Open House: What steps should be taken by the government and civic bodies to promote yoga?

Make kids and youth aware of its benefits

June 21 is observed as International Yoga Day across the world. Even the United Nation passed on to the world the physical and mental benefits of yoga. It is an ancient Indian art of healthy living and should be performed in a proper way after learning from experienced teachers or gurus. Yoga asanas should be practised on floor. The general public should be made aware of its benefits but more so schoolchildren and youth. As such, they’ll make it to their own adult lives. The school and college students should be encouraged to do yoga, not only on Yoga Day, but adopt it in their daily routine. It should be done for nearly 15 minutes to half an hour. A world famous yoga guru from India died in the US recently. He had encouraged a lot of people to adopt yoga in their daily life for better physical and mental health. The Centre had also decorated him with the highest civilian award. Unfortunately, Indian people were not enlightened about yoga until the UN decided to observe a day as International Day of Yoga. The state government and civic bodies should also play an active role in promoting yoga in schools and colleges. This will definitely help in enlarging the ambit of yoga activities.

Dr JS Wadhwa

QUESTION

As we observe International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26, what steps should the Punjab Government initiate to combat rampant drug abuse in the state and how youths can be apprised of its harmful effects and repercussions?

Suggestions in not more than 200 words can be sent to jalandhardesk@tribunemail.com by Thursday (June 23)

Workout must for better health

Because of the Covid pandemic, many people have been affected both mentally and physically. So, after the pandemic, it has become very crucial to keep ourselves healthy. Yoga helps keep the mind at peace and content and also helps in strengthening our bond with people around us. With the daily practice of yoga, we feel less stressed and develop a better connection between mind and body. June 21 is observed as International Yoga Day. It is from my personal experience that physical fitness is important. My mother has cervical and migraine problem. She used to get up early but never paid attention to herself. As the problem increased, she started doing physical workouts, including practicing yoga. She is now regular with her body and feels better with all pains that she had to bear. So, I would highly recommend everyone to include some physical workout in their lives. As only workout can help us keeping ourselves fit and we would be able to maintain some distance with obesity. On yoga day, the government and civic bodies should make it compulsory for all citizens that people should be gathered in one place and should do yoga. After that, some volunteers from the government should be sent to get a survey done to know how many people are practicing yoga. Those who do not practice it, some fines should be imposed so that they also start their journey toward fitness.

Mishpreet Kaur

Sessions must be held in schools, colleges

Yoga is a part of our ancient science and culture. Our saints who performed yoga to keep themselves healthy and fit adopted true traditional culture of yoga. Yoga can be new to foreign people, but the therapy has its roots deep embedded into the Indian culture. Prime Minister Narendra Modi took an initiative on global platforms to spread awareness on benefits of yoga across the world. Following this, a number of counties adopted the practice and realised its benefits. As Indians were aware of yoga, they had been performing it from long but Baba Ram Dev helped making the practice more common among the larger populace. Even various TV channels started showcasing live yoga sessions to propagate the practice among people and to facilitate them. Yoga helps in maintaining good mental and physical health. Yoga also teaches you lead your life in discipline. It is a matter of pride for India that the UN declared June 21 as International Yoga Day and about 196 countries across the world got to know and continue to be enlightened about the benefits of yoga. Awareness drive is the only remedy to highlight the merits of yoga. Apart from this, same mechanism can be used in schools, colleges and social media platforms. When we were in school in 1970s, we used to learn an essay on “Morning walk”. The main idea behind it was to highlight and motivate children to do exercises and do workout. Lifestyle changes and doing regular exercises is the need of the hour. Until we all are self-inspired towards health consciousness, effective results cannot be witnessed.

Rajat Kumar Mohindru

Organise special yoga events in offices

Ever since its inception in 2014, International Yoga Day is observed on June 21 every year across the world with great enthusiasm to spread awareness about the importance of this ancient Indian discipline that improves physical and mental well-being of individuals. But at home, many observers have criticised the government’s emphasis on yoga. They believe that the aim behind celebration is less related to health benefits and more to media spectacle to justify its budgetary reduction in the healthcare sector, promote its favourite yoga gurus and their business prospects, and propagate the ruling party’s right-wing agenda. Political controversies apart, yoga did provide a great relief to the sick, stressed and depressed people during the Covid pandemic and its mandatory safety protocols. Every citizen is expected to maintain his physical and mental well-being. Except those who are health-conscious or do physical labour, a large majority of people are careless about their health or lead a sedentary lifestyle or avoid physical activity due to their busy office work or business schedules. They usually suffer from a number of health-related problems. If adopted seriously, yoga not only improves physical, mental and spiritual health but also inculcates a feeling of love, kindness and compassion that is crucial for securing our endangered social fabric today. There is a clear message for the international community to unite and work for peace, stability and development across the world. The government, NGOs and civil society organisations should hold special yoga events in schools and colleges, in offices and factories, and other prominent locations to popularise this practice.

