Kerala celebrates Yoga Day; CM highlights its importance

The Kerala government on Sunday celebrated International Yoga Day through an online platform based on the theme 'Yoga with family at home' in the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown. 

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the'Yoga Day' jointly organised by the state government's AYUSH Department, National AYUSH Mission and Regional Outreach Bureau in Thiruvananthapuram.

"Yoga is not just a physical exercise but also a scientific mental exercise. The United Nations has recognised yoga as an exercise programme for the health and fitness of humankind. It's also a secular workout regime," he said.

"Yoga and Ayurveda are two major contributions of India to the world and the government is committed to promote the same," he added.

Vijayan said the state government was developing and implementing a comprehensive Yoga Kerala project.

The chief minister said the importance of yoga should be understood and effectively utilised to curb lifestyle diseases.

Health Minister K K Shailaja, who presided over the online event, said immunity plays a very important role in the fight against COVID-19.

"The relevance of yoga in this context is very important. Yoga helps to concentrate and reduce stress. The state government has initiated several programmes to promote yoga under the aegis of the Department of AYUSH and various yoga modules have been prepared and trained to suit people of different ages and health conditions," she said.

The Health Minister said the various modules include a series of short yoga exercises that can be practised in the workplace.

She said that the AYUSH department and the health department were working to make the yoga training accessible to the public through the family health centers.

More than 300 people from across the state took part in the online Yoga Day celebrations after which the doctors from the AYUSH department performed various asanas.

The Kerala police force also joined the International Yoga Day celebrations in the state.