What is the Party’s response to the promotion of Yoga by the central government?  Even Left-led governments are announcing that they will also introduce Yoga classes in schools.  Some people are criticising this as being part of the ‘Saffronisation Programme’.

P Shaju, Trivandrum

YOGA has become very popular all over the world not only because many of the asanas practiced as part of yoga have proved to be very beneficial to people suffering from a wide variety of ailments. Even for people who do not have any physical problem, regular yogic exercise has been seen to be extremely conducive to maintaining good health and improving flexibility of the muscles etc.  The breathing asanas and yogic methods of relaxation and meditation are also widely practiced and contribute to general well-being.  There can, therefore, be no objection to the promotion of yoga among the general public and school-going children and young people as long as certain very important points are kept in mind and implemented.

The Hindutva forces want to project yoga as part of the Hindu cultural heritage and give it a religious colouring. We are against this approach.

The first is that in a secular country, no religious colouring should be given to the practice of yoga.  It should not be associated with any religion or religious practice.  Yogic asanas do not include the chanting of any slokas or mantras so there is absolutely no reason for any government or government-institution to do this.  Even the chanting of ‘Om’ should be entirely voluntary.

In Kerala, when International Yoga Day was observed, the health minister K K Shailaja, publicly disapproved the chanting of a prayer for beginning the yoga exercise which she had inaugurated.

Apart from this, there are several very serious issues that all governments must address before they start promoting yoga or introducing it in school curricula.

The first is that it is the considered view of all serious yoga practitioners that very young children should not be taught asanas.  They should only start yoga classes after they are at least 10 years old.

The second is that yoga teachers must be appointed only after they have undertaken proper, rigorous training.  All those with degrees in physical education cannot be recognised as yoga teachers.  There must be definite criteria established in consultation with genuine, recognised yoga institutions that have to be followed in the training and recruitment of yoga teachers.

The third is that yoga classes must be held with small numbers of people or students.  Each individual has different needs, different physical problems and different capacities.  Without taking all these into consideration asanas cannot be taught.  If this is not kept in mind, serious ailments and physical problems can actually occur when certain asanas are performed by people or students whose physical condition does not permit them to do so.

Ideally, the yoga teacher should discuss individual problems with each person in the class before any instruction commences.  It is only then that they will benefit from practicing yoga and will be saved from any harmful exercise.

There is a great danger that in their enthusiasm for the promotion of yoga, governments and government institutions will not pay attention to all these essential issues and, in the process, more harm than good will be done and yoga, itself, will be blamed for their shortcomings.