67-year-old takes up psychology course to improve yoga teaching

After entering their 60s, many people look to retire and rest after years of work. But 67-year-old Govinda S Ingale, a Dombivli resident who is a yoga teacher by profession, has been studying for a masters degree in psychology from Mumbai University (MU) from the previous academic year to improve the quality of his yoga teaching.

The story of Ingale's life goes something like this: He was a technician in a hotel in Bandra but became unemployed 10 years ago when the hotel shut down for some reason. During this time, he was diagnosed with diabetes.

Just after the hotel shut down, he started learning yoga at MU by enrolling himself into a course. After he got his certificate in yoga, he started teaching it in his area. He does not charge money for his classes, but if anyone goes ahead and gives him money, he does accept it.

Ingale felt the benefits of yoga after practising it for years. "Since yoga is beneficial, I thought I should teach it to others. Earning money is not my intention, and that is why if anybody gives money, I accept it, and otherwise do not charge for the classes," Ingale said.

After a few years of teaching yoga, he came to the conclusion that human psychology and yoga are interconnected with each other and thus took admission in the psychology course at MU.

"In yoga, human psychology plays a vital role. If we understand human psychology better, then we can gain more benefits from yoga. After completing my psychology course, I can help people gain maximum benefits from practising yoga," Ingale said.

For the past one year, he has not been teaching yoga anywhere because he does not get the time for it. "I used to teach yoga in the morning and evening, but this psychology course takes up my whole day. But after completing the course in this 2016-17 academic year, I will start teaching yoga again," Ingale added.