, where civil surgeon, senior medical officer and all senior officials participated. Civil Surgeon Dr Renu Chhatwal said: “One should adopt yoga as a way of life as it helps in purifying the soul. One goes away from negativity and remains fit.”

City based ayurveda-charya Dr R Vatsyayan also conducted a workshop at his place where eminent doctors from the city participated. The lecture on the importance of yoga in life was highlighted by Dr Vatsyayan and all guests were served cool herbal summer drinks.

Meanwhile, the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) also celebrated the day and the theme for the session was Yoga-The Art of Calming Mind.

In Ludhiana, CII and Young Indians (Yi), Ludhiana, jointly organised the yoga session to mark the first ever International Yoga Day. Senior yoga instructors from Dhyan Foundation, Sharad Sharma and Sonia Kumar, especially traveled from New Delhi to conduct a session in Ludhiana. They shared various Patanjali ashtanga yoga techniques with participants.

Sharad said: “Yoga means the union of the individual consciousness or soul with the universal consciousness or spirit. Yoga is a 6,000-year-old Indian body of knowledge and is derived from the Sanskrit word Yuj. Several people think of yoga only as a physical exercise where people twist, turn, stretch, and breathe in the most complex ways. There are actually only the most superficial aspect of this profound science of unfolding the infinite potentials of the human mind and soul.”

He said: “Patanjali ashtanga yoga, which we practiced today, offers lots of benefits such as weight loss, strong and flexible body, glowing beautiful skin, youthfulness, peaceful mind, overall wellbeing, freedom from stress. It’s perfectly suitable for today’s stressful life style.”

Dr Gauhar Vatsayayn, chair, Health Vertical Yi, Ludhiana, also interacted with participants and said: “Ayurveda is the world’s most sophisticated and powerful mind-body health systems. More than a mere system of treating illness, Ayurveda is a science of life. It offers a body of wisdom designed to help people stay vibrant and healthy while realising their full human potential.”

“It uses the inherent principles of nature, to help maintain health in a person by keeping an individual’s body, mind and spirit in perfect equilibrium with nature. Practicing Ayurveda also improves your yoga practice, a perfect win-win situation. Adoption of Ayurveda brings a healthier lifestyle,” he said.

National Integrated Medical Association, Ludhiana, also organised a yoga camp.

Dr Surinder Gupta, secretary, NIMA, Ludhiana, in a press release said free screening camps for lifestyle diseases were held.

More than 300 people got free blood sugar test done, apart from blood pressure checkup. A yoga camp was held under Dr Rupinder Kumar’s instructions at Ambedkar Park.

“A sense of wellness and inherent satisfaction flows through the body system. Apart from maintaining a healthy weight and figure, many diseases get cured as well,” Dr Rupinder said.