YOGA

2026 Theme: Yoga for Healthy Ageing

"This year marks the 12th International Day of Yoga with the theme “ Yoga for Healthy Ageing”, which emphasizes the importance of Yoga for all ages. Yoga can be a valuable practice for healthy aging because it supports many of the abilities that help people stay active, independent, and engaged as they grow older. By combining gentle movement, stretching, breathing exercises, and mindfulness, yoga can help improve balance, flexibility, strength, and mobility, while also supporting mental well-being and stress management. Because yoga can be adapted to different fitness levels and health conditions, it offers an accessible way for many older adults to maintain their physical and emotional health. These benefits support several goals of the WHO Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030), including promoting independence, reducing fall risk, enhancing quality of life, and encouraging person-centered approaches to health and well-being."

"More than just a form of exercise, yoga is a holistic discipline that nurtures physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.  Unlike fitness routines that focus only on physical conditioning, yoga strengthens the body, improves breathing, calms the mind and cultivates self-awareness."

Go to >. https://www.newindianexpress.com/amp/story/lifestyle/spirituality/2026/Jun/21/adding-life-to-years-with-yoga

        " Many may not realise the full benefits of Yoga as they do only the physical part of Yoga and do not understand the non-physical component which cannot easily be taught and practised.  Because of this ill-understood 'physical and mental' combination, even in India, the home for Yoga', 'walking' is more popular than 'yoga'.  The most difficult thing is to meditate, keeping the mind 'focussed' at 'nothing material' and keeping the worldly thoughts away.  That's where one fails."                                                                                                                                     --  Dr. T. Rama Prasad

YOGA 

A spiritual medicine

Is it a scientific one ?

NEW DELHI:  TNIE, October 2023 : 

"Coming soon, the Department of Spiritual Medicine at AIIMS Delhi

AIIMS Delhi issued an order stating that it should create new disciplinary departments in transplant medicine, medical education and spiritual medicine.

  The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has just formed a committee to recommend a roadmap for a department on spiritual medicine. Sections of the staff and faculty panned the decision, claiming it was deviating from an evidence-based approach. …  If the proposal fructifies, AIIMS will become the first government healthcare institute to open a department that is not a branch of modern medicine. 

    Sections of the faculty, however, see it as anti-science. “It’s against scientific temperament and will put this premier health institute in a poor light,” a senior professor said. The institute has been promoting anti-science activities and now it has decided to legitimise it in the form of a department, the professor added.  …  Dr Rima Dada, AIIMS spokesperson, said the proposal is in a nascent stage. It will take an integrated approach and aid the modern medicine departments. Yoga and Reiki will be part of it. There was, however, no clarity on the faculty who would run the department.  She pointed out that the University of Michigan and Yale School of Medicine already have dedicated courses for spirituality in science. The institute is also planning to introduce spirituality in MBBS, according to sources.”

Read my 'scribbling' titled "Spiritual Reiki"  at :  

https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2020/10/spiritual-reiki.html

11th International Day of YOGA  --  June 21, 2025

2024 : "This year marks the 10th International Day of Yoga with the theme “Yoga for Self and Society.” Yoga, a transformative practice, represents the harmony of mind and body, the balance between thought and action, and the unity of restraint and fulfilment."   

        "This definition is a tad outside the comprehension of a common man, and so he hesitates to embrace Yoga."  --  T. Rama Prasad

The theme for the International Yoga Day of 2023 was "Yoga for Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam," which translates to "One Earth, One Family, One Future."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with other dignitaries, arrives to participate in (th International Day of Yoga celebrations at the Un headquarters in New York on June 21, 2023

Dr. T. Rama Prasad     

MODERN  YOGA 

               June 21, 2015 marked the first ever International Day of Yoga, an event born out of an energetic and passionate initiative by the Indian prime minister,  Narendra Modi. Across the globe, 192 countries celebrated the day.  The participation of around 45,000 people at Rajpath in New Delhi on that day may well be a world record of a single largest session of yoga.  June 21 is the longest day of the year in Northern Hemisphere.

          While most of the world has accepted yoga, India, the home for yoga, witnessed some voices against it on religious grounds. Billed as an activity to promote "Harmony & Peace",  it seems to have hit a bit of controversial note.  "Yoga" means "union" in Sanskrit, but it has alienated some ! Some objected to chanting of "Om" and praying to Sun God.

