Image : Isha Yoga
Honorable Prime Minister : Sri Narendra Modi ji ,
Namaskaram ,
In your #MannKiBaat on 26th March 2017 you spoke about #Yoga and asked for suggestions on promoting it .
Yoga is a rich treasure of our culture . Practice of Yoga can help create a more calm and joyous world .
I would like to share some ideas on promoting Yoga in India and internationally :
- Yoga should be taught in schools and colleges across India . This will be an invaluable gift to students . Studies in USA have shown how Yoga when taught to children has had dramatic effects on their well being . Children in India are currently being denied their heritage by way of an education system where they spend 15-18 years and are never taught yoga.
- The world of today is way more complex and competitive . Children are subject to huge amount of pressure , stress and distractions simply because the world is a very different place . Imagine an army that has powerful weapons yet sends it’s soldiers to war without ammunition. We’re doing that to our children in India by depriving them of Yoga in our education system.
- All Indian airports should have a meditation room where people can practice Meditation / Yoga / Pranayama .
- This will help those who already practice it to continue even when traveling
- It would inspire other travelers to explore Yoga / Meditation
- Larger airports like Mumbai / Delhi should have larger spaces for this where trained teacher & videos to basic yoga can be made available.
- Progressively train stations and large bus stations ( as have been recently inaugurated in Gujarat ) should also have this facility of a space where people can meditate / do yoga . This should become part of specs of any future transport space of a certain scale .
- Govt of India can take up spaces in international airports – especially those that are vibrant transit hubs like Singapore , Dubai , London , Qatar etc. Passengers often have long transit at these airports . Mostly people shop / eat or go on city tours. GOI can take up spaces that can be managed by organizations like Art of Living / Isha Foundation where there can be an introduction to Yoga by way of videos, Live classes by a trained instructor.
Organizations like Isha Foundation / Art of Living have an international footprint . They would be able to arrange for trained yoga teachers in various locations . A common curriculum can be evolved so that irrespective of which org manages the space – the structure and content would be largely common . It would be a powerful way to present Yoga and India to the world . This would have a positive impact on Indian tourism .
( I have listed 2 org for the purpose of illustration . There may be several more who can participate ) .
I thank you for your vision , zeal and efforts to promote Yoga in India and internationally .
Kind Regards ,
Savitha Rao
