Yoga is as old as the Adi Yogi - that Indian sage who designed a unique system of Sutras to streamline healthy and happy living but the International Day of Yoga being celebrated on June 21 is a coup for the Indian Government when 175 sponsors supported the Indian Foreign Office’s proposal at the UN General Assembly through an acclamation. Instead of chiding the Indian Prime Minister for bull-dozing a blitzkreig of sorts - the sort that is matched only by Americans, Indians should feel elated that their gift to the world is being celebrated world-wide. As I was talking to Acharya Ram Vakkalanka, my batchmate and one of my closest buddies, he says there is a two-way shift towards Yoga and almost all countries have joined hands with Yoga practitioners to conduct camps this Sunday. The other push is coming from the Indian embassies worldwide to create awareness and practice or initiation sessions on Yoga Asans tomorrow at camps across. Either way, this is a welcome move. Dedicating a day to a thought about something is always a good idea. Talking about No-tobacco, or Anti-Cancer, or prevention of diabetes or breast cancer awareness - all these help kick up awareness and propel us towards taking counter-measures against illness or motivate us to become healthier.
What I like about the world adopting today as “Yoga Day” is that a formal recognition that is overdue to one of the most beneficial systems of mind-body-spirit alignment known to mankind has come at last. It doesn’t take away any credit from the people who have pushed the frontiers of Yoga before and doesn’t entitle extra credit to the Man who used his machinery to get this status. It is just as symbolic as the other days that the world gave. The credit should come all the way down from Patanjali who created those 196 sutras but never once mentioned the world “Asana” to the great guru Krishnamacharya who taught over a 1000 Asanas and Kriyas to four disciples who winged out the technique of Yoga as the world practises today. Foremost among them are: BKS Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois, Smt.Indira Devi and his son himself - TKV Deskichar. The beneficial effects of Yoga are proven by the life-span of these gurus. Krishnamacharya lived to 100, BKS Iyengar lived upto almost 98, Indra Devi to 102 and Pattabhi Jois to 94. Today, Yoga in whichever form it is practised in the world is a formidable way of life cutting across religions and cultures. My friend Acharya Ram told me last night that besides the commonly known G7 countries, Yoga is practised in countries like Lebanon, China, Turkey, Sudan, Israel, Russia and even in Pakistan. It is well spread out to Africa, Australia and South America too with Yoga centers everywhere. According to the documentary program on Discovery channel yesterday, there are over 250 million Yoga practitioners on the planet.
The total Yoga Industry is worth $6 Billion annually and people in the West take it more seriously than in the country of its origin. If you have a World Aerobics Day or a World Cycling Day, Yoga definitely deserves more than an annual reminder to make it an integral part of life. The beauty of Yoga is that it grows slowly and works at multiple levels of mind, body and soul and then restores harmony and tranquility, apart from de-stressing you. Like a book that one should read, it has many pages and chapters, but whether you give up after few pages or read the first chapter and move on, or take many months, if not many years to read it finally - it is all upto the beginner of Yoga. It gives the flexibility and is there to return to it again and again. It has many aspects of turning focus inward before turning the focus on overall mental and physical health. Unlike the staccato nature of isotonic and isometric exercises or aerobics, Yoga has flourished because of the flexibility it gives to each one according to his or her body condition. An Asana is not a ritual that has to be done exactly same by every student, it is a pose that can be done as much as your body allows you - no hard rules. This gives Yoga practitioners slow and steady results in an injury-free manner. Today, thanks to this flexibility in Yoga, there are as many variants in the schools of Yoga as the number of Asanas. BKS Iyengar gave illustration for 196 Asanas, Pattabhi Jois gave us about 800 Asanas. Nobody knows the exact number of Asanas which have been originally developed after observing various non-human species and the way they deal with physical stress and relaxation. But according to my friend, Acharya Ram, the reference can be found in a text called “Shiva Samhita” which details a total of 8.4 lakh Asanas coinciding with the total unique number of species on this planet. But that would be unthinkable to ingrain in our daily lifestyle for health and happiness. About a dozen Asanas and a few Pranayams are all that is needed to stay healthy.