          Let us forget about the religious, political and official colour that yoga got with the frenetic activity in celebrating the event.  Without getting into the nitty gritty of yoga, let us take a holistic view and take whatever is good in it and modify it to suit to the circumstances.  Any exercise is generally good for the body and mind. There is nothing like the "best exercise" for everybody on the planet.  There are several options.  One may choose whatever suits him/her.  Or, one may take a little of the good from many.

          Yoga is different from other usual exercises as it requires a lot of mental equilibrium coupled with some physical activity. IF IT IS DONE PROPERLY, it may have a beneficial effect not only on the body but also on mind and soul, which may modify pathological changes in the body.  

       Yoga is a physical, mental and spiritual activity which is supposed to integrate the body and mind. But how many are doing it PROPERLY ? ... just as how many are praying to god properly ? Many keep on thinking of mundane things while doing ‘yoga & meditation’ and even while praying to God. That is why they may not get the desired results. The failures are mainly due to lack of understanding of the mind space and its connection with spiritualism.  
        For an ordinary person, writings on mind orientation and spiritualism in yoga seem to contain words that are hidden in oblique language that needs unravelling, like the words of Nostradamus.  The subject can’t be explained in ‘plain’ verse and the object can’t be seen by the ‘plain’ eye.  It is an abstract phenomenon.  Mind discipline is an abstract feeling.  Different people have different perceptions on this subject. How many of us understand the expressions like “universal consciousness”, “omnipotent subatomic energy”, “matter-matter and matter-energy interactions”, “spiritual deliverance”, "Nirvana", etc.?  Each godman has his own vocabulary.

          Keeping the mind silent and focussed is not easy, but it is good for health. "Silence is golden." (Read my 'Scribbling' titled 'Religion, God and Universe' on this website, for a different perspective).  

         

"It is revealed that meditation increases the length of telomere which is an enzyme associated with aging. Dr Elizabeth Blackburn won the Nobel Prize by discovering this enzyme.  It is in this context of  ‘mind ruling over the body’  that ‘yoga & meditation’  may have a significant role to play in the health of the body and mind.  But to reap the benefits of meditation, one should do it with full devotion, involvement and understanding. Otherwise it would be like praying to God with body inside the temple and mind wandering outside the temple !!  Performing rituals perfunctorily begets no benefits.  Many people do ‘asanaas’ and chant 'mantras' with closed eyes, but keep their minds wide open to the outside world.  Without keeping the mind tranquil (Chittha Vritti Nirodhaha Yogaha), yoga would be an exercise in futility."       --  T. Rama Prasad  

'KALIYUGA  TRANSFORMATION'

          In the wake of COVID-19,  a lot of debate and discourse is witnessed about Yoga and COVID.  There is a live webcast by The New Indian Express (TNIE) with the founder of 'Art of Living'  Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.   On the connection between yoga and commercialism,  Sri Sri said: " ... I would not say spirituality has become a business ... A part of it is service activity without which spirituality cannot be complete.  Income is a part of any spiritual activity.  ...  It cannot be called entirely as merchandising, but definitely a portion of finances is attached to yoga.  Yoga is a 32 billion dollar industry in America.  I find nothing wrong on us encashing on it, or we will leave it to others to encash. ..."  To read the full text published in TNIE of 26.06.2020, click on:

https://www.magzter.com/article/Newspaper/The-New-Indian-Express-Chennai/yoga-Boosts-Immunity-Can-Help-Fight-Covid 

MORE  "SPIRIT"UALISM  !!!

          Like many other ancient traditional activities of India,  yoga also has undergone evolution and modification, and even dilution and commercialization.  The present day practice of yoga is varied and may be a lot different from the ancient methodology. 'Sadhguru' Jaggi Vasudevan is said to have made esoteric ancient ‘yogic’ methods relevant to our modern times of contemporary science, through ISHA Yoga.    It may be interesting to know that Sadhguru went a step ahead  in 'godmanship' and danced with cine actor Ranveer Singh at 'IIM  Bangalore Leadership Summit 2018'. 

          It may be considered as a tad out of the frame of a godman ... but it is said that if you go beyond the frame of logic, you don't have time and space limitations when you transcend into mysticism.  When we become slaves to logic, we would only be struggling endlessly inside our personal box.  It is said that YOGA liberates us from that isolation.  Difficult to understand the fabric of yoga, mysticism and spirituality, huh ? Perhaps, Germans added beer to it to make it more understandable and relevant to the modern times !!  

