Yoga goes beyond the domain of religion: V Basavareddi

In a hall packed with 107 paramilitary forces personnel wearing white t-shirts and black track pants, a man was giving lessons on the therapeutic benefits of fasting, be it for Ramzan or Navratri. These lectures have been part of their hectic regimen since April 15, when they began yoga training in preparation for the International Yoga Day on June 21, at the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga here.

The seven groups from BSF, CISF, CRPF, NSG, Assam Rifles and SSB will be trained till July 30 in all aspects of yoga and will be among the over 35,000 performing around 15 asanas at the Rajpath on June 21. This is not the first time that the Institute has taken up giving yoga training to security personnel. Earlier, six batches of Indian Air Force personnel comprising 150 of its personnel and two batches of over 100 members of the Border Security Force had been trained.

Yoga gurus say that besides physical fitness, yoga helps them to deal with emotional stress caused by long hours of work and staying away from their families for long periods.

"Yoga brings flexibility, stability and comfort. It allows the pranas to flow and relaxes the mind... The best thing in life is freedom. Yoga gives that freedom," said V Basavareddi, the director of the institute.

The institute, which is leading the demonstration at Rajpath as the only government-funded organisation involved in the yoga day programme, follows the hatha and Raja yoga traditions in line with those of its founder Dhirendra Brahmachari. The controversial yoga mentor of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had founded the Vishwayatan Yogashram which later became the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga.

"Swamiji followed the traditional yog of the rishi munis. Yoga is not with props and asana is only a part of yog, which is incomplete without cleansing," said Dhirendra Brahmachari's disciple Yogi Uday, who is a senior yoga expert at the institute.

Tucked in a corner of a busy road in the heart of the Capital, there is growing demand for registration at the institute, which not only gives training in basic yoga but also trains people to become yoga gurus.

Basavareddi was dismissive of the controversy over yoga on religious lines. "We have students here from all communities. There is freedom of practice. If you don't want to do Surya Namaskar, don't do it. They can do yoga according to their belief. None of it is in the domain of religion. It is beyond that," he said talking to dna.

Hilal Ahmed, who was among the paramilitary forces personnel undergoing training at the Institute, said he had no inhibitions in doing any asan. "I don't think it should be linked to religion. Surya Namaskar is also an asan," he said. The batch also has two Christian students. Yoga trainers at the Institute say even those who are not Hindus chant "om" without inhibitions.

The Yoga Day, the first international day proposed by India, has brought the Institute into the limelight. Around a hundred of its students have fanned out in the city to impart yoga training in the run-up to the Yoga Day. Yoga had become known worldwide with the efforts of individuals and very little government involvement, a yoga teacher said.

The sprawling institute has two halls accommodating 50 students in each and around 25 teachers, of whom 12 are on the regular staff and the rest on contract. However, the institute is unable to meet the increasing demands for admission from aspirants seeking yoga training.

The Institute is fully equipped with four wings -- yoga training, therapy, education and research, a library containing 14,000 books on yoga, a meditation centre. It now trains 120 each year to qualify as yoga teachers. But, sources at the Institute say there were hardly any employment opportunities for them in the government. Earlier, every Kendriya Vidyalaya had a yoga teacher but now the Physical Training teacher gets lessons in yoga and teaches it in the schools. Most of the teachers work privately, they said.