Shiva’s abode celebrates International Yoga Day

VARANASI: Yoga fever gripped the abode of Mahayogi- Lord Shiva on the first International Yoga Day on Sunday. From the steps of mythological ghats along the Ganga, parks, grounds of educational and other institutions and even many city roads remained flooded with yoga practitioners since early morning on the Yoga Day.
The efforts made by social and voluntary organizations as well as yoga teaching centers and spiritual groups for past many days to mobilise people for the grand success of International Yoga Day in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency yielded positive results as people from all age group showed enthusiasm in coming out of their homes to take part in mass yoga sessions.
Ghats turned biggest Yoga zones
Hundreds of people congregated at Rajendra Prasad Ghat on Sunday to participate in outdoor mass yoga session, organized by Bharatiya Yog Sansthan to mark International Day of Yoga. Members of several yoga organizations including Yogaytan International, Cyclone Academy, Smiley Yoga International, joined the session and practised yoga for about two hours. The event began with yoga song followed by yoga practice under the supervision of Yogi Prakash Nath Yogishwar. “If 10% of the people practice Yoga religiously, all the problems of the society will die before emergence,” said Yogishwar.
Several vedic students of International Chandramauli Charitable Trust, under supervision of English woman, H Lucy Guest and trustee of the trust, Devatma Dubey performed over 20 asanas at the Ghat.
Another programme was organized at Tulsi Ghat where a large number of pupils participated,” Yogini Smriti Singh of the society said. On the first International Yoga Day, Singh, who is a yoga teacher, opined, “Yoga has nothing to do with religion; rather it unites people. I see no relevance of it being used to create rift between religions. Yoga ka arth hai aatma ko parmatma se jodna. (Yoga is all about connecting ones soul to Almighty).”
She further expressed her gratitude to PM Modi and laid stress on benefits of yoga. A discussion was also held on occasion. It is very important to include yoga in the curriculum of schools and colleges, she said, adding that she will soon be leaving for a personal trip to Belgium, Germany and Holland to popularize yoga. “We have been conducting several workshops abroad to popularize yoga across the world and will continue doing it,” added Singh.
Revealing her interest in yoga, Singh said that she learnt Kundalini Kriya, Hath Yoga and basics of yoga from her in-law Maa Anandmayee.
Public parks hosted big yoga shows
The members of Varanasi branch of Nehru Yuva Kendra (NYK), youth participants of women wing, local residents also practiced yoga under supervision of Yogacharya Mangala Prasad Singh during programme at Bhuvaneshwar Nagar Colony Park in Orderly Bazar on Sunday. A district-level youth conference on ‘Yoga for peace and harmony’ was also organized on the occasion.
Mayor Ramgopal Mohley also joined the youths in yoga practice and said yoga represents our culture and every individual should practice it on a daily basis. He asked the members of NYK to come forward and spread awareness for the same in rural pockets and other areas. Prior to this, 40 youths of Marui Yuva Mandal of Arajiline participated in cycle rally organized to highlight importance of yoga.
Om Yoga Health Society, which has been practicing yoga since the last 10 years, also organized two events to mark Yoga Day on Sunday. “Several doctors and students of society practiced yoga during a programme held at Dumraobagh Colony in Assi area.
A group of youth trainers including Anoushka Chatterji, Anshuman Singh, Shivangi Prateek and Abhinav Pandey conducted a yoga session for local kids in Muslim-dominated Lallapura area on Sunday. The children practised over 10 asanas for about an hour to mark the occasion.
A counselling centre organized a yoga-counselling based seminar at Judge House, Kedareshwar Nagar, Samneghat-Nagwa and Lanka to mark the first International Yoga Day on Sunday. Career Guru, Ravindra Sahay emphasized on the importance of yoga and opined that if inculcated in life, yoga brings development of concentration, unity and inner peace and power occurs. He said that yoga should be included in a person’s curriculum in a very early stage of life and counselling helps the person to learn about various benefits of yoga.
A group counseling of more than 300 students was held as a part of free counselling programme which will continue for a month. One can register for the same on helpline number 9452567449. Member of National River Ganga Basin Authority and noted environmentalist Prof BD Tripathi said yoga is one of the cheapest ways to stay fit and healthy and everyone should include it in their daily lives.
For the regular yoga practitioners at Shahid Udyan it was like a festive day as most of the participants maintained uniformity in dress on this occasion. The Art of Living hosted a grand show of yoga at Sampurnanand Sport Stadium Sigra.