WEIRD,  WHACKY and  WOW  !
          What seems to be an extreme deviation is the introduction of 'BEER  YOGA'.  Chilled beer and yoga combination sounds to be a freak and mutually contradictory components.  But it has come into fashion.  It started at a yoga centre in Berlin, Germany, and reached Delhi mulling a corporate tie-up. Yes, many establishments are run on business models with corporate tie-up,  including some hospitals.  

         Certified yoga teachers like Emily and Jhula think that a mix of beer and yoga is the perfect concoction !  People are confused and excited too.  Beer lovers are exhilarated.  The 'spirit' in the popular boozy athletic events like Craft BrewRaces and Bikes and Beers is well-relished.  While yoga purists condemn this, the 'Beer Yoga' enthusiasts claim that two pints of beer act as an adjuvant in achieving the goal of yoga -- going into a state of spiritual tranquility, harmony, peace and relaxation.   For the same reason,  devotees  may justify taking "bottles" into temples !  That is the height and width of faith.   Next event of 'Beer Yoga' at Saket, Delhi will be in August - September 2018 at a cost of Rs. 600 per a session of one-and-a-half hours which includes two pints of beer (TNSE, June 17, 2018).  

Archaeologists at an excavation in a cave near Raqefet

Here is another supportive news for beer lovers -- a study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science (2018) indicates that humans brewed beer over 13,000 years ago and that beer brewing practices existed in the Eastern Mediterranean over five millennia before the earliest known evidence, discovered in Northern China.

CHAIR  YOGA
          Most of us sit on a chair while working or relaxing.  Our joints forgot how to squat down without discomfort.  Hence another 'modern yoga hybrid' has made entry into the field.  So, we have 'CHAIR YOGA'  to comfortably carry out yoga sitting in a chair !!!   Perhaps, 'COT YOGA' is in the making !

         Yes, we made a lot of progress !!! ... our godmen took spiritualism abroad and mixed it with sex to make an exciting concoction and prosperity (Maharshi Mahesh Yogi, for example, who had 96 Rolls Royce cars).  Back at home we have many who made that concoction (Asaram Bapu, Swami Nithyananda,  Gulzar Ahmed Bhat, Swami Premananda,   Swami Bhimanand,  Gurmeet Ram Rahim, et al).  Notwithstanding, people adore these 'pseudo-sacred' godmen who have huge political clout !  It is hard for logic to prevail over emotion ... and now yoga is blended with beer to make 'asanas' heady and exotic !!!  Read my 'scribbling' at  https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/god-men_29.html  

AMERICANISATION 

          There is even an Americanized version practised by over 25 million people in the US.  There is a multi-billion dollar market selling 'yoga leggings' ($420) and 'yoga mats' ($140).  ‘Pure Yoga’ in New York city has its own ‘Figure 4’ exercise routine.  Some 'hybrid styles' of 'modern yoga' are simply gross distortions and seem to morph further away and away from the traditional yoga of ancient sages.  

          The California University researchers who found that coffee contributes to longevity may come up with evidence that spirits (liquors) bond us to spirituality speedier !!!

AFTERTHOUGHT

          While 'Beer and Yoga' seem to be leagues apart,  lexically they are close to each other -- SPIRITS  &  SPIRITUALITY.   Taking a lead from the 'Beer Yoga',  tipplers may trickle into temples with 'bottles' in hands !

Swami Vivekananda said: “WHEN PERFECTION IS THE WAY OF LIFE, THEN THE WHOLE LIFE WILL BE PERFECT."

Dr. T. Rama Prasad,  
'PAY WHAT YOU CAN' Clinic, Perundurai, Erode Dt., TN, India.
Former Medical Superintendent (Special), RTS & IRT Perundurai Medical College and Research Centre.

