By Lakhram Bhagirat
Yoga is one of the many cultural exports of India with immeasurable benefits. Practising yoga is one of the many ways towards achieving holistic health, since it is not only about physical postures but rather deals with much more than that.
Yoga has proven to be effective in treating almost every complication the human body undergoes. Psychologists laud yoga as a method to help relieve stress, anxiety, and depression. The mere practice of connecting with one’s inner self is by itself soothing.
Speaking with the Sunday Times Magazine, Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr K J Srinivasa said that yoga was now globalised and he was perfectly fine with that as long as the original purpose was not betrayed.
Dr Srinivasa has been actively practising yoga for over three years now, and he believes that it has contributed positively to his overall health. Despite being a medical doctor, the High Commissioner believes that allopathy alone cannot cure all problems. He is of the belief that alternative medicines contribute significantly to the overall wellness of humankind, since Ayurvedic remedies stem from centuries of knowledge possessed by our ancestors.
Dr Srinivasa is pleased that India has been the torchbearer of culture in various forms, with yoga being part of the rich cultural heritage. Yoga and other Ayurvedic remedies are all important facets of life that allows one to live to one’s true potential.
“Yoga I think personally is something which needs to be practised by everybody. I have been doing it for the last three years continuously now and it has given me a great improvement in the quality of life, in my health and also peace of mind. In this day and age, when we have a lot of stress, a lot of non-communicable diseases, yoga actually has helped me to keep away from say hypertension, diabetes or any of that other diseases,” he attested.
Dr Srinivasa begins his yoga every morning at 05:00h and practises for an hour followed by another hour of walking. He also meditates for at least 10 minutes per day before he gets to the office. He notes that yoga has greatly improved the way he functions. He is being taught discipline and can concentrate even in the most stressful situations.
Yoga has been instrumental in aiding the diplomat’s decision-making process, since he now makes a conscious effort to think more critically. According to him, that comes from a lot of meditation.
One of the misconceptions about yoga is that it mostly involves physical activities, but yoga is also about eating healthily and purifying your body. Yoga is meditation. Yoga is breathing.
International Yoga Day is especially important for India, since it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the one that proposed the observance to the United Nations back in 2014. The following year was when it was declared to be observed on June 21 annually.
For Indians, June 21 is especially important since it marks summer solstice – the longest day in the year. It is an important activity in the Indian lunar calendar, since summer solstice symbolises an inner spiritual journey.
Dr Srinivasa has been associated with International Day of Yoga since 2015. He was posted in San Francisco back then and organised a large yoga session with the famous Golden Gate Bridge being the backdrop. More than 5500 persons participated, with the Indian Finance Minister being the chief guest. That was the first observance of International Yoga Day.
While he was posted in South Africa, the diplomat took yoga to the Wanderers Stadium with over 6000 people. He also took yoga to impoverished parts of South Africa.
“Every year I make a conscious effort to spark yoga awareness. I have made it a point to take yoga to the nooks and corners. For example, in South Africa, we took yoga to Soweto – the place where (Nelson) Mandela was born,” he said.
In Soweto, Dr Srinivasa collaborated with the Art of Living Centre and took yoga to the schools and elderly homes. He was surprised at the welcome they received in the schools. Teachers there embraced yoga as an element to teach their charges not only about their health but also about mindfulness, how to be calm, and to put their energies in a creative way.
“In this day and age when violence with youth is affecting the world, yoga can act as a calming influence and this is what I found. Yoga helps to get control over your health,” he posited.
When Dr Srinivasa was posted to Guyana, he came with big plans to take yoga all over the countries he had diplomatic responsibilities for. Those countries being Guyana, Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, and St Kitts and Nevis.
However, because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, those plans had to be placed on the backburner. Nevertheless, he was excited to learn how Antigua incorporates yoga in the rehabilitation of women who suffered intimate partner violence.
“The Social Welfare Minister in Antigua, she was saying that they use yoga to counsel women who have been abused. Apparently, yoga has been used as part of the psychotherapy. It helped them to calm down, get that thing out of their system and try to help them rebuild their lives, and that was something that I was really amazed. When we see such an application of yoga, it shows how innovative it can be. It is the first time I have heard that they have done this in a foreign country, so I was pretty amazed. In India, we introduced yoga to prisons to help calm them down and we being a part of this venture feel proud, because yoga is an intangible heritage,” Dr Srinivasa told the Sunday Times Magazine.
Over the years, many westerners have travelled to India and studied yoga. They brought it back to their countries to practise and teach. Now yoga has been globalised as well as monetised. According to the Indian diplomat, he is not worried about the saturation of the practice. Rather, he is encouraging more people to start taking up yoga. He notes that yoga was here, and here to stay.
“Yoga has been evolving through the years. Now with the exposure yoga got in the world, I think the local modifications are done due to some local requirement. So, as long as it does not betray the original purpose of yoga, as long as it doesn’t tamper with the way yoga was designed to be, I think if the guru and disciple want to tweak it, then that is their business but at the same time, they should not try to impose it on others. That is the beauty of India and yoga, because we don’t try to tell them look this is the hard and fast rule. We say ‘look this is something which our ancient sages have given us; it’s good – you use it … in the meantime, if you want just tweak a little bit, then be my guest’. As long as it helps you, we are okay,” he explained.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian High Commission in Guyana had to change its plans for International Yoga Day, which is being observed under the theme “Ghar Garh Se Yoga – Yoga From Home”.
On Sunday, June 21, 2020, persons are encouraged to join the yoga instructors at the Swami Vivekananda Culture Centre (SVCC) in Georgetown for a virtual yoga session from 10:00h. You can join by visiting the SVCC Facebook page and joining the Zoom conference.
Additionally, Prime Minister Modi has invited everybody to participate in a worldwide video blogging competition titled “My life, my yoga.” The competition allows for essays to be written about how yoga has impacted your lives; there are the art and poster aspects as well. Also, persons can snap a photo of themselves in various yoga postures and be the winners of various prizes.
