Even as the country stands united in the fight against COVID-19, the recent spike in the number of cases is a matter of concern. In this context, the quality online Yoga training programmes offered by the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga (MDNIY) under the Ministry of Ayush, which are health-promotive and anxiety-relieving, provide useful support to the common people to balance their daily lives in the changed scenario. In addition to physical health and emotional well-being, Yoga also offers a positive pathway to overcome the activity crisis faced by many people who are constrained to stay at home due to the pandemic.

Since the Common Yoga Protocol (CYP) is considered among the best Yoga course for beginners, much of the current training programmes of MDNIY are devoted to CYP. The MDNIY presently streams Common Yoga Protocol (CYP) training programmes on their social media platforms on a daily basis. These are high-quality online instructive videos of CYP, designed to enable the common people to practice Yoga at home.

The elementary training course is called the “Yoga Volunteer Training (YVT) Course”, since this course, apart from imparting Yoga learning, also gives the learner an opportunity to be endorsed as a “Yoga Volunteer”.  The YVT course will have four levels, with an overall duration of 36 hours. The course will begin with the module called the Yoga Appreciation Programme which is of 4 days with daily practice of 45 mins and then move to the second module, the CYP- Introduction Programme will be for 12 days with daily practice of 1.5 hours. Reaching the third module, the CYP- Yoga Sadhana will be for 6 days with daily practice of 1.5 hours. The last module includes a 2-day (6 hours daily) CYP- Self Practice, Assessment & Certification. As a value addition, the MDNIY offers learners of the instant course an opportunity to obtain a “Volunteer Certificate”, which is an endorsement from the Yoga Certification Board (YCB), the country’s apex body in certification in the field of Yoga. While the course is offered free of cost, there would be a nominal processing fee of Rs 250/- for the certificate from YCB. Ample learning material and promotional content are being offered by MDNIY to the public to enable individuals and institutions to prepare and participate in the Yoga learning activities.

The pandemic makes it essential to avoid the congregation of people, and hence MDNIY has adopted virtual or digital mode for Yoga training. This has enabled the Institute to reach out to thousands of people over the last two months. MDNIY has also recognized that the upcoming International Day of Yoga (IDY) 2021 is an occasion for goal setting in the matter of learning Yoga, as IDY evokes a tremendous spirit of participation. In addition, the common people have also shown a will to consciously fight the coronavirus, and many of them see Yoga as a valuable support in this fight. MDNIY has accordingly promoted the message “Be with Yoga, Be at Home” against the backdrop of the pandemic to provide Yoga training to one and all. The MDNIY will also be organising various preparatory activities for the IDY 2021 in virtual or digital mode this year.

With IDY 2021 being just two months from now, this is an apt time to spread the message of Yoga worldwide. The approach to IDY in 2021 would be one of camaraderie with care and caution. The prime focus will be on awareness generation about Yoga’s benefits for health and mobilization through various digital media platforms. Physical congregation in a limited way could be considered only if the situation allows it in June 2021. Therefore, Ayush Ministry and MDNIY are working towards expanding the scope of digital/virtual activities through their digital and social media platforms as well as by forging partnerships with various stake-holders to make Yoga accessible to as many people as possible, even in the face of the constraints imposed by the pandemic.

The current batch of “Yoga Volunteer Training (YVT) Course” is a part of a joint initiative taken by the Ministry of Ayush (MoA) and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS). It is a public-focused online Yoga training programme which started on 21st April 2021. This would be followed up with repeat batches starting on 1st May 2021, 21st May 2021 and 1st June 2021. Information about various such activity is available on the Yoga Portal (https://yoga.ayush.gov.in) and the popular Social Media handles of the Ayush Ministry like Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/moayush/), Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqRR2gs-I3zrNcE4so4TpgQ), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/ministryofayush/?hl=en) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/moayush?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor). Additionally, the social media handles of MDNIY like Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/mdniyayush/), Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDv8TtM0JGZrD0H7wEdUl7w) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/mdniyyoga/?utm_source=ig_embed&hl=en) have this information available.

Yoga has the potential to usher in positivity even in the midst of the pandemic, through its health and well-being aspects. The Ministry of Ayush calls upon all stake-holders to take up the role of ambassadors of Yoga in this difficult phase and motivate as many people as possible to take the support of Yoga in their efforts to tide over the physical and emotional constraints imposed by the pandemic.

MV/SK