The following is a list of some of my 'scribblings', including a few from the 28 articles on COVID published in a monthly medical journal in 30 months (a world record).   To open them, click on any of the titles.  --  T. Rama Prasad

These are only scribbles for the general audience to pass some time, not for experts.  The expressions may be biased and the narration may be a crashing bore on negative aspects.  Taste a bit of the bitterness before leaving.   --  T. Rama Prasad 

 

Blog Archive

·   ▼  2017 (115)

o  ▼  March (1)

§ COVID MEDICAL LITERATURE

o  ▼  April (112)

§ OREIKLE

§ DEEPAAVALI

§ Science and Nonsense about COVID

§ AMC BATCH 1959 (revised)

§ Nurses Day 2017

§ FOOD, EXERCISE and SLEEP

§ OMICRON -- a paper tiger ?

§ World TB Day: TB and COVID

§ INDIAN ENGLISH

§ MY QUOTES & JOKES

§ COVID, SCHOOLS & CHILDREN

§ LOCKDOWN MEDICINE

§ Death Penalty

§ COVID CROCODILES

§ Number 13

§ WORLD CANCER DAY ..February 4, 2017

§ CORONA VARIANTS

§ PERUNDURAI is the GEM

§ Covishield or Covaxin ?

§ GRADUATION DAY -- 2018, Perundurai Medical Col...

§ "AHIMSA"

§ STAFF & STUDENTS. -- photos

§ SINGAPORE

§ BRINGING UP CHILDREN

§ HAPPY 2018

§ Dr. T. Rama Prasad

§ OMICRON

§ QUOTES

§ POLLUTION, Disease and Deepaavali

§ CESAREAN DELIVERY

§ DOCTORS' HANDWRITING MATTERS

§ RAJYALAKSHMI and SPB

§ PONGAL FESTIVAL

§ To live in INDIA or ABROAD ?

§ THE HINDU newspaper & ME

§ KMCH

§ FISHES

§ RICHNESS and HAPPINESS

§ YELLOW NAIL SYNDROME

§ BIRDS and DANGEROUS DRUGS

§ ABDUL KALAM

§ SUNDAY LUNCH ... Dec 3, 2017

§ VINAYAKA chathurdhi 2017

§ BAHUBALI

§ COMPLEXION

§ DENGUE, ZIKA and MOSQUITO

§ FOOLED TO BELIEVE

§ DIABETES

§ TUBERCULOSIS in India

§ MY ART

§ CIVIC SENSE & MANNERS

§ SMILE and STRESS

§ CANCER

§ DOGS

§ GOD-MEN

§ CODUP

§ LOCKDOWN MEDICINE -- too toxic ?

§ GOD, RELIGION & UNIVERSE

§ CORONA and CHARLES DARWIN

§ YOGA

§ HCQ, IVERMECTIN, CORONAVIRUS and FRAUDS

§ INDIAN SUPERBUG

§ SWINE FLU -- A (H1 N1) influenza

§ NIPAH & ZIKA viruses

§ SOPHISTICATED CHEATING

§ PERUNDURAI MEDICAL COLLEGE & SANATORIUM campus

§ RAJYALAKSHMI RAMAPRASAD and PLANTS

§ MY REAL AWARDS

§ GIRL CHILD : GOLDEN CHILD ; WOMEN POWER

§ ALLERGY, ASTHMA, COPD and ILD

§ TEST-TUBE PUPPIES

§ CREATE / KILL a baby

§ ONAM 2017

§ OPEN AIR DEFECATION

§ DRESS SENSE

§ SEXUAL HARASSMENT

§ RAPE

§ THE CHANGING WORLD

§ MARRIAGE and MATING

§ TEA, COFFEE and COMMERCE

§ DEVALUED DEGREES

§ SCHOOL EDUCATION and NEET

§ INCREDIBLE INDIA !

§ MARKETING TRICKS & INNOVATIONS

§ INTERNET EFFECT

§ RURAL ARE THE REAL

§ MEDICINE IN RURAL INDIA

§ RUN ON MONEY

§ MEDICAL CONFERENCES

§ Dr. Peon, PhD

§ MODERN MEDICINE -- the Good, the Bad and th...

