Yoga Fest

By Daniels Ekugo

Yoga has been shown to have immediate psychological effects: decreasing anxiety and increasing feelings of emotional, social, and spiritual well-being.

The President, Emprowess Life Skills and Indo-Naija Yoga Fest, Mr. Sanjayvipul Srivastava stated this at the 2017 Indo-Naija Yoga Festival which took place at the Indian Embassy Lagos with about 400 Nigerians along with 15 other nationalities living in Lagos including diplomats of various countries.

Yoga, a form of mind-body exercise, has become an increasingly widespread therapy used to maintain wellness, and alleviate a range of health problems and ailments.

Sanjayvipul added that, “Yoga offers an effective method of managing and reducing stress, anxiety, and depression, and numerous studies demonstrate the efficacy of yoga on mood-related disorders”.

Mr. Pravin Kumar, the General Secretary of Indo-Naija Yoga Fest 2017 also said, “the event was a great success and I am happy that Nigerians not only welcomed but conceived our thought on Yoga. Which was the sole purpose of the event.”

He said, “We want to promote yoga to families and encourage in the country to start the day with yoga which does not take more than 20 minutes a day and you can easily spare it.”

According to reports, about 2 billion people in the world are the regular practitioners but we are not happy with it we want all 7.2 billion people to be practicing yoga consciously.”

The fest was attended by counsellor in Lagos, Mr. Rakesh Sharma and he emphasized that now the modern science has started accepting Yoga and even United Nations has started observing 21st June as International Yoga day.

He also extended message from His Excellencey High Commissioner of India in Lagos “We want all nationals in Nigeria to benefit from this and start Practicing Yoga for Peace, harmony and prosperity.

The Yoga demonstration started with lightening of ceremonial lamp and prayer for all world health & prosperity.

Yoga Competition judged by way of performance to reach final stage of Asana, perfect posture of Asana, exhibition of Asana Method, time stayed in Asana and returning to original posture.

In the first group, Anoushaka Srivastava became 2nd runner up, Megha Dokania became 1st runner up while Ms. Saloni Khule became the Winner of the Yoga Competition in the First group. The second group started with a beautiful performance by Madoka Yoga Well being Initiative and a family group comprising of Rajendra Srinivas, Ramyashree Rajendra and Shreekasa Rajendra.

The second group with certificate of participants, Mr. Mukesh Kimar became 2nd runner up, Rajendra Family became 1st Runner up while Mr. Kachi from Abia State Nigeria became Winner of the competition in the second group.

There was award presentation given to outstanding Yoga enthusiasts and committed members of Afro Asian Development Community as well as sponsors of the event and there was bouncing castles, food games for kids and adults that graced the occasion

Also, a member of the organising committee Mr. Bimad Raj Sharan Sinha explained the importance of Yoga, its combination of mind body and soul and hence a way of holistic living which is the need of the humanity.

He said, “Several literature reviews have been conducted that examined the impact of yoga on specific health conditions, including cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, cancer, and anxiety”.

The program ended with the promise of # Practice Yoga Regular # Practice Yoga with Family #YogaFestNigeria.