DS Kang

Start certificate course in yoga

International Yoga Day is celebrated every year to make people aware of benefits of yoga. It improves mental and physical health. Breathing exercises increase blood flow and warm up muscles. India has gifted yoga to the world. Swami Ramdev, Sri Sri Ravi Shanker and Sadhguru, all renowned spiritual leaders, have promoted yoga across the world and their efforts brought international recognition. People are realising the benefits of yoga and practising it regularly. Yoga played a significant role in rehabilitation of Covid-hit people who were under quarantine and in isolation. The Centre has initiated several steps to promote yoga. The government should appoint more yoga professionals and also start a certificate course. It should be introduced at the school level and at least half an hour should be fixed for yoga to promote good health. The government, with the help of NGOs, should conduct national/international seminars on yoga and yoga experts should be deputed to conduct seminars and workshops.

Shashi Kiran

Authorities must use social media platforms

Yoga is an exercise for our mind, body and soul. We must adopt yoga in our daily lives to stay healthy and fit. During the lockdown period, a lot of families adopted yoga and practised it daily as gyms, academies, sports complexes, and yoga centres were closed owing to the Covid pandemic. For families to adopt yoga in their daily lives, we have to take certain steps. The first step could be conducting yoga camps for children, middle-aged people and elderly. The second step could be creating awareness using social media and other mediums regarding the benefits of yoga. The government and civic bodies should also look into the matter and host such camps and also get funds from organisations to host these campaigns. Hence, we all should look forward to doing yoga as this year’s yoga day theme rightly suggests ‘Yoga for humanity’.

Sanidhya Bhaskar

Rope in private sector to inspire people

Proposed by India, endorsed by 175 countries and adopted by the UNO in 2014, International Yoga Day is celebrated annually on June 21 with great fanfare. The present year marks the eighth International Yoga Day and its theme is “Yoga for humanity”. Whatever the detractors say, this event highlights the importance of this ancient Indian aesthetic practice and its impact on human life. Yoga combines the physical, mental and spiritual pursuits to achieve a harmonious relationship between the body and mind, increases flexibility and keeps the body rejuvenated and relaxed. Yoga helped people everywhere in the world to tone up their body and manage stress and anxiety during the Covid onslaught. Moreover, it changes our way of thinking and makes us good human beings. It is not just an exercise but also promotes oneness between humans, communities, nature and God — a dire need of the present troubled times when humanity is on the brink of a disaster. Seeing the multiple advantages of this holistic exercise, the government should ask public and private sectors to regularly hold yoga-related events to inspire more people. Along with physical education, yoga can be introduced in academic syllabus. Yoga studios should start offline/online daily and weekend classes and invite motivation experts to share their personal experiences and teach how to do right exercise. Several social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter and YouTube can be used for the purpose.

Simran & Tajpreet S Kang

Government and NGOs must work in tandem

Yoga is practiced across the world. In fact, it is an ancient physical, mental and spiritual exercise that originated in India which has acquired international recognition since 2015 when June 21 was declared as International Yoga Day. The aim is to raise awareness amongst people to adopt this unique meditative discipline which promotes individual concentration apart from physical fitness. Various yoga postures (asanas) create flexibility in body, alleviate pain in muscle knots and help to control emotions. Indeed, it helps humans to fight against impending diseases that are caused due to mental complexities, junk food eating habits and several environmental issues. Our religious scriptures strongly highlight the significance of yoga towards mankind renaissance in a refined and dignified manner. Since times immemorial, almost all revered gurus, rishi munnis and swamis not only observed this as a way of life to keep body fit but also treated it as a medium to promote their own ideological views. In recent periods, many civic societies and organisations run free guidance centres where people perform yogic exercises daily. Obviously, yoga has emerged a succour to human life which serves as a great tool towards social integration as well as a substance of keeping many ailments at bay. In order to give it further impetus, the government and NGOs ought to work in tandem to develop yoga studios/groups to boost this charismatic stress remover activity where social media platform can also be of big use to popularise the movement in all dimensions. Being the pioneer to carry forward the doctrine of yoga worldwide, India must redeem its old philosophy of ‘bhakti and shakti’ as the essence of healthy living. On the yoga day, let us reaffirm our commitment to make yoga an integral part of our routine curriculum so as to lead a happy life, free from tension and ailments.

Nirmaljit Singh Chatrath