§ YOU ARE NOT OLD

§ MOTHER-IN-LAW

§ RAJYALAKSHMI & International Women's Day 2024

§ SHIVA, KRISHNA, Ramanuja & Ramanujan

§ BETTER HALF

§ OUR LOVE STORY & good old days

§ 'PAY WHAT YOU CAN' Clinic

§ ABOUT ME and MY SCRIBBLINGS

o  ▼  May (2)

§ FICUS trees and GODS

§ Post-Omicron Peregrination

·   ▼  2019 (1)

o  ▼  January (1)

§ AMC batch 1959

·   ▼  2020 (3)

o  ▼  February (1)

§ OVER-HEALTHCARE

o  ▼  April (1)

§ RAJYALAKSHMI RAMAPRASAD and RADIOGRAM

o  ▼  June (1)

§ CORONAVIRUS COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2)

·   ▼  2022 (1)

o  ▼  October (1)

§ VCW Rajyalakshmi, BLOG

·   ▼  2023 (17)

o  ▼  January (15)

§ RIGHT or WRONG ???

§ MONKEYPOX (Mpox)

§ TUBERCULOSIS -- drug-resistant

§ LONG and SHORT of COVID

§ MENTAL HEALTH

§ VERSHA, alias Vega

§ FEAR, STRESS and PSYCHOSIS

§ HEART

§ ZERO COVID

§ INDIAN IMMUNITY, BCG and COVID

§ WOW !!!

§ ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

§ COVID vaccines -- Safe or Unsafe ?

§ COVID -- ANTISEPTIC JOURNAL

§ MEDICAL SYSTEMS

o  ▼  August (1)

§ RAMAYAAN

o  ▼  October (1)

§ NEET SAGA

·   ▼  2024 (1)

o  ▼  May (1)

§ THE NOBLE PROFESSION

 

 

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An anecdote about  “GORU”

 

During my childhood, one of my schoolmates had huge nails.  Her name was Gowri.  We nicknamed her as ‘Goru’ (‘goru’ in Telugu means nail of a finger or toe ).  They used to say that her huge nails caused a problem in her heart.  It might be a case of ‘Digital Clubbing’ (abnormal nails present in some ‘Congenital Heart Diseases’).  After one summer vacation, ‘Goru’ didn’t come back to the school.  It was learnt that she died due to the nail / heart problem, and that treatment could not be availed as they didn’t have money to pay for it. 

Perhaps, this incident prompted me to look at everyone’s nails from that time which might have led me to report the first case from India of ‘Yellow Nail Syndrome (YNS)’ from India in 1980 (published in an American journal, CHEST) and the first case in the world of ‘Yellow nails & Covid’ in 2023, published in an Indian journal, THE ANTISEPTIC - https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/yellow-nail syndrome_28.html

And perhaps, the preventable death of ‘Goru’ due to the inability to pay for the treatment motivated me to start my ‘PAY WHAT YOU CAN’ Clinic (PWYCC) half-a-century ago where patients may pay whatever they can. No fixed fee ( http://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/06/pay-what-you-can-clinic.html ).   The credit for these case reports on YNS and the starting of my PWYCC should go to ‘Goru’.  Thanks to “Goru”.

                                                        --     T. Rama Prasad

 

More at : https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/dr-t-rama-prasad.html  

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This is not an ad,  it’s about an odd service.

Dr. T. Rama Prasad’s

‘PAY  WHAT  YOU  CAN’  Clinic

“Thena  thyakthena  bhoojithaha”– Ishopanishad

   ( Translated by  Prof. B.M. Hegde  as: “Rejoice  in  giving.”)

          True to this quote, I have been rejoicing at what little I could give.  Defying stereotypes, this clinic has been in existence for a very long time, sans glitz, blitz, ads, microphones, speeches and noise.  As a matter of my policy, publicity is shunned.  The reason is simple.  Good work needs no noise and nonsense.  My ‘SCRIBBLINGS’ on related topics may be accessed at:  http://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com

 

 

My consultation fee is not decided by me.  It is the patient’s pleasure. The patient may pay (donate) whatever he can and what he wishes.  If one is short of money, he or she need not pay anything.  The money may just be put into the ‘hundi’ box kept outside the consultation room.  And the money thus received is used for charity to help the needy, the poor and the less fortunate.  If interested to know more about this facility, go to: http://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/06/pay-what-you-can-clinic.html .  

          "We need not run after money.  If we are meritorious and compassionate, money would run after us, and it eludes us if we run after it.”      --  T. Rama Prasad

            “Richness is not having lots of money.  It is the feeling that one has enough of it.   Contentment sans comparison is what makes one really rich.”     --  T. Rama Prasad.      

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Consult your local doctor before rushing to me

Most ailments can be cured at local level

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