Yoga: Not just for Indians

No less than 130 yogis were gathered at the premises of the Indian High Commission, Abuja last Sunday to celebrate the second edition of the International Day of Yoga which was organized in collaboration with the Indian Cultural Association, Abuja.
The celebration which was an event for all including children, featured a 45-minute yoga session anchored by Mr. Raghu Sharma who teaches the Art of Living and has also taught stress management courses in North America, Asia and Africa for the past 11 years.
First Secretary at the High Commission, Sharad Srivastava, said the mission had marked the first edition last year and felt the need to promote the practice among Nigerians.
He said: “Yoga is not a religion but it traverses all religions. It is an art of living and focuses on personal wellness and spirituality, whilst connecting with self and with people.”
Srivastava said the idea behind the event was to promote the wellbeing of humanity and this is part of the reason, the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi proposed that it be recognized worldwide.
With the proposition of Modi, an enthusiastic yoga practitioner himself, the United Nations General Assembly in 2014 passed a resolution declaring June 21 International Day of Yoga – being the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. This has been endorsed by 175 countries.
There are various reasons people practice yoga. Peace Emezue, a fitness instructor who was part of the celebration, said she includes yoga in exercise and relaxation routines for her clients and herself too.
Emezue who does yoga at least twice a week said: “Yoga for me is a way of relaxing my nerves and body after workout. It is a good stretch routine which I also do when I feel mentally tired because it helps balance my inner strength.”
On yoga practice in Nigeria, Basant Ram, who has been a yoga instructor in the country for about eleven years said although Nigerians’ appreciation of practice is still limited, there has been a growing interest in it over the years.
Describing yoga as the oldest technique and mother of all exercise forms, he said: “More and more people are beginning to see it as a form of meditation and relaxation of the mind and body to reduce stress – which is one of the biggest problems in Nigeria.”
Encouraging more people to stop seeing the it as merely a spiritual element, Ram said: “Even with the right breathing technique in yoga, people can overcome stress while developing other parts of their wellbeing and keeping fit.”
It wasn’t all about yoga celebration though, guests were also feted with some of India’s appetizing delicacies as Srivastava said there are plans to make such yoga gatherings more frequent to cater for the increasing number of people interested in it.
The celebration held on the same day in Lagos and Kano in the morning and in Abuja in the evening as it was last year.
According to idayofyoga.org, Maharishi Patanjali is the “father of yoga” who compiled 195 yoga sutras that became the foundation of yoga philosophy. “The commentary on these sutras is called Bhasya. The core essence of Patanjali is the eightfold path of yoga (Ashtanga Yoga) that focuses upon healthy living through yoga,” the site said.