The Ministry of Tourism presented a webinar on ‘India as a Yoga Destination’ under Dekho Apna Desh webinar series. The webinar on the International Day of Yoga highlighted the current yoga landscape and how it can be leveraged to broad base and scale up tourism in India.
The 35th session of the Dekho Apna Desh webinar series on 21st June,2020 was moderated by Rupinder Brar, ADG, Ministry of Tourism and was presented by Achal Mehra, CEO, Greenway (a social impact company) and founder of an eco-friendly resort Mahua Vann in Madhya Pradesh.
According to Mehra, Yoga is not just a physical exercise, it is a holistic approach to health and well-being which unveils the full potential of human beings. Yoga has four dimensions to a being that is physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. There are certain misconceptions about the physical dimension of yoga that it is a very gentle exercise and it can’t help in reducing body weight and keeping it in shape. These misconceptions are justified by Mehra as he states that Yoga tests your body into three aspects- strength, balance and endurance. One can loose 300gm of his body weight in a session of Surya Namaskar for one hour. The ultimate objective of yoga exercises is to increase the energy levels.
Coming to the yoga and wellness experiences in amalgamation to a destination, India has a large reservoir of ancient wisdom like yoga schools and institutes. There are two main branches of yoga schools in our country- Ashtangayoga and Hatha yoga. There are certain famous institutes in Rishikesh, Yoga Dharamshala in Goa, Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga in Delhi and many other premier knowledge centres spread across the nation. Apart from the institutes, our country has a lot of potential to provide yoga and wellness experiences. Khajurao, Pondicherry, Rajasthan and Sikkim are few states which are organic and close to culture and nature. Therefore, more yoga institutes and wellness centres should be developed in these locations to boost the wealth of wellness tourism in India.
