On the day of 21st June, the scenario throughout India was the same: Yoga on the International Yoga Day.
2 Guineas records have been won by the central government ministry for Ayush.
The first record is for the largest number of people performing Yoga in a single place.
The second one is for the participation of 84 countries in the performance.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has managed to convert Rajpath into a ‘Yoga Path’.
Throughout the country, all state chief ministers, other ministers, eminent personalities in spiritual sector, actors, actresses and singers asmulti-faceted personalities led the Yoga exercises.
The more praise-worthy news away from the Guinness records was that Yoga, which was born in Inida, was spread throughout the length & breadth of the country on this day! Many learnt to appreciate Yoga ans some participated.
The old outdated thought the Yoga was meant for people who renounced their lives was wiped out on a single day throughout India.
Though it is good on one side to note the new awareness is good, there is the other side where this may get commercialised.
The Prime Minister is well aware of this. He, in fact, addressed the people not to indulge in commercializing Yoga. This must be heeded to and actions must be taken accordingly.
With the recent awareness on Yoga, it can be expected that lakhs of persons will be interested in taking up the same. So, there will be a requirement for teachers & teaching facilities. This might pave the way for all sorts of people without the right expertise & experience to start teaching Yoga and offering courses. Also, plenty of books & CDs on doing Yoga may be expected.
Yoga is not the simple case of bending the body! And all those who teach body-bending are not Yoga teaches either!As PM Narendra Moddi indicated, if the person teaching body bending is called Yoga Guru, even a kid doing gymnastic exercises ina circus will also be qualified to be a Yoga guru! Yoga is much more than bending the body or holding breath for a few minutes!
The highlighting feature of Yoga is that all persons need not do all the exercises. Even sitting in a single posture for a long time may not be possible for some people. Because of this, a variety of sitting exercises like Padmasanam, Vajrasanam, Sidhasanam, etc are available.
It is not compulsory for anyone doing Pusimothanasanam that he must touch the knees through the nose! It can be done as the body acquires sufficient suppleness through practice.
Priority attention must be given to breathing related exercises. Exercises like inhalation, exhalation. Keeping the breath, etc depends on the individual lung capacity/capability. Yoga teachers help establish this.
It is certain there will be adverse effects if breathing exercises are done wrongly! Do not believe if someone informs that oga does not have any after-effects.
Sitting in the wrong posture, doing Aasanas not fit for the individual, etc can have adverse effects.
Some exercises must be avoided during pregnancy or sickness/recovery period or depending on specific complaints in the body.
Doing Yoga as a large gathering may be good for creating awareness. However, to make Yoga beneficial, it must be taken to suit ones personal physical condition and ability and selecting exercises accordingly. A good Yoga teacher is required for this. Yoga teacher’s responsibility is similar to that of a doctor who checks the body condition and then prescribes suitable medicines.
It would be ideal if the spiritual establishments in various states use their Yoga teachers to conduct free Yoga classes in the respective city/village/schools/colleges and recommend specific exercises as the individual body condition and capability. The teaching must be free of cost and must be done till the person learns thorough practice. Only such a step can prevent commercialization.
India might be a country where people are not aware about of health! Even less-developed countries in Africa & latin America are more aware about the importance of good health.
Following the International Yoga Day, equal importance will now be given to Yoga as given to some self-defence arts and this would be India’s boon!
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