Second edition of National Health Editors’ Conference on Yoga held in New Delhi today 9th June,2017

Tremendous increase in practitioners of Yoga in India and abroad over last two years: Shri Shripad Naik

New Delhi,June09,2017 : The second edition of National Health Editors’ Conference on Yoga was inaugurated by Minister of State for AYUSH (Independent Charge), Shri Shripad Yesso Naik at National Media Centre in New Delhi today. The conference was organized by Ministry of AYUSH in association with the Press Information Bureau (PIB), M/o Information & Broadcasting; and Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy (M/o AYUSH) as a part of celebrations of the 3^rd International Day of Yoga on 21^st June, 2017. The theme of this year’s conference was “Yoga for Health and Harmony”.

Addressing the participants, Shri Shripad Naik said that the International Day of Yoga is perhaps the only occasion where people across the globe come together in such a large number and take active participation. The interest and zeal of participation in yoga is increasing considerably year by year due to which today yoga has become a household name in the real sense, the Minister added. Shri Shripad Naik said that the credit of increasing popularity of yoga also goes to media may it be print, electronic or social media.

The AYUSH Minister stated that yoga has earned the global recognization in promoting positive health among people. Since treatments in the modern media hospitals are becoming expensive affairs for the people, yoga is gradually making new inroads into the health care system, he elaborated. The Minister further stated that yoga not only makes people healthy but also helps to reduce the burden on the health care delivery system of the country.

Replying to queries from the media, Shri Shripad Naik disclosed that CCRYN is conducting a mega multicentric research study on efficacy of yoga on diabetes in which around 2.50 lakhs people have been screened and the preliminary results of this research study are very encouraging. Replying to another question, Shri Naik said that as per survey conducted by ASSOCHAM, there is an increase of 30% in the practitioners of yoga since last two years. Even in foreign countries, there is an average increase of more than 15% in number of persons practicing yoga, he added.

Secretary AYUSH, Shri C. K. Mishra briefed the media persons about the activities being organized this year to celebrate the International Day of Yoga 2017. The Secretary said that every State will organize yoga events at the State/District/Sub-District level. The Ministry of AYUSH has also sought participation by educational institutions as well as trade bodies, he said.

Giving introduction to the Health Editors’ Conference, Principal Director General, PIB, Shri Frank Noronha said that the objective of the conference is to spread awareness about principles and practices of yoga for our well being. The conference was designed in such a way to bring out the scientific and technical aspects of yoga with the help of experts, Shri Noronha explained.

Around 150 Health Editors and media persons from National, Regional and International media organizations attended the conference. Senior officers of PIB and Ministry of AYUSH were also present on the occasion.

Three eminent experts of yoga and modern medicine presented highlights from recent research works on aspects of yoga. The experts were as follows:

1. Dr. K. K. Deepak, AIIMS, New Delhi spoke on Yoga and Stress Management
2. Dr. R. S. Bhogal, Kaivalyadhama, Pune talked about Yoga and Mental Health
3. Dr. Hemant Bhargava, SVYASA, Bangalore gave lecture on Yoga and Diabetes

A ‘Z-Card’, containing the yoga protocol in brief was released on the occasion. A small compendium ‘Yoga for Depression’ containing selected research papers was also released today.

There was also experience sharing by a beneficiary who has seen a tremendous improvement in her medical condition after adopting yoga. This was followed by a live demo of various yoga asanas by a yoga expert.

The entire conference was live streamed on PIB website including YouTube channel of PIB, PIB Facebook & PIB Twitter.