It was cloudy all through and there were brief spells of rain. But it did not dampen the spirit of the young and old who participated in a good number in yoga sessions held at different parts of the city on Sunday on account of International Yoga Day.
The first among the day’s yoga session was at the Rashtriya Swamyam Sevak Sangh’s Sanghaniketana where the session was held at the auditorium and on the two floors above it. All the three floors were full. Among those who participated here were MP Nalin Kumar Kateel and MLC Ganesh Karnik. The yoga session started here at 6 a.m. and went on till around 7 a.m.
The next was at Canara School Urwa where as many as 1,419 cadets from National Cadet Corps from 75 schools and colleges of the city participated. This session at the school was one of three sessions held in the district. These yoga sessions were part of the NCC’s objective of creating a national record of yoga performance.
This 33-minute long session was conducted under the instruction of yoga trainer Kushalappa Gowda. “For the last four days we underwent training (for this session),” said Felcita Priya, an NCC cadet from St. Agnes College.
The yoga session at the school started with prayer. This was followed by 16 yogasanas namely Tadasana, Vrukshasana (standing on a leg), Padahastasana and Ardhachakrasana. There were three types of Pranayama that was followed by a meditation session. It ended with an oath to inculcate Yoga in daily routine. “I will definitely continue with the asanas that I have learnt,” said Nikhilesh, a class 9 student from B.E.M. School.
Minister for Environment and Forests B. Ramanath Rai inaugurated the yoga session organised at the T.M.A Pai Convention Hall. MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, MLAs Moiuddin Bava and J.R. Lobo, Mayor Jacintha Alfred, Deputy Commissioner A.B. Ibrahim, Superintendent of Police Sharanappa S.D. and Chief Executive of Zilla Panchayat P.I. Sreevidya participated in the event.
NSS Volunteers from Mangalore University demonstrated yogasanas at a programme organised at the Ramakrishna Mission. Dharmadhikari of Shri Kshetra Dharmastala D. Veerendra Heggade participated in the International Conference on Yoga held at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi on Sunday. The conference was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.