PGIMER celebrated the 8th International Day of Yoga with participation of more than 150 HCWs
Chandigarh : June 21 : PGI celebrated the 8th International Day of Yoga organised by its ‘CCRYN-Collaborative Centre for Mind Body Intervention through Yoga’ with participation of more than 150 HCWs. It included Director, Dean, Medical Superintendent, Deputy Director, Financial Advisor, faculty, students, staff and their families who practised Common Yoga Protocol (CYP) the flagship protocol of Ministry of AYUSH. PGI, which is the first Institute in the world to carry out a Yoga trial on CYP, engaged the certified Yoga trainers from its Yoga Center to impart this training. CYP is a protocol practised each year on International Day of Yoga.
PGI’s study on common yoga protocol has shown an increase in Angiogenin levels which contributes towards new blood vessel formation which could be useful for risk reduction of several diseases. PGI also trained nodal persons from each Department in conducting daily 5 minute Y-break protocol at 11 AM so that they may go back to the Departments to cultivate a 5 minute health and wellness break. Around sixty nodal persons participated and learnt the finer techniques of rejuvenating oneself at work by practising Yoga Y-break.
All these programs were live streamed. PGI has also been conducting a 30 minute Yoga sessions including SMET (Self management of excessive tension), DRT (Deep relaxation technique), MSRT (Mind Sound Resonance Technique), QRT (Quick Relaxation Technique) and more, informed by Dr Monika Gautam, Research Officer, CCRYN-PGI Yoga Centre. Various scientifically validated Yoga protocols have been introduced not only for risk reduction for various life style disorders emerging from hectic life style and rescuing from compassion fatigue but also to inspire the faculty to take up research in pan India Yoga intervention studies. The faculty, staff, and students in PGIMER feel that this helps them to improve physical and mental health and to initiate new research projects. Such sessions shall continue throughout 2022 and any HCW from PGI can benefit from Level 2, Level 3 Yoga trainers certified by Govt of India.
In view of 8th International Day of Yoga whose theme was “Yoga for Humanity”, PGI also undertook the task of conducting daily early morning Yoga sessions for patient’s attendants at PGIMER, besides the general public at PGIMER Park behind Bhargava Auditorium, from 6:00 to 7:00 AM. A special Yoga session for students was also held on 16th June 2022 from 6:00 to 7:00 AM at Zakir Hall. Yoga mats and refreshments were also provided to all the participants by the Institute.
A vibrant academic session was held by highly respected Yoga Professor from Harvard University, Dr Sara Lazar (famous for her Ted Talk) and Dr Jaideep Arya, Chairman Haryana Yoga Ayog on 21st June 2022. Dr Akshay Anand, Professor-in-charge, CCRYN-Collaborative Centre For Mind Body Intervention through Yoga, moderated the session and spoke on the importance of Yoga and meditation as being part of ancient Indian philosophy which has contributed significantly towards several public health programs meant for lifestyle disorders.
Director PGI, Dr. Vivek Lal, welcomed the guest speakers and defined Yoga as superscience. He enthusiastically said that “Yoga is a science with an additional dimension.” and “Yoga which was science of the past is going to be science of future.” He emphasized that Yoga is a cost-effective prevention technique with no side effects.
Dr Sara Lazar spoke on ‘Yoga and the brain’ and elaborated on role of Yoga and meditation in stress and anxiety reduction, cognition improvement and reducing mental decline with age by research evidence produced by neuroimaging and behaviour studies. She showed evidence of preserved fluid intelligence in meditation practitioners, She also reported that starting yoga late in life is also beneficial in improving fluid intelligence, which continued to improve over but not more than mindfulness. Her talk provided research proof that the brain and its function is affected by Yoga as compared to brain games.
Dr Jaideep Arya further emphasized on the role of managing lifestyle related diseases such as diabetes. He informed the participants that Yoga can balance hormones, disturbed mind, and micronutrients. He spoke that Yoga is purity, happiness, harmony and concentration of thoughts, emotions, action and mind. He said Yoga is not a physical practice of Asana or Pranayama but it can be incorporated in our daily activities including our food and work. He said “Yoga is an art and science of living life.”
At the end of the program, Dr G D Puri Dean (Academic) gave the concluding remarks. He thanked all the participants, offline and online. He thanked Dr Sara Lazar for presenting the scientific facts behind Yoga improving brain functioning and for letting all know that it is never too late to start Yoga and meditation. He further thanked Dr Jaideep Arya for showing clinical evidence to reduce drug requirement in diabetes. He emphasized that neurological outflow of the brain is controlled by Yoga and meditation. He wished good luck to the Yoga centre at PGI for its growth and thanked the centre for organizing the IDY 2022.
Dr Akshay Anand remarked that Yoga which encompasses the Asanas, breathing techniques and meditation need more fundamental research so that it is integrated for prevention and management for various lifestyle disorders like Obesity, Diabetes, Hypertension and Cancer. We are planning to ramp up such research efforts in this direction by funding good research proposals. Dr Vivek Lal appealed to students, faculty and staff to adopt Yoga in their lives for healthier and happy living. We are also considering starting of Yoga courses for our staff and allowing MSc Yoga for PhD enrollment. This will further provide new insights about the health promoting effects of Yoga.