Despite that, unlike Aerobics, Yoga has matured and moved beyond the original forms. You have different improvisations and schools of Yoga based on the intent of the Yoga Guru who wanted to give it a signature spin and personal branding - Ashtanga Yoga, Bikram Yoga, Hot Yoga, Zen Yoga, Kriya Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Jewish Yoga, Pregnancy Yoga, Nada Yoga, Tantric Yoga, etc. Given so many forms, Yoga has already moved up in its evolution to take one of the top spots in the list of daily rituals that one must adopt. If you have ten minutes or two hours, you can flex your Yoga to fit the time available. If you integrate all the spirit that is ordained in Patanjali aphorisms, it will work on your body and mind as mathematically as the law of gravity irrespective of whether you are a jew, a muslim, a christian or a Mongol. Those who see only the gross aspects of the origin of Yoga will shirk from it - but they cannot gainsay the benefits from Yoga. I feel sad for the narrow-minded people who denounce why there should be an International Yoga Day or whether one should do Yoga at all. A few years back, the Pope made a sensational statement that “Yoga” is the work of the devil , the Satan and should be discouraged. Some Muslims in India and liberals are objecting to Yoga as if it is a religious ritual. But broad-minded people from all regions in the world outside India are embracing Yoga like never before because of the overall beneficial effects it has on the cleansing of the internal organs of the body. If there are limitations to Yoga, it is only in the limitations of your body not in the length and the “breath” of its practice. Apart from modern gurus like Payal Gidwani Tiwari who trains Bollywood stars to Baba Ramdev, Yoga has some acclaimed Muslim-origin Gurus like Shameem Akhtar who has written many books on Yoga at workplace etc.
Having a day to Yoga also does many wonders - like making the world realise where it all emanated from. In the drumbeats that followed to this day, there are reports, according to my friend Acharya Ram, that some sections of North America which lead the world in the regulation of Yoga by extensive licensing and enrolments have been talking of ways and means to “De-Indianise” the practice of Yoga, whatever that means-which goes beyond the three No’s : “No Sanskrit, No Chanting and NO Granola”. That has always been the case - take concepts from East and brand them as a Western Adaptation with a more fanciful re-introduction. A day like this gives India a cultural high to get the focus back to where it originated from - but doesn’t belong to. Once a science or a technique is gifted by a country or a religion, it becomes a universal tradition that is owned by the world. Yoga doesn't belong to Hinduism anymore than Vipassana Meditation belongs to Buddhism or Kung-Fu belongs to Shintoism.
I cannot end this piece on Yoga without a personal note - not that it lends some credence. I have taken to Yoga in my teens and left it in 1991 only to return to it again and again. I have dragged my father and mother to Yoga whenever I could and the little health we all have is because of Yoga. Over the years, I learnt Yoga from Gandhi Gyan Mandir, Krishnamacharya school, SSY, and SVYASA, BengaluruDespite being over-weight, I could keep my body flexible thanks to Yoga, meditation and Kriya Yoga. Whenever I returned to Yoga, it gave me joy and happiness. I can still do 12 Surya Namaskars without a rant, arch my body perfectly in a Dhanurasana and strike a camel pose without discomfort. Yesterday, when I took my second Treadmill Test in a decade, I tested negative with all other parameters in control. The Cardiologist at Century Hospital told me,”Except for over-weight, whatever you are doing to keep your heart and body healthy is remarkable for a body frame that you have. What do you do - walk, cycle or swim?” I told the doctor, “I do Yoga whenever I can.” Of course, I will knock off these extra kids with a step up in metabolism and a step on the gas to rein in diets but Yoga kept me sane and happy for as long as I did it. My only regret is, despite the flexibility Yoga gave me, I have never been taught Yoga in School - we were trained in drills which were rigorous but less enjoyable. But thanks to initiatives like this, Yoga will now make entry into our lives much early where our bodies start malleable - in schools. As of now, 193 countries are celebrating Yoga today with spirited participation. Pakistan, as expectedly, chose not to practise Yoga. God save the world from such ostrich-headedness. Meanwhile, I have participated in Yoga today as a mark of appreciation for this endeavour.
For those who like to know more about the depths of Yoga and the role it plays in overall mind-body development, look for lectures by my friend Acharya Ram who travels from Bermuda to Thailand, from Afghanistan to Mauritius at these links below. Ram stood first in Intermediate in MEC in our batch, finished his Chartered Accountancy in first attempt and his Cost Accountancy and Company Secretaryship examinations, became a top finance executive in North America before relinquishing all of it in pursuit of teaching Indian philosophy, culture and spirituality to the seekers worldwide. Yoga, he says has played a pivotal role in propelling him towards self-realisation and God-realisation. We need more such people to spread the message of salutary effects of Yoga and days like this really move the needle in that direction. Om Tat Sat!
www.aksharayoga.com
www.globalmindbody.org
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