The weeklong celebration of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ by the Ministry of Ayush culminated at a high with a webinar on the utility of the Yoga Break App, which saw the participation of experts and enthusiasts from across the country.

Inaugurating the webinar, Minister of State for Ayush and Woman & Child Development, Dr MunjparaMahendrabhai, said, “Yogasanas in the Y-Break protocol open up the chest cavity and help the cardiovascular system. I hope people across India in the workplace will adopt this simple and effective protocol to reduce stress and improve productivity. “

The webinar on the utility of the Y-Break App saw huge participation of Yoga practitioners. There were technical sessions on how the Yoga protocol – Asanas, Pranayam and Dhyana – help people refresh, de-stress and re-focus on work at their workplaces in just five minutes.

Organised to commemorate the 75th anniversary of India’s independence in August 2022 by the Government of India, the Azadi Ka Mahotsav will continue the entire year. The Ministry of Ayush was allotted a week, from August 30 to September 5, to organize various activities, during which the Union Ayush Minister SarbanandaSonowal, the Minister of Ayush, along with four other union ministers launched the Y-Break mobile app in a glittering ceremony at Vigyan Bhawan on September 1.

Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of Ayush, said the Government of India had recently issued a circular to all employees to do five minutes of yoga in the offices. “Employees work in an atmosphere of tension. That’s why yoga is necessary in their life. Many meta-analyses have found that yoga is the best way to stay physically fit. People who are physically active throughout the day get the same benefits as exercise,” he said. Y-break will prove to be a big step in relieving stress and it is the medium to give maximum benefit in the shortest possible time.

In his welcome address, Dr Ishwar V. Basavaraddi, Director, Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga said it was time to look at the utility of the app for different sectors and the people working in them. “With the Y-Break app and the Common Yoga Protocol, we will take Yoga to every doorstep.”

The Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga (MDNIY), an autonomous body working under the Ayush Ministry, and reputed Yoga institutes namely, Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram, Chennai, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute, Belurmath, Kolkata, NIMHANS, Bengaluru, the Kaivalyadhama Health and Yoga Research Center, Lonavla and Heartfulness Institute have played a prominent role in developing this app.

The technical session that followed the speeches saw experts emphasizing the impact of the Common Yoga Protocol on people of different age groups and professions.

Swami Atmapriyananda, Chancellor, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University, Belur Math, Kolkata, said he was reminded of the Upanishads when he saw the Y-Break app. “Swami Vivekananda took yoga to the west. Yoga has become very powerful and effective but it is not very easily accessible to the common man. The beauty of India is that every aspect of our life is constantly immersed in yoga.”

Dr. Pratima Murty, Director National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, said the celebration of Amrit Mahotsav was successful as it brought the ancient tradition of Yoga in synergy with technology.

“Yoga is very useful for people who are otherwise healthy, as it improves the mental and cognitive ability and reduces anxiety. There are many researches that have proved yoga and its effects on depression, anxiety and even schizophrenia. It not just restricts to the physical benefits but tremendously affects cognition in a positive manner,” she said.

Subodh Tiwari, CEO, Kaivalyadhama Yoga Institute, Lonavala, Mumbai, shared his experience with the Y-Break trials. He said that Yoga was a profound science and beneficial but required efforts to take it to places where the practice hasn't started.

“We started the trial of the Y-break protocol in six offices in Mumbai for 15 days and to my surprise, after the 15 days were over most corporates carried forward with taking yoga breaks at their offices. That gave us a very important insight about the effectiveness of this Y-Break app in corporate and office spaces,” he said.

The webinar saw the participation of eminent experts of Yoga, Yoga enthusiasts across India and abroad, students from different Ayush colleges, Government and private sectors, modern medicine, allied sciences, media persons and IT professionals.

Other programmes organized by the Ministry during the week-long celebration include the drive to cultivate medicinal plants in 75,000 hectares of land across the country, distribution of medicinal plants to households, and webinars to propagate the Ayush System and its role in combating Covid-19, among others. These activities will continue till August 2022.

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MV/SK