Intern'l Yoga Day 2020:Thousands perform Asanas in J&K, Ladakh

Jammu Tawi, June 21: Lieutenant Governor of Jammu Kashmir, Girish Chandra Murmu, along with Dr. Smita Murmu, First Lady of the UT led the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga by practicing yoga at home as per the Common Yoga Protocol issued by the Ministry of AYUSH.

“Yoga maintains harmony between body and mind of practitioners and is useful in managing lifestyle disorders, mental stress and wellbeing, especially improving respiratory health & immunity during this ongoing situation,” he said.

Principal Secretary to the lieutenant governor, Bipul Pathak, senior officers, security personnel, household and secretariat staff of the Raj Bhavan also participated in the yoga session while maintaining adequate social distancing, the spokesman said.

Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Kashmir unit also performed Yoga on International Day of Yoga in Srinagar. BJP State General Secretary (Org) Ashok Koul said that it was not about the exercise, but to discover the sense of oneness within you, the world and nature.

“Yoga is above religion, caste, colour, gender, and region, it is above everything. Its origin was over 6000 years ago in India and aims to integrate the body and the mind,” he said.

Along with crores of Indians, IGP Jammu Mukesh Singh was also seen performing exercise in the woods of Ramban district.

While in the sixth edition of the International Yoga Day was more at home for people of Jammu and Kashmir like the rest of the world amid the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. People enthusiastically participated in the event while staying indoors.

With the theme ‘Yoga at Home, Yoga with Family' a large number of participants performed yoga at their homes. Celebrating the day, Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, R K Mathur performed several yoga asanas at Raj Niwas in Leh.

“Yoga is the most valuable gift of our ancient tradition,” said Mathur. He ascribed great physical, mental, and spiritual benefits to yoga practice and exhorted to inculcate the habit of practicing yoga in our daily life. “Yoga enhances personal endurance and it can help in fighting pandemic like COVID-19,” Mathur said.  “Yoga can contribute towards social well-being and building peace,” he added.